Former Capital and 2021 Vezina Trophy finalist, Philipp Grubauer, signed a six-year, $35.4 million contract with the expansion Seattle Kraken on the first day of free agency, leaving the Colorado Avalanche — the team Washington traded him to after he won the Stanley Cup in 2018 as a backup.
In late August, Grubauer first toured Seattle’s new facilities. Now, he has the equipment to play the part. Sunday, Grubauer’s longtime mask designer, David Gunnarsson, released the design of his first mask.
“I am very happy to release the first Kraken mask for my friend Philipp Grubauer,” Gunnarsson wrote. “It is a design built on the awesome team logos, loaded with 3-D effects and vintage style. Thanks Grubi for the paint adventure!”
The mask is blue and features some dabs of red. The Seattle Kraken S and the team’s anchor logo are painted onto the right side of the mask while tentacles of a monster under the seas fill up the left. On the chin, Grubauer’s nickname is written in cursive in red.
Here’s a photo of it in action while Grubauer participated in a recent Kraken informal skate.
Grubauer will wear number 31 and will play with former teammates Marcus Johansson and Connor Carrick.
Gunnarsson also painted a mask for the Kraken’s Expansion Draft in July, that featured, in his words, 5D technology.
Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB
