Undrafted Forward On Cusp Of Making Seattle Kraken
"It's a Cinderella story."
You probably recognize the classic riff by greenskeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) in Caddyshack. But in this case, the words aren't fiction. They were spoken sincerely by Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis, about Tye Kartye.
No one can accuse Kartye of doing things the easy way. He got cut from his junior team, the Soo Greyhounds. So he got better, made the team, but went undrafted. So he got better, scored 25 goals the next season for the Greyhounds, and went undrafted again.
But a Kraken scout named Mike Dawson had been following Kartye's progress since his peewee days. "I first saw him at a skills development camp,” Dawson told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “Tye stood out because he was always working his butt off, so positive and energetic.”
After attending Seattle training camp in 2021, Kartye got better again, scored 45 goals for the Soo, and finally earned a payday: a three-year contract with the Kraken. Assigned to AHL Coachella Valley, he managed to exceed expectations one more time, progressing from fourth-liner to AHL rookie of the year.
Not only that, in a postseason cameo with the Kraken, Kartye's hard shot and harder body checks opened eyes. He scored against the Colorado Avalanche in his NHL debut. "My wildest dream," he said, days before his 22nd birthday.
In 10 playoff games with Seattle, he totaled three goals and 44 hits. That was on top of 28 goals for the Firebirds, and six more in the AHL playoffs.
Kartye has an excellent chance of making the Kraken's opening night roster. In the clip below, I ask GM Francis about the rise of the player twice overlooked at the draft.