The Seattle Kraken came away with another point in a shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Normally, I’m happy taking a point and moving on to the next game, but this one felt deflating. Columbus was playing the second leg of a back-to-back and had lost to Edmonton on Monday night. The Blue Jackets were about a minute away from victory when the Oilers tied the game with a shorthanded goal. To make matters worse for them, the Blue Jackets have been battling a flu bug, and it’s suspected that Jet Greaves started both games due to the illness circulating through the team.
This was a tired opponent and a good opportunity for Seattle to grab two points. The Kraken played a solid game and did everything right, except score more than one goal. Ryan Winterton opened the scoring in the first period, and the Kraken held a 1-0 lead until late in the second when Columbus earned a two-man advantage. Adam Fantilli capitalized on the 5-on-3 to tie it 1-1. Columbus stayed disciplined, taking only two penalties, while Seattle’s power play again came up empty. The game went to a shootout, where the Kraken fell in the fourth round on a goal by Charlie Coyle.
Takeway #1 – Murray looks solid
Matt Murray started his second straight game and looked even better than he did against Dallas, stopping 33 of 34 shots for a .971 save percentage. He looked calm and composed throughout, with his positioning spot on. It took a two-man advantage for Columbus to beat him, a scramble in front that ended with Fantilli burying a cross-ice pass into an open net. Even then, Murray nearly made the stop, getting a glove on it before it trickled in.
As head coach Lane Lambert described: Murray played his angles well and used his size effectively, making it tough for Columbus to score. He saved 2.98 goals above expected, an impressive mark for the goaltender.
Takeaway #2 – Kartye, Meyers and Winterton
The fourth line generated the most offensive pressure. While listed as the fourth unit, they logged more even-strength minutes than the Berkly Catton, Shane Wright, and Eeli Tolvanen line. Their goal came off a slick backhand pass from Ben Meyers to Winterton, who snapped it home.
Every time they hit the ice, they generated offense and kept pressure on the Blue Jackets. According to MoneyPuck, they had 10 shots on goal, the most of any Kraken line. They were fun to watch and kept the home crowd engaged.
With Freddy Gaudreau now skating again, decisions will need to be made if Meyers continues to perform like this.
Takeaway #3 – Lack of scoring
For the second straight game, the Kraken scored just one goal. The good news: even with limited offense, the game was tied, and they earned a point. That highlights how strong their defensive structure has been, no matter who’s in net.
Jaden Schwartz, Matty Beniers, and Kaapo Kakko led all forward lines in ice time, but the results weren’t there. They posted the lowest expected goals (0.143) and the highest expected goals against (1.129) of any Kraken line, far from ideal for a top unit.
Kakko, meanwhile, has yet to register a single point through six games. To be fair, Lambert has shuffled him around the top nine to find chemistry, but nothing has clicked yet. He hasn’t stayed on a line long enough to build consistency, but Seattle needs him to start producing for sustained success.
Wrapping up
I started this piece slightly deflated, but by the end, the Kraken’s effort reminded me there’s still plenty to build on. They still earned a point, and now it’s time to move forward with optimism. The Winnipeg Jets visit on Thursday, Nov. 13. Seattle shut out the Jets in their first meeting this season, so expect Winnipeg to come motivated.
The Kraken currently sit third in the Pacific Division, ahead of both the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers. The standings are tightening up, with the Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken, and San Jose Sharks outperforming preseason expectations and adding a fun twist to the Pacific Division race as new faces mix in at the top.
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. As I said before, the MM signing may become the best off-season move. What an odd hockey journey he has had.
2. Anyone have insight into why Shane Wright is not yet breaking out this season and what the solution might be?
3. What exactly is the plan with Catton?
I am really hoping that the MM you refer to is Matt Murray and not Mason Marchment!
I have followed MM (Matt Murray) much longer than Mason Marchment, so kind of an old habit calling him MM.
Yes, it is the goalie, who I will give GMJB full credit for taking a chance on as a way to get of out of the Grubauer dilemma. As mentioned below, with goalie MM, you never know how long it will be before injury strikes but as I said a while ago, I was shocked to read his weight is like 220 lbs., when he was like a 170-something beanpole when the Pens won those cups. Good for him, he has had a pretty rough go in recent years and deserves a better outcome.
Will we also give GMJB full credit for the forward MM trade? I called it out at the time. Forward MM is kind of an odd duck. In Dallas at least, he will give you unexpected goals, physical play, and stupid penalties in equal measure. In Dallas and Florida, there was enough F talent on those teams that he could find a niche to do his thing. With the Kraken, without that F talent, his skillset maybe just does not work. I wonder if he joins Oleksiak and maybe Schwartz on the TDL find a new home list.
There’s no need to overanalyze the details when the main issue is clear.
Players like Burakovsky, Stevenson, Marchment, Grubauer, and Donskoi have all performed significantly worse after joining the team.
Meanwhile, Burakovsky, Donato, Geekie, Eyssimont, and Wennberg noticeably improved once they left.
Beniers and Wright are, at best, middle-six players, Sale looks like a bust, and Catton has shown nothing since joining – all of them were standouts at the junior level before promotion.
This organization fails to develop or even sustain player potential. There’s no system for the present and no foundation for the future.
I’d say that management should leave, but if the owner doesn’t see the same thing in five lost years which will become the next five lost years, then either he’s fine with it, or he doesn’t know how to succeed in this business. Both are very bad news for fans.
Your post caused me to look up a few things. I forgot where Eyssimont had landed (9P in 18 GP this season) and team financials.
FYI, it is not a he, but a she who is the majority owner. According to Forbes, the Kraken, who had to pay $650m to enter the league, are now worth $1.6b. And the team’s operating income is $22m, on revenues of about $200m. So I doubt Sam Holloway is overly concerned from a financial perspective. We can only hope she is not patient capital and makes necessary executive changes quickly.
Regarding the players, all the players you mentioned came from top teams like Colorado, Vegas, and Dallas and were expected to do more here, which usually is a mistake by the acquirer. The Geekie decision by Francis is still an imponderable, it was a low-cost bet on a young center. I would not throw shade on Catton after a handful of 19-year-old games considering the jump direct to the NHL. We are all hoping Wright becomes 1 or 2C and O’Brien is the other top C. Don’t think we will know for awhile.
Likewise concerned that we have wasted five years building a middling team when we should have sunk to the bottom and gotten top 2 draft picks. Then we could be rising up right now, like SJ, Anaheim, and Chicago did in the same timeframe.. If Wright and O’Brien do not become 1C/2C, then I don’t know what they will do except start over. So much is riding on those top picks. A few good things are starting to happen with the very young team at CV, with Firkus bringing the Circus again. Can only hope that translates to the NHL.
Just swap out Tolvanen for Nyman; that way the Kraken can have a “Kid line” of their own that is easy to bury but gives the org an opportunity to say something something about “development”.
I get it, “winning” is better than losing and It’s more fun to be in the playoff hunt, but there is a future to consider too – unless being a bubble team is as far as the ambition of the org and fans go. I mean, you never know what can happen once you are in, right? Right.
This team may play better than what we are seeing now, but not that much better and the overall ceiling remains too close to the floor of this already hard working team. The Kraken needs to grow game winners from within its own draft pool, what we are seeing now is not the way.
At some point this season teams like Edmonton and Vegas will get going pushing the Kraken down the standings.
“We’ve got to find a way to score. Like, when we have opportunities, we’ve got to bury them.” Says LL.
I mean your defensive system is actually the main reason why we are getting less shots, less scoring chances and oh yeah less goals.
So the solution is to just bury the few chances you get 😂. If only coaching was so simple.
Murry looked very good, interesting that he had two starts in a row. Are we seeing the goalie pecking order?
4th line was great, love the way they put pressure on the puck. Kartye is becoming very a very important part of the team, stars and finishes the PK and is looking very good 5 on 5.
Kartye has become one of the most reliable pass-receivers on the team. Maybe it’s his pass-and-receive warm-up ritual paying off.
He’s definitely one I’d like to get some zone-entry stats on. Overall, the team this year has been more controlled entry vs dump-and-chase, but I think he’s been the most dramatic change vs last year.
I know the team values his defense, but I really wish they could figure out how to unlock him offensively. Shot accuracy needs work and, while he is able to get net front, he has a definite tendency to wander off into puck-chasing. Overall, I hope he can take the patience he’s developed in receiving passes and controlling zone entries and applying it to more of his offensive game.
I was hugely critical of Campbell last year, largely because I felt she was not ready for the strategic responsibilities in the role she was given last year. My understanding is that she’s focused more on player development this season, which I think is a much greater strength for her. I believe Winterton and Kartye have spent a lot of time with her. So far, in terms of everyone’s development this is looking like it could be a big win for all.
This is insightful on Campbell. My thought after last season when they cleaned out all the coaches was maybe let her go back to her roots and work with players on their power skating. Maybe that is part of the development you are referring to. If that is her role, good results with those two so far. Now I would like to see her get Shane Wright going, the team’s future is really tied to him becoming a top player. And then I am not sure who has the ball with Berkly Catton. Is he getting enough ice time to make mistakes and learn?
Catton is getting rag-dolled in every game. He loves to check and to battle along the boards, but the veterans are just knocking him around when he does. Right now, I don’t think he needs more ice time. I am worried that he will get himself hurt just by playing the game the right way as is his wont. He really, really needs to be in the AHL where his speed and the smaller size of much of the competition will keep him safer than he is in the big league. Damn that CHL agreement.
It’s not the defensive system. It was clear from the upper bowl what was stifling their offensive production: Columbus was playing a structure in their own end with one high forechecker, three guys in a triangle around the net, and one guy playing along the back wall, which thwarted all the low cross-crease passing that Seattle tried to set up. Normally, that can be turned into a goalie-screening mess in front of the net (which the Kraken themselves have been victims of when they have employed that structure) but it requires somebody to park himself net front and cause chaos while the puck moves around. Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz did at times. Nobody else did. Instead, defensemen and the center had their heads forward following the play, and the goalie never lost sight of the puck. That meant that every attempt that Kraken forwards made to create dangerous opportunities instead turned into tipped passes up to the blue line and rushes for Blue Jackets players. Meyers, Kartye, and Winterton managed to get their chances by getting guys to chase them around and thus get themselves out of position, and they did that just by virtue of playing faster than everyone else on the ice. That can only be done by a line that is not playing big minutes.
Again, it wasn’t the commitment to responsible defense. The Kraken were getting o-zone time, which means that the puck was getting moved forward effectively. They were then moving the puck around in the offensive zone, so it’s not a question of defensemen needing to jump into the play. But they were not moving it in ways that forced Columbus out of their structure. I would have to watch tape to see, but I would not be surprised to discover that has also been the issue they have had when playing other so-called “high effort” teams.
Awesome analysis. Thank you!!!
This is really good hockey analysis. I am looking forward to your posts over the next two home games.
Isn’t the lack of creativity, another way of saying the team lacks high end talent or ability to create quality scoring chances, the root problem offensively? Good pro’s Schwartz and Eberle lead the team in scoring, Eberle is ranked 115th and Schwartz is 117th in the NHL. There is nobody to think outside the box, to wrong foot defences by making moves they do not anticipate, or simply by being heavy bodies that can get inside through determination, skill and force. Beniers works hard all over the ice, but he is essentially an energizer bunny going all out all the time without any change of pace, or particular vision or trickery to his game. Any team can counter attack and score off the rush, but the good teams can also score against teams by breaking them down in the d zone.
That is one reason why Florida, when on top of their game, are difficult to beat and can outlast their opponents over a 7 game series; they have tanks like Barkov and M. Tkachuk to break through the defensive boxes, shooters such as Verhaeghe and Reinhart to score from the dots, a strong gritty two way third line with notorious gritty pest Marchand etc.
2 things I would like to mention on what I saw. The Power play. What is the good of Eli’s big shot if he can’t even hit the net. I now see why Eli was released before. There is no fear of being bench or traded in his game. He hopes some one will pass to him most of the time instead of getting the puck and making plays. I notice when Shane was taking a face off, he was loosy goosy and his had was too high up the stick with his bottom hand. It was ,like he knew he was going to lose it so he was rushing back to play some D. Then each time he lost a face off, he was not out there in the next rotation or two and when he was out there, he kept his lice very short and got off the ice. Well, he is only 21 /22 still and may be unsure of his talent..
Shane is one of the biggest disappointments of the season so far for me. I think we were all hoping for a strong season considering how he ended the last one, but he’s been totally invisible for games at a time.
It’s been confusing. Last year, it seemed like Wright was their most promising forwards — maybe already the best one — and this year he’s been a mess at both ends, losing the trust of the coach. Conversely, last year it seemed like Stephenson was a disaster from the get-go, and could only get worse — yet this year, he’s had a surprising bounce-back. He’s not amazing but he’s playing and providing value the way we could have hoped, even at 5 on 5.
I don’t know how to feel about it. On the one hand, it’s more Wright we are pinning our future on; his play matters more than Stephenson and the other older guys. So in that sense, his struggles are worrying. On the other hand, Shane Wright is still very young and his upside is still there, and we should be happy that Stephenson is not washed up yet. And Beniers, the other key center of the present and future, is playing well.
Murray was impressive, but he needs a fan chant when he makes a good play. He did appear a little tentative getting back up after a save late in the third. Given his injury history, hopefully he can hold up physically while Joey is out of the lineup. (Also loved the staff’s recent Matt Murray Day where the team staff replicated his game-day looks).
The officiating was bad. A couple of bad early whistles that stopped play prematurely, a missed icing call (eventually called back to center ice at least), some pretty questionable penalties, etc.
Can we have a do-over with Dallas and send some first round picks to get Robertson instead of Marchment? The only stat where he’s having an impact is giveaways. Less farfetched, but still probably unrealistic, put him in the press box and get Nyman and his shot back into the lineup.
Another stat deep-dive request: where the play is when there are on-the-fly shift changes. For example, the fourth line is hardly taking any faceoffs and the few they have been taking have been neutral zone/defensive zone. So, for the offense they have been able to generate, how are they getting there? Are they coming in during resets? Taking over possession themselves and changing the direction of play? In relief during long offensive zone possessions?
Oh god, that officiating… Apart from the bogus call on Tolvanen, the line judge killed an offensive zone possession by erroneously calling offsides. I don’t know if it was on the broadcast, but they missed a Blue Jackets player grab and yank Wright’s stick out of his hands. Oh, and there was the time that the official got the puck stuck between his skates on the back wall, and when Wright tried to play it got the blade of his stick stuck between the official’s legs as he just stood there over the puck so that Wright had to just drop his stick on the ice to avoid tripping him. The zebras sucked hard in that game, and their sucktitude all seemed to flow in one direction.
Marchment looked just straight-up terrible. Every time the puck went in his direction, some farce comedy followed. I don’t understand what is going on with him right now, but I would have to think that he will be the guy to get scratched when McCann returns unless something about his game improves.
I couldn’t believe when Marchment went out first in the shootout. Maybe they thought he would do better if there was no one to give the puck away to(?)
Off topic a bit. Just curious where John Forsland obligations are with? I saw he and Edso did the game on TNT last night when the Kraken game was on. I know John also does games with Prime on Mondays.
Not knocking Ian he does a good job when filling in on the KHN.
Forsland is the best in the business! Glad we have him. I guess maybe his contract gives him the freedom to go wherever he wants even on Kraken game days.
I think the Monday Prime deal has precedence over the Kraken. My assumption with this one is that there is some sort of tie-in to the Kraken’s streaming on Prime – by having Forslund doing both it gives Amazon a steady presence with deep experience and expertise as they work their way into the NHL market. Not having to worry about the announcer lets them put more effort into production quality and the technical aspects of live sports streaming.
I was surprised that he did the TNT game last night – that hasn’t been the norm. I know TNT has the priority for Edzo, but I thought the Kraken came first for Forslund. I wonder if last night was planned or a change that might have been something to do around concerns and challenges with air travel lately and wanting to have the best chance of not having their broadcast team get stranded due to a flight delay or cancellation.
I was at the game last night and I swear I didn’t smoke crack before I went in, but the jerseys in these pictures are not the ones they were wearing.
It seems like once they can figure out how to get those shots off, they’ll bury the competitors. It was a good game and I’m glad they got that 1 point. The officiating on the other hand… f’ing sucked. If that BS call for tripping hadn’t happened, their goal might not have either. Total crap.
I think that picture is from the San Jose game after Murray went in to relieve Daccord.
It’s funny. Everyone who watched the game from the arena is talking about how exciting it was while everyone who watched from home is all doom and gloom. That arena was absolutely rocking all night.
The age-old play vets vs. develop the youngster’s conundrum. Except for the Kraken it really isn’t. First, LL please just leave the Kartye/Myers/Winterton line as is – they’re everything you’d want from a 4th line – the only thing on this roster that works consistently. Myers made a great play on Winterton’s goal. They’ve earned the opportunity to play together this season.
The team doesn’t have any flexibility with Catton. Shane Wright just needs to play – while it’s maddening when he disappears for 5-10 games, he’s the only forward capable of the occasional flash play – whether it be a great assist or goal – e.g. St. Louis game (IMHO flash plays are an indicator of upside potential).
Regarding Jani Nyman – it’s obvious LL doesn’t have any confidence in this iteration of Lil’ Jani. Currently, his game is so limited he’s of little use on the roster, and being a frequent healthy scratch won’t help. Send him down to CV for the remainder of the season, with specific instructions to work on his weaknesses. It’ll be best for him and the team in the long run.
Don’t agree with Nyman, he’s show he’s willing to battle on the boards and get in front of the net. He has great skill and an incredible shot. Yes there is something about his game that LL doesn’t like but there is a lot about Marchment’s game that is absolutely horrible. Nyman is young and has a very high ceiling compared to Marchment and Marchment is only signed this season. It’s a no brainer that the coach should be developing Nyman over putting a plug like MM in the lineup.
Totally agree. Marchment has been their worst player this year by a country mile. His fumbles and slow-motion, ineffective toe-drags are infuriating. The problem is he’s a one-year rental. His value to the Kraken is now or never. They were hoping they could get something for him at the deadline. If they bench him now, he can’t rehab his value and they get nothing for him, and he’s just pure liability. That is why they will give Marchment a very long leash to figure it out. They figure even if Nyman sits a lot early in the season, he will play every day later in the season, whether they manage to unload Marchment or not.
But is he better at “battle along the boards” and/or “get in front of the net” more so than Schwartz, Eberle, Kakko, Tolvenan et al? Not really. He’s also bad skater, which makes him a mediocre forechecker and a liability in a fast change of possession 5 on 5 game. Until he improves he won’t be a good NHL player.