Sometimes an easy win does not breed ongoing success. After the Seattle Kraken rolled to an 8-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, I couldn’t help but wonder how they would handle the elite offensive prowess of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Lo and behold, Seattle struggled to stop the four-headed monster in Toronto’s forward corps and followed up their drubbing of the Habs with an uninspiring result against the Buds.
Here are Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s 4-1 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Takeaway #1: Goals to end the period
At practice on Oct. 23, one day after the Kraken lost 3-2 to the Colorado Avalanche, coach Dan Bylsma said he doesn’t worry too much about when goals are scored in a period. Instead, he indicated he doesn’t think there’s much of a difference between goals scored in the first minute or last minute of a period, and that it’s “all part of the 60 minutes.”
However, I’ve always believed that giving up a goal in the last couple minutes of a period can be devastating for a team’s momentum. Having been in a dressing room when my team just gave up an important goal, I’ve seen firsthand the toll it takes on morale. Seattle did it twice that night against Colorado, and they gave up a crusher on Thursday against the Maple Leafs as well.
In this one, Toronto was the better team in the opening frame, but Joey Daccord stood tall for the first 19 minutes, turning aside the first 13 shots he faced. When your netminder does that, and you get to the intermission tied 0-0, you go out for the second period knowing it’s anyone’s game and that you’ve weathered the storm. But when you allow a late goal, it drains your momentum and can easily carry over to the next period.
With nine seconds left in the first on Thursday, the Kraken iced the puck. Chandler Stephenson appeared to win the ensuing draw backward, but Auston Matthews brilliantly jumped around him and snagged it before it could reach another Kraken player. From here, Seattle had a major breakdown in coverage and left Mitch Marner all alone on the far side. Matthews found Marner, who one-touched it to Matthew Knies at the top of the crease, and the result was an easy goal to make it 1-0.
Toronto’s best players were its best players on Thursday, with each member of the “Core Four”—Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares—making a mark on the scoresheet. Matthews and Marner helped set up the Knies goal, and Nylander scored two easy-looking goals after great setups, one through a seam by Morgan Rielly, and one all-world pass by Tavares.
The Tavares setup was especially impressive. After getting knocked down in the slot, Tavares somehow knew that Nylander had found a soft spot next to Daccord. His blind pass from a knee went right through Jordan Eberle’s skates and onto Nylander’s stick for his second easy tally of the period.
Of course, this is what good goal scorers do: finding quiet areas on the ice and managing to elude defenses. But when top-end scorers are on the ice, the Kraken defenders must stay glued to the William Nylanders of the world, ready to take their sticks away at a moment’s notice.
That didn’t happen on this night, and the elite offensive skill of the Maple Leafs made the Kraken look disorganized at times. Matthews capped the game off by scoring an empty-netter without even registering a shot on goal, impressively banking it off the sideboards in the neutral zone and into the open cage.
Each of Tavares, Matthews, and Nylander ended the night with two points.
Takeaway #3: A poor night for the power play
The Kraken went 0-for-3 on the power play against the Maple Leafs, which isn’t terrible as long as they’re producing at 5-on-5. However, they weren’t effective at 5-on-5 either. One game after they scored at will against Montreal, they struggled to get enough traffic in front of Joseph Woll to challenge him.
When that happens, Seattle needs its power play to capitalize on its chances. In this game, the power play was ineffective, especially with time ticking down in the second period. At that point, the Kraken were already down 3-0, but a goal there could have put the Maple Leafs on their heels to start the third period, giving Seattle a shot at a comeback.
Instead, Seattle struggled to gain the offensive zone. When they did get the puck into Toronto’s end, they coughed it up almost immediately, and Toronto would get an easy clear.
“Just 30 seconds left on this uneventful power play,” play-by-play announcer John Forslund said, as the time wound down. That pretty much summed it up.
Unsurprisingly, the Kraken registered zero shots on that power play and went into the second intermission with their heads down.
Now, the Kraken face a back-to-back with travel in Ottawa and Boston over the weekend. Here’s hoping the offensive punch we saw Tuesday in Montreal will return against the Senators.
Like many hockey players, one of my favorite hobbies away from the rink is golf. Sometimes I golf (relatively) well (for me), and sometimes I play terribly, but there’s no predicting how I’m going to play on a given day, and it doesn’t seem like anything I do prior to a round correlates with my performance.
If I get to the course in time to hit some warm-up balls on the driving range and some practice putts, I sometimes play better on the course. But sometimes I do those things and then play horribly on the course. And sometimes I show up early and hit terrible shots on the range that make me think it’s going to be a long day, but then I get out on the first hole and stripe it down the middle and play great. Sometimes the opposite happens. Sometimes I don’t warm up at all and play well, and sometimes not. I have no idea how to explain this, but that’s golf.
As I spoke with Kraken players about their gameday routines, I picked up some similar themes. Everyone I spoke with seems to like morning skates, but practicing on the day of the game doesn’t always lead to peak performance in the game, and opting out of skating doesn’t always lead to a poor showing later that night. Of course, every player wants to be at his best every night, but I was surprised to hear that the players are less rigid in their preparations than I would have expected.
“I’m back and forth on it,” Kraken center Matty Beniers said of morning skate. “Sometimes I won’t [skate], sometimes I will, and I don’t know if I see a huge correlation when I do and don’t. I just think it’s more about doing something in the morning, getting a little sweat, feeling good.”
Not every gameday is created equal, and while every player has at least a loose routine, they do have to adjust and adapt with the schedule. There are back-to-backs, which means the team will not hold any kind of morning skate the following day. There are practice days, travel days, mandatory days off, and quite often, depending on how hard the coach thinks his players have been grinding, optional skates.
“I think it’s kind of an art balancing the season out, knowing when guys need to rest, when guys need to skate,” defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said. “Especially if you have a day off beforehand, or something, you’re a little stiff, maybe it’s nice to get out there and loosen up.”
What are morning skates for?
Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella once famously quipped that morning skates are just for the media to see the lineup and talk to players. But the prevailing theory is that morning skates do serve a purpose for player preparation as well.
Thinking about it in your own life, if you get up in the morning and immediately get moving and do some form of exercise, do you feel like you have more energy throughout the day compared to if you lie around for much of the day? Again, speaking from my own experience, I know that if I’m static for most of the day and then try to go out for a run late in the day, my performance is far worse than if I’m moving around throughout or even working out in the morning. NHL players’ bodies work in that way too.
“I like morning skate. You just get some touches, I get to do draws, you get to feel the puck a little bit, get a little sweat in,” Beniers said. “I think it’s good to do something before the game in the morning, whether it’s a stretch, a small workout, a pre-game skate, you’ve got to kind of do something just to get your body ready.”
And while coach Dan Bylsma will sometimes require players to skate, especially if the team was off on the day before a game, he relies on them to do what is necessary to prepare themselves.
“Whether it’s morning skate or whether we’re not [having] morning skate, whether it’s optional or not, it’s just, ‘Get what you need to be prepared to play and battle in the next game,’” Bylsma said. “Everything about this morning is about getting ready to be your best in tonight’s game.”
Routines vary after the skate
When the Kraken are at home, they typically skate at 10 a.m. at Kraken Community Iceplex. They have run-throughs and meetings, and then the players go home, where they spend several hours before heading to Climate Pledge Arena to get into game mode.
The road schedule is a bit different. Assuming there is a scheduled skate, the road team usually gets on the ice later, around 11:30 a.m. local time. So, there’s a shorter period for players to kill before the game, and this time is spent at the team hotel, rather than in the comfort of their own homes.
How they spend the time varies from player to player, although I again picked up some similarities. For example, naps are common, as is a “pre-game meal,” and perhaps a dip in the cold tub.
“I’m going to have pre-game meal, then go home, nap, then wake up, shower, get dressed, coffee, and then head to the rink,” Yanni Gourde said. “And then my routine at the rink is just taping my stick, getting warmed up, and then playing sewer ball, then ready for the game.”
Oleksiak has a similar process. “It depends on the day to day, generally, with our schedules,” he said. “It really depends on how the body’s feeling that day. Usually it’s pre-game meal, typically the same thing, and then I might grab a nap.”
Oleksiak also said he keeps the game in his mind, but he tries not to “dwell too much” on it.
“[You don’t want to] work yourself into anxiety or overthink things, but you obviously kind of stay mentally ready.”
Hockey players love napping
There’s a lot of science surrounding the perfect nap length. A 30-minute nap can be refreshing, while a 60-minute nap (just short of a 90-minute REM cycle) can leave you feeling groggy.
Interestingly, the Kraken players don’t seem to worry about how much they sleep (this can also end up being a stressor if you struggle to fall asleep and know you’re nearing your wake-up time), but they do all try to get a little bit of a nap in on gameday.
“Depends on the day,” Beniers said. “For me, it’s almost like, ‘Just rest before the game as much as you can,’ I guess. But sometimes I’ll go shorter. On back-to-backs, I’ll go longer, but usually I kind of just let my body decide that.
“Say I’m leaving for the game at like four o’clock, I’ll set my alarm for 3:30 and get in bed around like 1:30,” Beniers said. “If I go two hours, I go two hours. If I go one hour, I go an hour, and I get up.”
The goalie approach to gameday is different
The goalie position is unique in hockey in a lot of ways. The gameday routine is also slightly different in that a netminder has to be laser-focused and ready to track a puck that’s traveling upwards of 100 miles per hour through screens and deflecting off sticks and bodies.
Some of the preparation is physical, but some of it is also mental and visual. Both Kraken goalies, Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord, said they see value in morning skates in helping them to prepare for game action.
“What I’m trying to accomplish is seeing the puck, tracking the puck, and just getting your body moving,” Grubauer said. “Sometimes, if you don’t skate the day before, you work on what the other team would be doing, power play setup, or like if they’re always trying to find a trailer, different types of plays.”
Daccord believes the time spent at the rink on gameday is crucial, but he didn’t always feel that way.
“My opinion on morning skate is always evolving,” Daccord said. “I think it’s changed over the years. As of right now, I love it, I think it’s really important. I find I’m much sharper in the game, just from right away, you see the puck better, feel a little more clean, your gear feels a little more comfortable.
“A couple years ago, I didn’t even want to skate at all. I just wanted to rest and save my energy for the game. But I found that, actually—over time and just kind of going through it, which is where experience kicks in—I just felt like I had more energy if I got a sweat in the morning.”
How the goalie performs at the skate or even in warmups is in line with the driving range analogy from earlier.
“[How I perform at morning skate] doesn’t matter, necessarily,” Daccord said. “Sure, you’d love to stop every puck, but it’s kind of unrealistic. You’re going to have some days when the puck goes in more than others at morning skate, and you can’t really let it… you have to just clear that mental hurdle. Even in game, sometimes you have warmups where you stop everything, and then you’re terrible in the game. Or, you make no saves—last year at the Winter Classic, I don’t think I saved one puck the entire warmups.”
We all know how the Winter Classic went for Daccord.
Does everybody love morning skate? Maybe not, but getting up and moving and feeling the puck, for both players and goalies, is an important part of the routine. It doesn’t guarantee success in the game, but the players seem to agree that it does give them a better chance to perform.
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 scored early, often, and in a variety of ways Tuesday, hanging a crooked 8-2 score on the Montreal Canadiens, embarrassing them in their building and getting the road trip off on an extremely positive note.
The big score brought with it some massive stats from a few players, most notably Seattle’s two biggest offseason acquisitions: Brandon Montour, who had a natural hat trick and one assist, and Chandler Stephenson, who had four assists. In addition to Montour’s three goals, Jamie Oleksiak and Ryker Evans also had goals, setting a new franchise record for number of defensemen scoring in a game.
“There’s no secret about really scoring goals in this league,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “You’ve got to have shot volume, you’ve got to have guys at the net, and you’ve got to have people in and around the net. And it’s not just one guy. It’s two guys who can converge on the net and get the opportunity, and tonight, in the first [period] in particular, we were very good at that.”
Here are our Three Takeaways from a lopsided 8-2 Kraken win over the Canadiens.
Takeaway #1: Natural Montour
It was a little surprising to hear that this was the first hat trick in Montour’s career. He has been so incredibly good for the Kraken that I just assumed that he had previously had games like this, where several of his opportunities had found the back of the net.
In this game, it seemed like everything the Kraken threw at Canadiens goalies Sam Montembeault and eventually Cayden Primeau had a chance of going in, and that was especially true for Montour, who only had four shots on goal in the game.
Montour’s goals came when the game was largely out of reach already for the Habs, with the first being a seeing-eye wrister from the point on the power play at 1:32 of the second period to make it 5-1. The second was my personal favorite goal of the game for the Kraken, coming off a set face-off play in which Jamie Oleksiak found Montour cutting below the defense to make it 6-1 at 8:44 of the second.
DOUBLE MONTY! 🚨
Set play off the face-off, and Brandon Montour gets his second of the night. #SeaKraken making it look easy tonight. 6-1 now.
Watch out for MTL to start getting chippy as this thing wears on. We’re still just halfway through. pic.twitter.com/7j2AQtPlKR
Shane Wright wins the draw back to Jaden Schwartz (who also quietly had a goal and two assists) at the top of the circle. He passes to Oleksiak at the left point, and you can see that as the defenders are being drawn toward the Big Rig, he has zero interest in shooting, knowing that Montour is sliding down around the right dot. Meanwhile, Wright and Oliver Bjorkstrand are shifting toward the slot to pull the lower defenders over, and now Oleksiak has a seam for Montour. Indeed, Oleksiak finds Montour, who shoots and then gets his own rebound.
Oleksiak said they “freestyled” the play, rather than executing something that was drawn up, but they did at least discuss what they were going to do…
“You know what? Jaden just kind of told me to slip backside there,” Montour said. “I don’t know who was covering, but I obviously got lost, and it went to the big guy there, and he found me back side. So, it was a great look by both of them.”
Montour capped off his hat trick with a one-time blast on a 4-on-3 power play to make it 7-1 at 14:12 of the third.
Adam Larsson then pulled one of the more hilarious stunts we’ve seen from a Kraken player, throwing his helmet on the ice as Montour went past the bench.
Adam Larsson throws his helmet on the ice to celebrate Brandon Montour’s first career hat trick. #SeaKraken
The other big offseason acquisition was very noticeable in this game, as well, setting up four of Seattle’s eight goals.
I said recently on a Sound Of Hockey Podcast episode that one of the challenges for Stephenson in breaking through with the Kraken fanbase is that he hasn’t historically been a big goal-scorer. He does many things well, like winning face-offs and board battles and bringing a calming influence on the ice, but those things don’t always jump off the page for the more casual fan.
He demonstrated on Tuesday why his less tangible attributes are important, though, with so many of his plays directly leading to goals from his teammates.
“He’s such an intelligent player, he’s such a calm player,” Bylsma said of Stephenson. “He brings that presence and that smarts and intelligence to our team. And in a centerman down the middle of the rink, it’s much needed for this group.”
The most memorable play Stephenson made was in the lead-up to Schwartz’s power-play goal at 7:27 of the first that made it 3-0. This one didn’t come from a typical power-play setup in the offensive zone.
Instead, Stephenson received the slingshot pass back from Montour at Seattle’s hash marks and went on a 180ish-foot journey all the way to below Montreal’s goal line. He effortlessly cruised through the neutral zone, sliced between Montreal’s defenders at the blue line, then instinctively twisted a pass out into the slot, where Schwartz was waiting and got on the other end of it.
Beautiful.
Stephenson won’t get four assists every night, but it is nice to see him get rewarded for the things that he quietly does well.
Takeaway #3: Joey played a surprisingly big part
Last time I wrote a Three Takeaways, two games ago, I vowed in the comment section to never discuss Kraken goaltending again because of the many dissenting voices that tend to pop up in the comments and ruin my day (not really) when I do write about them.
But…
The plot is thickening on the goaltending front. Before Seattle’s 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 23 I had already started sensing the winds blowing toward a less even split in the crease. I asked Bylsma before that game what it would take for him to start leaning on one of his goalies more than the other. He gave a lengthy and thoughtful reply, but he ended it with, “Their play will also dictate the kind of rotation we have going forward.”
While it wasn’t clear from that conversation that Joey Daccord would be the guy Bylsma would eventually turn to with more frequency, I thought this was where things would head. Indeed, Daccord got his third consecutive start on Tuesday, and although the scoreboard told a tale of a Kraken massacre on the Canadiens, Seattle actually relied quite heavily on its netminder in this game.
He came up big on a number of occasions, including a clear-cut breakaway for Alex Newhook in the first period and a 2-on-1 that turned into a partial breakaway for Logan Mailloux in the third.
Where Daccord was especially important in this game, though, was late in the first after Cole Caufield got an easy shoo-in goal from the top of the crease to get Montreal on the board at 4-1. While the lead was ultimately insurmountable, the Habs had life at the end of that frame and pumped five shots on Daccord in the final three minutes. He stood tall, taking wind out of the sails of the Habs as they headed to intermission, but if they had gotten a second goal in those closing minutes, then this could have been turned into an uncomfortable game for Kraken fans.
Instead, Montour came out in the second period and put a nail… then another nail… then another nail in Montreal’s coffin, and Seattle cruised to one of its more disproportionate wins in franchise history.
Daccord ended the Kraken-Canadiens game with 28 saves on 30 shots and 3.04 goals saved above expected. Would you believe the Canadiens actually had 61 percent of the shot quality in this game?
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.
At just 20 years old, Shane Wright has earned a spot on the Seattle Kraken roster. The young center’s journey to the NHL has been anything but conventional, highlighted by his exceptional status in the OHL, a missed year due to the pandemic, and stints across the NHL, AHL, and OHL. You can read more about his unique development path on Sound Of Hockey by clicking here. Wright played his 25th NHL game on Oct. 26, facing the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 loss, and now prepares to take on the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. We at Sound Of Hockey thought this would be an ideal time to dive deeper into Wright’s game.
There’s a bit of history between Wright and the Montreal Canadiens. After all, the Canadiens passed on Wright with the first-overall pick, opting for Juraj Slafkovsky instead. Wright’s glare at Montreal’s front office during the draft remains memorable for fans and adds to the intrigue, though Wright maintains he wasn’t glaring at anyone, and this whole thing was a misunderstanding.
Was Shane Wright giving the Canadiens draft table the death stare after he ended up going 4th overall? 🤔 #NHLDraftpic.twitter.com/CMle2kVC9c
As if fate had a hand, Wright’s first NHL goal came against none other than Montreal.
Here's a better look at Shane Wright's first NHL goal. Great shot, great celly, and Gourde fishes it out of the net for him. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/zg2lDjiPAr
Wright is a solid two-way center, effective on both ends of the ice, though he’s often praised more for his offensive potential. Let’s start by taking a look at his work on the defensive side of the puck.
Defensive diligence
Selected fourth overall in 2022, Wright has shown he’s not afraid to sacrifice his body, with a particular talent for blocking shots. Remarkably, entering this season, Wright led all Kraken forwards with 4.1 blocks per 60 minutes over the past two seasons, despite his limited sample size of just 16 total games (eight games per season). His shot-blocking tendencies date back to his time in both the OHL and AHL, where he consistently positioned himself between the shooter and the net.
Though he’s unlikely to lead in this area as his offensive role expands, his willingness to block shots will garner support from fans and earn him respect in the locker room.
Wright’s defensive skill set extends beyond blocking shots; he’s also consistently sound in positioning. Without the puck in the offensive zone, he applies controlled pressure, aiming to create turnovers without being overly aggressive. His strategy is to disrupt passing lanes and guide play toward his teammates. In this clip, as the puck changes hands, you can see Wright leave his net-front position, cut off the central passing lane, and steer the play up the boards towards his Firebirds defensemen.
In the defensive zone, Wright is mobile and typically takes up position in the high slot—protecting the area in front of the net and between the face-off dots—but he’ll also shift to the corners, behind the net, or up to the point, as the play demands. He pressures puck carriers while using his body to block passing lanes and shots.
Offensive prowess
During the 2023-24 season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Wright scored 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists), leading all AHL players under 20 in scoring.
Positionally, Wright is a prototypical center. He’s unafraid to crash the net and score gritty, close-range goals. Constantly moving and working to get open, he’s primed for one-timers, as seen with his first NHL goal. When he has the puck in the offensive zone, his first instinct is to put it on net and make something happen. Wright’s wrist shot is elite, and he uses it effectively in transition and on the power play.
Wright’s goals typically come in two forms: either from net-front positioning or a sharp wrist shot. Here are some highlights from his season with Coachella Valley.
These highlights give a clear sense of the goals fans can expect from Wright as he develops further. He’ll find open space and finish the shot; if that doesn’t work, he’s ready to pounce on rebounds.
Below are two plays showing Wright’s determination to drive the puck into high-danger areas—where he thrives. The first video showcases Wright diving for a puck and scoring from beyond the goal line. The second video highlights how Wright effectively gets the puck to the front of the net for Logan Morrison to score.
Power play potential
Wright has the ability to thrive in multiple positions on the power play. Early in his career, teams utilized his wrist shot by setting him up on the wing, where he could take shots from the face-off dot. In his first two seasons with the Kraken, he primarily played in this wing position on the power play. However, this season, the Kraken have moved him to the bumper position, which leverages his skill for finding open space in the slot and getting shots off quickly.
The Seattle Kraken typically employ a 1-3-1 power play setup, featuring a quarterback at the top, two wings and a bumper player in the middle, and a net-front presence. While Wright hasn’t slotted into the net-front position much this season, his knack for hunting down rebounds and putting them on goal enhances his versatility on the power play. The net-front role is similar to how he plays center at 5v5, allowing him to focus on a single skill set as he develops. I wouldn’t be surprised if he slots into this position at some point this season or is moved to the wing to unlock his lethal wrist shot.
Growth opportunity
During training camp, Alison Lukan asked Wright if he focuses on progressing his game or adding new elements during the offseason. Wright responded, “Bit of both. Obviously, you’re always trying to add little things and refine the overall game. I think just overall, looking for ways to improve and make yourself better.”
Wright is one of those players who seems to excel at everything. If there’s one aspect of his game to nitpick, it’s his passing during transitional play. Dating back to his junior days, he often forced passes through defenders, which worked at that level but hasn’t translated well to the NHL and AHL.
During the 2022-23 season, Wright played in the NHL, AHL, and OHL, gaining firsthand experience of what worked and what didn’t. His time in Coachella Valley showed improvement in his passing game; however, now at the NHL level, this remains an area for growth. According to moneypuck.com, Wright leads Kraken forwards in giveaways with 10. While this isn’t overly concerning, it highlights the need for continued focus on this aspect of his play.
Line chemistry
Wright has looked the part during the first nine games of the season, but the points haven’t been rolling in. He has only two points (one goal, one assist), both coming in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers (a 6-4 Kraken win) on Oct. 17.
Through nine games, Wright has been shuffled through three different line combinations.
Head coach Dan Bylsma has experimented with various lines to find the right chemistry. It’s early in the season, so there’s no need for concern, but Wright is still adjusting to the NHL speed as well as his varying linemates. An interesting note is that Jared McCann and captain Jordan Eberle are leading the Kraken in scoring, with 12 and eight points, respectively. You would think some of that scoring would have trickled down to Wright when the three were playing together, but with him averaging just 13:47 of ice time per game, that hasn’t yet materialized.
This average ranks Wright 10th out of 12 forwards in ice time. Notably, McCann and Eberle are shooting the lights out, with shooting percentages of 26.3 percent and 40.0 percent, respectively, which has limited the number of rebound opportunities for Wright.
Experience will come
As Wright gains more experience, the points will come. He’s already doing the right things both offensively and defensively, and particularly in Seattle’s end, he has not been a liability. This builds confidence for the coaching staff to give him the reps he needs to succeed and grow offensively. Line chemistry will develop as he adapts to the NHL game.
While we expect a bright future for Wright, it’s important to temper expectations, especially when comparing him to players like Matty Beniers. Wright is starting his first full season as a third-line player, averaging 13:47 of ice time, while Beniers averaged 17:06 on the top line in his first season. Therefore, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, although Wright’s offensive upside may have a higher ceiling.
I have said it before and will reiterate: I believe that within a season or two, Wright will emerge as the top-scoring center for the Seattle Kraken. This is not a knock against Beniers; rather, it highlights that Beniers is more defensively minded.
If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below or reach out to me on X at @blaizg.
The Kraken wrapped up a five-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, a game that could arguably be considered their worst of the season. Until that game, the Kraken had been competitive in every game, even when outplayed. Carolina is a strong team, and losses like that will happen, but to walk away with only one point out of a possible six in the final three games of the homestand raises questions about just how good this team is this season. My answer: I really don’t know.
The Kraken are 4-4-1, with several performances that inspire optimism about the team, but also some areas of concern. Before the season started, I would have likely been content with this record at this point. The first nine games of the schedule were neither particularly easy nor overly challenging, with five of the nine matchups against playoff teams from last season, implying that a .500 points percentage for this season might be acceptable.
Insights to date
It is way too early to know if any of these insights will persist over the entire season, but here are a few things that have stood out over the first nine games.
Compete
One noticeable improvement this season is the Kraken’s compete level and their ability to bounce back when trailing. Even in the Carolina game, where they were badly outplayed for two periods, they managed to claw back with a goal from Jared McCann to get within one. They couldn’t close the gap, but they generated several good looks at the net after McCann’s goal, hinting at a momentum shift. Although it was their worst game of the season, they still managed to give themselves a chance in the third period.
Scoring
Another early insight is that the team seems to be scoring more this season. They are averaging 3.0 goals per game, compared to 2.2 through the first nine games last season. Their shooting percentage is 10.5 percent, which isn’t great, but it’s an improvement from last season’s 9.1 percent. According to Natural Stat Trick, however, the Kraken have averaged fewer high-danger shots this season, which might indicate another issue—they aren’t generating as many quality shots as last year. This could be related to the small sample size and the varying quality of opponents so far this season, but it could be indicative of a problem.
Face-offs
The Kraken won only 31 percent of face-offs in the second period of last Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg scored twice in that period, so I went back and reviewed the goals for the entire game to see if any face-off losses were linked to goals against. They weren’t; possession had changed hands multiple times since the previous face-off on all Winnipeg goals. Longtime readers and listeners know we’ve discussed the (un)importance of face-offs for some time, but it’s worth checking in on this topic periodically.
I’ve added face-offs—specifically, ‘shot attempts after a face-off’—as an area for deeper investigation in the coming weeks. That list is getting long.
Other Musings
One concerning trend is that the Kraken have routinely given up the first goal of the game this season. In six of the nine games, they’ve allowed the first goal, going 2-3-1 in those games. While that record is better than the league average, it’s not a habit they should continue.
Saturday’s game against the Hurricanes marked the first time this season that Andre Burakovsky didn’t see any ice time on the power play.
It was great to see Matty Beniers get going with two goals against Winnipeg on Thursday, including the late third-period tip-in goal that tied the game.
The reunited line of Beniers, Jared McCann, and Jordan Eberle seems to be working well. That trio has scored four goals over the last two games, though they’re currently the only line producing.
Oliver Bjorkstrand is averaging 14:30 of ice time this season, nearly two minutes less than last year. This is partly due to more penalty-kill time for the team and his reduced power play time early on. Regardless, I’d like to see him get more ice time.
I’ve liked the power play this season; the Kraken seem to have several zone-entry options and more variety once they establish possession. One thing that surprised me in the Hurricanes game was Bjorkstrand playing on the left point in a couple of early power plays. In at least one later opportunity, he returned to his usual right point, but neither position generated any shot attempts. This is something I’ll keep an eye on over the next few games.
Nothing would please me more than seeing Shane Wright put up a couple of points against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
Just a reminder: the Kraken are still off to their best start in franchise history,
At this point in the 2022-23 season, the Seattle Kraken went on an incredible run, securing 25 out of a possible 28 points from games 10 to 23. This feels like a great time to put together a similar stretch.
Speaking of incredible stretches of play, the Everett Silvertips have been on fire this season, with a record of 12-2-0 and six consecutive wins. Their next home game is on November 9, and the Kraken have no game that night.
Performances of the week
Sawyer Mynio (SEA-WHL) – Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman and Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio recorded seven points over his last four games.
Carson Rehkopf (BRA-OHL) – Kraken forward prospect Carson Rehkopf posted six points in two games over the weekend for the Brampton Steelheads.
Jared McCann (SEA) – Last week, I mentioned that Jordan Eberle is having the best season start of his career. This week, I’m highlighting Jared McCann for his own strong season start.
Maybe it’s just my nerves talking, but this feels like a crucial week in the early stages of the season for the Kraken, as they head to eastern Canada for games against the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators, followed by a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Boston Bruins. Coincidentally, all three Canadian teams currently sit at a .500 points percentage, identical to the Kraken. Regardless of their records, I don’t think any of these games will be easy, and this week should serve as a good benchmark for the team. Securing four out of eight points would be acceptable, but earning five or more would be a nice confidence boost for the season.
Welcome back to Down on the Farm, your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. Every Friday during the season we’ll check in to give you information on every Kraken-affiliated player below the NHL level, including a deep dive on one player. This week we take a closer look at the curious development path of Kraken prospect Eduard Sale and then dive into information and statistics from the week that was and the season to date. Let’s get to it.
Featured Kraken prospect: Eduard Šalé
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | 19 years old | 2 games played | 1 goal | 2 assists | 1.5 PPG
The Kraken drafted Eduard Sale 20th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft to some mixed reviews. Draft analysts credited his pure offensive skill, his historic production in the Czech junior league in his draft-minus-one season, and his international tournament play, but many also saw a player whose engagement waned as he played in the top-level Czech professional league. The hope coming out of the draft was that a jump to Canadian junior hockey for the 2023-24 season would allow him to recapture his confidence and offensive prowess.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan for Sale in the OHL. He never really found his footing in Barrie, struggling with the transition to North America. He was traded to the Kitchener Rangers midseason, and things didn’t improve much until the postseason when he seemed to force the issue a bit more and up his engagement. But the sample size was so small, it was hard to be sure there was a tangible improvement.
“It’s more physical… the game is faster [in North America],” Sale told the media during training camp. “For a couple of games [the North American style] was not my game. But after a couple games I [felt] better and better.”
Over the summer, Sale looked at home back in international play (see the video above), racking up a handful of shots and shot assists every game I watched. It gave me some optimism we may finally see a marked improvement from Sale this season.
Sale had an up-and-down training camp and preseason from my vantage. He recorded a goal in his second exhibition game against Edmonton, and coach Dan Bylmsa sounded generally complimentary of Sale’s game play after the first contest against Vancouver, indicating that it earned Sale a second game look. For my part, I saw some things to be encouraged about, but I also felt like too many shifts and practices slipped by without a noticeable impact from Sale.
At the end of camp, the Kraken assigned Sale to the Coachella Valley Firebirds rather than returning him to the OHL. (As a player drafted out of a European league, the CHL Transfer Agreement, which limits the ability of most CHL players to go to the AHL until they are 20 years old, does not apply to him.) There had been rumblings that things were headed this way before it was announced, but it was still a mild surprise to me because (1) Sale had not mastered lower levels of hockey yet and (2) he struggles with the physical element of the game, which could be glaring in the AHL.
In hindsight, though, I probably should not have been surprised at all. The team likely concluded there was no harm and only upside in an AHL audition for Sale—much like Shane Wright’s NHL audition two seasons ago. In the worst case, the team could return Sale to the OHL after a few weeks. But, even if that became necessary, the organization would have had that much more time with Sale to directly address the areas of his game that have stagnated. Furthermore, Sale has experience against professionals that few his age have. He’s not going to Coachella Valley unaware of what it means to be checked by a 230-pound defenseman in the corner or what it takes to find success against professionals.
Sale was scratched for the Firebirds’ opener, but has played in both games since, producing one goal (and another post), while adding two assists on top of that. In the offensive zone, Sale is not much of a grinder, and you won’t often find him in the corners trying to win a puck battle. Instead, he looks to find soft spots in coverage for a quick shot and has the talent to possess the puck and distribute when there is space around him. His complimentary skill set didn’t really get a chance to succeed in the OHL where it would be rare to find forwards who can grind in the corners, set Sale up for chances, and handle most of the defensive burden. Those well-rounded players are more common in the professional ranks, though, and Sale has taken advantage.
“I didn’t think [Sale] looked out of place tonight,” Coachella Valley Firebirds coach Dave Laxdal said after the team’s October 16 game against Calgary. “He did a good job. There are mistakes that young players make,… but I didn’t mind his game.”
To me, Sale has the look of a player who can connect his teammates in transition and be a complimentary piece in the offensive zone, winning when he gets space to use his skating and creativity or an opening for his quick-release shot. If everything clicks for him, I think Kraken-era Andre Burakovsky is a reasonable upside comparable. There is a very long road ahead of Sale if he is to get there. That said, the early returns on his AHL “tryout” have been positive.
Notes on three more in the Kraken system
Ben Meyers at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Ben Meyers
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | 25 years old | 3 games played | 1 goal | 1 assist | 0.67 PPG
Ben Meyers was a constant presence at the front of the net during Coachella Valley’s one game since our last update—a road game against the San Diego Gulls. He was credited with a goal and an assist but played a key role in drawing coverage and screening the goalie on at least one other goal and several other chances.
I thought Meyers showed plenty of speed, grit, and skill in training camp to stick around an NHL team in a bottom-of-the-roster role, particularly since you can deploy him at center or on the wing interchangeably. Seattle’s early season cap crunch dictated that Meyers wouldn’t be with the team, but there may be an opportunity coming soon. Vince Dunn is on long-term injured reserve, opening cap space to deepen the bench. Seattle is soon to embark on a five-game road trip, and Meyers (as well as a few others) would make sense as a bench extra for the NHL team on that trip.
Cale Fleury
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | 25 years old | 3 games played | 3 goals | 0 assists | 1 PPG
Speaking of the NHL roster, Cale Fleury has been added and subtracted from the Kraken roster twice since Vince Dunn went on long-term injured reserve Monday. As we explained on this week’s Sound Of Hockey Podcast, we believe the rationale for this movement is to extend the length of Fleury’s waivers exemption. That said, we’d expect him (or another defenseman) to land on the roster for the duration of the five-game trip ahead.
For all of the chaos surrounding Fleury this week, he actually has not missed a Firebirds game yet. In fact, he tallied a hat trick in Coachella’s game in San Diego, the first of his professional career. If that proves to be his last AHL game for a while, it was a memorable one.
Jacob Melanson
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | 21 years old | 3 games played | 1 goal | 0 assists | 0.33 PPG
Jacob Melanson had perhaps my favorite goal of the last week. He was mixing it up physically with the San Diego Gulls all shift before drilling the water bottle top shelf to end it. He capped it off with a little “I can’t hear you” gesture to the San Diego crowd. There is no doubting the fire in Melanson.
Clarke Caswell had one goal and five assists in two WHL games since our last update. Overall, the Swift Current captain has 15 points in nine contests. His point total ranks him 13th in the WHL in scoring—tied with Seattle Kraken prospects Caden Price and Berkly Catton. Averaging three points per game over the last seven days will earn you Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.
A few other players showed well over the last week too. Jagger Firkus has been able to create a few plays in the early going for the Firebirds, notching two assists on creative plays in Coachella’s game against San Diego. Price and Lukas Dragicevic have continued their point-per-game play from the blue line in the WHL. And Justin Janicke has continued his early season production, scoring a goal and adding an assist in two NCAA games.
Overall, Carson Rehkopf is producing at an elite level as part of a strong line with top draft prospect Porter Martone for the Brampton Steelheads. This year he has been getting it done by making plays for his talented teammates. He is up to 11 assists in nine OHL games, which exceeds his pace from last year when he “only” had 43 assists in 60 total games.
David Goyette, Jani Nyman, and Ty Nelson are off to a bit of a slow start for the Firebirds by my eye test. All of them have shown at least flashes (Nelson has two assists), and each has an even-or-better even-strength on-ice goal differential, so they’re not hurting the team. But, as we have mentioned, the AHL is a step up in competition level for each of them, so some struggle is to be expected.
As for the goalies, we saw a couple players get not only their first starts of the season but also their first North American professional appearances—and, better still, each took home a win. Niklas Kokko started for the Firebirds in San Diego and was largely good under heavy pressure until San Diego potted a few in a furious comeback attempt late. Victor Ostman started the season opener for the ECHL Kansas City Mavericks and turned aside 20 of 23 Witchita Thunder shots.
Overall Semyon Vyazovoy continues to get semi-regular playing time in the KHL. Following a strong game, he has edged his KHL save percentage above .900. Likewise, Kim Saarinen is up to six starts in Liiga as an 18-year-old. As a point of comparison, countryman Kokko only got eight Liiga starts across the entirety of his age 18 season. They’re in different situations, of course, but it’s worth noting because we often think of Kokko as taking the “fast track” as a goalie. Saarinen is getting the same kind of experience.
Previewing the week ahead
The Firebirds have only two games over the next seven days, but that’s an increase over last week when Coachella Valley only played once.
Berkly Catton and the Spokane Chiefs have three home dates between now and next Wednesday. Julius Miettinen, Kaden Hammell, and the Everett Silvertips have home games Friday (tonight) and Saturday at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, and then complete a “three in three” with a road game in Portland on Sunday.
The Seattle Thunderbirds will take on two Kraken prospects during a two-game road trip this weekend. Seattle will play Dragicevic and the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday (tonight), and then Caswell and the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday.
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I’ll get to your Kraken prospect questions starting with next week’s update. Keep those coming. I expect to have searchable tables (rather than these snapshots) moving forward. This should make everything more readable and user friendly. With any luck, that will also start in the next week or two. Thanks so much for following along. As always, let me know if there is something in particular you’d like to see covered.
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.
