We now have an official team name for the NHL’s 32nd franchise in Seattle.
The Seattle Kraken will be the name of the NHL’s latest expansion team. They’re set to begin play in the 2021-22 season in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Arizona Coyotes will move to the Central Division prior to that season. The Seattle expansion draft is scheduled to take place during the 2021 offseason.
NHL Seattle made the announcement across their social media channels on Thursday morning. You can get a full look at the design below.
BREAKING:
The NHL's 32nd team has a name:The SEATTLE KRAKEN pic.twitter.com/0o3BuKETKi
— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) July 23, 2020
A legend from the deep awakens.
Meet the Seattle Kraken → https://t.co/to5BtVVPh1 pic.twitter.com/FQfOdaiGQQ
— Seattle Kraken (@NHLSeattle_) July 23, 2020
Here are a few looks at the jerseys.
🔥🔥🔥
can't wait until these officially drop @adidashockey! pic.twitter.com/HA6tp8USE0
— Seattle Kraken (@NHLSeattle_) July 23, 2020
Seattle Kraken. Love the Space Needle anchor. Jerseys via @icethetics. pic.twitter.com/TT84styfkd
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 23, 2020
The Seattle franchise teased the announcement on their Twitter account Wednesday evening. The video was shot on a boat out on the water and hinted at what was to come the following morning. The video racked up over 1.5 million views in less than 24 hours.
07.23.2020 – 9:00am PT
The 32nd franchise comes to life. pic.twitter.com/4J8k0UTEn3
— NHL Seattle (@NHLSeattle_) July 23, 2020
While we now know the name of the NHL Seattle franchise, we already knew which arena they would be playing in. It was announced in late-June that Amazon President Jeff Bezos had bought the naming rights to Seattle’s NHL Arena. KeyArena, which is currently under redevelopment, will be renamed Climate Pledge Arena and will be the home of the Kraken. It will be the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world.
Climate Pledge Arena has a capacity of 17,400 (for hockey) and is expected to open in June 2021. The redeveloped arena was previously the home of the Seattle Storm (WNBA) and the Rat City Roller Derby league of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.
The Kraken will be the league’s second expansion team in four years. The Vegas Golden Knights previously entered the league at the beginning of the 2017-18 season. Prior to the Vegas Golden Knights, the last two NHL expansion franchises were the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets, who both entered the league in the 2000-01 season.