As the Seattle Kraken aim to rise in the NHL standings, examining the roster-building strategies of this year’s Stanley Cup semi-finalists offers valuable insights into how contending teams have been constructed. Each of the final four clubs—the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, and New York Rangers—has taken a distinct path to success.
From Edmonton’s draft-centric approach to Dallas’s drafting without tanking, Florida’s bold trading, and New York’s hybrid method, the Kraken have multiple models to consider. This article explores these different strategies, discussing how Seattle might integrate these lessons to construct a competitive and sustainable roster over the next few seasons. By analyzing what has worked and what hasn’t for these playoff teams, the Kraken can tailor their approach, leveraging the draft, trades, and free agency to build a team capable of making deep postseason runs.
Edmonton Oilers
Entry draft
It should be no surprise that this team’s identity has been built through the draft, particularly with Connor McDavid (No. 1 overall in 2015) and Leon Draisaitl (No. 3 overall in 2014) leading the way. These two players account for over 34 percent of the team’s points in the playoffs.
Another significant contributor this postseason is Evan Bouchard (No. 10 overall in 2018), who is third in goals on the team in the playoffs. Adding Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (No. 1 overall in 2011), Darnell Nurse (No. 7 overall in 2013), and Philip Broberg (No. 8 overall in 2019) gives the roster six top-10 drafted players. No other team in the conference finals has more than two top-10 drafted players on its roster.
Approach to the trade deadline
The Oilers were aggressive at the last two trade deadlines, parting with a first-round draft pick in a package for Adam Henrique this year. They went even harder last season, sending top prospect Reid Schaefer and a 2023 first-round pick to Nashville for Mattias Ekholm. While the Henrique trade might not have panned out, Ekholm has arguably been the best defensive defenseman over the last two playoff seasons for the Oilers.
Free agency
The Oilers made key signings in free agency with the additions of Zach Hyman in 2021 and Evander Kane midway through the 2021-22 season. Hyman currently leads the league in playoff goals with 13 through the May 30 games. We won’t mention the signing of goaltender Jack Campbell, who carries a cap hit of $5 million a year for the next two seasons. Oops… I guess we just did.
Kraken takeaway
The Oilers have leveraged every method possible to construct their roster, but at their core, this team was built through the draft. The Oilers have had nine top-10 draft picks since 2010. Only Buffalo has more top-10 first-round picks in the same timeframe, an approach the Kraken will not be replicating.
What stands out is that the biggest contributors from Edmonton’s drafted group were selected prior to 2019. Currently, the Kraken’s top two draft picks are Matty Beniers and Shane Wright, drafted in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Dallas Stars
Entry draft
The Stars have the highest percentage of players acquired through the draft, despite having the fewest top-10 draft picks. Miro Heiskanen (No. 3 overall in 2017) is the only current player drafted by the Stars who was selected inside the top 10. Dallas has successfully built its team through the draft without resorting to tanking. The 2017 draft class, which included Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger, and Jason Robertson, forms the core of the team. Additionally, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven, both drafted in 2021, are making significant contributions this playoff season, with Johnston leading the Stars with nine goals.
Approach to the trade deadline
The Stars made a notable push at the trade deadline this year by acquiring Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames for a second- and a conditional third-round pick. This addition was significant yet reasonably priced. They made similar moves at the 2023 trade deadline, acquiring Max Domi and Evgeni Dadonov at reasonable costs. Dadonov re-signed with the Stars, while Domi entered free agency. Overall, their approach to the trade deadline was modest.
Free agency
The most significant free agent signing for the Stars was Matt Duchene, brought in for one year at $3 million AAV after being bought out by Nashville earlier in the summer. This move provided needed depth scoring. A similar move in 2022 saw Mason Marchment signed for four years at $4.5 million AAV. While neither player has scored many goals in the playoffs, both have been noticeable and provided depth to the team. Duchene did score the deciding goal in double overtime of Game 6 in Round 2.
Kraken takeaway
While it would be a stretch to say the Kraken are on the same trajectory as the Dallas Stars, there are some similarities in their draft classes. It’s too early to definitively judge the Kraken’s draft classes, but there are signs of above-average performance in relation to their draft positions for several players. From the 2021 draft class, Ryker Evans (second round) is ahead of schedule, and Ryan Winterton (third round) is making significant progress and has already played NHL games. Additionally, the second-round draft picks from the 2022 and 2023 drafts have shown promising results, with most second-round picks having exceptional seasons since being drafted.
Florida Panthers
Entry draft
There is no denying the elite status of Aleksander Barkov (No. 2 overall in 2012) and his impact on this franchise, but he is only one of three players on this roster drafted by the Panthers. This approach contrasts with building through the draft. The other drafted players are Aaron Ekblad (No. 1 overall in 2014) and Anton Lundell (No. 12 overall in 2020).
Approach to the trade deadline
The Panthers did very little at this season’s trade deadline, adding depth forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo for a third-, seventh-, and conditional fourth-round pick. They made zero trades near the 2022 trade deadline window.
Other trades
Not to diminish the contributions of Barkov and Ekblad, but this team is truly built on a series of trades since 2021.
The first significant trade was acquiring Sam Bennett from Calgary at the 2021 trade deadline for a second-round pick. Bennett, who was an RFA that offseason, signed with Florida for four additional years. He is a player made for the playoffs and has been key to their success over the last two postseasons.
The second major trade was for another Sam, Sam Reinhart, later that year during the offseason. Reinhart cost the Panthers a first-round pick and a highly touted goalie prospect, Devon Levi. In this most recent season, Reinhart had 57 goals during the regular season and is second on the team in the playoffs with eight goals through 15 games.
Perhaps the most significant trade was acquiring Matthew Tkachuk in a blockbuster deal with the Calgary Flames in the 2022 offseason. Players like Tkachuk rarely become available, so when the opportunity arises, you seize it. (Side note: I wish I had a dollar for every time someone tells me the Kraken need a player like Matthew Tkachuk, as if players like him are regularly on the trade block.)
Free agency
The Panthers have taken a similar approach to the Stars in free agency, adding solid depth throughout the lineup with signings like Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Niko Mikkola, each carrying a cap hit between $2 million and $3 million a year.
We should also note the fortuitous additions of Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling. Verhaeghe was signed by Florida after the Tampa Bay Lightning chose not to qualify him during the 2020 offseason. He currently leads the team in goals this postseason. Forsling was claimed off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2020-21 season, and he has turned into a brilliant player for the Panthers.
Kraken takeaway
Florida continues to prove that adding significant talent through trades is possible. The Kraken have built up a mini war chest of prospects and have extra second- and third-round picks in this year’s draft. While it won’t necessarily be easy, Florida has certainly shown that it is possible to add major contributors though trades.
New York Rangers
Entry draft
The Rangers have a typical number of players drafted and developed within their system, with 41 percent of the team being homegrown talent. They have two top-10 draft picks in Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko. Lafrenière is finally reaching the potential people saw in him when he was drafted first overall in 2020. On the other hand, Kaapo Kakko has underperformed relative to his second overall pick in the 2019 draft.
The Rangers’ draft record has been somewhat hit or miss. Success stories include Igor Shesterkin (No. 118 overall in 2014), Filip Chytil (No. 21 overall in 2017), and K’Andre Miller (No. 22 overall in 2018). However, they have had significant misses with Lias Andersson (No. 7 overall in 2017) and Vitali Kravtsov (No. 9 overall in 2018).
Approach to the trade deadline
The Rangers’ biggest move during this trade deadline was the acquisition of Alexander Wennberg for a second- and fourth-round draft pick. They also added Chad Ruhwedel and Jack Roslovic, each costing a fourth-round pick. Last year, the Rangers moved two second-round picks and a third for Patrick Kane. Although Kane is a big name, the trade was relatively minor without a first-round pick or blue-chip prospect involved.
Other trades
You must look back into the 2019 offseason to identify the most impactful Ranger trades. First, they traded two second-round picks for the signing rights to Adam Fox, who won the Norris Trophy in 2021. Six weeks later, they traded away their 2019 first-round pick for Jacob Trouba. Both defensemen play significant roles, with Fox averaging the most ice time on the team in the playoffs.
Free agency
The only significant free agent acquisition over the last five years is Vincent Trocheck, who was signed in the summer of 2022. Going back a little further, in 2019, the Rangers made an important signing by acquiring Artemi Panarin, making a huge splash in free agency at a time when it wasn’t expected.
Kraken takeaway
The Rangers’ approach to roster construction feels the most replicable for the Kraken. It is a hybrid approach that combines drafting and developing talent without being bottom dwellers for several seasons. Except for Lafrenière, most of the drafted players were selected 19th overall or later.
New York has signed key free agents like Panarin and Trocheck without taking on overly burdensome contracts, giving them flexibility to retain their drafted players after their entry-level deals expire. Additionally, they made strategic trades to add long-term talent while avoiding an all-in approach at the trade deadlines over the past few seasons.
Down the Rangers’ path?
The Seattle Kraken have options and lessons to consider from analyzing these final four teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers illustrate how a team builds through high draft picks, while the Dallas Stars showcase the value of quality drafting without resorting to tanking. The Florida Panthers highlight the potential of transformative trades, and the New York Rangers demonstrate the benefits of a hybrid approach that balances drafting, trading, and selective free agency signings. The Kraken have started down the Rangers’ path with several quality drafts under their belt, a strategic trade for Oliver Bjorkstrand, and a handful of significant free agent signings like Adam Larsson and Andre Burakovsky, while still maintaining roster flexibility.
Let’s see if they continue down that path this summer and make any significant additions.
And now, it’s officially official. Tuesday was a big day as the Seattle Kraken formally announced what the entire hockey world already knew: Dan Bylsma would be taking the wheel as the second head coach in the team’s history.
For additional coverage on the hiring, I shared my reaction on Monday after the reports came out, along with some background on Bylsma. Give that a read if you haven’t already. John Barr and I also had the pleasure of interviewing Bylsma for the Sound Of Hockey Podcastimmediately after the introductory presser, and it’s very much worth a listen. It’s an extremely fun interview with (oddly) plenty of Back to the Future references.
With those housekeeping items covered and Disco Dan having now completed his intro press conference alongside general manager Ron Francis and team owner Samantha Holloway at Kraken Community Iceplex on Tuesday, I thought it was worth giving a few follow-up thoughts.
Here are my takeaways from the press conference.
First day of school vibes
There was a lot of pomp and circumstance surrounding Bylsma’s introduction, and I personally left KCI feeling excited for what will come from this team next season. The presser was held in the Kraken dressing room—a place the team has never held such a press conference—and it was packed to the gills with local media, team staff, and team ownership.
Bylsma himself presented as humble but excited, grateful but deserving, serious but also downright funny. Before he was given the floor to make his own opening remarks, the team showed a video montage of Bylsma’s playing and coaching highlights, including a clip of him scoring one of his 17 career goals.
“Being able to find a clip of me scoring a goal is evidence of the great work that’s already happening here,” Bylsma joked.
There’s a certain comedic chemistry between him and Francis that shows they get along and know each other well after working together for three years. Francis also joked that he had previously interviewed Bylsma for a head-coaching role when Francis was the GM in Carolina, but “[Dan] didn’t have any interest in my job at that point.” To that, Bylsma quickly shot back, “There are two sides to that story,” but then declined to elaborate when given the opportunity.
I’ve said it many times that I liked Dave Hakstol, but he was always guarded when dealing with the media. He never wanted to say anything that could be misconstrued or give another team even the slightest tactical advantage against the Kraken, so sometimes it was hard to get anything of interest out of him. I don’t get that same vibe from Bylsma, though, who effortlessly glided from one interview to the next following his presser and seemed to really enjoy doing it. Again, you’ll get a good taste of that in the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast interview.
A long journey
I mentioned Bylsma’s humility earlier, and where that shone through for me was when he answered my question about taking a step back from being an assistant in Detroit to being an assistant with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. I asked if becoming the Kraken head coach one day was on his radar when he took that job.
“You could wonder why, maybe, my path led me to Charlotte, but really it was… I was grateful to Ron at the time of just giving me the opportunity to coach again,” Bylsma said. “I had taken few years off from being a head coach and kind of really decided that I wanted to give one more go at being a head coach again. And that’s really what led me to Charlotte. I did have an eye on CV, I will say that. I did, and I ended up coaching in CV… I did have an eye on proving to Ron that I would be the guy to be the head coach in CV when the franchise started two years ago.”
A jersey with Blysma’s name on it hangs in a locker stall in the Kraken dressing room. (Photo/Darren Brown)
Think about what Bylsma did to get to this point. The guy was at the pinnacle of coaching, got fired twice, went back to being an assistant for three years, then went even farther back to being an assistant in the MINORS just to give himself a chance to be a head coach at the AHL level again. He didn’t take that Charlotte Checkers job thinking, Oh, this is my path back to being an NHL head coach. No, he took that hoping it could just make him a head coach again, not even at the top level, but at the AHL level.
His ego wasn’t too big to do that, and his willingness to take two steps backward before three steps forward has paid dividends.
More work to do
Adding an interesting wrinkle to this situation is that Byslma is still in the midst of a postseason run, with the Western Conference Finals of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs getting underway Wednesday.
In both his press conference and his podcast interview with us, Bylsma implied that this has been an unideal way of getting one of the 32 best head-coaching jobs in the world.
“It hangs in the balance that I still have some other things to do in Coachella Valley,” Bylsma said. “So, we’ve got Game 1 [Wednesday]. I’m looking very much forward to getting… spending time with you here right now, but getting on a plane, getting back to Coachella Valley, and get on with Game 1.”
And while his name had always been bandied about as a possibility to take this job, Bylsma did well to keep things relatively under wraps and hold firm that he was wholeheartedly focused on the Firebirds’ playoff run. Still, this has to have been an awkward situation to navigate.
Other hirings coming
By promoting their AHL coach, the Kraken have robbed Peter to pay Paul, in a sense. Moving Bylsma up doesn’t actually fill a hole as much as it just creates a different one, so at some point they will need to add one or two in headcount because they let both Hakstol and assistant coach Paul McFarland go following the 2023-24 season.
So, at this point, there remains an opening for head coach in Coachella Valley, plus an assistant coach spot in Seattle, assuming the Kraken want to come back with the same number of coaches next season.
Bylsma didn’t implicitly say it, but he sounded comfortable having Jay Leach and Dave Lowry as two of his assistants, and he also indicated that Jess Campbell and Stu Bickel, his assistants in Coachella Valley, would be given consideration for promotions.
I could see a world in which one of Campbell or Bickel gets an NHL assistant job and the other gets the AHL head coaching job, and then the organization hires two more AHL assistants to backfill. Again, they’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, but such moves could make sense.
Following his public presser, Francis gave some clarity on that situation in an aside with a few of us. “That’s a process we’ll get to,” Francis said. “My inbox is going to blow up, now that we’ve hired Dan, for people that want to be on his staff here, as well as the staff there. And I said the same thing to Dan, anything that comes in here, we’ll just put that aside, and then we’ll work on putting a list together for CV. But our focus right now is on letting [the Firebirds] play, and once we get through that, I need to have the right conversations with Jessica, the right conversations with Stu, and look at what candidates we have and make that decision that’s best for the organization.”
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.
As is now being widely reported, Dan Bylsma is expected to be announced as the new head coach of the Seattle Kraken in a press conference Tuesday at Kraken Community Iceplex. Assuming the reports are correct, Bylsma will become the second head coach in franchise history, replacing Dave Hakstol at the helm after three seasons.
Jets introduced Scott Arniel today…another coaching vacancy soon to be filled.
We say “assuming the reports are correct” because the last time the Kraken hired a head coach, there were reports out there that Rick Tocchet was getting the job, only for Hakstol’s name to appear on the official press release. This time does feel different, though, and we believe Bylsma is the guy.
A native of Grand Haven, Mich., Bylsma has spent the last two seasons as the head coach of Seattle’s top minor-league affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, where he has done nothing but win.
He officially joined the Kraken organization prior to the 2021-22 season, serving as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Checkers, Seattle’s then-affiliate that they split with the Florida Panthers. That lined Bylsma up to take over the top AHL job when the Firebirds began play in 2022-23, and under his guidance, Coachella Valley has soared to a 94-32-18 record in two seasons.
The Firebirds came within one game of the Calder Cup in their inaugural season and are heading to the Western Conference Finals again this week against the Milwaukee Admirals.
NHL pedigree
Bylsma, 53, is not a newcomer to NHL benches, having coached parts of six seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and two with the Buffalo Sabres and posting a career record of 320-190-55. It’s also not the first time he’s been promoted from the AHL. In February, 2009, Bylsma was brought up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take over the reins from Michel Therrien on an interim basis after Therrien had been relieved of his duties.
The mid-season change from taskmaster Therrien to the more player-friendly Bylsma worked wonders for Pittsburgh’s star-studded roster, which went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. Having shed his interim tag, Bylsma took the Penguins back to the playoffs each of the next five seasons and made it as far as the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012-13. He won the Jack Adams Award in 2010-11, coached Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and was the winningest coach in Penguins franchise history before current coach Mike Sullivan took that title.
But the Stanley Cup win in 2009 brought sky-high expectations, so when the Penguins got bounced by the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs in 2013-14, general manager Ray Shero was shown the door.
The Penguins didn’t immediately fire Bylsma and instead waited until they hired Shero’s replacement, Jim Rutherford, who finally pulled the trigger to let Bylsma go. That left Bylsma—who undoubtedly would have been the hottest name on the coaching carousel if a decision had been made sooner—with few options for the following season. Bylsma landed in Buffalo and spent two years there before again being fired along with GM Tim Murray after two losing campaigns. The firings by the Sabres were (at the time) unexpected moves.
After his time in Buffalo, Bylsma spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings before joining the Kraken organization.
Dan Bylsma was always the choice
We remember Bylsma getting announced as an assistant coach for the Checkers in 2021 and thinking, Hmm. He could be a Kraken head coach one day. Fast forward three years, and here we are.
We also remember thinking—from the day Hakstol was fired—that Bylsma made the most sense of any available coach out there to be his successor. This is why we placed him at the top of our candidates list and continually circled back to his name whenever the conversation arose.
As we dragged deeper and deeper into the offseason, and all the other NHL head-coaching vacancies but one were filled, we became even more convinced that Bylsma would be the choice. Seeing who was still out there and all the different coaches that had been hired, we simply didn’t see a better fit than Bylsma even among those that had already been handed jobs around the league.
General manager Ron Francis and his staff certainly did their due diligence and interviewed other candidates, but at the end of the day, sometimes the best hire is the internal one. In this case, it so happens the internal hire is also a Stanley Cup-winning coach with many years of experience doing just what the Kraken need him to do.
“Disco Dan,” as he’s widely known, or “Coach Dan,” as the Firebirds call him, is well respected across the hockey world and seems to be well liked by his players, something we saw as a key requisite in Seattle’s next coach. Bylsma has also proven the ability to help young players in the organization develop, the other requisite we thought of for this budding franchise that is starting to see some of its prospects knock on the NHL door.
Evan Pivnick, the broadcast voice of the Firebirds who works closely with Bylsma, agreed the coach ticks those boxes in an interview on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast last week. “He is a guy who loves to develop players, that’s kind of his thing,” Pivnick said. “He loves being able to be around young, up-and-coming prospects and mold them into becoming really formidable players in pro hockey, and I think he is at the point where he can choose what he wants to do.”
It’s also easy to respect what Bylsma has done to earn this position. After his three-year stint as an assistant in Detroit, he took what could have been seen as another step backward, going to the minor leagues for three seasons and eventually demonstrating the impact he can have on a group of players. He’s worked hard in Coachella Valley and guided a mix of veterans and youngsters to the top of the AHL two seasons in a row.
And while it sometimes seemed like Bylsma was almost too happy doing what he was doing with the Firebirds to take the Kraken role, we always thought that if the job was offered to him, he wouldn’t pass it up. We’re glad he didn’t pass it up, as we see him as the perfect fit to be the next coach of the Seattle Kraken.
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.
With four teams remaining, the conference finals are upon us. In the second round, we saw some great hockey with three series going to six games and one going to seven. For full transparency, I did not do well at predicting the outcomes in my series previews for Round 2, picking just one correct winner out of four. Oops! The Edmonton Oilers were the only correct pick, but I had called out that the remaining series had no clear-cut favorites.
Now, we will preview the two conference finals series, give an update on the Sound Of Hockey Patreon Bracket Challenge, and provide some additional Stanley Cup predictions from the Sound Of Hockey crew.
Onto the conference finals! We have the Dallas Stars taking on the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference, and the New York Rangers taking on the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference.
Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers
Season series
Nov. 2 – Dallas won 4-3
Feb. 17 – Edmonton won 4-3 in overtime
Apr. 3 – Dallas won 5-0
The Dallas Stars won the season series 2-1 with the most recent victory being a 5-0 shellacking. The Oilers only win against the Stars was in overtime, and three-on-three (where the high-flying Oilers theoretically have an advantage) no longer exists in the playoffs.
Road to the Western Conference finals
The Dallas Stars finished the regular season with 113 points, good for best in the West and one point behind the Presidents’ Trophy winners, the New York Rangers. Dallas has beaten out the last two Stanley Cup champions in the first two rounds, knocking off the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 1 and the Colorado Avalanche in Round 2.
After an abysmal start to the Edmonton Oilers season, a change was made that brought in Kris Knoblauch to take over the head coaching job. Since his hiring on Nov. 12, the Oilers have been the best team in the NHL, matching their captain’s jersey number with 97 points.
The Oilers made quick work of the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, winning the best-of-7 series in five games. The only game Edmonton lost in that series came in overtime. The second round brought more of a challenge in the Vancouver Canucks, who pushed the series to its seven-game limit. Even so, it felt like it was just a matter of time before the Oilers would prevail, being that they heavily outshot the Canucks 203 to 149 in the series.
How they match up
Edmonton and Dallas are very close in goals scored, goals against, and power play percentage. The biggest gap is in the penalty kill percentage, where Edmonton was 15th overall during the regular season, and Dallas was eighth.
Dallas Stars
Edmonton Oilers
Goals scored
294 (3rd)
292 (4th)
Goals against
232 (8th)
236 (10th)
Power play percentage
24.2% (6th)
26.3% (4th)
Penalty kill percentage
82.0% (8th)
79.5% (15th)
Dallas will focus on improving special teams play
In the postseason, the gap in penalty kill percentage has flipped and widened, with the Oilers’ penalty killing percentage now a league best at 91.4 percent. Dallas has struggled in this department with a 69.2-percent kill rate.
This statistic is slightly misleading, as Dallas has been the least penalized team remaining in the playoffs with only 5:13 of penalty minutes (PIM’s) per game. The next closest team is the Rangers, who have almost double what Dallas has at 10:12 PIM’s per game. Special teams will be important in this series, though, and Dallas will need to regain its regular-season form on the PK to slow down Edmonton’s lethal power play that has hummed along at 37.5 percent in the playoffs.
Edmonton goaltending
Edmonton is averaging 2.75 goals against per game, which is highest for the remaining teams. The Oilers have not been confident in the play of Stuart Skinner and even gave the nod to former Seattle Thunderbird goaltender, Calvin Pickard, for Games 4 and 5 against Vancouver. Skinner has since reclaimed the net, winning Games 6 and 7.
For Edmonton to advance, this needs to be Skinner’s crease going forward. Even though the 2.75 GAA is high, it is actually lower than Edmonton’s regular-season total of 2.88. Edmonton lives and dies by the success of its offense.
Prediction
Even with Edmonton’s high-powered offense, Dallas just eclipsed the Oilers with 294 goals in the regular season, good for third in the NHL (Edmonton was fourth at 292). Dallas has played harder competition in the first two rounds, and with its disciplined play and incredible depth, I believe the Stars will limit Edmonton’s special teams impact.
Prediction: Dallas in 6 games
New York Rangers vs. Florida Panthers
Former Seattle Kraken Alex Wennberg is now a member of the New York Rangers. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series
Dec. 29 – Florida won 4-3
Mar. 4 – Florida won 4-2
Mar. 23 – New York won 4-3 in a shootout
The New York Rangers lost the season series to Florida 1-2-0. There are only three teams the Rangers lost to twice during the regular season, and Florida is one of those teams; the other two are the Washington Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets. New York surrendered points in all three games to Florida, who’s lone win came via a shootout, which again will not apply in the playoffs.
How they match up
New York Rangers
Florida Panthers
Regulation wins
43
42
Goal differential
+53 (7th)
+68 (1st)
Goals-against average
2.76 (7th)
2.42 (1st tied)
Road to the conference finals
The Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy for having the best record in the regular season with 114 points. They were the only team to sweep their first-round matchup against the Washington Capitals and looked poised to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes after going up 3-0 in Round 2, but then lost Games 4 and 5 before winning the series in six games. The Hurricanes almost pushed the series to seven games, entering the third period in Game 6 with a 3-1 lead, but Chris Kreider scored a natural hat trick in under nine minutes to put the Rangers ahead for good.
The Florida Panthers are making a return appearance to the conference finals. After surprising last year as the second wild-card team, they come in this year as the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division and have surprised nobody by reaching this stage. Florida had to go through two tough teams in the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1 and the Boston Bruins, for the second straight year, in Round 2. The Panthers finished the season third overall in the Eastern Conference with 110 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes (111 points) and their conference finals opponent, the New York Rangers (114 points).
Prediction
Florida proved to be the New York Rangers’ hardest opponent during the regular season, but again, the regular season no longer matters. Both teams have played well in the postseason, getting great goaltending and scoring above 3.5 goals per game.
Florida’s goaltending statistics were second in the league during the regular season, but this is skewed a bit as their backup played most of the “easy” games and turned in a .925 save percentage. Sergei Bobrovsky had a great season with a .915 save percentage and has continued his solid play in the playoffs. Barring an injury, Bobrovsky will play every game. Even so, I will have to give the goaltending edge to Ranger netminder, Igor Shesterkin, who has been lights out with a .931 save percentage in the postseason. The Rangers have to shake the dreaded Presidents’ Trophy curse, and Florida has what it takes to beat them.
Prediction: Florida in 7 games
Sound Of Hockey Patreon Bracket challenge update
Sound Of Hockey Patreon members were able to participate in the NHL Bracket Challenge, and there are some talented (and/or lucky) Sound Of Hockey supporters out there. Amazingly, 16.4 percent of the brackets correctly picked the four conference finals teams.
Here are some other tidbits of how the Sound Of Hockey Patreon members filled out their brackets:
Percentage of conference finals’ teams picked to win the Stanley Cup:
Dallas Stars – 45.5%
New York Rangers – 14.5%
Edmonton Oilers – 7.3%
Florida Panthers – 3.6%
With New York and Dallas being the top two teams in the regular season, it is fitting they ranked 1 and 2 in Patreon members selecting them to win. Dallas was the Sound Of Hockey fan-favorite pick by a long shot.
Percentage of Stanley Cup Final matchups picked:
Dallas Stars vs. New York Rangers – 32.7%
Dallas Stars vs. Florida Panthers – 5.5%
Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers- 5.5%
Edmonton Oilers vs. New York Rangers 3.6%
There are currently two perfect brackets remaining. Congratulations to IcedKraken, who has Dallas over Florida, and GianniKraken, who has Dallas winning over New York.
There are seven brackets left that have a shot at winning the bracket challenge:
If Dallas wins over Florida – IcedKraken
If Dallas wins over New York – GianniKraken
If Edmonton wins over Florida – mipmipmipmip
If Edmonton wins over New York – PhantomX182
If New York wins over Dallas – Rob the Crow Ally
If New York wins over Edmonton – stdbone
If Florida wins over either Dallas or Edmonton – “Garths life jacket”
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Sound Of Hockey staff picks
Name
Western Conf. Pick
Eastern Conf. Pick
Stanley Cup Pick
John Barr
Dallas Stars in 6
New York Rangers in 7
Dallas Stars
Cameron Riggers
Edmonton Oilers in 6
New York Rangers in 7
Edmonton Oilers
Darren Brown
Dallas Stars in 5
New York Rangers in 6
Dallas Stars
Curtis Isacke
Dallas Stars in 6
Florida Panthers in 6
Dallas Stars
Blaiz Grubic
Dallas Stars in 6
Florida Panthers in 7
Dallas Stars
Wrap up
Based on the NHL bracket picks and the Sound Of Hockey crew’s picks, the Dallas Stars are a heavy favorite to win the cup. In reality, all four remaining teams are extremely talented and have what it takes. The conference finals will be two fun series to watch, so sit back and enjoy.
Game 1 between the Rangers and Panthers is Wednesday evening, and Oilers/Stars gets underway Thursday.
May 22 – 5:00 pm Pacific – Panthers at Rangers – Game 1
May 23 – 5:30 pm Pacific – Oilers at Stars – Game 1
Feel free to comment below with your picks for the conference finals and eventual Stanley Cup champion.
As we put a bow on “Prospect Week” here at Sound Of Hockey, I’ve been thinking about the promise of the Seattle Kraken prospect pool and how quickly we might see some of its members begin to have an impact on the NHL club.
As we know, most of the players we’ve highlighted in our various stories over the past seven days are at least a year away from taking a shift with the Kraken (if they ever make it). However, we do believe some individuals could get time with the big club as early as next season, joining fellow youngsters like Matty Beniers and Tye Kartye who are locks to return to the roster.
The challenge for young players in the organization is that general manager Ron Francis will surely feel pressure this offseason to upgrade the team, which means adding more veterans. He can’t rely on too many unproven youngsters to push his squad forward, so there will be acquisitions made either via trade or free agency. While there may be a spot or two left open for the youth (i.e., Shane Wright) to filter in, there simply isn’t much opportunity right now.
Even so, several young players will challenge for roster spots when training camp breaks in October. Here are those players.
On the team
Matty Beniers
With 167 regular-season NHL games and 14 playoff games under his belt, Beniers is no longer a prospect. But, he is still just 21 years of age, so I thought I should mention his name. I’m hoping for a big step forward in his development next season.
Tye Kartye
While on a different career trajectory to that of Beniers, I would expect Kartye to hold down a depth role with the Kraken again next season. He didn’t put up big offensive numbers in his first full NHL campaign, but that wasn’t the role he was asked to play. Instead, the 23-year-old undrafted winger brought energy and a hard-forechecking style that made him stand out as one of the few players on the team with a “sandpaper” element to his game.
Seattle needs players like Kartye, and if he can find ways to provide more depth scoring in 2024-25, he could solidify himself as part of the longer-term solution.
Ryker Evans
This has been an interesting season for Evans, who very nearly made the Kraken out of camp but was instead assigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds to start the year. Once called up, he showed flashes of what he can do as a puck-moving blueliner and earned 36 games with the Kraken while racking up more than 19 minutes per game and even subbing in for an injured Vince Dunn on the top pairing at times.
But Evans also was not able to supplant veterans Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz to become a full-timer just yet. Now, we expect Schultz to move on in free agency, leaving an open spot for Evans to remain in the NHL for the entirety of the 2024-25 season.
The question, though, is what Francis and company do with the defense corps this offseason. Although Evans has shown he can play the right side, it’s risky to go into a season relying on a 22-year-old lefty to play his offhand all year. We would expect Francis to hedge his bets and bring in a right-shot defenseman to replace Schultz.
Can Evans prove that he deserves a full-time roster spot next season and push out Dumoulin and/or whichever veteran joins the squad this summer?
Joining the NHL roster
Shane Wright
As John Tortorella has said, “The player will tell you when he’s ready.” Shane Wright told us that during his late-season cup of coffee with the big club, when he notched five points in five games and arguably looked like the best player on the team. He has also grown into a leader with Coachella Valley, and with 47 points in 59 AHL games this season, he seems to be approaching “nothing left to prove” territory at that level.
The Kraken have an Alex Wennberg-sized hole at the center position, and although we still expect them to add at that position this summer, we see Wright being slated into the middle next season.
Battling for spots
The rest of these players are longer shots to make the NHL roster out of training camp, but all these guys should get good looks from Kraken brass, even if it’s only to put themselves at the top of the call-up list for later in the season.
Carson Rehkopf
Carson Rehkopf is the exception to the “getting himself on the call-up list” category that I just mentioned in the intro to this section, because he will not be eligible for the AHL or for such call-ups due to his age. Even so, we at Sound Of Hockey think Rehkopf will get consideration to start the season with the Kraken.
The top-scoring winger of the OHL Kitchener Rangers has already achieved “nothing left to prove” status as an 18-year-old, racking up an obscene 95 points in just 60 games this season. At 6-foot-2, he has decent size and good speed, and his shot is already NHL caliber.
We genuinely believe Seattle will think about keeping him with the big club for the nine-game trial NHL teams are allotted before burning a season of the player’s entry-level contract. If that happens, we still think the Kraken will ultimately return Rehkopf to the OHL to continue dazzling in his 19-year-old season and hopefully dominate at the World Junior Championship, but keep an eye on him in camp.
Ryan Winterton
Winterton is an obvious candidate to push for a roster spot after he received two separate call-ups to the Kraken in 2023-24. We know Seattle likes the way Winterton plays against the wall, and we also know he didn’t look out of place during his nine NHL games.
Like with all the players in this section, the numbers game will make it difficult for Winterton to earn a roster spot out of camp, but if injuries pile up again next season, we expect the 20-year-old forward to get some more chances.
Logan Morrison
It’s the same story for Morrison as it is with his Coachella Valley roommate, Winterton, but Morrison plays a different style. To my non-scouting eye, I thought Morrison looked a little farther off than Winterton in terms of being NHL-ready, but the undrafted Morrison also brings more flash with his stickhandling and offensive instinct.
While we don’t foresee Morrison cracking the Opening Night roster, him getting a chance to build on his four NHL games will depend on the role Seattle is looking for when the time comes for call-ups.
Ville Ottavainen
Ottavainen is an interesting case. The hulking right-shot defenseman has quietly emerged as a top defensive prospect for the Kraken in a system that is not bursting with blue line talent. The 6-foot-5, 216-pound Finn really impressed us in Kraken training camp last season, and with a full AHL season now under his belt, Ottavainen is a true pro player.
If a defenseman gets injured, particularly one on the right side, there could be a world in which Ottavainen makes his NHL debut in 2024-25.
David Goyette
Speaking of players that impressed us in training camp, new friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, David Goyette, definitely landed in that category. After a stellar season with the OHL Sudbury Wolves, where he dominated and posted 117 points in 68 games, Goyette showed he has real impact potential.
The skilled and smooth-skating center will join the fray as a full-time pro next season and will create even more competition for the stable of players champing at the bit for a chance in the NHL.
Jagger Firkus
Firkus is another interesting case. We thought he would come into training camp last fall and dazzle us, but he was one of the few top prospects who didn’t knock our socks off by taking big developmental steps. This is where our doubts about his viability as an NHLer began, because while players like Rehkopf and Goyette looked comfortable skating next to veterans, Firkus looked (at times) out of place.
But then Firkus went back to Moose Jaw and had a historic season, leading the WHL in scoring with 126 points in 63 games and continued that trend in the playoffs with 32 points in 20 games. He guided the Warriors to their first ever Ed Chynoweth Cup and will appear in the Memorial Cup starting on Friday.
It’s always a good sign when a prospect in his 19-year-old season is the best player on the best team in his junior league, and Firkus was that. Another good sign is that when Firkus swung through the Seattle area for games against the Silvertips and Thunderbirds at the beginning of March and chatted with us out of his gear, he was visibly bigger and stronger than he was during training camp.
Firkus is on the right track. He has the hands, he has the vision, and he has the shot. Now, if he can work with Firebirds assistant coach Jess Campbell to get his skating up to NHL speed, he could have a chance at an NHL debut sometime next season.
Jani Nyman
On the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, we’ve ironically declared that Jani Nyman shall henceforth be known as “Little Jani,” being that “Big Yanni (Gourde)” is already a staple of the Kraken organization. In case the joke isn’t obvious to you, the irony is that “Big” Yanni Gourde is small in stature, while “Little” Jani Nyman is huge at 6-foot-4, 207 pounds.
There are big reasons to be excited about the future for Little Jani. Nyman was outstanding for Ilves of Liiga, Finland’s top professional league, registering nearly a point per game as a 19-year-old playing against men and surprisingly landing at No. 1 in Curtis Isacke’s data-only ranking of Kraken prospects last week.
With Coachella Valley since the conclusion of Ilves’ season, Nyman hasn’t been scoring much in the AHL, but he is playing at least some of the games for the Firebirds.
While Firkus and Nyman are two extremely different players, we think there’s a similarity between the two in that a season of Campbell’s tutelage will put Nyman in competition for a Kraken roster spot in 2025-26. Even so, some NHL time in the coming season is not out of the question for Little Jani.
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Are there any other youngsters you think could get a sniff of the NHL next season? Let us know in the comments.
With “Prospect Week” still in full swing here at Sound Of Hockey, welcome to our Sound Table discussion focused on the status of the current prospect pool of the Seattle Kraken. With three drafts worth of prospects plus a host of free-agent signings now in the fold for the organization, we are going to delve into the strengths, challenges, and potential of the team’s prospects. If you have thoughts or opinions on any of the discussion topics, don’t hesitate to share them with us in the comments section.
Were there any surprises in the content we published over the week?
Curtis Isacke: I’ll take this one first and note what, in my view, likely came as the biggest surprise to the reader, Jani Nyman’s placement in my ranking of Seattle Kraken prospects based on league-adjusted scoring data. It didn’t necessarily shock me because I had been tracking his season in Liiga closely, but until the final postseason calculations, I didn’t know he would beat out Shane Wright’s strong AHL season for the No. 1 position in the Seattle system.
There are still development hurdles ahead for Nyman relating to his skating technique and overall mobility, but he is a player we simply cannot sleep on. His performance suggests he could emerge as a scoring wing in the NHL within the next few years.
John Barr: Surprise might not be the right term, but it was interesting to see Ty Nelson not mentioned among the top prospects. I felt like the only one applying the brakes a bit on him heading into the season, even though there was considerable hype around him. The defenseman had another strong year, but a mid-season injury appeared to impact his production upon returning to the lineup. I still have a positive view of Ty, but like many prospects, making it to the NHL remains a long shot. Development rarely follows a straight line.
Darren Brown: This is also not really a “surprise” to me, and I’m sure this prospect will come up later in this conversation, but it’s disappointing to see Eduard Sale in position No. 13 on Curtis’s data-driven prospect ranking. There were compete-related concerns voiced about Sale when Seattle selected him No. 20 overall last summer, but I hoped the Kraken scouting department knew something about him that we did not.
Things haven’t been trending in the right direction for him so far, but he’s still only 19 years old, and as you just said, John, development paths are different for every player. Here’s hoping Sale has a great offseason of training and comes into training camp with a chip on his shoulder.
By the way, for those wondering about the “soup dumplings” comment from Curtis, we have an arena/stadium food draft podcast episode coming to our Patreon subscribers, which will explain that. Good joke, Curtis.
What prospect surprised you the most over the 2023-24 season?
John: I can’t imagine I am alone here, but Tyson Jugnath’s midseason move from NCAA hockey to the Portland Winterhawks really surprised me. Within a week of signing with the Winterhawks, he went from someone I had no clue about regarding his potential to suddenly becoming a prospect of interest. He had two points with Wisconsin over 13 games and had 13 points in his first 13 games with Portland.
It is nothing against any college players, but I find following the college game from the West Coast very challenging. The leagues are so fragmented, and there just aren’t enough college prospects to justify a TV subscription compared to the CHL and AHL subscription packages. I ended up watching several of Jugnauth’s games for Portland, and he looks really good. I am not saying he is a guaranteed hit, just someone we should certainly not forget about as we see these players develop.
Curtis: Jugnauth is a good one, John. His offensive play after he moved to the WHL looked like he hadn’t missed a developmental step with his offensive game despite being stuck in a depth, defense-first role at the University of Wisconsin for almost two years.
To throw another name out there, I’ll mention another blueliner: Ville Ottavainen. The Kraken drafted Ottavainen back in 2021, and he spent his next two years putting up low-end scoring numbers in the Finnish professional ranks. Combined with his 6-foot-5 hulking frame, I figured we were looking at a slower, stay-at-home defender with long odds to break through.
But, for me at least, he has been a revelation since joining the Firebirds this season. He’s a strong skater for his size and is readily willing to jump into the rush when the play calls for it. In this way, he reminds me a bit of a poor man’s Jamie Oleksiak. There are many parts of his game he’ll still need to smooth out to get to that point, but I’m very interested to see whether he can continue to progress in the years ahead.
Darren: Good one, Curtis. I know the organization really likes Ottavainen, too, even though he has largely flown under the radar. I’ve also been highly impressed with David Goyette, so he’s my honorable mention here, but I’m going to use my time in this section to talk about goalie Niklas Kokko.
I recall some grousing about Seattle using one of its second-round picks in 2022 on a goaltender that could have theoretically been grabbed in a later round. But Kokko is looking like he could pan out and had a phenomenal second half of the season in Liiga after getting loaned from Kärpät to Pelicans.
In 13 regular-season games with Pelicans, Kokko pitched a 1.49 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, then carried the team all the way to the Liiga finals where they finally lost to Tappara in five games. Along the way, Kokko became a star in Finland with a 1.81 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 17 playoff games before moving to Coachella Valley.
I remember thinking Kokko appeared to have raw talent when watching him in Kraken Development Camp. He made the saves but seemed to swim around the crease and look a little out of control at times. I’m excited to see how he has improved, assuming he comes back to Seattle this summer.
This might be similar to the previous question, but in your opinion, which Seattle Kraken prospect’s stock rose the most over the season?
Curtis: Jugnauth and Ottavainen both come to mind certainly, but, in the interest of discussion, I’ll throw out another name: Logan Morrison. I was impressed that he was able to immediately grab a regular lineup spot—not to mention a top-unit power-play role—on a talented Coachella Valley team as an undrafted free agent.
His statistics may not immediately jump off the page, but his production in the AHL at his age makes him a borderline top-100 prospect in hockey. And, perhaps even more impressively, his data profile was fifth-best among NHL-affiliated undrafted free agents in my study.
Morrison has defied the odds to this point. If he’s going to keep doing it, he needs to keep working on his skating game. He has shown the resilience to do it, and it seems there may be no better place to develop this aspect of a player’s game than in Coachella Valley with Jess Campbell and the rest of the Firebirds’ skills staff.
John: Since we’ve already discussed Jugnauth, I’d like to highlight Oscar Fisker Mølgaard’s impressive season playing for HV71 in the Swedish league. Mølgaard was selected in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, but I believe he exceeded even those elevated expectations for a second-rounder.
While his numbers might not leap off the screen, it’s important to note that the Swedish league tends to be low-scoring. Having watched many HV71 games this season, I’ve observed that Mølgaard is comfortable and dependable as a two-way center—a positive sign for an 18-year-old competing in one of the world’s top men’s leagues. Initially, he averaged under 12 minutes per game in his first 15 games, but in the last 15 games of the season, his average playing time increased to over 17 minutes per game.
I do have a personal bias for Mølgaard after he gave a stellar interview with us back at prospect camp last summer.
Darren: Speaking of personal biases because of stellar SOH Podcast interviews, how about some love for Carson Rehkopf? We were already high on him before the season, but all he did was score during 2023-24 for the Kitchener Rangers and set multiple career highs in the OHL. He jumped from 59 points in 68 games in 2022-23 as a 17-year-old to 95 points in 60 games as an 18-year-old and was within spitting distance of a goal-per-game pace. Despite being picked No. 50 overall in 2023, he has quickly jumped into blue chip territory for the Kraken. The future is very bright for this kid, and it seems Seattle may have found a diamond in the rough here.
Which Seattle Kraken prospect’s stock dropped the most over the season?
John: Darren alluded to it earlier, and this one is fairly obvious. However, Eduard Sale’s season fell short of the expectations for a first-round selection. While his production was acceptable, it didn’t quite reach the level you’d hope to see from a top pick. When I watched him play, he didn’t stand out as much as most NHL prospects in the CHL. Some of this lackluster performance might be attributed to his first season in North America and on North American ice. I’m not ready to label him a bust when he’s still so young, but it’s challenging not to feel disappointed based on what we’ve observed so far.
Curtis: You’re right, John, Sale certainly stands out as the most notable case. But I’ll also flag Lukas Dragicevic as a player who bears watching. After an elite scoring season as a draft-eligible WHL defenseman that made him a top draft prospect, his offensive production took a significant step back this past season. In my viewings, his defense remains very much a work in progress too. On the plus side, he’s still young and has another junior season ahead before he’ll need to be able to compete professionally. So, there is a runway left, and hopefully he can take some of the lessons learned during his late-season stint with Coachella Valley forward into next season.
Darren: I’m with John on this one. There’s plenty of runway for Sale too, so here’s hoping he lights up the OHL next season and gets his development on track. Remember, there were people out there saying Shane Wright was a bust at some point in the not-so-distant past, and he has since regained his form as Seattle’s top prospect.
Is there a particular prospect that you are rooting for?
Curtis: Since I don’t think “all of them” is an acceptable answer, I’ll mention Tucker Robertson. He’s an undersized player who won in the junior ranks with his hockey sense. He’s a highly intelligent player and brings a hard-nosed mentality to go to the front of the net when the play calls for it. His leadership was no small part of his OHL club reaching the Memorial Cup in 2023.
It’s been an uphill grind for him since turning pro this year. He just doesn’t have prototypical size or standout skating skill. He had stints in the ECHL and managed minimal production when he got into the lineup for the Firebirds in a depth role. I’m rooting for him to emerge as a lineup regular in Coachella Valley next season and to start showing off that hockey sense that has gotten him so far already.
John: Andrei Loshko might be flying under the radar, but I’m rooting for him. As a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft, he’s quietly had an impressive year in the QMJHL, tallying 67 points in 64 games and 11 points in 10 playoff games. Loshko is a strong two-way forward who takes great pride in his defensive play. When you consider his point production this year, you can start to see a potential path to the NHL. It’s worth noting that fourth-round picks face long odds—approximately 60 percent of players drafted in that round never play an NHL game. Still, I’m hopeful to see Loshko succeed.
Darren: Mølgaard and Nelson are both very likable and easy to root for, so they jumped to my mind, but I’ll go with new friend of the pod, David Goyette here. He really opened my eyes in Kraken pre-season by looking like he belonged out there with NHL players. He’s a smooth skater with hands, jam to his game, and some obvious scoring instincts after he piled up 117 points in 68 games for the Sudbury Wolves this season. Goyette could be the real deal, and he too comes across as a very nice, humble young man.
As we close out this Sound Table, I just want to say I think the future is bright for this organization. I don’t expect all these kids to make the NHL, but the fact that Seattle has a whole bunch of darts to throw is exciting, and there are several players that look like they could grow into impactful players one day. Heck, in 2300 words about the Kraken prospect pool, none of us even mentioned Ryker Evans, who is probably a lock to make the Kraken next season, Ryan Winterton, who already made his NHL debut, or Jagger Firkus, who led the WHL in scoring in both the regular season and playoffs and helped the Moose Jaw Warriors to their first ever WHL title.
