Kraken Stumble Early, Fall Short Late in 5-3 Home Finale Loss vs. Kings
Trailing 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday, the Seattle Kraken fought to cut the deficit during the second period.
Both Kings goals came from forward Quinton Byfield beating Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren to the puck around the Los Angeles blue line and scoring on a breakaway, but Seattle hoped it would benefit from a similar bounce.
A Vince Dunn shot from the point was obstructed by a teammate and swept away at 5:16, and Berkly Catton went wide from the netfront off a centering pass nearly a minute later. Ryan Winterton also had a look from a tight angle at 6:51, but it would be the Kings that struck next at 7:13.
Alex Laferriere sent a shot wide off the end boards that barely slipped under Matty Beniers’ stick and straight to Trevor Moore in the left circle. Moore’s shot off the rebound beat Kraken goalie Nikke Kokko to make it 3-0.
The Kraken brought the game back within one goal twice during the third period, but ultimately fell 5-3 to close out their 2025-26 home slate. Eliminated from playoff contention, Seattle has two more road games this season.
Storm Rumble Into the Future with Bold 2026 WNBA Draft
The Seattle Storm have found a direction after a frenzied few days of free agency.
The four-time WNBA champions held the No. 3 overall pick after going 23-21 last season with stars Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams leading the way. All three players departed the Emerald City in the past few days, leaving 2026 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga and recently re-signed All-Defensive center Ezi Magbegor to build around.
The Storm watched top guards like No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd and No. 2 pick Olivia Miles fly off the board before taking Spanish teen star Awa Fam, who many experts projected to go first, at No. 3. With the 14th pick, Seattle took Duke point guard Taina Mair before selecting TCU’s Marta Suárez at No. 16.
But moments later, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert shocked viewers by announcing that Seattle had traded Suárez and a 2028 second-rounder for the night’s No. 8 pick, LSU star Flau’jae Johnson.
Naylor Bombs, Kirby Strikes Finish Mariners’ Four-Game Sweep against Astros
How quickly things can turn around for a baseball club. Just four days prior, the Mariners took a badly-needed rest day as they came off a five-game skid to round out an opening baker’s dozen contests where each series had been worse than the last: a four-game split, a three-game series loss to a good team (the Yankees), a three-game series loss to a bad one (the Angels), and a three-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers.
And then an odd thing happened: the M’s got handed a get-right series by the Houston Astros of all teams. The same Astros that had tyrannized the division for a decade, with a philosophy of a never-ending window and an organization that seemed to churn out All-Stars like butter. But early in April, Houston’s arms have been either banged-up, straight-up bad, or both.
With that and a bit of mental fortitude, a Mariners offense who had scored 40 runs in their first 13 games finished up a 29-run four-game set with a 6-2 victory over their rivals on Monday, completing as big a sweep as an April series can offer.
Josh Naylor finally broke through his early-season slump, mashing two homers and knocking in five.
For much of the beginning of the year, even during the sparse games when the offense put up strong numbers, the bulk of the production had been coming from the bottom of the lineup. Even in the turnaround game on Friday and the thunderous comeback on Saturday, it was Randy Arozarena and bottom of the order that got the party started.
WNBA Draft Tracker: Storm Select Awa Fam 3rd Overall
Following a transformative free agency period that has the Seattle Storm trending towards a rebuild, the 2026 WNBA Draft is exceptionally important to the future of the franchise.
The Storm have four picks in the draft: Picks No. 3, 14, 16 (second round) and 39 (third round). All eyes are on the top selection, as Seattle could be acquiring the player who will team up with 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga for the long haul. With Malonga and Ezi Magbegor making up the starting frontcourt, look for the Storm to try to acquire a star member of the backcourt.
Storm Free Agency Recap: Good, Bad and Ugly From Transformational Signing Period
It’s hard to say the dust has settled on an expectedly tumultuous free agency period for the Seattle Storm, especially with the team rolling straight into a four-pick menu in Monday’s WNBA Draft.
The Storm are going to look very different just one year after a disappointing 23-21 finish in 2025 that saw them eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Las Vegas Aces for the second straight season.
Analysis: Identifying Best Defensive Tackle Fits For Seahawks’ 2026 Draft Picks
On the way to a 17-3 overall record and their second Super Bowl title in franchise history, no positional group may have had a greater impact than the Seattle Seahawks’ talented defensive line anchored by All-Pro Leonard Williams, budding star Byron Murphy II, and ever-so-reliable veteran Jarran Reed.
As they prepare to defend their title in 2026, the Seahawks fortunately will have all three of those foundational players as well as nose tackle Brandon Pili back, while second-year defender Rylie Mills will be fully healthy after missing most of his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL and ready to take on a bigger role in the rotation. From that standpoint, the defensive line looks to be set for the franchise heading towards the upcoming draft, and in the short term, they certainly have more pressing needs.
With that said, Williams and Reed both are now well into their 30s and the former will be entering the final year of a three-year extension signed in March 2024, creating some potential questions beyond this season. Well-ran football teams must consider both the present and the future with draft-related decisions, and if the right prospect remains on the board as early as pick No. 32 in the first round on April 23, nobody should be surprised at all if general manager John Schneider decides to reinforce a strength with another quality young player who can jump in to provide early contributions and possibly be a replacement for Williams and/or Reed down the line.
Looking at this year’s latest crop of defensive tackles, which players stand out as the best potential fits to boost an already loaded defensive line for 2026 and beyond with each of their four selections?
Houston Transfer, Former Five-Star Recruit Isiah Harwell Commits to Gonzaga
Before he committed to Houston out of high school in September 2024, Isiah Harwell had the Gonzaga Bulldogs as one of his four finalists, along with Texas and California.
About a year and a half later, the 6-6 guard turned back to that list, committing to transfer to the Zags after his freshman season with the Cougars. First reported by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Harwell made the decision official with an Instagram post, captioned “Go Zags!!!” He is the first portal addition for GU in what will surely be a busy offseason.
A five-star prospect and ranked in the consensus top 20 of his class, Harwell showcased elite ability on both sides of the ball coming out of Utah’s Wasatch Academy. He suffered an ACL tear prior to his senior season, which was eventually reaggravated and lingered into his first year with the Cougs. The nagging injury led to increased inefficiency and a decrease in playing time down the stretch, but Gonzaga now looks to bring out the best of Harwell.
Fateful Forward Pack Errors Accumulate for Seawolves in 34-25 Road Loss to Anthem
Things didn’t go according to Seattle’s plan in Charlotte. While the Seawolves’ ability to create threats on offense was clear, an uncharacteristically bad day for the forward pack and some mistakes by Rhyno Herbst set them back points, meters, and eventually led to the visitors dropping the whole game without a single extra point in the table.
The final score of 34-25 was just too great a gap for the Seawolves to earn that bonus point for being within seven, but not great enough for all the mistakes they made to not have been the difference. In truth, both sides looked like they had quite a bit to work on despite their evident talent.
Anthem Rugby Carolina entered the match having gone 1-33 in their entire history, having given up 1305 points while scoring just 663 points in those games per the North American Rugby Database (NARDb).
And yet they were not to be underestimated. With Agustín Cavalieri at the helm, the team brought on some MLR heavy-hitters and notched its first win in team history, 39-26 over the California Legion to begin the 2026 MLR season.
WNBA Draft Preview: Storm Head Into 2026 With Big Shoes to Fill, But Plenty of Flexibility
If you found yourself in the recesses of Climate Pledge Arena for some Seattle Storm basketball last summer, chances are you saw one of the following:
A passionate Skylar Diggins hyping up her bench after a 3-pointer or a timely assist.
WNBA president Nneka Ogwumike settling into the post to hit a turnaround jumper to get Seattle rolling.
First-time All-Star Gabby Williams notching one of her three steals per game to flip the momentum to the home team.
The chances of one of those three things happening were practically 100% every night.
Those odds stand at 0% after a wild start to free agency.
Seahawks’ Desire to Boost Backfield Worst Kept Secret Heading Into 2026 NFL Draft
With a microphone in front of them, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider and Mike Macdonald haven’t been shy voicing their confidence in a running back room that has drawn plenty of questions from outside the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Even after letting Ken Walker III leave for a record-setting free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs and choosing not to make any external additions aside from taking a one-year flier on former Green Bay Packers backup Emmanuel Wilson, with the knowledge Zach Charbonnet likely will miss at least half of the 2026 season recovering from a torn ACL, both members of Seattle’s brain trust have suggested critics may be overlooking the talent still remaining on the roster.
But while Schneider and Macdonald may be higher on Holani, Wilson, and the Seahawks’ current stable of backs than those who aren’t in the building, reading deeper into their comments in recent weeks and reported pre-draft visits, they’re also clearly looking for upgrades to help offset the impact of Walker’s exit and Charbonnet’s injury.
Crawford Completes Comeback with Walk-Off Single, Mariners Best Astros 8-7
“J.P.! J.P.! J.P.!” rang out the chorus of 43,294 happy, exhausted spectators on Saturday night. Perhaps some of the Central Washington students among them (who had a special discount for the game and got some CWU-themed jerseys) were planning on continuing the night on Lower Queen Anne or Capitol Hill; the older and wiser CWU alums in the crowd were probably set to take their modes of transportation home so as to get some shuteye. All of them shared in the electricity of the evening’s end.
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford hadn’t been part of much of the first two weeks of the season for Seattle, nursing a shoulder injury sustained in Spring Training, and the first five games of his season saw him hit a paltry .118 over 26 plate appearances.
“I was going crazy not being able to play,” Crawford told Mariners TV’s Ryan Rowland-Smith after the game.
The Mariners shortstop had put together a 1-3 game with two walks during Seattle’s skid-breaking win on Friday, hitting leadoff with Brendan Donovan out of the lineup with an illness. But Saturday night saw him punch through a pair of massive bases-loaded singles to bookend the team’s biggest comeback of the young year.
Cougars Portal Tracker: Who’s Departing, Who’s Arriving in Pullman?
Dealing with the realities of modern college athletics, the Washington State Cougars have seen a mass exodus of players from their 2025-26 roster hitting the transfer portal this spring.
Who will be departing Pullman? And which players will come to town as replacements from the portal? Check out our tracker often, as all scholarship players that announce their intentions to leave Washington State or to join the Cougars will be added in real time.
Kraken Goalie Nikke Kokko ‘Comfortable’ in First NHL Start as Seattle Beats Flames Amid Elimination
The Seattle Kraken picked up a solid 4-1 win over the visiting Calgary Flames on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena, winning their second straight game after a rough stretch.
Before the game, the Kraken learned they were mathematically eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention by virtue of the Kings’ win earlier Saturday.
Kokko’s Big Night
Both of Seattle’s main goalies, Joey Daccord and backup Philipp Grubauer, were out with lower-body injuries. Matt Murray is away from the team tending to a personal matter.
Randy Arozarena’s Mammoth Fifth Inning Homer Reverses Hitting Woes, M’s Beat Stros 9-6
The look on Andrés Muñoz’ face told it all as Leo Rivas stepped on third to complete the final out: exhaustion and catharsis.
It was a feeling that reverberated around Mariners country as the team won its first game and nearly a week, put more than two runs on the board for the first time in a few days, and had a solid defensive showing after scores of innings full of botched glovework.
The Astros’ struggling pitching and the Mariners’ struggling offense both showed early on Friday.
Ichiro’s statue unveiling outside T-Mobile Park on Friday night encountered an unusual mishap: the bat cracked and bent at the handle as the tarp was taken off to unveil it.
It was the proverbial picture that said a thousand words about the Mariners offense. Over the first 13 games, the Mariners had failed to score before extras in four of them. The whole batting crew had looked about as lost as three Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest.
Analysis: What Does Underlying Data Say about Mariners’ Hitting Abyss?
There have been a lot of bad results with the bat in the first 13 games the Mariners have played in 2026, and for every bad result, there are 1,000 ways to quantify and describe it: worst in the league in average (.184), on-base percentage (.280), and slugging percentage (.301). The league’s second-lowest hard-hit rate (34.2%) and highest whiff rate (32.9%). Bat speed declines for Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor, and others.
But with 149 games left to go, how much of this is actually meaningful and predictive? How much of it is pure noise?
The top lines are too early to tell right now; any answers will come from underlying data.
There isn’t much that can be told from the first 13 games as to which disappointing slash stats are because a good player is in a slump and which are because the player is plain overmatched. Both Aaron Judge and Willi Castro entered Friday with a .222 batting average, but it’s safe to say that their career OPSes of 1.025 and .696, respectively, are good indicators of who is more likely to get hot.
Jerone Morton Departs as Cougars Continue to Lose Talent to Transfer Portal
The transfer portal has struck again for Washington State, as the Cougars have now lost two of the four remaining players from the 2025-2026 season.
According to 247Sports, both Jerone Morton and Brunel Madzou have entered the transfer portal, leaving the Cougars with only one scholarship player - Dominik Robinson - still on the roster from last year’s team.
Seattle Storm Free Agency Tracker: Signings, Departures and Rumors
As expected, WNBA free agency began this week and quickly picked up steam once it started rolling. The Seattle Storm are already looking at making an entirely new team heading into the 2026 season.
Veterans are on their way out, and it remains to be seen how much interest the team will get from unrestricted free agents. More than two-thirds of the WNBA players are free agents, and a lot of money will be moving around under the new CBA.
Teams have to act fast ahead of the WNBA Draft on Monday, April 13, to see how their rosters will look before making rookie selections.
Official 30/Local Visits Tracker: Who Have Seahawks Met With Leading Up to 2026 NFL Draft?
With the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in the rearview mirror and free agency well underway, the Seattle Seahawks and all 32 NFL teams are in the midst of scheduling and conducting their pre-draft top-30 visits.
In this process, each NFL team can bring in up to 30 players to their respective facilities for interviews and meetings with coaches as well as medical examinations and physicals. In addition, teams can also bring in local players for official visits, which do not count as one of the top-30 visits. While these on-site meetings are only part of the evaluation process leading up to the three-day event, they can play a critical role in determining where each player ends up on draft weekend.
Which players have already met with the Seahawks or are scheduled to come to town for top-30 visits and local visits before the 2026 NFL Draft?
Kraken Snap Skid with Shootout Win Against Vegas
It looked like the same story.
The Vegas Golden Knights executed a 4-on-2 rush, finished off by Brett Howden just 1:11 into the third period at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday to put the Seattle Kraken down 3-1.
After losing 10 of their past 11 games, including five straight in regulation entering Thursday, the Kraken’s playoff hopes are only alive in a minute mathematical sense. Crumbling down the stretch, unable to find the urgency needed to string together positive results, Seattle could only be expected to pack it in once again.
However, after Berkly Catton benefited from a fortuitous bounce to cut it to 3-2, Bobby McMann tied the game midway through the third period. The Kraken played through an eventful overtime period before Matty Beniers and Catton scored in the shootout to lift Seattle to a 4-3 win.
Nneka Ogwumike Leaving Storm, Skylar Diggins May Follow
Veteran forward and unrestricted free agent Nneka Ogwumike will not be returning to the Seattle Storm for the 2026 season and is receiving strong interest from the Los Angeles Sparks in free agency, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
Ogwumike confirmed her departure from the Storm with a farewell post to the franchise on social media. She has also met with the Minnesota Lynx, per Philippou.
The Storm may be losing multiple of their premier veterans, as point guard Skylar Diggins is also reportedly in talks with the Chicago Sky, per Beta Basket’s Roberta F. Rodrigues.
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