SEATTLE — On May 15, 2023, thousands of fans filed into Climate Pledge Arena to watch a hockey game. They came in jerseys and octopus hats and blue hair dye and mermaid fins, looking the playoff part. They came despite the unrelenting 86-degree heat, a Seattle spring outlier. They came with signs and dolls donning custom-made Kraken jerseys, with hockey sticks and hope.

They came to watch a game played more than 2,000 miles away.

To salute a season that lasted longer than any pundit predicted.

To support a core built for a brighter future, for prolonged playoff runs.

Which is why, when Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the Kraken’s only goal with 19 seconds left in a 2-1 loss, they sang anyway. They belted Nirvana’s “Lithium” for a final time, a Seattle serenade. They oozed enthusiastic optimism, even amid a Game 7 defeat to the smothering Dallas Stars.

For those in attendance, it was an ending that felt like the opposite, an undeterred hors d’oeuvre.

“They are very much built for playoff success,” said Bothell resident Brett Schock, who attended the watch party with his 12-year-old son. “So people are finally coming around to see that, because they’re getting the results.”

A year later — after the results dried up — are the Kraken built to rebound?

Last May, it looked like this franchise was on a path to consistent success. Following that encouraging playoff run, and a dismissal of the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, the Kraken extended general manager Ron Francis and head coach Dave Hakstol. Their core — including Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers, leading scorer Jared McCann, Vince Dunn, Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson, Philipp Grubauer and Bjorkstrand, etc. — remained under contract through 2024.

But could the Kraken ride a wave of goodwill and fan engagement into the stratosphere?

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