Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. Last Saturday, Seattle Kraken vice president and assistant general manager Ryan Jankowski sat down with with Kraken Hockey Network for a wide-ranging conversation on Kraken prospects. We will dig into the insights he passed along, before updating Kraken prospects named to World Juniors rosters. Of course, we’ll also pass on all of the Kraken prospect news, video, and data you could want, plus our weekly game preview.
If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect–related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey. Let’s dive in.
Assistant general manager Ryan Jankowksi emphasizes adversity and competitiveness in Kraken prospect development
Ryan Jankowksi is the new manager at the top of the Kraken player development operation this season. Last Saturday, he joined the KHN pregame show and provided some insights into his player development priorities and early Kraken prospect impressions. While the conversation stayed fairly general—as it should—a number of interesting points emerged. You can watch the full interview below.
The most robust conversation centered on a new player development pathway that opened this year for aspiring NHL players: moving from junior hockey to play in the NCAA. (We explained the background of this change here.)
When asked about Kraken prospects Ollie Josephson and Clarke Caswell making this move this year, Jankowksi conceded “this was uncharted territory for everyone, so we weren’t sure how it was going to go. The adjustment has been there for both guys, but it’s been really positive for them because it’s another level of hockey. It’s a bit faster. It’s a little bit older. They’re adjusting very well and having success as a result.”
When asked whether the organization has encouraged its younger junior players to pursue this transition, or will do so in the future, Jankowksi said, “The one thing you have to keep in mind is they’re unsigned players.” (This is because players signed to NHL contracts are still ineligible for NCAA hockey.) “They’ve got to make the decision for themselves. We can’t really get too involved. Obviously, they’ll consult with us, they’ll ask our thoughts, but they have to do what’s best for them.”
Jankowksi continued, explaining that each development path has its advantages and disadvantages, and that the best course may be player-specific. “For us, every opportunity is a good opportunity, whether it’s staying in the [Western Hockey League] as a 19-year-old, playing a ton of minutes, being the go-to offensive guy, or making this adjustment [to college hockey]. So, at the end of the day, . . . every opportunity is different and it’s a different path for every player.”
That said, what he likes about the college option is the opportunity for young, talented junior players to experience challenge and failure earlier in their careers. “What we want to see is a little bit of adversity because there’s going to be adversity when they get to professional hockey,” Jankowski said.
As for the specific players who made the jump, Jankowski said of Josephson: “One thing that Ollie Josephson mentioned is that they don’t play as many games, so he’s had to get used to that. But over the last couple of weeks, Ollie’s taken a really nice step.” About Caswell, Jankowski said: “Clarke was able to jump in right away on a really talented Denver team and play a really good role because he is skilled, creates offense, and is a really smart player.”
When talking about other players in the organization, Jankowksi often returned to another theme: competitiveness. Of 2025 seventh-round pick Loke Krantz, Jankowksi said: “He’s been a bit of a surprise for us, but he’s done a really nice job getting himself to this point with hard work and competitiveness.”
Jankowksi said about 2024 second-rounder Nathan Villeneuve: “[He] brings a lot of physicality. He’s kind of a pit bull. He brings a lot of energy, he’s really good in the battles, he’s the team captain, so he’s bringing his team into the fight every night, which is important for [Sudbury] because they’re fighting for some wins.”
Finally, Jankowski highlighted the youth movement in Coachella Valley: “The one thing that’s different this year is there [are] so many young players. I was at a game this year where four of the defensemen had a total of nine American Hockey League games [of experience between them]. So, it’s a total shift from basically winning every night to now this path of development for the organization with young players, and they’re handling it very well. [Vice president of hockey and business operations] Troy Bodie and [Coachella Valley Firebirds head coach] Derek Laxdal do a tremendous job. You’re going to have ups and downs. You’re not going to win every game, and the emphasis is on development, but they are winning games as a part of it [too].”
O’Brien, Miettinen, Saarinen named to World Juniors rosters
As of our last Kraken prospect update, Team Canada and Team Finland had not yet announced their World Juniors rosters, but we projected forward Jake O’Brien to Canada and forward Julius Miettinen and goalie Kim Saarinen to Team Finland. In the week since, both Canada and Finland have announced their rosters, and, as expected, those players were included.
With Berkly Catton sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury (to his hand after blocking a shot), he is now very unlikely to join Team Canada. This may open the door to a top-nine and power-play role on Team Canada for O’Brien. I’m hopeful he gets that look, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is used sparingly.
Miettinen and Saarinen return to the Team Finland roster after also attending last year’s event. Miettinen projects as a key all-situations contributor for the Lions, while Saarinen will likely begin as the backup goaltender. His recent solid play in Liiga may make it a closer call than it appeared a few weeks back, though.
Notes on three more Kraken prospects
Tyson Jugnauth | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
With five points in four AHL games over the last week, Tyson Jugnauth is your Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week. His ability to transport and pass the puck has shined in the open ice available on the power play or in overtime—and he is being featured in those situations. He has shown offensive play-driving skill at 5-on-5 as well, with the ability to outlet the puck, dissect the offensive zone with passes, and walk the blue line. The defensive skills are taking incremental steps too, though they remain an area for development. While older than most, he leads all AHL rookie blueliners in total points (18) and assists (14).
Nathan Villeneuve | F | Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Villeneuve’s season is flying a bit under the radar, but he is doing everything you would hope a high-drafted 19-year-old junior player would. He’s the captain and emotional leader of his team, as Jankowski mentioned, plays in all situations, and his 1.59 points per game ranks seventh in the OHL. The offensive production is encouraging for a player who has also demonstrated pro-level grit and grind during his playoff stint with Coachella Valley last season. A strong pro future is looking more and more certain for Villeneuve.
Visa Vedenpää | G | Kärpät (Liiga)
Vedenpää has not appeared in a game in nearly a month, last appearing on Nov. 15. I do not believe there is an injury involved because Vedenpää has dressed as the backup for Kärpät in each game since. It is likely that the team views him as a true backup at this stage, which is fair given his modest production this season. But it is a reminder of the development challenges that playing in a professional league overseas can present. At a certain point, Vedenpää’s development is better served by drawing regular starts at a lower level, but Kärpät believes it is in the team’s best interest to keep him as the backup.
Kraken prospects data update
Forward Ben MacDonald had a standout weekend for the Harvard Crimson, scoring one goal and adding two assists.
Logan Morrison and Jagger Firkus are tied for ninth in the AHL with 11 goals apeice.
Saarinen continued his solid play last week, posting a .920 save percentage in two starts. HPK lost both games, though, with the offense generating only two goals in those games.
With a few more solid appearances last week, Nikke Kokko edged his save percentage over .900 for this first time this season.
Highlight of the Week
With a slow-skating “assist” from Jacob Melanson, Firebirds center Oscar Fisker Mølgaard scored on a breakaway against the Calgary Wranglers on Thursday, Nov. 11.
Speaking of which, the Firebirds played two consecutive games against the Wranglers and goalie Owen Say. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, Say shut out the Firebirds on 43 shots on goal. Then, on Dec. 11, the Kraken scored five goals on 11 shots knocking Say out of the game en route to a 7-4 win. Hockey is weird like that sometimes. Hey, hey, whaddya… Say? (I’ll see myself out.)
The Deep Sea Hockey Games of the Week are matchups between Barrett Hall’s St. Cloud State Huskies and Clarke Caswell’s Denver Pioneers on Friday, Dec. 12, at 5:00 pm PT, and Saturday, Dec. 13, at 4:00 pm PT. The games are available to stream with a subscription to NCHC.tv.
Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Ilia Morozov
The 6-foot-3 Russian-born Ilia Morozov has rapidly risen prospect rankings this year with a productive NCAA season for Miami University. At 17 years old, he leads all first-time draft-eligible college hockey players with seven goals (Gavin McKenna has only four goals). Morozov is third in total points among first-time eligibles. Corey Pronman of The Athletic had Morozov as the No. 16 overall prospect in his most recent draft rankings. Even if his stock cools a bit, his scoring ability and size makes him a likely top-50 pick.
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
While an atmospheric river continues to pound the Pacific Northwest, Seattle Kraken fans can take solace in the fact that Losing Streak Camille (that’s what we began calling it on the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast episode) has finally ended.
The Kraken rallied back in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, tying the Los Angeles Kings 2-2 on a Matty Beniers redirection with 26 seconds remaining in the third, then getting an overtime power-play goal from Vince Dunn to end a six-game skid that started with a 1-0 shootout loss at the New York Islanders on Nov. 23.
“I thought it was awesome, just the fight from our group,” Joey Daccord said. “We’ve competed so hard these last couple weeks, and it just hasn’t gone our way.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a thrilling 3-2 Kraken comeback win over the Kings.
Takeaway #1: Late-game heroics
The Kraken penalty kill has definitely gotten better now that the team has switched from the wedge plus one to a diamond formation, which seems to have eliminated the ever-present too-easy seam pass. The PK did allow one off a rush on Wednesday, though, and it came at a bad time with the game tied and five minutes remaining in the third period.
Ryker Evans took a four-minute double-minor for high sticking Corey Perry, and Anze Kopitar quickly sent Kevin Fiala on a partial breakaway, on which Fiala converted for what felt like the winning goal at the time.
But the Kraken didn’t give up. Back on the power play themselves and with Daccord off for an extra skater, Eeli Tolvanen sent a shot-pass toward the top of the crease that Matty Beniers redirected into the top corner.
“Matty’s goal, there, there’s not much to it,” Dunn said. “It’s throwing the puck where guys are going to the net, and eventually it’s going to go in for us.”
Beniers then cut hard to the net in the overtime period and drew a penalty on Adrian Kempe, which gave Seattle its seventh power play of the game. Tolvanen contributed again, laying a perfect pass into Dunn’s wheelhouse.
HE DUNN DID IT! 🚨
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE OUT, THEY PULL YOU… BACK IN!
Beniers ties the game with 26 seconds left, then draws a penalty. On the ensuing power play, Vince Dunn wins it with a bomb.
“It’s not anything special drawn up,” Dunn said. “It’s just taking the shot that’s there and hoping good things happen.”
The game-winning goal was Dunn’s third point of the game and Tolvanen’s second assist in just over two minutes between the third period and OT.
Takeaway #2: Jared McCann scores, gets hurt again
Jared McCann, who recently returned from a 17-game absence due to a lower-body injury, looked like vintage Jared McCann in this game and scored a power-play banger (all three goals came on the power play for the Kraken, which also gave up a short-handed goal seconds after it failed to convert on a 5-on-3, but that’s neither here nor here) to open the scoring at 3:21 of the second period.
MCCANN CAN! 🚨
Great setup, and a vintage Jared McCann finish for the power-play goal.
But the play that put Seattle onto a 6-on-4 power play and led to the late tying goal also sent McCann to the locker room with what looked like another bad lower-body injury.
Goalie Anton Forsberg got caught behind the net and went scrambling to get back in his crease. When he did, his right pad tangled with McCann’s left leg and took the Kraken’s best scorer down in an awkward way.
As Seattle headed to the all-important manpower advantage on the ice, McCann was helped down the tunnel and not putting much weight on his left leg.
After McCann’s mysterious lower-body injury dragged on for much of the beginning of the season, and as Jaden Schwartz, Berkly Catton, Matt Murray, and Tye Kartye (illness) all try to work their way back from various ailments, seeing McCann go down was the last thing the Kraken wanted.
Lane Lambert did not have an update after the game.
Takeaway #3: The Kraken needed that win
During the losing streak, the Kraken genuinely played some very good games—except for the two against the Edmonton Oilers, who steamrolled them twice. They had a chance to win every other game of the stretch but found different ways to lose those.
“We’ve had some losses here, some tough losses at home, where we’ve played well,” Lambert said. “We were playing well again tonight, and I’m just happy for our players that they finally got rewarded for it, because they’ve been working.”
With the win, the Kraken stopped the bleeding in the standings, at least for now. They had quickly plummeted from second place all the way down to sixth in the Pacific Division and appeared to be headed for tank. While they remain firmly outside the bubble, they’re still just two points out with games in hand on everybody.
Now, if they want to remain competitive in the coming months, they need to use this miraculous victory as a jumping-off point to start rebuilding their belief in themselves.
Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, and McCann exiting once again makes things even harder. But at least Losing Streak Camille is a thing of the past.
Going into Saturday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Seattle Kraken were riding a four-game losing streak, capped by an embarrassing 9–4 drubbing by the Edmonton Oilers just two nights earlier. The team had been sliding down the Pacific Division standings, and it felt like one of those “must-win” games to stop the bleeding, at least temporarily. As you probably know by now, the Kraken came up short again, dropping another one in regulation despite a mostly solid effort.
They now sit sixth in the Pacific after being as high as second just two weeks ago. It feels like the team is in a full-on death spiral and drifting toward irrelevance again. But is it really that dire? No, not quite. If you’re in “must-win” territory in December, the problems run deeper than standings position.
When you sort the division by point percentage, the Kraken are actually fourth, and they’ve played the fewest games in the league. Is there reason for concern? Absolutely. But if you’d offered this position in the standings before the season started, most fans probably would’ve signed up for it on the spot.
The real anchor this week was that Oilers game, giving up nine goals, including four on the power play. That set a franchise record for most goals allowed in a single outing, and if not for a last-second Jani Nyman tally, it would’ve matched their worst-ever goal differential too. If you could magically erase that one from memory, the narrative around this losing streak would look a little different.
A sign of some offense?
For as rough as the week felt, the Kraken did show some signs of life offensively. Seven goals in two games isn’t exactly fireworks, but compare that to the two goals they mustered over the previous three games. Their 74 and 77 shot attempts against the Oilers and Red Wings, respectively, are actually their top two totals of the season.
Vince Dunn summed things up well when he talked to Piper Shaw after the 4–3 loss to Detroit: “I think we’re finally fixing the things that we weren’t doing so well, and then now we’re maybe slipping a little bit with the things that we were doing so well. So it’s about balance right now and battling through the adversity that we’re going through.”
Now, it’s only a two-game sample, so we can’t exactly call it a trend. But in a week where silver linings were scarce, the uptick in shot volume does stand out. If they can pair that with the defensive structure we saw early in the season, maybe they can pull themselves out of this skid.
Face-off possession challenges
Face-offs continue to be an issue for the Kraken, and more specifically, what happens after the actual draw. The league doesn’t publicly track post-face-off possession, so I usually use shot attempts within 10 seconds of a face-off as a proxy. By that measure, Seattle ranks 28th in the NHL with 6.7 face-off shot attempts per game, and they sit 26th in allowing face-off attempts against. Not ideal.
I am not sure if anyone caught it but several times in the Detroit game Kraken head coach Lane Lambert sent out Freddy Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson together for a face-off to increase their chances of possession and to have a true center available in case the first one got booted out of the circle.
Other musings
Seattle scored two rebound goals in that same game, giving them 10 on the season, which is tied for eighth in the league. That’s one of the perks of actually getting pucks to the net.
The Kraken are the only team in the Pacific Division that hasn’t scored six or more goals in a game this season, something they did 10 times last year.
With Freddy Gaudreau scoring on Thursday, Berkly Catton is now the lone forward on the roster without a goal. The good news: he’s generated more shot attempts in his last five games than in any other five-game stretch this season. The bad news, though, is that the team announced he will miss a week with an upper-body injury. We believe the injury came on his third-period shot block against the Red Wings.
Catton will not be loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship this month. The Jaden Schwartz injury seems to have shifted the calculus there, and plus, Catton is now injured.
Speaking of Schwartz… I’ll probably keep saying this for the next month, but the Kraken really miss him, especially on the power play.
It’s been a hot topic on this site and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, but the penalty kill has been rough lately. Here’s a look at the numbers over the last 10 games.
There’s been a lot of chatter about Shane Wright’s ice time. What I do know is that it’s not as simple as “just play him more.” My hunch is that Lambert doesn’t fully trust Wright in face-off situations, and with the Kraken killing penalties more often lately, that matters. That’s speculation, sure—but it’s rooted in the data.
On the topic of uneducated ranting, I’m a little surprised Philipp Grubauer hasn’t gotten a start recently (he will start Monday against Minnesota). Joey Daccord has had more than a couple games where he hasn’t looked particularly sharp, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to give him a breather. Grubauer has looked good enough to at least get a turn in the net.
I really love Adam Larsson goals.
29 ➡️ 6 ➡️ 🚨
and with the assist on Adam Larsson’s goal, Vince Dunn has officially tallied his 300th @NHL point! Congrats, Dunner 👏 pic.twitter.com/vA6REEB6Ko
The Kraken haven’t scored the first goal in five straight games—and they’ve lost all five.
After a slow start to the season, the Coachella Valley Firebirds have turned things around, going 7-2-1 over their last 10. As is usually the case in the AHL, the scoring is coming from a mix of vets and young prospects. Jagger Firkus has 11 goals in 21 games, and Ben Meyers has nine in just 11.
Congrats to 2025 first-round pick Jake O’Brien on being invited to Canada’s World Junior camp. O’Brien leads the OHL with 45 points this season.
Goal of the week
Seattle’s 2022 sixth-round pick, Barrett Hall, scored a slick shorthanded goal against North Dakota over the weekend. He’s now up to seven goals halfway through the season, already matching his total from 2024–25.
— St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_MH) December 6, 2025
Player performances
Ben Meyers (CVF/SEA) – Meyers had four points in three games this week and has picked up at least one point in every game he’s played for Coachella Valley this season.
Semyon Vyazovoi (SYU/SEA) – The Kraken’s sixth-round pick from 2021 posted a .913 save percentage over three games for Salavat Yulaev in the KHL last week. He has the eighth-best save percentage in the league right now and is expected to come to North America next season.
Jesse Heslop (EVT) – The Everett winger put up four points in three games this past week and is riding a seven-game point streak.
The week ahead
After back-to-back two-game weeks, things are about to get a lot busier with four games this week and nine in a 16-day stretch. By the time we hit the Christmas break, we should have a much clearer sense of what this team actually is.
Seattle faces Minnesota (Monday at home), Los Angeles (Wednesday at home), Utah (Friday in Utah), and Buffalo (Sunday at home). I’m not taking anyone lightly these days, so “easy outs” don’t exist. The Kraken have been better at home this season, though, so with three home dates, you’d hope they can snap the losing streak sooner rather than later—preferably before Sunday rolls around.
Minnesota is 7-2-1 in its last 10, but those two losses came in their most recent games against Calgary and Vancouver, so maybe they’re not quite the buzzsaw they looked like a week ago. Still, nothing is guaranteed.
Regardless of what happens Monday, getting a regulation win over LA on Wednesday would be huge. The Kings enter the week five points ahead of Seattle but have played two more games. The two teams are also among the lowest-scoring clubs in the league. I’m told someone has to score to win, so something needs to give… or maybe not.
Utah sits ahead of Seattle as well, holding the last wild card spot with 31 points—three more than the Kraken—but they’ve also played four extra games, so that cushion is a bit inflated. What could go wrong in Utah?
As for Buffalo… I genuinely don’t want to imagine losing that one, but we’ve all lived through a “no way they lose this” meltdown before, so let’s just not tempt fate. The Sabres are one of the worst teams in the league, but they’ve actually won five of their last 10, which—sadly—is one point better than Seattle over that stretch.
At this point, I’d be content with four out of eight points this week. That won’t move them in the standings, but it at least keeps them in the fight. I’ll be popping champagne if they find a way to grab six. And no matter what the results are, I really hope they can figure out the penalty kill. One kill in your last eight is, without exaggeration, a disaster.
After getting pounded into oblivion in Edmonton on Thursday, the Kraken played a far more respectable contest on Saturday but still came away with zero standings points, losing 4-3 at home to the Detroit Red Wings in painful fashion.
Seattle led 3-2 with a minute left in the second period, but a miscue in the offensive zone between Ryker Evans and Matty Beniers (Evans made a bad pinch, and Beniers didn’t immediately drop back to cover for him) led to a 2-on-1. James van Riemsdyk scored and sent the game to the third period tied 3-3, a goal you just knew would end up haunting the Kraken.
3-3. Tough goal to give up as a team with 27 seconds left in the 2nd.
Beniers and Evans got crossed up in the offensive zone. Evans pinched, and Beniers didn't cover it, and that sprung JvR on a 2-on-1. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/dbfPrtYdcD
Patrick Kane sent the MANY Red Wings fans in attendance home happy with a vintage Kane game-winning goal at 17:31 of the third period, another crushing blow to the psyche of the Kraken, who have now lost five straight (0-4-1).
“I thought it was a good game. I thought our guys competed,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “We played hard, and it was a game, I guess you could say, that could have went either way. We had plenty of chances, we threw plenty of pucks at the net. We’ve been doing that a lot better lately. I was real happy with our compete level tonight.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken loss to the Red Wings.
Takeaway #1: Patrick Kane game-winner
There’s something about a late Patrick Kane game-winner that makes long-time hockey fans shudder. While Kane has remained a productive player even as he’s gotten into his later playing years, he’s no longer the “Showtime” version of Kane that once struck absolute fear into every opponent.
But then—as he has done so many times in his career—he shows that critical little flash at exactly the right moment and drives a stake into your heart, reminding you that he still has some of that Showtime razzle dazzle that has made him one of the best American-born players of all time.
Off a rush in which the Kraken had numbers back (but one of the two defenders was Jared McCann skating backward because Vince Dunn had jumped up in the offensive zone), Kane slowed down slightly to create a gap between himself and Adam Larsson. Alex DeBrincat made easy work of McCann and put it onto Kane’s stick at the top of the slot. Kane floated a wrist shot under Larsson’s stick and over Joey Daccord’s glove for his 83rd career game-winning goal, tied for third-most among U.S.-born players.
Painful loss for the #SeaKraken. Patrick Kane wins it with 2:27 left.
“I coughed it up in the [defensive] zone right before that,” Kane said with a laugh. “But we did a good job defensively, and ‘Cat’ got the puck and skated it up the ice, kind of drew a couple guys to him. [Andrew Copp was] driving the net. That’s a huge part of the play… I tried to find a pocket, got the puck, and at that point you’re just trying to shoot it through the defenseman and get it on net.”
4-3. 2:29 left. Stake in the hearts of Kraken fans. Showtime. Puke.
Takeaway #2: Again, the PK
I’m getting sick of talking about the PK (and special teams in general), but it was a factor again in this game and has now given up a goal on seven of the team’s last eight tries. It’s ranked 32nd in the NHL at an abysmal 64.8 percent, five percentage points behind the 31st-ranked Ottawa Senators.
In this game, the Kraken took only one penalty, at 5:20 of the first period, when Berkly Catton reached one too many times with his stick on Elmer Soderblom. After getting away with the first couple attempts, the referee finally put his arm up when Catton went back to the well.
During the ensuing power play, Moritz Seider loudly clanked a shot off the post about five seconds into the advantage, an ominous bell for what was to come. Detroit had several other chances to score, including a bizarre rush where three Red Wings got behind the Kraken defenders, forcing Daccord to slide across and make a big save on Lucas Raymond.
“There’s a variation of things contributing to it,” Lambert said of the team’s PK struggles. “It starts face-off-wise, we’re not winning enough face-offs, so we pretty much start every penalty kill on our heels, as opposed to getting the pucks down [into the other end]. It starts there, but we certainly haven’t done a very good job, and we know this. And something’s got to be done about it, and there’s only one way to go.”
Ironically, Seattle almost survived this PK and, on paper, actually won the face-off 24 seconds before Emmitt Finnie one-timed Nate Danielson’s pass into an open net. Off the draw, Freddy Gaudreau pulled the puck back, but Josh Mahura was a hair too late getting to it. Detroit regained possession and reset.
But between that moment and when the goal was scored, the Kraken had time to settle into their formation and still got pulled apart and scored on in an easy-looking manner. That’s why I think the formation stinks.
I wrote about it briefly in the last Three Takeaways as well, but I’ve never liked the “wedge plus one” PK. It’s supposed to be an aggressive way to kill penalties, but it’s too complicated. Players have to time rotations perfectly, and if the opposing defenseman can pull the “plus one” far enough out and still make a pass, then everything stretches, and seams become wide open.
Let’s look at this goal more carefully. Four seconds before the goal, Seattle is in formation. Ryker Evans, Mahura, and Eeli Tolvanen form the three-man wedge, while Gaudreau is the “plus one,” tasked with chasing the defenseman and disrupting passes high in the zone. Eventually, Gaudreau and Tolvanen will rotate depending on where the puck goes and how far Gaudreau is pulled, but that doesn’t need to happen here.
All Axel Sandin-Pellikka (No. 44) has to do is walk the blue line a few steps and draw Gaudreau toward him. The moment he does that, Detroit effectively turns the advantage into a 4-on-3, an even more dangerous situation than a 5-on-4. Here, Sandin-Pellikka has just moved from one side of the digital WaFd Bank ad to the other, but look how much more ice opens up between Gaudreau and Tolvanen.
Sandin-Pellikka gets the puck to Danielson on the left side, and Danielson now has the option to shoot or thread a pass through a wide-open seam.
He chooses the wide-open seam, and Finnie rips it home.
Here’s the full sequence from face-off to goal.
Looks pretty easy, doesn’t it?
This, my friends, is why I’m not a fan of the wedge plus one. Opponents have clearly figured out how to exploit Seattle’s version of it. It’s time to change things up.
Takeaway #3: Joey is struggling right now
I’m running long here, but briefly: Daccord has not had his best stuff of late. He was incredible in that 1-0 shootout loss to the New York Islanders that started this five-game losing streak on Nov. 23, but since then, his save percentages have been .857, .840, .643, and .840.
Against Detroit, he made some great saves, including a 10-beller against DeBrincat in the second, but I also thought he was fighting the puck early on. When he’s making saves, it doesn’t seem to be hitting him exactly where he expects it to, and even on that power-play goal above, he’s a hair slow in reacting to the pass from Danielson, even though Danielson never shows that he’s going to shoot.
While he was ok in this game, we haven’t recently seen the dominant version of Daccord that helped get Seattle into a playoff spot over the season’s first two months.
I didn’t ask Lambert his reasoning for going back to Daccord after he was pulled in Edmonton, but my assumption is that he wanted to give him a chance to bounce back. Now, I’m convinced Daccord really needs a night or two off.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
When an NHL team gets scored on nine times in a game, one anticipates some changes to the lineup the next time out. Indeed, coach Lane Lambert seems to be sending a message to his veterans that their spots are not safe if they don’t do their jobs in the way he expects.
It appears defenseman Jamie Oleksiak will be a healthy scratch Saturday when the Kraken welcome the Detroit Red Wings to Climate Pledge Arena, marking the first time the 32-year-old, 6-foot-7 blueliner will be scratched since coming to Seattle at the Expansion Draft in 2021.
When I asked Lambert about the decision, he played coy, saying, “Well, it’s a game-time decision, so really there’s no reason talking about it right now.”
It was plain to see at morning skate, though, that Oleksiak is not in the lineup and that he will be replaced by Josh Mahura, who will skate alongside Ryker Evans on the third pair. Mahura has been a healthy scratch since Evans returned from injury on Nov. 8.
For this Kraken Notebook, I chatted with Mahura about his expectations for getting back into the lineup, and I also talked to Freddy Gaudreau about an interesting week of firsts for him.
Josh Mahura excited to get back in
Mahura is known to be a great locker-room guy and a fantastic teammate, so it’s unlikely anyone has heard him complain about sitting out 12 straight games that have spanned an entire month since he last played. But deep down, any professional athlete wants to compete, so you know he’s champing at the bit to get back in Saturday against the Red Wings.
“I feel great,” Mahura said. “Honestly, just [going to try to] get right back into it. I’ve been putting in a lot of work, regardless of if I’m playing or not, so I’m just excited to get back out there.”
His return comes at an awkward time for the Kraken, who have lost four straight games (0-3-1) and just gave up more goals to Edmonton on Thursday than they ever have in a single game in franchise history. Seattle took a day off to refresh and reset Friday, though, and Jordan Eberle said the team’s recent struggles should spark “desperation” against Detroit.
As for Mahura, slotting him in at this time also injects positivity into a lineup that’s surely a bit broken right now.
“[We’ve got to] just completely move on from it,” Mahura said. “It’s a new game today, new opportunity. We play 82 games in a year, so sometimes you’re going to go through those spells, dry spots or losing games. But, you know? Like I said, you have 82 chances to get back at it, so there’s just excitement tonight to get going.”
Though Lambert wouldn’t commit to the scratch for Oleksiak, it certainly looks like it’s happening, and that’s a big statement from the coach to pull one of his veteran defenders. Officially, Oleksiak was minus-three in the 9-4 loss and was on for one of the four power-play goals against (the other three were Adam Larsson and Ryan Lindgren).
Meanwhile, Mason Marchment will return from a mysterious one-game absence that was supposedly due to injury (though Lambert declined to put a designation on the type of injury it was), and Shane Wright will slide back down to the fourth line.
The two consecutive losses to the Oilers brought a couple of interesting plot points in Gaudreau’s first season in Seattle, with the most recent being his first goal as a Kraken on Thursday. The goal briefly got the team back into the game before things completely unraveled in the second period.
FREDDY BE GOOD! 🚨
Joey robs Matt Savoie at one end after a hocus focus play creates a breakaway.
Freddy Gaudreau strips Draisaitl and scores his first as a #SeaKraken at the other end.
Seattle JUST MISSED tying it in the closing seconds of the 1st.
While Gaudreau has mostly played a depth role in his career, he has shown the ability to put the puck in the net, potting 18 in 2024-25 with the Minnesota Wild and 19 in 2022-23. So, going goalless through the early part of December had been surprising.
“It’s weird. I’ve always believed in doing the right things and keeping your head where it’s at in the moment, and not overthinking all those things,” Gaudreau said. “And somehow, when I’ve been doing so versus overthinking, it seems like it comes back more naturally, so that’s kind of been my mindset.
“Obviously, we’d love to score all the time and help the team win offensively all the time, but it’s just not reality. So when it’s not going your way, there’s still a lot of things you can do, whether it’s in games or practices, to keep the energy rolling. And like I said, results just come when they have to come, but you can’t lose the focus of the rest of the important stuff when they’re not there.”
So, that all-important first goal in Deep Sea Blue has come. But what else happened for Gaudreau over the last week? After the Kraken had gone down 4-0 in a game filled with shenanigans and Marchment-related extracurricular activity last Saturday, Gaudreau fought Edmonton rookie Connor Clattenburg.
Believe it or not, while it was Clattenburg’s first NHL fight, it was also the first fight of Gaudreau’s nine-year NHL career.
Freddy Gaudreau drops the gloves with Connor Clattenburg and… does not fare particularly well.
“It just happened. I don’t know what to say, it just happens. That’s kind of my take on it,” Gaudreau said. “And boom, then you get a text from your parents, like, ‘Are you… What’s going on?’”
Gaudreau shared that his parents watch every game from afar despite a challenging time difference. On this particular night, though, they were attending a special event for Gaudreau’s mom’s twin brothers. That event caused them to miss the game, so all they saw was a five-minute fighting penalty in the box score.
“I got the same from my brothers, and my sister didn’t know. And my wife, when I got out of here, she’s… kind of the same thing, ‘What’s going on? You want to talk about it?’ [She was] kind of laughing about it.”
While Gaudreau maintained that “it just happened,” he did divulge that he saw Ryker Evans get hit from behind and went in to stand up for his teammate. In a flash, he recognized that Clattenburg’s stick was down on the ice, and without even thinking, his own gloves were suddenly off and fists were flying.
“It’s just instincts after that. It’s not like I know much about it, to be honest, it was just instincts, and I was on the ground pretty quickly, and then in the box after that pretty quickly.”
So now that he has that first bout under his belt, is Freddy looking to become a regular pugilist?
“I can’t predict the future, but it’s not a point of emphasis,” Gaudreau said. “But if it happens, it happens.”
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
