[Long exasperated sigh.]
At the official halfway point of the season, the Seattle Kraken are unofficially cooked. They showed some promise coming out of the holiday break with a shocking comeback win against the Vancouver Canucks, followed by a solid 60-minute victory over the Utah Hockey Club. But, as has been the case all season, the second some positive momentum starts to build, the wheels fall right back off the wagon, this time resulting in three consecutive losses (0-2-1) to close out a four-game homestand.
The most recent Kraken defeat came Monday at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, who came in on a four-game skid. While Seattle again battled hard to stay with a good (albeit struggling) team, conceding a brutal response goal and encountering some unbelievable saves by Jacob Markstrom ultimately sealed the Kraken’s fate.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Devils.
Takeaway #1: Jacob Markstrom wanted for grand larceny
Despite facing only 24 Kraken shots, the Devils’ netminder was the story of this game and rightfully earned the No. 1 star honors. This was one of those rare occasions where the question wasn’t “how many?” but rather, “how?” Seriously—how on Earth did he stop those?
The first of his three best saves came late in the first period with the game tied 1-1. The Eeli Tolvanen/Shane Wright/Oliver Bjorkstrand line orchestrated a beautiful 3-on-2 buildup that ended with Bjorkstrand storming down the slot for as good a look as you can get. His snap shot appeared destined for the top corner, but Markstrom sprawled to his left, going full street-hockey mode to get a piece of it with his glove.
Highway robbery by Jacob Markstrom on Oliver Bjorkstrand after a great buildup by Wright and Tolvanen.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 7, 2025
He also just stopped Burakovsky on a breakaway. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/u5GEmgfRYz
The other two highway robberies came in the third period, both with the Kraken pressing to tie the game at 3-3. Wright and Tolvanen connected again for what seemed like a surefire goal for Tolvanen, who was staring at a wide-open net. In desperation, Markstrom lunged with his glove. With Tolvanen’s body positioning and the puck in the air, he had no choice but to direct it back toward Markstrom’s big, open mitt for another sensational save.
JACOB MARKSTROM, YOU DIRTY DOG!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 7, 2025
Legit save-of-the-year candidate on Eeli Tolvanen. 🤦♂️ #SeaKraken #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/MmSc3rkw5K
Minutes later, Markstrom delivered even more wizardry when Matty Beniers tipped a Kaapo Kakko shot and collected his own rebound, flipping it up and over Markstrom. With the goalie flopping flat onto his back, this floating puck would surely drop into the net, right?
WRONG!
From the depths of Hell (where Devils reside), Markstrom reached up and somehow batted the puck out of the air, preserving the tenuous one-goal lead.
UPDATE: THIS is the save of the year from Markstrom!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 7, 2025
He bats it out of the air on Beniers from his back. 🤯 #SeaKraken #NJDevils https://t.co/lya7gIPBcW pic.twitter.com/kOZdolKvC5
After the game, New Jersey forward Paul Cotter struggled to put into words what he saw from his netminder.
“I was speechless on a couple of [the saves]. He saved me a couple dashes,” Cotter said. “I mean, we’re nowhere near a win without him tonight.”
Added Markstrom: “It’s a win, two points. I don’t care how we do it. If I make five saves or 12 saves or 40 saves, if we win, I’m happy.”
Takeaway #2: The dreaded response goal
On Monday morning, Kraken coach Dan Bylsma emphasized how critical the second goal of the game is. If you concede the first, can you answer? Or if you score first, can you extend the lead and take control of the game? Unfortunately, the Kraken rarely capitalize on the latter scenario, so when they allow the first goal, they must respond.
Seattle did get the second goal in this game. Adam Larsson, using a Jared McCann screen to his advantage, banked a seeing-eye shot off the far post and in to tie the score at 1-1 at 15:47 of the first period.
But a case could be made that the fifth goal of this game was the most pivotal. The Kraken had just found the elusive equalizer 1:24 into the third period when Shane Wright hammered home a perfect Kakko saucer pass on the power play to make it 2-2.
While scoring that second goal is vital, so too is the next shift after any goal, and the Kraken seemed to forget that detail. Just 37 seconds later, Jack Hughes found Ondrej Palat in a soft spot in the slot, and Palat flicked a shot against the grain past Philipp Grubauer’s glove for the eventual game-winner.
Asked whether the Cotter goal with 24 seconds left in the second and the Palat response goal deflated Seattle, Bylsma said, “Yes, I agree with you.”
Takeaway #3: This feels like the end already
Maybe it’s just hyperbole and an overreaction to getting kicked while down, but this feels like the end of the Kraken’s playoff chances for the season.
…And there are still more than three months left.
Yes, there’s time for a miracle hot streak, but realistically, this team simply isn’t good enough to string together a long series of wins. To beat quality opponents, the Kraken must play near-flawless hockey for 60 minutes. While that’s possible on occasion, it won’t happen consistently enough to re-enter the playoff race.
The Kraken now sit seventh in the Pacific Division. At this rate, a last-place finish—below the Ducks and Sharks—is more plausible than a miraculous playoff berth.
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.
According to Moneypuck, the Kraken are ten times more likely (8.4% chance, third highest odds in the league) to get the 1st overall pick than to be in the half of the league that makes the playoffs (0.8%). So… yeah. Welcome to the dark side, Darren!
At the start of the season I made a prediction that the Kraken would fall short of the playoffs but still improve marginally on last year’s 81 points in the standings. I harbored hope that I was being too pessimistic and would be proven wrong.
Today, it looks like matching last year’s “success” looks optimistic. Soon the Kraken will be trading talented players on expiring contracts for draft picks, and the young prospects have shown little readiness for taking on bigger roles. Enthusiasm in the locker room will begin to wane, and the golf clubs will move from the back of the closet to the car trunk. Players will start looking for vacation packages in May and June and scheduling meetings with their agents.
Its only January, but another season turns.
Or… the team gets healthy, the young guys down the middle continue to make progress, newly acquired Kakko proves to be a valuable addition, the power play solidifies the top ten play it’s shown over the past six weeks and they win more than they lose. Maybe they even add another young piece like Robertson at the trade deadline. They still miss the playoffs, but the trend is in the right direction and it’s easier to see a path to winning for the Kraken.
I was expecting a much better season, especially after a decent October, but I also think this is a long project and there’s still a lot I’m looking forward to… even in the second half of this season.
Go Kraken!!!
Tanev played like he is already traded. He rarely skated fast and coasted through the game. Whats up with that, is he injured? Again Blysma trying to line match and failed yet again. Averaging only 7 shot per period is unacceptible, no matter how good Markstrom was. Kraken need to play at a higher energy leve or expect a high dragy pick and say good by to a lot of expiring vontracts, which is not a bad thing. No wonder there are a lot of empty seats during this home stretch.
Chance of making playoffs 0.8%, just above Chicago and SJ. It may be a new year but I will stand by what I already said in 2024. Specifically, the Ron Francis experiment has failed. The roster is not good enough. As I pointed out last year, all of Vegas’ top scorers are trade acquisitions!
The Leiwekes need to step in and get rid of Francis soon to return this franchise to a sense of hope. Right now I don’t really see any reason for optimism except the top 3 pick and another top 16 pick from the Yanni Gourde auction will lay the groundwork a few more years down the line.
I don’t blame Disco Dan, what can he do with this talent-less roster? This is 100% on Francis. They need an all action aggressive GM, not a hyper conservative afraid to make a real trade stuck in the 20th century GM. I have been banging this drum a long time, along with the fire Grubi drum.
Perhaps now everyone will finally accept that the GM is the issue and nothing will change this team’s fortunes until he is gone.
I don’t think we can blame Ron. The roster actually looks decent, but the players aren’t doing it. No one expected Burakovsky to be this terrible, for example. How could Ron have known that? He’s probably pretty frustrated.
They’re both to blame. Ron Francis overpaid for both Grubauer and Burakovsky after they both had career years, rather than realizing those were outlier years (especially in the case of Grubauer, woof). Nobody expected either of them to be THIS bad, but $6M for 6 years for a Vezina finalist who was never that good previously always seemed like a huge overpay.
Why do I care about $$ that’s not mine? Because cap space can and should be treated like a very precious and rare commodity in the NHL. It can be weaponized by shrewd GMs and utilized to accelerate a rebuild (or, just a “build” in this case). Instead, we have $18M caught up in contracts for Gru, Burky, and Stephenson, who are not helping this team contend, and are actually doing the opposite.
I get it. Ron probably feels pressure both internally (GMs typically only get 1 coach firing before they’re canned) and externally (ownership told him to spend last offseason, probably desperate to maintain fan interest) to give out those contracts. But therein lies the problem — GMs are often more concerned about keeping their jobs or making ownership happy instead of actually building a sustainably competitive team. Doing this half-assed approach just prolongs the “build”, plus it’s counterproductive when the team is actually competitive and has all this $$ tied up in garbage contracts. I still harbor hope for the ‘26-‘27 season, but I hope RF’s checkbook remains in his desk drawer this coming offseason, if he’s still around…
It’s confusing when people combine the money and performance and try to make some kind of point. Yes, the money is the business side and clearly affects the cap logistics, but it’s just that. It’s just the business side. You have performance and you have money, and they are separate. When you start trying to fuse them, a bunch of other more complicated questions come up like “who else could you get instead of the guys you have? Are they available? Can they be moved based on their contract clauses? Do they want to play for The Kraken, or would they rather stay where they are or be closer to their family in Ontario?” For some reason, some fans assume GM’s have unlimited choice when it comes to building a roster, when in reality their options are probably more limited.
No, because my point isn’t that “they should’ve signed player X instead,” my point is they should’ve signed nobody and used the cap space in trades to get more draft picks. Often, those trades don’t involve restricted trade lists, so whether they want to play in Seattle is irrelevant.
The team is already loaded with 1st and 2nd round draft picks. Where did that get us?
Beniers – #2
Kakko – #2
Wright – #4
Larsson – #4
Schwartz – #14
Oleksiak – #14
Eberle – #22
Burakovsky – #23
McCann – #24
Tolvanen – #30
Evans – #35
Sprong – #46
Montour – #55
Dunn – #56
The point is you have a bunch of first and second round draft picks who are young, fast, and in their prime around the same time. What we have now is a mix of a few young but mostly old and expensive former first round draft picks. That is not the recipe, imo. Also, you particularly need to hit on high first round draft picks. Almost every playoff competitive team out there has a franchise cornerstone who was a high first rounder (even Vegas who traded for Eichel, but no way RF has the cojones to make a trade like that which is why I’m talking draft). It’s possible Beniers can be that, but it’s looking more likely that he’s another Jordan Staal, who was a solid 2nd and now 3rd line two-way center and also taken second overall (one ahead of Jonathan Toews, yikes!).
Have you been asleep since Francis screwed the pooch on the expansion draft? While many GMs having been making clever trades or draft picks, Francis has been stuck in the mud, afraid to make any bold moves. He is yesterday’s man. The number of GMs who have run circles around him is the majority of the league. That is why the team sucks. Mediocre GM, mediocre team. Show me a top team in the league with a mediocre GM?
I don’t think the roster is terrible, based on the options that were available. The players we have should be playing better. Was Yanni Gourde known to be a bad player? Is Vince Dunn a bad player? Was it stupid to sign Larsson? Was it dumb to trade for Bjorkstrand when he was the leading point producer in Columbus? Everyone seemed to think that was genius. Was it idiotic to pick up Tolvanen off waivers? No one seemed to be too offended by that move. Were people outraged we signed Burakovsky after he won two Cups? As much as some people don’t like Stephenson, he was one of the most coveted UFA’s, and maybe he’s just stymied having to play with Burakovsky who doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to do half the time. Ironically, Francis was questioned for drafting Evans, whom no one else really had on their radar, and Evans will probably become one of the most reliable and best puck moving D-men in the league.
Respectively, what exactly should GMRF have done differently in the expansion draft? LV did us no favors by hoodwinking the league during their expansion draft, subsequently teams were extra cautious when it was Seattle’s turn. GMRF himself (yes it could be self serving) said the types of trades available to LV weren’t there. A few comments (over the past year or so) have indicated that GMRF messed up with the expansion draft. I’d like to see (from you and others) some specific expansion draft scenarios where the team could have ended up significantly better than the players we ended up with.
TFL… Don’t hold your breath. I’ve gone back over the draft multiple times and had this same discussion. It seems like the answer is typically something along the lines of “everyone knows Francis screwed it up.” They may go on about all the draft picks he could have had but won’t actually be able to break down much in the way of that.
You just have to accept that the legend of the “draft that could have been” will live on forever.
I think we can, at least partially, blame RF because he’s the spouse overpaying for the shiny new car. GM needs to be shrewd. I’ve been looking at PuckPedia and it’s pretty amazing where some of the successful teams are in their caps. Stephenson, even Matty – too much, too long.
“…top 16 pick from the Yanni Gourde auction” ?!?!
Guess you don’t bother to read all my posts. That is OK, I read few of yours.
What I had said was that a top GM would start the Yanni Gourde auction, as every playoff aspiring team will want him. He is the missing piece for many of these teams to have a chance at playoff success. An auction properly done returns a 2025 1R pick.
Then how to decide which offer to take. Choose the playoff aspirant you know will likely miss the playoffs as your trade partner. There you go, a top 16 pick. As I know I could negotiate this rather easily, any GM being paid millions should certainly be able to pull it off.
I read all of your posts Chuck.
While Yanni is a center and plays a style of game that teams covet, I think a first – especially given the season he’s had – is quite a stretch.
The idea of a bubble team trading a first for him is just preposterous.
Agreed. This is a case of valuing your own players higher than what the league market would indicate. I could see a 2nd and 3rd for Yanni or maybe even a 2nd and a prospect.
I think the bigger problem is without Yanni this team loses a big chunk of the identity they need to be competitive, I’d prefer they re-sign him if he’s agreeable and if the price and term is right. We have plenty of picks and a good (some might say middling while simultaneously saying it’s deep in quality and quantity) prospect pool. He’s probably more valuable to the organization as a veteran leader than the picks he would garner, but that’s just my opinion. That said it wouldn’t surprise me if Yanni preferred to play for a contender in his final years.
The playoff teams don’t have the top 16 picks. They have the next 16 picks after that. And Gourde is not fetching a 1st round pick at this stage of his career, and he’s not fetching diddly squat so long as he’s hurt.
Not going to get a top 16 pick for a 33 year old 3rd line center on expiring contract.
What Yanni Gourde auction? Gourde is hurt.
I think we can also confidently say that Hakstol was not the problem, either. Bylsma’s team is consistently unprepared to start games. Enzo was rightly ripping Bylsma last night for keeping his worst line on the ice nearly the entire time the goalie was pulled, instead of Beniers who has been great lately and especially last night. Bylsma even called a time out to rest his worst line so he could throw them out there again! OF COURSE, He Who Must Not Be Named lost every faceoff, turned the puck over repeatedly and did his usual aimless loafing during these last desperate moments, while Beniers and Wright sat on the bench (Beniers came on just for the last half minute or so and tried his darndest). At least overall, the Beniers line finally had more ice time than the lazy washed-up line, so I guess that’s improvement. This unjustifiable favoring of their worst and least energetic forward and line must also be causing rifts and resentment in the locker room — how could it not?
By the way, this is a fun fact — according to Natural Stat Trick, there are 8 Kraken line combinations that have played over 60 minutes of ice time together this season. 5 of them — the ones centered by Gourde, Wright or Beniers — have xGF% over 50%, i.e. are winning their minutes. The other 3 are the ones centered by You Know Who and have xGF% of 30, 31 and 36, respectively — i.e., they are getting caved in.
Ok ok, sorry, I’ll stop.
Free Curtis!
OK, I laughed.
Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that Schwartz got hot once he was removed from Voldemort’s line, and McCann has gone ice cold since joining? Same with Burky who didn’t score for like a month until recently? I knew He was bad, but those numbers are staggering.
McCann shot 16.20% over the past two seasons – good enough for 25th in the league. Over the past six weeks he’s shooting 7.89%… and you think that’s Stephenson’s fault?
Sure, that’s part of it. But he also has fewer chances, and is allowing way more goals against with Stephenson on his line.
I think the lack of help on his line has also been forcing McCann to fire a lot of long-range shots rather than close-range high-danger ones, which is reflected in xGF.
No forward has had more shot attempts over the past six weeks than McCann’s 88 and his 18.38 per 60 is also No.1.
The aGF% (actual goals for percentage) of those three lines is 50%… but more importantly.
November 5th
Colorado 6 Seattle 3
Nathan MacKinnon fails to score a goal… but puts up a whopping five assists!
Stephenson’s line surrenders zero goals and carries 76% of chances while the other three lines are all below 50% and make less shot attempts combined. In half as many minutes, the Wright line gives up two goals and manages only two shot attempts.
By using last change and spot deployments, Bednar had MacKinnon on the ice against Stephenson for less than a minute all night at 5v5… and Wright got absolutely punished for of it.
I’m sure there are multiple factors going into the xGF%, but I’d be curious about the match-ups Stephenson’s lines are getting. Maybe it’s not that, but that’s the first thing that jumps out at me… and what are they being asked to do in those minutes?
Yeah there are a lot of variables here, like how does he fare on the road vs. at home when they have second line change? Is it Bylsma who is playing Stephenson against stronger opponents, or is it the other coach who is looking to exploit weakness? How much of Mccanns offense is generated on the PP with or without Voldemort? In general, how much of that xGF% is due to fewer attempts generated vs more attempts against? Unfortunately natural stat trick looks like it was built using MsDOS in the 90’s so it’s hard for me to sort it out. All I know is the common denominator for horrible xGF% stats seems to be Voldemort, and the eye test totally matches that assessment. Just focus purely on him for a few shifts especially at the rink. He just kind of floats around aimlessly in most games I’ve watched. He has had a few really good games, too, so it hasn’t been all bad…
Of the 11 lines that have logged 40+ minutes together the McCann/Stephenson/Burakovsky line have the worst xG% – 27.9. Their xGA/60 is also the worst at 4.09.
Terrible news if you’re in an expected goals league. In the “real world” however, they’ve allowed just 2 – but scored only 3 – in 91 minutes and their 1.32 GA/60 is second only to the shutout the McCann/Beniers/Burakovsky line put up over 76 minutes this season.
All 91 minutes logged by the “worst” Kraken line have been since the first of December. In that same span of games McCann is shooting just 4% at 5v5. By comparison, last season he shot 12.12% and the season before… 21.58%.
When Burakovsky and Stephenson were paired with Schwartz early in the season the results were abysmal. Now however, what seems to be the issue is something Curtis alluded to on the podcast today… maybe it’s that the scorer – McCann – isn’t scoring.
By the way… that Stephenson/Burakovsky combination that just hasn’t been getting the job done recently… they along with McCann were on for Seattle’s only even strength goal against New Jersey.
Larsson and Stephenson played a nice high-to-low with No.9 then sliding up to the point. He then picked up a primary by sliding it over and back to Lars where he unloaded from the halfwall and sent it past a group of bodies in front of the blue paint… bodies that included Burakovsky and McCann. It was exactly the sort of play you’d want to see your team making and the trio was was 100% in actual goals for at 1-0… they won their minutes. But because they were 20.53% expected goals for they’re still not getting the job done.
Maybe team needs a GM change, but this year’s roster is arguably better than last years yet results are worse. As much as I liked coaching change some of teams issues are on Bylsma.
What really clinched it for me was looking at our upcoming schedule, thinking woah, maybe they can go on a winning streak against some bad teams! And then I looked at the league standings — three of them (CBJ, PIT, DET) have more points with games in hand, and BUF who lost 13 (!!!) games in a row are only two points back. And then it hit me — this is exactly what teams/fans think when they see Seattle on the schedule. “Oh, a very winnable game against a crappy team!” I don’t see our team like that but that’s the reality. There’s just not enough high end talent and depth to make up for any injuries, plus the team is old, slow, and intermittently disinterested.
But hey! A top 5 pick sure will be nice. I’m harboring some legitimate hope for 2026-2027.
It feels like The Kraken should have been much better this season, but so many players have been disappointing. Burakovsky, Bjorkstrand, Tolvanen, Larsson and McCann have all looked surprisingly below average or just outright bad for many stretches, when they should be the mature core of this team. The new coaching staff also hasn’t been able organize and motivate these guys for some reason. On the bright side, Shane, Matty, Ryker and Kakko all look very promising and Montour has been great. The games have also been entertaining, despite the frustration. Go Kraken!
Hi my names is.. “Alsodisappointed” and this is my second time at this meeting for disgruntled fans.
It’s a struggle and from the GM to the players, coach and fans we all look for answers. I’m sure there are some interesting points to made at all levels.
IMO.. the Devils game was actually not too bad and if we were in a better position on the ladder and dropped that game I wouldn’t be disappointed as I think for the most part we played ok.
The biggest issue I see is player psychology, which is why I am in the keep Gourde and Tanev team.
At times we seem to play very flat and passive, not an issue if a player now and then gets flat but multiple players? That’s a problem.
Turnovers an issue? Yes,
Players not shooting the puck? Yes
Ozone entries?
Power play?
Lots of things can improve but ultimately is the fight that will keep them in the game, the offensive and defensive pressure, player confidence etc.
I think thats why being benched helps a few players.. they come out strong after to earn their spot back and whether they score or not they impact the game with offensive or defensive pressure.
I am very happy with the lines right now but I want to see more effort, new guy Kappo is putting in the effort and it shows, Schwartz has had the odd flat game but generally he has been amazing, those two are rubbing off on Matty and I think he is starting to find his feet.
What I think we are missing is a strong driving personality to drive the momentum and stop the lazy and passive play.. is it the coach? Captain? Or player psychology coach? When we step up, we play well.. even when we lose.
Too many nice guys, watched Paul Maurice loose his #$^*& after the first 10 minutes the other night for lazy play and boy did the Panthers game change it was like a switch.
They need a better psych coach, a strong leader on the ice or Disco needs to start chucking a John Tortorella at the first sign..
I would prefer mistakes and player errors than watching players play at only 80%. We all know our players and their potentials.. want to see them reach that more often and that’s on them..
It’s interesting, I feel like Hakstol was about the same temperament as Bylsma. Who knows what they are like in the locker room? We don’t see that and the players don’t talk about it.
General response to the varied replies and then will leave it.
Even the writers and readers over at the Seattle Times are raising that Francis has to go. They seem to get it. Francis is the problem and has been since day 1. For those asking the question of what should have done instead, go back and look at every transaction the Vegas boys have done since their draft ended and you will understand no one can give you a playbook in advance. Could anyone on this forum have predicted in advance every trade Vegas would have made? The guy being paid so much to be better than his fellow GMs is the one tasked with figuring that out. Francis was a mediocre GM in Carolina and continues to be one here. That is hardly surprising. But if you insist on mediocrity, by all means stick with him.
Regarding Yanni Gourde, please name a single team who does not see Gourde, who will be healthy enough soon, as the missing piece probably along with a defensive D, to help their established stars compete for the Cup? Go through each roster and it will become clear enough. I am sure I could get this auction going and get the bid for him up to a 1R. Teams’ desperate enough to both make the playoffs and then to push for the cup will move all their chips (including their 1R picks) to the center of the table. It happens ever year. For those who wish to negate this, go back and look at TDL moves over the last decade. Other GMs are desperate to be in the playoffs and to reach the Cup final, so they will do what it takes.
For those who are mathematically challenged, there are 15 teams in the East who are at worst within 5 points of a playoff spot. In the West, there are in 11 team at worst within 4 points of a playoff spot. Every one of them will be trying to get there, believing, if they just had that missing piece or two. That makes 26 teams competing down the stretch for 16 spots, all using every technique they have to either try and get in or try to get to the Cup. As competitive as the league is, the slightest edge can make a big difference. GMs are looking for that edge. A smart GM would size up all 26 of those teams, see who is the highest bidder along with the one most likely to miss the playoffs and then trade Gourde to them. Top 16 pick.
Of course I don’t expect Francis to, because he is mediocre and hits to get on base, not for an extra base hit. It has been four seasons and the draft pick pipeline, outside of Catton, are unlikely to top out at any more than middle or bottom of the lineup NHLers if that. They have already changed the coach and that did not seem to have an impact. The facilities are top-notch, so no changes needed there. Key players have been benched. What else can you conceive of, in concrete terms, that will drastically alter the trajectory of this franchise? I can only think of one thing, but perhaps the forum members have some ideas how this franchise can move from mediocrity. Happy to listen to concrete, specific, ideas short of firing Francis.
For crying out loud Chuck just look at what bottom 6 centers garner in the trade market over the last decade. The market is what it is, there’s no amount of feet stomping Francis could do to squeeze a 1st rounder out of Yanni, that’s just plain fantasy. If these are the kinds of things you expect him to do then no wonder you think he’s such a failure!
You clearly underestimate the desperation of franchises to make and succeed in the playoffs. Francis is a failure because with every advantage in the world, he has created a mediocre franchise. It is that simple. Go read Kate Shefte’s comments today, she is spot on.
Anyway, I am looking only for replies about concrete steps that the franchise can take to rise out of mediocrity. I say that can only be done by firing Francis, sooner rather than later. ChatGPT could probably have outperformed him. What are your definite ideas?
I would hardly call “fire the GM” a step at all, let alone concrete. The replacement is the step.
What are your “concrete steps” besides turning Yanni Gourde into Matthew Schaefer?
This is not one of your better replies. Of course fire the GM is a step, it is the one that most people here and apparently ownership is having a hard time coming to terms with. When your company is hiring a new CEO, are you in there advising the owners on who they should choose? I imagine not. I assume the Leiwekes and Bondermans can certainly turn to any number of league sources to headhunt the next GM.
The team finishing near the bottom and not getting jumped in the lottery will get them a top pick. The Gourde trade should bring a middle of the round pick. Such cynicism is indicative of someone who is out of ideas. I see you have proposed none. Why don’t you come up with one, instead of just trying to rain on someone who actually comes up with ideas. Waiting to hear your ideas for fixing the Mariners on ice, as one Times’ reader just called them.
Chuck, if your statement about the desperation of franchises was true then we would see bottom 6 forwards getting traded for 1st rounders frequently. We don’t see that though, so in what way should that alter your expectations about a trade on Yanni?
My definite ideas are stay the course in terms of drafting, take advantage of good trades that also make us younger in the process (Kakko), and set free the remaining veteran contracts as they approach free agency to allow room for upcoming players and potential free agents (the Kraken will have ~40-50 million to work with in the next two years).
That puts us on a track to be competitive by 26-27, depending on which way some chips fall.
I will give you one example, not for someone to pick apart, but just so you see how this applies across many other franchises. What do you think the pressure level is in Toronto this season to excel in the playoffs? It has been what, seven seasons of the Matthews era and they have won a single series. It is Marner’s final season. There of course is also the Toronto in-built pressure factor from being the media center. This team will do anything to make the Cup final, all chips will be pushed to the center.
What do they need? They needed a top defensive D but they think they found that with Chris Tanev. What is the other thing they need? They need a proven clutch playoff performer at center. They have never really recovered from losing Kadri, as much as he screwed them with his silly playoff penalties. So a center who can play anywhere from 2C to 4C.
Yanni Gourde is a unicorn. You cannot just lump him with other players his age. He has done it twice at the most important time of the year. Everyone in the league knows he is money in the playoffs. He is the kind of player, like Tanev on D, who makes all the difference in the playoffs. With Gourde, i give the Leafs a good chance to at least reach the conference final. Without him, another early exist is likely and then the core breaks up. Do you think Treliving is not aware of this and is willing to pay the price, a pick around 30th, for the benefit of reaching the Cup final?
Francis’ job is to sell Yanni the playoff stud to all the playoff aspirants and get the auction going. This is a normal kind of thing to do, why do you think so many things with lesser inherent value sell for big bucks at auctions, like many NFTs or pop works of art? It just takes seller skill, but I have not seen that from Francis in his five years here, so hold out no hope for it suddenly appearing. Absolutely sure the Vegas boys could make it happen or any of the top GMs in the league. Just not Francis.
If – as with addiction – you believe that admitting you have a problem is the first “step” then I suppose you could say firing Francis is a step if you think that is the problem. As with addiction however, the first step doesn’t get you anywhere, it only gets you started.
On Christmas morning Denis asked, “…do you still see a GM’s plan.” You might have missed my reply – it was Christmas Day – but I posted another notorious TLDR. If you want to know what I think, check out the comments on Darren’s December 23rd article. I think I’ve given a rather coherent set of “steps” there, steps I believe the organization may actually be working towards already.
I feel compelled to add… I can sometimes be abrasive, overbearing and long-winded… but YOU calling me cynical and accusing me of raining on you… that’s rich!
I know I also tend towards the last word, so I’ll defer the final sentiments on this to you.
Go Kraken!!!
Has anyone checked on Nino lately?
If memory serves, he got abused on this forum for having an opinion sometime around Christmas. This forum cannot become the cesspool that is The Athletic’s comments section.
I really liked Nino’s energy and frequently funny posts. Not everyone has to agree with each other, having our own Miller-Pettersson differences is fine, just allow for the opinions of others. Nino, if you are out there, come back.
Since there is no “dislike’ button, I’ll just put it here.
In the conversation around what the Kraken should be doing to improve the team there’s something I’ve noticed for a while now that I think is worth commenting on.
Toward the end of last season a couple guys on a national podcast – I forget which one – were discussing what the Kraken should do. They decided they needed to sign Stamkos or Reinhart… and then immediately said, “but those guys probably won’t be available”. Well as it turned out Stamkos was available – sort of… and what a mistake that would have been.
Just recently when when word of Miller and Patterson being available broke, one of the commentators on KJR was saying they’re exactly what Seattle needs and the Kraken should be in on them… only to finish with “of course Vancouver probably won’t trade with Seattle”.
And just now… Yanni Gourde should fetch a first from Toronto. Now apart from the fact that a first seems steep to me – but maybe – Toronto doesn’t have a first this year and is hardly locked in on what the future holds, so it’s unlikely they’re trading next years first… especially since they already don’t have a second next year.
To me, the problem with these takes is they propose something that’s simply not realistic and then when they don’t happen… folks tend to believe there was some sort of option when there really wasn’t one. While these are recent examples, to me this goes all the way back to the draft.
I think it’s easy for fans to expect their team should “win” every trade and believe the team is worse than they are… or better – I’m a terrible offender of the latter. It’s already hard enough for fans to cling to reality. Trafficking in wild speculations doesn’t help.
And just to be clear… I love talking about crazy trades that could never happen. I don’t love pointing at those same crazy trades that didn’t happen and saying someone should be fired because of it.
Well said…
Yeah, woulda-shoulda-coulda is just a negative disappointing downer. I am guilty of it as well.
I am optimistic that there will be a time, hopefully in the not to distance future the Kraken will be formed into an elite team in this league.
Still can’t believe Francis couldn’t get McDavid, Matthews and Kucherov in the expansion draft. Vegas could have done it.
Just noticed when posting this rather childish reply. Won’t bother responding if you are only 17.
If you believe Francis is a great manager, that is fine, you must love mediocrity. To each his own. You should go read the last two Times’ articles and the comments. Many fans are calling for the firing of Francis, with some pretty insightful comments.
To understand leading vs lagging GMs, you might want to go back and look at the trades the Vegas guys have made and ask why Francis did not make that trade. I will start you out with Jack Eichel and please don’t talk about injury risk, that is a non-issue.
Eichel got traded for essentially a protected 1R pick, which became no. 16 but they thought would be around no. 30, Peyton Krebs, and Alex Tuch. Do you think Buffalo would have preferred a trade for Matty Beniers, the recent no. 2 pick (like Eichel) plus another forward, say Jaden Schwartz or similar and/or maybe Ryan Winterton? Kevyn Adams would have taken that Seattle offer if Francis was smart enough to make it out. He didn’t and now Eichel is a top-10 NHL scorer and Beniers is lost.
Chuck, the times comment section is one of the most uninformed and hockey illiterate places on the internet. If you think it’s insightful then it’s probably more due to the fact that in confirms your biases than is rooted in any factual information.
No one has said Francis is a great GM. The entire point of these discussions is to place more context around the moves he’s been able to make and the moves he hasn’t been able to make. No one is arguing that Vegas GMs haven’t done a great job as well, but what your posts are missing is that Vegas has consistently had better players to barter with. They’ve been in a position of power, and that makes their job a little easier.
Tuch would probably be the best player on the Kraken right now (he’s averaged nearly a point per game for his career). That’s more valuable than a high pick in Matty who still has a development curve to work through, and certainly more valuable than Schwartz. You seem to think it’s just a matter of Francis “selling” the trade like a used car salesman, but other GMs aren’t operating in a vacuum and aren’t clueless, even organizations as listless as Buffalo. And this doesn’t even get into the fact that players also get a say in where they go. Do you think Eichel really would have been ok with a trade to an expansion team vs an established playoff contender? It’s not realistic and thus not a valid criticism.
Tuch + Krebs + 1st + 2nd is more valuable than Beniers + Schwartz + Winterton, especially given what was known about those players at the time.
The point of these discussions is to look at what the actual legitimate criticisms of Francis are because too often it really just comes down to “the teams not good, fire someone.” When things are done thoughtfully it can lead to improvements, when it’s done thoughtlessly it leads to stagnation and lack of cohesion because of the revolving door.
IMO legitimate criticisms of Francis revolve around contracts that haven’t held value, NOT the trades he wasn’t able to make without anything resembling a true top line.
For this reason I think it’s patently ridiculous to think that it would be a knock on Francis if he couldn’t squeeze a first out of Gourde, a bottom 6 center on any playoff team, just because you can imagine a scenario, however unrealistic, where that happens.
https://thehockeywriters.com/revisiting-buffalo-sabres-jack-eichel-trade/
💯%
This is for Turbo, in reply to the following post, and all the other posts he made of the same nature, and follows on from my post on the 9th above.
“Turbo on January 7, 2025 at 9:30 pm
Agreed. This is a case of valuing your own players higher than what the league market would indicate. I could see a 2nd and 3rd for Yanni or maybe even a 2nd and a prospect.”
The following is a direct quote from today. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/quick-shifts-why-maple-leafs-trade-strategy-will-be-complicated/
“2025 is shaping up like the deadline to get aggressive… Treliving is said to prefer targeting a centre with term, but that’s what they all say…. Absolutely, his 2025 second- and third-round draft picks will be in play. For the right asset, the Leafs’ 2026 first-rounder should be on the table too. (They don’t have a 2025 first.) Maybe that’s enough capital to package together a deal for a Yanni Gourde.”
Comments?
“…or a Scott Laughton or, perhaps, a Brock Nelson.”
Here’s the actual direct quote:
– Treliving is said to prefer targeting a centre with term, but that’s what they all say.
Absolutely, his 2025 second- and third-round draft picks will be in play. For the right asset, the Leafs’ 2026 first-rounder should be on the table too. (They don’t have a 2025 first.)
Maybe that’s enough capital to package together a deal for a Yanni Gourde or a Scott Laughton or, perhaps, a Brock Nelson. –
If you’re taking this to mean Yanni Gourde is going to fetch a first, I think you’re reading into it what you want to hear.
Right now the center market is very thin, but I believe that’s partially because 28 teams still think they’re in the playoff hunt. Maybe Yanni does fetch a first, but I really can’t see that happening two months ahead of the trade deadline. Apart from him being on IR, any team that needs him right now is in danger of being a lottery team. Even the all powerful Wizard of Vegas isn’t prying a lottery pick out anyone for Gourde. Between now and March 7th teams are likely going to drop out of the hunt. Not only does that shrink the market, it also increases the supply. Like I said, maybe Yanni does fetch a first. Maybe the market stays thin and someone gets desperate. But if he doesn’t go for a first – assuming he goes at all – to me that doesn’t mean Francis sucks.