If you put this 5-1 Seattle Kraken loss to the Colorado Avalanche in a vacuum, it’s fine. The Avs are the best team in the NHL, and a loss against them is completely understandable. But in the context of it being the Kraken’s fourth straight loss, following defeats in three far more winnable games against the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, and Nashville Predators, at a time when the players should be desperately fighting for their playoff lives, this one feels like the bottom has fallen out on this organization.
With the loss, Seattle dropped out of a playoff position, falling a point behind the San Jose Sharks for the last wild card spot. The Kraken are now level in points with the Los Angeles Kings and the Predators in some kind of sad pillow fight between a bunch of teams that are refusing to win enough games to take control.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-1 Kraken loss to the Avalanche.
Takeaway 1: Terrible first period and “too much respect”
If Rodney Dangerfield were a hockey team, he would *not* be the Colorado Avalanche. Because it would be so weird for Rodney Dangerfield to say, “They’re giving me too much respect, I tell ya!”
Jokes aside, Lambert was furious with his hockey team after the game, indicating that the poor opening period was related to how good Seattle’s players expected Colorado’s players to perform.
“We’re probably showing them too much respect,” Lambert said. “I don’t necessarily know that it was a thing where, ‘Oh, gee, we’re not completely ready to go.’ We’re showing them too much respect. But they start rolling around in our zone, we have a system and a structure, and we just completely throw it down the drain. And they’re just making plays. It’s ridiculous.”
It really was a painful period to watch. Aside from Ryan Winterton missing the net on a rebound chance that should have been a goal, Seattle didn’t generate much of anything offensively, while Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas ran amok in the Kraken zone. Twice they connected on passes through the seam, and both times it resulted in goals—one for each player.
MacKinnon ended the night with four points (one goal, three assists), and Necas had a goal and an assist.
“It just seemed like every time [MacKinnon] got the puck, he knew where it was going, and he knew where the open man was, and a lot of times that was Marty with speed,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They had good chemistry tonight.”
1-0 Avs.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 13, 2026
Martin Necas after a nifty pass by MacKinnon, and the home crowd goes wild… Oh wait, those are Avalanche fans. pic.twitter.com/fdtBy831b3
Seattle woke up and pushed in the second period, but after Ryker Evans scored a pretty shorthanded goal to get the Kraken within 3-1 at 13:36, you just knew the next goal would be Colorado’s. Indeed, Nazem Kadri scored his first goal since returning to the Avalanche following his trade from the Flames at 17:11, and from then on there was just no chance of the Kraken getting back in the game.
Takeaway 2: Another interesting goalie decision
I was surprised that Lambert turned back to Joey Daccord last game after he gave up seven goals against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, and I was even more surprised he tagged him again for this game instead of giving it to Philipp Grubauer to face his former team.
But Lambert also had a shorter hook in this one, smartly switching the netminders at the first intermission after Daccord had allowed three goals on 15 shots in that godforsaken first period.
“Let’s be clear, Joey played well last game,” Lambert said. “This was not any reflection on Joey tonight. Our team needed a wake-up call, so we put Grubi in, and we put him in in a tough spot—we were shorthanded when Grubi came in—and I thought he did a good job. We did a poor job tonight to clear the front of the net, they went to the net harder than we did, and things have to change if we’re planning on making the playoffs.”
The goalie choice probably didn’t matter in this game because the Kraken were dominated in the opening frame and hung Daccord out to dry. It’s still interesting that Lambert used Daccord in three straight games, though.
Takeaway 3: What is going on with Bobby McMann’s visa?
It is insane that Bobby McMann still has not made his debut for the Kraken. Six days have passed since his acquisition from Toronto in a deal made just under the wire of the NHL Trade Deadline last Friday.
Would McMann’s inclusion have meant a win against the Avalanche? Probably not. But he is a player who brings speed, energy, and (perhaps) a little jolt of positivity, and we saw what happened when Jacob Melanson first got inserted into the lineup earlier this season. So who knows what will happen when McMann finally plays?
Here’s what Lane Lambert said about the visa situation at morning skate on Thursday, when the team was still holding out some hope that it would go through in time for the game:
“As of right now, he’s not [cleared]. So it’s extremely disappointing right now, the uncertainty. We traded for him for a reason, to help our hockey club, and having him not be available to help our hockey team hurts our hockey team.”
Now, here are some excuses you may hear from the organization:
- The deal was done on Friday, which meant the process couldn’t really begin until Monday due to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices being closed on the weekend.
- McMann hasn’t played for a U.S.-based NHL team before (and apparently his time with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder doesn’t seem to be helping him through this process).
- The U.S. government doesn’t tend to work quickly.
While I’d love to blame the government, I’m having a hard time doing that in this case. Logan Stanley, who was seemingly in the same situation as McMann—a Canadian citizen who had never played for a U.S.-based team—has now played two games for the Buffalo Sabres since getting acquired from the Winnipeg Jets last Thursday. He first entered the Buffalo lineup on Tuesday, on the third full business day after the trade (Friday, Monday, Tuesday).
Even if you give the Kraken the benefit of the doubt and don’t count Friday—since the trade happened at 3 PM Eastern that day—we’re still four full business days removed from the McMann deal (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).
I asked Lambert after the Avalanche game (and after McMann was out of the lineup for the third time since being acquired) if he had any insight into what the actual holdup is.
“I do not,” Lambert said. “Good question, but I don’t.”
Regardless of whether the issue is government bureaucracy, organizational mismanagement, or a combination of the two, this situation is getting downright embarrassing for the Kraken.
And what happens if McMann isn’t cleared on Friday? In that case, are we to assume he’s ineligible for either of the two games this weekend against the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers because the USCIS offices are—again—closed on the weekend?
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.
this is the end of the season for Kraken. Even if they succeed with further matches, all anyway depends on fate of others like Sharks and Kings who have enormously easier competitors ahead to play with till the end.
As I said many times before This is not a contending team and management did not help that in any way. I hate losing and I was close to shutting this season down, but I like Hockey too much
No excuse for the McMann situation. I normally shy away from FO criticisms because brush know more than all of us, that’s how they got their jobs. But this is fireable. As for the players. Mediocre, always have been. Sports purgatory. Not too good, not too bad
…or does Washington’s status as a sanctuary state and Seattle as a sanctuary city expose them to greater scrutiny for visa processing.
I think there are plenty of excuses and any sort of conclusion would be pure speculation.
I don’t know how these visas are processed.
However, for the ones that you get at the border (TN is the most common), one of my old employers used to send new hires to Buffalo to get theirs because they Buffalo was the fastest and least nitpicky of any of the crossings in the country.
So kind of interesting to me that Stanley is in Buffalo and already playing but McMann is not.
I don’t think it’s “political” to say there is clearly uneven process and enforcement when dealing with the government… or any bureaucracy for that matter. I, for one, have a hard time concluding this is an issue with the team. I’m not saying it is or isn’t, I’m saying I think it’s hard to know at this point.
Note that Kampf still hasn’t played for the Capitals so it’s not just the Kraken dealing with this (though most of the other traded guys have played). Sprong also took 8 days to play his first game after being traded from Vancouver in 2024.
First of all, that Colorado team may be the best NHL team we have seen in 20 years.
Secondly, if President Donald Trump and his administration wants to delay the processing of McMann’s visa for leverage of some kind, related to the name of Climate Pledge Arena or Jeff Bezos and anything related to the Washington Post, that’s his business. We should all be OK with that. Am I right?
Love me a good tin foil hat. Pass one here!!
Here, but it’s got some melted cheese on it from my breakfast sandwich. But it’s ok because it’s American cheese.
But does it also have Canadian Bacon?
Lol!
When does ownership say enough is enough? Changing coaching has obviously not worked. When do we say we don’t have the players? Whether this group of players doesn’t have the skills, the passion, or don’t care, the strategy the front office is using doesn’t work. Botterill has shown he is not going to be any different than Francis. This front office needs a significant change.
As a fan that loves watching hockey last night’s game was beyond difficult to watch and kudos to those that could stomach it past the first period.
To state the obvious… how they respond and what they do over the next 18 games could likely set the course for the franchise going forward. It certainly appears the concerns about the timing of the Olympic break were justified. I don’t think they are the team that won six of eight all in regulation going into the break, but I don’t think they’re this either.
Every team in the league had the same break, definitely not an excuse for our team.
It’s not an excuse… on the contrary, it’s an indictment.
Those 3rd Uni’s are a symbol of just how the season has gone. Terrible winning percentage while wearing them. John Forslund even admits he struggles calling a game because of the hard to make out numbers.
Kraken lack an elite scorer. Catton shows flashes of talent that can potentially develop into one.
Mediocre seasons will never put the team in position to draft such a player. Some type of shakeup in the organization is again probably needed.
You’re always trying to blame in on the new sweaters!! Are you superstitious when you put on your shoes every day? Lol. It’s not the kits. It’s the lack of: conditioning, development, coaching, team management, player acquisitions, and whatever else you want to add..
Do you also track when they lose in home and away jerseys?
You are right! It’s just a silly side note observation when wearing those 3rd jerseys ONLY.
Go Kraken!!!
At least we have humor
I do agree that the numbers are very hard to read, they should have been more aware of that. In the stands it’s annoying.
They actually outplayed the Avs after the first period. Of course it was probably due to the Avs taking their foot off the gas since they knew that they could turn it on again and score at will (and did). But still, I thought that this was the best I’ve seen Catton, Dunn, and Winterton play for a while. They just have to finish their chances.
Did anyone look at this roster, watch the games and think this team deserved to make the playoffs? Hockey analytics has its limitations, but there’s a reason that it exists — you can’t be close to the bottom of the league in expected goal share and expect your W-L record to outperform it (by a lot) for an entire season. They don’t get enough quality chances on net, and now their goaltenders aren’t bailing them out. It’s as simple as that. Lambert can get as pissy as he wants, but the best defense is not, in fact, playing passively in your zone, chipping it out and/or dumping and chasing, and playing along the walls for 30 seconds without getting a SOG. It’s playing with possession 200 feet away from your goaltender, and getting the puck on net from the inside. But they either aren’t coached to play like that, and/or don’t have players with enough offensive skill and talent to do that (or to finish when they do get the chances), so we’re stuck with this boring, grinding style that is excruciating to watch, and doesn’t actually work over an entire season.
In terms of the organization, the Kraken are starting to totally deserve the “aimless” reputation they’ve received from the hockey media at large. The FO/ownership goals seem to be way out of step with the actual talent level of the roster. The players simply aren’t good enough, but this FO thinks that their competitive window is open. Either that or they’re desperate for wins now and will sell out long term and sustained success for a short term shot at being a bubble team. Either way, this will only get worse before it gets better. If this team doesn’t make a colossally stupid signing/trade or 2 this offseason, I will be shocked. What they should do is fairly obvious: let Tolvanen/Schwartz/Oleksiak walk, and trade McCann. They need more and better young talent. Then 2030 is our year baby!
I’ve been pointing at most of these points since the start of the season with *very* aggressive responses from certain members (not you Daryl W) on this forum. Interesting to see more and more posters starting to say the same. Even the Soundofhockey is starting to edge in this direction.
@Witt. The traffic on this board – much like this team – definitely runs in streaks, but I can’t disagree with you on this one witt, at this time it feels a bit more like a trend.
You have and others have supported you and others like you. Unfortunately, there are a few very aggressive Ron-boy posters (Koist, Seattle G, etc.) who attack everyone who points out the obvious. That this team’s talent pool is mediocre, the prospect pool has at best has some mid-tier NHLers, no top-level talent considers Seattle a place to go, and in a sport where the better GMs wipe the floor with those who aren’t, Francis and his progeny have run the franchise into the ground.
Wake up Sam Holloway, go out and spend lots of money on a very top, respected hockey executive to take over after you show Francis the door. Take you pick, be it Shanahan, Pronger, a top agent (ala Kent Hughes), an up and coming AGM, or just buying an existing successful GM away from his current team. There are many ways to go but decisive ownership is the key. We know you are making money but the rest of us want to see someone not afraid to trade, trade, trade until you start molding a perpetual winner.
Pronger???
The guy who runs “Well Inspired Travels” with his wife and kids?
Really?
You sound just like someone who used to post in this group. Huh
I’ve been pointing this out for most of the season, actually since they hired LL. This was always a huge mistake in direction for a team that still needs to prioritize development over winning at this point. It’s painfully obvious that we are not a team that is capable or ready to take the next step yet.
We absolutely need to get a different coach next season. It was laughable reading LL’s response to the game. Your structure if passive and for the most part stationary. How in the hell could you not see that a team with speed and talent that can work well in tight spaces would pick it apart and find holes in coverage. If you’re not keeping your feet moving then there is always space you can’t cover.
It’s a bad look getting another coach unless we identify exactly why we’re in the situation of needing to fire another coach and make those changes as well. We should be clearing out the FO they have had enough time and haven’t done anything worthy of keeping their jobs. I see zero reason why we should even consider keeping RF and JB they have run this franchise into the ground. We should get another group involved and ownership should listen to them when they say that we’re not ready for the next step.
I don’t have time to figure out if the advanced stats back this up but I would argue the quality of the roster has steadily gotten worse every year since the miraculous 100 point season.
This year, the only reason the team was in playoff contention into March was because of: 1) the particularly bad Pacific division; and 2) surprisingly good goaltending. You might throw in “defensive structure” from Lambert but I think that factor is overstated, and at any rate, is somewhat separate from quality of the roster. Whatever gains have been made on defense were more than offset by the losses in offense. The actual play of the skaters has been more dismal than any prior Kraken team — Year 1 included. Except for Matty, who has bounced back this year, every player from that Year 2 team who is still on the roster now is a worse player now than he was then. The rest of the roster is worse, and has become steadily worse.
And throughout this time, the team has said they want to enter a period of “perennial playoff contention” and have been managing the team mostly in “win-now” mode, except for some low-level “sales” of pending UFAs at the 2024 and 2025 deadlines. Yet, there is really no reason to believe that the team will improve in the foreseeable future. John Barr used to pin his hopes on Carson Rehkopf as the team’s “elite” savior, but I haven’t even heard him mentioned in a very long time…. which is probably a bad sign. For a team in that mode to steadily get worse for 3 years running, and have no realistic hope to get better in the next 3 years, and just repeatedly blame the coach, screams incompetence and delusion.
I am still thankful to be able to watch NHL hockey live — the best live sports experience that exists — in a beautiful arena only 20 minutes from my house. Even the worst live NHL hockey is still live NHL hockey. But the Kraken — a bad team that plays a bad version of a boring style with no stud prospects yet no hope of a high draft pick — are truly testing the limits of that minimal standard.
Darren’s getting a little feisty! I like it!
This might be the most critical off-season coming up for this franchise. I would be perfectly fine if our UFAs don’t return and we see a huge roster rebuild because quite frankly we need it. The team will be so desperate that an overpay for 2 new players should be expected and I almost welcome it. There’s still a large core group here from year 1 and they can’t seem to get things done so it’s time for some more new blood.
At a glance – and I could be missing someone here – among the skaters there are three forwards and three defensemen from season one. That “large core” is regularly outnumbered by their drafted players. I guess if you count Beniers’ 10 games it’s four forwards.
Can we switch teams on tv. I would rather watch Cochilla Valley Firebirds, then the Kraken, can’t be any worse.
Not to be a doomsday dolly, but things could get worse from here on: https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/how-will-new-millionaires-tax-affect-the-seattle-kraken
I was chatting with someone on this about a month ago and saying I felt pretty confident this was coming. It’s definitely a challenge.
And by the way… it can always, always, always get worse.
This may very well affect future decisions from players of all the Seattle sports teams!
There was an article in the Seattle Times today with John Schneider of the Seahawks saying, “…it’s gonna sting; there’s no question about it” and “it’s been a huge” advantage.
Nice job, Darren! Thanks for digging up the Logan Stanley comparison to McMann’s inexplicable visa situation. It seems like a Kraken FO error to me, but who knows? Maybe the something in the record is getting checked. I’d love to read your take on the McMann visa delay (is it a 100% chance that a visa is ever granted?) after more facts are revealed.
Discouraged by post-break performance; Kraken playoff chances seem to range 12 to 32%, with cup chance close to zero. I’m not betting. They’ll play it out and I’ll continue to root for the Kraken underdogs and a McMann spark.
The McMann situation gets even more comical when you consider that he’s a pending UFA. They traded actual assets — not a ton, but not nothing — for 21 games of this guy for their quixotic playoff push. (I suppose they also traded for the right to sign him to an early extension… heaven help us.) Assuming he still doesn’t clear the visa process by COB today — and I have seen no news that he has — McMann will have missed 5 of those 21 games. That is, early a quarter. And who knows, it could drag out longer! It’s insane. I really hope we learn some day what happened here. Does he have some skeleton in his closet?
I wondered that too. Like he has a roadblock that’s keeping him from working in the US.
Last night at the game we marveled over how good the Avalanche were and we wondered what it took them to get to that point. Obviously, it’s been years in the making. A lot of these players are the same ones from 7-8 years ago and maybe before. Nathan McKinnon has 44 goals so far this season. Two players have 30 goals so far this season. There is only one player with a minus – plus/minus rating! Nathan McKinnon is a +58!
Obviously, it’s an cumulation of making the right choices and combinations at the right time. Lane Lambert had some success early on this season and in my eyes when things start to go off the rails he should be the one to make it right again. He doesn’t seem like the kind of coach that can do that. If he was truly a good coach he would be able to make our mediocre players at least look better than mediocre or find some way to make them shine. I understand that we do not have great talent and I hope that they want to fix that and turn this team into a Seattle version of the Avalanche, but it’s going to take a lot more than the little surface scratching that they’ve been doing. It is so obvious that they’re failing on multiple levels and that it’s not just one thing. The question is how many seasons will they spend living the definition of insanity?
The Kraken only have about 1 season left that I will keep my tickets. If they aren’t going to be serious about developing a competitive team then we’re out.
I have likely had too much coffee this morning, but case in point playing Joey for these last three games instead of alternating with grobauer who’s actually playing as well if not better than Joey. These coaching decisions on top of the playing issues just make it worse! The coach should know better
Their performance of late is far from proof, but is strengthening my belief they should have tried to be more sellers than buyers at the deadline.
Some of you may have heard of Dipoto talking about 54%. Not selling at the deadline reminds me of that. If a team doesn’t have a real shot but has a bunch of expiring free agents they should normally be sellers.
I can see it’s a tough line to walk though. Gotta keep the fans going to the arena and watching every game happy too. Many might care more about individual wins in mediocre seasons than I do.
They are definitely trying very hard to keep fans in the seats but I feel that the choices they are making now will have the opposite effect moving forward. They wanted a coach that could help them win a few more games this season is a great example, I hear from most people I play hockey with and people that watch and go to kraken games is that it’s just so boring watching them play.
will mcmann need a visa to play on Saturday he wont be working in the US or is it about who writes the checks?
I’m going to go out on a limb and predict the Kraken are back in a playoff spot after Saturday (Kraken beat VAN, SJ lose to the Habs) and “the end” will actually be March 26 (Kraken lose to the Bolts, Kings beat Vancouver and never look back).
I’ll go out on a limb too…
The Pacific is a mess but the bottom half of the Central is no better, so the Kraken squeak in on a regulation wins tie-break.