There’s been a lot happening in the hockey world this past week, and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here to bring you up to speed. From the Seattle Thunderbirds continuing their run deep in the WHL playoffs to the three remaining second-round NHL playoff series, John, Andy, and Darren will fill you in on all that has transpired.
NHL topics discussed include, but are not limited to:
The Kraken reportedly (but unofficially) signing Samuel Bucek.
The Flames and Oilers both giving up hilarious goals.
The Panthers getting swept
Name Kadri turning from villain to hero.
Segments this week include Hype-o-theticals, Weekly One-Timers, Tweets of the Week, and Three Stars.
Episode 188 is here, and there are conversations to be had about all levels of hockey, from the WHL to the AHL to the NHL.
At the AHL level, the Charlotte Checkers are alive and well and are heading into the second… er… third round of the Calder Cup playoffs. In the WHL, the Seattle Thunderbirds have reached the Western Conference Championship Series and will take on the Kamloops Blazers. And at the NHL level, the second round of the playoffs is now underway.
Looking back on the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Sound Of Hockey Podcast discusses the onslaught of Game 7’s that happened last week and the many wonders of Jake Oettinger (among other topics).
Eventually, John, Andy, and Darren will shift to segments, which this week include Weekly One-Timers, Tweets of the Week, and Three Stars.
Are you a fan of lottery balls whipping around a plastic receptacle? Do you like watching the NHL’s Deputy Commissioner awkwardly hold up placards with team logos on them? Then the NHL Draft Lottery is for you.
The 2022 version of the NHL Draft Lottery takes place Tuesday night at 3:30 Pacific and will be televised on ESPN. Admittedly, it’s not the most enthralling television, but it will let us all know what pick the Seattle Kraken will end up with for July’s NHL Draft. Thanks to Seattle’s third-period collapse in Winnipeg in the season’s last game, the Kraken ended up with the third worst record meaning they have a 11.5 percent chance of landing the top pick and will select no later than fifth.
With the regulation loss to the Jets, the #SeaKraken lock in the 3rd spot in the NHL Draft Lottery. Here are the odds of the Kraken's first round draft pick. pic.twitter.com/dy5M2btzoP
No matter where Seattle ends up, general manager Ron Francis has a shot at landing a quality player and maybe even a guy who will report straight to Kraken Community Iceplex and play in year one.
But who are these guys and who should the Kraken pick at each possible spot?
Here is a look at five potential new Kraken prospects.
With the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Kraken select…
Shane Wright, F, Kingston Frontenacs – OHL
6-foot-1, 185 pounds
This is a no-brainer. Wright will be the first pick taken overall. Every now and then an article pops up asking if Logan Cooley or some other prospect is ‘closing the gap,’ but those articles are trying to make the race seem interesting. The race is over, and if Seattle wins Tuesday’s lotto, Wright will be playing for the Kraken this fall.
Wright applied for and was granted exceptional status to play in the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year-old due to his advanced skill. He scored 39 goals as a rookie in 2019-20 while turning 16 in January of that season. He proved worthy of the exceptional status and this past season scored 32 goals but added 28 more assists than that rookie campaign, as he’s now a more complete player.
Last spring, at 16 years old, he was with Team Canada at the IIHF U18 World Championship. With COVID canceling seasons, the tournament was loaded with older draft prospects, and Wright scored nine times and had 14 points in five games. He is NHL ready.
With the second overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Kraken select…
Logan Cooley, F, USNTDP
5-foot-10, 174 pounds
Speed and skill are the highlights of Cooley’s game, and the Kraken will jump at the Pittsburgh product if they land the second overall pick. Committed to play at the University of Minnesota next season, Cooley is a dynamic offensive player who can be a game changer.
Is Logan Cooley ready for the NHL in his first year after being drafted? (Rena Laverty / USA Hockey’s NTDP.)
Playing with the U.S. National Team Development Program, he’s scored 40 goals and 71 assists in 75 games. He played for the U.S. at the recently completed U18’s and rang up 10 points in six games. Cooley has the speed and skill to draw defenders in, allowing him to find wide-open teammates.
Can he play in the NHL right away? He’s not the biggest player in the world so it may depend on how much strength he adds this summer and how he performs at a prospect camp in July. By comparison, Montreal’s Cole Caufield is listed at 5-foot-7 and 166 pounds which is shorter and lighter than Cooley. Caufield just completed his first full NHL season and scored 23 goals.
With the third overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Kraken select…
Juraj Slafkovsky, F, TPS (Finland)
6-foot-4, 218 pounds
Slafkovsky raised eyebrows when he scored seven goals for the Slovakian team at the Bejing Winter Olympics. That performance has skyrocketed him up the draft ranks, and he is generally considered a top-five prospect.
He has size and a diverse set of skills that makes him a threat on nearly every shift. He can shoot and has a nose for the goal but also has shown that he can distribute the puck. His big frame could allow him to play right away, and he has spent most of this season playing in the pro Liiga in Finland for TPS. He has five goals and ten points with TPS which doesn’t jump off the page, but this is a contending team with older, veteran players. Will his abilities translate to the NHL?
With the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Kraken select…
Matthew Savoie, F, Winnipeg ICE – WHL
5-foot-9, 178 pounds
Savoie had a spectacular season for the ICE who are currently tearing their way into the Eastern Conference finals in the WHL playoffs. Savoie’s arrival has been much anticipated and while COVID forced him to play in the USHL last year, he has not disappointed this year. He piled up 90 points on 35 goals and 55 assists in 65 games during the regular season.
Top prospect for the #2022NHLDraft Matthew Savoie scored a pair of goals for Winnipeg last night, bringing him to 11 goals and 21 assists in just 20 games. Kid can shoot it. pic.twitter.com/Hn1hE3fLwT
He can do a little bit of everything and do it well. He can skate, pass, and shoot which keeps opposing defenses on their heels. Savoie is on the smaller side, making it unclear if he’s ready for the NHL in year one. Skill-wise he’s there, and he has shown that he can play a bigger game with some high-end savvy, so he could have a shot.
With the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Kraken select…
Simon Nemec, D, Nitra – Slovakia
6-foot-1, 192 pounds
Widely considered the top defenseman in this year’s draft, if he’s there at five, Seattle should take him. He has 16 assists this season with Nitra in the Slovakian league and passing the puck is considered his strongest asset.
Scouts don’t consider him a guy who will dazzle with end-to-end rushes up the ice, but he sees the ice well and can distribute the puck. He’s most likely not NHL ready in year one and would either play another year overseas or would need some development time playing the North American game.
The Seattle Kraken season is now officially over. The games have been played, the lockers have been cleaned out, and the end-of-conference press conferences have been had. On this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, John, Andy, and Darren will bring you up to date on all the last tidbits of the franchise’s inaugural season.
Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are also now in full swing, which means this show moving toward the offseason is going to shift back to its roots as a general hockey podcast. The biggest piece of general hockey news from this past week just so happened to be Louie Domingue’s in-game meal for Game 1 of Pittsburgh’s series against the Rangers, so that gets plenty of discussion.
After diving into Domingue’s culinary choices, the guys shift to a Mailbag from listeners, which covers several different Kraken-related topics.
Finally, the show moves to segments, which this week include You Don’t See That Every Day, Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
The Seattle Kraken were back at the Kraken Community Iceplex this week. After they wrapped up their first season Sunday in Winnipeg, it was time Monday and Tuesday to pack up their belongings from their lockers before heading back to their summer homes. Clean out day had a “last day of school” feel, although instead of making sure everyone got their yearbooks signed, the players met with the media and had exit interviews with general manager Ron Francis and coach Dave Hakstol.
“There are some underlying themes that we want to take advantage of over the summer and that we want to have the right mindset for coming back in training camp,” Hakstol said about the exit interviews. “But the majority of this time of year, two days after the end of the regular season, it’s a couple of key points for each individual that will likely lead to further conversation over the summer.”
While Hakstol wasn’t keen to share the details he discussed with certain players, there were noticeable themes from the players that met with the media.
To a man, there was a disappointment in how the season played out.
“It’s always mixed feelings,” defenseman Adam Larsson said. “We’ve had a long year emotionally and we didn’t get the result we wanted, so that was tough. But with that said, I think everybody has really enjoyed the time here and just seeing everything with the fans, how they pushed us for the whole year, even on tough stretches.”
Adam Larsson was impressed with Seattle Kraken fans in year one. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Larsson’s last point about the fans was another theme that ran through the two days.
Despite the record and place in the standings, Kraken fans showed up all season. No matter what the score was, the building was packed and the fans were loud. It’s a remarkable connection between a city and a sports franchise.
It’s an easy pop for an athlete to praise the local fans, but it was so persuasive this week that you couldn’t help but feel the Kraken players were genuine in their appreciation they had for their fanbase.
“The biggest highlight for me is just, obviously, the fans,” Jordan Eberle said. “They were unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve played in front of a fanbase that just really got behind the team through wins and losses. That was the biggest thing. I mean, I’ve been at teams where fans have been amazing, but you lose and it goes the other way, and they didn’t do that here. I think they’re so excited to have a team, we want to try and win for them.”
Feelings of optimism for coming season
The team found some consistency over the second half of the season. There were still struggles, but the second-half improvement has the team feeling positive about what’s to come.
“First season is behind us,” Yanni Gourde said. “It’s not something we can just forget about it, we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to move forward and we’re gonna get better from past experience, and that’s what we’re gonna do next year. We’re gonna come in, we know each other, we know what works, we know what doesn’t work, we’re gonna move forward and get better every single day.”
It’s easy to be optimistic days after the season ended. Seattle’s record is back to 0-0-0 and nobody is going to predict more losing.
Kraken forward Yanni Gourde is optimistic about season two. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
But the Seattle players had some reason for that optimism.
Part of it was the way the team played over the later part of the season and that when they reconvene for training camp in September, they won’t have to spend as much time learning each other. There’s also the promise and expectation of roster improvements this summer from either trades or free agent acquisitions.
“I think every year you want to make the playoffs and that’s our goal.” Francis said. “Our goal is to get better each and every year. [From] starting the year to the end of the year we got better and we’ll continue that next year. It’s not an easy league but we certainly want to add the pieces we think will give us a chance to contend for the playoffs next year for sure.”
The arrival of rookie Matty Beniers also helps with the optimism.
Seattle’s first ever draft pick, taken second overall during the 2020 NHL Draft, arrived after the University of Michigan was eliminated at the NCAA Frozen Four. He played just ten games, but his impact was noticeable, and in a short time he scored nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) to start his career.
Veteran players were impressed, Hakstol and Francis were impressed, and now the challenge for the 19-year-old will be to handle the rigors of a full 82-game season.
“I’m expecting a little bit more intensity next season going against guys,” Beniers said. “I think it was good to get my toes wet and see what kind of game it is, see how fast it is and the physicality of it and get a little confidence that I can play here and contribute to the team.”
Kraken goalies looking for more consistency
Part of the second-half turnaround was the play of goalies Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger. The tandem struggled early to mesh with the system, and that led to some ugly goals against.
The consistency started to come together as the season went on, however, and if that trend can continue, the Kraken will have more confidence in the guys in net.
“I think after Christmas, that’s where we started to feel comfortable with each other,” Grubauer said. “It’s not just the defense. It’s the goalies too, it’s the forwards as well. It’s a whole team effort usually and we played some incredible games and obviously some games we need to improve, but I think next year the goal is to find that consistency.”
Grubauer and Driedger will have to find that consistency with a new goalie coach. Francis began his press conference by stating that Andrew Allen’s contract with the club would not be renewed beyond this season. The timing of the announcement was interesting because Allen had been spotted on the ice working with Grubauer earlier in the day. It also wasn’t entirely surprising, though, after the mixed results for the netminders that Allen oversaw this season.
Both goalies still have hockey to play this year, which is why Grubauer was on the ice with Allen and Larsson Tuesday. Grubauer will be heading to Finland to play for Germany in the IIHF World Championship, while Driedger will represent Team Canada. Both praised the other and got along but may have to face each other in international play this summer.
Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer will be playing for Team Germany this spring. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Kraken will add a top prospect
By finishing with the third worst record in the NHL, Seattle can do no worse than the fifth overall pick at the NHL Draft Lottery on May 10. That should yield another top prospect into the system.
“We acquired some draft capital,” Francis said of the team’s many moves at the NHL Trade Deadline. “So that gives us the opportunity to look at different things. Whether it’s moving picks for potential players and trades with teams that are up against the cap and it allows us maybe to parlay those picks and move up higher in the draft. Based on where we finished, we’re going to pick one through five and we might be able to get a guy in the draft that can step in and play in our lineup next year.”
Firebirds are a go
After splitting their AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers with the Florida Panthers, Seattle will have its own affiliate next season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. That means that Francis and the Kraken will have to fill all the coaching and support staff for that team to play next season.
Francis also indicated that because the Firebirds arena won’t be ready at the beginning of the AHL season, the team could start in Seattle. That could mean practices at the Kraken Community Iceplex and also some early games being played locally.
The Kraken are still working out the details on where those games would be played but they’re hoping it would be at Climate Pledge Arena.
The NHL regular season is winding down, and the Seattle Kraken are closing in on a top-five pick in the NHL Draft, thanks to several recent organic losses. In this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, John, Andy, and Darren recap the last few Kraken games up through Tuesday’s loss to the Vancouver Canucks. In fact, they began recording this episode just minutes after that game ended.
After plenty of Kraken talk, you’ll get a WHL Update from WHL correspondent, Andy Eide. Then you’ll get a Western Conference playoff picture update from John.
After that, Darren surprises the guys with an unexpected “Let’s Get Quizzical.”
Following Quizzical, the guys transition to Weekly One-Timers, Then Tweets of the Week and SOH’s Three Stars.
