The Seattle Kraken just played their best hockey of the season over the second half of this last homestand. Since the last Monday Musings, the team ended its eight-game losing streak and captured five of the possible six points available. This does not eliminate the challenging start to the season, but the Kraken are showing a lot of heart despite the injuries that have racked up.
What is going right?
The penalty kill has been outstanding as of late, and for the month of December, they have the fourth best penalty kill in the league. Here is how they have fared over the season by game.
Additionally, the Kraken are back to getting contributions from up and down the line up. The depth scoring was a big strength for this team last season, so it is encouraging to see it showing up recently. Kailer Yamamoto, Tye Kartye, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare have a collective seven goals over the last six games. Meanwhile, Oliver Bjorkstrand continued to do what he does with three points against the Chicago Blackhawks and this clutch goal on Saturday that forced overtime and locked in that point in the standings for the Kraken.
Finally, they are getting great goaltending from Joey Daccord since Philipp Grubauer went down with an injury during the Tampa Bay game. Over the last four games, Joey is averaging a .954 save percentage with a record of 2-1-1. A contributor to Joey’s success is the team’s ability to limit the high-danger shots against. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Kraken have averaged five ‘high-danger shots against’ over the last three games.
Adding depth Tomas Tatar
The Kraken added Tomas Tatar in a trade with Colorado on Friday. Tatar is a skilled forward that can move up and down the lineup as needed and will be a welcome addition with the injuries to Jaden Schwartz, Andre Burakovsky, and now Jordan Eberle. The Kraken got him for a fifth-round draft pick, so the price they paid was minimal. It is not clear how long Schwartz and Burakovsky will be out of the lineup, but Tatar will serve as a nice stopgap in the meantime.
The trade will also provide a great opportunity for Tatar. Before the trade, he was averaging just 11:17 of ice time per game with Colorado. He logged 13:47 on Saturday after landing in Seattle fewer than 24 hours before the game. Tatar signed a one-year deal with Colorado this offseason, so he is also showcasing his worth for a contract for next season.
Other musings
- It was not a surprise to see Tatar jump out as one of the first three skaters in the shootout Saturday night. He has a shootout percentage of 30 percent over the last three seasons. That puts him second on the Kraken behind Kailer Yamamoto over that same timespan.
- To put a finer point on why limiting the high-danger shots matter, against the Kings on Saturday night, the Kraken allowed six high-danger shots against. Two of them were the goals the Kings scored.
- Joey has been great in net over the last three games, including his first career shutout against Florida, but eventually he will need a rest. I imagine we will see Chris Driedger for his 2023-24 debut in one of these three games before the Christmas break.
- We saw a couple uncharacteristic and undisciplined penalties on Saturday night, but the Kraken remain one of the most disciplined teams in the league and are tied for the third fewest shorthanded opportunities per game (2.81).
- Adam Larsson is set to play his 800th NHL game in his career Monday. Despite playing the fewest games with Seattle compared to the other teams he’s played for, Larsson has scored the most goals with the Kraken than he has with any other team.
- In non-shortened NHL seasons since the shootout was instituted in the 2005-06 season, 10 teams had 28 points (Seattle’s current point total) at the 32-game mark of the season. None of them qualified for the playoffs in that season.
- In my research for the times the Kraken have been shorthanded, I found that they have the fewest bench minors in the league. They are the only team with zero bench minors.
- The IIHF World Junior Championship rosters are pretty much set. The Kraken will have five prospects playing in the tournament: Carson Rehkopf (CAN), Niklas Kokko (FIN), Jani Nyman (FIN), Zeb Forsfjäll (SWE), and Eduard Sale (CZE). I’m looking forward to early morning hockey and coffee during the tournament.
- In case you missed it, Seattle Kraken’s fourth-round pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Tyson Jugnauth, left Wisconsin a little over a week ago to play for the Portland Winterhawks. Jugnauth has five assists in five games since joining the Winterhawks.
- The Kraken and Seattle Thunderbirds announced their game against the Portland Winterhawks on March 17 will be played at Climate Pledge Arena. This is a great opportunity to see junior hockey in a pro venue… plus Tyson Jugnauth.
- If you are looking for an authentic Seattle Kraken Winter Classic jersey, you are out of luck. They are virtually sold out, and it does not look like they will be getting any more.
- Looking for a customization of a blank winter classic jersey? Those can be done relatively quickly, so long as you don’t want anyone with a “2” in their number. Apparently, there is a six-week backlog for 2’s.
- The Coachella Valley Firebirds have won four out of their last five games and got great goaltending from Jack LaFontaine with wins in both of his starts and a .914 save percentage in those two games.
- In a losing effort, Goaltender Cale Morris made 43 saves on 44 shots in his Firebirds debut.
Player performance
Joey Daccord (SEA) – Posted his first career shutout against Florida and had a .964 save percentage over his three starts in the last week.
Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) – Had three goals in three games over the last week including the opening goal against Florida that would end up being the game winner.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (SEA) – Had two goals and two assists in his last two games including this “snipe” from the Chicago game.
Chart of the week
The Kraken did get shutout last Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, but the overall team shooting percentage has been getting better as of late, another contributing factor in Seattle’s recent success.
Goal of the week
The goal of the week comes from the World Junior A Hockey Challenge. Kaden Shahan busts the goalie’s water bottle wide open with this goal.
Shahan is from Everett and played his youth hockey in the Seattle area. He will be playing at the University of Connecticut next season.
The week ahead
As I was leaving Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night, I could not help listening to the excitement in fans’ voices as they left the arena. Four or five clusters of fans were explaining to each other what they had just witnessed. They were disappointed with the result but there was a sense of bewilderment on the drama and suspense of Seattle’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Kings. As the love for this sport continues to grow in this market, I couldn’t help but smile thinking about what a great game the fans in the building witnessed.
The Kraken have quite the hole to dig out of if they expect to contend for a playoff position, but in the meantime, I just want to see some good hockey. They have a tough little road trip here with a game against Dallas on Monday, L.A. on Wednesday, and then they will play their final game before the holiday break Saturday at Anaheim.
At this point, the Kraken need to consistently get two-thirds of the points available before we can even hint at contending for a playoff spot. They are playing their best hockey of the campaign right now, though, so let’s see if they can do it.
It is likely Monday Musings will take a brief hiatus with Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on Mondays this year.
Happy Holidays everyone!