Seattle Success Story

When Kraken GM Ron Francis had the privilege of helping to design a training center and Climate Pledge Arena hockey spaces from the ground up, he was focused on creating a recruiting advantage when looking to sign free agents. World-class facilities make a difference as do personal connections and a winning culture. The NHL city where a player will live, often with young families, is a huge factor.

Two seasons into NHL play, Francis' aspirations for all of the above are personified in the signings of veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin and forward Kailer Yamamoto. Dumoulin, a two-time Stanley Cup winner capable of playing top-four minutes, was no doubt a target for many teams. He is a highly reliable defender by any measure, along with a puck-mover who can make the first pass or carry to transition from defense to offense. Among other attributes, Dumoulin just set a career-high for assists (24) at age 31.

The Kraken hockey operations group is happy to have Dumoulin on the roster, especially with the departure of defenseman Carson Soucy, who signed as a free agent with division rival Vancouver. For his part, Dumoulin, like many NHLers has noticed the world-class noise and atmosphere at Kraken home games plus this season's playoff success and a tight-knit team that plays with no ego and believes in teammates.

"Seattle is definitely one of the top places that I wanted to be," said Dumoulin, who won back-to-back Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 and two NCAA titles with Boston College in 2010 and 2012. A lot of [his decision to sign with the Kraken] was just watching them play, having played against them. You could really feel how hard they worked for each other. What a great team they have, how hard the forwards work for their defensemen, and vice versa."

Dumoulin had reliable sources about the upbeat, tight-knit Kraken locker room. He and Kraken D-man Justin Schultz won those Stanley Cups together with the Penguins, plus he has remained close to once-and-now-future teammates Jamie Oleksiak, Brandon Tanev and Jared McCann.

For Yamamoto, he reunites with Kraken alternate captain Adam Larsson. The two played together for Edmonton with the 24-year-old earning his first point by assisting on a Larsson goal and Larsson assisting on Yamamoto's first NHL goal.

"[Larsson] texted me and said, 'man, you're gonna love it here,' " said Yamamoto, who has already played 244 NHL regular season games and another 34 in the playoffs. "He said congrats, told me about all the guys, the good restaurants. I'm super happy he reached out."

Yamamoto is even more thrilled that his family is now just a four-hour car ride from seeing him play for what he considered his "hometown" team of sorts. Yamamoto is a Spokane native who also played on some Seattle-based youth teams as part of his path to the NHL. He was a 20-goal scorer in the 2021-22 season and notched 10 goals last year in 58 games. The Kraken are clearly hoping Yamamoto returns to form and beyond. His speed, work ethic and elite hockey IQ will help him be part of replacing the production of departed forwards Ryan Donato, Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong.

When asked what sort of player Kraken fans will see, Yamamoto was ready with an answer likely to put a smile on head coach Dave Hakstol's face: "Just being that tenacious, hard-working player. I really love how this team [Seattle] plays, tenacious ... I love to play that game."

Yamamoto is likely getting many requests for Kraken swag. He becomes the franchise's first player born in Washington and Western Hockey League fans of the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips are quite familiar with Yamamoto's playing style in his days with the WHL Spokane Chiefs. They know his first name is pronounced "Kye-ler" and he is of Japanese and Pacific Islander descent on his mother's side of the family. They likely best know the 5-foot-8, 153-pound forward doesn't back down net-front or anywhere on the ice.

Yamamoto welcomes the added attention of being a homegrown Kraken player.

When playing for his hometown team in juniors with Spokane, "I felt like I was gonna have pressure," said Yamamoto. But added it was more fun than stressful. Now?

"It's a dream come true to play for Seattle," said Yamamoto.