Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken are a Pacific Northwest-based National Hockey League (NHL) team.

Founded as an expansion team, the Kraken mirrors Seattle’s culture with its bold maritime-inspired logo, colors, and promotional materials. Founded in 2021, The Kraken is a relatively new team to the NHL and brings major league hockey to the city of Seattle.¹ Its unique name is based on a mythical Scandinavian and Norwegian sea monster and a giant octopus said to live near Seattle.¹

Get your Seattle Kraken tickets today on AXS and enjoy the vibrant energy of hockey in the Pacific Northwest.

The Seattle Kraken were officially announced as the NHL’s 32nd franchise in 2018 and had their first official game in 2021.² The Kraken, however, was not Seattle’s first foray into professional hockey. The Seattle Metropolitans, also known as the Mets for short, formed in 1912, were the second American hockey team.³ The team amassed success early on, competing in the Stanley Cup in 1917 and beating the Montreal Canadiens.³ Their success didn’t last long, with the team folding in 1924.³

Seattle’s next hockey team came in the form of the minor league Seattle Thunderbirds, which started in 1977.³ In 2018, nearly a century after losing its original NHL team, Seattle was awarded an NHL expansion franchise and began to compete in the league in 2021.²

 Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose arena that hosts all of the Seattle Kraken’s home games. The stadium reopened in 2021 following a major redevelopment.³

The stadium seats more than 17,000 fans for hockey games and was designed with sustainability in mind, becoming the NHL’s first carbon-neutral arena with a commitment from companies globally to be net zero carbon by 2040.^4,5 Climate Pledge Arena includes a living plant wall composed of more than 8,500 plants. The stadium also sources more than 60% of its food ingredients from within 300 miles.⁵

Though the Krakens are still early in their professional NHL tenure, they have already achieved several key milestones.

• Stanley Cup Playoffs (2023): The Kraken appeared in their first Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023, in just their second season.⁶
• Guyle Fielder Award (2021-Present): The Guyle Fielder Award is an award Kraken created, which recognizes the player who best exemplifies Seattle Totems captain Guyle Fielder’s "perseverance, hustle and deduction.” Yanni Gourde won the award in the first season, and Jaden Schwartz won the past three seasons.⁷
• Calder Memorial Trophy (2022-2023): Matty Beniers received the Calder Memorial Trophy in the 2022-2023 season, an award for being the NHL rookie of the year.⁸

The NHL regular season typically runs from fall through spring, with postseason play extending into early summer. Seattle Kraken tickets are available now through AXS, making it easy to plan ahead for upcoming home games.