The Seattle Kraken set out to reach the playoffs this season but have officially fallen short. With the St. Louis Blues’ win over the Colorado Avalanche on March 29, the Kraken were eliminated from playoff contention.
As the NHL inches toward the postseason, the playoff picture is becoming clearer. Still, a few spots remain up for grabs. Here are the final team tiers and matchups to watch.
Updated team tiers
The Eastern Conference has one, maybe two, wild card spots still contested. The Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens currently hold the last two spots, but the New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders are all in striking distance. According to Tankathon.com, Ottawa and Montreal have the easiest remaining schedule.
The Western Conference still has a race, but the gap has widened to six points. The St. Louis Blues made no moves at the trade deadline, opting to bet on their current roster. That decision has paid off, as they’re now riding a 10-game win streak that has vaulted them into the a wild card spot. The Calgary Flames remain in pursuit, led by standout rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf, and they have two games in hand. The Vancouver Canucks are fading but not yet out. They have one game in hand and the easiest schedule of the chasing group. The Minnesota Wild have slipped to the final wild card spot and sit one point behind the Blues with 88. They’ll need a strong finish but are getting Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek back from injury soon.
Although not mathematically eliminated, the Utah Hockey Club has 80 points. That would be enough to make the playoffs in the East, but in the West, they sit eight points out and appear ready to book some tee times.
At the top of the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers are in a tight race. Only two points separate the three teams. Despite Toronto’s recent postseason appearances, it may surprise fans to learn the Leafs haven’t won their division since the 1999-2000 season. Could this be their year?
Fresh off two wins over the Kraken, the Dallas Stars are now the third-best team in the league. They are just four points back of the Winnipeg Jets, hold a game in hand, and remain firmly in the hunt for the Presidents’ Trophy. The battle for the top spot in the West will be fierce, especially since the runner-up is likely to face the Colorado Avalanche in the first round. Winnipeg drew that assignment last season and lost the series 4-1.
Kraken play since the break
The Kraken have remained competitive since the 4 Nations Face-Off break. In 18 games, they’ve gone 7-9-2. That record doesn’t look great, but they held a winning mark of 6-5-1 in their first 12 games. The final six were a gauntlet, with five games against the Playoff Bound tier. They went 1-4-1 in that stretch.
Excluding the shutout loss to the Wild on March 19 and the first defeat to the Stars on March 29, the Kraken were in nearly every game until the end. Since the trade deadline, when they dealt Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev, Seattle has kept games close. Other than the two blowout losses mentioned, every game was either a win or decided by one goal, not counting empty-netters. They’ve been competitive and fun to watch.
Goaltending
Joey Daccord hit his first sustained rough patch of the season, going 4-7-2 with a .883 save percentage over 13 appearances. Seven of those came against Playoff Bound teams, where he posted a 2-4-1 record.
Philipp Grubauer, meanwhile, is playing his best hockey of the entire season, a stretch that began after returning from his AHL stint. Embracing the backup role, Grubauer appeared in four games and posted a .925 save percentage—his best four-game stretch of the season. “The German Gentleman” has looked mostly sharp, going 2-2.
Point percentages versus team tiers
To reach 95 points, the Kraken needed to maintain a .579 point percentage over the full season. This was broken down by team tier, with target point percentages set for each. Here’s how their actual results stack up as of April 1:
Seattle struggled the most against the Playoff Bound tier, posting a .224 point percentage and going 5-21-3. They fared better against the Bubble and Tanker tiers, slightly exceeding the target against Bubble teams. They went 15-10-2 against the Bubble tier and 11-7-1 against Tankers.
Clearly, the Kraken must figure out how to secure more wins against top-tier teams to return to the playoffs.
Kraken the rest of the way
Seattle has seven games remaining: three against Playoff Bound teams, three against Bubble teams, and one against a Tanker.
- Playoff Bound: Los Angeles Kings (twice), Vegas Golden Knights
- Bubble: Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Utah Hockey Club
- Tanker: San Jose Sharks
The Bubble games will be interesting as the Kraken can play the role of spoiler. Those teams need every point. Based on Kraken point percentages by tier, the bar should be set at six points over the final stretch. Anything over six points and they will exceed their season average. Seattle begins its final road trip—five games—tonight against the Canucks.
Things to watch as the season winds down
Even with the Kraken out of the playoffs, there are still stories worth watching:
- Jani Nyman—affectionately nicknamed Li’l Jani—has six points (three goals, three assists) in 10 games and looks primed to earn a roster spot next season. He’ll eventually return to Coachella Valley to help with their playoff run.
- Shane Wright is having a strong first full season in the NHL, with 17 goals and 40 points while averaging 14 minutes of ice time. A 20-goal season would be the icing on the cake.
- Home-ice advantage: Despite their struggles against top teams, the Kraken hold a .500 points percentage at home (17-17-5). With two home games left, I’m rooting for them to finish with a winning record.
- Draft Position: I’m not one to root for tanking, but with the Kraken sitting 29th, draft lottery odds are at play. Finishing 27th gets them a 7.5 percent chance at the top pick. At 29th, it’s 9.5 percent.
This season didn’t go as hoped, but the Kraken showed resilience and have remained competitive in games. With a full offseason ahead, they have a chance to regroup and come back stronger.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
5-21-3 has to be the worst record in the league against playoff bound teams, right?? Just doing a rough count, the Blackhawks have 10 wins against that group, and even the Sharks have 6.
I think this really illustrates why the entire coaching staff needs to be fired. The inconsistency, very poor special teams (PK% shouldn’t be affected by their lack of scoring talent), and the marked underperformance relative to expectation all point to problems beyond the individual players (though getting better players would certainly help).
I fear what an increasingly desperate Francis will do in the offseason to help improve the team. Hopefully they can pry a young player away from Buffalo for some draft picks.
Grubauer went 0 – 12 against teams currently in a playoff spot.
Let us only hope for a successful offseason in the choices Ron Francis makes. In the meantime a victory tonight in a spoiler role against the Canucks practically knocking out their playoff chances would be great.
I do not know that Francis needs to do too much in terms of acquisition apart from picking up a top-six right wing. It’s a long-shot, but an offer sheet that lures over J.J. Paterka is my dream scenario. Beyond that, the roster is pretty solid. I know that it did not perform well over-all this year, but just imagine: if the Borgen/Kakko trade had happened before the season (I bet New York is dreaming of that, too), if Jordan Eberle hadn’t gotten hurt, if big-time 2025 Chandler Stephenson and Andre Burakovsky had showed up in September of 2024, if there hadn’t been twelve freaking back-to-backs on the schedule… I mean, come on, schedulers. What the hell? If all that, then we would be getting ready for the playoffs and feeling pretty good.
Next season, we are probably going to see Berkley Catton and Ville Ottavainen (more Finns, more wins) on the roster for at least part of the season. Maybe Rehkopf, Sale, and Firkus will make appearances with the big club. It will be difficult to find the space for them. Any move to bring someone in would have to be balanced by moving folks out.
Considering where Buffalo is right now, I think it’s more likely they trade Peterka rather than it getting to an offer sheet. If he wants out I would think the Sabers would rather have something more immediate than picks and would also like to have some control over his destination. Would you be good with Tolvanen, Rehkopf, and a pick – maybe a first – for Peterka? I would, but I think most folks are going to think that’s steep… and maybe it is.
Also, with the Olympics break next season, Bettman has already said, “expect more back-to-backs”. We’ll probably get more, not less.
Go Kraken!!!
That is pretty cheap for Peterka. I would take that deal in a heartbeat. Buffalo will want more. An offersheet for Peterka probably will return 4 first round picks or Buffalo would match. I would guess a trade would have to match the haul of 4 first round picks.
So I assume you’re going with a 7 x $8m+ to get to four firsts… but what if instead he signs a 4 x $9m+ that walks him right to UFA and only costs a first, second, and third? Do they match that? Or a 1 x $10m+ that is two firsts but puts them right back in the same spot next year? What if he signs a sheet with division rivals Boston, Detroit or Montreal – each of which has the necessary picks? I think Buffalo would probably match both of those, but then they’re signing a problem contract for a player that wants out.
I’m very curious to see how Peterka plays out over the off-season. I have to think with all the trade chatter at the deadline there’s something there. I think given the leverage he has more control here.
As a comp, I’d look at the J. T. Miller trade… Chytil, Mancini, a first. Classic player, prospect, pick. I think that’s where Peterka lands.
I’m very curious on this one…
Yes, I was thinking a longer term, but Buffalo keeping the player for 1 year or 4 years gives them time to negotiate future contracts or trades.
It will be interesting to see what the new threshold for offer sheets are this year (released sometime in June), as the compensation tiers probably shift up to align with the increase in salary cap.
JT Miller is hard to compare to as he is 32 vs Peterka at 23. Peterka will get more in return.
Also if Peterka does want out and signs an offer sheet, he has to know Buffalo can match and then he is effectively staying in Buffalo.
I agree it will be an interesting off-season.
Peterka is younger… but Miller is a 100 point center. So tough to know…
One way or the other, I’d really like to see him in Seattle… but not for four firsts.
Four first is definitely steep, but if Francis truly believes the Kraken are a playoff team next year, then four 17-32nd overall picks is much easier to lose than four top 10 picks.
If the Kraken end up picking 4th overall this year, it could be a tough choice. One of Hagens, Martone, or Desnoyers is guaranteed to be there. I wonder who they would pick.
I hope it’s Hagens, which makes me think it won’t be (though I said the same about Wright, so you never know). Watching Hagens with his college linemates Perreault and Leonard in the WJC was like watching a top line in the NHL. Granted they weren’t playing NHL level competition but the vision and skill was off the charts. They made Catton look like he didn’t even belong in the tournament.
One thing to know that even in the Kraken finish 29th, that only give them a ~15.4% chance to pick 4th. They would have higher odds to pick 5th (44.6%) or 6th(20.8%) due to the lottery.
As for specific players, I have not looked closely at the draft yet, but if forced to pick today, I would pick Hagens.
Unfortunately the Kraken are unlikely to draft 4th. 5th or 6th appears most likely. I think (without being sure) the team with 4th worst record drafts 5th more often than 4th.
Just thought of another potential term for a quick second goal. Double tap. Anyone familiar with shooting will know it.
Zombieland!