The Seattle Kraken wrapped up their five-game homestand with a frustrating 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. Seattle finished with a 2-1-2 record during these five games, earning points in four of five for a total of six. But this matchup had all the makings of a trap game, and the Kraken fell right into it, coming away with their first home regulation loss of the season in ugly fashion.
San Jose has a talented young core and a goalie that was drafted in the first round in 2020. The Sharks can score, as Seattle learned the hard way—they’re now tied for second in the Western Conference in goals scored at 48.
Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring on San Jose’s first shot of the night. Jaden Schwartz lost a battle on the boards, and Tyler Toffoli jumped on the loose puck, feeding a wide-open Celebrini, who made no mistake. The Kraken responded with strong pressure in the first period, outshooting the Sharks 10-6 and tying the game 1-1 (more on that later). But just two minutes after that, former Kraken Alexander Wennberg found Ethan Cardwell, who one-timed the puck past Joey Daccord. From there, the Sharks never looked back, piling on four more goals.
Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was outstanding, stopping 28 of 29 shots. He earned his third win of the season and is now 3-1 in his last four games.
Takeaway #1 – Winter is here
Ryan Winterton scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday night in his 34th career game. It felt like it was only a matter of time, but winter has officially arrived.
Just before his goal, Winterton nearly converted on a partial breakaway, but Askarov turned him aside. Moments later, he found open ice in the slot, corralled a deflected shot from Ryan Lindgren that bounced off Wennberg, and ripped it into the top right corner.
It was great to see Winterton get his first, even if it came in a blowout loss. Now that the monkey’s off his back, hopefully the goals start coming more frequently for a young player who seems to be proving himself as a full-time NHLer.
Takeaway #2 – Unraveled in the deep
Winterton’s goal tied the game 1-1, and it felt like the ice was tilted in Seattle’s favor for much of the first period. The team looked composed and confident—but that quickly unraveled as the Sharks regained control.
The Kraken struggled to make crisp passes in any zone, leading to turnovers and killing offensive pressure in the second and third periods. Lane Lambert didn’t mince words after the game: “I didn’t like our game. I didn’t like the way we played. I thought we were too loose, and we did not play to our identity tonight.”
Nothing went right, including goaltending. Daccord was pulled after allowing five goals, and Matt Murray entered in relief—only to give up a goal 30 seconds later when Toffoli scored on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box. Both Kraken goalies allowed goals on the first shot they faced.
Takeaway #3 – Power outage on the man advantage
After scoring a power-play goal in each of the previous three games, the Kraken went 0-for-6 on the man advantage. Worse, they gave up a shorthanded goal when Vince Dunn was stripped by Collin Graf. Daccord made the initial save, but Graf recovered the puck and fed Ty Dellandrea, who buried it. That goal made it 5-1 and ended Daccord’s night. The tally wasn’t on him, but at that point, the team needed a change.
Seattle generated 13 shots on the power play, but in the end, the Kraken got Askaroved. The Kraken also missed the net eight times.
When you have open looks, the puck needs to get to the net. Missing the net and sending the puck off the glass and out of the zone kills momentum and resets the penalty kill for the opposition. We saw this far too many times on Wednesday.
On to the next
If you asked me which opponent at the start of this homestand looked most beatable, the Sharks would have been at the top of the list. Instead, they handed Seattle its only regulation loss of the stretch. While two more points from this one would have been nice, earning six points over five games is a decent result. The Kraken need to learn from this loss and quickly turn the page.
Seattle will now have Thursday and Friday to regroup before heading out on the road to face the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. That kicks off a short two-game trip, which concludes Sunday in Dallas for Seattle’s second back-to-back set of the season.
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.
1. Nice to watch talented young players. The fans of the Sharks, Hawks, and Habs must be excited about their futures.
2. Apparently, the LL plan is to play no-event one-goalie playoff hockey all season long. Anyone else think this is not sustainable?
3. RF legacy watch: Cutter Gauthier 10 goals, Shane Wright 3; Morgan Geekie 9 goals, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 0.
Re: point #1. Must be nice. This team will never get anywhere without added talent. The lack of top line talent is evident. I’m not hating on the players we have, but there is a much of a muchness without the true cutting end. People want to be a perennial bubble team rather than build a real team, which is weird to me. And don’t babble UFA at me.
Re: point #2. To be fair to Lane the team did not play his style of hockey. This was more Disco Dan style running and not so much gunning with slop at the back. SJ got how many odd man rushes their way because of sloppy Kraken plays around the blue lines? And the D zone play was not very strong. The players seemingly let their first position in the division get to their heads and/or underestimated SJ…. or something. This was an ugly game.
My own points:
A. Worst case scenario is that the team is close (but no cigar) to a playoff position around the TDL and management decides to not move on from some overripe vets. There are too many warm bodies with a “vet” label so the coaches feel safe to roll them about.
B. Odds and ends.
– For all the huffing and puffing and being top of the division this is still a bubble team.
– The PP was abysmal.
– The lines still feel contrived.
C. Positive.
– Winterton.
– Catton is raw but there is a player there. I wonder if he should be in junior even if that is overkill and he’d only play with his food. Not sure being a depth player asked to grind in the NHL is the best development path for him.
– Nyman looks good too, too bad he didn’t score on the breakaway for his confidence.
I’m a little confused about something here…
I didn’t seem to recall this conversation at the time so I went back and looked at some articles. I looked at all the guys at the Athletic, the three guys at THN, Chris Peters, Elite Prospects, NHL Central Scouting and the highly regarded Bob McKenzie’s draft rankings… and not a single one of them – not one – had Cutter Gauthier ranked ahead of Shane Wright. Several had Wright No.1 overall. Very few even had Gauthier in their top five. These were all final rankings.
On Margarita Bob’s list, eight of the ten scouts had Wright No.1 or No.2 while the other two were at No.3. Gauthier was as low as No.10 and had a No.3… obviously behind Wright.
So what I’m confused about… is everyone in the hockey world stupid, or just Ron Francis? Personally, I’d be kind of self-conscious about making so specious an argument. I’d also be a bit concerned this sort “representation” would betray a rather simplistic approach to analysis and a willingness to think of after-the-fact second guessing as insightful rather than self serving. Returning to it over and over again? Well, I guess that would be consistent with the other embarrassment.
What an unreasoned, childish response.
If you could see past your pre-pubescent fandom, you’d see that that Chuck Holmes broader context is about Ron Francis’ ability to evaluate and draft prospects. So, Shane Wright was rated higher on most (all) lists than Cutter Gauthier. Who cares? The only question (as Chuck legitimately points out) is WHO is the better player?
RF’s and JB’s jobs are NOT to read off Central Scouting’s rankings and pick the highest ranked player. Their job is to evaluate players. Their cross-of-the-list “strategy” would perfectly exemplify the Ralph Waldo Emerson axiom “A FOOLISH consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” (you previously misquoted it, not to mention used it out of context). As I’ve said before, FO’s biggest weakness is they’re slaves to convention.
Of course, the even bigger miss is Matty Beniers – who has been accurately characterized by others as the next Jordan Staal. My own cursory review of rosters suggests that MB would be just a 3C on probably 16-18 teams. Players drafted AFTER him in 2021 include McTavish, Luke Hughes, Kent Johnson, Dylan Guenther and Wyatt Johnson – all of whom are now more impactful players than MB.
You seem to have a lot of insecure, subliminal “Anaheim envy”. Probably because they’ve been aggressive, imaginative and opportunistic in rebuilding their roster – and the Kraken FO seems incapable of this. From 2021- 25 they’ve turned top ten picks into Carlsson, McTavish and Mintyukov, and McQueen. Their boldest move was going against Central Scouting’s evals and picking Beckett Sennecke #3 in 2024 – a move that was mocked as Sennecke was ranked somewhere in the mid-teens. He’ll be a top six forward on a playoff team for the next several years. They opportunistically stole Gauthier from Philly for next to nothing. The Kraken’s top ten picks 2021-24 have been Beniers, Wright, Catton and O’Brien. Which group would you have?
People need to pull their heads out of the sand and face reality. Building an expansion team comes with inherent disadvantages. Offsetting those disadvantages requires making at least some bold, “unconventional” personnel decisions. RF and JB are incapable of this type of thinking. This is the 5th year of existence, and the Kraken still don’t have a legit 1C or even 2C. With maybe one or two exceptions, their current prospects/farm system doesn’t have anyone resembling a top six forward or top pairing defensemen. They have no young players capable of replacing Schwartz (33yo) and Eberle’s (35 yo) production in the next year or two.
An expansion franchise comes with much inherent fan enthusiasm and optimism, and rightly so. Everyone WANTS NEEDS to think their team’s FO is just smarter and better than their peers, and that success will inevitably follow. When RF picked up Tolvenan (off waivers) from Nashville, he was good immediately and I thought “maybe these guys REALLY ARE smarter.” Five years in reality has bit us in the ass. Fans are rightfully disgruntled, and the Kraken will have to tear it down and start over again. For this to work Samantha Holloway will need to replace the current FO with someone who’s up to the task. Doing nothing will only defer (slightly) the inevitable.
It’s my opinion that after the fact second guessing is a rather comical exercise in analysis. As much as “bold moves” might pay off in some circumstances, they also result in poor outcomes as well. Choosing some while ignoring others is pretty consistent with the practice of selective hindsight.
I don’t have some illusion that my years of watching hockey somehow provides me with more insight and knowledge than folks who’ve spent their entire professional lives in the game and work at it’s highest level. I try not to qualify my insights through “cherry picking”… so I try and understand what the team is doing rather than declaring what they should be doing.
I get that some folks are convinced their knowledge and insights are superior and understanding what the team is doing and why is beside the point. Taking issue and second guessing is the point. Personally to me – and regardless of your justification – the Cutter Gauthier complaint is laughable and rather illustrative of a lot of the “substance” I hear coming out of one Chuck Holmes.
I appreciate your view that “tearing it down” is the answer. I think it’s clear at this point the team believes there are other paths. I honestly think there is merit to both, but I certainly don’t think there is only one way. Being bold… that’s not a plan. Tearing it down and tanking… that’s a plan, I just disagree with it.
Quick thoughts:
1. I’m no scouting expert either, and every team whiffs on players. But second guessing (introspection) is a necessary step to evaluating FO performance, and it can reveal flawed thinking and/or or processes and reduce the chances of “making the same old mistakes.” Pretty much every job performance eval in the real world involves (mostly) backward looking “analysis.”
2. Yes bold moves sometimes miss, but I’m not talking about rampant, random throw-the-dart actions. I’d rather have the occasional miss than a team stuck in the quicksand of mediocrity with no apparent way out (e.g. maybe sending a draft pick to STL for Jordan Kyrou prior to his NTC?)
3. If they don’t tank then by inference they’re going mostly rebuild from within. Which means that at least four of the following – Nyman, Sale, Rehkopf, Miettinen, OFM, Catton, Firkus and O’Brien HAVE to be legit top six forwards on a playoff caliber team – and O’Brien HAS to become a legit #1 center. And two of Fiddler, Ottovainen, Nelson & Jugnauth have to be top-four D. Hard to see this happening. Most of the above are 2nd round picks or later. For context, only about ~ 34% of 2nd rounders play 100+ games in NHL. Increase that to 300 games and that number goes down to ~ 15%.
4. If #3 doesn’t work out, it will just end up being a longer, slower more excruciating version of tanking. Tanking would just mean selling off players now for additional draft picks.
…and one more thing.
You’re right, I totally botched that Emerson quote. Oof.
Yah he’s a treasure trove of quotes and ideas. One of my favority historical figures
A Kyrou trade, seems to me, to be a good place to start. On the 32 Thoughts end of season wrap up Friedman specifically talked about Seattle being in on Kyrou before his NTC kicked in and he said, “…I don’t know this, but I suspect that would have cost them the pick that turned into O’Brien, the eigth overall pick, so I can understand why they didn’t do it.” Kyrou seems like a good player to me and I think he’d bring something this team needs; however, Wittmont makes some interesting points to the contrary. The problem as I see it though, is the conflict in some of these proposition.
On the one hand there’s the “bold” Kyrou trade. On the other there’s the need to find that “one guy” at the top of the draft. In this case those two are clearly at odds with one another. The Kraken have taken four centers in the top ten – two in the top five – over the past five drafts. I think if that was all you knew, you’d expect they ARE a team whose tanking.
The centers they have are all still young. Even though there clearly isn’t a Celebrini or a Bedard, I think it’s a little too soon to say there isn’t a Suzuki or an Aho. On top of that, for all his offensive struggles the last couple seasons, Beniers is one of the top five defensive forwards in the league. If, and it’s a big if, O’Brien can become a ceiling player rather than a floor… then maybe they already have that guy. To me, it looks like the organization believes they have some strong pieces in place to build around and with the capital they have in picks in prospects they can add if they find themselves in a position to do so. There’s still a lot that’s unknown, but to me it’s less risky than ping-pong balls.
I get the tank, you make very good points and I can’t say I completely dismiss it, but I think it has more perils than folks sometimes recognize. What I like least about it though is the advocates of it rooting against their own team. The Kraken are off to their best start ever and in a playoff spot a month into the season, and there are folks on here who are fixated on this team failing. I get that they’re simply calling attention to the flaws that are built into the roster… but are they? Or are they more interested in “being right”. Right now I feel like this team could go either way and the thing about that for me is… if they suck, I won’t feel good about it. This isn’t me being naive, I honestly believe in the work the front office is doing.
Oof… that looked way too much like last season. This two game mini road trip seems kind of huge all the sudden. Curious to see who’s in net.
Go Kraken!!!
Blaiz I agree Winterton looks NHL ready and should be here for the season. Catton looks ready, Nyman looks ready, what’s the solution when TF keeps filling the lineup?
From the stands, Nyman did not look ready at all. He has the offensive creativity and the shot, but he was a liability in the neutral zone and lost far too many one-on-one puck battles often in catastrophic fashion. I don’t know what they are going to do with him, because he is so extraordinary offensively but has a nasty tendency to get the puck taken off his stick. Winterton, on the other hand, is absolutely ready for prime time. At times he looked like the best player on the ice even when matched against San Jose’s top line. He willed plays into existence and checked relentlessly. Winterton was everything that was good about Brandon Tanev plus the ability to elevate the puck on passes and shots. He is the kind of player people buy tickets to see. Catton was technically sound and played with real heart, but he got knocked around like a bowling pin. He has guts; I will give him that. Now he just needs about twenty pounds.
The Catton/Kartye/Winterton line looked like the give-a-f*** line that night. They tilted the ice like a proper energy line. I get why Lambert broke them up: to bring some of that passion to the other lines. Josh Mahura of the defensemen was another guy who showed up to play and led by example. On a better night, that play he made at the goal would be on Sports Center. I don’t doubt that Dunn and Montour tried their best, but, boy, did they suffer some embarrassing moments.
Oh my god, let Grubauer and Murray play, and not just when Joey needs to be pulled! I am not asking for a 1B and a 1C, just a rotation that doesn’t ride Daccord like Hellebuyck.
I guess the silver lining of having seats back behind the goal last night was that I only had a decent view of 2 of the goals, and one was Winterton’s. Between the crappy view and the buzz from the frozen cherry limeade (10% cherry limeade, 90% tequila), I had no idea what was going on most of the game.
LOL – a concession offering AND a coping mechanism. Never tried the limeade – just curious – how much was that frozen concoction of happiness?
I think like $13.50+tax with the sth discount. For the amount of kick they have, it’s a decent price for Seattle. My experience has been that the frozen ones (which I think are only sold down by section 3) are significantly more alcoholic than the non-frozen version that is sold in the rest of the arena. If I get one before warmup, it wears off about midway the third period.
I really can’t believe that those seats are in the same price tier as my regular seat in 102. I know some people like being closer to the action, but I’d rather be able to actually see the entire game.
That was an embarrassing loss for the Kraken. It felt like watching a beer league team trying to keep up with an actual NHL team…and it was the San Jose Sharks made up 1/2 with college players. That said, every team sees ups and downs during a season (see TBL’s season start for a small sample). It will be interesting to see how the coaches and players respond after this one.
The sophomoric comments about the legacy of Ron Francis and veteran presence being unnecessary immediately after a tough loss are always fun to read, so keep them coming! 😄
It’s funny how wrong you are G, I’ve made those comments after wins as well 😂
Bummer comment alert! Please refute so I can feel better about extending our season tickets.
I think the problem is that the Kraken rely very heavily on this team approach, but if a few players have defensive lapses or can’t transition, the entire approach falls apart. They don’t have elite talent to carry or drive play. I’m coming around to the fact that Beniers is basically Jordan Staal, a defensive stalwart with a 2C ceiling. Shane Wright, otoh, has been invisible for weeks and hasn’t been able to carry a line. Catton looks flashy but raw. Winterton is coming into his own as maybe a middle 6 piece. Nyman has been good but also raw. I just don’t think there’s enough there in aggregate.
They’re hoping to be like the Hurricanes, but Carolina has at least 4 players who are better than everyone on the Kraken. I’m trying not be bummed about it, but there’s a good reason they decided to reduce season ticket prices going forward — they knew this team just isn’t good enough, and people would start to leave in droves if they didn’t.
Ditto Nino: It’s funny how wrong you are G, I’ve made those comments after wins as well.
Sophomoric in like this franchise will be stuck with the legacy of RF for its first decade. It is there continuously for all to see but go ahead and close your eyes and pretend it is not there. There are a few others RF fanboys around this site but almost none on other sites or across the league. As Wittmont accurately said above “The lack of top line talent is evident.”
If you cannot make original comments without throwing shade on other posters, maybe you can find another site to take out the obvious frustrations of your life on. Shall we have a contest to have everyone fill in what the “G” means? I’ll start. How about gobshite?
Come on Chuck, settle down. We all want the Kraken to wing, please do not punish the posters if they did not win. We all feel bad. OK Kraken pull up your socks and get back into it! Go Kraken!
Unfortunately, not everyone on here feels bad when they lose. For some folks, it makes their day.
The Kraken must of had too much sex because they are going on a road trip. McCann is sorely missed but he would not have helped. Kappo’s entry into the lineup caused a lot of sync problems. In fact, the lack of sycronization was why we lost. This time the train derailed. I stopped watching near the end of the 2nd. I hate bad hockey
There were also some interesting deployments towards the end of the game – sending Kartye out to take the faceoff at the end of the last power play with Beniers on the wing, Wright and Dunn on the next PK. I guess it was a good chance to do some kind of crazy things when the game was already way out of hand, but hard to determine the reasoning behind it.
If this is what 57% on the faceoff gets us, I think I’ll settle for the 40% we’ve been getting in games we’ve won.
Also, the photo for this post is epic. Happy Birthday Matty…instead of cake, have a faceful of ice.
The Kraken are basically at full cap (correct me if wrong). The Sharks are nowhere near full cap and have eaten a lot of dead cap this season. Yet there is barely any difference in team level. Arguably the Sharks are more talented overall with their cutting edge talent making the difference. So where are ownership and management taking this team? Clearly there is a lot of fluff over substance on the Kraken to be in this shape at full cap. Management needs to stop talking out both sides of the mouth and stop pretending UFA can magically fix this mess. Build a real foundation first through the draft. In the long run that’s clearly the best option.
The Kraken currently have ~$2m in cap space but they’re carrying and extra $2.5m due to injury. Their deadline space is at $7.8m but that should go up significantly as they get players back. Their projected playoff cap space is currently above $18m.
Additionally, they have $35m in available cap next season with 18 players already signed and no RFAs in need of a big contract.
Their cap situation, as I see it, is not limiting their options right now. I’m hopeful for this season, but next season for me is where things really get interesting.
Wright is eligible for an extension this coming offseason, but he’s looking more like a bridge contract candidate. I had high hopes for him this year, but he intermittently vanishes.
Agree with comment on Wright. There is just something lacking about how he plays. Its not effort as he probably works hard both on and off the ice. But there seems to be a lack of drive, determination and confidence in his game. He has the size, skill and talent to be a top line center but something always seems lacking when watching him play.
As for Catton, no doubt he will become a very good NHL player but I am not seeing signs that he will be this all star level talent which the Kraken desperately need. I guess my next hope is O’brien.
What worries me overall is if there is any elite talent in the Kraken prospect pool. Yes, there are many prospects who will likely make the NHL one day. Kraken’s prospect pool are probably near the top with the number of NHL potential players they have, but its all middle to botton line/pair players.
Wright has been playing a lot with Marchment and that could explain a lot….
Move Marchment to the 4th line.
Thank DW, I was thinking more in terms of are we getting our bang for the buck with this team? SJ are stripped down and in full rebuild mode yet they had far more of a pulse than we did (do).
Otoh, it’s encouraging that we are not nailed down to this team “forever”, but I suspect management are looking to use the cap space make a splash in UFA rather than build – which would fit the MO of shortcuts, half-arsedness (is that a word?) and immediate gratification.
I don’t know much about much, but I don’t think UFA is going to be a great option. I think with the picks and prospects they have they’d be better off going the trade route, but to take advantage of that it seems to me the best opportunities are for teams in a playoff spot.
Speaking of trades… I see the Kraken’s next opponent, St. Louis, is healthy scratching Jordan Kyrou for tonight’s game against Buffalo.
Considering Kyrou has a full NTC, i don’t think he’s bailing on that team just yet and if he is it’s an odd time to eject.
I don’t know what the specifics are, but it was widely reported the Blues were shopping him before his NTC kicked in a Friedman expressly said Seattle wanted to get something done there but couldn’t make it happen.
I’m not saying one scratch and he’s demanding a trade… but sometimes this is how it starts.
Why would he waive his NTC to come to the Kraken, we are not a desirable destination. We have an overly defensive coach and management that spends to the cap for a team that isn’t worth the price. It’s a clear sign that they don’t know what they are doing, player rarely want to walk into a situation like that unless they get overpaid and that just spirals our situation.
I don’t know that I agree Seattle is not a desirable destination. Most any team on the outside looking in is going to be at a disadvantage… and being in a playoff spot would certainly make them a more desirable destination. This is one thing I think folks are ignoring when they talk about not having the pieces to be a contender. If you’re going to be in on players on the move, being in a position to make the playoffs certainly helps. They still need more, and trading for it might be the best way.
I don’t know that Kyrou would waive to go to Seattle, but if they’re still in a playoff spot at the Olympic break, I think it makes it much more possible.
Coincidentally…
Seravalli is reporting the Blues are “open for business” and in his 32 Thoughts article Friedman mentioned Seattle’s as an “under-the-radar team to watch on the market” and pointed out their trade assets (picks).
Kyrou gave Berube conniptions. I don’t see Kyrou as a good fit, however offensively talented, for a defensive coach and stickler for details like Lambert is. Kyrou does his best work in the o zone when he gets free to shoot. Not so much otherwise.
He’s eligible to sign an extension on July 1st, but it wouldn’t kick in until season after next. Next season he only counts $887k.
I don’t want to be negative but this is starting to look like what a lot pundits thought the Kraken would be this year. Better defensively but not great and bad on offense.
Don’t understand the criticism of Wright. He’s young and this team is a mess on offense. None of the lines make sense. Plus who is playing well?
I like your photos.
Brian Liesse gets credit for the photos. He takes awesome pictures. I only get credit for picking the ones to hit the right vibe.