The single biggest narrative surrounding the Seattle Kraken over their five seasons of existence has been consistently the lack of a true, elite superstar. They’ve had depth and at times had flashes of success, but they’ve never had that definitive game-breaker that can consistently get them that pivotal goal.
So, when the news broke last week that general manager Jason Botterill had the framework in place to acquire Dallas Stars phenom Jason Robertson, my immediate reaction was pure, unadulterated astonishment. The fact that the front office had a big enough deal lined up, reportedly involving the No. 7 overall pick of the 2026 Draft, to actually reel in a whale of that caliber? Stunning.
And then, almost instantly, the excitement curdled into a knot in my stomach.
The Kraken had taken their swing. The money was on the table: a massive, eight-year contract worth a whopping $15 million per season. The stage was set. And the star player just… looked at Seattle and said, “No thanks.”
It hurts. The Kraken finally had their definitive shot at a franchise cornerstone, and the door was slammed in their face. Making matters worse, the hockey world has been bashing Seattle in the aftermath, with the prevailing message being that nobody wants to play here. For those of us that live here, we know that shouldn’t be true, but it is the narrative right now.
Why turn down $15 million?
It’s easy to get defensive and spiral into the weeds trying to figure out why Robertson walked away from a life-altering bag of cash to play in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe he doesn’t like the city. Maybe the grueling travel schedule of the Pacific Division isn’t his jam. But if we strip away the emotion and look at it objectively, the reality is simple: the Kraken are not close to competing for a Stanley Cup right now.
Robertson turns 27 this July. In modern NHL years, that’s right when players hit a critical crossroads. They start to look at the bigger picture and realize they only have so many prime kicks at the can left to win a championship. At that age, an elite competitor wants to go somewhere that, at the very least, appears ready to contend immediately. Seattle isn’t there yet.
If there is any solace to be found in this whole saga, it arrived a day later. When reports surfaced that Robertson had also turned down a monster trade to the St. Louis Blues, it made the rejection a little easier to stomach. It wasn’t just a Seattle problem; it was a Robertson plan.
The dawning age of player empowerment
What we are witnessing right now isn’t just an isolated contract dispute; it’s the dawning age of player empowerment in the NHL. For years, hockey culture dictated that players fall in line and go where they’re told, but the tide has been turning. We are seeing a growing movement of stars utilizing their contractual leverage to dictate their own futures, forcing teams into trades of their liking, or flat-out refusing destinations they don’t want.
We saw the momentum building with the Brady Tkachuk trade and with Dylan Larkin trying to force his way out of Detroit. Even before that, the warning signs were there—think Brad Marchand steering his way to Florida or Mitch Marner putting his foot down and refusing a trade to Carolina. Robertson is just the latest superstar to realize exactly how much power he actually holds.
The “No No-Trade Clause”
By rejecting these pre-arranged sign-and-trade deals with both Seattle and St. Louis, Robertson is essentially executing a “no no-trade clause.” He doesn’t technically have a formal NTC in his contract yet, but by refusing to sign the necessary long-term extension required to facilitate these blockbuster returns, he has put the Dallas Stars in an absolute pickle.
Sure, Dallas could still theoretically trade his rights to whoever offers the highest bid. But without the guarantee of a contract extension in place for the acquiring team, the return coming back to Jim Nill is going to be substantially less. Robertson’s camp is driving massive leverage against the Stars right now, and this situation has all the ingredients to play out very, very messy in the Lone Star State.
As for the player himself? Look, I have always loved Jason Robertson’s game. And just like with other players across the league who have stood their ground, I respect guys for exercising the rights provided to them under the collective bargaining agreement. Business is business, and this doesn’t change my appreciation for what he does on the ice one bit.
Where do the Kraken go from here? To steal a line from the Wheel of Time: “We bury our dead and move on. What else is there?”
It’s officially draft week here at Sound Of Hockey. While the Seattle Kraken made waves over the weekend by trading for Mackie Samoskevich and re-signing Bobby McMann to a five-year, $34.5 million contract, they also must now quickly shift their attention to how they will continue to stockpile young prospects into the organization.
You can expect a wave of information and articles leading up to the draft that kicks off Friday, but before that, I thought it would be a good opportunity to check in on how the Seattle Kraken have drafted to date, class by class.
I’m going to attempt to be as objective as possible, which can be challenging. Evaluating a draft class for an individual team is tricky because there are so many variables at play. I tend to look at games played, points, and goals and compare those metrics with historical averages for similar picks and player positions. To get some sense of expectations for each player, I compare them to numbers for players drafted in the same cohort and look at NHL games played, points, and goals in relation to their draft year.
That only goes so far, though, since most of the prospects haven’t played NHL games. That is where the subjectivity needs to come into play. I’ll share more of this as I go, but to illustrate expectations, here is a look at the average games played by round selected in the draft by season from draft.
There’s significant variability within the first round itself, with top‑five selections historically producing far more impact than picks later in the round. Beyond that, the gaps between rounds narrow considerably. Because first‑rounders carry the highest expectations, their outcomes weigh more heavily in my evaluation of each draft class.
What adds to this complexity is that not all drafts are created equal, and a first‑round pick in one year might not carry the same value as the exact same pick the following year. Bottom line, no evaluation criteria can be perfect.
Also important to note: I will not do revisionist history where I criticize the Kraken for not picking “player X” who was taken immediately after their selection, implying they “missed.” An example is Lane Hutson, who was picked No. 62 in the 2022 NHL Draft, one spot after the Kraken selected David Goyette. It’s obvious the Kraken would rather have Hutson at this point, but as The Athletic pointed out, Hutson would likely be drafted in the top five in a re‑draft, knowing what we know now. That would imply 27 teams missed him, including Montreal twice, since the Canadiens had the 26th and 33rd picks in that draft. That kind of logic doesn’t really tell us anything useful about Seattle’s process, so I won’t be doing it.
I will also not be evaluating goalies. Their path to the NHL is longer, less predictable, and far more variable than that of skaters, which makes early assessments unreliable. The Kraken have drafted four goalies to date, and while each has shown encouraging signs, it will take several more seasons before we can meaningfully evaluate their NHL potential.
2021 Seattle Kraken draft class
The Kraken’s first draft class was also the only one in which they had only their original picks—no more, no less.
They drafted second overall and selected Matty Beniers. Although there has been some narrative that he might not be the true No. 1 center the fanbase was anticipating, he is still a very solid NHL player. Comparing him against top‑drafted first‑rounders between 2005 and 2020, he looks average for his draft cohort, but when you compare him against the top 10 forwards selected in his draft, he looks above average. It’s also worth noting that he looks better when compared to the two other forwards selected in the top five of his draft year: Mason McTavish and Kent Johnson. The disconnect between those two charts implies it wasn’t a great draft class at the very top.
Overall, the team did great in selecting Matty second overall in this draft, but where they really excelled was with their later‑round picks.
Through the 2025 season, the Kraken have the third‑most NHL games played from their 2021 draft class. Ryker Evans, Ryan Winterton, and Jacob Melanson were contributors for the Kraken last season, which is a remarkable hit rate considering they were all selected after the first round. An argument could be made about whether these players would be in the lineup on a stronger team, and that’s debatable. But for now, they are far exceeding expectations based on their draft positions.
As for the other players drafted in 2021, it is not certain if Ville Ottavainen will spend the bulk of his pro career in the NHL. Semyon Vyazovoi had a very good season in the Kontinental Hockey League last year and is expected to play in North America next season. Justin Janicke is unlikely to play in the NHL, but that was always the case for any player selected after the second round.
With the solid performance of Beniers in relation to his draft‑class peer group and the production from their second‑and‑later‑round picks, I give this draft class a B+.
2022 Seattle Kraken draft class
There is probably no Kraken‑drafted player more controversial than Shane Wright, and that’s what makes evaluating this draft class tricky, even before we get to the other players.
After a slow start, Wright appeared to be on the right path in his third season since his draft year. After starting the season a little cold, he showed a lot of promise over the 2024‑25 NHL season, posting 19 goals and 25 assists. That put him slightly above average in his peer group and among the top 10 drafted forwards from his draft class.
The problem was last season. His production not only failed to keep pace with his expected trajectory based on his draft position, it dropped. There are plenty of examples of players bouncing back from a dip in production at this point in their development cycle, but as of now, Wright has fallen short of expectations.
As for the rest of the draft class, there are some promising chips on the roulette table, but we still don’t know how any of these players will fare in the NHL. Jani Nyman showcased extremely well at the tail end of the 2024‑25 season but looked overwhelmed when he started the 2025‑26 season with the Kraken. He was reassigned to Coachella Valley in December and only got four more games with the Kraken after the Olympic break.
The narrative about Nyman when he was drafted was that he has a booming shot but isn’t a great skater, and that still holds based on last season’s views. The jury is still out on whether he can be an everyday NHLer.
Jagger Firkus had an excellent season for the Coachella Valley Firebirds, but an injury late in the season prevented him from getting NHL games toward the end of the Kraken season to see if his game can translate to the top level. I expect him to play some games in the NHL next season, but we still don’t know if he will make it as a regular.
As for the rest of the class, Tyson Jugnauth and Ty Nelson are the next best bets to make the NHL. Based on their draft positions, they were longshots to make it, but both have improved their odds based on their play last season. It’s important to note that defensemen tend to be a little bit older compared to forwards when they break into the NHL, so even if they don’t stick next season, that should not be cause for alarm.
As promising as this draft class seemed a year ago, I have no choice but to give it a C based on the production and trajectory we saw last season.
2023 Seattle Kraken draft class
Three years really isn’t enough of a runway for this kind of assessment, but we’re going to do it anyway.
Late‑ish first‑round picks are not guaranteed to be regular NHLers, but it is impossible to ignore that Eduard Šalé’s trajectory has been very disappointing. Šalé is still likely to play in the NHL someday, but except for the occasional streak of games here and there, his performance has been underwhelming for a first‑round draft pick. He had 13 goals and 14 assists in his second AHL season last year, which is not bad, but you would expect more out of a first‑round pick in his third season since the draft.
Of the second‑round picks from this draft class, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard is ahead of schedule. Mølgaard’s strength is his two‑way game, which should translate to the NHL a bit quicker and allow coaches to trust him more. He was called up for 13 games with the Kraken this season and seemed to gain confidence with each game.
The rest of the picks seem to be tracking fine based on their draft positions, with several of them having only one season of North American pro hockey under their belts. In short, it is much too early to draw any firm conclusions on them.
I give this draft class a generous B‑, but it is more realistically an incomplete, since we don’t have enough information to give a true grade.
2024 Seattle Kraken draft class
Like the 2023 draft class, it is too early to give a final grade here, but Berkly Catton spending the full season in the NHL and showing progression inside the season is very encouraging for Kraken fans. He didn’t put up big numbers, but there were signs of the elite talent you want and hope for out of a top‑10 draft pick.
Both Julius Miettinen and Nathan Villeneuve had monster years for their respective junior teams. That is no guarantee of success in the NHL, but you want to see progression from season to season regardless of the league, and they delivered.
Meanwhile, Oliver Josephson, Clarke Caswell, and Jakub Fibigr had good years for their respective teams. Josephson and Caswell made the jump to the NCAA last season and adjusted well to the structured and often heavier game of college hockey. Fibigr, who has always been a longshot to make the NHL, is taking another step in his career this coming season and will be headed to Ohio State, which should help his development.
I am giving this draft class a B+ because most of the players have taken a step in the right direction, and that’s all you can hope for at this point in their development cycle.
2025 Seattle Kraken draft class
Way, way too early on this one.
Jake O’Brien had a very good season in the OHL and is likely headed to Coachella Valley next season. Blake Fiddler is another Kraken prospect headed to the NCAA next season, where he will play for the University of Denver.
After already giving “incompletes” to the 2023 and 2024 draft classes, I have to give this one an incomplete as well.
Overall
Like all teams’ draft classes, there will be hits and there will be misses, and it is hard to say definitively yet whether the Kraken have true hits or misses. The strength of the Kraken prospect pool is really the volume of prospects in it. Will they find gold with one of their non‑first‑round picks popping off to become a high‑end NHL player? We don’t know, but the more swings you have, the better your odds of really connecting on one and hitting it out of the park.
My overall grade for their draft classes through five years is a solid B, with some potential to upgrade to an A… or even slip into the C category.
When a season unravels the way the Seattle Kraken’s did, there’s usually a laundry list of things people want to point to as the cause. I won’t hit everything on everyone’s list, but when you zoom out and look at the entire year, these are the areas that went wrong for the 2025–26 Seattle Kraken.
Penalty kill
Let’s start with the most obvious one. The Kraken penalty kill finished the season 31st in the league, operating at just 72 percent. It wasn’t consistently bad, but the lows were really low. There was a stretch in November where the team gave up a power‑play goal in nine straight games. Just three games after that streak finally ended, they allowed another seven power‑play goals against on eight shorthanded opportunities over a three‑game span. It stabilized a bit in the middle of the season, only to collapse again toward the end.
Injuries did disrupt the personnel, but the issues felt more systemic than situational. Problems like that often lead to assistant coaching changes, but we’ll have to wait and see if that ends up being the case for the Kraken.
Scoring
Another obvious category is goal scoring, which is nothing new for this franchise. The Kraken finished 28th in the NHL at just 2.7 goals per game. Scoring has always been a struggle (outside of 2022–23), but I don’t think anyone expected nearly a quarter‑goal drop from last season.
The real question is why scoring dipped the way it did. Expect a deeper dive into the Kraken’s offensive issues from the 2025–26 season in the coming weeks.
Middle‑of‑the‑lineup contributions
Part of the scoring problem can be traced to the drop in depth production. I’m not talking about a fourth line masquerading as a third line; since their inception, the Kraken have made up for a lack of elite scoring with reliable contributions throughout the middle of their lineup. Even last season—when the team was worse—they had seven players hit 15 goals or more. This season, only four players reached that mark, the fewest since the inaugural year.
Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Montour, Shane Wright, and Eeli Tolvanen all hit 15 goals last season but failed to do so this year. Injuries played a role for these players, but you can’t blame injuries for the decrease across the whole roster. Injuries happen every year, so they should not be used as an excuse.
Mason Marchment was supposed to be one of those middle‑six drivers, and he was just that… for Columbus after the Kraken moved him midseason when it became clear the fit wasn’t there in Seattle. Berkly Catton also occupied a middle‑six role but contributed only seven goals.
Defensive-zone time
The NHL doesn’t publish team zone‑time data, but it doesn’t take a leap to say the Kraken spent far too much time defending. It’s not a random sample, but in the final seven games of the season, the Kraken averaged 35 percent of their 5‑on‑5 time in the offensive zone and 42 percent in the defensive zone. When you’re defending that much, you’re not generating offense, and the scoring dries up.
Pinpointing the root cause is tough with the limited public data available. Possession stats like face-offs help, but even those are incomplete. The Kraken ranked 27th in face-off win percentage, still better than playoff teams like Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Buffalo, which only reinforces that public face-off data isn’t always telling the full story.
Consistency
Above all else, this team struggled with consistency across almost every aspect of its game. Early on, it looked like the Kraken were committed to limiting chances and grinding out tight games, and they were banking points however they could. Then they drifted away from that identity.
The swings were wild: 11‑6‑6 (.609) before Thanksgiving, followed by a 1‑8‑0 (.111) stretch, then a 15‑6‑3 (.688) run heading into the Olympic break, and finally a 7‑17‑2 (.308) collapse over the final 26 games. Even the best teams hit rough patches, but this was the most volatile season to date for the Kraken.
Where the Kraken go from here
These issues won’t be solved with a quick patch. Some will require personnel changes, some will demand structural adjustments, and some will hinge on players simply performing closer to their career norms. The front office has major decisions to make: more coaching evaluations beyond just parting ways with Jessica Campbell (she decided to seek new opportunities after her contract expired), roster construction, and determining how aggressively they want to reshape this team’s identity.
With the potential departures of three middle‑six forwards in Bobby McMann, Jaden Schwartz, and Eeli Tolvanen, they already have some built‑in roster flexibility to work with. They’ve promised an aggressive offseason; now we wait to see whether they can actually deliver on it.
In a year that was expected to be a major step forward for Seattle Kraken center Shane Wright, the 22-year-old took a noticeable step back, at least statistically.
Once touted as one of the next faces of hockey during his junior days in the Ontario Hockey League, Wright’s name came up throughout this season in trade rumors, while he’s seen reduced responsibilities and has been stuck in bottom-six roles.
Given it was his second full season, you could chalk it up to a sophomore slump. But there are underlying concerns with his contributions.
Correlation isn’t always causation, but with the Kraken missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, there is speculation that a change of scenery could happen as soon as this offseason.
So let’s take a look at Wright’s tenure in Seattle so far and consider whether Wright is a player the Kraken should keep.
Development and early returns
It was consensus for months that Wright would be the No. 1 pick to Montreal in the 2022 NHL Draft. He himself, in interviews, believed he “deserved to be taken first overall.”
But then, one thing led to another, and Montreal came to the podium and selected… Juraj Slafkovsky. Whoa.
No one could have guessed Wright would be available at all, let alone at No. 4. Seattle took him, and quickly had to come up with a plan for such a highly touted prospect.
Ineligible for the American Hockey League because of his age, Wright tried to quickly make the jump to the NHL but looked out of place initially and only got eight games in each of 2022-23 and 2023-24. And for as ceremonious as his entrance into the NHL was, his early career since has lacked the same luster.
The first few years in the organization were adventurous to say the least. In that 2022-23 season, he split time between the Kraken, a conditioning stint in Coachella Valley, Team Canada at the World Juniors, and eventually joined the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires.
In 2023–24, he joined the Firebirds full time, beginning to adjust to the pro level before brief call-ups to Seattle. By 2024–25, Wright became a regular in the Kraken lineup. His first full season is when he began to show glimpses of the player he could be.
With 19 goals and 25 assists in 78 games, he spent most of the season centering knowledgeable and consistent veterans. For the majority of the season, he was with Oliver Bjorkstrand, who had 16 goals in 61 games in 2024-25 before being traded, as well as Eeli Tolvanen who had 23 goals.
This past season, Wright’s totals dipped to 12 goals and 15 assists in 74 games. The team around him didn’t do him as many favors. Ranking 28th in team goals for, Wright spent a good chunk of the year on a youthful line with Berkly Catton and Kaapo Kakko, who each had their share of inconsistencies.
Wright’s utilization
Taking a closer look at Wright’s offensive production, he was more focused on attacking near the front of the net this season compared with 2024-25, when his production was more sprawled out in the zone and unpredictable.
While his shot production and offensive heat maps remained largely similar to his output in 2024-25, his shooting percentage dropped from 20.9 percent to 12.4 percent.
In 2024-25, he was a little more sporadic with his shot attempts. He had five goals from beyond the hash marks and spread his production throughout the offensive zone. To his credit, although he didn’t score as much, Wright was focused on getting to the high-danger areas of the ice this season.
The situations Wright was utilized in shifted. He was used 4.5 percent more in the offensive zone by the Kraken this year compared to 2024-25. He wasn’t relied upon as much in the defensive zone, taking 107, or 5.2 percent, fewer defensive-zone draws.
Despite the lessened role in defensive situations, Kraken head coach Lane Lambert still has hope for Wright and his future, whether it be for Seattle or elsewhere. He liked the improvements that he’s shown throughout the year as a 200-foot player, even if the offensive results haven’t been there.
Lane Lambert had some interesting things to say about Shane Wright. “Everybody's going to look at Shane Wright’s season and go, ‘Oh, gee, he had this many points, and he had that many points last year.’ Ask Shane if he felt like he's a better player now than he was at the… pic.twitter.com/j2zXYLEQ5X
But still, incremental improvement isn’t exactly what’s envisioned from a top-five talent. It’s becoming increasingly evident Wright doesn’t have the same draw like he once did.
During Jason Botterill’s postseason press conference, Wright was referred to only once, and that was in passing when talking about all of the young players on the team.
Trade value and comparable cases
It’s tough to gauge Wright’s value, given the uniqueness of his situation. Again, he’s still only 22 years old.
There’s the obvious worry that if Seattle were to trade him, he would land elsewhere and immediately find the offensive dynamic the Kraken had been hoping to unlock. Sometimes though, it’s just best for a player and an organization to go their separate ways. Are we at that point with Wright and the Kraken?
While the majority of the players drafted in the top five between 2011 and 2021 have stayed with their original teams, 36 percent of them were moved within the first five seasons.
One comparable situation is when the former Arizona Coyotes traded Dylan Strome. Like Wright, Strome was a former top-five pick who wasn’t living up to his lofty expectations right away, regardless of whether they were fair or not. Still, people were impatient with him.
The Coyotes dealt Strome to the Chicago Blackhawks after only 48 games in the NHL. Since being dealt, Strome has become a consistent player in the NHL for the Blackhawks and now the Washington Capitals. While the Coyotes—now the Utah Mammoth—would have loved if Strome panned out for them, they still received a valuable and consistent player in Nick Schmaltz, who has been a core player for the Arizona/Utah organization since.
It’s a difficult conversation to avoid. There are many factors to consider when moving on from a player as young as Wright. There’s lots of risk and lots of potential reward.
Do you think the Kraken should trade Wright? And if so, what could they potentially get in a return for him?
The 2025–26 Seattle Kraken season didn’t end the way anyone hoped. A team that spent most of the year in the playoff mix unraveled after the Olympic break, leaving fans frustrated, confused, and staring down another long offseason.
But seasons are rarely defined by a single stretch of games, and they’re never as simple as “good” or “bad.” So, before diving into the roster questions, coaching debates, and offseason hypotheticals, we’re kicking off a short series looking at what actually happened this year: what went right, what went wrong, and a deep dive into some of these areas.
This first installment focuses on the positives. Yes, there were some.
Meaningful games in April
A realistic goal entering the season was simply to play meaningful games in March. The Kraken cleared that bar comfortably. On March 1, they held a playoff spot; on April 1, they sat three points out of a wild card.
We all know what happened after the Olympic break, so there’s no need to rehash it. The games remained meaningful, even if the performances didn’t always match the stakes. And yes, the Pacific Division’s overall mediocrity helped, but meaningful hockey in April is still a step forward.
Team goaltending
If you had predicted last summer that goaltending, and specifically Philipp Grubauer, would be a bright spot, you would’ve been laughed out of the room. Grubauer ended 2024–25 with a career‑low .875 save percentage and spent time in the AHL to “re-find” his game.
This season, Kraken goaltending finished at .903, eighth in the NHL. Before the Olympic break, they were even better at .909, good enough for fourth at that point in time. The post‑break dip mirrored the team’s collapse, but the larger story remains: Seattle got stabilizing, above‑average goaltending for most of the year, and that alone kept them competitive.
As for Grubauer, he finished the season with 14 goals saved above expected which was the team best.
A glimpse of a real power play (for three quarters of the season)
Since the franchise’s inception, the power play has lived near the bottom of the NHL. Chemistry matters with the man advantage, and the Kraken have rarely had it prior to this season.
For most of 2025-26, though, Seattle iced a legitimately dangerous unit, converting at 23 percent before the Olympic break. It felt strange, almost suspicious, to see the Kraken near the top half of the league in power‑play efficiency. And, as it turned out, it wasn’t sustainable. After the break, the unit cratered to 10.5 percent, last in the league over that span.
Still, for the majority of the season, the Kraken finally had a special‑teams weapon. That’s progress.
Back‑to‑back games
The 2024–25 Kraken went 0–12–0 in the second half of back‑to‑backs. Zero points. Not even a pity OT loss.
This year, they collected 12 of a possible 26 points in 13 such games. That’s not elite, but it’s a massive improvement. Predictably, this too dipped after the Olympic break, just two of eight possible points, but the overall trend was positive.
Arrival of the kids
With five drafts now in the books, it makes sense that the pipeline would start producing NHL contributors. Seattle got 437 total games played from players drafted since 2021, the fifth‑most in the league from that draft range.
Four of the seven players drafted in 2021 made meaningful contributions. Ryan Winterton established himself as an everyday NHLer. Jacob Melanson brought a different element and, at times, forced the coaching staff to keep him in the lineup.
Berkly Catton, the No. 8 overall pick in 2024, played 66 games, which was far more than most of us expected. His 17 points don’t jump off the page, but he showed flashes throughout the year and, in the later stages, cut down on the careless mistakes that were prevalent over the first two‑thirds of his season.
It’s still too early to fully evaluate the Kraken’s drafting, but the initial returns, especially from 2021, suggest the organization is trending in the right direction.
Closing it out
The ending of the season will dominate the conversation for a while, and understandably so. But it shouldn’t erase the progress the Kraken made in several foundational areas: internal development, stabilizing goaltending, improved power play, and the ability to stay in the playoff mix deep into the spring.
In the next installment of this series, we’ll shift to the other side of the ledger: what went wrong.
When Bobby McMann entered the Seattle Kraken lineup in the middle of March, he helped lead the team to victories on back-to-back days against Vancouver and Florida, while the team maintained the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Since those games, the Kraken have lost nine of their last 10, falling to now 32-33-11, eight points out of a playoff spot with six games remaining in the regular season.
While McMann’s production on offense hasn’t dipped — eight goals and four assists in 13 games with Seattle — the production of the rest of the Kraken lineup has, and they’re paying the price heavily now.
The losing ways continued on Monday night in Winnipeg, with Seattle falling 6-2 to the Jets.
What’s funny about the win for the Jets is these two have essentially swapped places from 10 games ago. Before this stretch, the Kraken were five points clear of Winnipeg in the wild-card race. After tonight, they are now five points back of them.
Kraken head coach Lane Lambert described the team as “Playing for pride,” at this point, which pretty much means they’re ready to throw in the towel on this season.
Takeaway 1: Change for change sake
We’re officially in the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” portion of this stretch for the Kraken. It really seems like they’re trying to do everything differently. Team leadership had been trying to be looser at practices and on the bench, including Jordan Eberle having more vocality to his leadership style of late.
Now the coaching staff is getting in on the action, as the team now seems to be more focused on trying as many different line combinations as possible, in hopes of finding some untapped chemistry, than it is winning games.
The Kraken switched the lines offensively, which was to be expected with Ryan Winterton back from personal leave and slotting back in on the fourth line. Some other reshuffling included Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko playing with Berkly Catton on the third line, which did look good when they got their opportunities.
But the major change came on the back end, as for the first time since the inaugural 2021-22 season, Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson — in the same lineup together — were separated. Dunn was paired with Cale Fleury on the top pairing, while Larsson went with Ryker Evans.
Dunn was asked postgame by Piper Shaw of the Kraken Hockey Network what it was like when he found out he wouldn’t be with Larsson tonight.
“It’s definitely alarming when you walk into the rink today and you see that,” Dunn said. “Defintely very different.”
Takeaway 2: Philipp Grubauer injured
One player who has held up his end of the bargain for much of this season has been Philipp Grubauer.
Despite losing four of his last five games, he still had a .900 save percentage during that stretch and was still sprawling out to make miraculous saves. Unfortunately for him, great saves haven’t meant much with an offense as stricken as this one.
Against Winnipeg, he made three incredible point-blank saves on Jets leading scorer Mark Scheifele, keeping the score close at least while he was in the game, but he left halfway through the second period after a seemingly innocent, noncontact play. He froze a puck to get a whistle, and then skated straight to the bench.
Kraken PR later confirmed him out for the game with a lower-body injury. Lambert had no update on his status afterward.
Grubauer has dealt with his fair share of lower-body injuries before, and with the season pretty much dead in its tracks, it might be wise to shelve him for the rest of the season and have him start offseason recovery a little early.
Matt Murray is on the trip with the team, so he could be a backup in Saint Paul against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (or even play?) if need be.
Takeaway 3: On the bright side…
If you want good news from this one, Seattle still has the fifth-best odds of winning the draft lottery, according to Tankathon, at an 8.5 percent chance. The New York Rangers are tied with Seattle in the overall standings with 75 points, but because of Seattle having more regulation wins, the Rangers have 9.5 percent odds.
The Kraken could still technically wind up with the second-best odds, though that would require Chicago to win all of its games at the end of the season … which is asking a lot, I know.
Anyway, if the Kraken keep falling, then this number will continue to climb. Coincidentally, my insanity levels will climb as well.
Oh well, there’s still time to catch a game at Climate Pledge Arena. After Tuesday in Saint Paul, the Kraken will have one last three-game homestand, wearing the thirds against Vegas on Thursday.
O, CAPTAIN! 🫡 🚨
Nice individual effort there. Eberle gets his own rebound after a wraparound attempt, then scoops a backhander past Hellbuyck.
Bonus Takeaway: Jordan Eberle eclipsed the 25-goal mark with a pretty wraparound effort in the first period, which gave the Kraken their only lead of the game. It’s the first time he’s scored 25 in a season since doing so with the New York Islanders in 2017-18. The longevity of his career continues to be impressive.
