Kraken Defenseman Ryker Evans Has Never Stopped Surprising Teammates & Coaches

Today and tomorrow, an in-depth profile of 22-year-old Ryker Evans, who is expected to spend his first full NHL season patrolling the Seattle blueline in 2024-25.

Someday far in the future, Ryker Evans will be bouncing his grandkid on a knee while recounting his first NHL goal as a defenseman for the Seattle Kraken way back in 2024. But he might get interrupted during the telling. “You mean they used to have an NHL team in Arizona?”

(I realize the cryogenically-preserved head of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman may have awarded another franchise to Phoenix by then, but work with me.)

History will record that Evans scored his – so far – lone NHL tally against a team which went out of existence a month later, in an arena that wasn’t built to host pro hockey. During the 3rd period in Tempe, AZ on March 22, 2024, from the left circle at Arizona State University’s Mullet Arena, Evans sent a laser beam inside the far right post. He was only able to exclaim “Yes!” before being mobbed by ecstatic teammates.

Just months earlier, Evans had made his NHL debut in a December home game against New Jersey. It happened to coincide with a production crew filming the “Road To The Winter Classic” series, which ended up featuring Ryker’s proud parents in the Climate Pledge Arena stands.

“It hasn’t really sunk in,” said mom Lisa Evans, who once helped her son circumvent junior hockey rules. “I believed in him for so long, but now, it’s just emotional. So proud of him.”

Ryker describes dad Mike Evans, a power skating coach, as “a competitive guy” who once wouldn’t allow Ryker off the ice for seven minutes when his team wasn’t playing well. On this night, however, Mike admitted, “The tears came when he came out for his rookie lap. I didn’t think I was going to cry. But I did.”

A seven minute shift is only the beginning of what makes Ryker Evans unique. As he revealed to The Kraken Pod, he was worried at age 17 about reaching the minimum weight requirement to play in the Western Hockey League. (At 15, he was still only 5-foot-4, 115 pounds.) “We had to weigh in at the start of camp” with the Regina Pats. “We tied ankle weights to my thighs. My mom actually came up with the idea.”

Despite what ended up being four seasons and 195 games on the Pats blueline, Evans wasn’t selected in his 2019 or 2020 draft years. People who know Ryker’s unflappable demeanor may be surprised to learn that by the day of the 2021 NHL Draft, “I was mad that I got passed over twice.”

That oversight proved fortunate for Kraken GM Ron Francis, who placed a phone call to Regina on July 24, 2021. “Ryker, this is Ron Francis with the Seattle Kraken. Watching the draft?” Honest to a fault, Evans answered, “I just woke up.” “Did you see we picked you (in the 2nd round)?” “I did, yes. Thank you!” Kraken front office staff listening in erupted in laughter.

“I was just lying in bed,” Evans recalled. “My parents were upstairs watching the draft. All I heard was yelling and screaming. I thought someone set the house on fire. Two minutes later, Ron called.”

Tomorrow: Evans is the subject of a Kraken Reaction video with comments from coach Dan Bylsma and defenseman Vince Dunn.