Growing in hockey-mad Minnesota, newly signed Kraken free-agent defenseman Ryan Lindgren experienced not only the northern state’s rite of passage to begin skating as a toddler but additionally, like it or not, he was tested early on as a goaltender. The debut in net was palpable given Lindgren’s dad played the position along with Lindgren’s two older brothers.
As it turned out, Lindgren failed the in-goal audition, quite miserably by his account. Let’s agree it is one of the best things that ever happened for a 27-year-old NHL D-man who has already played in more than 400 NHL regular-season games, plus another 50 playoff contests with the New York Rangers and Colorado in his first six seasons in the league. Lindgren was a defensive standout in two deep NYR playoff runs in 2022 and 2024.
“I tried it [playing in goal] when I was really young, probably five or six years old,” said Lindgren during a Zoom media conference Wednesday. “I think I let in probably 10 or 11 goals. After the final goal, I laid there on the ice. I was crying. My dad had to come out and get me up [off the ice]. Ever since then, I never put on the pads again.”
Lindgren did allow getting in front of shots “just might be in my blood a little bit,” as he ranks among elite penalty-killing NHL defensemen, which Kraken GM Jason Botterill emphasized as one reason why Lindgren is joining the defensive corps for new coach Lane Lambert, himself long highly regarded for his PK strategies.
“It can be painful at times,” said Lindgren about the 593 shots he’s blocked over 405 NHL regular season games, placing him in the top quarter annually of the league’s defensemen over his six seasons. “I just try to do anything I can to help the team. I spent a lot of time on the penalty kill over the last couple of years. That's a big part of it, getting your body in front of the [shooting] lane, doing whatever you can to help the goalie.”
Here for the Goaltenders
With all that family goaltending, including brother Charlie playing for the Washington Capitals, Lindgren is keenly aware that one of the best ways to support Kraken goaltenders will be to clear out opposing forwards' net-front.
“That's where goals are scored,” said the six-foot, 194-pound Lindgren. “The forwards are doing anything they can to get there. There are a lot of big, strong bodies out there. It's hard to keep them out of the net front, but you’ve got to battle and do whatever you can, tie up sticks. ... it's important to be hard and strong in front of your net.”
“We’ve talked a lot about being stronger to play against in front of both nets,” Botterill said, referring to Lindgren as a "heart and soul player" who does whatever it takes to win. “It’s one of the reasons we went after (Mason) Marchment in the trade category, and then why we went after Lindgren in free agency. Just his physicality, his compete out there. Helping our [penalty kill], which needs to get better this year for sure. Then you just look at Ryan’s track record of playing in big games and knowing what it takes to have success in the playoffs. We’re certainly excited to bring his culture to our organization.”
The feeling for Lindgren is mutual: “Seattle is a team that seems like they're up and coming right now with good young talent mixed in with older guys who are really good players. I'm excited to help build a culture there of hard work and winning.”
From East Coast to Best Coast
There is a recent and positive precedent for a New York Rangers skater finding a higher gear in Kraken blue. After former first-rounder (No. 2 overall in 2019) Kaapo Kakko joined the Kraken, the winger tallied 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in 49 games.
“[Kakko] is one of my favorite guys I played with in my career, just such a good dude,” said Lindgren. “Everyone loves him, such a hard-working, great player. As soon as he went to Seattle last year, he really took off and played well. I'm excited to be back playing with him and really excited to see him again.”
Lindgren’s 2024-2025 got off to a slower start when he suffered a broken jaw in the preseason that required surgery and some extra time to get used to wearing protective helmet gear. He missed six games and was missed.
“He plays hard every single shift, every game,” said then-NYR coach Peter Laviolette about Lindgren last fall. “He gives everything he has. You remove a guy like that from the lineup and you feel it.”
Looking for Chemistry in Training Camp
In the Rangers' lineup, Lindgren and young star Adam Fox paired up as rookies and were most frequently together on the blue line over five-and-a-half seasons. The two played together in USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, winning World Juniors gold against Canada in 2017 as 17-year-olds and bronze in 2018.
“I played with ‘Foxy’ for the majority of my NHL career; that was a lot of fun,” said Lindgren. “Now it's time to move on and play with someone new. It starts right in training camp. Everyone kind of seems like they play with everyone throughout camp. You just try to build chemistry, see what works with guys, try to figure it out, whether it's in practices or games. I’m really excited for that opportunity.”
Lindgren said his move to Colorado at last year’s trade deadline fuels his enthusiasm for joining another new group of teammates.
“At first, you're very sad to leave a team, but you go to another team and realize, just meeting everyone and we start playing games, it's a blast,” said Lindgren, who mentioned several Kraken players had already reached out on July 1. “It was a lot of fun to do that in Colorado. Now finding out I get to go to Seattle to start that journey all over again, meet a bunch of great, new people and start fresh, I'm really looking forward to it.
