It’s been a rough week… er… month… er… season for the Seattle Kraken, who dropped to 10 points out of the playoff picture with a devastating and controversial 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday, as they continued their march toward a Trade Deadline fire sale.

As things have gone sideways for the team, though, there have been some bright spots, and by George, we could use a little positivity right now. One of those bright spots has been the emergence of a reliable top line for the Kraken, which has consistently produced since being assembled soon after Seattle’s acquisition of Finnish forward Kaapo Kakko.

In that fateful contest on Sunday, Kakko scored for his fifth goal as a Kraken off a 2-on-1 rush with linemate Jaden Schwartz, and Schwartz appeared to have a power-play goal, finding a rebound from other linemate Matty Beniers. We all know what ultimately happened on that one.

The performance of the Jaden Schwartz / Matty Beniers / Kaapo Kakko line on Sunday was another example of the light this trio has provided in an otherwise dreary season.

Kakko’s arrival and instant impact

Since Seattle traded defenseman Will Borgen, plus a third- and a sixth-round draft pick, for Kakko on Dec. 18, the 6-foot-2 right winger has been attached at the hip to center Beniers. The two didn’t show instant chemistry, but once Schwartz joined their line a few games later, things took off for all three players.

“It’s hard to put into words. It’s not like when they made the line, we knew that we were going to have a good start or anything, it’s just, sometimes things click,” Schwartz said. “And I’ve talked about them a lot, but they’re both working really hard.”

Kaapo’s 16 points (5-11—16) in 21 games with Seattle have already surpassed his production with the Rangers this season, where he posted 14 points (4-10—14) in 30 games before being shipped to the Pacific Northwest as part of New York general manager Chris Drury’s in-season roster shakeup.

It’s no coincidence that Kaapo’s presence has helped spark Beniers, who got off to a dreadful start to his season, at least in terms of scoring. Prior to Kakko’s arrival, Beniers had just four goals on the campaign. In the 21 games since Kakko arrived, he has almost doubled that number with seven goals (11 total for the season).

Alongside the veteran Schwartz—who is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career with 18 goals and 18 assists through 54 games—both youngsters, Kakko and Beniers, are exuding confidence.

Confidence growing among the trio

In those earlier stages of the season, it was plain to see that Beniers was struggling with his confidence, although he would never admit that. That happens when a young player who rose through the amateur ranks consistently posting massive offensive numbers hits a wall at the NHL level. Beniers looks like a different player now that he has found consistent linemates that seem to compliment his game well.

“That’s something I’ve been working on is having confidence when it’s going in or it’s not,” Beniers said. “I say it all the time that there’s going to be times when it’s going in, and it’s great. And there’s going to be times when it’s not. You have to have the same level of confidence, same ability of playing that you do in both those situations.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) for Matty, he’s under a microscope as a former Calder Trophy winner as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2022-23 and the beneficiary of a seven-year, $50 million contract extension that went into effect this season. The organization is banking on him being a central character for most of his career, so the drop in production last season, which carried into the beginning of this season, was a concern. Beniers finding his game next to Kakko and Schwartz has allayed some concerns about the 22-year-old’s future.

While Beniers struggled to start the season in Seattle, Kakko found himself in the crosshairs of his old GM in New York. Though there was some scuttlebutt that Kakko may have wanted a change of scenery, the former No. 2 overall draft pick had every right to let his confidence get shaken when he was shipped off by his old team at 23 years old. But after a few games of getting his feet under him in Seattle, he took off and has also played with swagger in his new surroundings.

“I think we’re playing a lot, we’re playing against top lines,” Kakko said. “[The confidence] is getting higher all the time. If you’re playing a lot— I mean, also, there’s going to be some bad shifts, like maybe [the other team is] going to score. It happens. But then you get out there again, and then you’re going to get more chances because you’re out there more.

“I think we’ve still been playing more in the O-zone, doing the things we like to do out there. I think it’s been pretty good, and confidence is getting higher and higher because of that.”

Said Schwartz of his young linemates: “They’re going to the dirty areas. They’re playing a give-and-go game where they’re not really holding onto pucks too long, or we’re moving it and then moving our feet to get open, and we’re just reading off each other.”

Why this line works

Schwartz indicated it isn’t an accident that Kakko and Beniers are producing now and gushed about the effort that they have employed with the Kraken.

“We need them to be good. They’re big, big pieces of this team, and they’re going to be big pieces for a long time,” Schwartz said. “So, I think they’re working hard throughout games, but even in practice, you can tell how dedicated they are, and I just love their work ethic, I love how they play the game.

“They don’t really cheat the game, they work hard defensively, they’re in the right spots, and they just see the ice. They’re making small little plays and protecting the puck, and they’re fun to play with.”

In talking with Beniers, you can tell that he feels a certain comfort with Kakko and Schwartz that has perhaps been missing since Jordan Eberle went down with a pelvis injury on Nov. 15.

“Kaapo, obviously, is really, really good at playmaking, holding onto pucks, and so is Schwartzy,” Beniers said. “So, it keeps possession time down there [in the offensive zone], and I think everyone’s just working hard and being in the right spots, doing the right things.”

So why does this trio fit together so well?

“I think early on in the year, Matty was with [Jared McCann] and Ebs and having some success with that line,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “And putting Kakko there with Schwartzy, you’ve got a guy who’s got some speed, who’s got some dartiness in Schwartzy. For stature-wise, he’s really good in and around the net, both in screening and making plays and scoring goals.

“Kakko helps in adding a big-bodied winger who can hold onto the puck in the offensive zone and create space, not only for himself, but for his linemates, and that has given us more pictures of [Matty] giving-and-going and getting space.”

Matty himself had a different theory for why the line has clicked in the way that it has. “I just think you’ve got similar but different players on the same line,” Beniers said. “I think it works well because we’re all pretty smart players.”

With Schwartz now 32 years old and his contract expiring after next season, his days with Seattle could be numbered. But in the meantime, he’s helping lift two young players that the Kraken hope have bright and long futures with the organization.

Here’s hoping this trio can continue growing together in an otherwise difficult season.