Former Kraken defenseman Justin Schultz played 745 games over 12 NHL seasons and another 81 postseason contests in his last eight years, including two rounds with Seattle in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Kraken announced Thursday the two-time Cup-winning Schultz will now help their young defense prospects pursue their own NHL dreams and such lofty accomplishments.
“As a professional hockey player, Justin was tremendously talented, tremendously skilled,” said Kraken assistant general manager Ryan Jankowski, who has specialized in amateur scouting and evaluation for 20-plus years. “I remember watching him play as a draft-eligible, knowing he had those assets as a player, but he also had a lot of areas he had to tidy up to play in the NHL. He did that. That’s what we want to instill in the players we draft to help them become Kraken. The great part about Justin is he lived it. He learned how to do those things to become not just an NHL player, but a really good NHL player. Now he can pass that on to the next generation.”
For his part, Schultz is thrilled to rejoin the Kraken organization, which includes GM Jason Botterill and new assistant GM Patrik Allvin, who were both part of the Penguins winning three Stanley Cups, including two back-to-back with Schultz on the roster in 2016 and 2017. In fact, the Penguins front office traded for Schultz at the 2016 deadline to be a major contributor to those Cup teams, including four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 21 games during the 2017 title run.
“This is something I've always wanted to do, to help players try to get to the next level,” said Schultz from his hometown Kelowna, BC, this week. “I loved my time in Seattle. I’m excited to get to work with these prospects. They're all obviously great players; they've been drafted or signed. I want to help in whatever way I can with what they need to get better. I've played a lot of games, won some Stanley Cups, I am hoping to relay some positive things to them.”
Attending to Details of Defending
Jankowski and Kraken director of player development Cory Murphy are supremely confident Schultz will be a huge asset to the sizeable Kraken corps of young defenseman looking to make the NHL roster this season and beyond.
What Jankowski admires so much about Schultz is his attending to defensive areas “he needed to tidy up” to make the NHL. The details are multiple. It will help the young D-men immensely to work with a successful NHLer who faced the same checklist.
“For young defensemen, you're looking at body positioning in battles, you're looking at stick positioning in the defensive zone,” said Jankowski, just revving up. “You're looking at some of the routes defensemen take to retrieve pucks. Also, how they're able to turn those pucks, getting them up ice quickly.
“Every prospect that's drafted has a little bit of a different skill set. You've got your guys that are a little bit more offensive; you’ve got your guys that are a little bit more defensive. They all have a lot of little nuances to learn. Another example is on the offensive blue line and how to find the lanes to pass the puck, how to find the lanes to shoot the puck and do it at a higher level as they move up their progression [from juniors/NCAA/Europe to the American Hockey League and NHL].”
‘Good Fit for the Group’
Murphy, who still worked with 2025 draft class defensemen last season while handling his director duties, emphasized the credibility and knowledge Schultz brings as a former Kraken player. Plus, Schultz never stopped looking to improve his game over the dozen NHL seasons following a starring role for NCAA Wisconsin.
“Justin is a great fit within our [player development] group,” said Murphy. “He's familiar with the organization and the people; he's lived [the NHL player life] for a long time and had success doing it, including two Stanley Cups. One of the big things he said to me is he was constantly trying to figure out how to get better and how to stay in the league, have a prominent role with his team.
“That's something he's going to bring, the consistency of pro habits, what's needed on a daily basis to be an NHL player and to stay in the NHL. Not just to make it, but to stay there. That's something we pride ourselves on, looking to develop these prospects to make the NHL and have the tools for a longer NHL career.”
Schultz concurs: “Even for me, throughout your career, no matter how many seasons, you have to find ways to adapt. The game changes. New players are coming in. You have to keep trying to improve. It's really hard to get there [to the NHL] and really hard to stay there.”
Jankowski feels another plus to bringing in Schultz is he isn’t too far removed from playing.
“He's still at an age where he can relate with the young players coming through,” said Jankowski. “He knows some of the stressors they deal with because he dealt with them and had a really distinguished NHL career.”
