The Kraken lost 5-4 to the Oilers on Saturday in what would have been a crushing and embarrassing defeat if it were a regular-season game. Thankfully, this was just a meaningless preseason contest, so none of us need to lose sleep over it.
After conceding another early goal, just like they did last Sunday at home against the Calgary Flames, the Kraken bounced back and took control for a while, even briefly holding a two-goal lead late in the second period. But they gave up the dreaded response goal just 27 seconds later, and it was all downhill from there.
Still, there are some positive signs from this team. We have yet to see a full NHL lineup iced by the Kraken, and yet they’re showing significant progress in how they are playing.
Here are our Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s 5-4 preseason loss to the Oilers.
Takeaway #1: Tough night for Grubi
So far, it’s safe to say Joey Daccord has looked better in the preseason than Philipp Grubauer. After Grubauer’s first outing against Calgary last Sunday—where he seemed to be trying to catch up to game speed—he did look better for most of the game Saturday against the Oilers. There were some strong sequences in which he challenged shooters and tracked the puck well, kicking rebounds past crashing Edmonton forwards and recovering in time to stop the second and third waves of shooters.
But there were also a couple of gaffes, especially on the game-winning goal by Raphael Lavoie—the fifth goal allowed by the Kraken netminder on that night. On that one, Lavoie was in a good shooting position, but it was an unscreened, undeflected shot that slipped right through Grubi’s wickets at a key moment in this meaningless contest. You could tell from his reaction that Grubauer knew he should have had that one.
We chatted with Grubauer after the morning skate on Saturday, and he definitely sounded like he wanted more game action to continue ramping up. He did look sharper Saturday than last Sunday, so it was mostly a step in the right direction. Hopefully his final outing of the preseason (probably coming Wednesday at home) will be sharper still.
Grubauer finished the night with 31 saves, good for an .861 save percentage.
Takeaway #2: Kraken power play shows more signs of life
Over the past few seasons, the Kraken power play has gotten so stagnant. The players didn’t move around much last season, and as the campaign progressed, it felt like things only got more predictable. However, what we’ve seen from the power play in the last couple of games has been exciting. The players are moving a lot, and it seems to be throwing off opposing penalty killers.
On this night, it wasn’t even a full NHL-caliber power play that got the job done. Instead, it was a mix of prospects and projected AHLers who whipped the puck around the offensive zone before 2023 first-round draft pick Eduard Sale got his first goal in Kraken colors.
It was a beautiful play. Brandon Biro took a pass on the left half-wall and started moving toward the net to draw defenders. He dished it down low to Ryan Winterton, who then tossed a perfect saucer pass up and over a sprawled Mattias Ekholm, dropping it right onto Sale’s tape.
The power play only converted once, but seeing production and positive signs at this stage of the preseason gives Kraken fans reason to hope for continued success with the manpower advantage during the regular season.
It’s worth noting, however, that the power play allowed a short-handed goal to Vasily Podkolzin that tied the game 4-4 in the third period. But, as the Kraken social media admins would say, it’s preseason, so that didn’t count.
Takeaway #3: Roster hopefuls creating tough decisions
I’ve previously hypothesized that the battle for the last roster spot(s) seems to be boiling down to Winterton, Ben Meyers, and John Hayden. After an outstanding game Friday against Vancouver, Winterton was right back in the lineup Saturday, as was Meyers. Hayden also returned to action after making his physical presence known in Tuesday’s game against the Canucks.
All three players had an impact on the game Saturday, with Winterton beautifully setting up Sale’s goal in the first period, Hayden driving hard to the net and getting rewarded for it in the second, and Meyers looking off Biro and scoring off a 2-on-1 in the second period, while also adding a second assist on Jacob Melanson’s tally in the first.
Who coach Dan Bylsma ultimately picks to stay with the team out of training camp remains about as clear as mud.
What’s interesting, though, is that while I’m less convinced the Kraken will make a trade to become cap compliant than I was previously, Seattle is showing it has depth players who could theoretically backfill in the lineup if a player like, say, Brandon Tanev were to be dealt. Continue to keep an eye on this battle for roster spots.
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.