The Seattle Kraken faced their third set of back-to-back games of the season, this time entirely on home ice. The weekend featured matchups against both New York teams, with the Kraken coming away with two points after splitting the series with a win over the Islanders on Saturday and a loss to the Rangers on Sunday.
Kraken vs. Islanders (Nov. 16, win 3-2)
This game showcased the classic “bend but don’t break” mentality. The teams traded goals throughout the night, with neither holding more than a one-goal lead at any time. Both finished with about 20 shots on goal, but the Kraken emerged victorious, securing a 3-2 win.
Despite the final score, the Islanders had the edge in shot quality, generating 56.5 percent of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. At times, it felt like the Islanders might take control, but the Kraken held on. The Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, and Tye Kartye line provided crucial energy, while Joey Daccord delivered another solid performance in net, marking his fourth consecutive start.
Kraken vs. Rangers (Nov. 17, Loss 2-0)
Another close contest, but this time the Kraken came up short, falling 2-0 to the New York Rangers. The Rangers came out firing, recording the game’s first five shots before the Kraken found their footing.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken out-chanced the Rangers in high-danger shot attempts (HDSA), 10-7. Despite tilting the ice slightly in their favor, the Kraken couldn’t find the back of the net. Moneypuck’s “Deserve to Win O’Meter” gave Seattle a 54.8 percent chance of winning this matchup, but the scoreboard told a different story.
This weekend marked the Kraken’s third back-to-back set of the season, and the trend continues to be a concern. They have not fared well in any of the second games, going 0-3 and losing all three by identical 2-0 shutout scores.
Takeaway #1: Backwards weekend
Both games this weekend were closely contested and could have gone either way. Based on the Kraken’s performance, you might have expected them to lose to the Islanders and beat the Rangers. Instead, the results flipped. Take a look at the shot heat maps for both games—Seattle vs. Islanders on the left and Kraken vs. Rangers on the right:
The Kraken consistently got pucks to the front of the net against the Rangers, which is a strong indicator of long-term success, even if it didn’t translate into goals against on Sunday.
Takeaway #2: Goaltending tandem looked solid
I liked the coaching staff’s decision to start Joey Daccord against the Islanders and Philipp Grubauer against the Rangers. The reasoning was sound: knowing Igor Shesterkin started the Rangers’ previous game against the San Jose Sharks, there was a strong likelihood Jonathan Quick would face Seattle. Shesterkin is the better goalie, though Quick has been outstanding in his few appearances this season. By factoring this in, the Kraken coaching staff maximized their chances of winning at least one game—and it paid off, as they split the weekend 1-1 and earned two valuable points. Sure, four points would have been better, but let’s not get greedy.
Daccord was strong again, posting a .917 save percentage and saving 1.07 goals above expected to help secure the win against the Islanders. Grubauer, meanwhile, earned third-star honors for his performance against the Rangers with a .913 save percentage and two goals against. Unfortunately, he had zero goal support for the third time this season. Sure, the second goal Grubauer let in was one he’d surely want back, but it doesn’t matter if the Kraken don’t provide any offensive support. The loss against the Rangers rests squarely on the offense’s inability to produce in this game.
Takeaway #3: Wright’s line struggles to produce
Shane Wright logged a season-low 8:34 of ice time in the game against the Islanders. Head coach Dan Bylsma addressed the limited usage, explaining, “[Shane Wright’s] minutes in terms of the game was a lot to do with the flow of the game… Some of the decisions on the ice were due to the fact that we were dealing with a top-heavy [Islanders] group.”
In the following game against the Rangers, Bylsma made the call to scratch Wright in favor of recent call-up Ben Meyers. Regarding the decision, Bylsma shared, “The message [for Shane Wright] is, take a reset, watch the game tonight, which he did, and get back focused on playing the way you can play.” Credit to Curtis Isacke, who predicted Wright’s scratch in favor of Meyers on Episode 311 of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast early this week.
Unfortunately, Meyers didn’t fare much better centering the line with Daniel Sprong and Eeli Tolvanen, finishing with just 8:21 of ice time. With the other three Kraken lines generating offensive pressure, most of the ice time this weekend was spread between those three lines.
Watching Wright play, I’m not overly concerned yet. He’s getting to the right spots on the ice and hasn’t been a defensive liability. However, this line isn’t clicking offensively. Whether it’s bad luck or poor line chemistry, the puck isn’t finding its way to Wright—or the front of the net—when this line is on the ice.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
All this line juggling does not bode well for continuity. Almost 20 games in and we still do not know what linemates are playing with whom. Certain players are not scoring and to target a 20 year old rookie for veterans mistakes is not a good coaching decision. One set of linemates play along the boards all night long and the others are turnover machines that force Wright to play a defensive role. I know injuries factor in but before the injuries there were the same issues with the same players.
Yeah. Shane Wright might be fighting it a but right now, but the old “bench the rookie” move is classic bad coaching. It won’t help anyone.
Also, on Saturday, we had 2 clear good lines and 2 clear bad lines. (The NYR looks similar on the stat sheet but i only half watched it.) One bad line was, yes, Wright’s, but the other was Stephenson’s. Where is the takeaway on how slow, lazy and ineffective Stephenson was this weekend? Why is Stephenson still getting 15 minutes per night? Constantly getting hemmed in his zone, plays always dying on his stick… Oh right, we need to help Francis justify his contract. 7 more years of watching that guy loaf around.
Stephenson is playing the same role as Wennberg and will line up against the other teams top line. His shifts start 22% of the time in the defensive zone which is the most of any Kraken forward.
Against the Rangers his line had one of their better games, they had a few good chances and Stephenson was 10/16 in the faceoff dot.
Three of the lines appear to be set. It’s just that Eberle is injured. One line appears to truly undecided, but I think the goal there is
Canner – Matty – Eberle (sub’d by Burakovsky)
Schwartz – Stephenson – Bjorkstrand
Kartye – Gourde – Tanev
One line appears to somewhat undecided, but I think the goal there is
Tolvanen – Wright – Burakovsky
Wright just had the night off to watch and contemplate, and as noted above, Burakovsky was sub’ing for an injured Eberle.
Kartye, Gourde, Tanev is our real 1st line. Hitting, skating, battling on the boards, playing end to end.
I’ll agree that both goalies were overall solid, but the Rangers game was classic Grubauer. He plays pretty well, then suddenly gives up a backbreaking stinker. This goes back to something Curtis wrote a few articles back, about how he has a good HdSv%, but any mention of his low or medium shot Sv% was conspicuously absent. This is exactly why. JT Brown was also unusually but rightfully hard on him, especially in that game situation — like you said, the Kraken had the edge in total shot quality, but in a tightly contested game against a good team and a hot goalie, they needed an easy save there to stay within 1. Who knows? Maybe the Kraken pull the goalie and tie the game. Probably not, but we’ll never know. At the very least, despite the inexplicable SOH delusions at the beginning of the season, it’s clear that Joey is rightfully #1.
Just a quick shout out to a few players:
Burky – seems to have woken up in the past week. He looks dangerous and has stopped turning the puck over. He still seems to be hesitating a bit too long with the puck. I’d like to see him shoot some one-timers and quicker shots.
Kartye – the whole line has been awesome, but Kartye especially has been a beast. His sequence before the go-ahead Oleksiak goal on Saturday was really impressive. Reminder that development of these kids is not always linear (a la Shane Wright).
Ryker – though he was responsible for that first SHG against the Islanders, he’s overall been great. We know about the offensive instincts and the skating, but Eddie repeatedly called out great defensive plays made by him over the weekend.
We need to bank some more easy points over the next week. LGK!
Great shout outs. I agree with all of them.
Good overall take on those weekend games.
Can’t win them all. There is also a favorable chance of success in the soon upcoming part of the schedule.
Time to sell high on Grubauer? The Avs are in desperate need and we could take Georgiev back and maybe retain a bit. Kraken re-sign CD or Georgiev for next season as Kokko prepares to make the leap.
On what planet are we selling high? Dude costs almost $6M and has an .881 Sv%.
I think he’s joking 🙃 no way the Avs are taking that back on.
Yes and no. My desire to dump Grubi is inspiring delusions perhaps but here is how it could work. Georgiev has been poor this season for the Avs as PG for the Kraken. He even has a lower SV% and higher. PG looks like an upgrade. PG has been solid in his last few outings, except for his games against guess who, the Avs. They likely know his weaknesses.
The Avs, desperate for good goaltending, may believe they have the key to a better version of PG. To make the money work, Francis has to eat $2m a year for the remaining term but then the Avs get a starting goalie at less than $4m, one they have had success with in the past. This is cheaper for the Kraken than the expected buyout this summer and frees up their backup spot next year.
I agree there are not a lot of teams who would take PG but the Avs might be a special case. Given it is the one area of their team they must fix to make a playoff run, they have to do something. If I were Francis, I would be calling MacFarland regularly to try to get this done.
I like the decision to bench Wright, he’s been horrible and not looking like he should be in the lineup at all. Yes a rookie needs to get benched as well if they are not preforming….. that or send him to the farm to for a few weeks.
Ok I’m really worried about Chandler, I had low expectations on his signing but had expected that he’d help us for at least three seasons before his signing looked completely horrible. He’s supposed to be fast and a big body that hits? He’s looked no where close to a 7M player, I’m really concerned about his future in three to 4 seasons if he’s looking this bad now.
Daccord was very solid and playing solid hockey, really think that he needs to be playing a heavier load to get his rhythm. That really becomes a problem with “the great goaltenders” if your best one plays better with a heavy rotation. I do have to agree playing Daccord vs the islanders was the right choice, take your points when you can get them. Posted on “X” pre game SOH projected Grubauer stating and I was shaking my head.
I’m really confused about who is picking the stars, wasn’t Chandler picked a few games ago in a game he was completely invisible in and I thought he had a really bad game with many turnovers “but got an apple”. Then Grubauer last night??? How do you pick Grubauer he played alright but not great and not worthy of a star. Had a very bad goal and almost another when a routine save rang off the bar. I’d honestly say that the first goal was his puck to play. If you watch the replay he is standing straight up bouncing his head back and forth trying to see the puck on the boards. He needed to be at the post where he would have had a clear view of the player with the puck, a pass that is cross crease from 40 feet out is the goalies job to tip away. He didn’t do that because he wasn’t in proper position to see the play develop. The goalies job is to find a lane to see through the scree. Sure if a screen develops quickly as the shot gets released it’s impossible, but on that play he had a lot of time to find a hole to see that play develop. Yes Evans should have not blindly dumped the puck up the boards and chandler probably should have been thinking less about what he’s having for lunch tomorrow and more about the wide open player on the back door but that’s also a pluck the goalie should not allow to reach the back door.
All game long all they talked about was how good Grubauer was playing and how good Burky is, often Chandler gets thrown into the mix. I’m getting so tired of this tire pumping non stop from the Kraken. They just always are pumping up under preforming players… why? Yes Burky has looked better the last few games but he hasn’t been better than anyone else, he just hasn’t been underperforming. He’s playing about how he should be EVERY game right now. That’s what they should have been saying last night not that he’s playing incredible…
Not sure what you’re looking at when you watch games. The idea is to deny space and chances of opposing teams while at the same time giving yourself more chances to score, and everyone you say sucks is helping to do that. The team is way better than last season, and a significant reason is the addition of Stephenson.
Grubauer was good last night. He’s a backup goalie, and he did his job. Unfortunately, the Kraken didn’t score. NEWS FLASH…The Rangers are good, and the score was 2-0 on a back to back with our backup goalie and no Eberle or Dunn. That game could have gone either way.
What? The team is not “way better” than last season. They are scoring a little more, but also giving up a lot more on defense. And a big reason is that Stephenson has completely sucked in big minutes, especially defensively. Sometimes veteran players get a mythological narrative about them that announcers just repeat forever, no matter how much the player slows down over time. I love Enzo but he falls into that trap too. Stephenson was already slowing way down last season. Vegas is a smart, ruthless team, so they didn’t re-sign him. The Kraken signed him to a contract that was inexcusable and untradeable the instant it was signed.
Vegas didn’t sign him because they couldn’t afford him. Despite your take on things, he’s a solid player and brings A LOT to the team. The Kraken are WAY better than last season by a long shot, and that will continue to play out as the season unfolds, contrary to what you think.
Here’s where I like to ask “who would YOU have signed to make the team better?” The reality is you don’t know who was available, for how much, and whether or not they would have moved to Seattle. Ron Francis and Co did. I’m going with them on this one.
Yakov Trenin would have been a better addition to the Kraken than Chandler Stephenson? BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Play John Hayden or Ben Meyers and “weaponize the cap space?” BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
That was funny! Thank you for that!
Yes Grubauer played a solid game but my point was he was in no way a start in the game, that was a little bit of a stretch.
Chandelier is not playing as well as he should for his contract you simply can’t justify the cap hit and term for what he is delivering. The “checking center” could have been found for 4/5 million on a much shorter contract. He was brought over to contribute offensively.
It’s not just Eddie pumping tires it’s a very coordinated effort, I think it’s marketing telling them what to say. It’s looking like that anyway with the way the broadcasting and social media etc seems to have a mission.
Again…who would YOU have signed to improve the team? Every time I ask, all I get is crickets.
The fact is Stephenson is a great addition to the team. He isn’t slow, as some people continue claim (he just turned 30, and he has always been a VERY good skater). He has plenty of experience playing on teams that win (in fact, every team he has ever played on), he can play in every situation (5 on 5, PP, PK), he can play over 23 minutes in a game if he has to (even though he’s an “old man” who has just exited his 20’s) and he wins faceoffs…something the Kraken have NEVER had. Additionally, he brings a calm confidence and poise to the Kraken they have never had. He is not a “checking center,” as you say, though he CAN (and does) forecheck, backcheck, and is a decent playmaker.
I ask again. WHO would YOU have signed? The fact is, you have no idea who was actually available, how much they would cost, and whether or not they would have even entertained coming to Seattle.
You’re just plain wrong. The Stephenson deal was UNIVERSALLY panned by national writers the moment it was signed, and Stephenson has done nothing to disprove them. And by what measure has the team improved over last year? They have about the same points percentage, the offense is a little better, the defense is a little worse. Stephenson’s fancy stats are atrocious. He looks atrocious.
Whom should they have signed? How about Yakov Trenin (who got $3.5M AAV from the Wild)? An actually good defensive center who plays hard, kills penalties and can soak up tough matchups. Wennberg would have been better at the contract he got. Michael Amadio? Or just plug in someone like Ben Meyers or John Hayden and “weaponize” that cap space later. There was no UFA center that could have made the Kraken contenders this year. Just continue to build for the future, since that was what they had been saying they were doing. Now they are hamstrung for this year and the next six thereafter.
By the way, there is a rumor the cap may be increasing to $96M next season. If true, that would make Stephenson’s contract 6.5% of the cap, just next season. The cap will probably continue to increase over the course of his contract. I forgot to mention he is more than capable of playing on a wing if needed. The guy is the Swiss army knife of hockey players.
Seattle G.
Friedman went into the rumors in more depth on today’s 32 Thoughts… it seems pretty obvious that, as per usual, fans are way behind the market. On the conservative side, Stephenson’s contract will be a smaller percentage of the cap than Yanni’s contract is now at the same age. For the folks that are going to say, “…and right now we’re in cap hell”… nobody is complaining about Gourde’s cap hit killing the Kraken and next year the Kraken should have $18m in cap to replace two fourth liners (Gourde & Tanev) and a third pair D (Borgen). They will still need two spare forwards and a spare defenseman, but a Grubauer buyout would free up an additional $4m… enough to pay for all three and Gru’s replacement. They are by no means in “cap hell”.
As far as blasting Stephenson… all you have to do is look at Nashville – or any of the other half-dozen teams who are desperate to find a center right now – to know bringing in Stephenson was an absolute necessity. Remember, the Preds totally “won” the off-season.
In the words of Alonzo Harris in “Training Day”, “This s¿!t ain’t checkers, it’s chess.” Over the off-season Ron Francis: signed Joey to 5×5, inked Beniers for seven, landed the No.2 UFA center for $1.5m a year less than the guy who is failing in Boston, and got the top right-shot UFA D-man before free agency opened. With the cap going up $20m+ over the next two to three years… every one of those moves is a bargin – even the Stephenson deal – just ask Barry Trotz.
I’d agree with Foist, it’s not like they had a gun to their head and had to sign someone. I would have much preferred a lower profile less expensive stop gap that can carry us a few years so our kids can develop. Let’s be realistic here… if it’s a bad contract today it’s going to be a bad contract in 4 years not to mention 7. He’s not going to get any younger or faster, how many players have improved past 30? Yeah yeah yeah they caps going up… it’s going up for the 31 other teams as well it’s not like we’re suddenly going to get extra money to pay for bad contracts. A bad contract will always put you slightly behind even with your adjusted cap you speak of. I totally understand that he’s playing important minutes but he’s also a -6 doing so and probably a -7 after last games oops. Yes he’s playing vs top line players but we’re playing him top line dollars, he’s simply not worth the money today it’s scary to think about him in 5 years.
“As far as blasting Stephenson… all you have to do is look at Nashville – or any of the other half-dozen teams who are desperate to find a center right now – to know bringing in Stephenson was an absolute necessity.”
When you frame it this way it makes the Krakens 24 draft (oops! All centers!) actually make a lot of sense. Of course the market could be very different if/when many of those players are NHL ready, but it does communicate some decent foresight.
I think it’s becoming more clear that Nino and Foist never saw the memo from Ownership directing Francis to ignore the cap and make the Kraken better now. This season! Not 4-5 years from now. By signing Montour and Stephenson, he has made the WHOLE TEAM better now, and frankly in seasons 4-5 years from now.
Suggesting they should have instead signed marginal, one dimensional depth pieces because, well, “they’re CHEAPER and they play OK!” Is hilarious at best. You’re clearly not following the plot of this story.
“It’s not just Eddie pumping tires it’s a very coordinated effort, I think it’s marketing telling them what to say. It’s looking like that anyway with the way the broadcasting and social media etc seems to have a mission.”
What you are describing is what every single professional sports organization, local broadcast, and their respective social media teams do – promote their team. I’m not sure why this is inspiring so much axe grinding.
I don’t know about that I grew up watching hockey and have never seen the likes of this, it’s almost condescending to us to be basically telling us we should like a certain player because of “…..” when it’s really just lip service. Obviously the team controls the their media but just let the broadcast crew etc call the game.
“As far as blasting Stephenson… all you have to do is look at Nashville – or any of the other half-dozen teams who are desperate to find a center right now – to know bringing in Stephenson was an absolute necessity.”
Ry… I think here is the disconnect. If we were three years down the road and Chandler was the missing piece I’d be all for it but sadly that’s not the situation. We just flat out overpaid for a player that very marginally helps us now and when we are in the situation where a player like him would actually help us he will be 33+ years old eating a roster spot that we probably need to get that player that could make the difference in a Stanley Cup run.
Where I see the Stephenson signing is somewhat different than I think you are seeing it Nino. I agree that he “marginally” helps the Kraken now, but as has been pointed out elsewhere here… what’s the alternative. You yourself say, “helps” and “better”. He’s not “the missing piece”, but he’s also not being paid like a No.1 or expected to be – like Lindholm is in Boston. To me, he’s here to take pressure off while the young centers develop. I think the Colorado game is a good example of what I’m talking about.
Seattle’s only blowout all season came against the Avs. MacKinnon picked up five points, three of them with Wright on the ice. By using last change and spot substitutions, Bednar managed to limit Stephenson/MacKinnon 5v5 ice time to less than a minute together all game. Gourde or Wright were on the ice for every MacKinnon point. He may not be a No.1, but it seems to me without him, it would be open season every game down the middle and it isn’t that Stephenson makes this team so much better, it’s that without him they’d be so much worse… and the alternatives just weren’t there.
Thinking it’s an overpay doesn’t make it so. Centers cost and as much as the deal was UNIVERSALLY panned by national writers, those same folks also had Stephenson as the No.2 center available behind Lindholm. In year four of the contract, Stephenson will be the same age Yanni is now and his cap hit will actually be a smaller percentage than Gourde’s is right now – and shrinking every season. I’ll say it again, I think fans – and most of the media – typically trail the market.
This is just the way I look at it.
Gonna go out on a limb and say that Eddie O probably has a decent grip on hockey, so if he’s pumping up a player it is deserved. I’d also much rather see a broadcast pump up it’s players instead of tear them down constantly as so many in the comment sections of the internet seem willing to do with wild abandon, and regardless of how well they actually played.
100%. I would not want to have the kind of broadcasters and sportswriters that they have in Canadian markets and in the Northeast where they lay into every player who has a cold streak or whose contract makes bad cap sense to the talking heads. I am glad that they did not rip Burakovsky apart early on like they very easily could have. The guy was working through the lack of confidence and self-doubt that naturally comes with the pretty brutal circumstances that he has endured the past couple seasons, and the media constantly saying how terrible he is would have done nothing to help with that. Instead, they let him do what he had to do and built him up for valid accomplishments, and now he appears to be back to being his former self again. In fact, the positivity policy maybe even have turned out to be good for the team given that now we have a good top-six forward instead of the couple million in dead cap space and one fewer draft pick that it would have taken to move a broken player.
Thank god, Seattle is not like Toronto or Philadelphia. I want to have fun watching hockey, not be constantly angry about it. Being constantly angry is what work is for.
Don’t agree, at some point you need to tell it like it is. They are still talking about Grubauer as being an incredible Goalie after 4 years of playing horrible. It’s getting ridiculous and a little sickening, yes it’s good to be positive but reality has to exist.
This just seems like hyperbole. Nobody is talking about Grubi as if he’s incredible, but he can have incredible saves and good performances intermixed with the bad ones, and last game was a perfect example of that. You seem to be having a lot of cognitive dissonance between your belief that Grubi is “horrible” and the fact that he is still capable of having a good game, or can receive praise for making a good save. That just seems way too black and white.
Giving Grubauer props for a good game isn’t at odds with “telling it like it is”. Case in point: Forslund has gone on record earlier in the year talking about how our goaltending wasn’t good, there have been several games where Grubauer was criticized for letting in a softy, or Joey has been criticized for getting “too cute with the puck.” At the same time they have been praised for their good performances, and the game against the rangers was one of them (deserving of a star). This is to say nothing of the skaters (how many times has Edzo criticized players for not getting to the front of the net this year alone???) who have also received even handed analysis of their ups and downs over the year. If that is too rose-colored for you then I think you are approaching these games with a certain disdain for the team or individual players.
The local broadcasts job has always been to present things pretty evenly with a slight bias towards the home team. This hasn’t changed since you started watching hockey, it’s been the case since the beginning of time. Some markets (Toronto, New York and Boston) are hypercritical and are absolutely insufferable because of it.
What you are advocating for seems to be an incredibly pessimistic type of coverage of this team, one that would almost certainly result in viewership loss.
I am not worried about Stephenson, but I will say that, while he has been really good in some games, he has not been so good in others. On good days he is constantly turning play in the northward direction and opening up defenses in the offensive zone leading to opportunities for creative linemates. The game you were talking about where he got the star was one of those good days, and he absolutely earned it. There are other days, though, were he gets to puck-watching or drifts off to the back of the net instead of making the right play net-front. Consistency is an issue with him, although it is fair to say that every Kraken forward not named Jared McCann or Jaden Schwartz has been guilty of the same thing.
Speaking of which, Schwartz has been having a pretty solid year, hasn’t he? He is not getting racking up the points, but he is creating no small number of opportunities. It feels like only a matter of time before those tips that he has been setting up start going in and those screens that he has been creating start being taken advantage of.
Totally agree. Schwartz has been a consistent bright spot, even as Bjorkstrand and Stephenson have intermittently struggled.
McCann is an all-around stud. For all the deserved grief we give RF for the bloated contracts handed out to the likes of Stephenson and Grubauer, it seems like he really hit the jackpot with McCann. He deserves some credit for that.
The Rangers game was a scheduled loss. Playing one of the toughest teams in the league on the second half of a back-to-back is the kind of situation where only a ridiculous run of luck is going to get a team a victory. They got some ridiculous luck all right, just not in their favor. If anything, I am surprised that they fared as well as they did. They just didn’t have enough juice left to mount the big comeback that would have happened on any other night.
Burakovsky has looked outstanding since joining Matty and Jared. A while back, I said that he just needed to remember that he is a really good player, and his recent play, as well as his statements about his play, have lent credence to that theory. Apart from just being good for his personal production, this development has the potential to be a huge windfall for Shane Wright. If Burakovsky sticks on the line with Beniers and McCann, that will free up Jordan Eberle, once he returns, to rejoin Wright on his line with Eeli Tolvannen. Wright has played well with Eberle before, so getting them back together may finally bring Wright’s line to life, especially since Wright will not have to keep playing Sprong’s position for him in the defensive zone. I will say, though, that Sprong looked better against the Rangers than he did against the Islanders. Surprisingly, he won a couple big board battles. Maybe it’s too much to hope for, but for a man Sprong’s size to add that tool to his toolbox would bring his game to a significantly higher level. It’s the kind of thing that generates assists.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate how shut-down the defensemen as a group have been lately. Ryker Evans is developing a good back check to go with his speed. As disastrous as Dunn’s injury has been, getting Evans regular playing time with Larsson appears to have accelerated his development, much like it did for Dunn himself a few years prior. Evans still needs some polish, but thankfully Larsson has plenty to spare and has been playing well. His offensive zone pinches in particular have been well-timed and fierce. Oleksiak continues to be noticeably the team’s best defenseman in Vince Dunn’s absence. If you notice, other teams have been avoiding him in their offensive zone, or maybe it is just that he has been using his reach to clear more ice around him, which has historically been a criticized aspect of his game. The defensmen have played with discipline around the net lately. They are not getting drawn into dangerous battles behind the net anymore, and the cross-crease passes have mostly seemed attributable to forwards puck-watching around the high slot. That is a problem, by the way. Will Borgen is underappreciated for all the disruption he causes and all the checks he finishes. He is too good to be a third-pairing RD. Dude is gonna get seriously paid, which, unfortunately, means that he will not likely be back next season. I guess we just have to enjoy having three excellent pairings for now. Speaking of the future, what can be done with Josh Mahura? Making him a healthy scratch when Vince Dunn returns seems like a waste, although having a ready backup like him would be a rare luxury in the NHL. LOL, and I haven’t even mentioned Montour.
Burky is not staying on the Beniers line when Ebs gets back. There’s no way that’s happening.
Two against and one for the benching of Shane. I will add myself to the “for” vote. I liked Disco Dan’s explanation for it, that he wanted to give Shane time to think about what he was doing earlier in the early that he is no longer doing and try to get back to it. I don’t see any blaming in that, just a smart move by a coach who knows the player well to try to get him playing up to his capabilities. Hope it works.
Giving Shane the night off wasn’t a bad idea at all. He’s still very young, it’s his first season in the NHL, and I think it would be a lot to expect him to play 82 regular season games, even if his physical health allowed it. Mental health is a whole other issue. I could very well happen again, no matter what. It also gives us a chance to bring up someone from CV who is doing well. Hopefully someone who can’t be claimed off waivers.
I heard someone say recently the NHL has become the development league for the NHL, given all the reliance on young players just coming into the league. I can’t say I agree with it. I think Seattle has handled Shane Wright’s early development very well, and will continue to do so.
You make a good point, and I would add that at Wright’s age it may be good for him to not have to play all the games of what has been a monster of a schedule to this point. They have had to play three back-to-backs so far, and it’s still the middle of November. Letting him take one of them off may be the best thing for a twenty year-old who is still acclimating to the grueling marathon that is a full season of NHL hockey.
The short summary…Rangers are a VERY good team, and Seattle managed to keep it close on a back-to-back with our backup goalie in net, without Eberle and Dunn and Ben Meyers in the lineup. I would say that’s not too shabby.
Grubauer is, in fact, a backup goalie, and he played well in that role. Sure, he let in a bit of a stinker, but all goalies do that. He kept the Kraken in it with some really solid play and gave us a real chance to win a tough game. All one can ask for.
The last three games were all closely played affairs. We won two and lost one…against the team we were most likely to lose to. Also not too shabby. These tight fought games are the kind NHL coaches love to see their teams play, especially against good teams. When you lose 2-0 to NYR given the circumstances and you act like the sky is falling and Kraken players are horrible, I’m not sure what you tell someone like that.
I don’t know if anyone else noticed how good Matty Beniers was against NYR. If you didn’t, how couldn’t you? He was awesome and he was flying. And who knows how high his ceiling is. His career is just getting started.
Additionally, it was very interesting NYR couldn’t score on us with the empty net. That was a small by notable victory.
I definitely went into the Rangers game with low expectations and the Kraken performed better than I expected.
I think benching Wright was the right decision. Both Kartye and Bjorkstrand have played considerably better since their scratches so hopefully Wright will be re-energized as well.
I did feel that the Beniers line was looking for the perfect shot too much yesterday and missed several good opportunities.
Saturday’s highlight was definitely the Gourde/Tanev/Kartye line. They seem to have really dialed in to each other and the chemistry is there.
Side note about the Kraken defensemen: Isn’t it impressive that four of the Kraken’s top six blueliners (Borgen, Dunn, Larsson, Oleksiak) were picked by the team in the expansion draft? And Cale Fleury also remains in the org from that draft.
No doubt. The expansion draft was fantastic for the blue line. Looking back, there really was nobody better available to pick. Among regular players, only Evans and Montour were not expansion draft picks, and Evans was the second player chosen in the draft from that same year. After four years, that’s incredible. Oh, and Daccord was an expansion draft pick as well from my poor long-suffering Senators. They may not have gotten the ridiculous haul that Vegas did, but they did put together a great defensive core.
The expansion draft has some pretty good options for d-man. The Kraken navigated it quite well, but to stroll down memory lane, here are some notable defense that the Kraken passed on in the expansion draft:
Dylan DeMelo
Connor Clifton
There were a few other names at the time, but they have not really panned out, such as:
Jake Bean
Oliver Kylington
…or Shayne Gostisbehere. One of the picks folks said Seattle should be making… and then Philly had to spend a 2nd and a 7th to get rid of him and both his contracts since have been for less than the last.
I have to admit to not checking his stats but on every stop recently, Shayne Gostisbehere seems to be an offensive force. Can’t understand why he does not stick or why the Kraken did not choose him instead of the burgeoning prospect Carsen Twarynski.
Twarynski they could get rid of for free. The Flyers actually had to pay to get rid of Gostisbehere.
Also, the alternative to Kylington was Giordano… who turned into Kokko and Drageicevic.
It’s pretty cool how many players in general we still have from that draft, and I’m on the side that thinks we have a good team. That said, I have been very negative on Oleksiak the past three seasons (I think mostly well founded due to terrible D zone giveaways, senseless icings of pucks, etc etc) but playing with Montour has made him WAY better. It has allowed him to focus on his strengths. Also cool (however unfortunate) that Dunn can be injured, and we can still win games.
Oleksiak was that thing where he was a pending UFA but they “drafted” him to get a negotiating window, right? I feel like that only half counts. But still pretty cool. Remember all the fools complaining that they should have drafted Tarasenko instead of Dunn? I loved the Dunn pick from Day 1.
I believe Larsson was the same.
Oh yeah, that’s right.
The Tarasenko stuff was hilarious. A guy coming off should surgery who wouldn’t waive his no trade… instead of Dunn!?!?
On Daily Faceoff the other day one of them said “there were a lot of good players available that Seattle didn’t take” and I immediately thought, if you asked this guy who, the first name he would spit out is Tarasenko.
Tarasenko Would have been a very risky choice, I thought most people were very happy with the Dunn pick from the start? Twarynski Was a head shaking bad selection, he could barely skate. I mean yeah we could get rid of him for free, that’s a low bar to call it a good pick.
Overall our defense selections were very good, we definitely got lucky with Evans I don’t think anyone saw the potential that he had. He quite possibly could have gone undrafted had we not selected him. Francis has done a great job of building youth he doesn’t seem like the guy that’s good and building a roster though.
Ah how quickly we forget. Tarasenko actually had a good rebound season in 2021-22, and it took some time for Dunn to earn Hakstol’s trust, even getting healthy-scratched a few times. This caused some people to say “see! They should have drafted tarasenko!”, ignoring that, looking back, Tarasenko was coming off a serious injury, and looking forward, Dunn was younger with big time upside (and probably should never have been scratched). I had a few arguments about this with other hockey people.
Agree. If memory serves, were not the Blues ready to jettison Tarasenko in any case. I thought the play would have been something like we will take Tarasenko but you must trade us Dunn for future considerations. Oh wait, sorry I forgot we don’t have McCrimmon and McPhee, just Ron. Forget it, he never would have come up with that idea. Oh, and Tarasenko put up 82 pts, 50 pts, and 55 pts, despite playing the last two seasons on two different teams. What is the other side of the argument again?
I think the other side was St Louis tried to move Tarasenko but no one would take a flyer on the guy who hadn’t played since shoulder surgery. Francis stated after the draft they had inquired with Tarasenko if he would waive his NTC were they to select him and he refused…
So Francis was supposed to take a chance on a guy no one else would and risk getting stuck with him rather than taking Vince Dunn, quite possibly the Kraken’s best player?
There was no “we’ll take Tarasenko but you gotta give us something” opportunity. The Blues had already tried to move him and made it pretty clear they weren’t willing to go that route.
I feel like this is another “burning Matty’s ELC” take on Francis… it’s just not based in reality.
I just didn’t want this article to end with only 59 comments…. 😂