Finnish goalie prospect Niklas Kokko is ‘the future of the Seattle Kraken’

One catchy Kraken name was invoked more than any other during last weekend’s rookie tournament. Saturday’s Rookie Faceoff victory in Los Angeles marked Finnish goaltender Niklas Kokko’s first game in the U.S.

, and it was a good one, a 29-save effort. Members of the Kraken prospect pool, guided by the organization’s top minor-league coach, took down a group of future Colorado Avalanche hopefuls, 5-1. Early on it looked like a mismatch in the other direction but Kokko, 20, stood tall until his fellow Seattle prospects started scoring.



Kraken rookie camp veterans Jacob Melanson and Logan Morrison got the Kraken on the board, then newcomer Jakub Fibigr made it 3-0 by the end of the second period. Andrei Loshko and Kokko’s roommate, Jani Nyman, had the other two goals. Colorado didn’t find a way behind Kokko until the game was well out of hand.

Point-blank chances, rebounds, bouncing pucks — he had them all. The nerves didn’t show, and in fact, he found that the smaller North American rink dimensions suited him. The European, or “Olympic,” sized rinks he's used to are 13 feet wider.

He likes to play the puck and be in the thick of things, so smaller is better. “There isn't traffic (in front of the net),” Kokko said Tuesday. “But here, I get a lot of action and shots.

I like this rink size and game.” That’s highly convenient as he hopes to see these rink dimensions every day, very soon. "I know for Kokko, going into training camp, he's feeling pretty good about himself,” new Coachella Valley Firebirds coach Derek Laxdal said.

“Obviously, he's going to be a player that we're going to have in CV going forward. He's the future of the Seattle Kraken. So really looking forward to seeing what he can do and working with him.

" Kokko split the weekend slate with fellow goalie Victor Östman. In front of Östman, who just finished up four years at the University of Maine, a tweaked Kraken lineup fell behind and couldn’t rally all the way back against the Vegas Golden Knights’ prospects, settling for a 1-1 tournament split. Coming into his third Kraken camp, Kokko was listed at 6-foot-3 and 184 pounds.

He was taken by Seattle 58th overall in 2022. Kokko’s selection kicked off a Kraken tradition of selecting a Finnish goalie in each year’s draft. Visa Vedenpää was a sixth-rounder in 2023, followed by third-rounder Kim Saarinen this summer.

Kokko spent last season in Liiga, Finland's top professional league. He split time between Karpat and Pelicans and went on a deep postseason run with the latter, posting a .925 save percentage and 1.

81 goals-against average in 17 dominant games. He brought his old Pelicans mask to Seattle’s rookie camp. On the back is a design of a glam metal rocker, above Kokko’s nickname Nikke.

He explained that one thing led to another and some former Canadian teammates dubbed him Nikki Sixx, in honor of the co-founder of Mötley Crüe. That works doubly because that’s one of the bands on his pregame playlists, chock full of rock and EDM that get him fired up. It all looked very correct with his practice jersey and pads at Kraken Community Iceplex the past two weeks.

But Kokko said he hasn’t been told where he’s playing this upcoming season. The Kraken are seemingly set at goaltender with Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord. Chris Driedger left in free agency, so Driedger's former backup Ales Stezka looks like the organization’s No.

3 goalie, backed up by newcomer Östman in Coachella Valley. Each of the past two seasons, Seattle’s No. 3 goalie has been pressed into NHL game action due to injuries.

The Firebirds brought back goaltender Jack LaFontaine for the 2024-25 season after he helped the Kraken’s ECHL affiliate, the Kansas City Mavericks, to a Western Conference Championship last season. The ECHL is one level below the AHL and they share players. LaFontaine appeared in three games for the Firebirds last season.

Also under contract are Saarinen, who’s only 18 and likely staying in Finland, and Kokko. There could be room in North America, specifically in Coachella Valley or Kansas City, for Kokko. The hope and the goal is to make the jump this fall, but of course, he’ll go where his coaches tell him to.

“I work out every day and I hope the NHL is a step closer,” he said. He’d need to work on reading the game in the tighter quarters of North American rinks. His coaches will be happy to help with that.

"We’re going to have to break down (the season) — especially the first-year players — into seven-game segments and give them some feedback. Especially the young players, because they're going to be looking for it," Laxdal said. "They're going to need it.

” Kokko is also looking for an empty-netter, a pipe dream openly shared by fellow Kraken goaltender Daccord. Daccord surveyed the open ice several times last season, hoping to lob the puck the length of it. Kokko said he took aim at the opposite net in Liiga play exactly three times.

“But no goals,” he said. “I hope this season, I score.”.