Members of the Seattle Kraken 2021 NHL expansion draft class. From left to right: Jordan Eberle, Chris Driedger, Brandon Tanev, Jamie Oleksiak, Haydn Fleury and Mark Giordano. Photo courtesy of Alika Jenner.
After 16 years without expansion, the National Hockey League added two new teams in the past five years. These two teams — the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken — will battle each other on the NHL’s opening night on Oct. 12.
The Golden Knights shocked the sports world in 2018 by qualifying for the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season. Setting the bar high for all expansion teams following in their footsteps to achieve a similar level of success right out of the gate.