If you weren’t happy with how the Seattle Kraken played the last two games—losing 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues at home on Wednesday and following that up with an embarrassing 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday—you weren’t alone. It turns out the team’s head coach wasn’t particularly happy about the performances either.

The Kraken were back on the ice Monday for what Lane Lambert called a “spirited, demanding practice.” During a battle drill in one of the end zones, Lambert blew his whistle and yelled a number of things, with one sentence making its way out of the rink and into the ears of onlooking reporters, clear as day.

“F***ing play hard!” he yelled, before blowing his whistle again and restarting the drill.

At the end of the on-ice session, Lambert pulled the whole team into the circle for a quieter conversation.

Seattle is now 2-4-0 since the restart from the Olympic break and is just barely holding the final playoff spot, with the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings both just one point behind.

“We’ve got to look ourselves in mirror,” defenseman Brandon Montour said. “Lane did a good job this morning, kind of just [making us realize] where we’re at as a group and where we should be and what we should be expecting out of each other. Obviously, he’s not happy with how things have been going lately, the energy level, the excitement level, the awareness of just kind of the position we’re in and how much it means and how every game is going to be tough.”

Those were similar sentiments to what Montour shared with the media on Saturday after the Ottawa beatdown, when he referred to the team’s fourth line as its “best line”—both a huge compliment to that trio but also a bit of a shot at the top three lines.

“Last game, obviously, it was a team that is in a similar position with us, fighting to get into the playoffs,” Montour said. “And they wanted it more, and that can’t be the case from here on out.

“If you’re not excited to be in the games and every game, challenging yourself with teams that are pushing the same way you guys are, with 20 games left this close to the playoffs, then you’ve got another issue. And I think we’ve just got to get back to enjoying and having fun and be excited about the competitive teams that we’re playing and just thrive in those. Cherish that and challenge each other so that we can win those games.”

Lambert’s message has been received by the players. How will they respond Tuesday in a crucial game against the Nashville Predators?

Bobby McMann arrives but is unlikely to play Tuesday

29-year-old forward Bobby McMann, the Kraken’s lone acquisition ahead of Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline, skated with the team for the first time Monday. The Wainwright, Alberta, native looked big and fast, as advertised, but did not take regular line rushes. That indicated he will not play Tuesday while he continues to wait for his P-1A visa to process.

He did mix in a couple of times on the line with Eeli Tolvanen, Chandler Stephenson, and Freddy Gaudreau, with Tolvanen and Gaudreau each skipping a turn or two.

Asked by our buddy Everett Fitzhugh where Lambert sees McMann fitting into the lineup, Lambert said he views McMann as a top-six player for the Kraken but isn’t sure yet how he will ultimately deploy him. I would guess the plan is for him to replace Gaudreau and skate alongside Stephenson and Tolvanen, but we’ll see how things shape up once McMann is eligible to play.

McMann does sound excited to be in Seattle and had plenty of good things to say about what he’s heard regarding the city, the organization, and the fanbase.

“[Getting traded] was pretty hectic, definitely a long flight,” McMann said. “I just tried to pack all my necessities, get it all in my bags. My girlfriend was a big help with that. And then [I was] just on the plane, got here Saturday night, and then had yesterday to explore, check out the facility here. Great facility, super spacious, all brand-new stuff. It’s pretty sweet to see it, and I’m excited.”

After playing his entire career in the Toronto organization, this represents a massive change for McMann. Still, he wasn’t blindsided by the move, especially after being held out of the Maple Leafs’ lineup for a couple of games for trade-related roster management reasons. The writing was very much on the wall that something was coming.

“It’s not easy, especially with Toronto, I’ve been there my whole career,” McMann said. “And then it was hard coming out of the lineup because I kind of knew something was going to happen, and I was going to switch spots. So then I was just playing the waiting game. It was about 48 hours where I was just kind of waiting, checking my phone every three minutes to see who was calling, if there was any news, and it was down to the last… maybe an extra five minutes on the clock after three o’clock when I got the call, so [the trade] must have went through right at the deadline there.”

McMann to eventually slot in for injured Schwartz

McMann’s arrival has created a big question mark about where he will eventually slot into the Kraken lineup. Remember, general manager Jason Botterill did not offload any players at the deadline, opting instead to add McMann to an already crowded roster in exchange for draft picks.

But a spot has opened up with the unfortunate news that Jaden Schwartz—who suffered a scary injury Saturday when Nick Cousins’ skate made contact with his face—will be out indefinitely. In that sense, McMann’s arrival helps solve that absence once his visa is processed.

But assuming everyone else stays healthy, another player will still have to come out of the lineup to accommodate McMann.

Here’s how the Kraken forwards took line rushes Monday.

Jared McCann / Matty Beniers / Jordan Eberle
Eeli Tolvanen / Chandler Stephenson / Freddy Gaudreau*
Kaapo Kakko / Shane Wright / Berkly Catton
Ryan Winterton / Ben Meyers / Jacob Melanson
*Bobby McMann rotated in for Gaudreau and then Tolvanen

Lambert didn’t provide much of an update on Schwartz beyond reaffirming his “indefinite” status. It was a startling and scary incident, so beyond everything else, we just wish Schwartz a speedy recovery.

Team illness seems to be clearing up

Nobody has used it as an excuse, but there was a bug that swept through the locker room and took Gaudreau and Lindgren out of the lineup Saturday. Both were back on the ice Monday, and Lambert spoke about the illness in the past tense, implying the issue may now be behind the team.

“The illness wasn’t great for us,” Lambert said. “I thought the energy was pretty good today… I thought some of the details that weren’t there Saturday night needed addressing. I thought the guys did a good job of addressing it.”