A week has gone by since our last update, and the Seattle Kraken have not maintained the point percentage they needed to stay in the wild card race. They are not mathematically eliminated yet, but according to MoneyPuck.com they have a 0.6-percent chance to make the playoffs at this point. The Kraken went 0-3-0, extending their losing streak to a depressing six games (0-5-1). They also gave valuable points to both wild card teams, Nashville and Vegas, in the process.
A devastating week for the Kraken
- Mar. 16 – 4-1 loss against the Nashville Predators. The Kraken looked outmatched in this game, but provided some hope by tying the game 1-1 in the third, only to surrender three straight goals.
- Mar. 18 – 6-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The night started off well with Jordan Eberle scoring on the first shot of the game. But Tage Thompson matched this feat, scoring on Buffalo’s first shot with a snipe under the bar. Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch add two more goals to put Buffalo ahead for good, all prior to the six-minute mark of the first period. That was enough for Joey Daccord to get the hook with one save on four shots. Ouch.
- Mar. 21 – 3-1 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken got outplayed in this game, but Philipp Grubauer stood on his head and kept the game close. It took late-game heroics by Vegas to eke out a win with former Seattle Thunderbirds forward, Keegan Kolesar, scoring the go-ahead goal with under two minutes remaining.
**Author’s note: Even though the Kraken suffered their sixth loss in a row, another Washington team won Thursday. The Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team is dancing and defeated Drake University 66-61 to advance to the round of 32. Go Cougs!!!
Wild card race
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings went 3-1-0 during the past week, including two shutouts. They beat Chicago twice and wild card hopeful Minnesota once but lost to the playoff-bound Dallas Stars. The Kings are on pace for 99 points, putting them almost certainly in the playoffs.
Nashville Predators
The Predators have extended their unbeaten streak, which is now at 16 games, going 3-0-0 during the past week. Watching the Kraken versus Nashville game made me realize that Nashville is a better team than I originally gave them credit for. With Juuse Saros between the pipes, Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi locking down the blue line, and Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustuv Nyquist up front, give this team a chance to make some noise in the playoffs.
The Predators are on pace for 101 points and look like a lock for the first wild card spot.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are still struggling, going 1-2-0 during the past week (of course, the one win came against Seattle). The St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild are nipping at the heels of Vegas and are only four and five points out of a wild card spot respectively. The pressure is on for the Golden Knights, who have games in hand but need to start winning if they hope to make it to the postseason. Vegas is on pace for 96 points.
Team categorizations
Teams in bold have a game remaining this season against the Kraken.
The week ahead
The Kraken have four games for the week of Mar. 22-28, all against Tanker teams, so an end to the current losing streak hopefully is close. Seattle has one more road game and will then come back for a four-game homestand.
- Mar. 22 – Arizona Coyotes – Away (Tanker)
- Mar. 24 – Montreal Canadiens – Home (Tanker)
- Mar. 26 – Anaheim Ducks – Home (Tanker) (Jared McCann Bobblehead night)
- Mar. 28 – Anaheim Ducks – Home (Tanker)
Kraken playoff hopes
While not officially eliminated from the postseason, the Kraken are trending towards 82-88 points, which gives them zero chance of making it through. The Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Minnesota Wild are all ahead of the Kraken in the standings. With Vegas trending towards 96 points, the Kraken would need four teams to falter, and they would need to basically win out.
With three losses this week, a dagger has been thrust into the Kraken’s playoff hopes. The 0.6-percent that MoneyPuck gives the Kraken is because they have the easiest schedule remaining in the NHL, with eight games remaining against Tanker teams.
What’s next for the Kraken?
With the Kraken out of the playoff picture, what is next for them? Could bringing up Shane Wright for some more NHL experience be in the cards? General manager Ron Francis has indicated Wright is in a good place in Coachella Valley, which leads us to believe he might remain with the Firebirds to fully contribute to the rest of the Firebirds season and playoff run. But bringing him up for a few games wouldn’t hurt.
There is also the issue that if they bring Wright up to the NHL, and he plays seven games (10 total on the season), the Kraken would burn a year on his entry-level contract. If he plays fewer games than that with the Kraken, his contract would slide, meaning Seattle would get to keep him for entry-level dollars for three more years.
The expectation for next season is that Wright will step into Alex Wennberg’s vacated second-line center role. But Sound Of Hockey‘s own Darren Brown and John Barr interviewed the humble 2022 fourth overall draft pick, and Wright believes he will step into a bottom-six role with the Kraken and have to earn a top-six spot through his play and building trust with the coaches.
Seattle currently is 25th in the NHL standings as of Mar. 21 with a six-point gap to the 26th team, the Montreal Canadiens. There is not much of a benefit to tanking at this point, because the difference between the eight overall pick and, say, the 12th overall pick is not a huge difference in talent. I would rather the Kraken focus on winning and building that mindset into the team’s culture.