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Monday Musings – Kraken in context

John Barr

The Seattle Kraken have magically won three of their last five games, just missing out on at least another point in their one loss of the week against the Winnipeg Jets. That loss came after the Jets scored off a fluky bounce with 30 seconds remaining. Regardless of the season’s overall outlook, the Kraken are playing some fun hockey right now.

The importance of context

I’m not fully prepared to delve into the societal impacts of social media and sensational headlines, but too often, I see people forming opinions based on a tweet or headline without digging deeper. To truly understand something, it’s essential to put it into context. In life, understanding context helps you gain clarity, make better analyses, and avoid misunderstandings. Hockey is no different.

Take Saturday night as an example: the Kraken were outshot 17–1 in the third period. There’s no denying that’s bad, but the context matters. The Kraken entered the third with a 3–2 lead and prioritized a conservative defensive mindset, which ultimately secured the victory. I wouldn’t recommend sitting back for 20 minutes to protect a one-goal lead, but understanding the situation provides perspective if you only look at the shot totals. Either way, it worked.

Shifts and impacts on time on ice

On the topic of context, we got a question in our Patreon Mailbag last week about Shane Wright’s relatively low ice time. I also received a few texts about it. I get where the concern comes from—you hear that Wright is playing well, then check the box score and see he’s third or fourth among Kraken centers in minutes. The reality is you need to dig deeper to understand the situation.

More often than not, differences in ice time are driven by special teams and line deployment. For example, in a one-goal game, Chandler Stephenson and Matty Beniers double-shifted during the last five minutes. Up until that point, Wright hadn’t missed a regular shift. A different situation came up when his linemate Jared McCann committed two penalties on back-to-back shifts, sidelining his linemates for an extended period of time.

Center deployment context

At a recent Patreon watch party, someone brought up some interesting stats about where Kraken centers are taking face-offs. They pointed out that Stephenson is handling a disproportionate number of face-offs in the defensive zone. This makes sense: coaches typically deploy a defensively responsible center in those situations, and Stephenson is not only the team’s best face-off winner but also considered its strongest defensive center.

I had the conversation on Thursday, so by Saturday, I was focusing on who was taking face-offs in the defensive zone. With Yanni Gourde on injured reserve, I noticed Beniers was out there quite a bit, which made me want to see how the face-off deployments were trending over the season.

Sprong sound bite

A sound bite often lacks context, which can distort the full picture of an interview or statement. A recent example is Daniel Sprong’s comments to the media after his first game with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The quote that made headlines was, “I want to prove that I don’t belong here.” This sounds like a disgruntled employee, but the full quote tells a different story:

“It’s been a tough couple of days, and my mindset is to help the young guys promote to the big team. I’ve been a young guy before, and I try to lead by example and help with the little things. And for myself, I want to prove that I don’t belong here. You know, my performance in the NHL over the last two years speaks for itself, and these are the cards I’ve been dealt right now. Personally, I want to prove that I don’t belong here. For now, I’ll help the young guys, work hard, and try to fix my game a little bit.”

To me, the full context softens the edge of his statement. Sprong understands his assignment and will support his teammates in Coachella Valley, but ultimately, he wants to return to the NHL. I have no issues with that mindset.

Other musings

Goal of the Week

As Curtis pointed out on Friday, Kraken prospect Jani Nyman is really hitting his stride for the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Li’l Jani is starting to set up his own office on the power play which could be a unique option for the Kraken next season.

Player performances

Jaden Schwartz – It was great to witness a hat trick last Saturday. Schwartz has been one of the Kraken’s best players over the last month and has been a consistent contributor all season.

Lleyton Roed – In his first full season of pro hockey for Coachella Valley, Roed has a five-game point streak and eight points over that stretch. I wonder if he might get a call-up in the spring after the trade deadline.

Kaapo Kakko – I can’t stop talking about Kakko. He had three assists on Saturday night, and that line with Schwartz and Beniers is performing at a level we haven’t seen all season.

The week ahead

The Kraken have three home games this week that should be entertaining at the least. The Sabres will be looking for redemption after surrendering six unanswered goals to the Kraken in Buffalo nine days ago. Then the revitalized Washington Capitals will visit Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday where Alexander Ovechkin continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record. The week is then capped off on Saturday when the Penguins come to town. The Caps are surging right now, with points in their last 10 games, including seven wins. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is reeling, losing eight out of their last 10 games.

At this point of the season, I just want to see the Kraken maintain the compete level that we’ve seen over the last week. That is fun and enjoyable hockey to watch, which is all I need now.

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