SEATTLE — Over the summer, LeAnn and Russ Yamamoto were golfing near their Spokane home when their phones lit up with a text from their son Kailer. He had big news. After starting his career with the Edmonton Oilers, he was off to the Kraken. Seattle had signed him to a free-agent deal, making him the club’s first Washington-born player.
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LeAnn and Russ couldn’t contain their joy and began cheering on the golf course. Their son was coming home — or at least as close to home as possible.
“I think my parents were more excited than I was,” the 25-year-old Kailer said.
Don’t get Yamamoto wrong. He’s thrilled to be in Seattle, too. Not only is he a drive away from his hometown, but he also has a new beginning after getting traded from Edmonton, the team that drafted him in 2017, and then being bought out by Detroit a day later. There’s reason to hope the move, fresh start and good feelings could help Yamamoto again tap into the potential that once made him a first-round pick.
“We were excited when the Kraken (joined the league), but we couldn’t get too excited because he was playing for the Oilers,” LeAnn says. “Now it’s even more exciting.”
Though born and raised mostly in Spokane, Yamamoto frequently came to Seattle for hockey as a kid. Spokane isn’t a youth hockey hub, so travel had to be part of the equation to reach his goals. He played on teams in Seattle, Vancouver and Los Angeles while growing up, then went to his hometown Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League. Though only 5-foot-8, he showed enough promise with the Chiefs that Edmonton drafted him in the first round.
The winger set high expectations for himself when he had 26 points in 27 NHL games during the shortened 2019-20 season. He then followed that up with 20 goals and 41 points in 2021-22, finishing the season strong and helping Edmonton to its first conference finals since 2006. His favorite moment with the club, though, came the next postseason, when he scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 of Edmonton’s series with the Kings. That propelled the Oilers to the second round.
Yamamoto feels fortunate the Oilers drafted him. He made good friends in Edmonton and proved capable of playing with superstar players. Leon Draisaitl was one of his main linemates, and Yamamoto believes his tenaciousness winning puck battles helped make him a good fit with the star.
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“Obviously he could win puck battles, but you don’t see him first on the forecheck a lot,” Yamamoto says. “Just being able to do that and win those battles enabled me to play with him.”
But playing in a Canadian market comes with pressure, and Yamamoto felt it when he struggled to consistently replicate the flashes he showed in 2019-20.
“It just feels like you’re, I don’t want to say walking on eggshells, but if you’re not like a top-six guy, it seems like you’ve just got to do the right thing every time,” he says. “I think everyone just gets in their own head a little bit too much. At least that’s what I kind of felt like. It’s not like you’re playing bad hockey, you just always feel like you can do more. You’re always thinking in your head you need to do more, when probably less is more.”
Additionally, Oilers general manager Ken Holland has been battling the salary cap, and that’s made it hard to pay players like Yamamoto. After his 20-goal year, Yamamoto says he went into restricted free-agent contract negotiations expecting to get a “pretty long contract.” He was surprised when the Oilers offered only one or two-year deals.
Ultimately, he signed a two-year deal for $3.1 million annually, but he knew that his long-term future might not be in Edmonton. That added even more pressure. He deleted Twitter and Instagram from his phone to get away from the noise.
“It was actually fairly nice. I didn’t really hear too much unless I looked it up myself,” he says. “Obviously you can tell at the rink though. There’s some added pressure.”
After the 2022-23 season, Holland had to move either Yamamoto or Warren Foegele because of the salary cap. They chose to trade Yamamoto, sending him with Klim Kostin to Detroit for future considerations. For all intents and purposes, Edmonton gave him away.
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After the trade, Yamamoto naturally believed he’d play with the Red Wings. Four or five Detroit players texted him, welcoming him and expressing their excitement for the season. But Yamamoto didn’t hear from Red Wings management — an ominous sign in retrospect. The next day, Detroit bought him out. Suddenly, a year removed from his 20-goal season, he was free to sign with anyone.
Unrestricted free agency was a new world for Yamamoto. His agent asked where he’d want to go and told him Nashville had interest. Yamamoto said that, first of all, he just wanted a contract. But he also mentioned liking the idea of Seattle. He had been thrilled when, in 2018, the NHL announced the city was getting an expansion team.
“I did not think that we were going to get a team,” he says now. “Then when they got one, I was like, ‘There’s no f–king way, that’s so sick. … That’d be crazy to play for them someday.’”
General manager Ron Francis and the Kraken were interested in Yamamoto after the Detroit buyout. Seattle liked his speed and skill set, and the sides quickly agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal. He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.
“Finally got a guy from Washington state in our lineup, which is great,” Francis says.
Yamamoto is one of four Washington-born players to appear in an NHL game this season. Chicago forward Tyler Johnson, one of the others, is also from Spokane, and his mom, Debbie Johnson, helped teach Yamamoto how to skate. The 33-year-old Johnson and Yamamoto train together during NHL offseasons, and Johnson described the Kraken fit as “a dream come true” for his younger friend.
“I think the biggest obstacle now is making sure we have enough tickets and enough jerseys for him,” Yamamoto’s girlfriend, Bailey Williams, says with a smile. “We’ve really got to put in some big orders.”
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Yamamoto’s transition to a new team has gone as smoothly as he could have hoped. He’s found the Kraken players welcoming — “everyone is smiling,” he says — and is of course closer to family. To Russ, the overall atmosphere around hockey feels more mellow in Seattle than it did in Edmonton. He was struck reading Kraken blogs when he saw fans weren’t overly concerned about the team’s season-opening losses.
Francis is hopeful that changing teams could help Yamamoto, and the forward will get plenty of opportunities. Forwards Daniel Sprong, Ryan Donato and Morgan Geekie all left Seattle in free agency, and Yamamoto is part of a group of newcomers trying to replace their production. Seattle is giving him early chances on the power play.
“Been impressed watching him day to day, just how good he is in tight around the net and stuff,” Francis says. “He’s not afraid to go to the hard areas and he’s got really quick hands and can make decisions quickly, which has helped him out.”
Yamamoto’s home-state crowd cheered as the Kraken public address announcer introduced him ahead of Tuesday’s home opener, and he made his home debut memorable. Late in the first period, he lasered a puck past Colorado’s Alexandar Georgiev from a difficult angle. He skated away from the net with his arms outstretched, as if he was embracing the fans in his home state. His parents had a perfect view; the goal was right in front of their section. They cheered along wearing home Yamamoto Kraken jerseys.
“Any time you can score a goal in your home town, for your home team, it feels really special,” he said postgame.
And it’s a feeling he hopes he can replicate plenty more over the coming season. He’ll be a restricted free agent again come 2024, but he’s not looking ahead that far.
“Try to focus on this year, have as much fun as I can and go from there,” he says. “Hockey doesn’t last forever. Just being able to focus on every year (is important), and f— does it ever go by quick.”
(Top photo of Kailer Yamamoto: Christopher Mast / NHLI via Getty Images)