The Kraken returned to action last week, and that means Monday Musings returns as well. It was a bit of a slow start from the out of the blocks, but the boys are officially back.
A slow start and a needed bounce-back
The Kraken returned to action with two road games: one against the Dallas Stars and the other against the St. Louis Blues. I can understand the stinker of a game against the Stars where they lost 4-1, but the 5-1 loss to the Blues had me panicking a bit.
The Blues are currently 31st in the league, and the night they played the Kraken, they were without one of their best players, Robert Thomas. This is the NHL, where anyone can beat anyone, but with the standings so tight right now, you would have expected a better overall effort from a team fighting for a playoff spot.
Fortunately, they finished the week with a decisive 5-1 win against a quite frankly bad Vancouver Canucks team. The Kraken jumped out to a 2-0 lead about halfway through the first period. Other than a five-minute stretch in the second when the Canucks pulled within one, this game felt very one-sided.
The Canucks are bad, but the Kraken still really needed to take care of business there and not let this post-break skid fester.
Firing up the line blender
It has been interesting to watch the forward lines get jumbled up over the last three games as the team tries to figure out some post-Olympic break chemistry.
In the three games last week, only the Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle, and Jared McCann line stayed together. Meanwhile, a new combination of Shane Wright, Berkly Catton, and Kaapo Kakko looked very good against the Canucks despite not scoring. They collectively had nine shot attempts, and a few times, Wright and Catton found themselves in 2-on-1 opportunities but just couldn’t finish the play. I would really like to see that line stick together a bit longer to see if they can start generating some goals.
Power play finally breaks through
For the first time since coming back from the Olympic break, the Kraken finally broke through for a power-play goal on Saturday against the Canucks.
Up until that goal, they were 0-for-8 on the power play since the break. That isn’t great, but it seemed like they were still generating quality chances on the man advantage in those two road games. Here is a look at the power-play shots by game:
Note that blocked shots are captured at the location of the block and not the origin location of the shot. This might make the blocked shots appear closer to the net and therefore more dangerous than they initially were.
Trade deadline approaches
The NHL Trade Deadline is coming up on Friday. I provided an overview of possible trade deadline strategies and how the Kraken might fit with them earlier last week. We then posted a Kraken Roundtable that touched on some trade deadline specifics.
Nothing has materially changed since then. In short, I could see the Kraken moving a player or two from the pending free agent group of Jamie Oleksiak, Jaden Schwartz, or Eeli Tolvanen. Jordan Eberle is also on an expiring deal, but I would be surprised to see him get moved unless he has made it clear to management that he wants a realistic shot at the Stanley Cup this year.
Other musings
- The Kraken scored one goal in each of their games Wednesday and Thursday. It was their first time scoring one goal or fewer in two consecutive games since Nov. 9 and 11.
- Saturday night was the 22nd game the Seattle Kraken held a two-goal lead at any point. Would you believe me if I told you that they are one of three teams not to lose a game when they had a two-goal lead at any time? The other teams are Minnesota and Colorado.
- In case you missed it, Darren posted the (somewhat) funny “hat trick that wasn’t” on Saturday. I wonder when the actual scoring change happened, because it wasn’t announced in the arena until Eberle scored his apparent third goal. The goal that got changed occurred five minutes earlier. There were four stoppages between the changed goal and Eberle’s faux-goal.
- Jordan Eberle’s 22 goals this season is the most he’s had through 57 games since 2011-12.
- I’m interested to see which AHL players might get the call-up after the trade deadline. There is no roster limit, but the team is limited to only
threefour call-ups after the trade deadline. There’s a decent chance we see Jagger Firkus get the opportunity, but beyond that, it might be more of a situational need. - It would not surprise me to see one or two Kraken pending free agents signed to an extension before the trade deadline on Friday.
- Finally, the organization lost Tye Kartye on waivers this week. Kartye was a hard working player that made it to the NHL the hard way. I don’t think there will be a Kraken fan from Season 2 that will ever forget his debut.
FIRST GOAL. FIRST GAME.
Tye Kartye scores in his first ever NHL game in Game 5 of the #StanleyCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/3u2UXio1xV
— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) April 27, 2023
Visual of the week
The Kraken do have one of the more challenging schedules remaining among the teams fighting for a playoff position.
Players of the week
Julius Miettinen (EVT/SEA): The 2024 second-round selection of the Seattle Kraken had a monster week with seven goals and four assists over three games. Miettinen is second in the WHL in points per game.
Jordan Eberle (SEA): The Kraken captain had two goals and one assist in their game against Vancouver. He currently leads the team in goals and continues to defy his age.
Alexis Bernier (CHQ/SEA): The Kraken’s third-round selection of the 2024 draft had been injured most of the season and finally got back into a game on Jan. 23. The Chicoutimi Saguenéens defenseman has 10 points in 13 games since then, including three assists in two games over the weekend.
Goal of the week
Nothing super special about this one, but you’ve got to love seeing a 35-year-old vet beating a 22-year-old rookie down the ice to reestablish a two-goal lead.
O, CAPTAIN! 🫡 🚨
Great speed from Eberle. He nearly loses it, but regains control and sneaks a backhander under Lankinen’s arm.
3-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/rCcBLQaREt
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 1, 2026
The week ahead
The week kicks off with a tough matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. The Canes are second in the league with a .695 points percentage and are 8-0-2 over their last 10 games. The Kraken are a surprising 2-2-0 against the Hurricanes at Climate Pledge Arena. When they played them in Raleigh back in January, the Kraken had just 12 shots in their 3-2 loss, but somehow managed to hold a 2-1 lead in the third period. I am not expecting much from this game but will still want to see a lot of “compete” from the Kraken.
The schedule gets easier on Wednesday when the Kraken host the Blues. Yes, those are the same Blues that beat the Kraken 5-1 last Wednesday. The Blues won their first road game since Dec. 20 when they beat the Wild on Sunday. Regardless, I expect the Kraken to come out pissed and hopefully demonstrate that last Wednesday’s loss was a bit of a fluke.
Finally, the Ottawa Senators come to town on Saturday. The Senators are fighting for their playoff lives, as they currently sit five points out of the last wild-card spot with two teams between them and that spot. Regardless of what happens in the Senators’ two games between now and Saturday, I expect a lot of desperation from them, which should make for an entertaining game.
These games are critical, but I am not going to be overdramatic and call them “must-win” games. Obviously, wins are important, but if they can capture three of six points, they will be fine to stay in the playoff hunt. Four would be good, and five would be fantastic.
It has been a while, how are we all feeling out there?