The Kraken didn’t make it easy on themselves, facing a 2-1 deficit entering the third period Monday. But they mustered just enough offensive output to skate away with a 3-2 win over the Ducks in Anaheim.
Seattle got goals from a couple of forwards who have been struggling to find the back of the net, and defenseman Brandon Montour came through with a missile for the game-winner at 1:10 of the third, scoring in his third straight game for the first time in his career. Two quick goals to start that final frame were all the Kraken needed.
“We had some opportunities to score some goals,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “We out-chanced them, outshot them, but it wasn’t going in. You find yourself down in the game, 2-1, going into the third, you’ve got to respond.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken win over the Ducks.
Takeaway #1: Monkey(s) off the back(s)
Andre Burakovsky has taken his fair share of heat from Kraken fans this season, largely because he hasn’t done what he’s known for—scoring goals. He’s a historically streaky scorer but entered Monday’s game in the longest goal-scoring drought of his career. Despite being tried in every role Bylsma could think of and getting plenty of power-play time, he hadn’t yet gotten one over the line this season.
Of course, when he did finally break through against the Ducks, the goal was ugly as sin—bouncing off his leg and into the net. But that’s how hockey works sometimes. The phenomenon of “squeezing the stick” is real. When you’re a player who’s supposed to score and you’re not, the pressure mounts, and everyone notices.
“The smile on Andre’s face said it all, as he was coming off the ice after that goal,” Bylsma said.
Burakovsky has been playing better over the past few weeks and has been an effective replacement for Jordan Eberle on the top line. But without scoring goals, criticism was inevitable. Now that he’s broken the ice, perhaps this goal will open the floodgates for him.
Another player under scrutiny recently has been Shane Wright. The 20-year-old center looked sharp during training camp and early in the season but seemed to lose confidence as the games progressed. This is part of the growing pains of becoming a full-time NHLer, but it was clear Wright was struggling.
In response, Bylsma made a bold decision to scratch Wright for three games. Wright handled the situation maturely, maintaining a positive attitude and saying all the right things. On Monday, he returned to the lineup and played like he never wants to see the press box—or Coachella Valley—again.
WRIGHT AS RAIN! 🚨
Guess who scores in his first game back from Healthy Scratch Land!
Wright scored the first goal of the game at 7:12 of the first period, about 30 seconds after an outstanding hustle play to hold the puck in the offensive zone. He then planted himself in front of goalie Lukas Dostal and tipped an Oliver Bjorkstrand shot for his second goal of the season.
Like Burakovsky, Wright showed visible emotion as he returned to the bench.
Wright also earned an assist on Montour’s game-winner, cleanly pulling the offensive-zone face-off back to the defenseman. Eeli Tolvanen created a perfect flying screen to allow Montour to blast it over Dostal’s shoulder.
BRANDON BOMBTOUR! 💣 🚨
Clean face-off win by Shane Wright for his second point of the game, perfect jumping screen by Tolvanen, and a blast by Montour.
As Sound Of Hockey’s John Barr noted in his latest Monday Musings, goals haven’t come easy for the Kraken. On Saturday against the Kings, Montour rang a shot off the post in the third period, narrowly missing what could’ve been a game-changing goal.
The goalposts were outstanding again on Monday, stopping at least four Kraken shots. The most demoralizing moment came when Jared McCann missed a prime opportunity in the first period. Tye Kartye’s point shot trickled through Dostal after McCann set a perfect screen and was then first to the puck in the blue paint. But the angle was awkward, and McCann could only shovel it into the base of the post.
This time, the Kraken overcame the staunch defense of the iron, and got those two clutch goals early in the third, 24 seconds apart, to secure the victory.
Takeaway #3: Kartye in the middle of it
Kartye found himself in the Ducks’ crosshairs during this game. At 15:23 of the second period, stud 19-year-old center Leo Carlsson was regrouping deep in the Anaheim zone. A fraction of a second after he passed it, Kartye lowered the boom and sent Carlsson flying.
Carlsson crashed into the goalpost and hit his head on the ice, leaving the game injured. Thankfully, he skated off under his own power, but it was a scary moment. You never want to see a player get hurt, especially a youngster with such a bright future ahead. We’re hoping for his sake that the injury is minor.
As for the controversy surrounding the hit, the officials got this one wrong. After Carlsson stayed down hit the goalpost and stayed down, the nearest referee finally raised his arm and assessed Kartye a five-minute major, which was reduced to two minutes for interference upon review. Even the minor penalty was bogus, though. Kartye is allowed to finish his check, and Carlsson had just released the puck when contact was made.
Tye Kartye with a 100% clean hit on Leo Carlsson, but he goes into the post and hits his head on the ice. Good to see him skate off on his own power after that.
Radko Gudas goes after Kartye in a big-time mismatch, and shenanigans ensue.
The Ducks, however, saw it differently. Captain and noted tough guy, Radko Gudas, went after Kartye, sparking shenanigans. Kartye—who handles himself well in these scenarios—recognized the mismatch with the man known as “the Butcher,” and was smart to avoid any direct blows from Gudas.
Whether the hit from Kartye was clean or not, tensions remained high throughout the game. The Ducks took several runs at Kartye, and Seattle as a whole did well to not get goaded into stupid penalties.
Emotions are sure to carry over to Wednesday’s rematch in Seattle, where the Kraken and Ducks will meet again.
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.
Bummer. In the midst of a string of games that the Seattle Kraken should win, Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Kings was the one we’ve had circled. It was always going to be the toughest test in this stretch against a divisional opponent that could be battling with Seattle for one of the final playoff spots in a few months.
It was a predictably tight-checking contest, with two second-period goals by Los Angeles being all the offense needed for the Kings to slide by the Kraken.
“They’re a really good, structured defensive team, and they can force you into playing a slower type of game,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “We got lulled into the game that way.”
The Kraken had a big push late in the third, and Joey Daccord came up big on several occasions, but the Kraken couldn’t muster enough offense to level the score.
Here are Three Takeaways from a disappointing 2-1 Kraken loss to the Kings.
Takeaway #1: Tough sledding
The Kings changed coaches in February, firing Todd McLellan and elevating Jim Hiller initially on an interim basis, but then naming him full-time head coach in the offseason. Under McLellan, the Kings became notorious for their suffocating and boring 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap. With Hiller at the helm, the Kings have changed tactics, but they are still very much a defense-first club.
The first period Saturday was one of the lowest-event periods we can recall in a Kraken game this season, with a 0-0 score and just a 5-4 shots-on-goal count through 20 minutes.
The Kings connected on a couple of passes over a two-minute span in the second period, and—with the help of a bogus goalie interference call on Yanni Gourde—found themselves in the driver’s seat with a 2-0 lead.
The Kings’ first goal came despite relatively sound defensive-zone coverage by Seattle. Alex Turcotte made a perfect pass behind the skates of Daniel Sprong and weighted it perfectly to catch Adrian Kempe as he got to the slot. Kempe then flung a perfect shot off the post and in, making it 1-0 at 4:19 of the second.
Gourde drove to the net and got the lame goalie interference call at 5:03, and on the ensuing power play, a little give-and-go passing play between Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala also ended up in the back of Seattle’s net.
In the below clip, when Byfield sends the puck to Fiala at the top of the slot, and then Fiala sends it back to Byfield, you can see that Daccord’s first movement is not to slide with the pass. Instead, he leans left to look around the screen, indicating he lost sight of the puck at the exact wrong moment when Fiala was sliding it over. That caused him to delay slightly in moving back to his left, and by the time he got over, Byfield had already found the short side.
The pushback in the third period was pretty good by Seattle, especially late when Bylsma pulled Daccord for an extra attacker. Brandon Montour did get a slap shot by David Rittich with 1:34 left in the third, but the Kraken needed one earlier in the frame to really give themselves a chance.
THE FULL MONTY! 🚨 #SeaKraken finally get one by Rittich.
The best looks of the game all came in the third when the Kraken were trying to claw their way back. Adam Larsson, Daniel Sprong, and Montour all had good opportunities, with Montour’s rebound, which he rang off the post, causing Kraken fans everywhere to slap their foreheads in disbelief.
On the Larsson shot, JT Brown was saying on the broadcast that he would have liked Sprong to stay in front to create a screen for Rittich. Instead, he drifted off to the side of the Kings netminder, hoping for a shot-pass to redirect into a yawning cage. That might have worked if Larsson had gotten the puck away quickly, but it seemed like he and Sprong weren’t quite on the same page. An immediate shot-pass to Sprong had a lane, but when Larsson wound up, the Kings closed off that lane, so he tried to blast it through Rittich without the help of a screen. That did not work.
“I think both on our power play and at 5-on-5, we passed up opportunities to shoot the puck to the net,” Bylsma said. “There weren’t a ton, but you have to take them when you can get them.”
Takeaway #3: Not much support for Daccord
It’s normally games when Philipp Grubauer is in net that the Kraken struggle to create offense at the other end. Other than the two minutes in the middle of the game, Daccord stood tall in this one and shut down some Grade-A chances when he was completely hung out to dry, including a baffling 2-on-0 rush allowed by Seattle during a power play in the second period.
“Especially in the third period, when we were pressing… he had to come up with three or four awesome saves,” Bylsma said. “And you can’t not talk about the 2-on-0 penalty kill/power play chance that we gave up where they got two behind. With the knob of the stick, it was a great save and kept us in the match.”
It certainly wasn’t the highest volume Daccord will face this season, but when Seattle started to sell out to create offense, that meant he was facing some prime rush opportunities, and he turned them all aside. The result was a loss, but another strong night for him with a .905 save percentage and .41 goals saved above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Kraken came up short in this one against the Kings. A win would have been nice, but assuming they continue to play tight defensively, they should be able to rack up a bunch of points over the next week.
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.
Since Seattle Kraken captain Jordan Eberle got tangled with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy and crashed into the end wall last Thursday, we wondered if the team would be missing him for a long stretch of the season. That concern became reality Friday when Seattle announced that Eberle, 34, underwent surgery on his pelvis and will be out for three months.
While the Kraken are always coy about injury updates, we at Sound Of Hockey had a strong hunch this injury was significant. The way coach Dan Bylsma had been talking all week—referencing tests being done and then more tests before the team could even give a realistic timeline—indicated that Eberle was seriously hurt.
Indeed, this injury now sidelines Eberle, who got off to his hottest start since his rookie season with six goals and two assists in the team’s first eight games, until at least late February and potentially even March, depending on how the recovery goes.
The good news is that the team called the surgery “successful” and provided a specific timeline for a return, something they likely wouldn’t have done if they didn’t believe he would be back this season. Still, there’s plenty of reason to be concerned for the veteran winger, who is a key piece of the organization and its leader both on and off the ice.
How Seattle navigates Eberle’s absence
Eberle’s extended absence from the lineup comes as defenseman Vince Dunn appears to be nearing a return from the injury that has sidelined him since Oct. 17. Dunn has been skating with the team—though not yet fully participating—and is on the road trip to Southern California, where Bylsma said he expects Dunn to practice more.
Sound Of Hockey‘s Blaiz Grubic wrote on Thursday that if Eberle’s injury wasn’t severe enough to warrant placing him on long-term injured reserve, then Dunn returning would have forced the Kraken into a major salary cap pickle with only difficult options to resolve it.
This news answers those questions for now. Although Eberle hasn’t yet been placed on LTIR as of Friday evening, he can be added there at any time. Once Dunn returns, the Kraken would have needed to return to cap compliance if the team had remained healthy. However, with Eberle now out, they can place him on LTIR and exceed the cap by his salary minus the team’s current cap space. This means they could go over by approximately $4.7 million.
As Blaiz noted in his previous article, the timing of Daniel Sprong’s re-acquisition was fortuitous. Seattle added a scoring winger just as it lost another for three months. In theory, the team is relatively well positioned to withstand this absence, with help from Coachella Valley call-ups like Ben Meyers, who has been performing well with the Kraken. Shane Wright is also waiting in the wings, having now been a healthy scratch for two straight games, and could slot in at wing if needed.
Placing Eberle on LTIR could also allow general manager Ron Francis to add a forward via trade or waiver claim if an opportunity arises. However, he would need to get the Kraken back under the cap if Eberle is able to return before the end of the regular season.
Concern for Eberle
All of this is important from a team perspective, but the biggest concern here is for Eberle’s well-being. The collision was a powerful one, and seeing the veteran helped down the tunnel by Seattle medical staff was tough to watch. Adding to the difficult timing of this major injury, Eberle and his wife, Lauren, are set to welcome their third child any day now. We’re wishing them all the very best.
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.
Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly one-stop for all things Seattle Kraken prospects. This week we’re going to focus on a question about Seattle’s depth at the right defense position, before passing along notes on three Kraken prospects, getting you data on the rest, and previewing the week ahead. Let’s get to it.
Kraken prospect question of the week
Q: Who do you think is the team’s longer-term answer(s) at the right defense position? – Chuck H
A: The long-term health of the Kraken blue line was front of mind for me going into the 2024 NHL Draft. The team had invested heavily at the forward position, but the defense corps was a bit light in comparison. Seattle had a handful of interesting defensive names, but each carried his own question marks or upside limitations that made me skeptical the team had any real long-term answers in the system.
Ultimately, Seattle bypassed three fairly unique blue line prospects with its No. 8 overall pick (Zeev Buium, Zayne Parekh, and Sam Dickinson), instead opting to invest in offensive powder keg Berkly Catton. Having now seen Catton’s skills up close during development and rookie camps, it is hard to criticize the selection, but the absence of any projected difference makers on the back end still concerned me.
Some answers at right defense came during NHL free agency later in the summer. First, the Kraken made a splash addition, signing 30-year-old right defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year agreement. The team followed that move later in the summer with a four-year contract extension for 31-year-old righty blueliner Adam Larsson. Just like that, two-thirds of the team’s NHL right defense depth chart was set for at least five seasons.
Assuming health, Montour and Larsson are fully capable of providing top-four caliber play for the next two years. This makes the short-term need one of depth. The organization has four more right defensemen playing high-level professional hockey: Will Borgen and Coachella Valley blueliners Cale Fleury, Ville Ottavainen, and Ty Nelson.
Borgen, 27, has been very solid in a third-pair role, leveraging plus athleticism and aggression. That said, he’s due to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and looked for full value during his previous contract negotiations with the Kraken. I suspect there will be at least one team out there that thinks Borgen can handle a second-pair role and will offer him a commensurate raise on his current $2.7 million AAV contract. With four hefty deals already on Seattle’s blue line, I’m uncertain the Kraken would be able to match such an offer.
Fleury has performed well as a first-pair defender in the AHL this year and has looked like a capable NHL fill-in when called upon, deploying an all-around skillset that doesn’t have glaring weaknesses. He is very likely to be “Group-Six” unrestricted free agent at season’s end, though, which puts his future up in the air, just like Borgen’s.
For his part, Nelson is still working to adapt his skillset to the professional game, and, at this point, I don’t view him as a probable NHL option to begin the 2025-26 season.
Ville Ottavainen (left) skates at Kraken Community Iceplex. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
That brings us to the most intriguing name on the list: Ottavainen. The 22-year-old, 6-foot-5 Finnish blueliner was Seattle’s fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Since coming over to North America last season, he has shown off very good athleticism, game speed, and skating fluidity to match a physical defensive presence. What sets him apart is his willingness to jump into the rush for Coachella Valley with a style akin to Jamie Oleksiak. He needs to clean up the puck errors and mistaken coverages that can hold him back, but I view him as the most likely candidate to earn third-pair playing time next season for Seattle. Particularly if he can be paired with a capable veteran presence (perhaps Fleury), this is an adequate plan.
Over the medium-to-long term, Montour and Larsson’s contracts mean they are likely to remain on the team well into their decline phases when you’d rather have a young player step up to take a top role. At this point I’m unsure Ottavainen has the upside to climb into that role. This shifts our attention back to Nelson, as well as junior defensemen Lukas Dragicevic and Alexis Bernier. Of these players, Dragicevic is the only prospect that presents with the potential to reach a top-four role this team will need. Dragicevic’s transition and offensive-zone skating and distribution skills make him an asset to any offense. The question is whether he can get his defense to an adequate place. Right now, he has a long way to go to reach that place.
For me, this means there is still a focus on the position at the 2025 NHL Draft. It’s possible the team’s next impact right-shot defenseman isn’t even in the organization yet.
Notes on three Kraken prospects
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard
HV71 (SHL) | C | 19 years old | 5 games played | 1 goal | 3 assists | 0.8 PPG
Last week, we noted we were relieved and content just to see Mølgaard back on the ice after an early season lower-body injury kept him out of the lineup for almost two months. This week, Mølgaard demands recognition for his production. Mølgaard recorded four points, including his first goal of the season, in three games this week. This qualifies as a scoring binge in the SHL where only five players are currently averaging more than a point per game. Though Mølgaard’s SHL team HV71 continues to struggle, the young Dane is doing his part. He is the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.
Niklas Kokko
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | G | 5 games played | 2.61 GAA | 0.893 save percentage
I strongly considered Niklas “Nikke” Kokko for prospect of the week. He drew only one start in the last seven days, and the numbers don’t exactly jump off the page: 20 saves on 21 shots on goal during a 4-1 win over Abbotsford. Watching the game, though, at least a half dozen of the saves were stellar, denying high-danger looks. The Canucks certainly “deserved” a better fate in the game based on the shot quality they were generating, but Kokko was the difference. Overall, Kokko has been quite good. His stat line is deflated by a few clunker goals on what I’d characterize as medium-to-low-danger opportunities. If he can clean those up, his stat line should continue to trend upwards.
Berkly Catton
Spokane Chiefs (WHL) | F | 18 years old | 20 games played | 9 goals | 23 assists | 1.6 PPG
Catton continues to play at a high level in the WHL—a league he is simply too good for. His speed, shot, and creativity are too much for most of his junior peers to handle (including Kraken defenseman Caden Price in the video above). That said, in the two viewings I’ve had of him this season, I get the sense he is working on areas of his game that could help deliver him to the NHL sooner rather later, including decisiveness in his breaks and commitment in front of the net on both ends. I’m looking forward to seeing him in the World Juniors, a pressure-packed stage where the competition level should ratchet up. The Athletic recently projected him as Team Canada’s No. 1 center in that holiday-season U20 tournament.
Kraken prospect data update
The Firebirds are riding a six-game point streak, including a 2-0-1 record over the last seven days. Firebirds forward Ryan Winterton had a goal and two assists over those three games. After a slow start, Coachella Valley is now third in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
Coming off another solid week, Carson Rehkopf continues to pace the system in points. Andrei Loshko found the back of the net four times in three OHL games since our last update and continues to lead the system in goals with 13.
As for the goalies, it seems Semyon Vyazovoy may have slipped from tandem status into more of a true backup role for his KHL team Salavat Yulaev Ufa. He has only one start in eight November games.
Kokko remains undefeated in North American professional hockey. With partner Ales Stezka’s play trending up as of late too, the Firebirds have a strong foundation in goal to compete for a playoff spot.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Berkly Catton: 1
Caden Price: 1
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: 1
Previewing the week ahead
Barrett Hall and St. Cloud State take on Zaccharya Wisdom and Colorado College in a two-game set this weekend. Andrei Loshko and Nathan Villeneuve will likely find themselves squaring off over the face-off dot on Saturday night when Sudbury visits Niagara in an OHL matchup. Julius Miettinen, Kaden Hammell, and the Everett Silvertips have four games on tap, including a contest against Catton’s Spokane Chiefs Friday and one against Caden Price and the Kelowna Rockets on Sunday. The Rockets will also play the Portland Winterhawks and Tyson Jugnauth next Wednesday. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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.
Update Nov. 22: Since this article was written, Jordan Eberle has undergone successful pelvis surgery and is expected to miss at least three months. Sound Of Hockey‘s Darren Brown has the details on that here.
Kraken captain, Jordan Eberle, sustained an injury in the second period of Seattle’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 14. Despite his absence, the Kraken went on to secure a 3-1 victory that night and have won two of three since then. Still, losing Eberle for an extended period would be a significant blow to the leadership core.
Uh oh. Jordan Eberle with a VERY hard slam into the end wall.
Eberle was tangled up with Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy and slammed violently into the end wall, landing back-first. The Kraken have classified it as a lower-body injury. While I’m not a medical professional, the impact looked severe, and coach Dan Bylsma has used the word “traumatic” when talking about the collision. Given the nature of the incident, injuries to Eberle’s shoulder, back, neck, head, or knee all seem plausible. It’s worth noting Eberle previously required surgery for a shoulder injury in 2015.
The right winger initially managed to skate off under his own power. However, footage from the tunnel showed a trainer assisting him on his right side while he braced himself on the glass with his left arm. This supports the classification of a lower-body injury. Furthermore, after the Kraken’s win over the New York Islanders on Nov. 16, Eberle was seen at Climate Pledge Arena using crutches.
Eberle was still producing before his injury
As of Nov. 21, Jordan Eberle has played 256 games for the Seattle Kraken, the most by any Kraken forward and second only to Adam Larsson, who has appeared in 264 games. Eberle started the season red-hot, scoring nine points in his first 10 games—his best start since his rookie season in 2013, when he tallied 10 points in the same span. However, the 33-year-old winger has cooled off in his last seven games, managing just two points. While not an excuse for the team’s play as a whole, Eberle’s dip in production coincided with a rough stretch for the Kraken, who won just one of eight games between Oct. 22 and Nov. 5.
Eberle has a reputation for playing through pain, exemplified during the 2023-24 season. On Oct. 17, 2023, he dropped the gloves with Logan O’Connor of the Colorado Avalanche. During the fight, Eberle broke his hand—reportedly his right hand. For a right-handed player, this injury is particularly significant, as the lower hand on the hockey stick generates power for shots. Despite this, per Kraken GM Ron Francis, “He continued to play for the next six weeks with a broken hand.” For Eberle to sit out for an extended time indicates he is experiencing a significant injury.
Long-term injured reserve?
Jordan Eberle has not been placed on injured reserve (IR) or long-term injured reserve (LTIR), as of Nov. 21. With Vince Dunn currently on LTIR, there is no immediate cap pressure requiring a move. Once Dunn is activated, though, the Kraken could retroactively place Eberle on LTIR, starting the 10-game and 24-day timer for when he would be eligible to return. While there’s no indication Eberle is headed for LTIR, if he were to land there, the earliest he could return would be Dec. 10 against the Florida Panthers, since the first game he missed was Nov. 16 against the Islanders.
Head coach Dan Bylsma has maintained throughout the week that Eberle and the team are still waiting on results from various tests that will give an idea of timeline.
Dan Bylsma was cagey when asked about Jordan Eberle’s status. Said he’s still having tests done. Didn’t sound great to us.
Kraken GM Ron Francis also offered a brief update during an interview on 93.3 KJR, saying, “We saw a doc on Monday, we’re getting a couple of other opinions, and we should probably have more in the next 24 hours — a better, clearer picture as to what we’re dealing with and what that timeline will look like.”
Potential roster moves
While having Eberle in the lineup is certainly preferred, an LTIR designation could temporarily ease the Kraken’s cap constraints, which will tighten once Vince Dunn returns. Francis highlighted the challenge in a recent interview: “With Dunn in the lineup and 21 players, we were $4,288 below the cap, so … not a lot of wiggle room there. When we’re in (long-term injured reserve), we’ve got a little bit more room to spend, but when Dunn’s coming back, if [everyone] is healthy, then we’re going to have to do something to get underneath the cap. Whether that’s a waiver, sending somebody down, assigning somebody to the minors, or making a trade, those are all options we have to explore.”
Daniel Sprong was re-acquired by the Kraken in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 8. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
If Eberle’s injury does not warrant LTIR, the Kraken will be over the cap by $1.74 million, according to PuckPedia, when Dunn returns. To become cap compliant, they will need to move this amount off the books. Due to the “Wade Redden” rule, which allows a maximum of $1.15m per player to be buried in the AHL, two players will likely need to be moved. Here are some options the Kraken have.
Waiver-exempt options
Francis mentioned sending someone down to the AHL as an option, but neither of the two waiver-exempt players—Ryker Evans and Shane Wright—have high enough salaries to resolve the cap issue. Additionally, Ben Meyers, who cleared waivers earlier this season, won’t require waivers again until he has played 10 NHL games or spent 30 days on the roster. Sending Meyers down seems like the most likely option, but with the Eberle injury, the Kraken will be in a pinch for forwards.
Waiver options
The Kraken need to clear $1.74 million total, so two players will likely need to be moved. Daniel Sprong is a candidate for waivers, as the Kraken acquired him for free, and his cap hit fits the requirement. But they also got him to help the team score goals, and he is currently playing in a top-six role, so would they really waive him?
On defense, Josh Mahura is the most likely candidate. He has performed solidly in Dunn’s absence, but it could make sense to swap in Dunn for Mahura, as Mahura would be the healthy scratch in that case. Meyers is the safer option to put on waivers compared to Mahura, but while Eberle is out, the Kraken will need a forward to play. If Mahura is waived for reassignment to Coachella Valley, waiving Sprong would bring the Kraken under the cap.
Tye Kartye is another possibility to return to the AHL, but he too would require waivers. Being a young, reliable player with upside makes it likely he would be claimed. To reach the $1.74 million mark, the Kraken would need to waive another player with a cap hit of at least $880K in addition to Kartye, making this path unlikely.
Probable paths forward
If no trade occurs, and Eberle is not placed on LTIR before Dunn’s return, these two moves would get the Kraken under the cap:
Waive Josh Mahura to the AHL
Waive Daniel Sprong to the AHL
But again, there are a lot of factors to consider and moving parts here, so it will be interesting to see how the Kraken navigate over the next couple weeks.
If Eberle is placed on LTIR, then the team will be fine with the salary cap until he returns.
Forward lines
With the acquisition of Daniel Sprong, the Kraken are in a better position to absorb Eberle’s loss from a production standpoint. However, from a leadership perspective, his absence would be felt. In the past two games, Andre Burakovsky has stepped into the first-line role and looked solid, including earning the primary assist on McCann’s tying goal against the Islanders. Oliver Bjorkstrand is another option with the ability to perform on the first line.
Meanwhile, Sprong has shown that he can play in a top-six role, as he did Wednesday against Nashville.
As opposed to defensive prospects, there are more forward prospects in Coachella Valley who could step in to fill the hole in the bottom six, with Ryan Winterton leading that charge. Both Jagger Firkus and Eduard Sale have nine points this season and could push for a spot as well, but Winterton is the more likely candidate. All of these prospects make more than league minimum, though, and would require someone to be on LTIR or another rostered Kraken player to be sent down.
Hoping for the best
Injuries are an unfortunate part of hockey, and we all hope Eberle is back sooner rather than later. The Kraken will do their best to roster the best team possible if he is out long-term, and in that sense, the Sprong trade came at a very opportune time.
If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
After watching Seattle’s 3-0 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday, I’m starting to believe that the Kraken are good and that the Nashville Predators are truly broken.
It was tough sledding to break through against a razor-sharp Juuse Saros in this game, but Daniel Sprong rang the bell for the first time since rejoining the Kraken in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 8. Brandon Montour had a goal and an assist, and Chandler Stephenson pitched in with three assists to help Seattle secure its fifth win of the six-game homestand.
“You couldn’t ask for more energy this week or the last two weeks,” Montour said. “Guys are excited to see what direction we’re going in right now.”
All five wins, by the way, came with Joey Daccord in net. Continuing his stretch of exceptional play, Daccord was rewarded with his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career, turning away 24 Nashville offerings.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-0 Kraken win over the Predators.
Takeaway #1: The New Guys®
Both of the big offseason acquisitions—Stephenson and Montour—and the recent trade pickup—Sprong—had huge impacts on this game.
Let’s start with Montour’s performance. I’ve made a claim a few times on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast that Brandon Montour became Seattle’s best player when he signed a seven-year, $50 million deal on July 1. His performance on Wednesday supported that argument and showcased just how dynamic he can be in all three zones.
The first highlight-reel play Montour made in the game came when Gustav Nyquist got behind him for a breakaway. Montour sprinted back, caught up to Nyquist, and got shoulder-to-shoulder with him before wrenching Nyquist’s stick up into the air. The way Montour played it without getting a penalty was a work of art.
Deep in the second period, with the game still scoreless, Montour took a nothing play and suddenly turned it into something, while also looping Stephenson and Sprong into the action.
Philip Tomasino tried to force a clearing attempt up the wall, but Montour knocked it out of the air at the blue line. In an instant, he sent the puck back toward the net, where Stephenson had set up shop at the top of the crease. Stephenson showed his elite patience and vision by getting Saros to commit to him and—instead of shoveling it into the netminder—dished it backward to Sprong, who was left with an easy tap-in.
[Aggressively clears throat]:
🗣️ DING DONG! 🚨
Feels good to write that.
Insane pass by Chandler Stephenson, and Daniel Sprong rings the bell for the first time since returning to Seattle.
“When Monty threw it to the net, I was more going for the rebound first,” Sprong said. “And then Stephenson went to his backhand, and in a split second, I’m like, ‘I think it might come back to me.’ So, I was just ready in case it did.”
Montour wasn’t done there, and neither was Stephenson. On their first shift of the third period, Montour dished to Stephenson at the offensive blue line and took off, even though Nashville had numbers back. Facing a mismatched 2-on-3 rush, Montour beat the Predators defenders to the far post, and Stephenson made another outrageous pass, threading it around Josi’s skate and into a perfect spot for Montour to tip it up and over Saros’ pad.
THE FULL MONTY! 🚨
That’s two sick passes by Chandler Stephenson to create the two goals in this game. This time, Brandon Montour gets on the other end of it.
“As soon as [Montour] gave it to me, and ripped over the blue line, he said, ‘Yeah,’ he was calling for it,” Stephenson said. “He turned on the burners, and I just kind of delayed there for him. And so it worked out.”
After the game, Stephenson sounded a little down on himself about not scoring many goals and used the term “snakebit.” When asked if he considered shooting on the Sprong goal, Stephenson said, “Not with how things are going right now.”
So, goals aren’t going in for him, but he sure found a way to be impactful on Wednesday, as did the other “New Guys.”
Takeaway #2: Joey does it again
Daccord is quietly rising up the ranks in a lot of goaltending statistical categories, and by stopping all 24 of the shots he faced Wednesday, he improved to a .923 save percentage (good for sixth in the NHL) and a 2.31 goals-against average (eighth in the league). He’s also sixth in wins with nine and third in goals saved above expected with 7.6, according to MoneyPuck.
It’s almost sounding like a broken record when Bylsma gets asked after every game about how well Daccord is playing, but there’s no denying that he is playing exceptionally well.
This game was an interesting one because it really felt for a while like Saros was going to steal the show. But Daccord went toe to toe with the star backstop, got a little luck with a negated Tommy Novak kick-in goal and a post in the third period, and pitched his first shutout of the season.
“I was disappointed [Daccord] didn’t get the shutout in [a 3-2 win over the Islanders on Saturday], just because of how well he’s been playing,” Bylsma said. “And tonight, it was gratifying to see him get the shutout just to accent how well he’s played.”
As Daccord continues to play well, the team in front of him will only grow more confident. If the Kraken can find a way to win Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings, then look out, because this group could be in the midst of a major run.
Takeaway #3: What’s up with the Predators?
I’m not trying to take anything away from Seattle’s performance Wednesday because it was a strong top-to-bottom effort, but the lack of success for this star-studded Nashville roster this season is baffling. A team that already had superstars like Josi, Ryan O’Reilly, and Filip Forsberg added Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos over the offseason.
Yet, a quarter of the way into the season, Nashville sits at 6-11-3, just two points ahead of Chicago for last place in the Central Division. It’s a team that should be playing desperate hockey right now, and for much of the game against the Kraken, they were getting outshot by a 2-1 ratio.
I have to wonder if there are changes on the horizon for the Predators, especially when considering that they managed to get called for the rare “starting the game with an incorrect lineup” penalty and then got blanked to close out their five-game road trip with a 1-2-2 record.
By the way, on that call, Bylsma said the Kraken bench recognized during the national anthem that the guys Nashville had sent out seemed off because those players don’t normally play together. So, once the puck had dropped, they alerted the officials, and the penalty was assessed at the first whistle. You don’t see that every day.
The penalty didn’t really cost Nashville, but it did feel like a microcosm of just how out of sorts this team is right now.
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.
