The last month of this Seattle Kraken season could be loooooooooong. Because after Monday’s 6-2 embarrassment at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, this team looks like it’s prepared to march to the end of the campaign losing every game. There’s no bite, no jam, no pushback, no… whatever word you want to use to describe what the Kraken are lackin’ (rhyme intended) right now, it’s not there.
Post-game media scrums have begun feeling akin to the pressers the players used to do in the inaugural season, when some combination of Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, and/or Mark Giordano would be sent to a podium (we weren’t allowed in the dressing room that season because of COVID) almost every night, and they would talk about the group’s deficiencies and how they could be better in the next meaningless game.
Heck, Eberle even harkened back to that first season in his press scrum on Monday. “I said it two years ago, the line between winning and losing is so thin, and right now we’re on the other side of it.”
This is different than that 2021-22 season, though. Argue all you want about whether this current group ever had the talent and the depth to make the playoffs, but that first-year team never stopped trying despite those many deficiencies. Even in their ugliest losses that year, no matter how overmatched they were, the Kraken always did something to give their fans reasons to cheer. For as bad as they were, they were still an easy team to root for because of the tenacity they showed every single game.
These last few outings, we simply haven’t seen that from the Kraken. It’s like they give up a goal, and that’s all it takes to completely deflate them and remove any desire to battle back into the game.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a painful-to-watch 6-2 Kraken loss to the Sabres.
Takeaway #1: Skinner and Thompson torch Kraken
Part of us thought coming into this game that perhaps Buffalo, which had never beaten the Kraken in five previous chances, could be the remedy to at least get some positive feelings going again. The Sabres are a pretty good team this season, but they’ve been a great matchup for Seattle over its first three campaigns (Buffalo was the last team in the NHL that had never beaten Seattle).
And after Eberle scored 26 seconds into the game on a nice feed from Tolvanen, that theory briefly seemed like it might be proven out over the course of the night. But that belief lasted all of 25 seconds, because Tage Thompson ripped a snap shot under the bar to tie the game before it hit the 1:00 mark, and Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch followed that up with goals of their own within five minutes of Thompson.
“You score first shift, and then they score right after, that kills you,” Eberle said. “But that being said, I mean, we should be resilient… They get one, and you should be like, ‘Alright, we’re fine.’”
Coach Dave Hakstol admitted there was frustration on the bench.
“I’ll be blunt and honest,” Hakstol said. “This is the first time that I’ve seen frustration come onto our bench… That’s the first time I’ve seen that. We had the day of practice yesterday, and obviously, we weren’t able to flush [the frustration] out, and it affected us today.”
Skinner took advantage of the frustrated team and added two more tallies on the night for his seventh career hat trick.
Takeaway #2: A hard night for Joey
That was about as tough of a night as you can get for a goaltender. Joey Daccord was yanked from the game after allowing three goals in the first 5:41. When he exited, the scoreboard showed that he had faced seven shots on goal, but after the game, the official stats were adjusted down to just four. So, Daccord was credited with one save on four shots, a .250 save percentage, before he was pulled for the second time in his career (previous was Feb. 29 against Minnesota).
All three goals were good, hard shots into perfect spots, but we noticed on the first Skinner goal that made it 2-1, Daccord seemed to be reacting as if the shot was going to his left, when it actually was going to his right. He clearly wasn’t tracking the puck well, and it was the right call for Hakstol to get him out of the game when he did.
“Those are quality shots,” Hakstol said. “The first goal against, with Thompson, I mean that’s just a [heck] of a shot, right? But you get to a point where, even though they’re from pretty good areas, the second and the third ones are still pucks that I know, when Joey’s on, he stops. He sees those and he makes those saves.”
Indeed, all three were unscreened shots that Daccord would normally stop. For his sake, we hope this outing doesn’t hurt his confidence too much.
Takeaway #3: Where do they go from here?
With the season on the line, the Kraken spent almost two weeks laying a giant egg and went 0-4-1 on a crucial five-game homestand. After the third-period collapse and subsequent overtime loss to Vegas, the group played three straight games in which it looked fully ready to hit the golf course.
But the Kraken have 15 games and almost a month of hockey left. The fans deserve better than what they just watched on that homestand.
“This league is about winning,” Eberle said. “And not just that, but playing well, feeling good about your effort, feeling good about— I mean, you may lose, you may win, but you want to feel good about a 60-minute effort where we went out there and put everything on the line. It’s been kind of inconsistent throughout the whole year, and that’s kind of been frustrating. And we need to find a way to just [play hard] the last 15 games here every night. I mean, it’s a privilege to be in this league.”
On the plus side, Seattle’s draft position is getting better with every passing miserable loss, so perhaps the organization is comfortable with letting things get more and more uncomfortable over this final month. But tanking is traditionally done by having a bunch of young players in the lineup, mixed with journeyman veterans that help reach the salary cap floor. That’s not what this roster is. Is the front office really ok with this roster of proud veterans just losing by playing terrible hockey?
We’re fine with losing at this point, and the more losing Seattle does for the rest of the season, the better it will be for the long-term future of the franchise. But in the spirit of what Eberle said, watching the team lose in this uninspired, beaten-down fashion is tough.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
This may sound bad to some of you, but I am thinking about the draft board, not winning. They may as well start thinking about next year.
“Sit back and endure this one”
I like what you wrote and Ebs said. I’m disappointed the team has left its pride at the door. It’s coming at a bad time what with season tix up for renewal, but it doesn’t seem the ownership wants to sweep up the coaching staff. So far, it seems the GM is sympatico with Hak. Will Francis be willing to wheel and deal this summer or stand pat? These are interesting and deflating times.
I’d like to think this adversity could help drive some positive change… like maybe not starting next season off miserably the way they have every season so far – losing seven, six, and seven of their first ten. Unfortunately, it feels like they’ll probably just shrug it off. After getting shut out by the Sharks the message was, ‘don’t worry about it’. If U2 was still playing the Sphere… I feel like the Kraken would definitely be going to the show this week.
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Now for the good news…
Seattle jumped up two spots – and into the top ten – in the Tankathon standings. And even better, this evening’s Penguins/Devils matchup guarantees another step up tonight. Even if New Jersey loses, they’ll draw even with the Kraken in games and points – and they hold the tie-breaker.
It’s a five team battle for three top ten spots, but I think Seattle has a few things going for them.
No.1 – They look terrible. There’s no bigger advantage a team can have in a race to the bottom than terrible game play – some might say it’s all that matters.
No.2 – The Kraken schedule. But wait, Seattle has the easiest remaining schedule in the league. Exactly, these are the teams the Kraken love to lose to. Unfortunately, we don’t get Chicago, but we get the Canadiens once more and the Sharks twice – two teams we’ve proven we can lose to. Add in three against the Ducks – that’s twelve points we can give away.
No.3 – Everyone else’s schedule. Unfortunately, the Kraken don’t play any of the other four teams they’re battling with, so no “four point loses”. But the other teams all have at least one game against – the Devils have three. On top of being a guaranteed bump in the standings for Seattle, those games can also become the Kraken’s new best friend… a three point game.
No.4 – Calgary’s schedule. While the Kraken have the “easiest” remaining schedule, the Flames are very next on that list. After their “selloff”, I view them as Seattle’s toughest competition.
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They’re out of the playoff picture, but the race is still on. I’ll be rooting for wins, but moving up in the draft will take away a little of the pain.
Go Kraken!!! (or not)
So, they’re going to tank through the end of the season to get better draft picks? I can’t imagine that would make their egos feel better. I wish they would make a management change now, get some positive momentum before the season ends so that’s what we/them all remember when Oct comes around.
Tanking is what the Blackhawks are doing. Management has intentionally iced a team unable to play on an overall competitive basis. Seattle doesn’t have to “tank” to get a top ten draft pick, they just have to keep doing what they’re doing. Players don’t “tank”. I don’t think for one second anyone who plays in Chicago isn’t trying to win. I also don’t think any of the players give even a thought to draft picks. I would say given where they are and how they’re playing, the Kraken have an excellent chance of landing a top ten pick… and I didn’t even mention goaltending.
I would welcome something akin to what Vancouver did last season in bringing in Tocchet and beginning the turnaround mid-season. But that team already had an elite center, an elite defenseman, and an elite goalie. Seattle isn’t changing course right now.
I have to think that this is a coaching/system issue. Historically 3rd year expansion teams don’t perform well (only a third finished with more than a .500 point percentage) but this team has shown it can play excellent hockey for (somewhat) extended periods. Yes, losing our former 4th line hurt production but there have been games where three or four goals looked ‘easy’. I was most disappointed last night with their effort. After the 3rd goal they really shrunk back and seemed to mail it in. The TV guys kept saying it was time to “peel some paint” but I wonder if Hak has lost the dressing room – ala Pete Carroll with the Hawks. It shouldn’t be the coach’s job to motivate professionals but something needed to be said and it just doesn’t feel like it is/was.
I’m still a fan (short for fanatic which allows me to rant freely) and will be but something needs to change.
I think the effort was pathetic leading up to those goals — the players weren’t skating, weren’t really defending, and left the middle of the ice wide open. Sure, Daccord could’ve made a save or two, but when they were going well last year, the Kraken would almost spend entire games without letting those types of shots through. John and Eddie weren’t holding back in the booth either. It was ugly.
I wonder if Daccord lost some confidence after that own goal against WAS…
I think Hakstol needs to go, but I’m guessing they won’t fire him until mid-season next year when the Kraken are likely in the mushy middle or worse.
The only exciting thing is to start dreaming that the Kraken win the draft lottery and get Macklin Celebrini.
More realistically, lots of good D in this draft, so should they go for a top D which they have never drafted or should they take another shot at a C and hope this one tops Beniers or Wright?
Depending on who you read, it sounds like there are three to five defensemen in this draft with legitimate top pair potential… but it also sounds like they may all go in the top ten. Even if the Kraken somehow manage to painfully get all the way to No.8, Levshunov, Silayev, and Dickinson will most certainly be gone. For me, if 6’3″ right-shot defenceman Carter Yakemchuk is still available, I’d take him over the remaining forwards.
If they could get slotted as the eight pick I would be pretty happy about that. Probably a chance at some real good talent that high up.
When they traded Wennberg it was clear message to the team. But still this team is full of veterans that must be able to handle this situation better. It is disappointing.