Welcome back to “Down on the Farm,” your almost-weekly Sound Of Hockey Podcast segment in written form. We took last week off for the holidays, but we’re back this week to talk about an event that reminds us of this joyful season—the World Junior Championship. We’ll also get you caught up on a few top performers in the Kraken system otherwise, and deliver two weeks of player data.
As always, if you have a prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey or on Bluesky at @deepseahockey or @soundofhockey.com. Let’s dive in.
Mid-tournament check-in on Kraken prospects at the World Junior Championship
Team Canada’s approach to roster building is outdated. The team left too many skilled players at home. The staff misused the players they did bring, and Canada’s best players didn’t step up.
All of this and more has been debated ad nauseum over the last 36 hours as the entire hockey world reacted to Canada’s surprising failure to advance past the Quarterfinals, losing in dramatic fashion to Czechia. For the second straight year, Team Canada finished without a medal—and, even worse, this year the loss was at home in Ottawa.
We’ll touch on Team Canada’s failure again, but our update, as always, will focus on Seattle’s tournament-high eight players in play. Five Kraken prospects remain alive in the tournament as the semi-finals begin Saturday.
Kraken stock check
Eduard Sale – Team Czechia – Stock up
It has been an impactful tournament for Sale, who is serving as Team Czechia’s captain. His five goals are tied for the tournament high as we enter the semi-finals. Add in two assists, and he is just two points short of the overall tournament scoring lead.
Beyond the scoresheet, he’s playing fast and confident through contact. He’s more engaged off the puck than we’ve ever seen him, regularly backchecking and, at times, diving into the slot to defend dangerous chances. He’s never going to be a Selke award winner, but he’s looking more and more competent defensively, continuing a trend we saw in Coachella Valley.
Though he still looks to score in the same ways he always has—off the rush or lurking for soft spots in coverage on the weakside—this relatively well-rounded and engaged Sale is almost unrecognizable from the player who floundered in the OHL last season. After plateauing a bit in the AHL over the last month, the arrow is again pointing up on Sale.
Jakub Fibigr – Team Czechia – Stock up
Initially, we weren’t certain Fibigr would crack the roster for Czechia, but, as it turns out, the 18-year-old blueliner not only earned a roster spot but has taken regular shifts on the team’s third pair. The scoring has been solid; he is one of only seven Czech players averaging at least a point per game (though four came in one game against the over-matched Kazakhstan). He has shown his speed and skill in transition, but more importantly, he has played well defensively—which is notable because defense has been regarded as his biggest weakness. He’s third (and second among defensemen) on the team in plus-minus at +8.
Zeb Forsfjall – Team Sweden – Stock up
Forsfjall made Team Sweden’s roster for last year’s tournament as a checking fourth-liner. This year he has taken more responsibility (on an arguably superior team) in a middle-six role, and he has delivered, scoring two goals and adding three assists in five contests. He’s always responsible defensively, and, while he lacks a dynamic element offensively, he has solid instincts to connect his teammates and find the right spots in the offensive zone.
Julius Miettinen – Team Finland – Stock up
Miettinen earned Finland’s third-line center as an 18-year-old—a feat even more impressive than it might initially have appeared as Finland’s roster has performed well and put itself squarely in medal contention. Miettinen may only have one goal and one assist, but he has been very noticeable to us when he’s been on the ice, playing with very strong pace for a player his size.
Caden Price – Team Canada – Stock up
A stock up from Team Canada? Price earned it. The 19-year-old has surpassed every expectation set for him this season. He excelled for Kelowna, ranking among the most prolific blueliners in the entire CHL before the World Juniors. Then he stood out at Selection Camp, earning a roster spot over very talented players like Zayne Parekh. And then he worked his way into the regular lineup over Beau Akey and Sawyer Mynio to begin the tournament.
Throughout the World Juniors, Price played with pace and creativity in transition and on the offensive blue line, but also passed his test defensively, frequently saving Canada from high-danger chances against with his skating and deft stick work. Would Canada have been better with Parekh or Carter Yakemchuk on the blue line? Perhaps, but Price was far from “the problem.”
Berkly Catton – Team Canada – Stock neutral
Perhaps it is generous to put the 18-year-old Catton in a “stock neutral” category given the hefty expectations set for him as a top-six center and the limited results (one point in five games). But Catton looked to me like one of the few players on Team Canada trying to make his teammates better rather than play “hero ball.” He was dynamic with the puck on his stick creating space for passes and chances, but his teammates weren’t on the same level and didn’t help him at all.
The tournament does hint that he may be more successful as a facilitator than a scorer at higher levels, but I think Catton was at least adequate in this tournament. In fact, I think Canada would have been wise to go to him more when it couldn’t score. If he’s not in the NHL by then, he should be back in the World Juniors—perhaps as Canada’s captain?—next year.
Kim Saarinen – Team Finland – Stock neutral
Goalie Saarinen hasn’t seen the ice yet for Finland, as Petteri Rimpinen seized the net from Day 1 and hasn’t looked back. Teams often get their backup goaltender one of the Round Robin games against weaker competition, but Finland rode Rimpinen all the way. Rimpinen, 18, and Saarinen, 18, both could be back next year. If so, it’s clear that Saarinen has work to do if he’s going to get any time in the 2026 tournament.
Carson Rehkopf – Team Canada – Stock down
Rehkopf—who was at one point practicing on Canada’s second line during training camp—saw the ice for only 18 minutes total in the entire tournament as he bounced between Canada’s 13th forward spot and a healthy scratch. There were whispers that management didn’t like Rehkopf’s “effort” in camp, but I find it hard to blame anyone but the coaching staff for the low ice time. Cole Beaudoin (1.2 points per game in the OHL) took first-line minutes while Rehkopf (1.75 points per game in the OHL) watched from the press box. Continuously deploying grinder-types and failing to use perhaps your best pure shooter while the team is struggling to score is defensible only in the most tortured ways.
On the other hand, Rehkopf didn’t do himself any favors when he was out there, taking two penalties in 10 minutes on ice in Canada’s New Year’s Eve loss to the United States. Of course, you could argue that the penalties could be attributed to Rehkopf being “cold,” but it is hard to increase a player’s ice time after he puts the team on the penalty kill twice. In the end, Rehkopf’s 2025 World Juniors ended scoreless—an almost unthinkable outcome for the sharp-shooting Kraken prospect.
Kraken prospect data update
Shifting focus back to the Kraken prospects playing club hockey, Nathan Villeneuve earned the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week for the week of Dec. 23, when he had a hat trick and an assist in his only game. Overall, he totaled eight points in four games since our last update.
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard continues to score as a middle-six forward for HV71. While the sample size is still small because he missed time due to injury, he leads all Kraken organization prospects in our “data score” metric.
Semyon Vyazovoy is our Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week for the week of Dec. 30. He has started two games since our last update and posted shutouts in both. Vyazovoy, 21, now leads the entire KHL in save percentage among goaltenders under 24 years old.
While the first month-plus wasn’t perfect, the goaltending group has performed well of late with Victor Östman, Aleš Stezka, Nikke Kokko, and Vyazovoy all clear of a .900 save percentage for the season.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Berkly Catton: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Andrei Loshko: 1
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: 1
Tyson Jugnauth: 1
Victor Östman: 1
Caden Price: 1
Nathan Villeneuve: 1
Semyon Vyazovoy: 1
Previewing the week ahead
Miettinen, Saarinen, and Team Finland meet Forsfjall and Team Sweden in one WJC semi-final Saturday afternoon, while Sale, Fibigr and Team Czechia take on Team USA in the other WJC semi-final Saturday night. However it shakes out, the Kraken will have at least one player on the ice in Sunday’s final.
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.
The Komeback Kraken almost did it again to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, this time rallying from two goals down to send the game to overtime before falling in a shootout for a 4-3 final. The loss came two games after Seattle overcame a three-goal deficit in Vancouver on Saturday and won in OT, something that has only happened two other times in NHL history.
Vince Dunn was one of two big heroes that night (Jaden Schwartz was the other), and he also scored the tying goal Thursday with 53 seconds left in regulation.
Seattle goal!
Scored by Vince Dunn with 00:53 remaining in the 3rd period.
“The game is 60 minutes long, and you’ve got to play the whole thing,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “Sometimes the game goes awry, sometimes you don’t get the bounces, sometimes you don’t get the calls, whatever. That happened for us, and we had to come back again in the third period.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Is Matty Beniers finally going?
I’ve maintained cautious optimism after the previous couple of games that Matty Beniers had truly gotten off the schneid. He scored in Vancouver on Saturday with a nothing shot that Thatcher Demko flubbed, then scored again against Utah on Tuesday after he missed the net on a breakaway and got a good bounce when he threw it back toward Karel Vejmelka from below the goal line.
This time, he scored a more legitimate-looking power-play goal that cut Seattle’s deficit to 3-2 and set the game up for Dunn’s late heroics.
MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
The #SeaKraken are back within one thanks to a PPG from Beniers, his third straight game with a goal. Great pass by Wright.
“I think Matty’s got a huge desire, a huge— I don’t want to call it a burden, but he carries it,” Bylsma said. “He wants to score goals, he wants his line to score goals, and when he’s not, it can wear on him. And just the puck going in in Vancouver [on Saturday], that shot on the rush play, gave him a boost of confidence… He’s playing with a lot more confidence because the puck has gone in the net.”
Hockey is a funny sport like that. Beniers went 19 games without a goal, a drought that lasted more than a month. He had all the chances in the world to score and couldn’t buy a goal. Then, he gets a lucky break, and suddenly the floodgates open.
But will they stay open for him?
Takeaway #2: A costly turnover
Much has been made of Jaden Schwartz’s performances of late, given that he racked up five points between the game in Vancouver and the game against Utah. He had some fantastic opportunities again on Thursday and got robbed multiple times.
He had a turnover in the neutral zone Thursday, though, that proved to be a turning point in the game and put the Canucks in the driver’s seat. I’m not picking on Schwartz with this because he’s been Seattle’s best player of late, but I think it’s a good example of why taking care of the puck around the blue lines is so critically important.
The Kraken had just dodged a bullet thanks to Philipp Grubauer getting a piece of Conor Garland’s shot on a 2-on-1 rush. Schwartz got the puck near Seattle’s hash marks and carried it out of harm’s way, slowing things down through the neutral zone.
Facing two defenders at the blue line, Schwartz hesitated a second too long and got the puck poked off his stick. It went right to Phil Di Giuseppe, who found Garland again at the blue line, and Garland was off to the races.
That felt familiar. Conor Garland scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1. #SeaKraken escaped a 2-on-1, but then Schwartz turned it over in the neutral zone to create the breakaway. pic.twitter.com/G6548aSOdG
I’ve always thought the blue lines are the most dangerous areas on the ice to turn the puck over. When you lose it either at the O-zone or D-zone blue line, your teammates have either shifted into attack mode and are focused on getting up ice, or they think they’re safe to make a line change and start heading to the bench. The transition back to defense often takes a hair too long, and now you’ve given up an odd-man rush or a breakaway.
In this case, it was a Garland breakaway, a shifty move, and a deft finish to give the Canucks their first lead of the game.
Takeaway #3: A good standings point
The win would have been much nicer, but Seattle continues to show impressive resiliency, even as the odds of making the playoffs have grown long. Facing yet another two-goal deficit, the Kraken did not quit and found another equalizer in dramatic fashion.
It does sting that they didn’t get the winner this time, because they had the puck for most of the overtime period and had some fantastic looks at Kevin Lankinen. Jared McCann had a wraparound that Lankinen stopped and a tip on a Chandler Stephenson shot-pass that went just wide, and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a partial breakaway that Lankinen got his blocker on.
“I thought we possessed it well [in overtime],” Beniers said. “We got some good looks, and [Lankinen] made some big saves.”
Considering how this game seemed to be heading after Tyler Myers made it 3-1 early in the third period, the loser point is well earned by the Kraken.
…But a win would have been better.
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.
Here’s an idea for a new buddy movie script: two Finnish wingers who crossed paths in their teenage years land on the same NHL team thanks to separate shrewd acquisitions by a veteran general manager. They quickly strike up a friendship, and the player who has been with the team longer hosts the new player in his home and serves as the newcomer’s guide to help him navigate the challenges of a mid-season move to a new city—something the first player experienced himself two seasons earlier.
It so happens that this exact script is writing itself right now for Seattle Kraken forwards Eeli Tolvanen, 25, acquired off waivers from the Nashville Predators in the middle of the 2022-23 season, and Kaapo Kakko, 23, snagged in a surprising trade with the New York Rangers on Dec. 18.
“It’s always nice to have another Finn,” Tolvanen said. “You can talk Finnish, and right now, I’m just trying to make him feel comfortable here. When I got here, everybody was so nice and helped with everything, so I try to give that back to him. Just coming into a new city, the first trade [of his career], it’s always tough.”
Although Tolvanen was surely welcomed upon his arrival by his Kraken teammates two seasons ago, he is now going above and beyond to pay it forward to his fellow countryman and help him acclimate to his new surroundings. Not only is Tolvanen showing Kakko the ropes, but he and his girlfriend have also gone so far as to welcome Kakko into their home as a temporary roommate.
“It’s nice of them,” Kakko said. “I can stay there until I find a place. They’re helping out all the time, even going to look at apartments and everything.”
A friendship seven years in the making
Before the trade, Tolvanen and Kakko were already acquaintances, having played on a line together at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver. Tolvanen was two years older than Kakko, but Kakko—destined for the top of the NHL Draft later that year—had earned a spot on Team Finland as an underager. The duo helped their country win its fifth WJC gold medal, a feat Suomi has not accomplished since.
After that successful tournament, and before Kakko got traded to Seattle, the two didn’t go out of their way to keep in touch, but they remained friendly when they played against each other with their respective NHL teams.
“We played World Juniors together. It was a long time ago, but that’s how we met, played one tournament,” Kakko said. “And then always when we’re playing against each other here [in the NHL], we’re kind of asking, ‘How are you doing? How’s everything?’ Just saying hi. That’s what I try to do with all the Finnish guys I play against. It’s a small country, and there’s not too many [Finnish] players here.”
The Finns in the league carve out an even smaller sliver of an already small hockey world, and the connection Kakko formed with Tolvanen seven years ago is now easing his transition into life in the Kraken organization.
“It helps a lot. It’s a lot of good guys in this locker room also, but… to speak the same language [with Eeli, who I] knew before, it’s just so easy, you know?” Kakko said. “I mean, staying with them and coming to the rink with him, you just have to follow. There’s a lot of things, like if you don’t know how it goes, what time the meeting is, or something like that, just follow him.”
Tolvanen is enjoying reconnecting with his old teammate and compatriot, too, and he had a big smile on his face when talking about Kakko, who now also occupies the stall next to his in the Kraken dressing room.
“It’s been fun just to get to know him better,” Tolvanen said. “It’s been five, six, seven years since we actually hung out last time. So, [we’ve been able to] catch up and all that. It’s been a lot of fun, making dinners together every night and just sitting on the couch.”
Kakko especially appreciates that, in a time when he could be feeling isolated—dropped into a brand-new city that’s about 2,400 air miles from his previous city and about 4,800 air miles from home—he’s been welcomed with open arms by a familiar face.
“You know, there was Christmas, and I think it’s kind of sad to stay by yourself in a hotel, so that was nice [to spend it with them],” Kakko said. “They let me stay there, and we had a good time.”
For all the warm hospitality that Tolvanen and his girlfriend have shown, Kakko is also cognizant of potentially overstaying his welcome. “I think they need some time also together, but I hope I can find a place soon.”
“I love Finns” – Dan Bylsma
While the move to Seattle is going swimmingly off the ice for Kakko, he’s also making a positive impression on the ice. Tolvanen said, “He’s a big boy. He shoots the puck well, protects the puck well. I think he has a really good offensive game and defensively too. I think he’s a smart guy. He’s one of those Finnish guys that— I think he’s pretty good at everything, and I think he’s helped us a lot.”
Head coach Dan Bylsma seems to like what he is seeing from the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder as well. Before Seattle’s 5-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday, a game in which Kakko had two dazzling assists, Bylsma was asked about Kakko in his pre-game presser. Bylsma replied using the phrase, “I love Finns.”
“I think, as you’ve seen [Kakko] in four games now, he’s just getting better and better and better with what kind of player he is,” Bylsma said. “There’s a lot of positives there. He’s a big body, can skate, hold onto pucks, make plays, be a presence at the net, and the last two games in particular, that line [with Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers] has been our most positive line.
“I love Finns because it’s— Tolvy’s a lot the same way, big-bodied, physical, can be a presence in the offensive zone, he’s got a big shot, and Kakko’s been showing that the last couple games, and that’s encouraging to see.”
As a reminder, these sentiments were uttered by Bylsma before Kakko’s outstanding performance against Utah.
The Finnish way
Bylsma likely is not the only NHL coach who appreciates the way Finnish players go about their business. When they were told by Sound Of Hockey that Bylsma had said, “I love Finns” in his presser, Tolvanen and Kakko helped shed some light on why the Finnish mentality works so well in North American professional hockey.
“I don’t think it’s anything we do; I think it’s just the Finnish personality,” Tolvanen said. “If somebody says to do something, I think we’re pretty much open to change our game style a little bit and learn the game here.
“So I think for me, ever since I got here, I’ve gotten more physical every year, and I think that every Finn is the same way. I think we’re pretty soft when we play in Finland, but when we come over here, we learn to play the North American style, so I think it’s just how we adjust our game.”
Kakko said the first time he spoke with Bylsma, his new coach reminisced about seeing him play for Team Finland in the past and other Finnish players from his past teams.
“There’s just a lot of good players, and I think it’s kind of an honest game, also,” Kakko said. “I think the mindset in Finland, even in juniors, it’s defense first and things like that, so maybe that’s something he wants to see.”
Beyond being willing to learn and adjust, Tolvanen also said there’s a certain effort level that comes from Finns that helps earn the trust of their coaches.
“Most of the Finnish players are like that. They work hard, they battle every night, and I feel like maybe that’s the way coaches like [us to play]. We’ll try to give you our best every night, and I think that might be the Finnish way.”
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.
Much is made of the NHL season being a long, arduous grind for players, who battle on the ice 82 times in a regular season (assuming they stay healthy) and sometimes play even longer if their team qualifies for the playoffs. And while they’ll almost universally tell you that they wouldn’t trade living out their dream for anything, it’s no secret that spending half the season on the road away from their loved ones takes its toll, especially for NHL fathers, who must juggle their hockey careers and family lives.
Not only is there a physical distance to contend with, but there is also the anguish of potentially missing major personal milestones or scrambling to be there in time. Case in point, several Kraken players have become fathers during Seattle’s first four NHL seasons, which only adds layers of logistical chaos and anxiety for everyone involved.
Sound Of Hockey spoke with four Kraken players who have experienced these life-changing moments during the season since they each joined the organization to learn what those days are like leading up to the birth of their child and what they go through to share the moments with their respective partners.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and his wife Jill became parents for the first time when baby Otto arrived in April 2023. In the days and weeks leading up to Otto’s arrival, Bjorkstrand was keeping a close eye on the calendar, as every player in that situation does.
“It’s challenging. We travel a lot, so you look at the schedule and the due date, and [you wonder], ‘Will I be in Seattle, or will I be in Arizona or wherever we were?’” Bjorkstrand said. “So, mentally it could be a little bit hard for the wives and stuff. Of course, you want them to feel that support and enjoy that time together and not make it too stressful. It’s always already a big thing.”
When Bjorkstrand got the call that Otto was on his way, it so happened that the Kraken had just gotten to Vancouver, where they were preparing for a game against the Canucks. He quickly scrambled into action to find a way back to Seattle.
“It was a back-to-back. We played at home and flew there, and I got a call in the middle of the night that she was going to the hospital, so I had to find a way to get in a car and drive back in the middle of the night.”
Bjorkstrand managed to return to Seattle in time, and he was thankful that Otto chose a date on the schedule when the team was within a reasonable driving distance.
“It’s a process, it’s a long day, it’s an experience, but I guess it’s what we signed up for. Fortunately for me, I was close. We’re in Seattle, Vancouver’s the closest, and everywhere else is quite a ride… Being home would have been the best situation, but I was fortunate it was in Vancouver where you’re only three hours away in a car.”
Jordan Eberle
Before captain Jordan Eberle suffered a major pelvis injury that will keep him out of the lineup for most of the regular season, he talked about his past experiences welcoming his first two children, and preparing with his wife Lauren to welcome their third child, Landyn, who was born about a month ago.
When we spoke with Eberle, Lauren was in the final days before her due date, so the family was on high alert. At the time, Eberle was doing his best to focus on hockey when he was at the rink.
“I think hockey is such a great thing that whatever may be going on in your life, you’re able to escape on the ice,” Eberle said. “And that’s always been a thing that I’ve loved. When things have been tough at home, or whatever it may be, hockey’s always an outlet for guys. You’re not thinking about it as soon as you get on the ice.”
He too was considering where he would be geographically when the time came but said the approach he and his wife take differs from what many players and their partners choose to do.
“A lot of people have scheduled C-sections and have a day planned so that they’re able to be there,” Eberle said. “We actually do home birth… we try to do it as naturally as possible, so that means that it’s whenever it comes, right? And if I’m on the road, obviously you try to get back as quick as you can. A lot of times you don’t make it, but I’m hoping that it happens while we’re at home. It’s just luck of the draw.”
Getting injured took away that uncertainty of where Eberle would be when Landyn arrived, although the injury itself was anything but “lucky.” In a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 14, he got tangled with defenseman Connor Murphy and slammed into the end wall. Several days later, the Kraken announced that the veteran winger had undergone successful pelvis surgery and would be out three months.
Lauren posted an image on her Instagram account a few days after the announcement showing Eberle in a hospital bed holding the newest addition to the Eberle family.
We are happy to report that we have since seen Eberle moving around on crutches, so he is becoming more mobile again. Hopefully, that is making things a little easier on the Eberle family.
Adam Larsson
Defenseman Adam Larsson’s ironman streak as a member of the Kraken was perfectly intact through two full seasons and nearly a third. But he mysteriously went missing from the lineup for a 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on April 5, just two weeks before the end of last season.
The absence turned out to be for good reason, as Larsson had been scrambling back to Seattle, where baby Alba was ready to join the world.
“We were in Anaheim at the time, and I was lucky we were there, because there were multiple daily flights,” Larsson recalled. “It took some time too when I got home. [My partner] was still at home when I came home, so that was good news.”
Larsson admitted that the pending birth was taking a heavy toll on him mentally in the final days of the pregnancy, to the point that he was having trouble sleeping, something that’s quite necessary for professional athletes aiming to achieve peak performance.
“I guess if it’s your first one, you kind of overthink stuff, and that was on my mind for the last three weeks leading up to it. But I guess it kind of depends where you are too. It would be a lot more stressful if you were maybe in Ottawa or Winnipeg, but I was lucky that within that span, we were in California for most of the time.
“I called her the day before, and I was like, ‘Shit, I’m having such trouble sleeping.’ And she was like, ‘Just put your phone on airplane mode,’ because I was just lying there waiting for a call that we’ve got to go. Then, sure enough, it happened that night. I had like 60 missed calls. I was like, ‘Oh, shit!’ I woke up, jumped on a plane, and went back home.”
Larsson’s story reflects the mental and physical toll that NHL fathers endure during these critical moments. He was relieved to have made it back in time to welcome Alba.
Brandon Montour
Montour also had a surprise absence from the lineup during a road trip to Eastern Canada earlier this season.
He missed a 4-1 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Halloween because he had hustled back to Seattle to meet his daughter and second child, Maison. That was not how things were supposed to go.
“She arrived early,” Montour said. “The C-section date was supposed to be Nov. 21, so obviously, this was Oct. 30, and we were in Toronto. I just got a phone call from the wife that she was going to the hospital.
“It was a day off, so I was planning on heading home to see family [in the Toronto area] and whatnot for the day, but obviously that changed the plans. I found the quickest plane I could to Seattle, was there for a couple days, and met the guys back in Ottawa.”
Montour didn’t tell us this directly, but connecting the dots, we don’t think made it back in time for the birth, and he also went through something similar when his first child arrived.
“Those are the tough things about this business. Things like that tend to happen, and as nice and as great as the sport and everything to do with being in the NHL is, that’s part of the business that’s not fun, because you’re always gone.”
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.
Mel Brooks tried to warn the Utah Hockey Club with his portrayal of the great Yogurt in the 1987 spoof masterpiece, Spaceballs, about underestimating the power of the Schwartz. But his warnings went unheeded Monday, as the Seattle Kraken used Jaden Schwartz’s red-hot offensive touch to make Utah look like a bunch of Dinks (specifically Rinky Dink, Blinky Dink, Stinky Dink, Pinky Dink, Finky Dink, and Winky Dink) in a 5-2 win at Climate Pledge Arena.
From Seattle’s perspective, the Kraken managed to build off their stunning comeback win in Vancouver on Saturday and create more post-holiday positivity with this full-game effort.
“We wanted to take the four-day break and the [5-4 overtime comeback win on Saturday] in Vancouver as a reset and get real focused on how we need to play 60 minutes every night,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “Just from the mindset of the shooter’s mentality and coming out and being aggressive, being north, the first period was excellent. And that’s something we want to continue to build on.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken win over the Utah Hockey Club.
Takeaway #1: The power of the Schwartz
Jaden Schwartz has put the Kraken on his back the last two games. After Seattle appeared to be combing the desert for any semblance of cohesive play during the team’s recent five-game skid, Schwartz has stepped up and led the group by going straight to the goal crease every chance he gets and constantly sending pucks into dangerous areas.
“I wasn’t happy with how we were playing [before the holiday break],” Schwartz said. “I think each guy knew that we had a lot more to bring individually and for the team, and we’ve done a good job of that.”
Schwartz had a goal and two assists in this one to follow up his outstanding performance against Vancouver, in which he scored two of Seattle’s three late goals to force overtime. He would have also had a second goal Monday if it weren’t for a coach’s challenge from Utah that negated it.
Schwartz wasn’t deterred by the disallowed goal. Instead, just two minutes after the challenge, Schwartz kept a play alive by rimming it around to Adam Larsson at the point. Larsson sent it back, and Schwartz just got a touch on the puck as it headed toward Ryker Evans. Evans sent it to the net, and Yanni Gourde cleaned up the rebound to officially make it 1-1.
Then, 51 seconds later, with Seattle in the middle of a line change, Schwartz found himself on the ice with Andre Burakovsky and Chandler Stephenson. He picked up a loose puck at the right hash and twirled back toward the point to create space. With direct shooting lanes filled by defenders, he sent a wrister intentionally wide of the net, and Burakovsky got on the other end of it.
BURKY DOES IT! 🚨
Nice tip off a Jaden Schwartz shot. Two assists already for Schwartz tonight.
“The first look that I was looking for kind of got closed off,” Schwartz said. “Then I saw [Burakovsky] going to the net, and I was kind of flat-footed, so I just tried to get it in the direction of the net, and he did a good job of getting there and getting a stick on it.”
Schwartz’s final act in the contest, which really made Climate Pledge Arena go to plaid, was when he took Kappo Kakko’s dazzling 100-foot stretch pass at the blue line, cruised in, and fired it between Karel Vejmelka’s wickets for the eventual game-winning goal.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
Just a silly pass by Kakko to spring Jaden Schwartz on the breakaway.
“It was a good turnover, and I just heard the whole bench and all the fans yelling, ‘Pass the puck! It’s going to be a breakaway!’” Kakko said. “So, I tried to get it there, and I don’t know, maybe a little lucky, but it gets there and nice finish [by Schwartz].”
What a game, and what a stretch of play from Jaden Schwartz. I promise I’m done with Spaceballs jokes now.
Takeaway #2: The Kaapo Kakko trade is looking better and better
This was the first time I’ve seen Kakko play for the Kraken in person, and man, he looks really good. It probably helps that he’s playing with the sizzling-hot Schwartz, but what Seattle has lacked so obviously for much of this season is players who are willing to go to the front of the net.
Kakko is using his massive frame exactly as one would hope and pounding his way right into dangerous areas. But he’s also making impressive plays on the puck and elite passes; the Schwartz goal and the Matty Beniers goal came off primary assists from Kakko, and both were after spectacular feeds.
“He’s been playing great,” Schwartz said. “He’s a big body, he can see the ice well, he makes little plays, kind of give-and-go’s to create space, and he’s been good defensively. So he’s been a big addition for us.”
Kakko said his confidence has grown now that he’s getting settled with his new team. “The start was kind of hard, all three games we lost. That’s never a good thing,” Kakko said. “But I felt pretty good today. The first period, especially, I think we got a lot of good chances, and on the power play, also, there [could have been] a couple goals. And then [it was a] good thing we got two goals also in the end, so pretty good.”
Pretty good. Prettttaaayyyy pretttayyy good.
Takeaway #3: Chemistry forming
I’m realizing as I write this last Takeaway that all three have been about the Schwartz/Beniers/Kakko line, but they really were the story of this game. It’s encouraging that as Schwartz has cooked lately, there’s also chemistry forming between Kakko and Beniers, who had struggled so mightily before getting a couple nice bounces in the last two games to get some more goals to his name.
“[Beniers and Kakko] are talking, they’re getting together, they’re communicating together with Schwartzy,” Bylsma said. “‘What are we going to do on this play, the next play? How are we going to do it? Will you be there? I’ll be there.’
“And now it’s three games in a row they’ve been the most effective line.”
Assuming this trio continues to flourish, and assuming the Eeli Tolvanen/Shane Wright/Oliver Bjorkstrand line can remain impactful, then the Kraken could finally be forming multiple dangerous lines at the same time, something they’ve been searching for all season.
But while those two lines look like solutions, the Jared McCann/Stephenson/Burakovsky line remains puzzling. Burakovsky had a goal with a tip-in of Schwartz’s shot, and McCann had an empty-netter to seal the win, but for the majority of this game, that line was hemmed in its own zone and earned an abysmal six percent of the shot quality when they were on the ice together, according to Natural Stat Trick. With two of the top three lines working and this one really not, one has to think there’s more tinkering coming relatively soon.
Regardless, after Beniers has struggled all season to find his footing, there are signs that Schwartz and Kakko could finally be giving him the traction he needs; it’s a fun line to watch right now. Get them all going!
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.
