A Manitoban hockey player is one of the first members of the NHL's newest franchise.

The Seattle Kraken built its roster a little over a week ago and selected Strathclair, Manitoba product Morgan Geekie. The forward spent the last two seasons in the Carolina Hurricanes system and he is ecstatic for the opportunity. Geekie says it all happened very fast, noting it was leaked to Twitter about 15 minutes after he got the news from his agent. He describes what he's looking forward to.

"It's good to just get your foot in the door in a new place and make a good first impression. That's what I'm working on right now," says Geekie. "I've been in the Seattle area, stayed in the state of Washington, it's an awesome place and people are great. They're going to have state-of-the-art facilities and the organization is fantastic, so there's a lot to look forward to."

Geekie says the conversations he has had with the front office and coaching staff, specifically general manager Ron Francis and head coach Dave Hakstol, have been very encouraging. However, with him being a young player in the league, he says there won't be many familiar faces on the ice to start off.

"When they pick one guy from every organization, you're most likely not going to know a whole bunch of people," Geekie explains. "I did play with Haydn Fleury in Carolina last year and in Charlotte the year before, and his brother (Cale Fleury) is on the team, I've kind of gotten to know him through Haydn. It should be pretty fun to meet some new people and I've heard it's a good group of guys. So, I'm excited to see what they're all about."

Geekie has played in 40 NHL games over the past two seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes and notched 13 points during that time. The forward is very grateful for the chances they gave him and has nothing but good things to say about the team, however, he feels he has a lot more to showcase at the NHL level. The Strathclair product describes what he needs to do to reach his full potential.

"Being able to get on the ice as often as I can, when it comes to playing games. I want to be a steady guy in the lineup, continue to play more minutes every night, and just get more comfortable. I think I did that at the end of the regular season last year. I think I can bring that to Seattle and keep growing as a player."

The forward is thrilled to go into the history books as a member of the Seattle Kraken's first roster.