Last Monday, the Kraken’s playoff hopes were wobbling but still technically alive — thin ice, sure, but not fully cracked. I said three points would be acceptable, fewer than two would be devastating, and… well, here we are. Devastated.
I didn’t expect much out of the midweek games against Edmonton and Utah. Aside from a brief 2–0 lead against the Mammoth, there wasn’t a lot to cheer for in either game. The malaise carried into the weekend, when the Kraken lost 4–2 to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks.
It’s an oversimplification, but the team just isn’t competing right now. One thing I valued about this group up until the Olympic break was that they competed in just about every game. Even during their losing slide from late November through mid-December, where they went 1-8-1, six of those losses were one-goal games (excluding empty-netters). This team was competitive up until the break which adds to the frustration of being a fan right now.
Best of both worlds?
At the beginning of the season, a realistic hope was simply to play meaningful games in March. They did that, and as painful as the last month has been, there was a legitimate path to the playoffs throughout March, which gave us a reason to tune in. Plenty of people have pointed out how weak the teams competing for the last Western Conference wild card spot are this season, but once you get in, all records reset.
The disparity between the two conferences has created a strange scenario: two weeks ago, the Kraken were within striking distance of a playoff spot; now they find themselves fifth from the bottom of the league. That also means, as of now, they have the fifth-best odds of winning the NHL Draft Lottery. The ultimate spin on the season would be to say that, based on expectations, 2025–26 went well: compete for a playoff spot into late March to keep our interest, and still end up with a top-seven draft pick.
Not-so-special teams
The special teams have been brutal lately. Over the three games last week, the penalty kill allowed four goals on 10 shorthanded situations, while the power play went 0 for 8. The Kraken haven’t scored a power-play goal in seven games. At one point, they had a top-10 power play in the league, but it has cratered since the Olympic break. Injuries played a role for a bit, but everyone has been back for the last three games.
If you zoom out to the post-break stretch, the penalty kill has actually improved, but the power play has been the worst in the league since teams returned to play.
I wouldn’t pin the entire skid on the power play, but it has absolutely been a contributing factor.
Other musings
- Philipp Grubauer deserved better Saturday night against Chicago. He made several big saves on defensive lapses in front of him, and it was a miracle it was still a one-goal game when he left the ice for the extra attacker late in the third.
- By combined save percentage, the Kraken have the fifth-best goaltending in the league and the best in the Pacific. Pretty sure no one saw that coming this season.
- In the Utah game, the Kraken had two goalie interference calls go against them. The first was when Jacob Melanson appeared to bump the goalie before tipping it in. The second was a Utah goal that was initially waved off before being successfully challenged. By the letter of the law, I think both calls were correct, but I don’t love how the rule is written. Both calls felt ticky tacky when you consider the impact they had on the outcome of the game.
- Those two successful challenges were the first time in the NHL this season that a team had two successful goalie interference challenges in the same game.
- The Kraken are now exactly on pace with where they were at this point in 2023–24 and seven points ahead of where they were last season.
- Regardless of what’s best for the franchise, I will always root for the Kraken to win. But I also keep an eye on the teams around them in the standings, who could bolster Seattle’s draft position.
- I’m still not an expert on the X’s and O’s at the NHL level, but I’m pretty sure you don’t want all five of your players within 10 feet of the boards.
- Seattle is one of four teams without a hat trick this season (though fans did get tricked into throwing their hats on the ice for non-hat tricks two separate times). They had two last year.
- Eeli Tolvanen has been cold as of late. The pending free agent hasn’t scored in 13 games… Maybe he’ll give us that elusive hat trick in one of the final three home games?
- For the fourth time in their four-year franchise history, the Coachella Valley Firebirds have clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. You can catch their games on FloHockey.
- Speaking of FloHockey, I’ve watched a lot of Brantford Bulldogs games this season, and draft-eligible Caleb Malhotra has looked outstanding. I haven’t watched a ton of prospects this year, but Malhotra is expected to go around fifth overall. I’d love to see the Kraken draft him if he’s available… but again, I haven’t watched a lot of prospects.
Goal of the week
You’ve probably heard coaches talking about getting to the front of the net a lot over the years. This is how you do it.
This is a very Jaden Schwartz goal if I’ve ever seen one.
Player performances
Tyson Jugnauth (CV/SEA) – Jugnauth is putting together an impressive rookie season in the AHL. On Saturday, he factored into all three Firebirds goals, including the overtime winner in their 3–2 victory. There will be plenty of time to debate the 2026–27 Kraken roster this offseason, but I’m starting to wonder if Jugnauth’s development might put him in position to make the jump next year.
Kaapo Kakko (SEA) – Kakko had only a goal and an assist over the last three games, but I’ve really liked his play since being paired with Bobby McMann and Chandler Stephenson. He has seven goals in 18 games since the break, compared to six in 40 before it. Not all of those were with McMann and Stephenson, but he looks the best he has since the Kraken traded for him last season.
Jake O’Brien (BRF/SEA) – The 19-year-old Kraken prospect had six points in Brantford’s four-game sweep of Sudbury in the opening round of the OHL playoffs. Brantford is expected to make a deep run, so we could be watching him for a while this spring.
The week ahead
With a reasonable shot at the playoffs now out of reach, I just want to see this team compete through the end of the season. They start the week with a tough back-to-back: Winnipeg on Monday and Minnesota on Tuesday. My expectations have been significantly lowered, but I’d still like to see them get back to the level we saw in January.
After the back-to-back, they return to Seattle for the final homestand of the season. They face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Believe it or not, the Kraken are 2-0-0 against Vegas this season, but the Golden Knights recently hired John Tortorella and have since rattled off three straight wins. Then the Kraken welcome the Calgary Flames on Saturday, another bottom-of-the-league team, and we all saw how the Chicago game went.
The playoff chase is gone, but the season isn’t. Give me effort, give me one more home win, give me something that reminds us of January before we all turn our attention to lottery odds and prospect clips. And if a Firebird or two wants to show up and make things interesting, I won’t complain.