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Monday musings: Kraken turnaround

John Barr

The Seattle Kraken just captured six out of a possible eight points on what, at least on paper, looked like one of the most challenging road trips on the schedule. This comes right after we were all searching for answers following three straight losses to Anaheim and San Jose. How did this turnaround happen?

Starting on time

I’ve always considered “starting on time” part of the coaches’ and players’ cliché vocabulary—something they break out to essentially say nothing to the media. However, the Kraken’s slow starts were a big factor in those three losses against Anaheim and San Jose. They trailed in all three of those games, but on this road trip, they scored the first goal in three out of four games.

The Kraken still lead the league in allowing the first goal, trailing first in 62.1 percent of their games. But it’s more than just scoring first—they looked engaged from the start in all four games. There were early stretches against the Devils and Rangers where they were being outshot, but it wasn’t the same sloppy affair we saw against San Jose.

Power play comes alive

Prior to this road trip, the Kraken were a brutal 2-for-28 on power play opportunities over the previous eight games, including a six-game drought without a power-play goal. On this road trip, they went 4-for-8 on the power play.

It doesn’t seem like the team is doing anything drastically different other than successfully entering the zone and setting up in the offensive zone. Vince Dunn is obviously a valuable addition to the power play unit, but he only had one point on the four power-play goals scored during the trip. Still, Seattle seems to be getting more zone time than before, and you can tell he’s very comfortable quarterbacking that top unit.

The Shane Wright ‘line’

One recent line adjustment made by Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma was putting Shane Wright with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen. The three were productive before the road trip, but they contributed eight goals over the four-game trip, including four in the game against the Rangers.

It’s not entirely fair to credit that line for all eight goals since several came on the power play when they weren’t on the ice together. However, the trio is clearly clicking, both at even strength and with the manpower advantage.

I’m not going to pop any champagne bottles proclaiming Shane Wright is living up to his draft position just yet, but his play over the last few weeks has been very encouraging. He’s still just 20 years old.

Bylsma talked about Wright’s progression following the game on Sunday. “He’s matured as a player over the last year and a half. But in training camp, he was playing his best hockey that he’s played as a Kraken, and he just needed to reset and get focused on playing that way again.” 

Responding to the scratch

I’m sure these guys are tired of being asked about it, but how about the performances of Bjorkstrand and Wright since they were healthy scratched? While it’s a small sample size, Andre Burakovsky is showing some early signs that he might follow a similar path.

Here’s how the guys performed before and after their healthy scratches:

They still have work to do

As great as the past week has been, the Kraken still hold a .500 record, which projects to just 82 points by season’s end. That obviously won’t cut it for a playoff spot. However, their adjusted goal differential has hovered right around zero for most of the season, which suggests they are better than an 82-point team.

Other Musings

Goal of the Week

Jaden Schwartz set the tone for the road trip just 19 seconds into the game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Player performances

Tyson Jugnauth (POR/SEA): The unsigned Kraken defenseman prospect had six assists in the Portland Winterhawks’ 7-2 win over the Vancouver Giants. My only question—where was he on the seventh goal?
Jaden Schwartz (SEA): Schwartz tallied two goals and two assists over the four-game road trip. We don’t talk about Schwartz nearly enough—when healthy, he’s been a steady, reliable forward for the Kraken.
Vince Dunn (SEA): Dunn notched six points on the road trip, including a goal and two assists in the Kraken’s 5-2 win over the Islanders.

The week ahead

The boys may be coming home, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier with matchups against Florida, Boston, and Tampa Bay—three teams playing excellent hockey heading into the week.

Capturing three out of a possible six points this next week would be a solid result, but the Kraken need to keep clawing back points to reinsert themselves into the playoff picture.

Can they exceed that number? What say you?

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