The mood was noticeably light at Kraken Community Iceplex on Tuesday, where the Seattle Kraken returned for their first full home practice since last week’s NHL Trade Deadline, which saw four players—Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, and Daniel Sprong—jettisoned from the organization.

Even for a team where so many things have gone wrong this season, the players surely felt the impending deadline weighing on them. Now that it’s in the rearview mirror, perhaps that changes the sentiment around the group a bit.

“The deadline and the events of the deadline always are introspective to where you’re at in the season and how your team’s doing,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “As a group, the guys realize we’re not where we want to be or where we think we should be. And the focus here the rest of the way is getting to our best hockey, getting to—both individually and as a team… projecting for the future.”

The group on the ice had a slightly different look, too, with newcomer Mikey Eyssimont skating at KCI for the first time, along with call-ups Cale Fleury and John Hayden. Recently recalled Jani Nyman also joined the team in advance of his expected NHL debut on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Nyman’s arrival may not be drawing a big hoopla, but there are hopes among the Kraken and their fanbase that the 20-year-old winger from Valkeakoski, Finland, could be a full-time NHLer relatively soon.

A big, imposing presence at 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, Nyman stands out on the ice. It’s a specific skill he possesses that puts him on the cusp of playing in the world’s best league, though, and that specific skill is the reason he has been a successful pro scorer in both the Finnish Liiga, where he scored more than any under-20 player in nearly 40 years, and in the American Hockey League, where he leads all rookies in goals.

“Almost immediately, you have to notice his shot,” Bylsma said. “That’s a big part of him being an effective player.”

Nyman agreed that his shot is his biggest asset but also knows that his skating (like his English) remains a work in progress.

“I think [I’ve improved] my skating,” Nyman said. “I’m a big man. I’m a big man, so of course I want to improve my skating.”

With his massive size, Nyman’s foot speed has always been the key area for improvement to put himself in contention for an NHL roster spot. Bylsma, who coached him at the end of last season in Coachella Valley, wants Nyman to ensure he’s always moving his feet to put himself in a position to use his lethal shot.

“The feet and the skating— in order for him to [use his shot], you’ve got to see him moving his feet. It can’t be a stationary game,” Bylsma said. “And that’s kind of what he’s developed this year: an all-around game and a skating game. He’s moving his feet and getting to spots where you can see that shot over and over again.”

That will be something to watch when Nyman makes his NHL debut Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena. Does he look like he’s constantly moving to get himself open for opportunities? Or is he standing still along the half-wall, hoping his teammates can find him?

Bylsma will be putting him in a position to succeed, playing the right flank on the power play and—presumably—in a top-nine forward position.

“He’s a goal-scorer [with] a heavy shot, a big-bodied guy in the offensive zone, and he’s going to have a chance to [show that]. You’ll see him on the power play, we’re going to have four good lines as a result of him being in, but we’ll see him in a spot at 5-on-5 in an opportunity to show what he can do.”

Exactly where Nyman slots in at 5-on-5 remains to be seen and may not be revealed until warmups, as the team didn’t do full line rushes on Tuesday and is holding an optional skate on Wednesday.

Like any young player on the precipice of his NHL debut, Nyman was all smiles after practice on Tuesday, sharing that his parents were en route from Finland to witness the momentous occasion.

“Oh, this is the biggest— [such a] big thing for my family and me,” Nyman said. “My mom and dad are coming right now to fly into here, and we are so excited.”

Helping him feel more comfortable in the NHL dressing room, Nyman joined a growing row of Finnish players, with his stall located next to those of Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko. That gives him a chance to speak his native tongue and get shown the ropes.

“We speak a certain language, and yeah, it’s great [to have them here],” Nyman said. “It’s great to [make] new friends, and [I’m] very happy.”

Newly acquired energy forward Mikey Eyssimont also addressed the media after the skate, bringing folks up to speed on his background, style of play, and how his first week in the Kraken organization has been.

“It started off as kind of a whirlwind, but being able to settle into a road trip— I’ve done a thousand of those, so it’s kind of a nice way to get to know everyone,” Eyssimont said. “My game is a lot of speed and grit, so that’s something that’s kind of more of a decision than a skill. So if you play that way, hopefully, you can fit in anywhere. And I think I was kind of able to do that over the past three games.”

Eyssimont made a nice first impression, scoring a goal in his first game as a Kraken against the Nashville Predators, though it came late in a losing effort.

“It’s nice to get it out of the way. You know, you don’t want to be plugging away for that first one for a while. We lost that game, but I guess that’s the positive you can take from it.”

When Eyssimont was first announced as the lone player coming back in the Yanni Gourde/Oliver Bjorkstrand trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning (Seattle also obtained two top-10-protected first-round picks and a second-round pick in the deal), it was assumed he was something of a throw-in player to help Tampa Bay create the cap space to consummate the trade.

But Eyssimont, in the last year of his two-year contract with an average annual value of $800K, could be a fit for next season and is trying to prove that.

“[I just want to] help the team win games,” Eyssimont said. “This team, I think, has underachieved. We see how good we were against a top-two-or-three team in the league in Washington. That’s a game that if we play that same game 10 times, we win a majority of those games. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.”

So far, Eyssimont comes as advertised with speed and energy, and at a very reasonable cap hit, he may be better suited to a fourth-line or even 13th-forward role than guys like Gourde and Brandon Tanev, who were combining to eat up a whopping $8.66 million of cap space.

So, there’s definitely some consideration being given by Seattle to keep Eyssimont around beyond this season.

“It’s an exciting group to be a part of because of the underachieving,” Eyssimont said, implying that the team could be much better next season. “There’s a standard here, and there’s still time in the season to meet that.”