It wasn’t quite the game the Seattle Kraken wanted to close out their preseason, but it wasn’t terrible, either. Seattle had a poor start, and at one point trailed 10-1 in shots on goal. But things balanced out as the game wore on, except on the scoreboard, which eventually tipped Edmonton’s way.
Coach Dave Hakstol called it a hard game to evaluate, because for the first 10 minutes or so, the Kraken couldn’t get the puck. But then he said he liked the next 20 or 25 minutes, which makes sense because Seattle really took over for that portion, and Jared McCann even opened the scoring in the game with a banger of a shot.
Though the team was still carrying 27 players on its roster, this was the final dress rehearsal before the regular season begins Tuesday. Here are our Three Takeaways from a 3-1 preseason loss to the Oilers.
Takeaway #1 (Darren): Grubi got the game he needed
On the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast, we said we wanted to see a full, solid performance from netminder Philipp Grubauer before real games get underway. With 22 saves on 25 shots, Friday didn’t bring the most dazzling stat line, but Grubauer looked pretty dialed in from the jump. It was a good thing, too, because it took a while for the Kraken to get their tentacles under them. Had Grubauer been off in the early going, this game would have turned sideways quickly.
The previous game Grubauer had played was also against Edmonton in Seattle on Monday. That was an awkward one for him, as he only faced 13 shots and went long stretches without facing an Oiler offering, yet he allowed three goals. He was much busier Friday, as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and others were active early and often.
The goals Grubauer allowed Friday were all fine goals to allow. McDavid’s was an easy tap-in off a two-on-one rush that followed a defensive breakdown by the Kraken. The second was a power-play snipe off a rush by Hyman, and the third—which initially looked like one Grubauer may have wanted back—was a rocket shot that appeared to change directions off Yanni Gourde’s stick.
On the flip side, Grubauer made some excellent saves off breakaways and backdoor opportunities that gave the impression he is ready for the regular season. He has gotten out to rough starts in each of the last two seasons, but he is also coming off an outstanding playoff run. For the sake of Kraken fans, here’s hoping his postseason success carries over.
There’s room for improvement after this game, but we aren’t sounding any goaltending-related alarm bells at this time. That’s a good thing.
Takeaway #2 (John): Power play continues to impress
The Kraken power play has been an area of interest with the Sound Of Hockey team for a while, so there could be some human behavior bias here. But my eyes told me the power play looked really good. Yes, they did go zero-for-four on their manpower advantage opportunities, but there were moments against the Oilers where the Kraken maintained offensive pressure and were whipping the puck around the zone to eventually create scoring opportunities. I really liked McCann’s placement in the slot, where—if the team can get him the puck—he is automatically in a high-danger location.
Does the data reflect what my eyes have been seeing? It is not a big sample, but the Kraken were 50 percent in the face-off circle with the man advantage against Edmonton. That is 5 percentage points higher than their average last season. Excluding the Abbotsford game on Wednesday, where the data was not available, the Kraken finished the preseason at 57 percent at the face-off dot when on the power play.
Face-offs are generally not a huge statistic to focus on, but with the many struggles of the power play last season, we hypothesized that winning more face-offs on the power play would eventually lead to more possession. That, in turn, should lead to more goals. So far, so good in that area.
On the shot attempt side of the house, the Kraken had 16 shot attempts across the eight minutes of power-play time, which shook out to four shots per power play. Again, it’s a small sample size, but that is up from 3.3 shot attempts per two-minute power play from last season. That’s a big jump.
The power play is still not operating at 100 percent, because it isn’t scoring much yet, but there are some early signs this will improve from last season.
Takeaway #3 (Darren): ‘Twas an NHL lineup
With this being the finale to the meaningless portion of the season, both teams dressed similar lineups to what we will see on opening night. For Seattle, Tye Kartye was in the game on the fourth line, and Ryker Evans skated on the top pair with Adam Larsson.
The one caveat to Hakstol icing a true NHL lineup was Vince Dunn, who was held out Friday and whose status for Tuesday remains murky. He did participate in Friday’s morning skate, the first time he has practiced with the team since mysteriously going missing a week ago (he had been doing drills on his own for a few days). Will he be ready for Vegas on Tuesday?
Another question, if Dunn is ready, does that mean Kartye goes down to the AHL to start the season, or does he stay with the NHL team and push somebody else into the press box? Those questions will be answered soon.
Worth noting, Evans led all Kraken skaters with 21:13 of ice time and had some good looks offensively. Defensively, it wasn’t his best game of the preseason, as he seemed to get crossed up with partner Adam Larsson on a few occasions.
Meanwhile, it was interesting to see Kailer Yamamoto and Shane Wright scratched from the lineup in favor of Kartye. It’s no surprise at this point that Kartye appears destined for the NHL roster, but we weren’t sure which veteran he would overtake for playing time. Looks like the answer there could be Yamamoto, at least to start the season. We still think Wright is destined for big minutes in Coachella Valley to start the season, but we shall see.
Kartye played on the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Brandon Tanev and also got power-play time. It’s not the ideal spot for the youngster, but the other three lines are solidified for now. We just don’t see a way to bump him up to play with more skilled players, unless somebody gets hurt or the team falters early in the season.
The Kraken have four more roster cuts to make before Tuesday’s opener.
The Kraken announced a sweeping round of cuts from their training camp roster Thursday, assigning four players directly to the AHL and placing 10 players on waivers with the purpose of assigning them to Coachella Valley.
The players that got assigned directly to Coachella Valley without needing to go through waivers are:
Luke Henman
Ville Petman
Peetro Seppala
Ales Stezka
The players that have been placed on waivers are:
Connor Carrick
Cameron Hughes
Kole Lind
Max McCormick
Gustav Olofsson
Andrew Poturalski
Mitch Reinke
Jimmy Schuldt
Devin Shore
Marian Studenic
We will know at 11AM Pacific on Friday if anybody from the above group gets claimed by another NHL team. The players to watch are most likely Lind and Shore.
Coming into training camp, we expected Lind would be pushing for a spot on the opening-night Kraken roster. But he just didn’t seem to have the jump and physicality of the players he was competing against, and he didn’t demand one of the precious few available forward spots in the way that Tye Kartye has, for example. This open-net miss on Casey DeSmith Wednesday summed up Lind’s camp.
Oh, man. With a delayed penalty coming, Max McCormick sets up Kole Lind, and Lind shoots it off the outside of the net. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/Ppb7Jdxg3v
We did think Shore, with his 422 games of NHL experience and effective play in preseason, would edge out Hayden to at least be considered as one of the last cuts. But Hayden had a good showing in Abbotsford against Vancouver Wednesday and demonstrated his toughness by squaring off with the much bigger Tyler Myers. That may have tipped the scales in Hayden’s favor.
More cuts to come
Backup goalie situation unresolved
This round of trimming puts Seattle’s roster at 27. The club needs to get down to 23 before opening night, so there are more moves to be made.
The goalie situation remains unresolved, though we have a feeling that determination has already happened. We know that at least the Tampa Bay Lightning (and perhaps other teams) are in need of goalie help with Andrei Vasilevskiy out long-term after undergoing back surgery. So, exposing one of Joey Daccord or Chris Driedger to waivers is likely just a waiting game, while Seattle hopes to see other teams’ situations get settled.
Though Driedger ($3.5 million salary cap hit) makes more money than Daccord ($1.2 million), the cap hits will be about the same for Seattle, regardless of who they send down to the AHL. The Kraken can only “bury” $1.15 million in Coachella Valley. Daccord’s cap hit is only $50K above that number. So, effectively, if you add the cap hits of Driedger and Daccord together, then subtract that $1.15 million, that is the cap hit Seattle will face, regardless of which goalie plays in the AHL.
If Driedger gets put on waivers and claimed by another team, then his full $3.5 million would come off the books, saving the Kraken an extra $2.35 million against the cap. If Daccord gets put on waivers and claimed, Seattle would only save $50K against the cap.
We do think Driedger’s higher cap hit will give teams more pause.
Bubble players still with the team
Players still with the Kraken include Ryker Evans, Tye Kartye, Shane Wright, Hayden, Cale Fleury, and Jaycob Megna.
Since there are four cuts left to come, and one of those will be a goalie, that means only three of the players listed above will make the team out of camp.
Here’s where things stand after this latest round of cuts:
Forwards
Jared McCann / Matty Beniers / Jordan Eberle Jaden Schwartz / Alex Wennberg / Andre Burakovsky Oliver Bjorkstrand / Yanni Gourde / Eeli Tolvanen Brandon Tanev / Pierre-Edouard Bellemare / Kailer Yamamoto
Defense
Vince Dunn / Adam Larsson Jamie Oleksiak / Will Borgen Brian Dumoulin / Justin Schultz
Goalies
Philipp Grubauer Joey Daccord Chris Driedger
Vying for spots
Tye Kartye Ryker Evans Shane Wright John Hayden Cale Fleury Jaycob Megna
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.
Well, that was a sloppy, ugly, no-good, rotten preseason game, but it ended with the Seattle Kraken taking a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Both sides dressed a lot of guys bound for the AHL, and a few of Seattle’s bubble players did their best to make their final claims for NHL roster spots.
Eeli Tolvanen brought a fleeting moment of excitement when he cleaned up a Cale Fleury rebound at 12:23 of the third period, giving him his third goal of the preseason and second game-winning goal, with all of his goals coming against the Canucks.
Eeli GOALvanen does it again! 🚨
His third goal of the preseason, with all three coming against Vancouver.
Nice play by Cale Fleury to shoot blocker side and create a rebound.
Tolvanen’s goal was nice, but the real story in Wednesday’s game was how the “try-out” guys did in what we expect to be their last chance to make the opening-night roster. We anticipate Friday’s game in Edmonton to be a dress rehearsal of sorts, which means a big round of cuts should come before then.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 2-1 Kraken win over the Canucks.
Takeaway #1 (Curtis): Shane Wright leaves a good impression
With cuts coming soon, Wednesday night could be the last time we see Shane Wright in a Kraken jersey for a while. If so, the young center’s solid effort left reason for optimism that he could contribute to the main club winning games at some point this season.
Wright joined skilled wingers Tolvanen and Oliver Bjorkstrand to form a makeshift “top line” in this one. The forwards played a fast and connected game, often hemming Vancouver into its own zone with possession plays, passes, and cycles. Wright looked comfortable on this line—perhaps more so than we have ever seen him in a Kraken game. He played to his strengths, delivering give-and-go passes and lurking in the slot and low circle areas for one-timer opportunities. And solid work on a contested puck below the offensive-zone goal line in the first period earned Wright an assist on Seattle’s first goal, a power-play marker tapped home by roster bubble player Andrew Poturalski.
Poturalski POTS one! 🚨
Just after a power play had ended, Filip Hronek inexplicably hands it over to Poturalski in a prime scoring area.
Wright’s night wasn’t perfect. He conceded a turnover off a defensive-zone board battle that led directly to a high-danger opportunity for the Canucks. And he had a couple other turnovers on passes that he didn’t need to make. But the blend of skills that made him a top draft prospect fifteen months ago were on display.
Right now, we think Wright will at least begin the year in Coachella Valley. But this doesn’t feel like a “disappointment” to us. Wright has had a solid camp and has continued to build on his solid Calder Cup Playoff run from the end of last year. Our confidence is increasing that if/when bumps and bruises crop up in Seattle’s top-nine forward group this year, Wright could step in, and the team wouldn’t miss a beat.
Takeaway #2 (John): Joey Daccord locking up the back-up spot?
The battle of the back-up goalie position between Joey Daccord and Chris Driedger appears to be leaning toward Daccord. Both goalies got into the game last night and both played well. Daccord played the first two periods and made 15 of 16 saves for a .938 save percentage and made some spectacular saves in the process. That brings Daccord’s save percentage up to .972 across the three preseason games he has played.
Driedger also left a good impression, saving every shot he faced during the third period. He looked solid in the crease and made two huge saves to keep the narrow lead late in the game, but those were his only testers on the night. Driedger’s preseason save percentage is .923 across two games.
Both goalies played well enough to earn the backup goalie spot, but there is only room for one. I feel Daccord has shown a little more in this small window. The other variable to consider is that Daccord and his $1.2 million-per-year contract likely gets claimed by another NHL team should he be placed on waivers with the intent of assigning him to Coachella Valley. Meanwhile, Driedger has a $3.5 million cap hit and would likely pass through waivers unclaimed because most teams could not afford that big of contract on their roster right now.
Seattle will need a third goalie at some point in the season, so if Driedger is assigned to Coachella, we will likely still see him suited up for the Kraken at some point this season.
Takeaway #3 (Darren): John Hayden makes a final statement
This game didn’t have a lot of pizzazz for viewers, and with the lower quality of a streaming-only broadcast, it was borderline tough to watch at times. Before Tolvanen’s game-winning goal, and aside from some nice saves by Daccord and Driedger, the only other notable thing that happened in this game was 6-foot-3 John Hayden fighting 6-foot-8 Tyler Myers.
In this training camp, we don’t think Hayden has stood out enough to make the opening-night Seattle roster. But, it’s still hard to say who will be holding the 14th forward spot when the Kraken head for Vegas to take on the Golden Knights on Tuesday. So Hayden found a way to leave a lasting impression on the coaching staff.
Remember, it was Myers who injured Matty Beniers last season with a completely unnecessary, blind-side hit. When something like that happens in pro hockey, the offender always has to answer the proverbial bell… UNLESS the offender is 6-foot-8, and there’s nobody on the opposing roster willing to get his face punched in.
The fight Wednesday wasn’t so much about responding to the hit on Matty last season as it was about Hayden reminding the coaching staff, Hey, wouldn’t it be nice to have somebody like me in your lineup?
We still don’t think it will be enough to get Hayden onto the roster, but it was a bold and shrewd move. And we’re also glad nobody got hurt.
We have turned the corner on training camp from the “Who will stick around for a while?” phase to the “Who will make the opening-night roster?” phase. While there’s plenty of whittling left to do for the Kraken (and a big round of cuts is looming), we feel we’ve seen enough to form our own opinions about which players will be with the NHL team when it breaks camp at the end of this week.
Worth noting, we’re still just projecting here based on our own observations of how things are playing out in camp. Who is getting the longest looks? Who has taken advantage of preseason playing opportunities? Which young players are skating alongside mostly veterans, as coach Dave Hakstol starts piecing together potential regular-season lines?
Even with everything we’ve seen over the past two weeks, this was still a hard exercise, and we don’t envy the Kraken brass tasked with deciding who to keep and who to cut. In fact, while we made our final picks here, we would love to see your opinions in the comments about what you think we got right and wrong.
Here are our picks for which players make the opening-night roster for the Kraken.
Bubble players we think will make it
Ryker Evans
We’re starting with our hottest take here, and this one could blow up on us if we’ve read the situation incorrectly. Throughout this camp, we’ve maintained that Ryker Evans deserves a chance to play at the NHL level, but with the signing of left-shot defenseman Brian Dumoulin this offseason, we didn’t see a spot for Evans on the Kraken blue line. For Evans to make the team, we figured an injury would have to occur or Evans would have to play so well, the Kraken would have no choice but to keep him.
The latter scenario seems to be coming to fruition.
After watching Evans dance around NHL competition, quarterback the power play, and frankly outperform some of the veteran defensemen on the team, we are sold. We now predict the Kraken will find a way to keep him with the big club.
What sealed the deal for us was Seattle’s home game against Vancouver on Thursday, in which Evans was deployed on the right side—his off-hand side—and didn’t miss a beat. Hakstol used the word “outstanding” that night to describe Evans’s handling of the puck in the offensive end of the ice, a word we don’t hear often from the bench boss.
Exactly where Evans fits in remains to be seen, but his ability to play either side helps his case for snagging a lineup spot.
Vince Dunn was mysteriously absent from camp for a few days but returned to the ice Tuesday to run through drills on his own with coach Jay Leach. So, filling in for Dunn doesn’t look like it will be an option for Evans.
On the other side of the coin, even assuming Dunn is ready to go by next week, we still see a scenario in which one of Jaycob Megna or Cale Fleury (or both) gets put on waivers, making Evans one of seven defensemen (or eight if they keep two extra blueliners) on the roster.
Having said all this, we only believe our own prediction here if Evans has a real opportunity to play games at the NHL level; we don’t think Seattle will keep him if he’s going to sit as a healthy scratch. Thus, if he is stealing a roster spot, that means a veteran will have to come out of the lineup, or maybe players will have to rotate through the press box.
Tye Kartye
The situation for Tye Kartye coming into camp was a little different than that of Evans. There has always minimally been a spot on the roster for Kartye and even a potential spot in the lineup; he just needed to beat out other players to secure that spot. We think he has done that.
Aside from Monday’s game against Edmonton, Kartye has largely skated on a line with veterans this preseason, specifically Brandon Tanev and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Seeing this trio grouped together really felt like Hakstol testing out a potential fourth-line combo.
Tye Kartye was impactful in the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Kartye has made impressive plays at every stage of training camp and appears poised to build off his 2022-23 season, which brought an AHL rookie of the year award and five points in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Kartye’s best play came in the split-squad game against Calgary, when he was stopped on a breakaway by Dustin Wolf, but then recovered in time to intercept an outlet pass and snipe it past the Flames netminder. The kid is NHL ready.
Kartye’s inclusion would likely mean Shane Wright and Kole Lind go to Coachella Valley, at least to start the season.
We’ve liked what we’ve seen from Shane Wright and think he’s right on the cusp of being ready. But we still think more time in the AHL, playing at the top of Coachella Valley’s lineup, will benefit Seattle’s most touted prospect and make him better in the long run. There’s no point in keeping a guy like Wright on the NHL roster if it means he’s going to play six minutes a night or be a healthy scratch. He has not had a normal developmental runway, and we think he still needs at least a little of that to become an impactful NHLer.
As for Lind, we love the player and still think he deserves a shot in the NHL. But he came into this camp needing to prove he was more NHL ready than Kartye and Wright, and that he brought more to the team than veterans like Devin Shore and John Hayden. From what we’ve seen, Kartye has the upper hand on Lind, and we are not convinced the brass will have seen enough from Lind to keep him over a serviceable fill-in veteran like Shore.
Joey Daccord
We don’t think it’s a coincidence that Philipp Grubauer’s batterymate for most of training camp has been Joey Daccord. With Seattle’s players split into two groups, Grubauer and Daccord have tended to stick together for their on-ice sessions, while Chris Driedger has mostly played opposite Ales Stezka.
We paused for a moment when Driedger joined Grubauer Sunday and Monday mornings, but Grubauer played the full game Monday night, while Driedger watched from the bench.
Daccord has earned his opportunity. He was lights out in the Calder Cup Playoffs last season, keeping a firm grasp on the Firebirds goal crease, even after Driedger returned from injury. His play earned him a one-way contract for this year and next, and he has continued to look solid throughout this camp. At this point, we think it’s Daccord’s job to lose, rather than the other way around.
Devin Shore
Of our “bubble” picks to make the roster, we have the least conviction in our selection of Shore to stay with the big club. He hasn’t blown any of the other bubble players out of the water, but he is a quintessential “extra” forward, perfect to keep around for added depth. At 29 years old, there will be less concern for getting him playing time, and he can fill in at any forward position, including center.
Hayden ticks a lot of the same boxes and adds more physicality. So if Hakstol and his staff aim to keep two extra forwards, and one of those is a veteran guy they can plug in when needed, Hayden may be the pick here. But we’re giving Shore a slight edge based on what we’ve seen in preseason action.
Bubble players we think will miss out
We talked throughout this article about why we think Wright, Lind, and Hayden will be among the final cuts from the Kraken forward corps. On the blue line, we think the same will happen for Megna and Fleury, though neither deserves to be sent through waivers. Both have had solid camps, and Fleury looks like he has taken a big step in his development this offseason.
The problem for Fleury and Megna is that the Kraken simply have too many NHL defensemen, and Evans only adds to that pool. For Fleury’s sake, we hope he gets a chance to play regular minutes this season, whether that be at the NHL or AHL level. But barring injuries, it’s hard to see a path to regular shifts on the Kraken for either Fleury or Megna.
Predicting the opening-night roster
Here’s what we are predicting will be the opening-night roster for the Seattle Kraken. We think Hakstol will keep two extra forwards this season, as opposed to two extra defensemen, as he has done in the past.
Again, let us know in the comments where you think we went wrong here.
Forwards
Jared McCann / Matty Beniers / Jordan Eberle Jaden Schwartz / Alex Wennberg / Andre Burakovsky Oliver Bjorkstrand / Yanni Gourde / Eeli Tolvanen Brandon Tanev / Pierre-Edouard Bellemare / Tye Kartye Kailer Yamamoto / Devin Shore
Defense
Vince Dunn / Adam Larsson Jamie Oleksiak / Will Borgen Brian Dumoulin / Justin Schultz Ryker Evans
Goalies
Philipp Grubauer Joey Daccord
Other candidates for last roster spot
Shane Wright Kole Lind John Hayden Cale Fleury Jaycob Megna
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.
It’s easy to have negative feelings after a 4-1 loss, but in the preseason, it’s important to think about the *way* a team played. Plus, there will be ample time for negativity during the regular season, so let’s save those feelings for now.
For Kraken fans, there were plenty of positives to take out of the team’s preseason loss to the Edmonton Oilers Monday. For one, Seattle didn’t give up much defensively to a team that dressed Connor McDavid AND Leon Draisaitl. Coach Dave Hakstol called this out as one of those positives, and the game’s stats bore this out, as Philipp Grubauer faced just 13 shots on the night.
Grubauer’s play could be seen as a negative, being that he had just a .769 save percentage, but it was one of those weird nights where he went long stretches without facing a shot, then would get the best player in the world barreling toward him with the puck on his stick. We aren’t reading into it too much, but it is notable.
Ah! Sorry, we let a negative sneak in there. Sticking to the positives the rest of the way! These are our Three Takeaways.
Takeaway #1 (Darren): Power play progress
We had a story on Sound Of Hockey recently about how Seattle aims to improve its power play this season, and—although it only converted once on five opportunities Monday—we did see improvement.
“[I saw] a lot of progress, power-play wise,” said Hakstol. “Not only the goal that we scored, but the other opportunities we got, and not just the opportunities, but where they came from. We had some real good looks.”
We got our first live look at a power play unit that featured Justin Schultz, Andre Burakovsky, Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, and Matty Beniers, and that group was dynamic for most of its opportunities. The movement was good, and the passing seemed to be a little more creative than we saw last season. Beniers down low and McCann in the bumper spot are giving positive early returns.
With the score tied 1-1 early in the third period, the top unit was buzzing. Beniers saw the puck pop loose in the crease for what looked like an easy goal, but he whiffed on it and then got buried by Ben Gleason. Had that gone in, this game probably had a different outcome.
“The power play is huge for momentum and obviously a big part of winning [is] special teams on both sides,” Jaden Schwartz said. “We’re just trying to get numbers around the net, try to get inside. That’s kind of how you create space and allow other plays to happen around [the outside].”
The other unit was a bit of a hodgepodge Monday, but it too was effective with Ryker Evans quarterbacking and Andrew Poturalski, Schwartz, Alex Wennberg, and Kailer Yamamoto rounding out the quintet.
Unsurprisingly (because we’ve been so impressed with him in training camp), Evans had another impactful play in that role, creating Seattle’s lone goal on the night. On his off-hand side, he held the puck in the zone at the blue line, then smoothly spun and walked the line. He made a no-look pass to Poturalski at the right halfwall, Poturalski fired a shot-pass toward Schwartz, and Schwartz deflected it past Jack Campbell, only to see his goal get stolen from him by Yamamoto. It was a nice piece of work by that second unit.
Yamamoto STEALS the power-play goal from Jaden Schwartz! 😆
Great play to start that by Ryker Evans to catch the puck at the blue line, spin, walk, and make a no-look pass to Poturalski.
Takeaway #2 (Curtis): Kartye builds on 2022-23 postseason breakout
Tye Kartye continued his impressive preseason Monday night against Edmonton. Noticeable as much for his physicality and disruptions on the penalty kill as his skill game, Kartye brings a diverse skillset that can fit up and down the lineup. If the 22-year-old forward makes the opening day NHL roster for the first time in his young career, his versatility will be a big reason why.
After the game, Kartye noted that he was just “trying to play a role” and “listen to what the coaches are telling [him].” He said he was pleased with how training camp has gone so far because he has been able to put his best foot forward. “I try to bring a positive attitude and my best effort every day.”
The effort on Monday night demanded attention. While Kartye did not factor on the scoresheet in his 14:12 of ice time, digging a bit deeper, there was a lot to like. According to shot quality data tracked by Natural Stat Trick, no Kraken player tilted the ice in Seattle’s favor at five-on-five more than Kartye. While he was out there, Seattle totaled 16 total shots, nine scoring chances (with four deemed “high-danger” chances), and produced 1.03 expected goals. On the other end, Seattle conceded just seven total shots, one high-danger scoring chance, and just .17 expect goals against. All told, Seattle generated 85.93 percent of the shot quality with Kartye out there.
One of Kartye’s more impressive sequences came midway through the second period when he finished a penalty kill shift forechecking in the Oilers defensive zone. His pressure caused the defense to attempt a contested pass up ice, which Kartye disrupted leading to a neutral-zone turnover. He quickly jumped on the loose puck, turned into the Oilers zone, and saucered a pass on the tape to a streaking Cale Fleury in front of the net.
No matter how the Kraken opt to construct the bottom-six forward group, Kartye’s blend of physicality and skill would fit. And there is little question Kartye is among the team’s 13 best forwards. The only question is whether the teams wants the waiver-exempt Kartye to play regularly in Coachella Valley to begin the year while it evaluates other options.
Takeaway #3 (John): Early looks at the faceoff circle
The Kraken were 43 percent in the faceoff circle on Monday and 45.8 percent through the four preseason games in total. Evaluating preseason faceoff percentages is a bit of a fool’s errand since the sample size is so small and several of the players taking faceoffs might not end up in the NHL this season. Regardless, it is an area that has room for improvement from last season, and it is something to keep an eye on to see how the Kraken might deploy their quiver of left-handed centers.
One aspect of faceoffs I would really like to see improved is the win percentage on the power play. Winning more faceoffs will lead to more possession, and more possession will lead to more power-play time in the offensive zone and should help the power-play percentage. It is a small sample size, but the Kraken were 50 percent in the faceoff circle against Edmonton, which is below league average but above their 2022-23 regular-season average.
Individually, Matty Beniers was 50 percent at the faceoff dot, which should also be a good sign since he won just 42 percent of his faceoffs last season. Conversely, Alexander Wennberg was just 20 percent in the faceoff circle Monday, and he has traditionally been one of the stronger players in this area for the Kraken.
Of course, faceoffs are not as meaningful as once thought, so take this commentary with a healthy dose of salt. The more important stat is possession after a faceoff, but until that data is publicly available, we will use the faceoff percentages as a leading indicator for possession. Here’s hoping for more improvement when we get into the regular season.
In the split-squad game Monday, we were impressed by several of the young Kraken players that were in the lineup against the Calgary Flames. That night, the roster for the game played in Seattle was almost a 50-50 split between veterans and guys that had no shot at making the NHL roster this season. Against the Canucks on Thursday, Seattle dressed a more veteran-heavy group, yet it was still a couple of young players that caught our attention.
In the end, it was one of last season’s mainstays, Eeli Tolvanen, who stole the show with two third-period goals that gave Seattle the win.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a very positive 3-1 preseason Kraken win over the Canucks.
Takeaway #1 (Darren) – Pesky Jacob Melanson
A guy that continues to fly under the proverbial radar as a prospect, Jacob Melanson made his presence known in a lot of ways Thursday. First, he opened the scoring in the game by finding a sliver of quiet ice in the high slot at 9:25 of the first period. After linemate Shane Wright did the hard work to get his own rebound and make a perfect blind pass, the 20-year-old Melanson made no mistake with a yawning cage.
It was Melanson’s first goal at the NHL level, though being that it was in the pre-season, we can’t really call it his “first career goal.” Still, it had to be a memorable moment for the young man, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2021 and seems to be on the right track toward one day cracking the NHL.
It wasn’t just the goal that made Melanson stand out Thursday. He was visibly doing everything he could to get under the skin of Canucks players, and it seemed to work. Multiple times, he whacked away at goalie Thatcher Demko, causing post-whistle anger hugs. Ian Cole also took a run at Melanson in the neutral zone, and Melanson responded with a solid slash across the backs of Cole’s legs. It was classic pest behavior and the kind of gritty play that can give a young player a leg up against his peers.
Coach Dave Hakstol had a mix of praise and constructive criticism for Melanson after the game. “Mel got off to a good start,” Hakstol said. “He’s a hard-working guy that finally got into a game, and they knew he was on the ice, right? He went out and got to the net, stirred things up a little bit, played hard, played physical. That was a good start for him. It tailed off a little bit through the second and third period, and that’s what you learn as a young guy.”
Melanson is destined for Coachella Valley this season, but for most young players, the goal in training camp is to leave an impression. He did that Thursday.
Takeaway #2 (John) – the lore of Ryker Evans continues to grow
We got a real taste Thursday of what Ryker Evans brings to the table. He showed great vision and hands as he danced around forwards challenging him at the offensive blue line. Evans logged 22:16 of ice time, second only to Jamie Oleksiak, who had 22:38. Vancouver iced a much better squad than either of the Calgary split squads from Monday, so it was nice to see Evans stand out versus a lot of NHL regulars.
Like Melanson, Evans received praise from Hakstol after the game. “Ryker’s game tonight with the puck on their half of the ice was outstanding,” Hakstol said. That’s about as complimentary as Seattle’s bench boss gets.
Ryker Evans averaged a point per game in the 2022-23 Calder Cup Playoffs. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
The lore of Ryker Evans has been brewing for a couple years since he was selected as the Kraken’s second-round draft pick in 2021. At the time, draft analysts were critical of the selection, but ever since then, Evans has only exceeded expectations. The 21-year-old left defenseman had a fantastic campaign in Coachella Valley last season with 44 points in 71 regular-season games. There’s no spot for him on the Kraken blue line, so he is still expected to start 2023-24 with the AHL club. But if one of the top six defensemen goes down with an injury, expect Ryker to be first on the list to get the call-up to the big squad.
Worth noting, Hakstol deployed Evans on his off-hand side last night, and he still looked comfortable and confident. This kid can play.
Takeaway #3 (Curtis) – Tolvanen shines on reunited Gourde line
Those players stuck out to me too, John and Darren. I found my eye returning to Evans, in particular, throughout this one.
Hard to ignore, though, the multi-goal night posted by Eeli Tolvanen. At 3:55 of the third period, and with Seattle on the power play, Tolvanen scored with a patient and accurate wrist shot that beat Demko and gave Seattle a 2-1 lead.
Just as impressive was the overall operation of the reunited “Gourde line” from the 2022-23 season, which matched Tolvanen with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. The trio skated as a line in the first and third periods and looked like they hadn’t missed a beat.
“It felt really good,” Tolvanen said. “It’s fun to play with those two. I think the chemistry is there from last year and … we’ve been talking a lot during the camp too… Hopefully we can start the season [together] too.”
The three forwards worked in perfect harmony to produce the final goal of the evening with a beautiful tic-tac-toe connection leading to a Tolvanen one-timer tap in at 15:54 of the third period.
Eeli GOALvanen gets his second of the period! 🚨
Perfect pass off the rush by Bjorkstrand, and Tolvanen makes no mistake.
“They read off each other really well,” Hakstol said of the group. “[T]hey’ve still got work to do to get to regular-season level, but you see the chemistry.”
As we discussed on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand appear to be two prime candidates to increase their scoring relative to their 2022-23 levels. That should compensate for the loss of players like Daniel Sprong and Ryan Donato. On this night, they looked up to the challenge.
