On the latest “.5” episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Darren checks in with Philipp Grubauer from the Kraken dressing room. It’s a nice one-on-one conversation that touches on Grubauer’s upbringing in Germany, his pride for his country as a growing hockey nation, his reflections on how things have gone over the past season and a half, and much more. Grubauer even hints at a new mask coming in for him very soon.
Darren also gives a quick update on how things have been going with the Kraken and gives a vibe check on the team (spoiler: the vibes have been high).
The vibes were immaculate for the Seattle Kraken Saturday morning, as they took the ice at Kraken Community Iceplex in preparation for their game against the Detroit Red Wings. It was a mostly full house for the skate anyway, as players, coaches, and families participating in the Can/Am youth hockey tournament at KCI looked on. But in addition to the Can/Am participants, Kraken players saw some familiar faces watching from behind the plexiglass; their dads.
For the first time, Seattle has invited the team’s fathers and mentors to watch the Kraken play at home Saturday, and they will then go on the road trip to San Jose this week. The Kraken would have had an event like this last season, but it got nixed because of COVID restrictions.
The presence of the VIP guests elevated the mood in the dressing room to an all-time high. In a clever move by Kraken PR, Jordan Eberle, Matty Beniers, and Morgan Geekie addressed the media alongside their fathers, Darren, Bob, and Craig. Hilarity ensued, as did plenty of poetic waxing and expressions of pride from the papas as they beamed talking about their respective sons.
Hidden talents
You can learn a lot about an NHL player by talking to his dad. Darren Eberle (great name), for example, divulged that his son is an aspiring musician. “You might not know that he thinks he’s a good guitar player,” the elder Eberle joked. “But the worst part about it is he’s learning to sing. I play guitar, so that’s the one thing I’m actually better than him at is guitar. And so I like to rub that in.”
Darren Eberle and Jordan Eberle addressed media at Kraken Community Iceplex Saturday morning. (Photo/Darren Brown)
Craig Geekie and his son connect through video games, a passion Morgan has shared publicly in the past. We knew Morgan was a stellar Mario Kart player, but we didn’t know his talent carries over to Call of Duty as well. “If it was CoD, because him and I play CoD with each other, I might say he’s a little bit better in CoD than he is in Mario Kart,” said Craig. “But I could be way off.”
“I think that’s saying how good I am at CoD,” Morgan joked.
Craig also shared that Morgan “Is turning into a pretty decent mechanic. How’s that? He’s fixing up his Jeep, which I’m pretty proud of.”
The Geekie’s also talked about how Morgan got his big slapshot, which Morgan said Craig wouldn’t let him use until he was 13 years old. “His shot, for whatever reason— it must take after his mum, for sure, in terms of his shot. Because he always had a really exceptional shot growing up, and I had a lot of people say that he was kind of above his years.”
Growing up with dad as the coach
Most hockey players can recall different memories from riding home from games with their parents and how the interactions would go on those rides.
“Depends how [the game] went,” said Morgan Geekie. Before he could continue, Craig jumped in. “Come on, I wasn’t that bad!” he said, defending himself. “There was a couple ultimatums in there,” quipped Morgan.
Morgan and Craig Geekie talked to media at Kraken Community Iceplex. (Photo/Darren Brown)
All three of Beniers, Geekie, and Eberle were coached by their respective fathers at some point as kids, and they all had unique perspectives to share about that relationship.
“He said I was the toughest coach ever,” said Darren Eberle. “He said ‘you benched me more than any of my coaches ever.’” Jordan corroborated what his father said. “He was probably one of the harder coaches on me. A lot of coaches would play me more; he would bench me if I wasn’t playing well.”
Bob Beniers coached Matty for 10 years, and over that time, Matty recalled Bob driving him all over the East Coast of the United States and beyond. “Canada, Buffalo, all these different places, and we were like 10,” said Matty. “Looking back on it, it’s pretty awesome that he was able to do that, but it all worked out, and it was a lot of fun.”
Bob knows he’s not Matty’s coach anymore, but he’s still very much along for the ride. “No, he’s on his own now. But it’s been fun. It’s been fun to watch his short experience here. It’s been a great organization so far and great coaching.”
Bob Beniers admitted that watching his 20-year-old son play in the NHL makes him a lot more nervous than when he was his youth coach.
Reaching the NHL is a long, hard journey
All three of the dads who met with media were visibly proud for their sons, who have worked so hard to get to the NHL. Interestingly, while the Beniers family saw Matty growing into a star player, Bob said they never talked about him making it to the world’s best league.
“We never talked about him playing professional hockey,” Bob said. “We only talked about him going to college and playing hockey in college. So this is an amazing treat, and he’s earned it, so I’m very proud of him.”
Craig Geekie gave us a glimpse behind the curtain about what it has taken for Morgan to reach this level. “Everybody from the outside always sees it as a pretty glamorous opportunity, right?” Craig said. “They don’t see the daily struggles. Whether it’s mental, whether it’s physical, whether it’s— you know, there’s so much stuff behind the scenes I just don’t think everybody sees on how hard it is to get here.”
A special experience for the coach, too
Coach Dave Hakstol has his father-in-law, Tim O’Keefe, on the trip, and the event is special for Hakstol as well. “It’s an awesome opportunity,” he said. “I mean, there’s a ton of new energy that comes in when dads and family members are here.” It’s O’Keefe’s first opportunity to do a trip like this, so Hakstol says he’s thrilled and happy to have him around.
We somewhat jokingly asked Hakstol if he was able to immediately connect any of the visiting fathers with their sons, even before being introduced. “What, are you trying to get me in trouble here?” Hakstol joked. “No, there’s some pretty neat personalities, though. I can tell you that. It’s been a couple hours here… You get them into this environment where everybody is here, you start to see some of the personalities come out. That’ll be one of the neat things throughout the weekend as it develops and as guys spend more and more time together.”
Hakstol was also asked why his father-in-law didn’t join him when he addressed the media. “Because I would not get one word in,” said Hakstol with a wry grin.
The Kraken are back in town for the first time in forever, and a lot has happened around the NHL since they were last home. Seattle took its lumps on a five-game road trip through New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Winnipeg, so the Sound Of Hockey breaks down that trip, and Darren shares some of his memories from the road.
Next, the guys discuss John’s recent goalie breakdown on soundofhockey.com that argued the Kraken should use Philipp Grubauer more.
Once they’ve finished most of their Kraken talk, John, Andy, and Darren talk about the blockbuster trade that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the Rangers, as well as some names that seem to be getting bandied about before the Trade Deadline.
Finally, the show meanders to segments, which this week include:
The NHL Trade Deadline is an inflection point when a team’s front office is faced with the challenge of weighing the future against the present. Does this year’s team have a chance of making the playoffs? Does it have a chance of winning the Stanley Cup? And does the answer to one of those questions hinge on upgrading talent somewhere on the roster or filling a spot left by an injury? If so, how many future assets are you willing to sacrifice to fill those holes?
“I like what our guys are doing,” Seattle general manager Ron Francis said in an interview with NHL.com on Monday. “I like the way we believe in each other and play for each other right now. If there is a piece there that makes sense, and it isn’t at a ridiculous price, we’ll certainly look at it, but we’re not going to do anything that’s crazy at this point.”
First-round draft picks have immense value relative to other draft assets. Surely, those picks are off the table, right? Many teams, not to mention fanbases, likely felt this way last year at the deadline, but seven separate deals involved a first-round draft pick moving from one team to another. Ten others included at least one second-round pick. In other words, if you’re looking to buy a top-17 trade asset at the deadline, you’re going to pay an uncomfortable price. Prices are high and buyers are faced with a time-sensitive decision: Is the chance at a better playoff outcome this year worth it? Is there any value in the deal beyond this playoff run?
The Seattle Kraken are confronting these questions right now, 15 days out from the March 3, 2023, trade deadline. Francis told NHL.com the team would “sit and wait, [and] see where we are and see what the prices are and make some decisions as we get closer to the deadline.”
In constructing a big board of potential trade targets, I considered a player eligible if they met one of two criteria: (1) the player is a pending unrestricted free agent on a team out of playoff contention; or (2) the player has been identified as “available” in trade conversations by reliable league insiders I have seen. Players in the first category are classic “rental” options, but some may not be “available” in reality due to the team’s desire to retain the player. Likewise, with regard to the second category, we need to recognize that even credible insiders get inaccurate or indirect information, and some of these players may not be realistically “available.”
On the other hand, the board is under-inclusive too. There are going to be pending restricted free agents or players with another year or more on their contracts that are available but have not been identified by league insiders. Jaycob Megna falls into this category, actually. He was not on early drafts of my trade deadline big board because he has another year on his contract and had not been floated as a trade option, as far as I saw. Even so, I resisted the urge to expand the big board to include additional players on non-contenders to avoid the board becoming unwieldy or full of “wishful thinking.”
To finalize the big board, first, I separated the players by position and contract term (e.g., “pending unrestricted free agent defensemen”) and ordered them based on my assessment of each player’s potential value for this Seattle Kraken team. I then disqualified players I felt (1) would not be usable, even as depth, on this Kraken team, (2) could not conceivably justify the projected acquisition cost; or (3) were not realistic options for Seattle, given the team’s cap situation. Patrick Kane and John Klingberg are notable players I omitted from the final big board because, in my opinion, they fall in the second category. Vladislav Gavrikov is another one. Erik Karlsson is a player you won’t see on the board either because I put him in the third category. Finally, I rounded out the big board with a “long-shot candidates” category that included marginal candidates for the Kraken due to the projected cost or fit.
Ok, let’s dive in.
The trade deadline big board
Pending unrestricted free-agent defensemen
Nick Holden defends Jordan Eberle at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Kyle Burroughs | Vancouver | Age: 27 | RD | 2 goals, 0 assists, 34.9 min PK TOI | Contract: $750,000
Notes: The supply of “rental” defensemen is relatively weak, which suggests to me that as contenders look to solidify their defensive depth chart going into the playoffs, the cost for these players could soar beyond potential value they could deliver. (This seller’s market dynamic could creep into the market for defensemen with term left on their contracts too.) This underscores the strength of Seattle’s early move to pick up Jaycob Megna for a marginal cost (a low fourth-round draft pick). Megna has a year left on his contract and compares favorably to the names below Nick Holden on the above list.
Shayne Gostisbehere is a standout offensive player who can contribute in transition, in the offensive zone, and on the power play, where he’d likely step in as the first-unit blueliner. His work in the defensive zone is less strong, and ideally he’d be on a third pair at even strength. Some of his best seasons were with Dake Hakstol in Philadelphia.
As an aside, John Klingberg is something of an exaggerated version of Gostisbehere: better on offense but worse on defense. His truly shocking defensive metrics led me to disqualify him, despite his previous links to Seattle. If the Kraken are not as pessimistic on his defense, Klingberg would factor into this conversation as an alternative in this same range, similar to Gostisbehere.
Jake Walman is a younger player on an upward trajectory who is well thought of by some scouts and most data analysts, even if his play hasn’t translated into counting stats or wide acclaim yet. Detroit has indicated it would like to keep him, but if talks don’t advance in the next couple weeks, it will need to at least consider moving him to mitigate the risk he leaves for nothing.
The remainder of the players are potential depth pieces. Jarred Tinordi is big blueliner with surprisingly good penalty differential and play-driving metrics; he is on IR at the moment, but it is not thought of as a long-term injury. Nick Holden is a veteran who could bring some leadership and penalty killing experience.
Mattias Ekholm handles the puck at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Jake McCabe | Chicago | Age: 29 | LD | 2 goals, 14 assists, 98.4 min PK TOI | Contract: $4,000,000 x 2 years (M-NTC)
Mattias Ekholm | Nashville | Age: 32 | LD | 5 goals, 12 assists, 77.0 min PP TOI, 132.1 min PK TOI | Contract: $6,250,000 x 3 years
These two players are interesting because they could elevate Seattle’s second pairing for a playoff run and also provide insurance for Seattle at left defense long term. There is a bit of uncertainty with two Kraken mainstays on the left side. Carson Soucy is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, and there is some sentiment he may move on after the year.
Vince Dunn is not under contract either. He will be a restricted free agent, which theoretically gives Seattle the inside track to retain him, but Dunn’s standout season this year likely puts the team and the player in a tenuous position. In my analysis, comparable players create a projection of somewhere between $6.5 million and $9.5 million AAV on a (very) long-term deal for Dunn. Such a contract makes sense only if the team views Dunn as a franchise defenseman. Does the team see him that way after an up-and-down tenure in St. Louis, followed by one up-and-down year and one brilliant year in Seattle?
Jake McCabe is not flashy but delivers strong support on offense and suppresses shots effectively on defense while avoiding penalties. His cap hit is manageable this year and for two more after. He would likely displace Jamie Oleksiak as the third-best defenseman on the team right away and bolster the team’s depth significantly.
Mattias Ekholm is a high-end, even-strength play-driver on both offense and defense with first-pair ability. He could form a devastating shutdown pairing with fellow Swede Adam Larsson in the playoffs or anchor a second pair that approaches the strength of the Larsson-Dunn combination. He plays a lot but with less production on special teams. Adding Ekholm would be tremendous insurance against the loss of Dunn, but taking on three more years of a $6.25 million cap hit would significantly reduce the team’s capacity to pay Dunn the contract he would likely want. If the team can only have one, is the team better off long term with Ekholm or Dunn? Additionally, I question whether Nashville is actually serious about moving Ekholm given the Predators are still in the playoff chase.
Adding McCabe or Ekholm would likely involve trading away Carson Soucy to create roster space and additional assets for a deal.
Pending unrestricted free-agent forwards
Pius Suter contends with Alex Wennberg at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Ryan O’Reilly | St. Louis | Age: 32 | C | 12 goals, 6 assists, 54.0% FO%, 78.2 min PP TOI, 69.8 min PK TOI | Contract: $7,500,000
Tyler Bertuzzi | Detroit | Age: 28 | LW/RW | 2 goals, 6 assists, 59.2 min PP TOI | Contract: $4,750,000
Noel Acciari | St. Louis | Age: 31 | C/RW | 10 goals, 8 assists, 89.3 min PK TOI, 53.9% FO% | Contract: $1,250,000
Pius Suter | Detroit | Age: 27 | C/LW | 7 goals, 6 assists, 48.8% FO%, 51.0 min PK TOI | Contract: $3,250,000
Nick Bonino | San Jose | Age: 34 | C/LW | 9 goals, 9 assists, 50.3% FO%, 108.9 min PK TOI | Contract: $2,050,000 (M-NTC)
Nick Bjugstad | Arizona | Age: 30 | C/RW | 13 goals, 10 assists, 47.0% FO%, 118.3 mins PK TOI | Contract: $900,000
Sean Monahan | Montreal | Age: 28 | C/LW/RW | 6 goals, 11 assists, 55.1% FO%, 78.8 min PP TOI, 41.3 min PK TOI | Contract: $6,375,000 (M-NTC)
Ivan Barbashev | St. Louis | Age: 27 | C/LW/RW | 10 goals, 17 assists, 98.6 min PP TOI | Contract: $2,250,000
Gustav Nyquist | Columbus | Age: 33 | LW/RW | 10 goals, 12 assists, 88.4 min PP TOI, 83.1 min PK TOI | Contract: $5,500,000
The “rental” market for forwards is a bit deeper than it is for defensemen, with a number of interesting names that could check off one or multiple needs for Seattle. Since the Kraken already have solid NHL-caliber forward depth, I could envision a scenario where the team moves one of those pieces to make an addition. If Andre Burakovsky is out for months, it is more likely the team keeps all of its forwards.
Ryan O’Reilly tops this list because of the fit, but I think his likely acquisition cost could push him close to the “long shot” category. O’Reilly has had a down season, hampered by a foot injury. But, if he is at least 75 percent healthy, he could bring toughness, leadership, defense, and standout face-off ability to the Kraken. The Kraken could desperately use all of the traits when things get a little more difficult in April and beyond. I don’t think this move is very realistic, but there are few players on the list who could dramatically alter the team’s prospects (and do so without even scoring). O’Reilly is one.
Noel Acciari is a versatile, right-shot, bottom-of-the-lineup center who can be physical, take hard defensive zone minutes, kill penalties, and man the face-off dot effectively. Even better, Acciari’s face-off numbers tick up on the penalty kill, checking in at 56.5 percent. Nick Bonino is an alternative to Acciari who brings some of the same elements, likely at a lower cost.
Tyler Bertuzzi is a quality play-driving and goal-scoring top-nine wing whose value may be at an all-time low because he is shooting just 4.9 percent. His underlying metrics remain solid, and his career shooting percentage is in the upper echelon at 14.7 percent. He can score on the power play and at even strength. I really like the value proposition, but his fit with the Kraken isn’t as strong since he doesn’t have the ability to play center or take face-offs.
Pius Suter is another interesting name from Detriot who has never really broken out from a bottom-six role but sports solid metrics across the board. Suter is a better fit than Bertuzzi because he can take draws and kill penalties effectively.
Nick Bjugstad is a name that is frequently mentioned on the trade market. He has good size and physicality, and his contract would be easy to assume. On the other hand, he hasn’t been very productive on face-offs or on the penalty kill, so there are some arguments against his fit in Seattle.
Forwards with team control beyond this year
Adam Henrique tries to get past Adam Larsson at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Adam Henrique | Anaheim | Age: 33 | C/LW | 19 goals, 13 assists, 51.8% FO% | Contract: $5,825,000 x 1 year (M-NTC)
Sam Lafferty | Chicago | Age: 27 | C/LW/RW | 8 goals, 11 assists, 53.3% FO%, 90.4 min PK TOI | Contract: $1,150,000 x 1 year
Adam Henrique is an interesting fit for the Kraken, but he comes with a contract that extends for one more season at $5,825,000. This is not an unreasonable number for him, but the Kraken are already heavily invested in their existing forward group for the 2023-24 season. It is a situation they could work out by subtracting a piece in the offseason, though. Henrique is skilled on the face-off dot and brings center/wing versatility on the left side that could support a player like Matty Beniers. He’d bring another goal scorer with a proven power play track record too.
Sam Lafferty may be the most interesting “realistic” candidate on the entire big board, followed perhaps by Noel Acciari. Lafferty is a physical, versatile, right-shot forward who can play anywhere at the bottom of the lineup, but he has had success on the face-off dot this year. He has been Chicago’s best penalty-killing forward this season too, exhibiting the biggest positive impact among forwards on his team’s total shot quality while he is on the ice shorthanded relative to his teammates (i.e., “relative xG%”). He could immediately step in on the first penalty kill unit, as the fourth-line center, and take key draws, solidifying multiple weaker areas. He would also be a solid option to fill those roles next year at a reasonable cap hit. Adding Lafferty would decrease the likelihood that Morgan Geekie is a long-term Kraken.
Long-shot candidates
Jakob Chychrun waits for a faceoff at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Timo Meier | San Jose | Age: 25 | LW | 31 goals, 21 assists, 167.1 min PP TOI | Contract: $6,000,000 (RFA expiry)
Dylan Larkin | Detroit | Age: 26 | C | 20 goals, 30 assists, 54.1% FO%, 189.0 min PP TOI, 94.9 min PK TOI | Contract: $6,100,000
Jakub Vrána | Detroit | Age: 26 | LW | 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 games played | Contract: $5,250,000 x 1 year
Anthony Duclair | Florida | Age: 27 | LW | no stats; 31 goals, 27 assists in 2021-22 | Contract: $3,000,000 x 1 year
Jakob Chychrun | Arizona | Age: 24 | Pos: LD | 7 goals, 21 assists, 108.0 min PP TOI | Contract: $4,600,000 x 2 years
Jonathan Toews | Chicago | Age: 34 | C | 14 goals, 14 assists, 63.3% FO%, 141.2 min PP TOI, 55.1 min PK TOI | Contract: $10,500,000 (NMC)
As mentioned above, these are “interesting” names that are marginal probability candidates for one reason or another. Timo Meier is a bona fide All-Star-caliber scorer and all-around producer who is still just 25 years old and open to a long-term deal. He is one of the only players on this list for whom I could justify giving up a first-round pick and/or top prospect. If the Kraken want to get aggressive and move capital, he would be at the top of my list (along with Troy Terry, whom I have not seen discussed as a trade option).
If Meier is 1A, Dylan Larkin would be 1B on my list of “aggressive” targets, but he is less likely to be moved by Detroit, and the acquisition price is likely to be even higher. Larkin is a first-line center and All-Star producer in all areas of the game. Adding Larkin would open the window to immediate contention, but I would imagine the package would need to be something like Shane Wright, Ty Nelson, a first-round pick, and one-or-more second-round picks. It is justifiable, but Ron Francis’s history and his commentary suggest the team is unlikely to go there.
Jakub Vrána is a first-line offensive weapon at the wing, who is likely available on the cheap. But with him comes an incredible amount of uncertainty owing only partially to his stint in the player assistance program this year. He was on waivers a couple months ago and every team passed. Even on his best days he doesn’t bring much defense, and he would come with a hefty commitment for next season too, which, again, may not make sense for the Kraken.
Anthony Duclair is a stand-in for a few players the Florida Panthers could conceivably look to move to solve a cap crunch. Other potential trade candidates include Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett. That said, Florida seems likely to retain as many assets as possible as it tries to work its way back into the playoff picture. All of these Florida forwards could fill a role if the price were right. Duclair is working his way back from achilles tendon surgery, but could be nearing a return.
Jesse Puljujarvi is looking more like a bottom-of-the-lineup checking forward these days, but the same could have been said of Valeri Nichushkin at the same stage in his career. He is good at what he does: driving the puck away from his goal and toward the opponent’s goal at even strength. Beyond that there are many gaps in his game. In the abstract, I still really like the player as a reclamation project, but the fit may not be ideal this season as the Kraken consider addressing other specific needs for a playoff push.
The case for Jakob Chychrun is similar to the case for McCabe and Ekholm, but the acquisition price is likely to be higher than the Kraken are willing to pay, unless Seattle is effectively prepared to trade Dunn in the offseason to recoup some assets.
Finally, there is Jonathan Toews. He has been mentioned as a fit for the Kraken due to his league-leading face-off production. Otherwise he’s a shadow of his former self and comes with both a hefty price tag and legitimate questions about his leadership. There are some elements of a “fit,” but I don’t really see it right now.
The acquisition of Jaycob Megna has already addressed the first need for a depth defenseman. The Megna deal also provides insurance on the fourth need: Megna is a capable penalty killer when he draws in. How could the Kraken attack the other need areas with this market for players?
Strategies the Kraken could deploy
Shayne Gostisbehere stick handles at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Aggressive buyer
I would consider the Kraken to have taken an “aggressive” deadline approach if they part with a first-round pick, a top prospect like Shane Wright, or a roster player (in something other than a salary or roster dump) plus other draft capital at the deadline. Examples of this approach could be trades for Ryan O’Reilly or Mattias Ekholm.
Based on historical prices, and the market set by the Bo Horvat and Vladimir Tarasenko deals, I would expect an O’Reilly deal would likely cost a top-100 prospect (e.g., Ty Nelson), a roster player (e.g., Morgan Geekie) and either a first-round pick or multiple picks including at least one second-round pick if concerns about the player’s foot persist.
The market for Ekholm could be tempered a bit based on the term left on his deal. Still, I expect a return for Ekholm to be better or comparable to the package Seattle obtained for Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell (two second-rounders and a third-rounder). From Seattle’s perspective, if it could move Carson Soucy for a second-round pick, the cost would be at least Soucy, a second-rounder, and a third-rounder, plus the costs of additional cap gymnastics necessary to bring in the Ekholm contract. I could see the upgrade being appealing, but it would sacrifice significant futures and could nudge Dunn toward the exit long-term.
Buyer
If the Kraken are willing to put a second-round pick, top prospect, or roster player (in something other than a salary or roster dump) on the table, I think the team will fit into the conventional “buyer” category. A move to add Lafferty or Acciari to solidify the penalty kill and production on the face-off dot would qualify. A move on the blue line to acquire a player like Gostisbehere or Walman would also qualify. I would expect the blueliners to cost at least a second-round pick and likely more. Lafferty or Acciari may come in around that price or a bit less.
Opportunistic buyer
Alternatively, the Kraken could approach the deadline determined to make a deal only if it is a clear “value” win, regardless of the fit. For example, if the cost on Bertuzzi is low due to his struggles this year, I could imagine the Seattle front office viewing the prospect of adding the winger too intriguing to pass up. Likewise, if Detroit wants to retain salary on Vrana or if Edmonton wants to attach an asset to Puljujarvi just to dump his contract, I could imagine those offers being too appealing to ignore. If Florida has to dump a contract for a low cost, that could be of interest too.
Depth dealer/sideline observer
Under another approach, the Kraken could move toward the deadline committed to protecting their valuable future assets. The team might consider moving a third-round pick or later for an additional depth asset, but otherwise will not sacrifice its “foundation.” In this case, I could see the team make a move for a player like Nick Bonino to provide depth for the forward group similar to the depth provided by Jaycob Megna on the back end.
Opportunistic seller
Similar to the two approaches above, the team could be open to a small asset sale if the price is simply too good to ignore. If a team is willing to offer more than a late-second-round pick for Carson Soucy, the Kraken may have to strongly consider it. Also, while I believe the Kraken will keep their three NHL goaltenders, it is not impossible that an appealing deal could be offered for one of them.
Projection time: what will the Kraken do at the deadline?
Alright, if you’ve stuck with me this long, you deserve to get to the fun part. What will the Kraken do at the deadline? I’ll project that the Kraken trade a 2024 third-round pick and 2023 sixth-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Sam Lafferty. Lafferty would be a go-to righty face-off man, would provide grit, speed, and defense on the bottom line, and would upgrade the first penalty kill unit. Noel Acciari is an alternative who could check some of the same boxes.
I would also at least consider a trade (or trades) that would effectively swap Carson Soucy for Shayne Gostisbehere or Jake Walman. If the move could be made in an asset-neutral way, I’d lean toward doing it.
Thanks for reading. What do you think the Kraken will do? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments below.
The Seattle Kraken relied on some of their veteran leaders in a 4-3 win against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday morning, a win that ended a three-game slide and dampened the Super Bowl Sunday euphoria in Philadelphia.
Jaden Schwartz scored his second of the game, 1:03 into the third period to make it 4-2 and give the Kraken much-needed cushion when he snapped a shot from the right face-off dot.
“I’d say tonight my jump felt better,” Schwartz said. “With how tight the standings are right now, every game’s important. The two points feel bigger sometimes. You win a couple you’re in a great spot, you lose a couple you might be on the outside looking in, and we’re no different.”
The goal turned out to be the game-winner after Patrick Brown scored a short-handed marker to cut the Kraken lead to 4-3 at 16:40 in the third. Philadelphia then made a late push with the extra skater on but the Kraken stood tough, highlighted by a shot block from Matty Beniers just before the horn.
“We stopped playing after Schwartzies goal,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “I really liked the way we played for 41 minutes and we’re a team that skates and checks, we possess the puck, we transition quick, and we forecheck. We stopped doing those things, and they took advantage… we stopped doing the things that make us successful. We got safe and it almost killed us.”
Beniers was hobbled by the shot and needed help off the ice.
“He blocked a shot but nothing that I know of,” Hakstol said afterward when asked if there was an injury.
Jordan Eberle had a goal and assist, Eeli Tolvanen scored a goal, and Alex Wennberg had two assists for the Kraken (30-18-5), who won for the first time on their five-game road trip. Philipp Grubauer got the start and continued his strong play of late by making 16 saves.
Owen Tippett had a goal and assist and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Flyers (22-23-10), who lost a night after dropping a 2-1 game against the Nashville Predators. Felix Sandstrom made 17 saves.
The finish was nice but with a 10 am Pacific start, it looked glum for the Kraken early on.
It took 31 seconds for the Kraken to get into penalty trouble as Vince Dunn was called for a trip. Sporting the NHL’s 31st-ranked power play Philadelphia cashed in at 2:11 when Tippett was left alone to fling a Grubauer rebound into the net and give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
Just a minute later, Will Borgen took an elbowing penalty. But the Kraken killed off that penalty and then everything clicked at even strength.
They tied the game 1-1 at 12:53 after Jared McCann stole the puck in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 counterattack with Eberle. McCann floated a perfect pass across and Eberle scored top shelf. It was Eberle’s first goal in 13 games.
At 17:01 it would be Oliver Bjorkstand who lifted a stick, swiped the puck, and got it to Eeli Tolvanen, who scored to give the Kraken their first lead on the road trip at 2-1.
“At the start, we take a couple of penalties and we’re on our heels a bit,” Eberle said. “But after that, I thought we settled in real well. We created some opportunities and obviously had a lead.”
Van Riemsdyk tied the game 2-2 at 3:33 of the second period with a great hands play. He deflected a shot up in the air while in front of the net and then whacked the puck out of midair.
Eberle then set up the first goal by Jaden Schwartz to make it 3-2 at 18:59 in the second. Ebele carried the puck from in deep, he waited out the defense, and then sent a perfect pass to Schwartz in the slot for his 11th goal of the year.
“For us, it’s a good win,” Hakstol said. “There are some things that we have to take and fix in that third period.”
Defense rules
Once again, the Kraken used a strong defensive effort to snap out of a downtick in the season.
Eberle’s goal came directly after McCann stripped a puck and Tolvanen’s goal came after Bjorkstrand did the same. On top of that, Seattle only allowed 19 shots.
They bent some in the third period when they carried a two goal advantage, but overall Seattle had a 62.9 percent shot attempt advantage at 5-on-5 and 57 percent of the total shot quality.
Tentacle Tales
Seattle’s Ryan Donato played in his 300th NHL game.
Eberle’s first-period goal was the 55th time this season Seattle has scored in the opening frame which is the fourth most in the NHL.
Sunday was the first time that the Flyers hosted a game on the same day that the Philadelphia Eagles played in the Super Bowl.
Sunday’s win was the first victory over the Flyers in Kraken franchise history.
The Seattle Thunderbirds were locked in a 5-5 tie this past Friday at the accesso ShoWare Center with the Everett Silvertips and headed into overtime. Winnipeg Jets prospect Brad Lambert, who had recently joined the team, did not start the overtime period but finished it with a flurry. He hopped over the boards a minute into the period and took a pass at his own blue line from defenseman Kevin Korchinski. Lambert then turned on the jets and raced up ice, seemingly mesmerizing the Everett defenders. He blew past the last defender and took a quick shot that found the net and won the game.
“There’s fast and then there’s Lambert fast,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette said at practice the day before.
Lambert, who turned 19 in December, has been one of the more intriguing NHL prospects for a couple of years and his journey to Seattle was circuitous. Born in Finland to a Canadian father and Finnish mother, Lambert had the spotlight thrust on him when he was 16, playing for Finland in the World Junior Championship. He was impressive enough that pundits and scouts started wondering if he would be the first overall pick in 2023.
“You’re doing good if they’re talking about you,” he said. “But I thought I could do a pretty good job about blocking that stuff out. Obviously, the expectations are high. You can go and have a good game, that’s just not good enough for the expectations that there were.”
Low numbers in Liga for Lambert
His numbers in Liga were low and draft prognosticators started to worry. Was he really a top prospect? Split between JVP and the Pelicans in Finland he only had four goals and 10 points in 49 games. Reading scouting reports, it was clear the speed and skill were still there but the numbers weren’t showing.
It turns out that playing in a tough pro league with adults meant getting playing time was hard to come by and the league is one where defense comes first, making points hard to pile up.
Brad Lambert was a first-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets -Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)
“They play very tight defense and most teams use the trap so you have five guys to beat,” Lambert said. “But in its own way, it was a really good experience for me, just learning how to play in my own end and defensive responsibility. You want to go to the next level and get coaches to trust you, you have to be good on both sides of the puck and that’s something that I thought I worked on a lot there and obviously still have to work on. But I’ve improved during the last two years.”
Lambert didn’t go first overall, rather slipped to 30th when the Jets selected him, but it was still a big day for Lambert and his family.
“[Draft day is] a big day,” he said. “If someone told me when I was five, six years old that I would be a first-round draft pick, I think I would have took it, and to be honest with you, it doesn’t matter where you go, first or 210, it’s a big day… I got a buddy playing right now in Nashville and doing great, Juuso Parssinen. He was drafted like 210. It’s not about the numbers, it’s about what you do after that.”
Just before the draft, Thunderbirds general manager Bil La Forge swung a deal with the Saskatoon Blades who held Lambert’s rights in the Western Hockey League. He was gambling that the Jets would eventually send him to junior for more opportunities to play and further develop his skills.
The hope was that Lambert would be sent to Seattle during training camp, but Lambert played well at rookie tournaments in the summer and had a strong fall training camp. He signed his entry-level contract and was given a shot in the American Hockey League with the Manitoba Moose.
With Manitoba, he appeared in 14 games, scored twice with an assist, and once again struggled for consistent playing time with and against older professionals.
Winnipeg then loaned Lambert to Finland for this winter’s World Junior Championship. It wasn’t the best outing for Finland and was ‘disappointing’ according to Lambert with Finland failing to medal. It was at that time that the Jets decided rather than have Lambert ride the pine in the AHL, they would send him somewhere where he would get playing time.
Lambert heads to Seattle
That somewhere was Seattle and the Thunderbirds.
“At the time I was looking forward to going back to Manitoba and so I was a little disappointed,” Lambert said. “Now that I’ve got here, I’ve got to know the guys and it’s a great group of guys, and happy to be here. I think it’s an opportunity for me to show what I can do here. Obviously having never played Canadian junior it’s a new experience for me and a good opportunity to show what I can do.
“It’s still good hockey and there’s some really, really skilled guys in this league and on our team. It’s been good, and it’s a good opportunity for me to work on my own skills and at the same time, our team goal is to win, win as many games as we can and obviously win the big one at the end. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
So far, it’s been a win-win for both parties.
The overtime winner against Everett was Lambert’s second of the night to go with an assist. In his first six games with Seattle, he has four goals and three assists and is getting the ice time he couldn’t get in Finland or the AHL.
“Just does everything at a high pace even when he’s on the power play running in his end zone,” O’Dette said. “Everything is done quickly. It’s done with pace and you can never have enough guys like that that can push the pace and put the defense on their heels.”
Lambert’s confidence is high
When he was sent back it was assumed by many that it would be a chance for him to regain the confidence lost by playing in a defense-first league in Finland.
Was his confidence shaken?
“My confidence has never been better, anywhere,” Lamberts said with a chuckle. “It’s all about the opportunity, whenever I’ve got the opportunity to play with top-six guys, play power-play minutes, I think I’ve produced, and I know I can at the American League level as well. You have to be put out there, you have to be put in a position to succeed. It looks like you’re confident because you’re doing things because you’re getting out there all the time.”
Lambert joins a stacked team that has five NHL first-rounders on it, with the addition of Arizona’s Dylan Guenther earlier in the week.
During Friday’s overtime win, Korchinski, who was Chicago’s seventh overall pick during the 2022 NHL Draft had three assists, to go with a goal. He had the primary assist on both of Lambert’s goals. Could that chemistry be due to them once being teammates in Saskatoon where Lambert spent a couple of years as a youth?
“We were kids,” Lambert said with a grin. “In peewee, we played for the Kodiaks which is actually funny. We were talking about it, they wore the same colors as Seattle, and he was number 14 and I was number 11. We won the city-wide championship and now we’re going for another one so it’s pretty cool. I never thought after that I’d run into a spot on the same team as him in hockey again.”
Lambert, Korchinski, and the rest of the loaded Thunderbirds will next be in action Friday night against the Red Deer Rebels and former coach Steve Konowalchuk.
