For the first time in two weeks, the Kraken were home for a spirited practice Wednesday at Kraken Community Iceplex. The group worked on high-speed game situations and had all players present and accounted for… except, of course, for Andre Burakovsky. The high-scoring winger has not practiced with his teammates since suffering a lower-body injury in Seattle’s game against the Islanders on Feb. 7.
Head coach Dave Hakstol was asked for an update on Burakovsky and said there has been no change in his status. We didn’t get the sense Burakovsky is particularly close to readiness, and in fact, Hakstol said whenever Burakovsky does join the team for practice, he will still require significant time before he can play a game.
“It’s not ideal as you get to this time of year,” said Hakstol, recognizing there are only two weeks left in the regular season. “We may not have the luxury of the ideal pathway towards [his return].”
The bench boss declined to give any timeline for Burakovsky returning to practice or game action.
The Kraken play timelines close to the vest anyway, but what’s interesting about Hakstol’s update (or lack thereof) is that general manager Ron Francis said in an interview with ROOT Sports on Feb. 26 that he hoped Burakovsky would be back within a couple weeks. Then, we saw Burakovsky skating by himself on March 8, so it seemed like we were marching toward a return. But now three more weeks have passed, and we’re still in “status quo” mode.
That tells us either Burakovsky’s injury has continued to linger and isn’t getting better at the rate the team expected, or he had a setback in his recovery.
Morgan Geekie finding temporary home in Burakovsky’s spot
With Burakovsky out of the lineup, Hakstol has tried several different line combinations to fill the top-six winger role. Brandon Tanev, Jesper Froden, and Oliver Bjorkstrand all got looks there, and of the three, Bjorkstrand was the most natural fit. But moving him up meant breaking up an effective third line of Eeli Tolvanen, Yanni Gourde, and Bjorkstrand.
So, it wasn’t surprising to see the third line reunited recently, but it was a bit surprising to see Hakstol trying out Morgan Geekie—typically a center—on the line next to Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg. From what we saw Wednesday and from what Hakstol said, Geekie could be the guy that fills that role for the foreseeable future.
“We liked the combination with Morgan moving with Wenny and with Schwartzy,” said Hakstol. “It’s looked good offensively. They’ve generated an awful lot of zone time. They’re generating some good offensive looks from down low in the zone, which— that gets Schwartzy back in his office a little bit where he’s able to spend time down low.”
Geekie seems to be relishing the elevated opportunity. We’ve heard him say on several occasions over the past two seasons that if he’s given a chance to contribute on a higher line, he can do it. One of his best games of the year came when he was filling in for an injured Matty Beniers, just before the All-Star break. So when he’s gotten games in top-six roles, he has done well.
“Obviously Wenny and Schwartzy are pretty good players,” Geekie said. “I think the game well enough to play on that spot, for sure. And I know I can make plays, personally. I’m just trying to take the opportunity to create as much as I can for those guys, space and plays alike. So, just try to play my game and try to get comfortable with those guys.”
Morgan Geekie is taking advantage of an elevated role with Andre Burakovsky out of the lineup. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Moving from fourth-line center to a top-six wing role is a change for Geekie, who says he prides himself on being a good defensive centerman. Now, he has Wennberg—who Geekie calls a great defensive center in his own right—to do some of the tougher work low in the defensive zone. That frees up Geekie to get up ice and try to stretch out opposing defenses.
“I want to be strong in our own end and things like that, but there’s a little more opportunity to jump the zone and kind of spread it for the other guys,” Geekie explained. “Any opportunity that I can get to be the first one out [of the defensive zone], if it’s coming up the other side, I’ve got good speed and I can kind of push the zone and spread it for other guys.”
Daniel Sprong closing in on 20 goals
We’ve written and talked a lot about Daniel Sprong and the offensive success he’s had this season. It has been fascinating to watch, mostly because he has had to clear hurdle after hurdle to get a contract, a spot on the NHL roster, and even now, a spot in the lineup. Yet, here he sits, just one goal away from 20 for the first time in his career, despite never being elevated off the fourth line.
Daniel Sprong is closing in on 20 goals for the first time in his NHL career. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
“It’s not bad for a fourth-line guy,” Sprong joked. “No, I try not to think about it. Of course, being one away— you saw Matty [get his 20th] in Nashville. We were kind of joking around when we were both at 19, I said, ‘You go get 20, and then I’ll go right after you.’”
Sprong has been especially hot of late and scored goals in three straight games between Dallas and the two games in Nashville. He was held off the board in Minnesota on Monday, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
“I think in Minnesota, I had 13 shot attempts,” Sprong said. “I’m gonna get my looks and hopefully find one here. It would be nice to do it against my old team [Thursday] night; that’d be a bonus.”
Sprong tied Schwartz for most shots on goal across all skaters in the Minnesota game, despite playing just 13:18 of ice time.
Fourth line success
Although Geekie has been temporarily elevated to a top-six role, he and Sprong have been key cogs in the machine that is Seattle’s fourth line this season. Almost every night, that bottom trio has been some combination of Tanev, Sprong, Geekie, and/or Ryan Donato.
It has been impressive to watch them drive play and produce offensively, especially when you consider that the usual role of a fourth line is simply to check, provide energy, and wear down opposing defenses.
“We’re a little different than most fourth lines,” Geekie said. “We’re not as much crash and bang. We’re more or less an offensive line, for sure.”
Despite limited minutes on a lot of nights, the four players that typically rotate in and out of that line have combined for 54 goals this season.
“Some nights we might only get nine minutes, and we know we’re only gonna get a handful of times where we can create offense,” Geekie said. “So we try to make the most of that.”
Geekie and Sprong agree the secret to the group’s success is that they’ve all spent plenty of time together at this point, and they’re a good fit with one another.
“I’m more the offensive guy that will take the chances, I’ll make the risky [plays], and then if it works out, you know we’re off to the races,” Sprong said. “And if not, Geeks— he’s great down the middle with us, and he sometimes saves my ass a little bit so it doesn’t look bad. But, no, we complement each other really well. And that’s the biggest thing as a line.”
Added Geekie, “Obviously, Spongey’s got a shot, Tans is kind of making space for everyone else, and Donny’s hard on pucks. So everyone’s kind of got the role, and when I’m there, I just try to complement those guys as much as I can and give them the puck in spots where they can do damage with it.”
Hakstol recognizes the value that rotating group of fourth-liners has brought to the team this season as well.
“They’ve played a lot of minutes together,” Hakstol said. “I’ve got my evaluation of what each of those combinations of three looks like and what the numbers say. At the end of the day, whoever has been part of that, it’s been a good productive line for us.”
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.
We don’t want to jinx anything, because we know as well as anyone that nothing is clinched until it is clinched. And the Kraken still have some road to cover before they can say they’re in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time. BUT… Even with a 5-1 loss to the Wild on Monday, things are looking pretty good for the Kraken and their chances of earning their first postseason berth in franchise history.
According to MoneyPuck.com, the Kraken now hold a 98.5 percent chance of making the playoffs. With 88 points in the standings and nine games remaining, they are seven points ahead of Calgary with a game in hand and eight points ahead of Nashville. The Kraken just need to stay ahead of those two clubs.
With a day off for the team Tuesday, we thought it could be a fun exercise to consider Seattle’s various possible first-round playoff matchups, which we can narrow down to five (or maybe six if you include the Edmonton Oilers, though we did not include them in this exercise) different opponents. Heck, maybe we’ll even get a little crazy and make some predictions.
Let’s consider the options and how the Kraken could stack up against each possible adversary.
Reminder of how playoff seeding works
Here’s how the seeding works, which will help us understand who are the possible opponents in Round 1. The top three teams from the Pacific Division and the top three from the Central take the “automatic” qualifier spots to make up six of the eight positions. The other two spots are “wild card” teams, meaning the two teams in the Western Conference with the most points that didn’t earn an automatic qualifier spot. So, the wild card teams can come from either division, making it possible one division could have five teams in the playoffs in a given season.
It is looking more and more likely that the Kraken will take the top wild card spot, with the Winnipeg Jets taking the second spot. If the Kraken take the first wild card, they play the division winner with the lowest point total, meaning—based on current standings—Minnesota would be the opponent. Should the Central winner end up with more points than the Pacific winner, then Seattle would face the winner of the Pacific.
We will order these opponents based on what we see as the most likely scenarios.
Make sense? Great. Let’s get into it.
Minnesota Wild
Season series: Kraken lost series with 1-2-0 record
With Minnesota atop the Central Division and trailing Vegas by three points, the Wild are the current matchup for the Kraken if the season were to end today. We saw these teams play each other Monday, so comparing the squads feels fresh and easy right now.
Why the Kraken can win against the Wild
Despite the recent 5-1 loss, the Kraken could compete with Minnesota in a seven-game series. They were the better team for a lot of Monday’s game, but Marc-Andre Fleury played great at one end, and Philipp Grubauer had a bad night at the other end.
Seattle played fast and had the Wild on their heels for most of the first 40 minutes but couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities, while Minnesota very much did. If Seattle can get the balanced scoring it has gotten throughout the season, it will have a good chance to upset the Wild, who—by the way—love a good first-round playoff exit.
Why the Kraken can lose against the Wild
We’re going to get this one out of the way now, and this will stand for almost every possible matchup, even if we don’t directly mention it moving forward: goaltending.
The goal crease remains a thorn in the Kraken’s tentacle, and even though the club has had good stretches from both Martin Jones and Philipp Grubauer this season, the consistency just hasn’t been there. In the last couple weeks, the only goalie that has really given the team quality outings has been Joey Daccord, who is now back in the AHL.
This is an area in which the Wild would have an obvious advantage, especially if Grubauer doesn’t get things rolling in these last couple weeks of the regular season. Worth noting, Fleury only makes up part of a two-headed goaltending monster, sharing the crease with Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson has been quietly sensational, with a 2.01 goals against average and .932 save percentage in 34 appearances.
Another thing that concerns us about this matchup is that Minnesota has some big, tough customers that could push Seattle’s smaller players around in a seven-game series. Outside of Jamie Oleksiak, the Kraken really have no answer for guys like Ryan Reaves and Marcus Foligno, who will surely be looking to stir things up against a smaller Kraken squad. Physicality isn’t everything in a playoff series, but it is a big part of it. Having John Hayden healthy would sure be nice…
Oh, and worth noting, Minnesota’s superstar forward, Kirill Kaprizov, did not play Monday, but should be back in time for the playoffs. Yippee!
Colorado Avalanche
Season series: Kraken won series with 2-0-1 record
Two of Seattle’s most memorable wins of the season came against the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche. The first one was back in October on what would have been Grubauer’s best outing of the early going, had he not gotten injured that night. Believe it or not, Karson Kuhlman was the hero in that game, scoring 12 minutes into the third period to break a 2-2 tie. The second win came more recently on March 5. That night, Seattle overcame a late 2-1 deficit and earned the W thanks to a Yanni Gourde breakaway goal.
Why the Kraken can win against the Avalanche
For some reason, Seattle has matched up pretty well against the Avs this season, though there have been injuries to key Colorado players during those games. Grubauer seems to really like playing against his old team and has posted a 1.70 GAA and .928 save percentage in his three outings against them.
If Seattle can roll four lines and get contributions up and down the roster—as the team has done all season—we actually like the forward depth of the Kraken better than that of the Avalanche. If they can also come up with an effective strategy for checking Nathan MacKinnon, there is a path to victory for Seattle in a seven-game series.
Why the Kraken can lose against the Avalanche
While Seattle’s forward lines are deeper, the top-end skill of the Avalanche is among the best in the NHL. In two years of covering the Kraken, Nathan MacKinnon is one of two players—besides Connor McDavid—who gets the puck and instantly makes us hold our breath. He operates at a different level from his teammates and opponents. Teamed with Mikko Rantanen and Val Nichushkin, that top line is scary, as is the top defense pairing of Cale Makar and Devon Toews and the potent power play that clicks at 25.7 percent.
This would be a classic matchup of a top-heavy, highly skilled forward corps against a more balanced attack.
Also worth noting, Colorado got over the hump last season and won hockey’s biggest prize. The experience of that kind of playoff run goes a long way, and while Seattle has plenty of playoff miles from individuals in the room, the group has never been there together.
Vegas Golden Knights
Season series: Currently tied at one regulation win apiece, two games left to play
It’s a bit of a tossup as to who would be the next most likely matchup for the Kraken. We don’t foresee a Central team catching Vegas to take the top spot in the conference, but if Minnesota, Colorado, or Dallas does that, and Seattle holds its current position, then the Kraken would play the Golden Knights. The other possibility in the tossup is that Dallas sneaks by both Colorado and Minnesota to win the Central, but doesn’t catch Vegas. We think it’s more likely that Seattle plays Vegas, as opposed to Dallas.
How fun would this matchup be? The two newest teams in the NHL, which have some natural rivalry tendencies, duking it out for expansion supremacy.
Why the Kraken can win against the Golden Knights
If it weren’t for Seattle proving it can win against Vegas on Nov. 25, we would have hated this matchup. Way back in their Oct. 15 game against the VGK’s at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken got run out of their own building in a 5-2 defeat. That brought Vegas to a perfect 5-0-0 all-time record against the Kraken, but thankfully, the boys bounced back for an impressive win later in the fall.
A lot has changed since those early season games. Vegas has had a very impressive second half of the season, but questions remain around their health and goaltending. They traded for Jonathan Quick at the trade deadline, which gives them another option, but they’ve had a carousel of five different goalies in net for them on any given night. Meanwhile, Mark Stone remains out indefinitely after undergoing a second back procedure in nine months in January.
We also wonder if the excitement of a series against one of their closest rivals could lift the Kraken to a higher level of play in this one.
Why the Kraken can lose against the Golden Knights
Vegas is generally a scary team. Their building is tough to play in, they have star-caliber forwards, and—even as they have rotated through so many goalies—all of their netminders seem to be having success in coach Bruce Cassidy’s system. They’re very patient in their approach, keeping shots to the outside and taking advantage of turnovers, and they have a more balanced attack than a team like Colorado.
If they can get Seattle to run around, and their goalies make the saves they’re supposed to make, the Golden Knights are better than the Kraken. There’s a reason this team has been red hot in the second half of the season.
The Golden Knights and Kraken play each other for the last two games of the regular season. By then, most of the playoff matchups will be largely decided. Wouldn’t those two games be interesting if a Round 1 matchup between Vegas and Seattle was on the horizon?
Dallas Stars
Season series: Kraken are 1-1-1 against Dallas
Like Vegas, we would have hated this matchup for the Kraken, had they not pulled off a win against Dallas last Tuesday. Twice in 10 days, Seattle gave up late tying goals against the Stars in six-on-five scenarios, and it sandwiched in an ugly 5-2 home defeat between those two games. Thankfully, the Kraken did escape with an overtime win in Dallas when Adam Larsson showed off some silky mitts to score on a breakaway.
Why the Kraken can win against the Stars
Call us crazy, but for some reason, Dallas feels like a less scary opponent than others we’ve mentioned here, even though Seattle hasn’t been all that successful against that group. There is plenty of skill on the roster, with Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen, and Roope Hintz leading the way, and with veterans Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin now playing more supporting roles, this team is less top heavy than it used to be.
Their record also doesn’t look great, but the Kraken had every opportunity to beat Dallas in their first matchup and threw it away late. Had it closed out that game, Seattle would have a 2-1-0 record against Dallas, even with the dud performance on March 13.
Why the Kraken can lose against the Stars
We just mentioned Benn and Seguin playing lower in the lineup now, with the young guns taking over the bulk of the production. But that’s a pretty good mix of young skill and veteran presence, and Benn and Joe Pavelski are quietly having impressive campaigns with 31 and 21 goals respectively.
Dallas also may be in the Kraken players’ heads a bit, after those two late goals in as many weeks. If the Kraken find themselves ahead by a goal, they may be questioning their ability to close out a game.
We also can’t forget the impact goalie Jake Oettinger can have on a series after he dazzled and nearly singlehandedly stole a playoff round from the Calgary Flames last season.
Los Angeles Kings
Season series: Kraken hold a 3-0-0 record against the Kings, one game left to play
This would be another super fun series that would surely involve some nastiness. It would take the Kings winning the Pacific Division over Vegas but also finishing behind the winner of the Central Division for this matchup to come to fruition. OR, the Kraken would have to drop to the second wild card spot, and the Kings would need to have the best record in the Western Conference.
Why the Kraken can win against the Kings
All three of their contests against one another came in the first two months of the season, but the Kraken certainly hold a psychological edge over the Kings by winning all three. That could become a real advantage if the Kraken manage to knock off Los Angeles in their final regular-season meeting on April 1.
The Kings are beatable, in large part, because a couple of their mainstay players—while still productive—have gotten older, making Seattle’s speed a valuable weapon. Meanwhile, members of the Los Angeles youth movement are unproven in the playoffs; the Kings lost in the first round to Edmonton last season.
The Kings have a nasty top line of Kevin Fiala, Phillip Danault, and Viktor Arvidsson. Fiala has struggled in playoffs past, but if that line is clicking come playoff time, they will be tough to stop. Adrian Kempe has also had a breakout season playing with Anze Kopitar and has scored a whopping 36 goals.
LA has had a lot of power-play success this season, too, with similar numbers in that area to Colorado.
Our prediction
Do we think the Kraken can win a playoff round? Yes, we do.
They have proven throughout the season that they can skate with anybody, and if they get Andre Burakovsky back by then (he’s gotta come back by then, right?), they have the depth to roll four effective lines.
They also have proven to be an excellent road team; that is a good sign for Seattle, which—as a wild card team—is unlikely to have home-ice “advantage” for any round of the playoffs.
Do we think the Kraken can make a “deep” playoff run? Probably not yet.
Seattle’s success in the playoffs this season will depend on which version of the team shows up. Will it be the group that dominated in November and January? Or the one that fizzled in December and February? Either way, we just don’t think the Kraken have the combination of skill, grit, and goaltending needed to make a run at a Stanley Cup yet.
If the front office thought this was the time to make a deep run, they would have made moves at the trade deadline.
It has been a good road trip as the Kraken have taken care of business with five out of six points in the standings so far, including a dominant performance in Nashville Saturday. That 7-2 win created even more space between the Kraken and Predators in the standings. The win over Nashville might have been the most convincing win of the trip, but I feel the Dallas win to kick things off was the most impressive.
The Dallas game
Just over a week prior to the Tuesday night Dallas game, the Stars dominated the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in a 5-2 win. Philipp Grubauer left that game with an illness and was replaced by Martin Jones. It was one of those “bottom of the rollercoaster” moments that had me skip a breath when I looked at the standings. When the boys rolled into Dallas, I was more than a little nervous.
Adding more fuel to my nervousness, we found out Joey Daccord would be getting the start in net instead of Jones, as Grubauer was still recovering from his illness. That game also featured another late six-on-five goal against the Kraken, this one coming with just 0.7 left in regulation, forcing overtime for the Stars. It had all the makings of another squandered opportunity for a Kraken win. To the boys’ credit, they were able to bounce back with a silky overtime victory on a stretch pass to Adam Larsson. That’s right, a stretch pass to Adam Larsson.
NEVER A DOUBT! LARSSON WINS IT IN OT! 🚨
Incredible bank pass by McCann to send the Big Cat in on a breakaway. Great patience, puck protection, and hands by Larsson to tuck it behind Oettinger.
Mathematically, the Nashville Predators appeared to be the biggest threat to the Kraken’s playoff chances. But realistically, the Preds are cooked, which is why I do not think Saturday’s 7-2 beat down was as impressive as the Dallas game. The Predators were missing Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg, not to mention they traded away Mattias Ekholm and Tanner Jeannot at the trade deadline. Seattle should have expected to take at least three out of four points in Nashville, and they took care of business there.
Leading or trailing
The Kraken have scored the first goal in each of the last three games, and they have five out of six points in those games. The prior five games, the first goal of the game was scored by the opponent, and they were just 1-3-1 in those contests. In his post-game press conference after last Saturday’s Edmonton game, coach Dave Hakstol alluded to the fact that it is hard to play from behind in this league.
This is obviously an oversimplification and is more of a symptom than a cause. It is something to keep an eye on in future games.
Other Kraken musings:
Since January, the math to get into the playoffs has always been on the Kraken’s side, but I will not sleep easy until they clinch. That said, I did sleep a little easier on Saturday night.
The Kraken scored seven goals against Predators goaltender Juuse Saros on Saturday. This is the first time in his career he has allowed seven goals in a game.
Morgan Geekie moved to wing versus Nashville on Saturday. He seemed to fit in well with Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg, but this is still a placeholder for when Andre Burakovsky comes back.
Even though Geekie plays limited minutes when centering the fourth line, he is an important center to have in the lineup. He leads the team in face-off percentage since Jan. 1 and is the only right-handed center on the Kraken’s roster.
The Kraken have not trailed in the last three games.
Joey Daccord has done everything the Kraken organization has asked of him since they selected him from Ottawa in the Expansion Draft. He deserved the opportunity in Dallas, and it was nice to see him get a second start and put in another solid performance in the first Nashville game.
I was lucky enough to make the trip to watch both Nashville games in person this week. I have been to Nashville several times and have thoroughly enjoyed it every time. If you are a hockey fan, put Nashville on your list to catch a game someday; you will not regret it.
There can be a case made for Jared McCann being the most underrated player in the league right now. He notched his 35th goal of the season Saturday and has 16 points over 12 games in the month of March. We all know him well, but he just does not get talked about nearly enough, and the coolest thing about it, he does not care. I love seeing his interviews because he seems to only care about winning.
Daniel Sprong leads the NHL in 5v5 scoring per 60 with 3.36 goals per 60.
The Kraken have one of the worst differentials between their home and away records, and I have no explanation for it.
Kraken themes for the week ahead
This will not be an easy week for the Kraken. Monday, the Kraken are in Minnesota for a tough matchup against a hot team, and the Los Angeles Kings visit Climate Pledge on Saturday. Both the Wild and the Kings have a lot to play for as far as playoff seeding impacts, and both teams are possible first-round matchups for the Kraken.
On Monday, I want to see how well the Kraken compete against a Wild team playing excellent hockey without its best player in the lineup, Kirill Kaprizov.
The Kraken-Kings game on Saturday should be fun. I feel the Kraken stack up well with the Kings and envision an excellent Stanley Cup Playoff matchup, should those teams square off in rounds one or two. In the second game of the season, the same matchup got a bit nasty. While I am not ready to declare the Kings as the No. 1 rivalry with the Kraken, they are one of the frontrunners. A playoff matchup could cement the rivalry. Saturday night could be a preview of that playoff matchup and could get some of the nastiness we might see in the playoffs.
Sandwiched between the Wild game in Minnesota tonight and the Kings game on Saturday is the Ducks at Climate Pledge on Thursday. There are no automatic wins in hockey, especially this time of year, but it would be nice to see the Kraken take care of business again, facing one of the worst teams in the league.
Player Performance / Stick Taps
Daniel Sprong (SEA) – Sprong has three goals in the last three games on the alleged fourth line. With 19 goals on the season, he is making a convincing argument to stay in the lineup, even when Burakovsky returns.
Carson Soucy (SEA) – Soucy had only two assists over the last three games, but I felt he played extremely well in the two games in Nashville, shutting down the Predators and making good decisions with the puck in the Kraken defensive zone.
Shane Wright (SEA/WIN) – Wright has a nine-game point streak playing for the Windsor Spitfires, with 18 points in that stretch to wrap up the regular season in the OHL. Windsor ended the season as the top seed of the Western Conference and will face the Kitchener Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. That series will kick off Thursday.
Goal of the week
Another Seattle Kraken prospect is having a heck of a season. Fifth-round selection from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Jacob Melanson notched his 50th goal of the season with this snipe.
On the final day of the @QMJHL season, @PhoenixSherbroo forward and #SeaKraken prospect Jacob Melanson reached the 5⃣0⃣-goal mark!
Jacob Melanson a marqué son 50e but de la saison, samedi, lors de la dernière journée du calendrier régulier! 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/8QmosLTFhg
Melanson has already signed his entry-level contract with the Kraken and will more than likely be playing in Coachella Valley next season.
Chart of the week
The game against the Dallas Stars featured another goal against for the Kraken with the opposing team’s goalie pulled, which caused a bit of a “here-we-go-again” vibe on Twitter. The Kraken ended up winning the game, which seemed to cool the angst, but it made me want to pull the numbers on how common these goals are against the Kraken.
As you can see, the Kraken are one of the worst in the league at a pure volume standpoint of allowing a goal with the opposing goalie pulled. Important to note, though, this stat is not a perfect proxy for really evaluating the Kraken’s play when the opposing team has an extra skater, since it does not provide a rate of allowing goals. The Kraken could be leading more one-goal games, which will cause more opportunity for opposing teams to pull their goalie. To simplify it more, the Kraken could be leading in the third period more frequently than other teams, and this would be considered a good thing. I might dig into this a bit deeper in a future post to really evaluate the impact here.
Those are your Monday Musings. If there are any questions, thoughts, or areas you want me to explore in future musings, leave a note in the comments section. Thank you reading. Let’s go Kraken!
The Kraken got off the schneid with an important—albeit uncomfortably tight—2-1 overtime win over the Sharks on Thursday. With the team getting back to Seattle in the wee hours of the morning, we expected coach Dave Hakstol to nix practice Friday, favoring rest and recovery for his team. Instead, he did call for a brief on-ice session at Kraken Community Iceplex that lasted all of about 13 minutes.
Hakstol explained that with Seattle’s next game against the Edmonton Oilers coming Saturday at 1 p.m., there won’t be time for a morning skate prior to that game. “This just gives us the opportunity to get a sweat, to touch the puck, to get our bodies moving,” said Hakstol. “You know, it was a late night last night, so it was important to get up and get going.”
An important win in San Jose
We’ve talked many times on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and on this website about the ebb and flow of an 82-game season. Sometimes things are going your way, and sometimes they’re not, and that’s just part of the journey. Things were going well for the Kraken when they won five straight games between Feb. 28 and March 5, but the Kraken fanbase was understandably on edge when the team followed that up with a loss against Ottawa and two more losses against Dallas.
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Kraken got a desperately needed win in San Jose Thursday to stop the bleeding and get things going back in the right direction.
Hakstol gave a lot of credit for the win to netminder Philipp Grubauer, who made 31 saves on the night and only allowed a penalty shot goal to William Eklund. “We didn’t give up any ten-bellers, but we gave up a few chances,” Hakstol said. “He was solid, he was calm, we got going, and obviously the tying goal was a big play for us and got us going back in the right direction.”
Gourde / Tolvanen / Bjorkstrand back together
Another key in the win was the reunited line of Yanni Gourde, Eeli Tolvanen, and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Bjorkstrand had the game-tying goal in the third period off a great stretch pass by Gourde and assisted on Vince Dunn’s overtime game winner.
Hakstol had split that trio up prior to the game against the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 28. He had seemed reluctant to break them apart, as the three had been his most consistent line for some time. But he ultimately slid Bjorkstrand into a top-six role with Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg, replacing Andre Burakovsky on the wing. That change temporarily worked; the Kraken immediately went on a five-game win streak, and we don’t think that’s a coincidence.
But with things going sideways more recently, and the team back on a three-game skid, Hakstol went back to the trio that he knows and trusts for the San Jose game.
“Ollie’s a guy that— he’s found success with Wenny and Schwartz,” said Hakstol. “You know, he’s done a nice job there. But the chemistry that those three guys, he and Gourdie and Tolvy, have is really good.”
Hakstol added that the comfortability between the players stems from being good friends and teammates both on and off the ice.
“They spend a ton of time together off the ice. Half the time, when you walk around the corner of the facility, if you find one of them, you’re going to find all three of them.”
Gourde, Bjorkstrand, and Tolvanen sit in a row next to one another in the dressing room. We asked Bjorkstrand Friday if he likes playing with Tolvanen, and he joked, “No! Hate it!” before Tolvanen responded with a loud, sarcastic laugh.
**Editor’s note: Sound Of Hockey actually had an extensive conversation with both Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen Friday. We hoped to bring you a lot more insight from those players directly, but we had a recording mishap. So, summing up the conversation from memory, they really like playing together and trust one another. The chemistry is certainly there, even in the dressing room.
John Hayden makes his presence known
John Hayden was recalled from AHL Coachella Valley this week. There was no corresponding roster move made, so Jesper Froden remained with the Kraken. After the trade deadline, rosters expand, meaning teams can carry more than the 23 players that were allowed before March 3. This gives the Kraken a bit more roster flexibility, as they had carried two extra defensemen and just one extra forward since the Jaycob Megna deal in early February. Now, Hakstol has the option to insert a physical presence in Hayden when he sees fit.
“He’s just a character, straight-line guy,” said Hakstol. “You know what you’re gonna get, he’s honest in his approach off the ice, he’s honest in his approach on the ice. That [physical] element is a welcome element in our room, and he’s done a nice job whenever he’s been in the lineup for us this year.”
Hayden was physical early and often in San Jose. He laid a big hit on Logan Couture in the first period, and later crashed the net before getting in a skirmish behind James Reimer.
From the clip above, you can see how comfortable Hayden is pushing his opponents around, a quality that doesn’t exist for a lot of Kraken players.
Edmonton Oilers rolling into town
The next game for the Kraken is a big one, as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Edmonton Oilers visit Climate Pledge Arena Saturday. The intra-division matchup against the world’s best player always brings a heightened level of excitement, but now there are serious playoff implications on the line. Seattle officially trails the Oilers by just one point in the standings but holds a game in hand.
Getting back into the third spot in the Pacific would mean Seattle would take back an “automatic qualifier” spot that gets awarded to the top three teams in each division. Dropping out of the top three means Seattle is in the wild card conversation and fighting with teams in both the Pacific and Central for the final two spots in the postseason.
With the win against the Sharks, the Kraken have a four-point cushion over the Jets, who are in the last wild card spot, and a seven- and eight-point gap over Calgary and Nashville, two teams currently outside the bubble.
So, Seattle is still very much in the playoffs, but sitting in the top three in the division is a much more comfortable place than the wild card race, where there are so many more teams at play.
The Oilers are coming off a convincing 4-1 win over the Stars, a team that just beat the Kraken twice at Climate Pledge Arena. After Saturday’s game, Seattle will go on the road to play Dallas (again), Nashville twice, and Minnesota.
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.
The Musings post is usually published on Mondays, but with a big Kraken win on Sunday, we thought it might be good to let the victory content breathe a bit.
Kraken Thoughts
When I wrote the Musings last week, I was a little nervous. The boys had just lost three games in a row, and the playoff cushion was starting to shrink. My message was, “Don’t panic,” but if I am going to be honest, my hand was on the panic button.
As an act of defiance, the boys would go a perfect four-for-four on their road trip that ended with a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames got just one point out of a possible six during the same time span. Now, it is Nashville who finds itself just on the outside of the playoff cut with several games in hand on Winnipeg and Edmonton. The Oilers and Jets currently sit in the Western Conference wild card spots.
What a difference a week makes.
Getting back to the Kraken games, all four were either tied or just a one-goal game entering the last minute of regulation play. Even in victory, the first two games of the road trip against St. Louis and Detroit felt a little shaky. Several defensive breakdowns kept those games closer than they should have been, but to the team’s credit, Seattle buckled down and figured out ways to win. It wasn’t until the third game of the week, against Columbus, did the Kraken look like the team we have come to expect this season.
Philipp Grubauer
Most regular readers of this column will know that I am a Philipp Grubauer supporter. I punched the numbers on my abacus and feel that all signs point to Grubi being the better goalie right now. Heading into last week, Grubi was coming off back-to-back losses to Boston and Toronto where he allowed 10 goals over those two games. They weren’t great performances by any statistical measure, but being how well the Bruins and Leafs played those nights, I am not sure Dominik Hasek at the peak of his powers would have made a difference in those games for the Kraken. It made me think that Grubi had been getting the more challenging starts this season, so I looked it up.
The data bears it out. On average, Grubi plays the better teams in the NHL and has faced just five teams under a .500 points percentage. That said, Seattle needs Grubauer to steal some games against the best teams in the league. I do not feel Sunday’s win against the Avalanche would constitute stealing one, but it was a big win against a quality opponent.
Trade deadline
It would have been nice to see the Kraken add a middle-six forward as a stop gap for Andre Burakovsky being out of the lineup and as insurance for any additional injuries down the road. The trade deadline is a time when teams overpay for players, though, and Ron Francis is more disciplined than a lot of us would be in the same position. The team still has draft picks and will have salary cap flexibility rolling into next season, so you wonder if the Kraken might be willing to pull some bigger levers this offseason.
Other Kraken musings:
Francis said Andre Burakovsky was back on the ice for the first time since his injury on Feb. 7. The team has missed him in the lineup. At the time of his injury, he was leading the Kraken in points, and although it has been better lately, his absence is most notable on the power play.
As an indicator of how teams tend to overpay during the trade deadline, the Kraken obtained Oliver Bjorkstrand for just a third- and fourth-round draft pick last summer. First-round picks were being passed around the league like candy last week for players inferior to Bjorkstrand.
Bjorkstrand’s shooting percentage is 12.5 percent since Jan. 1, compared to 5.4 percent prior to New Year’s Day. This is the Bjorkstrand we expected.
Jaden Schwartz had five points over the last three games, and his forecheck to get the puck for Brandon Tanev’s tying goal Sunday could have been the biggest play of the week.
Speaking of big plays, how about Grubauer’s save in Detroit? You never know how a goal there could have impacted the outcome of the game.
Chris Driedger is now 2-1-0 in three starts for the Coachella Valley Firebirds with a .907 save percentage. I believe we will see him get some starts for the Kraken before the end of the season.
If the Kraken finish the season with just 50 percent of the points available, they will finish the season with 97 points. The current forecasted playoff cut is right around 93 points.
Really enjoyed Alison Lukan’s article on the Kraken website on the different possession styles of Bjorkstrand, Wennberg, and Gourde who are all in the league top-10 in takeaways minus giveaways.
Kraken themes for the week ahead
The theme of the week should be getting points where you can, because this week kicks off the toughest 10-game stretch the Kraken will play the rest of the season. Anaheim, Ottawa, and Dallas have been relatively hot teams as of late and will each have their own motivations to beat the Kraken. Getting three out of six points will be fine, but if they can get more, excellent. If the Kraken can get the consistent goaltending from Grubauer (or Jones) and special teams stays hot, at least three points should be expected. The back-to-back games against Dallas should be a benchmark game to see how ready both teams are for the playoffs.
What normally would be thought of as an easy game Tuesday against Anaheim, the Ducks have won four out of their last five games with their only loss in that stretch being an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals. If there is anything the Feb. 20 San Jose game has shown us, you cannot take a night off against a lesser opponent and expect to win.
Thursday does not get any easier with the Ottawa Senators coming to town. Prior to the loss last night, the Senators won five games in a row and will be fighting for their lives to get into the playoffs.
Stick Taps / Player Performance
Philipp Grubauer (SEA) – three wins over four days with a .921 save percentage.
Kyle Jackson (NBB/SEA) – The unsigned seventh-round pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft has a five-game point streak for the North Bay Battalion in the OHL.
Jared McCann (SEA) – He had four goals and three assists over his last five games, including his 30th goal of the season, becoming the first Seattle Kraken to hit the 30-goal mark in a season.
Did you realize Jared McCann has scored 30 goals already this season? The former Canuck leads all skaters in shooting impact at even strength. pic.twitter.com/mbdXP4i58i
There has been a lot of talk about how well the Kraken special teams is playing right now. Here is a look at the outcomes of games depending on who wins the special teams in the game.
If you have any questions or comments on Monday Musings, please leave them below, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Ottawa Senators forward Dylan Gambrell grew up in Bonney Lake, Wash., playing youth hockey for local associations. As his skills grew, he had aspirations to pursue a career in hockey. To do that, he needed to play against better competition and get better exposure to scouts than he could get locally.
At the age of 14, he and his parents decided that he would go to Colorado to play AAA hockey for the Colorado Thunderbirds, one of the top programs in the country.
“That was hard,” he said when asked about it years later. “I remember the day I was leaving. My parents are crying, and I had never seen my dad cry. It was a tough day, but it was totally worth it.”
It worked out for Gambrell who was eventually drafted by the USHL and then went to the University of Denver where he would be drafted by the San Jose Sharks. He is not the only local player to face this decision. The local youth programs are quality programs but don’t have teams that face top talent that can gain their players’ exposure to college and junior scouts.
That can change, however, and the Seattle Kraken’s youth hockey program is hoping to be the fix.
“Washington right now is in a spot where kids leave after they’re 14, 15 years old go to different spots,” director of Kraken youth hockey association Marty Hlinka said. “So, for our region and for our state and for Seattle, and definitely for the Kraken, we want to have a path for the players, where they have a chance to develop, stay at home, go to the same schools, have the same friends.”
That path will be here as soon as next hockey season.
The Kraken and Kraken Youth Hockey Association have been given USA Hockey’s approval to run and operate a AAA hockey program. AAA hockey (also known as Tier 1 hockey) is the top level for youth hockey and the level that many junior and college players are scouted and drawn from.
Seattle Junior and Sno-King hockey are handing their Tier 1 programs over to the Kraken, who will combine the two into one Kraken AAA team.
Tryouts will happen in April, and the Kraken hope to begin play in the fall. Hlinka and his staff are currently looking for coaches and a league to play in, as well as tournaments to travel to and play in.
“The hope is to have the talent actually get better,” Hlinka said. “Because the teams are going to get stronger, I should say, because there’s more talent available, and we’ll see what that looks like.”
For now, the program will include U14, U16, and U18 age groups. Hlinka said they are exploring other age groups and eventually a girls program.
Part of youth development
The Kraken youth program has become a popular place for the area youth to learn and develop as players.
“We opened the building, and since then we have had over 3000 kids take our learn-to-skate program,” Hlinka said. “We have 1000 kids that went through our learn-to-play programs. We have over 400 players in adult leagues and adult learn-to-play… the NHL being here, obviously the kids get more excited. The parents get more excited, and when the Kraken win, it’s a lot more fun. A lot more kids get into the game.”
The Kraken hope to offer a development path from beginner to playing beyond with the AAA program.
“We want to make sure that our development model emphasizes skating, and that’s why all our players that start in our building have to go to a learn-to-skate program,” Hlinka said. “Once they graduate, they go to our learn-to-play program that we’re very fortunate that the NHLPA sponsors.
“So, you learn how to skate, you know how to stand up, fall down without any gear on, so we put the gear on, and now you have the awesome blue jersey with the Kraken logo on it. Then we need to teach you how to skate and play and develop you as a hockey player.”
Hlinka, who has an extensive background playing and coaching at various levels of professional hockey, says that the coaches they ultimately bring in will be experienced in the game and will be in tune with the ultimate development path that the Kraken have implemented.
“There’s a lot of good players here, and we want to make sure that we give them a path if they want to stay. Everybody’s development path is a little different,” Hlinka said. “The hope is we’ll have a Kraken player that started here. We’re here to develop ladies and gentlemen and people, give them life skills that they can use in life when they’re done playing, but at the same time, we’re building hockey players for life.”
