Coachella Valley Firebirds
The Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks couldn’t provide an all-Northwest playoffs series in 2025, but their AHL farm teams will be postseason foes. The Coachella Valley Firebirds and Abbotsford Canucks begin their best-of-five, second round Calder Cup series on Thursday. Here’s the schedule:
Game 1 – Thu., May 01 @ Coachella Valley – 7 pm PT
Game 2 – Sat., May 03 @ Coachella Valley – 6 pm PT
Game 3 – Wed., May 07 @ Abbotsford – 7 pm PT
If necessary:
Game 4 – Fri., May 09 @ Abbotsford – 7 pm PT
Game 5 – Sun., May 11 @ Abbotsford – 7 pm PT
If you’d like to see the Firebirds in person, keep in mind that Abbotsford, BC is a doable 116-mile drive from Climate Pledge Arena. Tickets are available for Game 3 on May 7, as well as Games 4 and 5, if necessary.
The Firebirds’ roster will be familiar to Kraken fans, containing 10 players who spent time with Seattle.
These include forwards Mitchell Stephens (28 games), John Hayden (20), Ryan Winterton (12), Jani Nyman (12), Ben Meyers (8), Jacob Melanson (1), and defensemen Cale Fleury (14) and Ville Ottavinen (1). Goalies Nikke Kokko and Ales Stezka also made one appearance each with the big club this season.
A number of Kraken prospects whose junior seasons are over have joined the Firebirds on amateur tryouts, and could see action as well.
Kraken Junior Prospects
Three Kraken prospects are still alive for their teams in the Conference Championship (3rd) Round of the Western Hockey League Playoffs.
Center Berkly Catton’s Spokane Chiefs lead defenseman Tyson Jugnauth’s Portland Winterhawks 2-0, with Game 3 tonight in Portland. Both scored in Game 1, though Catton added three assists as the Chiefs routed the ‘Hawks, 10-4. Catton has been volcano hot all postseason, with eight goals and 25 assists.
That follows a 109-point regular season for the 2024 1st round pick, who could actually jump from juniors to the Kraken roster next season. And he was named the WHL’s 2024-25 Most Sportsmanlike Player.
Jugnauth has been piling up the playoff points for Portland, four goals and 24 assists in 16 games.
The other semifinal matches Caden Price’s Lethbridge Hurricanes against Medicine Hat. The Hurricanes trail in the series 3-0, with Game 4 tonight in Lethbridge. Price and his D-mates are tasked with stopping the unstoppable Gavin McKenna, right now the consensus #1 pick for the 2026 NHL Draft.
Julius Miettinen and Kaden Hammell of the Everett Silvertips won their 1st round series over the Seattle Thunderbirds, but fell in seven games to Portland in the 2nd round. Miettinen had six goals in 13 postseason games. Hammell had 13 points in those same 13 games.
Lukas Dragicevic’s Prince Albert Raiders also made it to the 2nd round, where they were swept by Medicine Hat. The defenseman had eye-popping numbers to remind you he used to be a forward. Dragicevic scored six goals and eight assists in 11 playoff games.
The final four teams in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs don’t include any Kraken prospects. Here’s how they fared earlier in the OHL postseason.
Carson Rehkopf: The Brampton Steelheads lost their opening-round series to Oshawa, despite Rehkopf filling the net. Over six games, Rehkopf scored seven of Brampton’s 20 goals, four on the power play. That’s after 42 in 57 games in the regular season. Another Kraken prospect, defenseman Jakub Fibigr, played alongside Rehkopf this season for the Steelheads.
Nathan Villeneuve: Though his Sudbury Wolves got swept by Kingston, Villeneuve stood out – both because of his four goals, and his 15 penalty minutes (properly channeled, that’s a feature, not a bug). His two scores in the 3rd period of Game 2 forced overtime.
Andrei Loshko: The Niagra Ice Dogs lasted just five games against Barrie, but that was long enough for the center from Belarus to put up six points (2 goals, 4 assists). Loshko was a point-a-game player in the regular season, with 34 goals and 36 assists in 67 games.
Defenseman Alexis Bernier had 14 goals and 46 points in 59 games for the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar. But Bernier was injured late in the regular season and missed the playoffs. Center Ollie Josephson’s Red Deer Rebels failed to qualify for the WHL playoffs.
Recent Ex-Kraken In NHL Playoffs
Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Yanni Gourde, Tampa Bay: When the Lightning traded for Gourde (and Oliver Bjorkstrand) at the deadline, it was because they were already well acquainted with the 33-year-old center who had won a pair of Cups with Tampa Bay. Gourde delivered as advertised, with 50 hits and 14 points in 21 regular-season games.
Gourde has remained a feisty presence in the Lightning’s playoff series with the defending champion Florida Panthers, making a pest of himself in front of the Panthers’ net. However, the sledding has been rough for his old/new team. The Lightning are on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 going into tonight’s Game 5. Gourde, a free agent at season’s end, hasn’t recorded a point through four games.
Oliver Bjorkstand, Tampa Bay: Bjorkstrand sustained a lower-body injury in an overtime loss against the Red Wings on April 13. Ever since, his status has been listed as “week to week.” Bjorkstrand had gotten off to a fast offensive start with his new team, scoring five goals plus four assists in 18 games with Tampa Bay.
To refresh your memory, Seattle’s haul for Gourde and Bjorkstrand was a 2nd round pick in this June’s NHL draft, 1st rounders in both 2026 and 2027, plus forward Mikey Eyssimont.
James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Brandon Tanev, Winnipeg: Unquestionably, the Jets-St. Louis Blues series has been the hardest-hitting of the opening round – which is exactly why the Jets wanted Tanev back in the place he started his NHL career. Seattle received a 2nd round pick for their fan favorite, who has 11 hits, six blocks and zero points in a series tied 2-2 going into tonight’s Game 5.
Daniel Sprong, New Jersey: In his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it second tour of duty with the Kraken, Sprong scored one goal and one assist in 10 games. Traded at the deadline to the Devils for a 7th round pick, Sprong suited up for Game 1 of New Jersey’s opening-round series against Carolina. In 11:07 TOI, the Dutch winger made two blocks and delivered two hits as the Hurricanes plastered NJ 4-1.
Sprong was a healthy scratch for the rest of the series, which Carolina wrapped up with a double-OT victory Tuesday, four games to one.