If your holiday cheer is based entirely on the success of the Seattle Kraken, then you’re surely feeling a bit Ebenezer Scrooge-ish right now. And while you’ve been hoping to see your team break out of its pre-holiday doldrums, Seattle has instead said, “bah humbug,” sinking farther and farther out of the playoff picture.
The Kraken hobbled into a four-day holiday break looking like the Wet Bandits after a tough trip through Kevin McCallister’s house of horrors, dropping five straight games—their worst streak of the season—including a weekend back-to-back sweep at the hands of the Golden Knights and Avalanche. They have been outscored 22-6 during the skid.
Desperate for a break and a whole lot of answers, the Kraken are now seven points out of the last wild card spot, with four teams to leapfrog to get back in. Such a deficit is not insurmountable; a big hot streak to start the 2025 calendar year could close that gap. But with the way things have been going for this team—and this deep into the season—it really feels like we’re heading toward Seattle’s third season of missing the playoffs in four tries.
What has gone wrong?
The answer to the question “what has gone wrong?” is… a lot has gone wrong. It’s no secret that the Kraken lack elite players who can put their team on their backs and carry them through times when the scoring dries up.
Jared McCann is the closest thing to that type of player Seattle has, but even he has been struggling to find the net for a long time. In some good news, he finally got his first non-empty-net goal in the entire month of December on Sunday in Colorado, so hopefully he regains his scoring touch.
Of course, it’s not just McCann. Matty Beniers hasn’t scored since Nov. 14 and has just four goals on the year. Andre Burakovsky has two total goals in 34 games. And let’s not forget that captain and top-line winger Jordan Eberle has been out since Nov. 14 and won’t be back for at least two more months.
When the top guys are struggling and/or absent, you either need: A.) secondary and tertiary scoring to come through, the way Seattle scored in 2022-23, or B.) to play an almost impenetrable defensive game.
On the first part, the Kraken have gotten offensive production in December from their third line of Eeli Tolvanen, Shane Wright, and Oliver Bjorkstrand. But even that trio went relatively quiet lately and was split up Sunday in an effort to spark other parts of the lineup (one could argue it sort of worked, since McCann scored off a beautiful feed from Wright).
On the second part, the Kraken had a little stretch of success earlier in December with a 3-1-0 East Coast road trip, followed by a shootout loss to the Florida Panthers and a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins at home. During that six-game run, Seattle started to show that it had found an identity as a staunch defensive team, allowing almost nothing through the middle of the defensive zone and counter-striking to create scoring opportunities off the rush.
But since that 5-1 win over Boston, the Kraken have gotten away from that style of play for some reason. Now, passes from opposing offenses seem to be getting through the slot with ease, while a propensity for overcommitting to offensive chances has led to odd-man rushes against—Seattle’s big killer in the game against the Avs.
So, they’re giving up goals too easily, and they aren’t scoring. That’s not a recipe for success. On the season, the Kraken are now 23rd in the league with 2.78 goals for per game while giving up 3.11 goals against per game, 22nd in the league. As a result, they sit 25th in the league standings.
Any reasons for optimism?
The Kraken front office and coaching staff have pulled a lot of different levers to help the team find success, although nothing has really worked so far. The biggest lever was Ron Francis trading Will Borgen and two draft picks for Kaapo Kakko last week.
If we’re looking for reasons for optimism (trust me, I’m feeling very pessimistic about this team’s chances right now), then Kakko’s game on Sunday might be one. Kakko scored off a face-off and battled to the front of the net for a late chance that could have tied the game if it weren’t thwarted by an outstanding Mackenzie Blackwood save. His line with Beniers and Jaden Schwartz was—as coach Dan Bylsma said—Seattle’s best line on Sunday, snagging 94 percent of the shot quality when they were on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Meanwhile, getting McCann off the schneid is potentially massive for this club if he can get hot following the hiatus.
You never want to crawl into a break in the schedule feeling bad about the way things have been going, but sometimes getting away from it all and not thinking about hockey for a bit is just what a struggling team needs. Surely, that’s the hope right now—that the players who are struggling the most will come back feeling refreshed when Seattle returns to game action on Saturday in Vancouver.
“We need to [reset],” Bylsma said after the 5-2 loss to the Avs on Sunday. “I think a lot’s been said, there’s a lot of searching… from the guys going on. We didn’t want to use the last two games as throw away and get to the break. We wanted to dig some growth as a team in these two games, and I think the effort that we put in tonight is considered growth for our group.
“But the four-day break we have to take as a break, both mentally… get away from the game a little bit, get refreshed.”
To be honest, I’m at a point where I’m writing off any hope of this team playing meaningful hockey for too much longer. So, give me a holiday gift and write some reasons for optimism in the comments section, please!
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.
You Darren are feeling like the most of us fans. This really Sucks!
Sick and tired of the few scoring chances the Kraken do get they completely miss the net or hit the goal posts.
Maybe the current break will help, but who at this point can be optimistic that it will…?
Reasons for optimism?
2026-2027.
Good summary of what has brought us to this low point. Let me offer my theory for improvement.
To my eye, the team is lacking physical play. The Kraken shy away from the net front and don’t respond to provocation, aside from a few notables (Dunn, Tanev, Gourde). They just don’t answer the bell. Being bullied robs you of your confidence and makes you shoot from the boards. This is the problem.
Alex Mandrycky’s model seems to value pass-first two-way Swedes and Finns and undervalues toothless Canadians that hit everything and skate like their hair is on fire. We need more of the latter and less of the former. My two cents.
PS: Curtis is always right.
Agreed. And they seem to have forgotten how to check (in either direction.) That was a first year problem. I hate to think they’re way back to year one but nothing else is telling us anything different. Here’s to hoping the break is enough of a reset.
Hopefully the Kraken are so bad that they will “blow it up” and get the best assets they can for a window in 3 +/- years. Their apparent strategy of “try to be a mid team and maybe eke into the playoffs to hopefully keep/get fans engaged” has pretty clearly failed (I guess they are 1-for-4…but clearly not trending well). If they were a legit potential playoff bubble team right now they would surely do everything possible to claw into the playoffs – at the expense of the future. Since they are not, hopefully they will give up their ‘mid’ dreams and start pursuing bigger dreams (albeit further in the future). So definitely some optimism that the Kraken may be big sellers at the trade deadline, hand the team over to the “kids,” and try to figure out how to acquire/develop some legit top line talent. Maybe in the meantime we’ll see some more fun/energetic Bylsma-style hockey with the kids (i.e., lose in a loose, aggressive, fun way rather than losing in a tight, scared, overthinking way)!
After the Ottawa game I posted, “Last night looked a lot like last season. Too much so.”
What I meant by that was, after a good stretch, it looked like they were going back to rimming it around the boards, losing battles on the half walls, and throwing the puck at the net. That’s what it looked like to me and that’s what it looked like the next two games as well… so I looked at the numbers.
During the four games against the Ducks and Sharks the Kraken averaged 47.5 low-danger chances for (LDCF), 52,51,41,45.
In the seven games starting with the Canes and ending with the Lightning that average dropped to 29.72 LDCF, 31,27,32,35,33,26,24
Over the three games starting with Ottawa they went back up to averaging 46.33 LDCF, 47, 51,41.
What I am seeing is a team that can’t gain control of the zone and if it does it immediately throws the puck at the net… too often from above the dots without support.
Eddie likes to say, ‘When you throw the puck at the net, good things happen’. Well it seems to me the “good thing” that’s happening is the puck is going the other way.
There’s lots more I’m sure (entries, puck handling, the “anchor” play)… this is just one observation that’s jumped out to me and the numbers seem to agree.
Reasons to be optimistic:
Bjorkstrand (Bluejackets 3rd & 4th)
Kartye (undrafted)
Tolvanen (waivers)
Kakko (Rangers Borgen 3rd & 6th)
Nyman (Preds Lauzon)
Kokko (Leafs Gio/Blackwell)
Goyette (Flames Järnkrok)
MacDonald (Flames by way of Bruins?)
Robertson (Flames Pitlick)
Rehkopf (Caps Vanacek)
Drageicevic (Leafs Gio/Blackwell)
Vedenpaa (Caps Johansson)
Villeneuve (Rangers Wennberg)
Saarinen (Leafs Gio/Blackwell)
Caswell (Panthers 6th & 7th)
Fibiger (Flames Järnkrok)
The Kraken are much closer to a bottom 5 team right now than a playoff team, with 3 teams below them who can easily leapfrog with games in hand (MTL, ANA, DET). So that’s a reason for optimism — a top 5 pick! Yay.
I know xGF% has its flaws, but over a larger sample size, it tends to be a decent indicator of team quality. And wouldn’t you know, the Kraken are 5th worst in xGF%, down there with a bunch of rebuilding clubs. Controlling 45% of the shot quality per game is really, really bad. I don’t know what the answer is. It appears it’s not Vince Dunn, unfortunately.
I’d trade Beniers for Dylan Cozens straight up, but I feel like the Sabres would just laugh and hang up the phone. Beniers doesn’t even look like an NHL player right now. He looks more and more like a college player playing in the NHL. It’s not like he’s even getting unlucky — I can hardly remember any shots on goal of his.
This team will be pretty unwatchable when the Tanev and Gourde are traded away this deadline. Watching Burakovsky spin around three times then get pinned to the boards before turning it over, or Stephenson float around aimlessly, or Oleksiak try to do anything at all….yuck. This team might start to actually lose some fan interest. They’re not even bad and fun. They’re bad, boring, and old. It’s a really terrible combination.
Happy holidays everybody! Like I said, top 5 pick, maybe!
I’m going to pretend this is not a stupid question; what is the thing, the deal, the cryptonite, that turns this team into bumbling puck watchers? They’ve played a few really good games in the past 30 days but somehow they’ve gone under a spell. What. Is. It?! One or two players? Coaching? I cannot figureb it out and when we discuss in these articles i don’t see a theme there either? Is one player poisoning the whole team?
I know I’m preaching to the choir.
Here’s a TLDR reply for ya…
On the contrary… I don’t think this is a stupid question… I think this is THE question.
I completely agree they’ve had good games in the past 30 days. I think the stretch between Carolina and Tampa was exactly what I was hoping to see out of the team this season… and, yes, I include the loss to the Lightning. But since then it seems to me they’ve gone back to trying to “shoot the puck more”.
I’m just a couch coach so I’m not going to try and tell a professional NHL staff what they should be doing. I honestly cannot understand the temerity of folks who think they know better than professional GMs and coaches who have spent their entire personal and professional lives in hockey and have actual information and insight. That said, I am okay with venturing observation – what I’m seeing – and a bit of speculation. I try my hardest to stick to what I’m seeing… I’m sure I sometimes stray, maybe even here.
I hear it in the broadcast, I hear it in the post game… and last season you could hear it in practice… “Shoot The F…ing Puck”!
It seems to me – and this isn’t worth much – the Kraken have success when they can maintain possession in the offensive zone and create chances… and this is an incredibly obvious statement. It also seems like when they do this they don’t get a ton of shots. I think this is pretty much what happened during the first couple weeks of December and it feels like they’ve decided they need to get more shots… which they have… and they’ve been losing.
It also seems like they’re committing to getting the puck up ice quickly – but not personnel – so they end up deep in the zone with a one-on-four… and the puck just goes the other way… or they end up rimming it around… and then it goes the other way. They also seem to be going heavy with the “anchor” play where a skater camps on the entry blueline to dish or dump a stretch pass from deep in the defensive zone, but this also seems to have no support so it often ends up going back the other way as well.
So… blah, blah, blah… the question is. What. Is. It!?
You know whose No.1 in the league in low-danger chances per 60?
Carolina.
You know whose No.2?
Florida.
…and No.3 is Nashville.
Seattle is 11th, unless you take out that seven game stretch at the beginning of this month… then they’d be No.4.
The Canes and the Panthers gain the zone and control the puck. They have a tenacious forecheck and they take a ton of shots… AND maintain possession. To me what IT seems to be is Seattle wants to shoot the puck more – that’s what successful teams do – but they are not supporting that type of game. So you end up with a team that subscribes to the exclamations of that idiot in the seat next you shouting SHOOT every time the puck enters the zone.
What do I think it is? I think they’re throwing the puck at the net and hoping good things will happen… but that’s just my thought.
I’d really like to hear others.
“Chuck Holmes on December 1, 2024 at 1:28 am
For my next prediction, I expect Francis, to keep the increasingly tenuous hold on his job, makes trades.”
Hope the Kakko trade works out, but this is symptomatic of a bigger issue. That is, instead of hitting for a home run with trades, Francis is only interested in getting on base, even a bunt will do. Using Vegas as the benchmark for elite 21st century NHL management: Vegas trades: Eichel, Stone, Barbashev, Hanifin, Hertl. Seattle trades: Tatar, Sprong, Kakko, Bjorkstand, Rask. Are any of the Kraken acquisitions better than any of the GK’s acquisitions? All 5 of Vegas’ leading scorers were acquired by trade!!! When I compare the two sets of GMs, it is not really about the expansion draft but what has happened since. That is where we have lost big time in comparison and why VGK is a top team and SK are mediocre. GM talent makes all the difference.
Two things I’ve been wondering:
What would be the odds of Edzo accepting the role as interim head coach for the rest of the season if it were offered to him? At least we’d probably get some net-front presence…
If this weekend’s Battle of the Sound were to become a 3-team mini-tournament between the Kraken, Thunderbirds and Silvertips, who would come out on top? I think I might put my money on the Tips. Especially if the Kraken put Grubauer in the net.
My reason for optimism is that no matter what happens with the Kraken on the ice, I get to listen to the Sound of Hockey podcast every week. Thanks, Darren, John, and Curtis for all your hard work!
We can be optimistic because this year’s team has way more talent than last year’s team. Additions of Montour, Stephenson, and Kakko gives them a lot more talent on paper than last year but the results are the same- inability to score goals 5×5. Perhaps the team needs the second half to come together. It looks more and more like coaching was not the issue.
In my eyes, I think coaching change has also been a bright spot. I think DD is pulling all the levers he can. Is it too much? Maybe. But i don’t recall Hax sitting as many players when he was in charge.
I can’t imagine where we’d be without Monty. Cheers to the positives!
I agree on the coaching.
I cannot say with any legitimate insight where in it’s progression the team is, but it seems to me Bylsma is still trying to build out systems. He has talked about wanting to “get up the ice” quickly and they still seem committed to that. Also, they only got one power play against the Avs – and it wasn’t impressive – but even during this slump the execution on the advantage has appeared, to me, much improved.
I know the NHL isn’t supposed to be a developmental league, but with Beniers, Evans, Kartye and Wright all on the roster and more “youngsters” on the way, I think there are going to be “fits and starts” along the way. I think it’s safe to dismiss the playoffs at this point, but I still think they can be a team that is improving and building and fun to watch. I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more players get moved, but I don’t want to watch the disaster that was this team after the trade deadline last season.
I’d say coaching was an issue last season, but I think there’s a bigger coaching issue right now.
Since the season started, the coaching staff has not been able to roll out a consistent lineup that can successfully balance ice time between 5-on-5, PP and PK. By the final period of too many games the lines are in complete disarray and players are totally out of sync with each other. Changeovers have been an absolute mess, particularly during this current streak.
Right now, there seem to be 2 cohesive forward lines: Wright/ Bjorkstrand/ Tolvanen, who are becoming somewhat productive and Gourde/ Tanev/ Kartye who play well defensively but can’t actually get the puck into the net.
Of the rest of the forwards, there is talent individually, but collectively things just aren’t working. Beniers is absolutely lost. McCann needs Eberle. Stephenson is infuriatingly inconsistent makes better passes to his opponents than his teammates. Burakovsky and Sprong can’t get in sync with anyone. Schwartz kind of plugs away, doesn’t make any glaring errors, but also doesn’t seem to have any particular role or identity. Kakko is still a big unknown, but likely holds the best potential to get Beniers back on track, assuming he hasn’t already gotten fed up with the mess he’s been thrown into.
Beniers trade has been mentioned on occasion. Until the salary cap goes up, this probably won’t happen.
A very good rookie season and a not-so-good second season being rewarded with a rather large contract
will make any movement difficult.
At this point, the playoffs will, very likely, not happen.
Coachella’s John Hayden was given a one-way deal – use him and inject some truculence into the lineup.
A strong word to be sure, but an attitude change is necessary.
I don’t know if trading Beniers would be as risky as it might seem to another team.
His contract is eligible for a 1/3 buyout through the first 4 seasons of the term (including this season). And the no-trade clause doesn’t kick in until after those 4 seasons either. So if he doesn’t improve, trade him after next season, with partial salary retention for 2 years. After those 2 years, the new team will either have a 7m buyout spread across 6 years, or someone who has developed into the value of a contract that, after 4 years of likely cap increases, comparatively isn’t outrageously over-priced.
As I wrote several times before and going to write until the real visible turnover- it’s time to review the management approach. Starting from the new GM.
I think the team misses Eberle.
Just his presence helped the team jell. They really haven’t been the same since his injury.
Another reason for optimism…
World Juniors is about to start and Seattle is one of three teams with a tournament high eight players participating.
Hi Daryl,
We discussed it a few days ago and I want to ask you again, do you still see a GM’s plan?
Where a plan is not a set of fantasies, but a clear program of actions aligned with personal abilities & competencies to implement it in the designated time. I.e. make a contender within 5 years.
Hi Denis,
From the outside I think the best anyone can do is make a rough assessment that has to rely on some assumptions. I also agree those assumptions shouldn’t be “fantasies”, but they shouldn’t assume the worst either. I think there are also other pressures beyond personnel which are difficult to account for. With that said, I believe I can recognize a GMs plan for the Kraken.
I think there’s a popular conception that a team should be built from the backend and then up through the middle. I think that’s a good place to start for simplicity sake, but I also think it’s consistent with what’s been done so far.
The backend starts in net. I think Grubauer was supposed to be that initial piece. I don’t think that has been the case. Nonetheless, with Daccord I think they have an obvious direction there. I don’t know what the future of Gru is, but I think it’s unlikely he plays out his contract. I think Joey is the plan given his age, contract and performance,
The blueline seems pretty straightforward. The top two pairs look to be in place for the time being with Dunn, Larsson, Evans and Montour. They’ll need to figure out a third pair when Oleksiak is up season after next.
The middle. I think there are some reasonable assumptions that can be made there. First, Beniers is not going to continue shooting 6.45%. I know there’s been some handwringing, but I think he’s going to live up to his contract and I think that’s a reasonable assumption. In his first full season Wright looks like he can play center in the NHL. He also looks like he may still have plenty of upside. He’s draft plus two and is, I think, solid as a 3C right now… so I’m going to pencil in draft plus two Catton for 3C as well. That – as with Oleksiak – brings us back to season after next.
To me digging into the rest of the forwards has to start season after next. Right now, McCann and Burakovski are the only skaters on the wing who will still be under contract then. Kartye is an RFA at the end of this season and it’s safe to assume he’ll be extended. I think it is very difficult to make assumptions about Tolvanen and Kakko. They are both set to be UFAs after next season and I think that complicates any speculation. If I pencil in one of those guys I think that’s reasonable. I also think an ELC from Coachella is a safe bet. That’s five of eight.
So what’s the plan? If I were to speculate, I would say the plan is 2026.
Without knowing exactly what the cap is going to be, I think $35m is a reasonable projection of the available dollars the Kraken will have going into 2026 for: a backup goalie, a bottom pair, and three forwards.
I think it’s reasonable to expect improvement from both Beniers and Wright and both will still be under 25. I also think it’s reasonable to expect an upside “surprise” from one of the prospects like Rehkopf or Sale or Catton. I’m not saying “superstar”, but a soild NHL player.
That’s an established blueline and solid centermen to add around. The available cap and a deep asset pool should allow the team to add the “top end” talent they’ve been missing. As much as folks consider Francis “gunshy”, he has managed to add 16 players or prospects that were not UFAs or Kraken draft picks.
Folks may not like that plan, but it is a plan. It relies on growth from the young players and being able to land a high profile player or two when the time is right. Tanking is not a plan, it is a strategy… a strategy that relies on hope. I think a plan has a greater likelihood of success than the alternatives in this case and I think the Kraken can end up with a core of players that can consistently be in the playoffs and in a position to contend for a Cup.
Just my thoughts…
Merry Christmas!!!
Hi Daryl,
Appreciate your detailed response, great structure and arguments.
Nothing to argue with. But as a fan, I would prefer:
1. Discuss big trade, Marner and Pettersson- caliber.
2. Getting rid of underperformers like Grubauer and Burakovsky quickly without having to endure several years of it.
3. Actively trading draft picks, prospects, and roster players – we don’t have anything critically valuable anyway.
And so on. It’s not about guaranteeing success, that’s impossible. But it will energize environment with at least some passion and positivity, rather than endless grayness.
Depression is not the emotion a fan should be getting, especially after four years. This team is mediocre from start to finish, which is evident not only in their play, but in every single managerial decision.
Therefore, I believe Francis should be fired. Aside from the obvious mistakes, the prolonged lack of results, the cloudy predictions for the future – he is simply incapable of providing healthy emotions from supporting the team.
And this is a essense of a whole game.
Merry Christmas!
Down by one (3-2) with 2:30 left…you pull the goalie and go down 4-2. Then you pull the goalie again with 1:30 left, and go down 5-2. Felt like we were back in Hakstol “grasping at straws”territory. Feels very desperate.
The coaching staff has to find a way to avoid desperation as a strategy. It’s possible the dump and get the puck behind the defenders and then battle along the boards strategy isn’t working. At times the team has looked rather rudderless.
On the positive side, that Shane pass was awesome, and it was great to see Kakko score just by getting the puck to the net, as you should, off what I believe was a Matty faceoff win. They don’t all have to be pretty.