What a Kraken Trade Package for Jason Robertson Could Have Been

The NHL has been buzzing with trades ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, but nothing has rocked the Seattle Kraken more than the news on Thursday when Elliotte Friedman reported that Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson turned down a sign-and-trade deal with the Kraken that included an eight-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $15 million.

It’s shocking, and many people are curious to know what that trade might have looked like. Here’s our best guess.

What We Know: The Pick 

Friedman was sure the deal included the Kraken’s seventh-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. In five seasons in the NHL, Seattle has never given up their first-round pick. Of the five drafts they have been a part of, they have had four picks higher than tenth overall.

The Kraken love drafting centers with that first-round pick; four of their five first-round picks were centers. But giving up that opportunity for Robertson would have been better. With the seventh-overall pick still in their hands, let’s hope they use it to their advantage this year. 

What We Don’t Know: The Players

For a player like Robertson, the Kraken would have had to give up more than that pick. We don’t know which current players Seattle was willing to give up, but there had to have been some roster players. Management has been actively shopping Shane Wright, so there is a good chance he was a part of this deal. Wright was the fourth-overall pick in 2022 and has been a full-time NHLer for the last two seasons. In 169 games, he has 78 points via 36 goals and 42 assists. 

Wright’s name came up ahead of the 2026 Trade Deadline after reports suggested he was unhappy with his ice time and overall usage. It’s possible he was among the players the Kraken were willing to part with in exchange for Robertson. 

Of course, the Stars would also have wanted a high-caliber player for Robertson, which leaves either Matty Beniers or Jared McCann. Beniers was the Kraken’s first-ever NHL draft pick, drafted second overall in 2021. He has played 331 games with 196 points. He is a reliable top-six forward, so it would make sense for the Kraken to include him in the package for Robertson.

McCann is the Kraken’s highest point-scorer, making him another potential candidate. He played 11 NHL seasons with four different teams, although he joined the Kraken in the expansion draft when Seattle claimed him from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has played in 367 games with 283 points, including a career-high 70 points in the 2022-23 season. Although injuries got the best of him this season, he is a proven player and a cornerstone of the Kraken’s roster.

Seattle’s Structure as a Whole 

The Kraken have just over $22 million in cap space, so they could afford the contract they were offering Robertson. However, he did not want to play in Seattle, and that says something about the organization.

Roberston was drafted by the Stars and has been with them his entire career. Since the 2020-21 season, when he became a full-time NHLer, Dallas has made the playoffs five times. He is more likely to realize his dream of winning the Cup with the Stars than with the Kraken at this point.

Seattle still needs to work on building a winning culture. They’ve been in the league for five seasons and have only made the playoffs once, in 2022-23. They might have been on the cusp of making the postseason this year, but they collapsed in the middle of the campaign and missed the mark.

Management has been working on building this offseason, trading for Mackie Samoskevich from the Florida Panthers and re-signing Bobby McMann, but it’s not enough. If Seattle wants to add an elite talent like Robertson, they need to work on building that winning culture. The way they are going now is not going to cut it.