Calgary Kid Ryker Evans Pushing Seattle Kraken to Contention

It would be understandable if you weren’t familiar with the name of the breakout Calgary kid on the Seattle Kraken blue line this season. That name being, of course, being Ryker Evans.

Ryker Evans

Only 22 years old and overlooked in his first year of draft eligibility, rookie Ryker Evans has shown glimpses of being an offensive force in the NHL. His first NHL point came during the preseason in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta.  

An Early Glimpse of Greatness

With family and friends in attendance, the former Regina Pat showed the organization what he could do despite a lack of NHL experience.

23:18 in ice time, the lion’s share of that (8:57) was spent playing on special teams; Evans finished the night with an assist and a 61.11CF% at 5v5. The 5-foot-11, 189-pound left shot outscored the Calgary Flames 4-1 while on the ice.  

Not bad. 

The Kraken wanted to preach patience with Evans, sending him down to the Coachella Valley Firebirds to start the season. Vince Dunn was penciled in to handle the majority of power play time, and the Kraken used only one defenceman on each power play unit. Evans polished his game as the Kraken plodded along to an 8-14-7 record by December 10. Most noticeable over that time was a 29th-ranked Kraken offence at 2.52 goals per game. 

Needing a boost, Seattle General Manager Ron Francis summoned Ryker to the NHL. The risk-taking blueliner led all Firebirds defencemen in points per game with two goals and six assists in 18 AHL outings.  

Evans saw limited ice time in his first three NHL appearances, a brutal sequence of three games in four days (Dec. 7-10) against New Jersey, Tampa Bay, and Minnesota.  

The Aha! Moment!

Shortly after, on a Dec. 12 game against the Florida Panthers, Seattle Head Coach Dave Hakstol kicked up Evan’s minutes from an average of 17:25 to 18:19. The result was Ryker’s first NHL point, a primary assist on a sequence where he skated the puck behind the net and drew three Florida defenders to him before flinging the puck out to Pierre Eduard Bellemare for the one-timer.  

The Kraken took the game 4-0. 

In the next game, Francis pushed his ice time to a season high of 20:23 against a basement-dwelling Chicago Blackhawks team. Evans finished the night with two assists and outscored the Blackhawks 4-0 while on the ice.  

The game ended a 7-1 Seattle victory. 

Evans triumphantly finished out a four-in-three points streak with an assist in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kings. Since then, the defenceman has failed to hit the scoreboard, but with four points in eight games – there is certainly a case to be made for an accelerated promotion.

The team has outscored the opposition 8-4 with Ryker on the ice and has the second-best record (4-0-2) in the NHL since his Nov. 12 increase in ice time. During that stretch, the Kraken has seen their dismal offence flourish into a 3.50 goals for per game pace and have posted an NHL-best 1.67 goals against per game.  

With a record of 12-14-9 (33 pts) heading into their matchup against Evan’s hometown Calgary Flames and facing a seven-team, seven-point dogpile for the final two Wildcard spots, the Seattle Kraken have their hands full. The closest Wildard position is the Arizona Coyotes with 36 points. Still, with a burgeoning blueline star like Ryker Evans starting to push the needle in the right direction, maybe it’s too soon to count out the Kraken.