Kraken Rookie Camp Opens With a Firebirds Preview
Jake O'Brien headlines the Seattle prospects who hit the ice Friday, with the 2025 eighth overall pick pointed toward Coachella Valley this season.
Seattle's prospects opened rookie camp Friday at noon at Kraken Community Iceplex, the first day of a 15-day stretch that runs young players through five days of their own before some of them merge into the main NHL camp.
The name to track for AHL purposes is Jake O'Brien. The Kraken took the right-shot center eighth overall in the 2025 draft, and he is expected to spend this season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He finished his final major junior year with 93 points in 53 games for the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL, and at 6-foot-2 the question in September is how much strength he has added.
O'Brien is among the prospects slated to take part in both camps. Rookie-camp weekend moves north, with prospect games against the Canucks in Abbotsford, British Columbia on Saturday and Sunday. Monday is off. Tuesday is the last on-ice look before main camp, which opens Thursday, September 17 and runs through the 26th.
Seattle brought a deep group to main camp: 31 forwards, 18 defensemen and five goaltenders. Part of that is roster math. Under the new NHL agreement, a player cannot appear in more than two of the four preseason games, so clubs need bodies, which in turn gives management a wider look at players who will end up in Coachella Valley.
Seattle's camp sessions are largely open to the public. The Kraken's regular season is scheduled to begin October 1 in Calgary.
