List of Seattle Kraken broadcasters

The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division and began play during the league's 2021–22 season.^[1] Throughout their history, Kraken games have been televised primarily on Root Sports Northwest and radio broadcast primarily on KJR-FM.

John Forslund has been the Kraken's play-by-play announcer for all three of their seasons.

Former Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes broadcaster John Forslund serves as the team's television play-by-play announcer.^[2][3] J. T. Brown is the Kraken's primary television color analyst.^[4] In August 2022, the team hired Eddie Olczyk to be a television analyst alongside Forslund and Brown. Olczyk maintained his job at TNT as the lead color commentator and called the Kraken's games as his schedule allowed.^[5] Piper Shaw has served as the ice level reporter for all three of their seasons. Alison Lukan is a studio analyst for Root Sports Northwest who filled in for Brown for a few games during the 2021–22 season and did the same for Olczyk. Nick Olczyk joined her as a TV, radio, and mobile app contributor for the 2022–23 season.^[6]

Everett Fitzhugh serves as the team's primary radio play-by-play announcer. He is the first Black full-time play-by-play announcer in NHL history.^[7][2] Former NHL player and Vancouver Canucks broadcaster Dave Tomlinson served as Fitzhugh's color analyst for the Kraken's first two seasons,^[8] before resigning in August 2023 to take a new broadcasting job in Canada.^[9] The Kraken then hired former Seattle Thunderbirds forward and Everett Silvertips commentator Al Kinisky to replace him.^[10] Mike Benton is the studio host for all radio broadcasts, serving pre-game, intermission, and post-game coverage. In 2021, Fitzhugh tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the Kraken's first-ever regular season road trip; on radio broadcasts, John Forslund and veteran KJR broadcaster Ian Furness filled in on play-by-play duties.^[11] The telecast for the Kraken's February 17, 2022, game against the Winnipeg Jets had Fitzhugh on play-by-play and Brown on color commentary, comprising the first all-Black broadcast booth in NHL history.^[12]

Kraken games were televised regionally on Root Sports Northwest for the team's first three seasons. On April 25, 2024, the Kraken signed a deal with Tegna, owners of Seattle NBC affiliate KING-TV and independent KONG, to air their games throughout their territory, with streaming handled by Prime Video.^[13] For radio, Kraken games are broadcast on KJR-FM 93.3 and KJR 950 AM, the flagship stations of the Kraken Audio Network. During a schedule conflict, some games may be heard on 96.5 KJAQ.^[14][15]

Television Broadcasters

• Root Sports Northwest (2021–2024)
• Kraken Hockey Network, KING-TV & KONG-TV (2024–present)

Television

Alison Lukan working between the benches with the Kraken.

In their first season, the Kraken averaged a 0.96 Nielsen rating for games broadcast on Root Sports Northwest. By comparison, the Vegas Golden Knights averaged a 1.87 rating in their first season for games broadcast locally on AT&T SportsNet.^[16]

From the beginning of their second season through mid-January 2023, the Kraken averaged a 0.68 rating, in the lowest third of the 23 United States NHL markets for which Nielsen ratings were available, despite a much better record than their first season at the same point.^[17] The team launched a new show, entitled What's Kraken?, on the over-the-air station KCPQ, to broaden fan support during the 2022–23 season.^[18] Seattle's high percentage of "broadband-only" homes, without cable or satellite TV service, and the unavailability of Root Sports Northwest on most over-the-top media services, contributed to the low ratings.^[19]

During their second and third seasons, the Kraken averaged a 0.7 rating for their October games on Root Sports Northwest. Shortly before the 2022–23 season, Comcast moved Root Sports Northwest to a higher-priced tier of service, due to the high cost and low demand for the channel.^[20]

Seattle Kraken television broadcasters

Year	Channel	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter	Studio host
2025–26	Kraken Hockey Network	John Forslund (most games)[12][2] Everett Fitzhugh (select games)[12]	J. T. Brown (primary) Eddie Olczyk (select games)	Piper Shaw (most games)[21]	Ian Furness (primary) Linda Cohn (select games)
2024–25
2023–24	Root Sports Northwest[22] [2]	John Forslund[2]	J. T. Brown (most games)[4] Eddie Olczyk (select games)[5] Nick Olczyk (select games)[6]		Ross Fletcher,[23] Tom Glasgow
2022–23
2021–22		John Forslund (most games)[12][2] Everett Fitzhugh (select games)[12]	J. T. Brown[12][4] Alison Lukan (Replaced Brown during a March game against the Washington Capitals)[6]

Radio

Seattle Kraken radio broadcasters

Year	Flagship Station	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Studio host
2025–26	KJR-FM[15]	Everett Fitzhugh (primary) Mike Benton (select games)	Al Kinisky[10]	Mike Benton (primary) Anderson Hirst (select games)[24]
2024–25
2023–24		Everett Fitzhugh[7] [10]		Mike Benton
2022–23			Dave Tomlinson[8]
2021–22		Everett Fitzhugh (most games)[11][7] John Forslund (select games when Fitzhugh was sick with COVID-19)[11] Ian Furness (select games when Fitzhugh was sick with COVID-19)[11] [8]

As of 2024, the Kraken Audio Network also includes the following stations outside Seattle:^[25]

• KIX FM 93.3 Spokane
• KALE AM 960 / FM 106.1 Tri-Cities
• KAPS AM 660 / FM 102.1 Mount Vernon
• KONP AM 1450 / FM 101.7 Port Angeles
• KBDB FM 96.7 Forks
• KYYO FM 96.9 Olympia
• KGY (HD2 of KYYO) FM 95.3 Olympia
• KPUG AM 1170 Bellingham
• KGMI AM 790 Bellingham
• KBBO AM 1390 Yakima
• KMAS AM 1030 / FM 103.3 Shelton
• KPOJ AM 620 Portland
• KCRX FM 102.3 Astoria
• KTZN AM 550 Anchorage
• KTKU FM 105.1 Juneau
• KTKN AM 930 / FM 95.7 Ketchikan
• KSRM AM 920 Kenai
• KIFW AM 1230 Sitka
• KVOK AM 560 / FM 98.7 Kodiak Island
• KOFE AM 1240 St. Maries
• KKVU FM 102.9 Missoula

See also

• List of current National Hockey League broadcasters