A week after being embarrassed on home ice by the Edmonton Oilers, the Kraken exacted some revenge by scoring five unanswered goals in an impressive 5-2 win over the Oilers on Tuesday.
“Absolutely great feeling,” Yanni Gourde said. “To come out with the win in their building, I thought we played well.”
Seattle erased a 2-0 deficit and won their second straight game while starting the longest road trip of the season in fine fashion.
“I think we played pretty well in the first,” Gourde said. “We came out, we played hard, did the right things, put the puck deep, and played down low. Second period, we got one goal and it really gave us some wings offensively.”
A key moment came early in the third period when the Oilers appeared to cut the Kraken lead to 4-3 after Leon Draisaitl scored a power-play goal. There were over 18 minutes left, and the knuckles in Seattle were turning white.
However, Seattle coach Dave Hakstol called the officials over and challenged the goal, saying Edmonton was offside prior to the goal being scored. It was a risky move as a failed challenge would put the Oilers and their league-best power play back on the ice with a chance to tie and gain momentum.
The video review proved successful, it was offside, and the Kraken killed off the remainder of the power play for a huge kill.
“That’s the guys in the back room,” Hakstol said. “That’s Tim [Oshashi] and Brady [Morgan] doing a great job. Working through their process, taking the short amount of time they have and they got it right.”
Later on, at 17:29 of the third, Alex Wennberg raced down the ice and slid the puck into the Oilers empty net to make it 5-2, and the knuckles returned to their normal color.
Wennberg had a goal and an assist, as did Matty Beniers. Jaden Schwartz scored a goal and had two assists, Justin Schultz had two assists, and Martin Jones made 32 saves for the Kraken (20-12-4), who are unbeaten in Alberta so far this season.
“It wasn’t anything overly spectacular in this game,” Hakstol said. “We were moving slowly with the puck, especially in the first ten minutes, but we were checking well. But we cleaned up our puck play… we were able to battle back. The power-play goal was obviously a big goal for us to get going. We were able to execute on a delayed penalty and then some face-off goals.”
Edmonton (20-17-2), got goals from Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Stuart Skinner started the game and allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced in the second period by Jack Campbell, who made three saves.
When they played last week, the Oilers had three goals by the four-minute mark. It took them longer Tuesday, but it was Edmonton who scored first again, while on their NHL best power play at 12:47 of the first. Jones made an initial save, but an off-the-mark shot by Draisaitl slid right to Nugent-Hopkins, who had the entire net to shoot at and did not miss to make it 1-0.
McDavid turned on the jets and raced by everyone 48 seconds into the second and slid his 33rd of the season past Jones to make it 2-0. That caused a déjà vu feeling that the Oilers were going to run away with it.
But a mid-period power play would turn the tide for Seattle, who would go on to score five straight.
First, it was a power-play score from Beniers at 4:44 of the second with his 12th of the year. Beniers was at it again 31 seconds later, during a delayed penalty, when he found Schwartz at the goal mouth for a tally that tied the game.
Gourde would give Seattle a 3-2 lead at 12:43. He scored his fifth of the season after Schultz got a shot on a rush, the rebound came out in front, and Eeli Tolvanen tapped it to Gourde.
The Kraken extended the lead to 4-2, and chased Skinner from the net at 15:48. Wennberg spotted Jared McCann streaking for the net and got the puck to him for McCann’s team-leading 17th of the year.
Tentacle Tales
With an assist, defenseman Adam Larsson extended his point streak to seven games.
It was also the seventh game Beniers has recorded multiple points this season.
Tolvanen played in his second game with Seattle and recorded an assist, giving him points in both games he has played for the Kraken.
The win was the 10th road win for Seattle (10-4-2), one away from the 11 road wins they totaled all of last season.
The Kraken flipped the script on the Oilers Tuesday, just four days after Edmonton embarrassed Seattle 7-2 at Climate Pledge Arena.
In the first meeting between these two teams, Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer was pulled just four minutes into the game, as Edmonton sliced and diced Seattle’s disjointed defense and potted four goals in the first period.
Tuesday at Rogers Place, it was a different story. The Kraken came out looking a lot more structurally sound in the first period and got to the intermission down just 1-0 after a power-play goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Then, after Connor McDavid got a highlight-reel goal early in the second, Seattle turned it on and hung four goals of their own on Stuart Skinner, sending him to the bench for Jack Campbell.
“Obviously, it was a lot of emphasis on what happened last game [against Edmonton],” said Adam Larsson, who extended his point streak to a career-high seven games. “That kind of made us even more hungry today. I thought from top to bottom, every guy played a solid game.”
In the end, the Kraken exorcised their Oilers demons and earned an enormous 5-2 win, putting themselves back into third place in the Pacific Division and starting their longest road trip of the season on a positive note. Here are our Three Takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Crucial offside challenge took serious cojones
By the end of the first period Tuesday, Edmonton’s league-leading power play was three-for-three on the season against Seattle. Early in the third, it appeared that lethal unit had improved to four-for-four when McDavid found Leon Draisaitl through the seam, and Draisaitl rifled it past Martin Jones.
[INSERT RECORD SCRATCH SOUND HERE.]
But wait! Coach Dave Hakstol challenged the goal for an offside entry into the zone!
Replay showed that Zach Hyman’s trailing skate blade was just a fraction of an inch over the line before the puck, negating the goal and keeping the score 4-2.
That was a gutsy call by Hakstol and a huge catch by video coaches Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan.
“That’s Tim and Brady doing a great job,” said Hakstol. “Working through their process, taking the short amount of time that they have, and they got it right. And that’s a really tight call, but it’s clear, and at the end of the day, that is the right call.”
Had the call gone the other way, the score would have been 4-3, and Seattle would have gone right back to the PK against a power play that was having its way with the Kraken.
Of course, the goal being negated meant Jamie Oleksiak’s penalty was not yet over. The PK absolutely had to finish off that crucial kill, or the successful challenge would have been effectively moot. Seattle’s PKers finished the job, though, sapping what would have surely been a big momentum swing for Edmonton.
Takeaway #2: That second period escalated quickly
Seattle certainly looked better in the first 20 minutes than it did in the previous matchup against Edmonton, but when the second period started, McDavid went back to his dastardly ways and scored a banger to make it 2-0. In that moment, we had visions of the best player in the world again taking over the game and piling up points for another easy Oilers win.
Instead, the Kraken minimized the damage done by the superstar to just that one point on the night, and they completely turned the game on its ear from then on.
“I think we actually played pretty well in the first,” said Yanni Gourde. “I thought we came out, played hard, did the right thing, put the puck deep. Second period, we got that one goal, and it really gave us some wings offensively.”
Matty Beniers got the scoring started with a baseball swing at a Daniel Sprong rebound, notching Seattle’s second power-play goal in as many games. Then just 31 seconds later, Beniers again got on the scoresheet, throwing a puck at Skinner that dropped right to Jaden Schwartz for an easy tap in that tied the game.
Beniers putting up two points was a sight for sore eyes. The star rookie had gone eight games without a goal and only had two assists during that same stretch.
But it didn’t stop there. At 12:42 of the frame, Justin Schultz rifled a puck on net that Skinner kicked out into the slot. Eeli Tolvanen batted the rebound back toward the Edmonton goal but hit Gourde, who quickly spun and slapped it by Skinner.
Coincidentally, Gourde’s goal was also his first since Dec. 11, the same night Beniers had last scored.
Finally, off an offensive-zone face-off, Schwartz fired a puck from the corner that hit Skinner in the mask and caromed out in front. Alex Wennberg picked it up, spun, and laid a perfect blind pass on the tape of Jared McCann, who buried it in an open net for his team-leading 17th goal.
The fourth goal ended the night for Skinner and put the game on the rails for Seattle.
Takeaway #3: Off on the right foot
After a mostly painful December, it has been good to see the Kraken turn the page and start the new calendar year off on the right foot with consecutive wins over the Islanders and Oilers. Seattle has played the right way in these games, showing good structure, improved special teams, and patience to wait for its chances and capitalize.
“It was really nice,” said Larsson. “I thought the way we played too, it’s good to get rewarded.”
Meanwhile, Martin Jones has returned to the form we saw from him earlier this season, stopping 48 out of 51 shots in these two games. He was calm, cool, and collected against the Oilers, turning away 30 shots on the night.
A big piece of that was the way Seattle defended, holding Edmonton’s stars mostly at bay and allowing Jones to see pucks. This win was a true team effort.
That is Kraken hockey, which the group had certainly lost sight of after the end of its early-season streak of success and throughout the December doldrums. Here’s hoping they can keep building as they head to eastern Canada.
Let’s go outside, shall we? The news was made official Monday that the next Winter Classic will be played at T-Mobile Park between the Seattle Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights on New Year’s Day, 2024.
“Outdoor hockey is at the essence of our game and the way many of our players grew up playing,” said Kraken general manager Ron Francis via press release. “We are thrilled to have the chance to showcase this in Seattle.”
Putting it in Seattle and featuring the league’s two newest teams will certainly bring a fresh look to the tentpole event. The Winter Classic has garnered big-time national interest since Pittsburgh and Buffalo first played an unforgettable game at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Jan. 1, 2008. But the NHL has reached a point where all of its more “historic” U.S.-based franchises have played in the Winter Classic multiple times, and the most compelling and historic venues across the nation have been used.
In fact, the announcement came just prior to the 2023 Discover Winter Classic, being played between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. Those teams have now combined to appear in the event six times, while the venue being used—Fenway Park—already hosted the outdoor game in 2010.
A fresh look is needed, and Seattle is the perfect next stop.
“We are honored that the NHL has selected the Kraken, in just our second season, to host this amazing event at the home of our friends, the Mariners,” said Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke. “Over 40,000 fans will witness the beauty and grace of our wonderful game in a venue that showcases the Puget Sound surrounded by the Cascade and Olympic Mountains.”
It’s an enormous get for the Kraken franchise, which—in 2023-24—will be playing in just its third season. This will surely expand interest in the team both locally and nationally and give it a huge stage to show off the exciting brand the organization has worked so hard to build.
The venue
While it would be more visually stunning to host the 2024 Winter Classic at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium, T-Mobile Park was always the only viable option for the event in Seattle. Rain is one of the worst things that can happen for an outdoor hockey game, and it so happens the Puget Sound area gets plenty of it in the winter. That effectively ruled out Husky Stadium and Lumen Field, which do not have retractable roofs.
But T-Mobile Park, with its umbrella-style retractable roof, can close and shield the playing surface from precipitation, while staying open on the sides to still give those in attendance the feel of being at an outdoor game.
The beloved stadium, home of the Seattle Mariners, remains one of the more scenic ballparks in Major League Baseball. It will provide a unique backdrop for one of hockey’s largest annual spectacles.
Jersey prediction
When Seattle launched its Reverse Retro jerseys earlier this season, we heard from a credible source within the Kraken organization that the team was intentionally holding off on creating a Seattle Metropolitans-themed jersey. The source told us they wanted to keep that in their back pocket for a larger event, specifically calling out the Winter Classic.
So, although nothing is set in stone on this piece, feel free to start designing your Metropolitans concepts now.
Our reaction
This is incredible news for the Kraken and for the NHL. The Winter Classic has been a windfall for the league and every team that has gotten to participate over its 14-year history, and 2024 will be no different.
Vegas is also the perfect opponent choice. There seems to be a rivalry brewing between the Golden Knights—the team that burst onto the scene in 2017-18 and ran all the way to the Stanley Cup Final—and the Kraken, who have been answering constant questions about why they haven’t had a similar start to their franchise history. Both teams will benefit from being on this picturesque and widely watched stage.
And selfishly, we can’t wait to experience the pageantry that comes with an event like this, right here in our own backyard. The Winter Classic has become a staple for hockey fans around the world, and all eyes will be on Seattle when 2024 comes around.
As Boston’s players arrived at Fenway Park Monday, they turned heads by walking in wearing old-timey Red Sox uniforms. Previously, we’ve seen costume themes from “Peaky Blinders”-type outfits to beach garb in below-zero temps. Images like that are what make the event so special, and our wheels are already turning for how Kraken players will dress when they arrive to T-Mobile Park in early 2024.
The Kraken sure needed that win against the Islanders, and when the final horn sounded (actually, the final horn never sounded, but more on that later), Seattle left no doubt as to which team deserved the victory.
After getting shellacked by the Oilers Friday, the Kraken bounced back with a convincing 60-minute effort in which they started strong, played well in all three zones, and had success on both the power play and penalty kill. The win stops the bleeding of an otherwise miserable stretch and gives the group life and belief as it heads out on its longest road trip of the season.
If the Kraken had dropped this game to the Islanders and extended their losing streak to four games before leaving for Canada, things could have started to feel like they were getting away from the team. Instead, it put itself back ahead of the Oilers in the Pacific Division standings and closed the homestand on a high note.
“We faltered,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “Two nights ago was an embarrassing night. That’s a hard one to play in this building, yet we were able to recover from that today and get an important two points.”
Here are our Three Takeaways from a crucial 4-1 Kraken win over the Islanders.
Takeaway #1: Eeli Tolvanen makes an immediate impact
After watching practice Saturday, we thought Sunday would be the night that Eeli Tolvanen would make his Kraken debut, and we were correct on that. What we got wrong was who would come out of the lineup to make space for the Finnish newcomer. Ryan Donato was rotating in and out of line rushes Saturday, but Morgan Geekie was the one who ended up watching the game against the Isles in street clothes.
Fair or not for Geekie, Tolvanen—claimed off waivers from the Predators on Dec. 12—was well overdue to get into his first game. Getting him in meant somebody had to sit. The move worked wonders for the Kraken, as Tolvanen had a memorable debut performance.
With the game tied 1-1 early in the second period and Seattle on the power play, Tolvanen set up in the right circle. Vince Dunn laid a pass right in Tolvanen’s wheelhouse, and the 23-year-old unloaded, launching a missile past Ilya Sorokin who coincidentally was having an outstanding game.
Tolvanen the back of the net, amirite?! 🚨 🚨
In his first game as a #SeaKraken, Eeli Tolvanen with a rocket one-timer for a PPG.
“The power-play goal, you can’t teach that,” said Hakstol. “That’s an ability that he has, and that was heavy. He got all of that, and he beat a good goaltender on that play.”
But it wasn’t just about the goal for Tolvanen, who skated on the third line with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde for 12:53 of ice time. Tolvanen was effective even in the defensive zone, where he made two big shot blocks.
“What I liked more [than the goal], probably— I know he can do that,” said Hakstol. “I didn’t know he was willing to block shots. He blocked a couple big shots from the line, he managed the puck well, he checked pretty well. So, you know, from top to bottom, that’s a nice start for him.”
It’s an impressive first outing for a guy playing with a new team and seeing his first game action since Nov. 19, when he played just 9:23 for Nashville against Tampa Bay.
“Things didn’t go well in Nashville, and I kind of got a fresh start,” Tolvanen said. “And you know, we’ve been all working hard for the last two weeks here with all the coaches and just getting back into game shape. I’ve got to say thanks to those guys. It’s been long skates, but I felt really good since the first time I hopped on the ice. So, it was definitely worth it to skate a couple weeks before hopping in the game.”
Tolvanen meshed well with his linemates. “It’s new for him, it’s a new team and first game with us, but I thought we tried to keep it simple and just work hard and compete out there,” said Bjorkstrand, who also scored a needed goal. “We’re going to keep talking if we’re going to keep playing together and find that chemistry, but I thought it was there, and he’s fun to play with.”
With the eventual game-winning goal, Tolvanen was named the second star of the game and was given the Davy Jones hat in the dressing room.
The second star meant he got to yeet his first fish. Asked how he graded his yeeting, Tolvanen said, “Solid A.”
After that debut, we would be willing to guess Tolvanen will not have to wait another month and a half before he sees his next NHL game.
Takeaway #2: A good night for special teams (finally)
Things had been going horrendously for Seattle on both the penalty kill and the power play. Correct us if we’re wrong in the comment section, but by our count, we *believe* the Kraken hadn’t scored a power-play goal since Dec. 11 against Florida. Ironically, that was one day before Seattle claimed Tolvanen, who had been healthy scratched every game before Sunday.
The power play got off the schneid with Tolvanen’s goal, and Seattle’s 31st-ranked PK finally pitched a shutout with two successful kills.
As we mentioned in Saturday’s Practice Notebook, the coaching staff changed its tactics for this one, switching from a wedge-plus-one to a more traditional four-man box. The change worked, at least for one game.
“We did some things a little bit differently,” Hakstol said. “Dave [Lowry] adjusted some things yesterday that we worked on in practice, and now, you know, there’s going to be some good pieces there that we can build off of for sure.”
Still, Hakstol knows there’s more improvement needed from the PK. “You don’t change things and then do everything right all in one day. It’s a longer process than that, but the bottom line is guys did the job tonight, and now we can continue pushing forward.”
Takeaway #3: In-arena hijinks
There were a few very strange things that happened during this game. First, Dunn had a good look in the opening period and fired a shot that Sorokin stopped with his left pad. Somebody in game operations jumped the gun and accidentally hit the goal horn button, sending a jolt through the arena. When you aren’t expecting the ferry horn to sound, it is very startling, so it caused a good chuckle for many in attendance.
The second abnormality came with about six minutes left in the game, when suddenly we time warped, and the clock jumped ahead to under a minute remaining. It ticked all the way down to zero, and the home fans comically got up and cheered for what they believed was a win. Public address announcer Chet Buchanan quickly got on the horn and said, “The game is not over. There was a clock malfunction.”
The clock was adjusted, and the rest of the game was played out, as the Kraken defended well during New York’s late six-on-five push.
Yet, the shenanigans didn’t end there. After Brandon Tanev had sealed the game with an empty-net goal to make it 4-1, the clock oddly stopped with 2.2 seconds left, despite no whistle being blown. Recognizing the game should have ended, the referees just called it off, and post-game celebrations began, even though the final horn never sounded.
It was a bizarre way to end the game, but it took nothing away from a desperately needed 60-minute effort for the Kraken. Now, they head out on the road for two weeks, with their first stop in… [gulp]… Edmonton to take on Connor McDavid and the Oilers once again.
When a team is struggling, there usually is a rock-bottom moment that it has to hit before it can get back to finding success. Our hope here at Sound Of Hockey is that Friday’s 7-2 spanking by Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers was that moment for the Seattle Kraken, who are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games and are now out of a playoff spot.
Trying to get themselves going back in the right direction, the Kraken went back to work Saturday at Kraken Community Iceplex with some apparent personnel and tactical changes in the works.
Line shuffling
Coach Dave Hakstol threw his forward lines in a blender during Friday’s game, and they were mixed up again at practice on Saturday.
“We shuffled a lot of things [Friday] that we likely won’t start with [Sunday], but we wanted to put a couple different combinations together,” Hakstol said. “Nothing drastic, but we shifted some wingers.”
Here’s what we saw at KCI:
Andre Burakovsky // Matty Beniers // Jordan Eberle Jared McCann // Alex Wennberg // Jaden Schwartz Eeli Tolvanen // Yanni Gourde // Oliver Bjorkstrand Brandon Tanev // Morgan Geekie // Daniel Sprong Ryan Donato
The most interesting change is certainly Eeli Tolvanen on a regular line rush with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, while Ryan Donato was rotating in and out.
Tolvanen has remained a healthy scratch for the Kraken every game since being claimed off waivers from Nashville on Dec. 12. The reason Hakstol hasn’t gotten him in yet is because all of the other forward candidates to be a healthy scratch—guys like Donato, Daniel Sprong, and Morgan Geekie—have been impactful, despite Seattle’s struggles.
If Donato ends up coming out Sunday against the Islanders to give Tolvanen a chance, that doesn’t seem particularly fair for a player who has five goals and six points in his last seven games. But, somebody has to sit if Tolvanen is going to go in, and it does feel like high time to give the newcomer a shot.
Jared McCann says the changes are all about doing things to help the team find consistency. “We’ll have one good game, and then the next game, next two games will be bad, right? So, we gotta find some consistency, and sometimes you gotta shake the lines up.”
New approach to the penalty kill
Throughout this season, Seattle has stuck with a very aggressive wedge-plus-one penalty kill formation. In simple terms, the wedge plus one is made up of three players in a triangle around the front of the net, with the fourth player pressuring the puck high in the zone. It’s an aggressive approach, because the “plus one” player pressuring is trying to intercept a pass and create an offensive opportunity. If that player over-pursues, or if a rotation is missed, it creates vulnerabilities and seams for the opposing power play.
Plainly, the approach hasn’t worked, especially recently, and at a 67.9 percent success rate, Seattle’s PK has sunk to 31st in the NHL.
Saturday, the Kraken were practicing a more conservative box formation, which is played almost like a zone defense. Penalty killers form a four-man square, with the two defenders covering from the crease out to about the hashmarks, and the two forwards covering anything higher than that, depending on where the puck is in the zone. The goal of the box is to keep the puck to the perimeter, deflect passes through the middle, and collapse around the netminder when it goes to the inside.
Looks like the #SeaKraken may be changing up their PK formation to a more traditional four-man box.
“Every game, you have to make small adjustments,” said Jamie Oleksiak. “I think obviously our PK hasn’t been going the way we want it to, and we’re just trying some things to get on the right page.”
We really like this change and actually called for it recently on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. If you do the same thing for long enough, and it continuously doesn’t work, then eventually you need to change it up.
If nothing else, this formation change should give the PK a temporary boost while opposing teams look for ways to exploit it.
What’s been going wrong?
Compared to the early stages of the season, the mood in the dressing room has been more serious among Kraken players in the last couple weeks as losses have piled up. Hakstol has preached getting back to the hard-nosed relentless style that we’ve come to expect from this team, and the players have largely echoed that sentiment.
The Kraken coach admitted Saturday that the team has diverged from its gameplan in part because Seattle was previously winning games, despite not always sticking to its traditional style. “When we look over the past six weeks, there’s some games where we got away with it for lack of a better term. We were able to, offensively, get ourselves through games and come away with two points. And that’s just not reality.”
Said Oleksiak, “We got skilled guys, but I don’t think we’re going to out-skill every team in the league, and I think [Friday] was an example of that. You can’t play their style of hockey, which is going to be trading chance for chance and trying to play the transition game or whatnot.”
Meanwhile, the Kraken have had some awful starts to games lately, with Friday’s opening minutes serving as a shining example. “I think our starts have been terrible the last couple of weeks,” said Jared McCann. “We’ve given up goals in the first couple minutes of games multiple times, leaving our goalies out to dry a couple of times as well. We just got to get back to the way we were playing.”
Getting back on track
So, how do the Kraken get back on the right track?
The team’s players offered a few suggestions Saturday, and although Seattle hasn’t shown it on the ice, the group knows it needs to get back to a relentless 60-minute effort that relies on structure and patience to win games.
“I think we just haven’t played as much to our structure, and then we’ve been getting out competed a little bit,” said Will Borgen. “So, minor fixes we can adjust to and get back to our old ways of how we were playing at the beginning of the year when we were on our little winning stretches.”
Oleksiak said returning to a suffocating forecheck is also important. He said that as a defenseman, life gets much harder when you have forwards barreling down on you when you go back to retrieve pucks. “I think our strengths are— we got speed, we got skill, but we’re at our best when we’re a five-man unit, and we’re playing honest hockey, we’re finishing checks, we’re hard on the forecheck.”
The good news is, even as things have unraveled for Seattle over the past month, nobody seems to be panicking. “Some guys are upset, but that’s part of it,” said Borgen. “You play an 82-game season, so you’re gonna have ups and downs.”
As for Hakstol, he sees it as an opportunity for the team to grow from this hard stretch.
“Everybody’s been through it before,” Hakstol said. “But you know, you have to take something and make it a valuable part of your season. It’s painful as hell, so if you can make it of value, then it becomes an important part of the season.”
It is that time of year where we all do some self-reflecting, so I thought it would be a great time to share my top 10 Seattle Kraken events of 2022.
#10 – The 2022 trade deadline
On the surface, the Kraken did not have one specific big trade that overwhelmed fans, but the sum of the parts will set this organization up for a while. With only seven picks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the prospect cupboards were empty. By contrast, the Vegas Golden Knights had 12 selections in their first NHL Entry Draft in 2017.
General manager Ron Francis added 10 draft picks scattered across the 2022, 2023, and 2024 drafts, which includes three second-round selections in the 2022 draft. That directly led to the Kraken selecting Jani Nyman, Niklas Kokko, and David Goyette. Time will tell if any of the picks accumulated during the trade deadline will materialize into impactful players, but the more chips you have on the table, the more likely one of them will hit.
#9 – Outreach efforts of the 2022-23 season
The Kraken organization and players have been a lot more visible in the community in the first couple months of the 2022-23 season. It warms my heart to see these players getting out in the community. Part of this is directly related to COVID restrictions the team had to face last season, but another reason is the players and players’ families are feeling more comfortable with the community at large. Expect to see more of this in 2023 and beyond.
Rooted in our community 💙#SeaKraken players are getting out into the community that has supported us since day one & we're excited to continue making a difference. pic.twitter.com/FfgFxnQPHU
The returns on this trade have yet to be realized. Otherwise, I would have it in the top five. Bjorkstrand was acquired on for a third- and a fourth-round pick. That is a steal for a player of Bjorkstrand’s caliber. The Kraken put themselves in an excellent position to use their salary cap space as a weapon. Bjorkstrand only has four goals on the season, shooting just 4.7 percent, but he is much better than his numbers have shown with the Kraken and will eventually breakout.
Wait, wait. What?! Seriously?! Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is much better player overall than Patrik Laine, was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for 3rd and 4th round draft picks 2023. These are terrible decisions by Columbus in our eyes. pic.twitter.com/2mAtiL4p3y
There are still some haters out there, but Buoy has been an absolute treat to watch at Kraken games. Kids (and dogs) adore him. He has been a great addition to the club, and I will not accept any slander against him.
I mentioned it last week in my Monday Musings, but the health of the team this season has been a big advantage. The roster has been very consistent all year and is a big contributing factor to where the team is in the standings. Only 25 unique players have suited up for the Kraken this season versus 30 unique skaters at this point last season.
#5 – Launch of the Coachella Valley Firebirds
From an overall effort, the launch of the Firebirds should be No. 1. There was so much involved in getting this franchise off the ground, from building Acrisure Arena to signing 20+ players, plus hiring the entire coaching and support staff around the club. The Coachella Valley Firebirds will be one of the main contributors to developing talent for the Kraken, and it was important they do it right. The team is also performing well on the ice with a 19-6-3 record and is currently tied for first place in the Pacific Division in the AHL.
November was an absolute blast to be a Kraken fan, as the boys went 10-1-1 in the month. The record was nice, but they also rattled off impressive wins against the Kings, Rangers, Capitals, and the Golden Knights. It proved they can play with the big dogs in the league. Despite the rough patch they are going through right now, the Kraken are in a good position and will compete for a playoff spot, thanks to their performance in November.
Matty Beniers scores just seven seconds into overtime to give the Kraken seven (!) wins in a row pic.twitter.com/zCLulfHCP4
#3 – Shane Wright slipping to No. 4 overall in the NHL Entry Draft
Even a week before the draft, nobody thought Shane Wright would have dropped to No. 4 in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. We have heard time and time again, you build your team through the center position, so when Wright was available to Seattle, the Kraken jumped on him. It might not be apparent right now, but the long-term outlook of this franchise being centered by Matty Beniers and Wright bodes well. This could go down as one of those significant moments in the franchise’s history.
Going into the offseason, the Kraken’s top issue to address was goal scoring. The Kraken were 28th in the league in goals scored last season, so they went out and signed one of the top goal scorers available in free agency without mortgaging the future. Burakovsky has always been known as a great shooter that has played in crowded lineups. In Seattle he is averaging the most time-on-ice per game of his career and is on pace to set career bests in goals and points.
After his second season with the Michigan Wolverines, Beniers signed his entry-level contract with the Kraken on April 10 and joined the team immediately. Matty represented hope and the future of this franchise, and when he signed, there was a significant buzz amongst the fans in anticipation.
The Kraken organization and media folks did their best to lower expectations for the 19-year-old rookie by preaching patience, but Matty never got the memo. He scored nine points over his 10 games in the 2021-22 season and has carried that kind of performance into the 2022-23 season. Beniers is currently tied for second in goals on the team and third in points.
If you think I have missed something or have a special Kraken memory you would like to share, please do in the comments section below so we can all enjoy it. Happy New Year, everybody.
Hey, if you take out the first 10 minutes, that’s a 3-2 hockey game. Unfortunately for Seattle, though, by the time 10 minutes had elapsed, the Kraken had effectively already lost to the Oilers after giving up four goals, including three in the first 3:55.
Seattle didn’t have it from the drop of the puck Friday, and Connor McDavid took full advantage, slicing and dicing his way to five points and a far-too-easy win for Edmonton.
“I didn’t talk to the group tonight; we’ll talk tomorrow,” said an angry coach Dave Hakstol after the game. “There’s nothing constructive we’re going to talk about tonight.”
Added Adam Larsson: “Tonight was one of those nights we’re not proud of.”
And finally, Yanni Gourde: “I think lately, we haven’t been playing our best hockey, and tonight I think it was just a big slap in our face.”
That pretty much sums up the mood in the Kraken dressing room after a 7-2 drubbing by the Oilers at Climate Pledge Arena. Here are our Three Takeaways.
Takeaway #1: A disastrous start
Nothing went right for the Kraken in the opening 10 minutes of that hockey game. Just two minutes in, Spokane native Kailer Yamamoto drove hard to the net, forcing Philipp Grubauer to make a tough save. In the process, Carson Soucy tripped Yamamoto, giving the lethal Edmonton power play its first opportunity of the night.
The Oilers quickly took advantage when McDavid found Zach Hyman open on the doorstep for an easy tap in.
Tanev stung by a shot, and then McDavid sets up Hyman for an easy tap in.
Just 30 seconds later, Edmonton had a three-on-two rush. Justin Schultz chased McDavid, taking himself out of position and leaving Klim Kostin all alone in the slot to make it 2-0.
Then 40 seconds after that, Vince Dunn pinched in from the offensive blue line to lay a hit on Yamamoto. But Yamamoto got a pass off to McDavid in time to send him on a three-on-two rush the other way with Jordan Eberle back as one of the defenders. The result was Darnell Nurse walking right down the slot untouched, and being allowed to pick his spot on Grubauer.
Holy cats. Nurse walks right down broadway and scores.
All that happened in under four minutes of game time, and that was all it took for Grubauer to be lifted for Martin Jones after making just two saves on five shots.
We would argue none of the three goals were Grubauer’s fault, but a change in that moment was absolutely necessary. As a coach, you need to protect your goalie there and do everything you can to settle things down and get your team playing the right way.
“I’m sure we want a stop there, but that’s about the fourth place that I’m gonna look at on that,” Hakstol said, referencing the Nurse goal. “We get beat up the ice in a couple different cases there at a time when our full mentality should be, ‘shut it down, settle the game down, work our way into it.’”
We asked Hakstol if the early goalie switch was more about Grubauer’s play or about what was happening in front of him, and he said it was a little of both. “Regardless of the situation, you know, we need our goaltender to make some saves, but at that point in time, our team wasn’t going. So, make a change in net, take a few seconds for everybody to reset and hope that you go back and push the other direction, and we didn’t do that.”
The early misery didn’t end there. Edmonton’s fourth goal came after Schultz left the front of the net, reading that Seattle had gained possession of the puck in the corner. He slid to the other corner to help facilitate a breakout, but Matty Beniers lost the puck to Hyman. In the blink of an eye, Jesse Puljujarvi was scoring from the top of the crease without a Kraken defender in sight.
“You have to read possession,” Hakstol said. “We have possession of that puck, so we’re going to push it east-west, and that’s— Schultzy’s moving to a breakout spot, but we don’t make the play.”
The result of the misread and the mishandle was a wide-open shooter. “We should have layers there, but in that case, you don’t get much more naked than that at net front.”
Takeaway #2: Connor McDavid stinks
Just kidding, he’s incredible.
Last season, when Seattle beat Edmonton in a memorable home win in early December, the Kraken were able to minimize the damage caused by McDavid. On Saturday, every time he was on the ice, it felt like just a matter of time before he either scored or set up one of his teammates for an easy goal. Heck, Hyman had two power-play goals by simply standing next to the far post and letting McDavid bank pucks in off him.
“I don’t know how many points he has right now, but he’s the best player in the world for a reason,” said Larsson, McDavid’s former teammate. “He’s hard to stop. We can do a lot better job of stopping him, but I mean when you give him time and space, he’s going to make you look stupid most of the time.”
For the record, McDavid now has 32 goals and 72 points in 37 games and leads the league in basically every offensive category.
That’s also twice in three games that the Kraken have allowed one opposing player to rack up five points against them, after Elias Pettersson singlehandedly beat Seattle just before the Christmas break.
Takeaway #3: Line juggling does not yield results… yet
The always even-keeled Hakstol was a tad more animated than usual in his post-game presser, commenting several times on the lack of competitiveness from his group Friday and its unwillingness to check to create offense. Instead, he said the team was trying to score its way to victory, something the Kraken can’t do against a high-octane team like Edmonton.
Unlike last season, Hakstol has kept his lines very consistent throughout this campaign, but seeing that things had gone sideways Friday, he shuffled the deck in the second period.
Here’s what we saw:
Jard McCann // Matty Beniers // Andre Burakovsky Jaden Schwartz // Alex Wennberg // Oliver Bjorkstrand Brandon Tanev // Yanni Gourde // Jordan Eberle Ryan Donato // Morgan Geekie // Daniel Sprong
“We didn’t have much going the right way,” Hakstol said. “A lot of the thought process there is— I mentioned competitiveness, we weren’t competitive tonight. So in some of those switches, and in some of those minutes to follow, we’re looking at competitiveness.”
Hakstol wouldn’t commit to having those lines stick together beyond Friday’s experiment, but we do think it’s time for some changes to the lineup. The team has been stuck in a rut for all of December and has now fallen out of a playoff spot behind Calgary and Edmonton, the two teams that just beat the Kraken at home.
Three Seattle Kraken-affiliated prospects made rosters for their respective under-20 national teams for the IIHF World Junior Championship: Shane Wright for Team Canada and Jani Nyman and Niklas Kokko for Team Finland. After a couple pre-tournament games and a few group stage games, my focus will be to check in on Finns Kokko and Nyman. And if you stick around to the end, I’ll give a quick take on what I’ve seen from Wright as well.
With the appropriate amount of caution about overemphasizing the predicative importance of just a few tournament games, let’s dive in.
Niklas Kokko G
2022-23 Club Statistics
Team League GP GAA SV% SO Record
Kärpät Liiga 1 0.00 .000 0 0-0-0
Hermes Mestis 12 2.88 .904 1 3-6-3
2023 WJC Statistics
N/A
Analysis
Kokko hasn’t yet seen the ice for Finland, and probably will not don the Suomi blue for the remainder of the tournament either. He is the third goaltender on the roster and has not yet dressed.
That said, Kokko’s presence on the roster is itself remarkable. Finland is notorious for producing goaltenders. To rank among the top three under-20 players at the position for Finland is a strong endorsement of his club play, as well as his performance at Finland’s selection camp.
And Kokko may yet have a future as Finland’s No. 1 junior goalie. Kokko is still 18 years old and will be eligible for the 2024 World Junior Championship. The two goalies playing ahead of Kokko—Aku Koskenvuo (2021 Vancouver draftee) and Jani Lampinen—are both 19 years old and will be ineligible next season. Kokko’s presence on the roster this year suggests Team Finland views him as the lead contender to start next year.
All of this is impressive considering what we were saying about Kokko just six months ago. In my pre-draft analysis, I suggested the Kraken could look at drafting a goalie with one of their cluster of second-round picks. At the time, only two goaltenders were projected in that range on public boards: Tyler Brennan of Canada, who was No. 77 on the Sound Of Hockey Big Board, and Topias Leinonen of Finland, who was No. 86. Kokko was off the radar entirely, checking in at No. 293.
Since the draft, however, Kokko has leapfrogged Leinonen not only in the mind of Team Finland, but also, apparently, in the eyes of many scouts. Scott Wheeler of The Athleticreported Kokko “always comes up in conversations with folks in Finland as the best goalie in this age group.” Impressive stuff for Kokko, even if we don’t see him on the ice.
Jani Nyman LW
2022-23 Club Statistics
Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-
Ilves U20 U20 SM-sarja 2 5 1 6 2 4
Ilves Liiga 21 7 3 10 2 -2
2023 WJC Statistics
Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-
Finland U20 WJC-20 3 2 1 3 0 2
Finland U20 (all) Int’l Exh. 5 5 5 10 2 8
Analysis
Just glancing at Jani Nyman (No. 22) on the ice at the World Juniors, you’d be excused if you thought you were looking at an adult dropped into a peewee league game. Every bit of 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he cuts an imposing, professional power-forward figure whenever he is on the ice. And he has frequently found offensive success by playing downhill directly through the defense.
But there is more to this left-shot winger than just his size. Skating regularly in Finland’s middle six, Nyman has three points (two goals and one assist) in three tournament games for Team Finland so far, tied for second on the team. He is also the team’s leading forward contributor by the “game score” metric tracked by Elite Prospects, which gives players credit for discrete game contributions, including shots, shot assists, zone entries, zone exits, and play break ups. This means he ranks ahead of the likes of Brad Lambert and Joakim Kemell. On top of that, Nyman is also the team’s second youngest player (born July 30, 2004).
Digging in on Nyman, it is his shot that stands out the most. He can deliver heavy wrist shots off the rush or cycle. Even more terrifying is Nyman’s slap shot. He patrols the right circle on Finland’s power play, which looks to overload the left side and then feed the puck back to Nyman for a one-timer.
Grabbing some post on the way to the back of the net, it’s a bit surprising that puck didn’t split in two.
Nyman has a scorer’s mentality. He is willing to drive to the net and force the play, regardless of the physical toll. He also has well-honed instincts for when to get to the difficult areas of the ice for a scoring chance.
Most importantly, he’s unafraid to put the puck on net from anywhere on the ice. I have not seen him squander a scoring chance on the hope of a better one. In this respect, his shooting package and approach reminds me a bit of Daniel Sprong, albeit from the left side. And like Sprong, I have little doubt that Nyman could score 20+ goals in the NHL in his prime if his other skills can keep him in the lineup.
Nyman is not an offensive playmaker in the sense of scanning the offensive zone, diagnosing, and finding an open teammate (like Shane Wright does, for example). But this does not particularly concern me because this not going to be Nyman’s role. He works well off of simpler cycles, net drives, and give-and-go exchanges. If he reaches his peak, he will be able to drive offensive success by physical forechecking along the boards and in the corners and power possession play. These traits are often overlooked, but not always undervalued by teams. A similar (though currently superior) skillset got Juraj Slafkovsky drafted No. 1 overall.
The offensive skillset leaves plenty to dream on. And Nyman is not without defensive skills either. He shows potential within Finland’s structured transition defense, stepping up to physically deny controlled zone entries. In the defensive zone, he can win board battles, close on his mark, and force the puck out of the defensive zone with physical play, even if he is not always setting up an offensive-minded breakout.
But there are at least two areas of concern for me, with one being a bright red flag for his NHL prospects. First, and perhaps less troubling, is his overall defensive effort, particularly on the backcheck. Nyman can rush like a freight train when Finland is playing downhill with possession. But the same urgency to defend the opposing rush just isn’t there most of the time. This is something that he needs to clean up or he could end up with a journeyman career like Sprong’s—that is, if Nyman even makes it that far.
My second—and more serious—concern is Nyman’s skating agility. He lacks NHL-level movement skills. He plays a bit stiff and hunched over, which limits his ability to rapidly react to passes or mirror opponents in coverage. His skating stride serves him in a straight line on the rush but is a major limitation in traffic or in a defensive posture. Will he be able to play fast enough to use his shot and physicality or will he be stuck chasing the play? The major caveat here is that I’ve only watched about 50 minutes of Nyman’s play in these international games, but based on what I’ve seen, I am concerned that, absent improvement, his skating will limit his chances to earn a role at the NHL level.
So, where does this leave us with Nyman? First, it is important to remember he is still young and is currently signed through 2023-24 with Liiga club team Ilves. So, the Finn has another year and a half to work on the rough areas of his game before any decision needs to be made about bringing him over to the United States.
Optimistically, the narrower North American ice surface (when compared with the wider international sheets used in Liiga) should allow Nyman to leverage his physicality and reach and incrementally decrease his mobility concerns. Pair that with hard-trained development of his four-way skating agility and you could have an effective defensive player proficient at denying zone entries and forcing the puck out of the defensive zone along the boards. And, on offense, you would have a legitimate top-six goal-scoring winger when paired with proper playmakers.
Pessimistically, he cannot overcome his mobility concerns and tops out as borderline AHL/NHL player for a few years before returning to Europe for the balance of his career.
Shane Wright was named Team Canada’s captain and has been skating as the team’s first-line center. It’s hard to imagine a more integral or trusted position for a player. And, on paper, Wright has not disappointed. He is tied for third on the team with five points in three tournament games.
Digging past his statistics though, many of the same concerns that dogged him in the NHL have followed him to the WJC. Wright remains a strong shooter, of course. Wright’s ice vision and passing ability have continued to show up too. This is an ample skill set for a strong NHL career.
But if he is going to reach the level predicted for him pre-draft, he is going to need to gain confidence possessing the puck and driving offense. The puck almost never rests on his stick for more than a beat before Wright has moved it out. At the NHL level this could be attributed to Wright feeling out the level of play. But at the WJC, Team Canada needs Wright to take over the rush and quarterback an offense. Right now, he is more often deferring to his teammates, and his team’s scoring prospects are worse for it. It is troubling if Wright feels like he can’t keep up and control the pace of play at this (elite) junior level. Wright has just one even-strength assist. Canada needs more from him.
On the bright side, Wright has looked more physically comfortable at the WJC, engaging in contested puck battles while playing against similar-age competition. This is a promising sign for improved play on the forecheck over time.
Just one week after John Barr failed to show up for the episode named after him, Andy Eide pulls a similar stunt in Episode 220. Thankfully, this show has Darren Brown to hold everything together. Phew!
It is a fun one, though, as Darren and John get together to discuss all things Kraken, despite both having endured some difficult weather elements in recent days.
First, the guys break down Seattle’s losses to Vancouver and Calgary, then consider how things are looking on the whole for the team, which actually has a pretty bad record now over its last 10 games.
Next, they go Down on the Farm to discuss the World Junior Championship before shifting to segments, which this week include:
Just one week after John Barr failed to show up for the episode named after him, Andy Eide pulls a similar stunt in Episode 220. Thankfully, this show has Darren Brown to hold everything together. Phew!
It is a fun one, though, as Darren and John get together to discuss all things Kraken, despite both having endured some difficult weather elements in recent days.
First, the guys break down Seattle’s losses to Vancouver and Calgary, then consider how things are looking on the whole for the team, which actually has a pretty bad record now over its last 10 games.
Next, they go Down on the Farm to discuss the World Junior Championship before shifting to segments, which this week include:
