Last week I mentioned that getting three out of six possible points would be acceptable, and that’s exactly what the Seattle Kraken did. They essentially held serve against challenging opponents. However, things don’t always feel that great when the most recent game is a lopsided loss.
The Kraken fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Saturday, though the score feels a bit misleading. Tampa Bay was clearly the better team, but the game was still close at 2-1 entering the third period. The Lightning extended their lead with a Jake Guentzel power-play goal just four minutes into the period, securing that all-important two-goal cushion. They later added an empty-net goal and a fifth marker with less than 30 seconds left in the game. It wasn’t a great performance by the Kraken, but it also wasn’t as bad as the final score suggests.
Earlier in the week, the Kraken put together a solid effort with a 2-1 shootout loss to Florida on Tuesday and a dominant 5-1 win over the Bruins. All three opponents—Florida, Boston, and Tampa Bay—are notable teams, so the Kraken’s overall performance this week is acceptable given the circumstances.
Need more contributors
Over the last two seasons, the Kraken have faced challenges scoring goals. This season, they’ve been scoring at a respectable clip of 3.6 goals per game through December, but if they want to gain ground, they need more offensive contributions.
Matty Beniers, in particular, needs to get going. No one expects 30 goals a season from him at this point in his career, but with just four goals so far, he’s on pace to fall short of last season’s disappointing total of 15. There have been glimpses where it looked like he was on the verge of breaking out, but lately, he seems to have regressed. I don’t have an easy solution, but this team desperately needs him to produce.
From the obvious department: Andre Burakovsky also needs to step up. This has been a topic of discussion for most of the season, so it’s nothing new. That said, in recent home games, it feels like he’s close to breaking through, and came within about a centimeter of scoring a crucial goal against Tampa Bay but rang it off the inside of the post. I think I’ve said something like that before, though—so don’t hold your breath.
It would also be nice to see Jared McCann heat up again. He’s been cold, with only two goals over the last 14 games. That’s a significant drop from the goal-every-few-games pace we’ve come to expect from him. I’m not too worried, though—McCann has been a consistent goal scorer since he joined this franchise.
A quick thought on the passing of David Bonderman
When I first started the NHLtoSeattle movement 13 years ago, I said there were three things a city needed to get an NHL team: 1) an arena, 2) a team, and 3) an owner. The right owner, I believed, could solve the arena and team issues.
Early in the movement, there was a handful of potential NHL owners who explored Seattle. Most of them lacked ties to the area and struggled to gain traction. Don Levin from Chicago, for example, was treated poorly when he tried to promote a potential Bellevue arena. Ray Bartoszek hovered as a possible tenant for a SoDo arena before shifting focus to a Tukwila site. Victor Coleman made moves behind the scenes for SoDo and later partnered with AEG on the Key Arena redevelopment bid.
It wasn’t until David Bonderman was announced as an investor that it finally felt like we had the right person to bring an NHL team to Seattle. Yes, he came with significant capital, but he was also civic-minded and had strong local ties—qualities that were critical to the project’s success and to gaining support from other stakeholders.
Bonderman wasn’t just the money behind the team. He helped create the Kraken’s identity, including the iconic “eye” in the logo, and laid the groundwork for the inclusive culture that defines the organization today. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m not sure we’d have a team without David Bonderman. He leaves behind a tremendous legacy in Seattle and has made many of our dreams come true.
Thanks, Bondo!
Other Musings
The Kraken scored first in all three games last week and in six of their last seven games (86 percent). This is a significant improvement after scoring first just eight times in their previous 25 games (33 percent). Scoring first doesn’t guarantee victory, as we saw against Florida and Tampa Bay, but the Kraken are now 9-3-2 when they get the opening goal.
As uneventful as the game against Tampa Bay might have felt, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Kraken still generated 10 high-danger shots on goal at 5-on-5. That’s their second-highest high-danger shot total of the season.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who noticed, but in an effort to generate some offense, it was interesting to see coach Dan Bylsma pair Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour together against Tampa Bay. They played 4:51 together, with nearly all of that time coming in the third period.
The Kraken have converted six of their last 14 power-play opportunities over their last six games.
It’s too early, but I already find myself scoreboard watching for teams likely to be in the wild card race. The Kraken have an uphill battle ahead, and they’ll need to claw back some points. Here’s a look at last week’s performance for teams in the wild card hunt.
The players and staff haven’t used it as an excuse, but there’s a flu bug going around the locker room right now. You have to wonder if that impacted the team’s energy on Saturday.
The Kraken’s penalty kill has been average, but they’ve done a good job of staying out of the box. Over their last 15 games, they’ve been shorthanded the fewest times in the league.
Shoutout to former Seattle Kraken defenseman Justin Schultz, who announced his retirement last week. Schultz spent two seasons with the Kraken, providing offensive contributions from the blue line. In 143 games, he scored 14 goals and added 46 assists, but he truly shined during the Kraken’s playoff run, where he tallied 10 points in 14 games. NHL announcement
The Kraken will be well represented at this year’s IIHF World Junior Championship. Once final rosters are announced, the Kraken are expected to have eight players competing across four countries. The tournament begins Thursday, Dec. 26, and all games will be available on NHL Network.
Congratulations to Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard for helping Denmark’s U20 team qualify for the 2026 World Junior Championship. While he’ll be too old to participate next year, he’ll likely join the Denmark Olympic team alongside Oliver Bjorkstrand in 2026.
Former Spokane Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski made his first start for the Carolina Hurricanes over the weekend, stopping 27 of 28 shots to secure the win. Anytime his name comes up, I immediately head over to his HockeyDB page to marvel at his journey.
Goal of the week
This one was easy. Jaden Schwartz scored a nifty goal early in Thursday night’s game against the Boston Bruins. By the way, how about that nice little backhanded sauce from Shane Wright?
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
What a cheeky little goal to make it 2-0 #SeaKraken.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (SEA) – Bjorkstrand has four goals and two assists over his last four games including two goals in the Kraken’s 5-1 win over Boston.
Shane Wright (SEA) – Wright continues to contribute with three goals and four assists over his last six games. The Bjorkstrand-Wright-Tolvanen line is humming right now.
Jani Nyman (CV/SEA) – “Li’l Jani” has a three-game goal streak for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
The Kraken face another daunting week as they head into the Christmas holiday break. They’ll wrap up their homestand on Tuesday when Ottawa comes to town riding a 5-1-0 record over their last six games.
After that, the Kraken hit the road for games against Chicago, Vegas, and Colorado. Chicago continues to struggle with a 2-7-1 record over their last 10 games, but as we saw during Thanksgiving week, the Kraken can’t afford to take anyone lightly. On Saturday night, the Kraken face Vegas, who are currently 7-2-1 in their last 10. The road trip then concludes with a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Unlike Seattle, Colorado won’t be playing on consecutive nights.
Securing even four of the eight available points will be a challenge, but that must be the goal for this stretch of games.
One programming note: There will not be a Monday Musings next week due to holiday travel.
Welcome back to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly update on all things Seattle Kraken prospects. This week we’ll take a look at which Kraken prospects are (or are likely to be) vying for a spot at the 2025 World Junior Championship, check in on a new record holder for the Portland Winterhawks, update after an eventful week for the reigning Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, and more.
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, or BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey. Let’s get to it.
Kraken prospects vying for spots at World Juniors camps
Several Seattle Kraken prospects departed their club teams this week to head to 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC) selection camps for their respective countries. Let’s start with a primer on the tournament, before taking a look the Kraken connections team-by-team.
The WJC is an IIHF-organized event of under-20 men’s hockey players from 10 qualifying countries around the world. (Each year there is promotion and relegation from lower divisions, Division I, II, & III. Kazakhstan is the new entrant this year, with Norway moving down to Division I.) This year’s tournament will be held in Ottawa from Dec. 26, 2024, through Jan. 5, 2025.
Team USA won the gold medal in the 2024 tournament and is looking for its first ever back-to-back championships. The tournament begins with pool play before teams move on to a single-elimination playoff (or a relegation game). Team USA is in Group A with Finland, Canada, Latvia, and Germany. The USA-Canada game is scheduled for New Year’s Eve. Group B is comprised of Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan.
It’s hard to overstate just how important this tournament is as the premier event for junior hockey, particularly in Canada. Kraken prospect Berkly Catton described the event to reporter Mike Boyle as “a childhood dream.” “Ever since you’re a little kid at Christmas, watching the World Juniors, that’s my fondest memories.” When asked to consider his favorite WJC moment, Catton gave a familiar answer: “[Thinking back] to Seattle camp, Jordan Eberle is a World Junior hero, and he’s sitting in the stall next to me.”
Fellow Kraken prospect Caden Price echoed Catton’s sentiments about the possibility of suiting up for Canada at the WJC: “It’s really special any time you get the chance to do it. That red white and black, it’s like no other [experience].”
Team Canada: Berkly Catton, Carson Rehkopf, and Caden Price
The aforementioned Catton, 18, and Price, 19, were joined by Kraken forward Carson Rehkopf, 19, as invitees to Team Canada Selection Camp, which has been underway in Ottawa for the last few days. Selection camp culminated with two games against Canadian college hockey players Thursday and Friday (today). Catton sat out the second game, which most viewed at the time as strong indicator that he was squarely on the team. He centered the “first line” in the first game.
“During this first part of camp, it’s a lot about comparing where I fit on the team. How is this going to shake out? After that’s said and done it’s all about winning and bonding as a team,” Catton said.
Carson Rehkopf and Caden Price played in both games, along with most of the players competing for a roster spot. This put both players potentially on the bubble. Rehkopf made his case by scoring a hat trick in the first game. For his part, Price knew he needed to show a strong defensive game to have chance. “With the forward group they invited, there is a lot of skill up there. I think just transporting pucks is going to be huge—and getting it into [the forwards’] hands as quickly as possible,” Price told reporter Regan Bartell. “Playing hard defense and [maintaining] good gaps [is important].”
For now, I’ll predict Catton will take a top-six, first-unit power-play role, while Rehkopf makes the team in a bottom-six (and power play) capacity. Price is more likely to be a low-ice-time bench extra, absent an injury or two.
Team Finland: (Maybe) Julius Miettinen, Kim Saarinen, and/or Visa Vedenpaa
Finland has not announced its WJC long list, and it may not do so at all. Last year I believe Finland waited and announced only its finalized roster. It may be taking the same approach this year.
Kraken forward prospect Julius Miettinen, 18, has been out of the lineup for the Everett Silvertips for the last six days. This could be because he has traveled to Finland to compete. (It also could be a coincidence.) Several public analysts have projected Miettinen onto the final roster.
Another player projected to be in the mix is goalie Kim Saarinen, 18. For the moment, Saarinen remains with his club team, HPK. In fact, he got into HPK’s game earlier today (Friday, Dec. 13), stopping 18 of 19 shots. I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that he is off the roster, though, since it is likely a much simpler process for him to report to camp when it begins.
Goalie Visa Vedenpaa, 19, was another possibility, but he still hasn’t played a club game since October, so I suspect health may keep him off the roster. I’ll predict both Miettinen and Saarinen make Team Finland in a relatively weak year for that country. Miettinen could helm a fourth line, while Saarinen would likely be a backup in the goal crease. As underagers, both could return for Finland next year.
[UPDATE:On Saturday, Dec. 14, Finland announced a WJC roster that will require only one more cut (likely of a forward). As expected, Miettinen and Saarinen are on the team.]
Team Czechia: Eduard Sale and Jakub Fibigr
Forward Eduard Sale, 19, and defenseman Jakub Fibigr, 18, were named to the selection camp roster for Team Czechia earlier this week. Fibigr’s inclusion was an encouraging development for the underage defenseman. He missed Brampton’s game on Wednesday, so it is possible he is already back in Czechia competing for the final roster. I’m inclined to say he is a longshot to be on the final team, but we’ve heard some rumblings to the contrary.
Sale has been a Team Czechia stalwart for years, and I’d expect him to have a prominent role for the Czechs at even strength and on the power play in his final WJC. Sale remained in the Firebirds lineup Thursday night. As a lock for the team, he may not depart for Czechia until rosters are finalized.
Do Ottawy vyrazí k obhajobě bronzu tato sestava vyvolených! 💥
Forward Zeb Forsfjall, 19, is on Team Sweden, and will serve as a key member of the team’s leadership group. I’d project him to a third-line role at even strength, with heavy responsibilities on both special teams units.
Portland Winterhawks (WHL) | D | 20 years old | 27 games | 6 goals | 31 assists | 1.37 PPG
Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth had a historic week, recording six assists in Portland’s 7-2 win over the Vancouver Giants Sunday night. This set a franchise record for assists in a game. Who was the last Winterhawks player who had six points in a game? None other than Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand.
“It was one of those games where things were just going in the net,” Jugnauth told the WHL Radio Show. “I think I’ve had lots of games this year where maybe I’ve had a couple assists but I could have had more. [Saturday’s] game was one where I probably shouldn’t have had six, but at the end of the day I’ll take it. I kept shooting it at the net and the puck kept going in.”
Jugnauth finished the week with nine assists across three games, which earns him the title of Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.
Jugnauth now leads all WHL defensemen in points, assists, and points per game. An unsigned 20-year-old WHL blueliner needs to dictate play if he is to earn an NHL contract—and that’s precisely what he’s doing. Beyond that, Jugnauth knows what he needs to do off the ice: “The biggest thing for me is to get bigger and stronger. That’s what [Seattle] want[s] me to do. I’m working on that. [When or if I sign] is something I can’t really control. Whenever it happens, if it happens, it happens.”
Victor Östman
Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL) | G | 24 years old | 16 games | 2.25 GAA | .914 S% | 11-4-1 record
We’ve seen it happen time and again with these updates that a featured player has a remarkable performance in his next game immediately after he is highlighted here. It happened with Clarke Caswell and Jagger Firkus, among others. Last week, we highlighted the performance of goalie Victor Östman as the best in the system. He immediately rewarded all of us with a goalie fight. We at Sound Of Hockey are generally not big on fighting in professional hockey, but it’s hard to deny an occasional goalie brawl.
Joking aside, Östman also had a very strong week in the goal crease, winning all three games he started and posting a sterling .935 save percentage in the process. He was close to becoming our first “repeat” Prospect of the Week winner.
Lukas Dragicevic
Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) | D | 19 years old | 24 games | 3 goals | 28 assists | 1.29 PPG
Defenseman Lukas Dragicevic scored two goals and added two assists in three games over the last seven days. Overall, he is quietly second in assists, fourth in points, and second in points per game among WHL defensemen. His scoring rate has rebounded and surpassed his stellar draft year, adding evidence to the theory that his production dip last season was largely due to a poor supporting cast in Tri City. After an offseason trade to Prince Albert, the offensive confidence seems to have returned.
Perhaps most encouraging is his plus-five plus-minus over his last 12 games. Dragicevic remains minus-six for the year overall, underlining the need for continued defensive improvements. But even this is a step forward from last season when he was minus-31 for the Americans.
Kraken prospect data update
It was a lighter week for Seattle’s prospect pool, in part because some players departed for WJC camps. Jagger Firkus and Jani Nyman both scored goals for Coachella Valley Thursday to get themselves on the board for the week. Jacob Melanson remains out of the Firebirds lineup with an undisclosed injury.
Jugnauth, Dragicevic, and Price are first, second, and fourth, respectively, in points per game among WHL defensemen.
Östman drew attention for his fighting prowess, but, in reality, all of the goalies in the Kraken system got the “Sound Of Hockey bump” from being featured in this space last week.
Nikke Kokko got back into the lineup for Coachella Valley this week after missing a couple games due to injury. While Kokko was solid, he was saddled with his first North American professional regulation loss. He is now 6-1-1.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Berkly Catton: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: 1
Tyson Jugnauth: 1
Victor Östman: 1
Caden Price: 1
Previewing the week ahead
The Firebirds have two games this weekend against the rival Calgary Wranglers. This should be a good test for the Firebirds as the Wranglers are once again one of the AHL’s very best teams. In the junior ranks, Nathan Villeneuve and the Sudbury Wolves visit Andrei Loshko and the Niagara IceDogs on Sunday, and Clarke Caswell and the Swift Current Broncos travel to Red Deer to take on the Rebels and Ollie Josephson on Tuesday.
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.
Have the Seattle Kraken turned a corner? It’s starting to feel like the Seattle Kraken have turned a corner, highlighted by a convincing and impressive 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena. They’re now over .500 at 15-14-2, and after going 4-1-1 in their last six, those three miserable losses to Anaheim and San Jose a couple weeks ago don’t take up quite as much of the fanbase’s memory space.
On Thursday, the Kraken capitalized on six minutes of early power-play time, putting themselves in the driver’s seat right from the jump. They again defended well and relied on their goaltender to stop a high volume of shots with relatively little danger, and Philipp Grubauer responded with what coach Dan Bylsma called, “Probably his best outing of the year.”
“It was a really solid, really good game from Grubi, and we finally got him some run support to make that pay off,” Bylsma said.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, Jaden Schwartz scored a beautiful goal from a terrible angle, Vince Dunn hit a home run, and Jared McCann hopefully got off the schneid with an empty-netter.
Here are Three Takeaways from the Seattle Kraken’s 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins at Climate Pledge Arena.
Takeaway #1: The power play is clicking
There was a lot of noise earlier in the season about how dreadful Seattle’s power play was, and it was fair criticism; we saw it drop to 29th in the NHL at one point. But since Vince Dunn returned, the Kraken seem to be finding their way with the manpower advantage and have climbed up to 23rd in the league and above an 18 percent success rate. (Coincidentally, the Bruins now have the worst power play in the league at just 12.6 percent for the season.)
“I think [the power play] is connecting well out there,” Bjorkstrand said. “Guys are on the same page, I think we’re moving it around. We’re not really too set in our positions, so we feel like we have a little freedom, and we’re able to read off each other.”
Seattle got plenty of opportunity at 5-on-4 in the early stages of this game, because David Pastrnak clipped Jamie Oleksiak with a high stick 200 feet from his net (coaches love those) and drew blood for a four-minute minor.
The Kraken wasted almost no time, converting eight seconds into the advantage, when Bjorkstrand tipped a Matty Beniers shot while falling to the ice.
BJORK-JAM! 🚨
Oliver Bjorkstrand stays hot by tipping a Matty Beniers shot through Korpisalo for an EARLY power-play goal.
“The power play is not all about scoring goals,” Bylsma said. “The power play is about gaining momentum and doing positive things, and the fact that we were able to strike and get a goal, and how we got the goal was important for our team.”
Seattle could have added two more goals in those first few minutes—once during a net-front scramble in which Andre Burakovsky hit the back of Nikita Zadorov’s skate with a shot that looked to be headed in, and another when Bjorkstrand hit the post on a yawning cage—before Schwartz finally roofed a magical backhander with his feet below the goal line. Schwartz’s tally came just after the power play expired, but it was certainly part of the carryover of the advantage.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
What a cheeky little goal to make it 2-0 #SeaKraken.
It’s been a tough season so far for Philipp Grubauer, no doubt. As a veteran, former Vezina Trophy finalist, and carrier of a big $5.9 million AAV contract, you can bet he hasn’t been thrilled to be pushed into a backup role behind Joey Daccord.
But the fact of the matter is that before these last two outings against the Rangers and Bruins, Grubauer was 1-8-0 on the season with the worst individual stats of his career. He has desperately needed some things to start going his way, and Thursday’s performance should be a big confidence booster for him.
I thought Grubauer looked equally locked in against the Devils last week in New Jersey, but even in that one, he allowed a goal from a sharp angle in the first period and had the weird misplay in the third that Dunn then handed over to Timo Meier for an easy tap-in. In this one, there were no such flubs or misplays, and Grubauer came away with 33 saves, a .971 save percentage, and his third win of the season.
“Great game for [Grubauer],” Bjorkstrand said. “He obviously kept us in it. I mean, he played really well all game, so you build momentum off that when you have times in the game where they’re pushing hard. We relied heavy on him tonight, and he did really well.”
Grubauer credited the team in front of him, who—like in the Florida game on Tuesday—excelled in boxing out the Bruins and cutting off passing lanes.
“I think they only had like two or three chances there in the slot,” Grubauer said. “We played tight, kept them to the outside, and they had a high volume of shots, but I don’t think they had that many high-quality shots.”
Even so, Grubauer faced plenty of pucks that we’ve seen beat him at different times throughout his Seattle tenure, so for him to stand tall throughout a full contest was encouraging.
Worth noting, the lone goal Grubauer allowed was on a Brad Marchand penalty shot after Brandon Montour dove on the puck like it was a grenade to save a goal.
“I just turned around and saw Monty Superman dive behind the goal line,” Grubauer said. “He saved my ass, and then, yeah, I didn’t make the stop on the Marchand [penalty shot]. Really nice move from him.”
It is wild to think that the Shane Wright we saw a month ago is the same player we’re seeing today. After two more assists on Thursday to bring him to 11 points in 10 games since his “reset” in Healthy Scratch Land™️, Wright is not playing like a wide-eyed 20-year-old. He’s playing like a core veteran that is being relied upon to help his NHL team win.
“It’s just going out and playing and showing your speed and skill,” Bylsma said. “Not worrying about all the eyes on you, not worrying about too much in your brain, just going out and playing. I think since he’s come back, there’s still chances to improve in the game he’s showing, but he’s playing with speed, he’s playing with skill, he’s playing with aggression, he’s on the forecheck, he’s winning pucks, he’s skating with speed in the neutral zone.
“I’m not going to say this too loud, but I think we’re seeing the improving version of Shane Wright.”
While Bylsma said that last part in a hushed tone, Wright said loudly and proudly after the game that he is playing with way more confidence than he was earlier in the season.
“Obviously, it’s pretty high right now, and I’m just trying to get better every day,” Wright said. “I’m just trying to really learn as much as I can and just do whatever I can to help the team win, really. And, yeah, just try to grow every day, and really enjoy it as well and have fun.”
Wright added that it means a lot to him as a young player to not just be surviving in the NHL, but thriving.
“Being able to be put out there and play meaningful minutes, play a lot of minutes, and be able to contribute offensively is always something that feels good, for sure.”
Bonus Takeaway: Touching tributes to Mr. Bonderman
As you likely already know, David Bonderman, the founding owner of the Kraken, passed away on Wednesday. Seattle donned patches on the jerseys and helmets Thursday that said “Bondo” in front of the red eye portion of Seattle’s logo that Bonderman came up with himself.
Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke gave the following tribute during the game:
And Philipp Grubauer said this: “I’m going to dedicate that win to Mr. Bonderman because without him, I don’t think we’d be here… Sam [Holloway], the whole Bonderman family, what they’ve done for the city and for us is incredible.”
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 we last checked in on macro trends in the Seattle Kraken data, the Kraken were limping home after a calamitous five-game road trip. In a curious bit of historical mirror imagery, this next look comes after a heartening trip that included wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. After salvaging a point in Tuesday’s home tilt against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, we are at the 30-game mark in the season and due for another deep dive on team-level information and player-level results.
Big picture, the team’s season sits on the knife’s edge. While the Kraken have been accumulating points in a tough stretch, most playoff prognosticators still put Seattle’s playoff odds below 25 percent. Looking at the standings, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Seattle will need to climb over one or two quality teams if they are going to eke their way into the playoff field in a relatively deep Western Conference. Our own Blaiz Grubic has detailed the task ahead, but, put simply, every standings point is going to be “high leverage” from here on out. The time is now to deploy changes based on the lessons learned to date. Even after some adjustments, the playoffs are still a long shot, but any further delay in addressing problem areas could sink Seattle’s playoff push well before the March trade deadline.
Unless otherwise noted below, the data used in this article is from Natural Stat Trick. Let’s dive in.
Kraken scoring has stabilized but remains below average
Seattle’s scoring offense has found necessary depth over the last few weeks with Vince Dunn’s return to the lineup and with Shane Wright, Eeli Tolvanen, and Oliver Bjorkstrand all improving their production.
The picture isn’t quite as bleak as it seemed during our first update, but there is also little to suggest a playoff run as a 5-on-5 behemoth like two years ago. The shots went in on the road trip, but the team still struggled to create consistent shot quality inside. The chart below shows the five-game rolling average of 5-on-5 goals scored and expected goals scored (i.e. “shot quality”) by game number.
The actual and expected results were progressing and then saw a significant bump with Vince Dunn’s return. But 5-on-5 shot quality regressed again at the end of the trip and in the Florida game. Was that the product of tough competition or simply a regression to the team’s established “average” production this season?
The story is similar on the power play. The team has found its game to an extent; it no longer resides among the basement dwellers in terms of shot quality or production, but there is also little evidence it will prove to be a team strength. (Most notable to me on this chart, though, is the persistence of Edmonton’s struggles.)
Again, looking at how the team’s production has evolved over time, we see a spike in production over the last few games, but little in the underlying shot data to suggest it’s sustainable. (This conforms to my eye test too. Recently, the Kraken have gotten a handful of power-play goals off tips or deflections after stagnant efforts that don’t feel particularly heartening to me.)
Kraken 5-on-5 defense has come around, but the penalty kill is a problem
Over the last 15 games, the team has improved its consistency with defensive-zone coverages, while also benefiting from the return of Dunn.
Since our last update the 5-on-5 defense has been average or better at limiting shot quality and is trending toward average numbers overall. The team struggled to prevent goals over the last couple weeks, but at a macro level, that looks like a run of bad goaltending for the most part. With Joey Daccord playing extremely well against the Panthers on Tuesday, the team is surely hopeful the goaltending is back on track.
I don’t see similar room for optimism on the penalty kill though. The shot quality against numbers are quite poor overall. Indeed, it seems that strong goalie play is the only thing separating Seattle from a bottom-five shorthanded unit.
More troubling, though, is the utter absence of any successful run of play. In a rolling five-game sample over the course of the season, the unit has been below average at suppressing opposing shot quality almost the entire time.
Put simply, the ultra-passive box approach the team has been using so far is not working. In fact, the shot quality results have been getting worse recently. Perhaps other teams have realized the Kraken are unwilling or unable to disrupt possession.
The team used a similar box scheme at the end of last season, but the players were empowered to create significantly more puck pressure. This year’s unit might benefit from a shift back to that prior mindset.
On the personnel side, I’d prefer to see more of Matty Beniers (who brings natural defensive aggressiveness) and less Chandler Stephenson (who is passive to an extreme on the penalty kill).
Kraken skater data shows an average group with a few lagging behind
It’s no surprise to fans at this point that Kraken individual player deployment and production is relatively flat. While the team lacks high-end producers, it has depth that few teams can counter. This creates few true standouts in the data set. Beniers has emerged as the team’s No. 1 even-strength center both in terms of total ice time and quality of competition (more on that in a minute). Brandon Montour continues to be a workhorse pacing the team in 5-on-5 time on ice. From a scoring efficiency standpoint, Jared McCann and Oliver Bjorkstrand lead the way up front, with Vince Dunn rapidly catching up on the blue line.
Losing Jordan Eberle has been a blow to the team’s 5-on-5 offense. No player generated individual shot quality or goals more efficiently than Eberle when he was in the lineup.
Drawing back to examine team performance depending on who is on the ice, we start to get a sense of a group of players who have been struggling to tilt the ice in Seattle’s direction this season.
Using Evolving Hockey’s on-ice Quality of Competition metric, we find that these poor results aren’t necessarily due to being matched with difficult competition. Stephenson and Andre Burakovsky see only slightly more difficult than average matchups, while Borgen has been seeing relatively poor competition.
The team benched Burakovsky previously and saw immediate dividends, with a goal in the first period of his first game back. I believe that option should be on the table with Will Borgen too. It goes without saying the team is better with Borgen in the lineup over Josh Mahura, but Borgen has been fighting it this year. The team’s full health on the blue line gives the Kraken the luxury of getting Borgen “a breather” like it did for Burakovsky, Wright, Bjorkstrand, and Tye Kartye, to varying levels of success.
The situation with Stephenson, who is in Year 1 of a seven-year contract, is exponentially more complicated. In the short term, however, I think the team would be better off by scaling back his even-strength (and penalty kill) exposure a bit.
Turning to the power play, Stephenson has stood out as a key facilitator. On the other hand, I have found myself frustrated with him, Burakovsky, and Beniers to varying degrees for their propensity to lock in on passing when opportunities for a decent shot attempt are there.
On the penalty kill side, the Kraken don’t have a net positive performer in Evolving Hockey’s shorthanded play-driving metric. This brings me back to the scheme because there is no reason players like Jamie Oleksiak or Yanni Gourde shouldn’t be strong penalty killers. Only Brandon Tanev is performing near league average levels in Evolving Hockey’s model.
Is there anything else that you’d like to see? Or anything else that stands out in the data here? Drop us a note in the comments below or on X, formerly known as Twitter, or on BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
Curtis Isacke
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.
Close, but no cigar for the Seattle Kraken, who had some promising looks in an effective, defense-first game against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers but ultimately fell 2-1 in a shootout.
“We’ll take the point,” Chandler Stephenson, who scored Seattle’s lone goal with a breakaway late in the first period, said. “Obviously, it would have been nice [to win], but at the same time, we still did some good things. But I think we’ll just look to be better next game… Joey played outstanding for us, gave us a chance, and we just couldn’t buy one in overtime.”
Florida tilted the ice for much of the game and came close to a 2-to-1 shots-on-goal advantage. However, the Kraken defended well by keeping shots to the outside, breaking up seam passes, and benefiting from Joey Daccord’s stellar 32-save performance. This was particularly impressive given that Daccord had been a late scratch on Sunday in New York due to a stomach bug.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 2-1 Kraken shootout loss to the Panthers:
Takeaway #1: Controversial tying goal for Florida
The Kraken got the short end of the officiating stick Tuesday, with a missed call on Nate Schmidt directly leading to Florida’s only goal in regulation.
Seconds after Daccord made his best save of the game—a sprawling glove save on a 2-on-1 chance for Aaron Ekblad—Brandon Tanev sprung Yanni Gourde for a breakaway. Gourde cut to his left to shield Schmidt from the puck, but Schmidt swung his stick around and whacked Yanni on the hands, causing him to lose control.
Ridiculous non-call on Nate Schmidt to break up a Yanni Gourde breakaway at one end, Barkov ties it at the other end.
Bylsma was furious with the officials after that one.
If that same play happens 10 times, the referees call it nine times, perhaps even awarding a penalty shot two or three of those times. Instead, the play went back the other way and ended with Aleksander Barkov rifling a one-timer from the right circle into an open net.
Bylsma was screaming at the officials both during and after the play, on which just 11 seconds elapsed between the slash and the Panthers’ goal that tied the game at 1-1.
After the game, I asked Bylsma what he saw because it had looked to me like Schmidt got his stick into Gourde’s hands. “Yeah, you described it pretty good,” Bylsma said. “We get the wall play, and it squirts out there. Yanni has speed, we get it to Yanni, and he has a breakaway. It looks like his glove comes off his stick for a reason, but that’s not the way the ref saw it. He saw stick on stick.”
It’s always brutal to see a blown call lead immediately to a goal against, and in this low-scoring affair, it ended up being pivotal.
Takeaway #2: Rope-a-dope almost works (again)
Twice in the last week, the Kraken have played what I call a rope-a-dope style of hockey. They did it in New Jersey on Friday against the Devils, relying on Philipp Grubauer, who was sharp that night. Seattle ended up losing that one 3-2 due to a flubbed net-front play to start the third period, but it was anybody’s game despite a dramatic difference in zone time.
On Tuesday, against the high-flying Panthers, Seattle was back in “bend but don’t break” mode. This time it was Daccord in net, and he was dialed in from the start. The Kraken seemed more in control this time because they did such a good job in their zone, allowing shots while taking away passing lanes and blocking many of the more dangerous-looking attempts at the net.
“I thought all six defensemen did a real good job of [clearing the front of the net],” Bylsma said. “But back behind them was Joey.”
In both the Devils and Panthers games, the puck was in Seattle’s end a lot, and yet some late chances in each contest could have led to better outcomes.
Friday, it was the Brandon Montour chance that rolled through the blue paint and past a yawning cage. Tuesday, it was a cut to the middle by Jared McCann and a dish to Shane Wright, who chipped it over from a sharp angle late in regulation. It was also breakaways by McCann and Oliver Bjorkstrand (Bjorkstrand’s came with nine seconds left) in overtime, both of which were shut down by Sergei Bobrovsky.
If any of those three late-game chances had found the back of the net, Seattle would have knocked off the champs in thrilling fashion. Instead, they settled for a point and remained at .500 on the season.
Takeaway #3: What happened to Yanni?
The play discussed in Takeaway #2 was Yanni Gourde’s last shift of the second period. He played one more early in the third and then exited the game with a lower-body injury. I asked Bylsma if the injury was related to the Schmidt slash that led to the Barkov goal. Bylsma thought about it for a moment and then said, “It was after the breakaway that it happened.”
I took that to mean it happened on a completely separate play, but after reviewing the sequence, I think Bylsma meant it happened as Gourde was falling off to his left immediately following the slash. He careened awkwardly, and it almost looked like his skate dug into the ice in a way that could cause a lower-body injury. He was in distress on the bench after Barkov scored.
My working theory is that the slash itself didn’t hurt Gourde, but losing his balance did. On the shift Gourde played early in the third, he looked fine, throwing hits and skating without a limp. Hopefully, his removal from the game is similar to what happened against the Islanders last Thursday, and this ends up being just a minor issue.
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.
The Seattle Kraken just captured six out of a possible eight points on what, at least on paper, looked like one of the most challenging road trips on the schedule. This comes right after we were all searching for answers following three straight losses to Anaheim and San Jose. How did this turnaround happen?
Starting on time
I’ve always considered “starting on time” part of the coaches’ and players’ cliché vocabulary—something they break out to essentially say nothing to the media. However, the Kraken’s slow starts were a big factor in those three losses against Anaheim and San Jose. They trailed in all three of those games, but on this road trip, they scored the first goal in three out of four games.
The Kraken still lead the league in allowing the first goal, trailing first in 62.1 percent of their games. But it’s more than just scoring first—they looked engaged from the start in all four games. There were early stretches against the Devils and Rangers where they were being outshot, but it wasn’t the same sloppy affair we saw against San Jose.
Power play comes alive
Prior to this road trip, the Kraken were a brutal 2-for-28 on power play opportunities over the previous eight games, including a six-game drought without a power-play goal. On this road trip, they went 4-for-8 on the power play.
It doesn’t seem like the team is doing anything drastically different other than successfully entering the zone and setting up in the offensive zone. Vince Dunn is obviously a valuable addition to the power play unit, but he only had one point on the four power-play goals scored during the trip. Still, Seattle seems to be getting more zone time than before, and you can tell he’s very comfortable quarterbacking that top unit.
The Shane Wright ‘line’
One recent line adjustment made by Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma was putting Shane Wright with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen. The three were productive before the road trip, but they contributed eight goals over the four-game trip, including four in the game against the Rangers.
It’s not entirely fair to credit that line for all eight goals since several came on the power play when they weren’t on the ice together. However, the trio is clearly clicking, both at even strength and with the manpower advantage.
I’m not going to pop any champagne bottles proclaiming Shane Wright is living up to his draft position just yet, but his play over the last few weeks has been very encouraging. He’s still just 20 years old.
Bylsma talked about Wright’s progression following the game on Sunday. “He’s matured as a player over the last year and a half. But in training camp, he was playing his best hockey that he’s played as a Kraken, and he just needed to reset and get focused on playing that way again.”
I’m sure these guys are tired of being asked about it, but how about the performances of Bjorkstrand and Wright since they were healthy scratched? While it’s a small sample size, Andre Burakovsky is showing some early signs that he might follow a similar path.
Here’s how the guys performed before and after their healthy scratches:
They still have work to do
As great as the past week has been, the Kraken still hold a .500 record, which projects to just 82 points by season’s end. That obviously won’t cut it for a playoff spot. However, their adjusted goal differential has hovered right around zero for most of the season, which suggests they are better than an 82-point team.
Other Musings
Philipp Grubauer’s surprise start did not begin well, as he allowed a soft goal just 3:38 into the game. I can’t imagine the mental challenge of going to bed as the backup and waking up as the starter for an early afternoon game. He looked a little shaky for the rest of the first period but settled in nicely over the final two.
Grubauer came up huge during a critical stretch midway through the second period, making several key saves to keep the deficit at two.
This goal sparked Sunday’s comeback, and I love everything about it:
The Kraken overcame a two-goal deficit on Sunday for the fourth time this season. I’ve mentioned this before, but last season they never came back from a two-goal deficit. This team is different.
The Kraken allowed two response goals to the Rangers on Sunday, bringing their total to 10 this season. That’s the third most in the league, trailing only Colorado and San Jose. (Response goals are goals allowed within two minutes of scoring.)
The Kraken’s victory over the Rangers was their first at Madison Square Garden in franchise history. The only road arenas they haven’t won in? The Prudential Center against the Devils and, of course, the Utah Hockey Club’s rink.
Due to Joey Daccord’s last-minute illness, the Kraken signed Michael Matyas to an Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO) to back up Grubauer. The full story and logistics will emerge soon, but Matyas played on a U16 AAA team with Kraken director of team services Brennan Baxandall, who was instrumental in securing the emergency goalie.
Speaking of being winless, the Kraken have never beaten the Tampa Bay Lightning at Climate Pledge Arena. They’ll get another shot on Saturday.
Shane Wright is averaging the most goals per game (.29) of anyone in his draft class.
Offense heating up: The Kraken have scored six or more goals in a game five times this season. That matches their entire total from last season.
Jared McCann has just one goal in his last 10 games, but don’t expect that to last much longer. He’s due.
Jakub Fibigr was named to Czechia’s World Junior Championship team invite roster. Last week, I mentioned him as a dark horse to make the final squad, but after talking to a few well-connected folks, it sounds like he’s all but locked in for the tournament in Ottawa.
Joining Fibigr on Team Czechia is Eduard Sale, who’s had a strong first season in the AHL. That said, he’s hit a rough patch, with no points in his last six games—his longest pointless streak of the season.
Finland hasn’t announced its pre-tournament roster yet, but expect Kraken prospects Julius Miettinen (center) and Kim Saarinen (goalie) to make the squad, with Visa Vedenpaa (goalie) having an outside chance.
Seattle Kraken goalie prospect Victor Ostman got into a goalie fight over the weekend in the Mavericks’ win against the Utah Grizzlies, and I would say he held his own.
WE HAVE A GOALIE FIGHT PEOPLE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!
Tyson Jugnauth (POR/SEA): The unsigned Kraken defenseman prospect had six assists in the Portland Winterhawks’ 7-2 win over the Vancouver Giants. My only question—where was he on the seventh goal? Jaden Schwartz (SEA): Schwartz tallied two goals and two assists over the four-game road trip. We don’t talk about Schwartz nearly enough—when healthy, he’s been a steady, reliable forward for the Kraken. Vince Dunn (SEA): Dunn notched six points on the road trip, including a goal and two assists in the Kraken’s 5-2 win over the Islanders.
The week ahead
The boys may be coming home, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier with matchups against Florida, Boston, and Tampa Bay—three teams playing excellent hockey heading into the week.
Tuesday: Florida Panthers. They’re 5-0-1 over their last six games and are averaging more than five goals per game in that stretch.
Thursday: Boston Bruins on Thursday. The Bruins are 7-2-0 since firing head coach Jim Montgomery and naming Joe Sacco as interim bench boss.
Saturday: Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning’s power play is on fire, operating at 38 percent efficiency over their last 10 games.
Capturing three out of a possible six points this next week would be a solid result, but the Kraken need to keep clawing back points to reinsert themselves into the playoff picture.
