Signin’ O’Brien & Images From Kraken Development Camp

Between periods of the annual “Stucky Cup” development camp game , the Seattle Kraken on Thursday exercised another annual tradition – the public signing of their 1st round draft choice.

To roars from a packed house at Kraken Community Iceplex, general manager Jason Botterill announced that Jake O’Brien was about to be presented with his entry level contract. The 18-year-old playmaking center was chosen 8th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday.

“Jake has amazing hockey sense,” Botterill said to the KCI crowd, “and is driven to get better. It’s every boy’s dream to play in the National Hockey League. That first step is to sign your first pro contract.”

O’Brien then joined his GM on the ice, took hold of a clipboard, and added his signature to a contract that will pay him $975,000 for each of the next three years.

Later, Kraken director of player development Jeff Tambellini broke out a wide grin when O’Brien’s name was mentioned. “You see the size, the skill, the smarts, what he can do at 6-2. We project that at 22 years old, what that’s going to look like, and from our standpoint, we get very excited. It’s great just to see the potential.”

2025 Kraken Development Camp In Pictures

Thursday’s intrasquad scrimmage was won 4-3 by Team Blue, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to Team White. The 3 stars were #3 Swedish forward Loke Krantz (7th round, 2025), #2 Berkly Catton (1st round, 2024), and #1 Ben MacDonald (3rd round, 2022). Team Blue goalie Visa Vedenpaa (6th round, 2023) held his team close with saves on multiple breakaways and high-danger rushes.

Below are some of ace photog Jenn Goldberg’s best snaps from the last three days of drills and scrimmages at KCI. The captions, as always, are my fault.