When Daniel Sprong came to Seattle in a Trade Deadline deal in 2021-22, he didn’t take long to show off his offensive prowess. Using his big shot and plus speed, Sprong notched six goals in the 16 games he played with the Kraken down the stretch. Combined with the eight goals and six assists he had scored in Washington, Sprong thought he had given himself a good chance to earn a contract extension. But things did not go the way he anticipated over the offseason, and he found himself battling for every opportunity he’s gotten since.
Now, after settling for a professional tryout deal, Sprong has not only earned a contract, he’s earned himself a spot on the Kraken roster and—on most nights—a place in the lineup.
An offseason wake-up call
When last season ended, Sprong remained a restricted free agent. To retain his rights, Seattle only had to extend a qualifying offer of 105 percent of his previous $725,000 salary. He had arbitration rights, though, meaning if Sprong didn’t like the offer the Kraken gave him, he could have filed to have a neutral third party determine his 2022-23 salary. With that in mind, it seemed like he had leverage, so summer was looking promising.
“You speak to your agent and you find out what your arbitration rights are, and the money was looking pretty good,” Sprong said. “So you feel pretty at ease when you get a value of what you’re projected at or what you could make. So, when it started off, summer was good.”
Soon after the end of Seattle’s inaugural season, Sprong—a big Formula 1 fan—went on vacation to Miami to watch his fellow Dutchman, Max Verstappen, win the Miami Grand Prix. When he returned, things were quieter than he expected.
To Sprong’s dismay, a qualifying offer did not come from the Kraken by the July 11 deadline, meaning he would become an unrestricted free agent on July 13. Still, he thought there were teams out there that would be excited to employ his services.
“When you have 14 goals and your Corsi numbers are pretty good and you had a really good end to the season, you feel pretty confident going to [unrestricted free agency],” he said. But the offers never came. “It was kind of a frustrating thing. And then, you kind of go month by month. Every day, go to the rink, go to the gym, go out in public. [People would ask,] ‘Where are you signing? Where are you signing?’ You get that question asked pretty often.”
Sprong says he heard through his agent that several teams had expressed interest in signing him, but nothing ever got done. The feedback was consistently that teams around the NHL knew he could play offense but were concerned about his play on the defensive side of the puck. “It kind of was just like a wake-up call because it was the same problem with every team.”
A bumpy road back to the Kraken
With his options thinning out, Sprong took his medicine and accepted that he would need to sign a PTO and earn a contract the hard way. He did have a few teams to choose from for his PTO, but he ultimately returned to Seattle. “I had a really good end to the season here, so I felt pretty comfortable here and decided to take my chance here,” Sprong explained. “The coaching staff has been great, guys have been great—really supportive during camp when they knew I didn’t have a deal.”
Getting signed off a PTO is far from a sure thing, and, even then, earning that contract is only half the battle. Sprong was outstanding in his preseason outings, though, and at times looked like Seattle’s most dynamic forward with the way he was playing.
🚨 SPRONG BOMB! 🚨
Dunn serves it to Sprong on a platter, and the Dutchman blasts away. 1-0 Kraken.
After his hot start in Training Camp, the Kraken announced they had signed Sprong to a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 in the NHL or $325,000 in the AHL. That made the AHL a very real possibility for the 25-year-old winger, but he remained confident that he belonged in the NHL.
“Playing in the American League was never in my head,” Sprong recalled. “I wanted to make a statement on that PTO that I deserved to play, and if for whatever reason I didn’t make it—that if I ended up on waivers—that teams see I changed [my defensive play]. But it never got that far.”
It never got that far because Sprong made Seattle’s final roster when the Kraken broke camp.
Visa challenges kept Sprong away from the Kraken to start
Making the roster wasn’t Sprong’s final hurdle for joining the Kraken. Because he got signed so late in training camp, the process of getting his work visa didn’t get underway until just days before the season.
After Seattle’s bonding trip and last couple preseason games in Alberta, Sprong stayed in Calgary to get his visa situation sorted. Unfortunately for him, Canadian Thanksgiving plus issues in the process on the US government side slowed things to a crawl and caused him to miss the Kraken’s first road trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim.
He recalls having a flight booked to return to the US on Wednesday, but he didn’t get his passport back. So, the waiting game continued, and on Thursday, still not knowing when Sprong’s passport would be returned, Kraken director of team services, Brennan Baxandall, had four different flights booked for Sprong, hoping he could make one of them.
“It was a little bump in the road in the beginning of the year where I got stuck in Calgary, so it kind of ruined my momentum a little bit,” said Sprong. “I didn’t play for 10 or 11 days or practice much. I felt like I wasn’t really in a rhythm.”
Good chemistry with the fourth line
A big piece of Seattle’s early season success has been its ability to roll four lines. Playing mostly with Morgan Geekie and Ryan Donato, Sprong has found good chemistry and a mostly solid role (though he did sit out Sunday against Winnipeg).
Once the visa issue was finally sorted, Sprong got scratched for his first couple games along with Geekie. He joked that the two “Had a lot of one-on-one time together,” which has contributed to that chemistry, but he also says they feed off each other well. Two offensive-minded players, Sprong says Geekie understands the way he plays and knows that if he has the puck in a scoring area, he’s going to put it on net.
Geekie also feels the chemistry. “We’ve got a lot of offensive guys on our team,” he said. “I think last year, we struggled to score some goals, and this year, I think the chemistry is there, and pucks are going in for us.”
Positive reviews from his coach
The “wake-up call” that Sprong experienced during the offseason, with criticism of his 200-foot game coming from several potential landing spots, was no surprise. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol had said similar things at the end of last season. But Hakstol has been happy with what he has seen from Sprong this season.
“There’s no disputing his offensive abilities,” Hakstol said. “What we’ve asked out of Spronger is to become an everyday 200-foot player. There’s gonna be different opportunities in front of him in terms of where he is in the lineup, based off of exactly where we’re at, but right now, he’s found a really solid role with [Geekie] and [Donato].”
According to Seattle’s coach, it was not necessarily how Sprong defended, but rather how he played up and down the ice and how he managed the level of risk versus reward in his game. “It means how detailed you are in what you’re doing without the puck, the defensive part, and how you’re fitting into the scheme with the other five guys on the rink.”
The Kraken coach had high praise for how hard Sprong has worked to get better in those areas and says that’s the reason he’s been in the lineup most nights.
Sprong was back to being a scratch Sunday against the Jets, and we suspect there’s a chance he could sit out again Thursday against the New York Rangers. But he earned his contract, earned his spot on the NHL roster, and earned playing time in the early parts of the season. Now, for Sprong, it’s just a matter of continuing to prove himself as a 200-foot player while maintaining his offensive production. If he does that, he soon could earn himself a permanent role in the Kraken lineup.
It’s a fun new episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, which dives right into a disappointing Seattle Kraken loss to the Winnipeg Jets this past Sunday. John, Andy, and Darren break down that game that ended in frustrating fashion after Carson Soucy took a bad retaliation penalty with 25 seconds left.
After moaning about that game for a bit, the guys consider what has been happening for the club in overtime, where it has been highly unsuccessful. They also consider Magnus Hellberg returning to the team, Gustav Olofsson swapping in for Cale Fleury, and the first live action of Seattle’s Reverse Retro jerseys.
This is a fun “.5” episode, featuring a one-on-one chat between Darren and BEST friend of the pod, Alison Lukan. It’s a very Kraken-centric discussion that really digs into what has been happening with the team lately.
Topics covered include the win streak, the loss to Minnesota, and what Jamie Oleksiak’s injury means for the defense corps. Additionally, Alison shares her thoughts on Seattle’s special teams, what the organization might need to do at the trade deadline, and who is her least favorite Sound Of Hockey host.
Finally, she shares opines on Buoy and talks about her own experiences of being a mascot.
On the latest episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, the guys consider an important rhetorical question, wondering which of the three hosts–John, Andy, or Darren–you, the listener dislikes. Once they’re done waxing poetic, they jump into Kraken talk, recapping Seattle’s last three games and discussing this current five-game win streak.
That talk leads to an interesting Hype-o-thetical about the Trade Deadline and how the Kraken might approach that.
Once they’re done with Kraken talk, the guys to a WHL Update, then dive into segments.
Segments this week feature Goalie Gear Corner, Bad Boys, Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
We bring you another round of Monday Musings, where we share a random collection of thoughts and observations about the last week from the hockey world with an emphasis on the Kraken and other Puget Sound teams. Enjoy.
Kraken thoughts
What a week for the Kraken?!?! Three regulation road game victories against some quality opponents. Each victory seemed to build on the previous one, and suddenly, the Kraken see themselves in second place in the Pacific Division and riding a franchise record four-game win streak. The Kraken now have 16 points in the standings over 13 games. Last season, they did not capture their 16th point until their 21st game of the season.
The boys will now play a six-game homestand that will take us right through Thanksgiving. They are currently 2-3-1 at Climate Pledge Arena versus 5-1-1 on the road. Let us hope they can get some CPA mojo and turn that home record around.
I’ve said this many times before, but this team is very different than last year’s team. The ability for this group to bounce back after something goes wrong has been remarkable. In Tuesday’s game against Calgary, the Kraken rallied from two goals down in the third after giving up two quick ones to the Flames. In the game against Pittsburgh on Saturday, Jake Guentzel scored an equalizer for the Penguins, but the Kraken bounced back with a Tanev goal with roughly three and a half minutes left. Those kinds of responses were few and far between last season.
One thing that has helped with the resilience is this team is scoring at a much higher rate than last year. The Kraken are averaging 3.46 goals per game compared to 2.63 last year. Goal scoring in the NHL is challenging, but last year it seemed as if the team would need to work so hard for every goal. Right now, it just seems like anyone out there can score. 19 of the 20 skaters that have drawn into the lineup have scored a goal.
The Shane Wright situation
The only skater to not score a goal is Shane Wright. Wright has the fewest minutes played among the 20 players with just under 57 minutes over his seven games. The challenge with getting Wright more minutes is the players that are drawing into the lineup are better NHL players than he is right now, being that he’s still just 18 years old. Morgan Geekie, Ryan Donato, and Daniel Sprong give the Kraken a better chance to win hockey games.
The other “problem” that is preventing Wright from drawing in more consistently is that the Kraken have been relatively healthy. Seattle has not had to dip into the Coachella Valley Firebirds for any skaters to date. Last year’s team had several injuries and COVID absences in the first part of the season. Colin Blackwell, Yanni Gourde, Calle Jarnkrok, and Jared McCann all missed several games in the first part of last season.
McCann being sidelined on Thursday and Saturday gave Wright the opportunity to not just play but play on the third line with Gourde and Tanev.
I have mentioned this several times on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, but assuming no injuries between now and early December, I imagine the Kraken will loan Wright to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship. This will give him the opportunity to play a couple weeks of logging high minutes of elite-level hockey. At the end of the tournament, he can then return to Seattle for rest of the season.
Other Kraken musings:
The Kraken’s depth is their strength. The Kraken lead the league in unique goal scorers with 19 players scoring at least one goal, but they are also tied for the league lead for unique players with at least two goals. There are 12 players with at least two goals, tied with the Kings and the Bruins.
One of the players with two goals or more is Morgan Geekie. After a challenging start to the season, Geekie finds himself firmly grasping the fourth-line center position, and he will head into Tuesday’s game on a four-game point streak, a career high.
The Kraken will still have a roster decision to make once Joonas Donskoi comes back from injured reserve. From what I have heard, he is not expected back any time soon.
I was asked several times this week “Who has been the best player on the team this season?” I don’t think there is a best player on the team. I feel McCann, Jaden Schwartz, and Matty Beniers could all have a case at one time this season, but people are contributing all over the place and that’s been the key to the success this year.
Andre Burakovsky is tied with Schwartz for the team lead in points, but despite the points, he has another level that we will see soon enough. He is an elite goal scorer, and his current shooting percentage is only 8.3 percent, which is a career low.
After no points in his first six games, Gourde has seven points in his last six games including factoring in all three goals Saturday night against the Penguins.
Coachella notes
The Coachella Valley Firebirds residency in Seattle is officially over, as they fly south to establish their presence in the Valley. It was fun to see them around KCI, and that should create a consistent culture between the two teams. The games I have seen live or on AHL.tv were all entertaining, and I will be looking forward to making a trip down to see them in their barn.
The Firebirds capped off their residency with a split of two games against the Abbotsford Canucks over the weekend. Saturday night’s Firebirds win featured a hat trick by former Kelowna Rocket, Kole Lind. Lind now leads the team with six goals in eight games.
Second in goal scoring for the Firebirds is Jesper Froden. Froden was named the AHL Player of the Month in October.
Yanni Gourde – Yanni had five points over the last three games and was a huge reason the Kraken went 3-0 over the last week. One of the most critical points was his short-handed goal that tied the game up against the Flames on Tuesday night.
Erik Karlsson – He had eight points over the Sharks’ last three games including his first career hat trick on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
Martin Jones – He had two of the three Kraken wins over this past week including his first shutout with Seattle against the Minnesota Wild. Jones has a .967 save percentage in his last three games and has given Kraken fans a sense of optimism for the goaltending this season.
On the docket
Nashville Predators – Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Climate Pledge Arena
Heading into the season, I thought the Predators were one of the teams the Kraken would need to challenge for a playoff spot. This team is tough to figure out; they are rolling into Seattle with a bit of a hot streak, having beaten the Flames and Canucks, but prior to those games they lost two lopsided contests to the Oilers and Capitals.
Predators current record: 5-6-1
Players to watch:
Tanner Jeannot – hits everything in site and can put the puck in the net. He is the type of player you hate if he is playing against you but love if he is on your team. Regardless, he is entertaining.
Filip Forsberg – easily the best chimney sweeper in the league with an outstanding shot. His snipe last year at CPA is etched into my memory.
Minnesota Wild – Friday, Nov. 11, at Climate Pledge Arena
After an embarrassing 4-0 loss at home to the Kraken last Thursday, the Wild will be looking to return the favor at CPA. It is hard to get a read on how good the Wild are this year, as they have been rather inconsistent through their first 11 games. Most of the media had them pegged as a playoff team, but with the emergence of Winnipeg, there could be some doubt.
Wild current record: 5-5-1
Players to watch:
Matt Boldy – I mentioned him last week, but I am going to double down and mention him again. The 21-year-old winger was kept off the score sheet against the Kraken but still created some chances and clearly has a bright future in the NHL.
Connor Dewar – he played four years with the Everett Silvertips and is now in his first full season with the Wild after splitting last season between the NHL and AHL. He is relegated to the fourth line, but it is always fun seeing former local WHLers playing in the NHL.
Winnipeg Jets – Sunday, Nov. 13, at Climate Pledge Arena
The Jets have gotten off to a sneaky good start to the season and will find themselves in a playoff spot if they can keep this up. If they cool off a bit, the Jets and Kraken could be fighting for a Wild Card position in March.
Jets current record: 7-3-1
Players to watch:
Connor Hellebuyck – despite being one of the best US goalies in the NHL right now, Hellebuyck still flies under the radar. He already has two shutouts and has a save percentage of .936. The Jets will be playing the night before, so it is possible we see David Rittich between the pipes on Sunday.
Cole Perfetti – This 21-year-old first-round draft pick from 2020 is entering his first full season in the NHL. He is currently centering the second line with Pierre-Luc Dobois and Blake Wheeler and has seven points over 11 games.
The Seattle Kraken grew their win streak to a franchise-best four straight games Saturday night with a 3-2 win against the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Of the four wins in the streak, Saturday’s was the most dramatic.
Facing a Pittsburgh team that lost its previous six games (0-5-1), the Kraken absorbed an early onslaught, got timely scoring, and 36 Martin Jones saves to pick up two more standings points.
“The goaltending has been really good throughout this road trip,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “It started with Joey [Daccord] in Calgary, Jonesy picked right up where he left off from his home performance a week ago. So, you have to have to have that for a chance to have success on the road, especially in a game like this. You know, [Jones’s] performance is critical for us.”
It was a former Penguin who struck the ultimate blow for the Kraken. Tied at 2-2 late in the third period, Brandon Tanev was parked in the slot when Yanni Gourde got the puck to him at 16:21 for Tanev’s second goal of the season.
“Obviously, that’s great for me, but I think it’s more important that the team got all six points on this road trip,” Tanev said. “That’s the mindset and the goal we had setting out to this road trip, and the three games we played, we beat three good teams.”
Gourde had a goal and two assists, and Morgan Geekie had two assists for the Kraken (7-4-2) who swept all three games of the trip.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and picked up his 900th career assist while Jake Guentzel had a goal with an assist for the Penguins (4-6-2), who lost to Seattle for the second time in a week. Tristan Jarry made 25 saves in defeat.
The Penguins opened the scoring when Guentzel found Crosby in the high slot at 5:24 of the second period.
Vince Dunn tied the game 1-1 at 7:48 after a Gourde faceoff win. Dunn took two strides and leaned into a slapper that beat Jarry through traffic for his second goal of the year.
Gourde would give the Kraken a lead when Geekie backhanded a pass that hit Tanev’s shin and bounced to Gourde in front of the net.
“You create your own luck,” Gourde said. “Most of the time it doesn’t work, but tonight it worked. We defended pretty well, Jonesy had an incredible night, there were big blocks in front of him as well, [Carson] Soucy played a great game tonight.”
Penguins came out hard
Desperate for a win, the Penguins were flying in the first period. They earned two power-play chances and flung 13 shots at Jones but none got past him. After the initial push, the Kraken did create their own chances and had righted the ship.
“We bent but we didn’t break and that’s the biggest thing. We spent a lot of time in our in our D-zone tonight,” Hakstol said. “But we expected them to come hard and they did. We had to survive a couple extended shifts in our zone. We weren’t able to close as quick and as well as we would like. Give them a lot of credit as well, they made it hard on us.”
After struggling earlier in the season, the Kraken penalty kill was perfect again, not allowing a Penguins goal in three power-play attempts.
“We’re playing fast on the penalty kill,” Gourde said. “We’re trying to kill plays fast and we’re bearing down on the clears. That’s a big part. When those clears don’t go out you give them extra life.”
Tentacle Tales
Kraken forward Jared McCann was out again due to a lower-body injury.
Geekie extended his point streak to four straight games (three goals, two assists).
Seattle has beaten Pittsburgh three times, joining the San Jose Sharks and the Buffalo Sabres as the only other teams the Kraken have defeated thrice in franchise history.
Shane Wright played his seventh game of the season and had 8:42 of ice time. What kept him from having more? His first NHL penalty, a holding call, in the first period.
Seattle returns home on Tuesday when they host the Nashville Predators at Climate Pledge Arena.
