Relax! Anxiety Over Kakko’s Kraken Arbitration Filing Overblown

Relax! Anxiety Over Kakko’s Kraken Arbitration Filing Overblown

Our first 2025-26 season contender for most hysterical the-sky-is-falling! headline involving a Seattle Kraken player comes courtesy of a New York Rangers blog. As a restricted free agent, Kraken winger Kaapo Kakko was eligible for, and elected, salary arbitration. The facts of the process aren’t nearly as hyperbolic, and should be far less worrisome, to Kraken fans. Source

Understanding the arbitration process: What it means for Kaapo Kakko and the Kraken - Sound Of Hockey

It happens every offseason—restricted free agents file for arbitration, and fanbases panic. In the case of the Seattle Kraken, forward Kaapo Kakko has filed for arbitration, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to do so. However, no Kraken player has ever made it to an actual arbitration hearing. Each has instead found common ground and signed a contract beforehand. So, what does the arbitration process entail, and what does this mean …