Only about one in four 7th round draft picks will suit up for even one NHL game. Only one in nine will reach 100 NHL games in their careers, according to TheHockeyWriters.com.
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That’s unlikely to faze 2025 Kraken 7th rounder Loke Krantz, because he’s already beaten stiffer odds. At age eight, he was diagnosed with leukemia. “That journey is something I will never forget,” he recalled in a Swedish interview.
“Clearly the hardest of my life. Lots of chemotherapy, tough treatments and tough mornings. It was incredibly tough to get back to hockey. I played my first match after just one year, but it was very tough. I missed hockey every day and just wanted to get out on the ice, but I didn’t have the energy I wished to have.”
Krantz, who turned 18 in May, has regained that energy. At a robust 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, the winger played 44 games in 2024-25 for his hometown club, Linkoping HC of the Swedish Junior League. He scored 12 regular season goals, and one more in the playoffs.
The 218th overall pick made the 4,700-mile trek from Enköping to Seattle to attend Kraken development camp earlier this month. What’s more, he was named one of the three stars of the annual intrasquad scrimmage, by virtue of two assists in the Stucky Cup.
As the Kraken’s Bob Condor reported, Krantz then learned about a Kraken tradition – the yeeting of a salmon plushie into the stands at Kraken Community Iceplex. “I didn’t really know what to do with it, but they just told me to throw it in the crowd. So, I said ‘Oh, is that all?’ So, I did it. It was a lot easier than throwing a real one at (Pike Place) market.”
It’ll be several years before we know if Krantz will become a late-round steal for the Kraken, like past 7th round NHL stars Doug Gilmour, Joe Pavelski – and Kraken goalie Joey Daccord. If not, that’s okay. Krantz was declared cancer-free in 2018. As he says, “Do your best all the time, then it will work out just fine.”
YOU Get A Goalie Coach. And YOU Get A Goalie Coach…
The Kraken have completed the restaffing of their goalie coaches up and down the organization. When Steve Briere was fired earlier this off-season, the Kraken promoted AHL goalie coach Colin Zulianello.
That created an opening in Coachella Valley, which the Firebirds have filled with the hiring of Vince Stalletti.
He served the past five seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Connecticut men’s hockey team. From a team release: “Under Stalletti’s guidance, three UConn goaltenders signed NHL entry-level contracts: Tomas Vomacka (Nashville), Callum Tung (NY Rangers), and Arsenii Sergeev (Calgary).” Previously, Stalletti played Division III college hockey between the pipes.
The ECHL Kansas City Mavericks last week installed PD Melgoza as their new netminding whisperer.
Proposed Kraken Iceplex In Kirkland Won’t Include Rooftop Option
The Drifters released one of the sweetest melodies of all time in 1962, “Up On The Roof.”
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let’s go up on the roof (up on the roof)
Kirkland City Council rendering.
The Kirkland City Council had that dream too, that the eastside Kraken Iceplex & Community Center would include an accessible rooftop. However, it appears that will have to remain a dream.
The council at its July meeting was told utilizing the roof of the structure could raise the cost by several million dollars, and delay the opening by 6-8 months. That’s because a second support structure would have to be constructed.
The dual sheet Iceplex is otherwise on track for a Sept. 1, 2027 opening.
“The ground lease is when it becomes super real,” assistant city mgr. Jim Lopez told the council. The “preferred” option involves the Kraken committing to construct on city land. “The city sells bonds, and purchases the building when it’s finished. The Kraken build the Iceplex with private capital. They take the risk. We then lease the building back to the Kraken.”
The city council will be provided the next update on Aug. 6.