Ducks Tales: The Pacific Northwest’s newest NHL team will be called the Seattle Kraken

The Anaheim Ducks now know the name of their newest Pacific Division rival. The Emerald City’s NHL franchise will be known as the Seattle Kraken.

Seattle won’t begin playing until the 2021-22 season, with Hall of Famer Ron Francis as the general manager. As part of the NHL’s realignment plan, the Kraken will join the Ducks in the Pacific Division, while the Arizona Coyotes will move to the Central Division. With the moves, the league will be balanced with eight teams in all of the four divisions.

Here is a look at the logo, and jersey concept:

Kraken

The team will play at the Climate Pledge Arena, yes, seriously, that is the name. Seattle will enter the league under the same expansion rules as the Las Vegas Golden Knights. With the salary cap expected to be flat over the next year or two due to the pandemic, the Kraken could come in and have immediate success like the Golden Knights.

Anaheim general manager Bob Murray will have some decisions to make when it comes to the expansion draft. The good news is that with the Ducks rebuilding their roster, first-and-second year players are exempt from being exposed.

It should be fun with another division rival joining the fray.

What do you think of the Kraken name, logo and jersey concepts?

On to some links:

What are some of the best NHL teams in history? The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe submitted his list, and has both Anaheim team names far down his rankings.

Hampus Lindholm had a down year this past season. Ben Shelley of Hockey Buzz did a deep dive reviewing the defenseman’s performance.

Even though the Ducks aren’t a part of the NHL’s return to play, I’m still excited that hockey is almost back! Here is the schedule for the play-in round, which begins Aug. 1. (NBC Sports)