The first period was terrible. The second period was excellent. That pretty much sums up how this game played out for the Seattle Kraken, who ultimately came away with a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“I don’t think anybody on the bench was happy with the way the first period was going,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “Maybe it’s a reset after the period [when the] 20 minutes is up, but I just… the response from the group is great to see.”
The fourth line came through again, Joey Daccord had a season-high 38 saves, and Seattle had its third two-goal comeback win of the campaign after never doing that last season.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken win over the Blue Jackets.
Takeaway #1: A tough first period against the Blue Jackets
Give credit to the Blue Jackets for how the first period went. The Blue Jackets, who entered the game on a five-game losing streak and were looking to salvage at least one victory out of their winless five-game West Coast swing, came out flying. Remember, this is a team that had a winning record before its current skid began, so there is some talent on that side.
They tilted the ice in Seattle’s direction for almost the whole opening frame, firing 18 shots at Daccord. For a few fleeting moments, it started to feel like the Kraken were going to get to the dressing room unscathed, but in the blink of an eye, the game developed into an uphill battle.
Sean Kuraly broke the ice at 13:46 after Zach Aston-Reese’s shot hit him in the pants, and he poked it over the line. In classic Kraken fashion, the Blue Jackets struck again 22 seconds later, when Kuraly returned the favor to Aston-Reese by winning a race and throwing the puck blindly toward the crease, where Aston-Reese deflected it in.
Here’s Bylsma’s explanation of the first goal: ”Coming out of D-zone coverage, we had a wall play that—from where our position was, the puck bounces over our stick, it gets taken back, and we’re executing off a skate, which leads to a turnover.”
Here’s Bylsma’s explanation of the second goal: “The second one is just a hard forecheck that we get beat on the rim around the wall. They sling it to the net, and they’re ready at the net, and we’re not.”
The “executing off a skate” comment on the first goal was in reference to a bad pass by Josh Mahura into the feet of Jordan Eberle that caused Eberle to cough up the puck. The “we get beat on the rim around the wall” comment was also in reference to Mahura losing the race for the puck and then getting bumped perfectly by Kuraly to give the CBJ forward just enough time to throw it into the middle.
It was a rough shift for Mahura and the Kraken. Bylsma called timeout after that to start settling things down, but the real reset happened at the end of the period.
Takeaway #2: An incredible second period
Even after the abysmal first period, I had a hunch that if Seattle could get one relatively early in the second and build some momentum, then the Blue Jackets would go away quietly. Yes, they were desperate, but teams on losing streaks like that often tend to be fragile and struggle to respond when a game shifts.
Whatever was discussed between periods in Seattle’s dressing room must have been pretty magical because the Kraken looked like a completely different team when they came out for the middle frame.
“[The messaging] was simple. It wasn’t good enough,” Brandon Tanev said. “It’s lazy, sloppy hockey, but I think at the end of the day, we had 40 minutes to figure it out, and I think we definitely did that.”
Seattle did figure it out to the tune of four unanswered goals in the second to gain control of the game. The fourth line with Tye Kartye, Yanni Gourde, and Tanev led the way yet again, with Kartye breaking the ice at 2:50 on a greasy net-front goal and Tanev scoring a beauty off a 2-on-1 rush with Gourde.
“Yanni… drove and pushed everyone back and cleared some space for me,” Tanev said. “And then it was just making a play. [I was] fortunate to get a puck and put it in the right spot for it to go in.”
I do love the way Gourde and Tanev worked off each other on that play. Tanev didn’t try to force a pass, and even with a strong back check from Mathieu Olivier, Gourde’s drive through the slot took all the attention away from Tanev and gave him plenty of space to cut to the slot and fire it home. This was Tanev’s third goal in two games, by the way, and the fourth line now has four of Seattle’s last nine goals since Kartye was scratched in Colorado, and the team subsequently traded for Daniel Sprong.
Eeli Tolvanen followed up Tanev’s goal with a power-play marker all of 10 seconds later, when Seattle executed a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play off the face-off that ended with Tolvanen tapping in a cross-crease pass from Eberle.
EELI GOALVANEN! 🚨
Beautiful setup, right off the face-off of the power play. Eberle finds Tolvanen on the far post, and the #SeaKraken score their third in a row and take a 3-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/QLpcMiVfp1
“Our first power play, we stepped over the boards with the mindset we were going to score, and that got us into the lead,” Bylsma said.
Seattle’s second-period surge marked a massive turnaround, helping the Kraken take control over the Blue Jackets.
Takeaway #3: Another huge night for Joey Daccord
Daccord deserves some praise in this one as well, because without him, Seattle wouldn’t have had a chance after that opening frame. In total, Daccord faced 40 shots in the game and notched an impressive .950 save percentage and 2.0 goals saved above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick.
As the Kraken have struggled at times this season, Daccord has quietly put together a fairly stellar campaign so far. On a team that is 7-8-1 through 16 games, Daccord is 6-3-1 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, good for sixth in the NHL among goalies that have played at least six games.
“It’s kind of been the script for us,” Bylsma said. “In the first period, when things were going a little bit haywire, he kept us in the match… kept it at two [goals], and gave us a chance to come back in the second.”
It’s becoming difficult to not view Daccord as the full-time starter for this team.
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.
If you are a frequent visitor to this website or listener of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, by now you probably know that Sound Of Hockey has set up a Patreon. It’s our firm belief that the podcast and articles on this website should be free and available to the public. But this project of ours is not costless, and that’s where the Patreon comes in and helps us make it all work.
In return for the Patreon community’s generous support, we periodically deliver extra content and benefits–including bi-monthly bonus podcasts, prospect videos, watch parties, meetups, ticket giveaways, and the like. I’m here today to publicize a new benefit that Sound Of Hockey Patreon community members will get access to this year: Data cards for all players in the Kraken organization–whether in the NHL, AHL, junior hockey, or elsewhere.
The long-term goal is to integrate these data features into the public website, but as we continue to build out the necessary infrastructure to do that, we wanted to get this information into the hands of hockey fans now and solicit feedback so that we can get you the best and most useful content. The Patreon is the best way to do that for now.
So, if you’re a Sound Of Hockey community member already, first, thank you! Second, look for the announcement post in the Patreon feed with next steps on how to get access to the Kraken Player Cards beta testing. (The cards have been stable and reliably updating overnight for the last couple weeks, but I’m certain there will be bugs and downtime to deal with along the way. I appreciate your patience on that!)
If you’re not part of the community yet, I don’t think there has ever been a better time to give it a try. Beyond getting access to the cards, a brand new bonus pod is scheduled for this week. Everything is happening. So, sign up here or use the link at the bottom of this post. Any new members at the $5.00 level will get access to the cards for the remainder of the season.
Genesis of the Kraken player cards
If you’ve followed my posts here, you know that one of my projects is tracking Kraken prospects as they navigate their way to professional hockey. Anyone who has tried to do the same knows the challenge involved. NHL prospects play in dozens of leagues around the world–many of which require specific streaming services to watch, if they are available to watch at all.
In an effort to bridge the gap for fans, I have made prospect videos–almost all of which you can find on the Deep Sea Hockey YouTube page. This year I’ve also started delivering weekly Down on the Farm reports with the goal of getting fans a little closer to the players below the NHL level.
Even so, there is far more that can be done. My goal is to build a Kraken organization data hub that keeps fans updated on a day-to-day basis. The data cards are an offshoot of my ongoing efforts to build that resource.
Kraken player cards explainer
The player cards are in Google Sheets. Unfortunately, there is no way for any one person’s scrolling to be viewable to that person only. Accordingly, I’ve made a number of duplicate sheets within the master file, accessible via the tabs at the bottom of the page (see below). Some have all Kraken players, some have only the NHL players, and some have only non-NHL players. They are labelled accordingly. If another viewer is editing the sheet you are looking at, pick a different tab at the bottom. This courtesy will avoid disrupting others’ viewing.
The cards themselves have five sections. Beyond that, each card has two additional resources at the bottom that I will also describe. Starting from the top, the cards begin with basic biographical information for each player. Most important here is that you can navigate from player to player via the dropdown menu accessed by clicking the downward carrot in the top-right corner (as indicated by the red circle below).
The information provided here is, I believe, self-explanatory but the cards have a full glossary if any clarification is needed.
Next up is a basic statistics section that has information for skaters and goalies no matter what level of hockey they are at. One exception is that TOI (“time on ice”) data is available for skaters at the NHL level only. A skater’s card (this one is Adam Larsson) looks like this:
If the player is currently playing at the NHL level, this field will show the player’s “NHL total” stats. For example, Daniel Sprong’s card includes his stats from Vancouver.
If the player is not currently in the NHL, it will show the player’s “total” season statistics below the NHL level, even if those statistics were accrued for multiple teams or across multiple leagues. (International or other exhibition play is not included though.) A minor league goalie’s card (this one is Kim Saarinen) looks like this:
After that comes a section with detailed on-ice and advanced statistics for NHL level players only. These stats are mostly from Natural Stat Trick. The skater card (again, Larsson) looks like this:
The goalie card (Daccord) looks like this:
Since these are less commonly used terms, here are the glossary descriptions:
The fourth section of the player cards provides summary contract information. Here is Berkly Catton’s card, for example:
Here, again, the glossary provides definitions and explanatory examples. Finally, the last section provides additional information on career NHL statistics, recent season data, and draft history, and also provides links to underlying data sources. This is Adam Larsson’s card:
Below each card is a space for links to “All Shifts” videos for the player (if I have made any). These videos contain all of a player’s on-ice time from a specific game. I believe these fulsome viewings are more valuable than highlight reals, which tend to accentuate a player’s scoring or strengths at the expense of everything else. Here is what this part of Berkly Catton’s card looks like:
The images are links to the videos, which can be previewed within Google Sheets or watched on YouTube. The vast majority of these videos are available to Patreon community members and non-members alike at the Deep Sea Hockey YouTube channel. Community members get early access to some videos though, as a benefit.
Finally, the page ends with summary tables to compare the selected player against teammates and/or others in the organization. Here is what the NHL skaters table looks like on Adam Larsson’s card:
* * *
Thanks to everyone who has looked at the cards so far and offered encouragement or given feedback. For those just getting acquainted, I’m looking forward to your feedback too (more information on that via the Patreon). Thanks for reading.
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.
The Seattle Kraken split two games over the past seven days, with a loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and a thrilling overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night. The win broke their four-game losing streak and marked the first time the Kraken have defeated the Golden Knights at Climate Pledge Arena. In the post-game press conference, coach Dan Bylsma described it as the team’s best game of the season—not because it was perfect, but for the way they battled through to come back and win in overtime.
The win against Vegas also gives hope that this team has the skill to make the season interesting. If you want to understand how some fans were feeling, just read the comments from last week’s musings. I’m not prepared to say one win puts this team back on track for the playoffs, but it did showcase its potential. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again: this season’s team is better than last season’s, which should put Seattle in a position to play meaningful games in March.
The acquisition of Daniel Sprong
In case you missed it, the Seattle Kraken re-acquired Daniel Sprong on Friday. Sprong is expected to bring a much-needed offensive boost to the lineup, and hopefully, he can recapture the scoring magic he had during the 2022-23 season with the Kraken, when he put up a career-high 21 goals. Darren provided an in-depth breakdown of how Sprong will fit into the team if you need more details. When the trade was made, it seemed likely that Tye Kartye would be the one to come out of the lineup for Sprong, but Kartye had a strong game against Vegas, and his line was one of the best on the ice Friday night. I’m also not sure Sprong would be an ideal fit with those two, so I imagine there could be further line adjustments when he joins the group.
The acquisition of Sprong also creates another issue that will need to be addressed down the line: salary cap compliance. For now, there’s no issue with the Kraken’s cap situation because they’re using the cap relief from Vince Dunn being on long-term injured reserve. During the Kraken pre-game show on Friday night, general manager Ron Francis mentioned that Vince Dunn is about three weeks away from being activated, which delays this issue a bit.
Once Dunn is activated, they’ll need to clear $970K of cap space, which complicates things since Sprong carries a $975K cap hit. Assuming they want to keep Sprong on the roster when Dunn returns, simply sending Josh Mahura down won’t be enough to resolve the issue.
Another option is to make a trade, which I believe has been on the table since the beginning of the season.
Adjusted goal differential
One topic I’ve discussed in the past is adjusted goal differential. This metric measures the difference between goals scored and goals allowed, excluding empty-net goals on both sides. The takeaway from this analysis is that teams close to an even goal differential have about a 50 percent chance of making the playoffs. The more positive the goal differential, the more likely a team is to reach the playoffs.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the Kraken very close to the even mark, currently with a goal differential of negative two.
It’s not a perfect science, but it underscores that this is a competitive team capable of contending for a playoff spot. I’m sure many people will point out the team’s flaws, but I don’t believe those flaws are as significant as they seemed during the losing streak.
Other Musings
I’m embarrassed to admit how much better I feel the day after a Kraken win compared to a Kraken loss. It’s not that I’m grumpy after a loss—I just feel like bouncing off the walls when they win.
The Kraken’s overtime-winning goal on Friday night was fantastic, but check out Jared McCann’s subtle stick check on Jack Eichel that caused the turnover, leading to McCann’s breakaway opportunity.
Friday night’s win was the Kraken’s second victory of the season after falling behind by two goals—a feat they didn’t accomplish even once last season.
Shane Wright logged his lowest ice time of the season on Friday, which raised concerns among some fans online. Shane is still adjusting to the NHL’s speed and physicality, so give him time. Quinten Byfield, for instance, didn’t hit his stride in the NHL until his fourth season after being drafted. This is Wright’s third year since his draft.
Yanni Gourde has been playing great, but is there any player more snakebitten than him? It feels like he’s hitting a post in nearly every game.
(Lost) face-off goal alert:
TURBO TIMES ✌️! 🚨
Great work by Kartye to keep the play alive and get it to Tanev for his second of the game.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds have now won three games in a row.
I know there were some challenges with the “Meet the Team” event over the weekend before the Super Skills Competition, but several people I spoke with absolutely loved the event. It was a chance to see the players loosen up and showcase their personalities, something we aim to capture on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast when we host Kraken guests. Plus, it was fantastic to see so many kids there!
I loved this feature from KING5 on Kraken play-by-play announcer John Forslund. Even before he joined the Kraken, I thought he was the best in the business. We’re lucky to have him calling our games.
Player performances
Berkly Catton (SPO/SEA) – The Kraken’s first-round pick from the most recent draft posted eight points over Spokane’s three games this week.
Caden Price (KEL/SEA) – The Kraken’s 2023 third-round pick notched two goals and two assists over the weekend, including this beauty against Spokane.
Nathan MacKinnon (COL) – Ever heard of this guy? He tallied nine points in three games over the last week, including five assists against the Kraken last Tuesday. He continues to be one of my favorite players to watch—when he’s not playing the Kraken.
The week ahead
If the Kraken have a shot at getting back into the playoff picture, they need to take advantage of their remaining November schedule, with six of their 10 games this month against Anaheim, Chicago, Columbus, and San Jose. They absolutely need to start gaining ground on the teams ahead of them.
This week, the Kraken host Columbus, Chicago, the Islanders, and a tough matchup against the New York Rangers. There are no gimmes in hockey, but the first two games of the week should be easier than the last two. Four points seem like the minimum, with at least five as the target. Columbus comes in having lost four of their last five games, averaging under two goals per game in that stretch.
How are we feeling out there? Has the win against the Golden Knights turned that frown upside down, or are we still anticipating a challenging season?
Hoo boy, did the Seattle Kraken ever need that win against the Vegas Golden Knights. It was anything but easy, and it almost slipped away from them. But in the end, the Kraken came out with two points against one of the top teams in the NHL, snapping their four-game losing streak.
“I don’t want to say it was a complete game from minute 1 to minute 63,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “But it was our best game, really [in terms of] competing the way we want to and need to compete.”
Brandon Tanev scored twice, while Oliver Bjorkstrand and Tye Kartye both made an impact after being scratched last game, and Jared McCann clinched the overtime game-winner.
Here are Three Takeaways from a thrilling 4-3 Kraken OT win over the Golden Knights:
Takeaway #1: The fourth line was cooking
Just before the game, the Kraken announced a trade to bring back Daniel Sprong, the scoring fourth-line winger who netted 20 goals in a season the last time he played for Seattle. However, Sprong wasn’t in the lineup Friday and likely won’t be for a couple more games until his work visa is processed.
So, what did the current fourth line—Tye Kartye, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev—do with that news? They went out and led the way for the Kraken, generating offensive chances on nearly every shift and rewarding Tanev with two goals.
“For the better part of the 15 games that we’ve played, they’ve been physical, they’ve been fast,” Bylsma said. “They played in the offensive zone, they were determined, and they get opportunities because of it. And they put the other team on their heels with how they play as a line and as a group.”
Indeed, that trio has had some strong performances this season, but remember, we’re only one game removed from Bylsma scratching Kartye from the lineup. Could there have been a little extra motivation for him and the rest of the line knowing that more roster competition is on the way?
Perhaps, especially considering that Seattle will again be tight on cap space once Vince Dunn returns from injury (still a few weeks off, according to Ron Francis on Friday). When Dunn is back, if the team is otherwise healthy, there won’t be room to keep extras after adding Sprong. So, for a player like Kartye—who could theoretically be sent down to Coachella Valley (requiring waivers)—or even Gourde or Tanev, both on expiring deals, strong performances are now crucial.
In the first period of this game, things looked like they might go sideways quickly. The Kraken allowed a power-play goal on a 5-on-3 and then gave up a second goal at even strength three minutes later on some questionable defending. But Tanev intercepted a Brayden McNabb pass at the Kraken blue line, raced in on a breakaway, and fired it off the post and in.
TURBO TIME! 🚨
Tanev gets the steal at the #SeaKraken blue line and scores on the breakaway.
That goal really seemed to settle the Kraken, and Kartye made a great play seven minutes into the second. After Gourde lost an offensive-zone face-off, Kartye stole the puck back and set up Tanev for his second of the night.
TURBO TIMES ✌️! 🚨
Great work by Kartye to keep the play alive and get it to Tanev for his second of the game.
“It’s nice to see [Kartye] come back into the lineup tonight,” Tanev said. “I think he, Yanni, and I have been playing some good hockey as a line, and he made a great play on my second goal. I think without his effort to get that puck and make a possession-poised play, I don’t think I have an opportunity in front of the net. So he did some great things tonight, and I think as a line, we played really well.”
Takeaway #2: Welcome back, Oliver Bjorkstrand
Bylsma’s decision to scratch veteran winger Oliver Bjorkstrand from the lineup against Colorado on Tuesday was still a storyline in this game. At morning skate, Bjorkstrand acknowledged the message, saying he needed to be “more engaged, finding a way to hold onto the puck, winning battles, getting scoring chances.”
Bjorkstrand didn’t necessarily stand out in this game, and he only got 12:35 of ice time. But he did make an impact by crashing the net at a key moment. With the game tied 2-2 three minutes into the third, Jaden Schwartz took a slap shot from the top of the right circle. Adin Hill stopped it and then dove to try to poke the puck past Bjorkstrand, but it hit him and popped into the open net behind Hill.
“It was good. I would have been ready in Colorado, but I thought I was ready tonight,” Bjorkstrand said. “I kept it somewhat simple, I feel like I played well with the puck, and was able to create some chances. So I think the key now is just to build on that.”
Bylsma seemed pleased with Bjorkstrand’s response.
“I thought his game in particular was a great bounce-back game for him,” Bylsma said. “And he’s a talented, skilled player that has a great shot, scores a lot of goals. And I thought his compete was at a great level for him to have success in the game. And it’s not just the evidence of going to the net and scoring a dirty goal, but on the wall in the first period, the face-off also in the first period, the battle on the wall in the second period right in front of our bench, I thought it was great.”
Takeaway #3: A big win for the psyche
It hasn’t been a good stretch of hockey for the Kraken, who entered the game having lost seven of their previous eight. Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights have been on a roll this season and are known for their resilience. Plus, Seattle had never defeated the Golden Knights at Climate Pledge Arena.
So, when Alex Pietrangelo got a favorable bounce off Adam Larsson’s skate in a 6-on-5 situation with 1:22 left in the third, it definitely felt like Seattle was about to let this game slip away.
But the Kraken responded well in overtime. McCann made a fantastic play to strip Jack Eichel of the puck at the defensive blue line, then received an indirect pass from Brandon Montour in the neutral zone and flew in for the breakaway goal.
It’s a desperately needed win for the Kraken over a strong Golden Knights team, and one that hopefully sets the tone for this crucial homestand.
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.
*Note: This story was updated following Ron Francis’s press conference Friday evening.*
DING DONG! IT’S DANIEL SPRONG (again)! The Kraken announced that they acquired the Dutch winger in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, sending only “future considerations” back the other way.
“Obviously, we’ve been struggling to score some goals lately, so we were looking at that,” general manager Ron Francis said. “I had a conversation with [Canucks general manager] Patrik [Allvin] the other day, and Daniel’s name came up. Obviously, with us, he had a good season, scored 20 goals with us, 18 last year. He knows our team, our locker room, and we thought it was a low-risk gamble to give him a shot.”
With the trade, Sprong, 27, returns to Seattle for his second stint. The winger spent a season and change with the Kraken after being acquired almost by accident at the 2021-22 trade deadline when Francis sent Marcus Johansson to the Washington Capitals for two draft picks. Sprong, who was then on an expiring contract, was effectively a throw-in from Washington, and Francis even indicated that he was a player the Capitals “wanted” Seattle to take back in the deal.
Sprong played out the year with Seattle, then returned to Kraken training camp the following season on a pro tryout. He earned a contract and made the team out of camp and helped drive the fourth line to become one of the most effective in hockey, racking up 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games during the 2022-23 campaign.
He left as an unrestricted free agent after the season, opting to sign a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, where he again produced offensively with 18 goals and 25 assists.
Despite consecutive (very) productive seasons, Sprong was again on the move this summer, ultimately signing a one-year deal worth $975K with the Vancouver Canucks on July 20.
Now, after playing nine of Vancouver’s 12 games and scoring one goal and two assists, Sprong has found himself back in Seattle for a second go-round with the team where he had his most successful NHL season. He re-joins players and staff with whom he’s already familiar.
“We’re not playing the way we think we’re capable of playing, and we’re trying to find our game,” Francis said. “And hopefully this gives us a little jolt to get things going in the right direction.
“The guys are excited and happy to have him back.”
Sprong keeps moving
It’s interesting that despite his ability to score in a league where goals are so hard to come by, Sprong continues to quickly wear out his welcome in various cities. The knock on him has always been his effort at the defensive end of the ice, and former Kraken coach Dave Hakstol called that out on several occasions.
But from my view, when Sprong was on the ice, he put opposing teams on their heels with his speed, stickhandling, and heavy shot. During his time with the Kraken, Sprong’s fourth line with Morgan Geekie and Ryan Donato usually had the puck and didn’t spend much time defending anyway.
I have been… pardon the pun… ringing the bell for Seattle to bring Sprong back ever since he left. I didn’t think it was a coincidence that the Kraken’s depth scoring went belly-up last season without him and his linemates, who had all departed the summer before. There’s been no offensive punch from the bottom of the lineup since then, and surely Francis and his staff are hoping to recapture some of that magic.
Although I always had positive interactions with Sprong, something about this player causes him to wear out his welcome (almost) everywhere he goes. Whatever that may be, it didn’t deter the Kraken enough to keep them from wanting him back. Worth noting: I believe Sprong received an offer to return after that 2022-23 season, but he opted to join Detroit as a free agent instead.
Here is Francis’s take on why Sprong has moved around so much: “I know when we first got him, it took a while to get to know him, and sort of build that trust and relationship. I think even when he left, it wasn’t like he left on bad terms with us. It was basically him coming off of 20 goals and playing on our fourth line, we didn’t have the money to pay him at that point. So, we said, ‘Go and test the market,’ and good for him. He ended up getting a couple million dollars, and that’s why we couldn’t keep him.”
How he fits
With the Kraken in an early season rut, having lost seven of their last eight games and four in a row, the organization is looking to jolt the lineup. With Vince Dunn still on long-term injured reserve, they are able to exceed the cap temporarily, though not for long. According to coach Dan Bylsma, Dunn is progressing well and could return as early as next week. When he does, the Kraken will need to make room by either sending someone to Coachella Valley or executing another trade.
I would expect Sprong to slot back into the fourth line, perhaps initially replacing Tye Kartye, who appears to be in Bylsma’s doghouse, given his healthy scratch Tuesday in Colorado. We shall see.
Francis expects that due to Veterans Day on Monday, Sprong’s work visa will not come through in time for him to join the Kraken on Tuesday. Instead, expect that the earliest we will see Sprong in the lineup would be next Thursday when the Chicago Blackhawks come to Seattle.
Welcome to Down on the Farm, your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. In each post, we feature a player in the Kraken system, provide few additional notable updates, and then get you all of the statistics you can handle for the prospect pool’s past week and season to date.
One thing I have long promised to add to the series is a prospect question each week, but ongoing behind the scenes work (more on that soon?) has made my Kraken coverage life quite busy. That said, I just couldn’t let another week pass without addressing a question, so I “cheated” a bit. We’re featuring Jagger Firkus this week and, as part of that, I’ll focus on the first question posed to me after I sent out the call. Andrew S. asks: “How is Jagger Firkus adjusting to the increased size and physicality of the AHL?” Let’s get into it.
Featured Kraken prospect: Jagger Firkus
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | RW | Age: 20 | 8 games played | 2 goals | 3 assists | 0.63 PPG
Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus filled the stat sheet during his final junior season last year. He scored 61 goals and added 65 assists during the 2023-24 regular season, en route to winning the CHL scoring title and CHL Player of the Year award. His scoring drove success for his junior club too, as his Moose Jaw Warriors won the WHL and competed for the Memorial Cup.
We noted in our in-person junior hockey viewings that Firkus didn’t really “dominate” play but would instead pop up at just the right moment for a key shot or pass to put Moose Jaw over the top. Firkus views this play style as a feature rather than a bug. When asked by Judd Spicer of the Fire & Ice Podcast this week whether he would swap out for a 6-foot-3 frame if he could, Firkus answered: “I think the style of game I play, it doesn’t really suit a 6-foot-3 player… I’m kind of a guy that just tries to sneak away and get in the small areas and play with my hands in the small areas. And I don’t think it really works in a [bigger] body.”
All the same, Firkus is the first to recognize that his overall engagement and physicality would need to take a step forward to succeed in the professional ranks. “(Professional hockey) is a different animal,” Firkus said, as reported by Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times over the summer. “If I want to make the jump, I’ve got to make some movement in the gym.”
The Kraken development staff echoed those sentiments. “It’s gonna be a learning curve for him for sure,” Director of Amateur Scouting Robert Kron said after the draft. “Any time you have an undersized guy, who’s not 6-foot-2, they have to show that their speed and their strength can go against pros as well,” Director of Player Development Jeff Tambellini added.
From my vantage, he elevated his engagement level through the playoffs last season, playing some of his best hockey during the WHL Finals against Portland. (The video above is from that series and is probably the best all-around junior performance I ever saw from him. It’s worth a watch.)
The challenge was to carry that quality, detailed play over against professional competition. “[As] a first-year pro, you don’t really know what it takes… the first couple of games,” Firkus said on the same podcast this week. “You just try to get your feet wet and understand what it’s like to be a pro hockey player and the daily lifestyle that you live in… It’s been a blast. It’s been something that I feel like I can play in. So I just get my confidence better and better each game, I’m trying to grow each game.”
Asked about what he thinks he can bring to the Firebirds, Firkus said he’s “an offensive player that likes to have a puck” but more important is playing the right way as a team—”just buying in to being a team player. That’s kind of the biggest thing…. You can tell if a team is [bought in], that can get you the farthest.”
By that standard, Firkus’ acclimation to the AHL has gone about as well as it could have so far. The scoring touch and play-making skill are still there in flashes. But the details have been even more impressive.
In the clip below from Wednesday’s Firebirds game against the Colorado Eagles, Firkus takes a pass at the offensive blue line, senses approaching pressure, and gets the puck deep. When his teammate doesn’t cleanly retrieve it, he sprints across the ice to the spot where he anticipates the next challenge could happen. He checks an Eagle to the boards separating the puck and contesting possession. The Eagles briefly get possession, but Firkus wins it back with a nifty steal and helps get the puck back in the offensive zone with control. He then goes straight to the net front drawing coverage and opening space for his teammates. This is the type of hardworking forecheck that can take a skilled junior player and make him an NHLer.
Later in the first period of this game, Firkus took a loose puck at the defensive blue line and broke it up ice with enough strength to draw a penalty in transition. The tenacity and “want to” is there with Firkus, and he’s starting to play with enough power to win these kinds of advantages.
His high-level instincts really show up in the offensive zone. In the second period clip below, Firkus gains the zone on a controlled entry, passes to a teammate, and anticipates where he needs to get to (below the net) to take the return feed. He draws in pressure, circles the puck to space for his teammates, and immediately goes to the front of the net to draw coverage again. Due in no small part to Firkus’ detailed and instinctual play, the Firebirds got a high-quality look.
But nowhere was Firkus’ sixth sense for offense more evident than on a rush chance about five minutes later. He was in support alongside (Firkus’s Coachella Valley roommate) David Goyette and Brandon Biro. He constantly adjusted his angle so that if the puck made it to him he would have the best possible chance. When a rebound did squirt loose to him, he was in the perfect position to knock it home.
“We don’t expect [Firkus] to run anybody over, but he can dart in and dart out,” Coachella Valley head coach Derek Laxdal said following rookie camp this summer. “I think a great example for him is Brayden Point with Tampa. That should be a player that he models his game off of. [Firkus is] fearless. He goes to those hard areas.”
We saw all of those attributes in the clips above. The most important area for improvement in Laxdal’s eyes is on defense: “For these players to play in the National Hockey League, to get a chance to play, they have to be able to survive defensively in the game.” Laxdal noted that he has seen forward progress from Firkus in that regard, but there is certainly still work to be done.
For example, in Wednesday’s game both Firkus and Goyette flew the zone a little too early during a contested puck situation late in the second period in the Firebirds’ end. This is commonly called “cheating for offense,” and it’s risky because if the player’s team doesn’t get control and successfully outlet the puck, you’ve put the team in a shorthanded position in the defensive zone. This is precisely what happened in the Eagles game, leading to an extra Colorado shot attempt that may not have happened if Firkus (or Goyette) focused on defensive support first.
All told, though, I’m impressed by the small things Firkus has been able to do so far in the AHL—maximizing his speed and strength with tactical positioning and a fearless mentality. It’s very early, and he has a development road left to traverse, but he’s showing the attributes necessary to be an NHL contributor.
Notes on three more Kraken prospects
Carson Rehkopf
Brampton Steelheads (OHL) | F | Age: 19 | 14 games played | 8 goals | 20 assists | 2.0 PPG
Carson Rehkopf continues to rack up points playing alongside top draft prospect Porter Martone and another talented player in Luke Misa on the Brampton Steelheads’ top line. On Sunday he had two goals, including a late third-period game-tying goal in a game the Steelheads would ultimately win. Overall he had seven points in three games since our last update. For the second week in a row, though, his sterling effort is overshadowed by another for the Prospect of the Week award.
Some good news (which may interest you right now): Rehkopf did pick up another point, scoring the game-tying goal in an eventual Steelheads win.pic.twitter.com/Ib94Y6K7v8
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | F | Age: 22 | 8 games played | 2 goals | 2 assists | 0.5 PPG
Roed’s transition to the pro game is going very smoothly from my vantage. He has very good (almost elite) speed in a professional frame. And he combines that standout trait with a hard-charging mindset both on the forecheck and back-check. He’s always contesting possession and getting to the front of the net if the play calls for it. It’s getting harder and harder for me to envision a future where Roed doesn’t contribute as a checking player at the NHL level in future seasons.
Ben MacDonald
Harvard Univ. (NCAA) | F | Age: 20 | 1 game played | 1 goal | 0 assists | 1.0 PPG
Two-way forward Ben MacDonald welcomed Harvard to the hockey season by scoring the Crimson’s first (and, thus far, only) goal of the season last Friday. He’ll look to keep the scoring going in two games this weekend.
As mentioned above, Rehkopf had seven points in three games this weekend. Berkly Catton topped that with eight points in three games. And, even still, neither will take home the coveted Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week award. That honor goes to Clarke Caswell, who piled up seven points in just two WHL contests. Last week’s featured player is driving play for the Swift Current Broncos right now.
Ryan Winterton had a four-point game for the Firebirds early in the week, which made him a clubhouse leader for Prospect of the Week, but his NHL recall threw a wrench into those plans. Back with the Firebirds now, I expect the trend line to continue upwards for Winterton.
Overall, Andrei Loshko continues to lead the organization in goal scoring with nine. Caden Price, Lukas Dragicevic, and Tyson Jugnauth all rank within the top-10 among WHL defensemen in points. And, for their part, college prospects Justin Janicke and Barrett Hall just keep scoring. If they can keep up the pace for another month or two, it’ll be time to start watching them much more closely.
Niklas Kokko had two starts and two wins for the Coachella Valley Firebirds over the last seven days, while posting a tidy .919 save percentage. He was in the running for Prospect of the Week.
Kim Saarinen had one Liiga start before departing to play for Team Finland at the U20 Five Nations Tournament—a World Juniors tune-up event. He started Finland’s first game, a 6-5 overtime loss to Switzerland.
Visa Vedenpaa still hasn’t played since mid-October.
Kokko is likely to draw the start Friday for the Coachella Valley Firebirds with Ales Stezka up in Seattle as a backup during Philipp Grubauer’s (hopefully brief) absence. If Grubauer’s situation is as minor as it seems to be, I would expect Stezka to be returned to Coachella Valley after the Kraken game and start Saturday’s Firebirds game.
Victor Ostman’s play has been solid overall for the ECHL Kansas City Mavericks. I’d expect him to start tonight (Friday) with Jack LaFonataine elevated to Coachella Valley as the backup.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Berkly Catton: 1
Previewing the week ahead
According to a report out of Sweden, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard may return to the lineup this week after missing all but one game of the season with an injury. Mølgaard’s team, HV71, takes the ice again next Thursday.
Zeb Forsfjall’s SHL club Skelleftea has one game on the schedule this week, but, like Saarinen, Forsfjall is with his national team at the Five Nations Tournament right now. He had a slick overtime game-winning goal at the tournament this week.
Beyond that, the week ahead has a couple WHL prospect matchups on tap. Caden Price and the Kelowna Rockets host Berkly Catton and the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday, while Julius Miettinen, Kaden Hammell, and the Everett Silvertips welcome Ollie Josephson and the Red Deer Rebels to Angel of the Winds Arena on Monday.
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.
