The Black Alternate Era

Almost every team in the NHL has dipped into the black jersey market since the turn of the millennium. The list of teams that have not worn a black jersey in the last quarter-century is down to nine with the Seattle Kraken opting to remove their name from that list yesterday, and I'm not sure why they believe this was a necessary addition to their closets. Seattle has a great colour scheme that they can use to come up with a jersey, but that organization decided that black was necessary in 2025-26 while copying another team's retro idea. Welcome to the Seattle black jersey era!

With Jordan Eberle wearing the new threads above, let's get a better look at this black alternate jersey in both required light spectrums.

Yes, you're seeing that correctly - the new alternate glows in the dark just like the 2022-23 Vegas Golden Knights' Reverse Retro jersey. I'm not saying that NHL teams are unoriginal, but perhaps imitation is, indeed, the sincerest form of flattery. After all, the Vegas Golden Knights were the Stanley Cup champions in the same season they wore their glow-in-the-dark jerseys, so perhaps the Kraken are trying to conjure that same magic? Either way, we've seen this before.

What makes this jersey reveal even more astounding is that the Kraken went to the trouble of creating an entire website to justify their use of a black jersey. I mean, full credit for trying to make it relevant by referencing the deep ocean where that world is "forged in the shadows and illuminated by the eerie glow of bioluminescence," but the verbal diarrhea used to explain the features of this jersey is something to behold.

"Black from helmet to blade, this head-to-toe look brings pure stealth to the ice with a matte black lid and sonar pings echoing across the sleeves and socks. It moves as one: fluid, silent, and built to surge."

The Kraken finished as the 25th-overall team last season. Sonar pings and "pure stealth" aren't helping you make the playoffs this year.

What baffles me is the giant missed opportunity that the Kraken wasted here. They have the outline of the "S" logo worn on the chest glow in the dark, but they didn't use the opportunity to have the Kraken's red eye glow in the dark. From what I understand, a kraken would live in the deep ocean where it would rule over its kingdom in that dark realm, so why wouldn't the eye glow red in the dark as a menacing reminder of the kraken's fierceness? How could something like this not be the first thing the Kraken seize when talking "glow in the dark" elements? That eye should glow as brightly in the dark as the Eye of Sauron did over Mordor in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Instead, it's invisible.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know my feelings towards teams that opt for black alternate jerseys when black isn't part of their colour scheme. This is hard fail from the Seattle Kraken for that aspect alone, but that glow-in-the-dark miss is a hard mistake to overlook. The striping is bad and the lack of original Kraken colours is bad, so the Kraken should have left this jersey in the abyss from where it came. It's terrible.

I get that selling jerseys is how NHL teams make money, but, if you're a Kraken fan, there are better options. Personally, the 2022-23 Reverse Retro jersey or the 2024 Stadium Series jersey are better options as they incorporate colours that are synonymous with the Kraken brand, but perhaps I'm too much of a traditionalist for these black alternates. The best news that I can break here is that they're only going to be worn eleven times this season. That, to me, is a win.

One of the reasons that we know very little about the depths of the ocean where light can't reach is due to pressure. I have no idea how much pressure the designers of this jersey were under when they conceived it, but jerseys like this shouldn't be brought to the surface.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!