- Kraken re-sign goalie Victor Ostman to a one-year, two-way deal at the $850K minimum
- Defenseman Ville Ottavainen also back on a one-year contract after two AHL seasons
- Read below for what both depth pieces bring to Seattle’s system
The Kraken locked up two of their organizational depth pieces on Friday.
Seattle re-signed goaltender Victor Ostman to a one-year, two-way contract and announced a matching one-year deal for defenseman Ville Ottavainen, per the team. Ostman’s deal carries the league-minimum $850,000 cap hit at the NHL level and keeps him a restricted free agent again next summer.
Neither move reshapes the roster, but both keep useful bodies in the pipeline during an offseason that already sent Shane Wright out in a summer trade.
Ostman, 25, has quietly climbed the depth chart since finishing his college career at Maine. He signed with the Kraken late in 2023-24, spent most of that first pro year in the ECHL with the Kansas City Mavericks, then settled in as an AHL regular last season.
He went 17-15-3 in 36 games for the Coachella Valley Firebirds with a .906 save percentage and a 2.81 goals-against average. The 25-year-old also got his first taste of the NHL, starting one game in mid-April, a 2-0 loss to Colorado where he stopped 33 of 35 shots.
Ottavainen has taken a bumpier road. The Kraken drafted the Finnish blueliner 99th overall in 2021 out of JYP, and he looked like a find early in his AHL career, putting up eight goals and 34 points with a plus-27 rating across 70 games.
The last two years have not gone the same way. Ottavainen managed just six goals and 32 points in 121 games since, and he has played exactly one NHL game, picking up an assist in his 2024-25 debut before dropping back to the minors.
Both give Seattle experienced organizational depth heading into 2026-27, with Ostman pushing for AHL starts and Ottavainen still chasing a real crack at the NHL roster.
