He played junior hockey in Hamilton for the Hamilton Lloyds and the Hamilton Aerovox from 1945 to 1948. Kraftcheck then turned pro with the San Francisco Shamrocks in 1948-49. He played part of the 1950-51 season for the Boston Bruins and then the 1951-52 and 1952-53 seasons for the New York Rangers. Except for 8 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1958-59, that was the extent of his NHL career, which consisted of 11 goals and 18 assists in 157 games. He was a player-coach of the Americans for three seasons from 1958 to 1961.