At the NHL Trade Deadline, the Sound Of Hockey panel provided instant reactions to Seattle’s trades. And earlier in the playoffs, Darren Brown updated the progress of the departed Kraken. But with the playoff runs of all of the Kraken’s trade partners now at a close (Calle Jarnkrok was the last to go out when his Flames lost in the second round), it’s a good time to pick some winners and losers from Seattle’s first trade deadline.
Winners
We wanted to go beyond the obvious question of “Which team won each trade?” and also consider how the individual players fared after being moved. So we’ll start with the player and team we thought did best and work our way down from there.
Mason Appleton – For whatever reason, Appleton’s tenure was one of the bigger disappointments of Seattle’s inaugural season. Between injuries and poor play, he did not seem to find his stride until the very end of the campaign when he paired up with Yanni Gourde just before the deadline.
Appleton is a restricted free agent and likely has one more year before unrestricted free agency (unless Winnipeg signs him for longer), so he needs to produce now. And he was productive in his previous stint with the Jets. We are confident that Appleton welcomed this deal back to Manitoba both professionally and personally.
Winnipeg Jets – Appleton was an ascending power forward for the Jets before the Kraken plucked him in the Expansion Draft. Even so, Winnipeg was able to reacquire Appleton from the Kraken for a negligible cost–a 2023 fourth-round pick. Coming off a down season, Appleton should be relatively cheap for Winnipeg to re-sign, and the player should have every incentive to produce. Winnipeg did well in this deal.
From the Kraken perspective, it remains a head scratcher deal for us. Appleton’s play was trending up before the deadline. One would imagine he may have had more value in an offseason trade package if he continued to perform. Instead, the team sold low on a pending RFA, so something does not quite compute. Clearly, Seattle had seen enough to know Appleton wasn’t part of the long-term plan.
Seattle Kraken – Setting aside the Appleton deal, the Kraken did well converting bottom-pair defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and a host of pending unrestricted free agents–all of whom may very well have simply signed elsewhere anyway–into valuable draft capital as the team looks to build a prospect pipeline from scratch. The picks acquired at the deadline look like this:
2022 second-round pick from NSH (No. 49)
2022 second-round pick from TOR (No. 57)
2022 second-round pick from FLA, via CGY (No. 60)
2022 fourth-round pick from WSH (No. 116)
2023 second-round pick from TOR
2023 third-round pick from CGY
2023 fourth-round pick from WPG
2024 third-round pick from TOR
2024 seventh-round pick from CGY
The 2022 draft picks alone carry significant value. One could reasonably expect those picks to yield a solid NHL player. Particularly if the future picks bring another contributor, that’s a good outcome at the trade deadline when you’re out of contention.
Mark Giordano – A leader with the Kraken to the end, he reportedly told Ron Francis that he would not block any trade. Even still, the Kraken directed him back to his hometown, and probable preferred destination, in Toronto. Giordano apparently has appreciated his fit with the Leafs so much that he gave up the chance at a larger payday to stick around Toronto for two more seasons at just $800,000 per season. He seems content to chase a Stanley Cup in a situation he likes, so that makes him a trade deadline winner.
Marcus Johansson – It’s good to be wanted, and JoJo was able to leverage a decent bounce back season with the Kraken into a playoff role with a better team. That kind of exposure should help, even if only slightly, as he looks for a new contract as an unrestricted free agent this summer–whether with the Capitals or elsewhere.
Mixed bag
Toronto Maple Leafs – One could argue Toronto should be in the winners category. The Maple Leafs obtained Mark Giordano, a solid top-four capable blueliner, and convinced him to stay on a very team-friendly contract for two more seasons, all without giving up a first-round draft pick. The team-friendly extension is invaluable for Toronto as it looks to navigate through a cap crunch caused by committing $64 million of the $82 million salary cap to just eight players.
On the other hand, it’s difficult to give the team full marks when it conceded two second-round picks and a third-round pick for the privilege of again bowing out in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And Toronto’s draft cupboard is looking fairly barren at this point.
Jeremy Lauzon – The 25-year-old defenseman is still a work in progress. That said, he had the confidence of the coaching staff in Seattle and received regular bottom-four minutes along the blue line. It seemed like an ideal situation for him to hit his ceiling as a player. It’s hard to know whether the staff in Nashville will give him quite the same role.
On the other hand, Nashville handed over a valuable draft pick for the pending restricted free agent. To justify the move, the Predators will likely need to give Lauzon a reasonable contract and real ice time next year. So, for Lauzon, this probably qualifies as either a neutral or a “too-early-to-tell” move.
Calle Jarnkrok – He said the right things; but we got the sense that if there was a chance to move onto a contender at the deadline, Jarnkork would welcome the opportunity after his frustrating–though not unproductive–run in Seattle. Not only did he get that chance, he landed in what was likely his most preferred destination, playing with his cousin Elias Lindholm in Calgary. And he got to play through a couple rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On the other hand, the production just wasn’t there. He scored just one goal in 29 games as a Flame. (He was stuck on zero goals for the first 28 games, but finally scored on the night Edmonton won the Battle of Alberta.) He also wasn’t able to gain the confidence of head coach Daryl Sutter to contribute in critical situations, like on the penalty kill. Thus, it strikes us as unlikely that Calgary will pay to keep Jarnkrok off the market, meaning he’ll go to unrestricted free agency coming off a down stretch. He may have been better served continuing to produce in Seattle.
Colin Blackwell – Similar to Calle Jarnkrok, Blackwell had a productive run after a challenging start in Seattle, with eight goals and nine assists in 37 games. After the trade to Toronto he settled into a fourth-line role–averaging 10:48 in ice time in 19 regular season games and just 7:12 in ice time in seven postseason games. He produced just five total points for the Leafs. Like Jarnkork he’ll head to unrestricted free agency on a down note and may have been better off continuing to play a bigger role in Seattle.
On the plus side, Blackwell finally got to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which we’re certain he does not regret. And one could argue that exposure in the Toronto media market is not a bad thing. But, unfortunately, this one feels closer to the “losers” category to us.
Losers
Washington Capitals – Marcus Johansson is a fine player, and he may ultimately re-sign with the Capitals, but he did not make a notable individual contribution–just eight points in 24 total games–nor did he move the needle for the team. The Capitals were eliminated in the first round after giving up two low draft picks and Daniel Sprong.
Sprong may very well be bound for the AHL next season–in Coachella Valley or elsewhere–but he has a few legitimate NHL-caliber skills. And, compared with Johansson, he is younger, healthier, cheaper, has more offensive upside, and out-produced Johansson on a worse team in less ice time. Not a major deal, but also not a great one for Washington.
That said, it should be noted that the Capitals are likely still quite pleased with their preseason Kraken trade of a 2023 second-round pick to reacquire goalie Vitek Vanecek.
Calgary Flames – The Flames gave up three draft picks–a late 2022 second-round pick (No. 60), a 2023 third-round pick, and a 2024 seventh-round pick–for Jarnkrok. In terms of total value, that’s probably the equivalent of just a single mid-second-round pick. Even still, with some Calgary writers calling Jarnkrok a “failed experiment” and the disappointing end to the Battle of Alberta, Calgary grades out as a clear “loser” in this deal.
Nashville Predators – Jeremy Lauzon did not move the needle for a Predators team that was summarily dispatched by the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yet, Nashville conceded a valuable, mid-second-round pick for the player. Lauzon will likely return to Nashville as a restricted free agent this summer, and he may yet justify the deal, but today this looks like a clear value win for the Kraken.
Your turn
What do you think? How did the Kraken do? Which player or team came out the best or worst?
The final four teams are set to begin the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this week, so we thought it would be fun to look at the remaining rosters for the Conference Finals to evaluate how they were built.
Player acquisition type
NHL Entry Draft, free agency, trades, and waiver wire acquisitions are all the various ways a team can build a roster. To build a contender, you need to use every tool at your disposal. Let’s look at how these teams built their rosters.
The two-time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning have the highest percentage of players that were acquired via the NHL Entry Draft. It’s fascinating that Colorado’s percentage of drafted players is so small, especially considering that their cornerstone players – Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog – were all acquired through the draft. The variance among the teams that have a high draft percentage is a little surprising as well, being that the conventional wisdom is that successful teams are built through the draft.
To add some context around the roster composition, we should look at which players are scoring each team’s goals by acquisition type.
The second chart shows that players who are still playing for the teams that drafted them contribute a higher percentage of goals scored in the playoffs compared to the quantity of drafted players still on the roster (shown in the first chart).
This is easily explained as the higher-skilled players tend to score more, and teams are more willing to hold on to their drafted, high-scoring, skilled players (i.e., pay more money to assure they don’t reach free agency).
Note that goal scoring is a rather simple and narrow way of evaluating contributions to a team’s success, but directionally, we think this is a fair indictor on how to evaluate contributions by acquisition type.
Draft rounds
Regardless of the acquisition type, it is also fun to look at how many players each team has from each draft round.
As one would expect, players that were selected in the first round account for the highest percentage of players on the rosters. The surprising piece here was that 25 percent of the Rangers roster consists of undrafted players (Alexandar Georgiev, Barclay Goodrow, Dryden Hunt, Artemi Panarin, Kevin Rooney, and Frank Vatrano).
Roster ages
The average age of a team is also an appealing data point to evaluate.
Tampa is the oldest team in the Conference Finals, which makes sense as they have continued to trade away young prospects and draft picks at the trade deadline over the last three seasons. These moves have left their prospect cupboard rather light.
Edmonton is the second oldest team remaining, though this is being inflated by Mike Smith (40) and Duncan Keith (39).
Looking at average age of the rosters is interesting but can be a little misleading because it lacks things like ice time. Plus, having a few players on the extremes of the age range can influence a team’s average age.
Height and weight of NHL playoff rosters
Finally, we are going to take a quick peek at the height and weight of the four teams in the conference finals.
The heights are very similar with all teams having an average height within less than an inch of each other, but the weight of the players is quite different between the Western Conference teams (COL and EDM) and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Here is a look at the player detail behind the weight of the players:
In Tampa, Victor Hedman and Patrick Maroon are right around 240 pounds and are undoubtedly influencing the average weight of the team. On the other side of the spectrum, Kailer Yamamoto is listed at 153 pounds and is the lightest player across the four remaining teams.
This was a very simple view at evaluating the Conference Finals rosters, but we hope it gives you a different perspective when watching over the next two weeks. If you found this interesting, you might enjoy looking at this story, breaking down all NHL rosters from last year. If you have questions about the data or some additional angles you would like me to consider, let me know in the comments section.
There’s been a lot happening in the hockey world this past week, and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here to bring you up to speed. From the Seattle Thunderbirds continuing their run deep in the WHL playoffs to the three remaining second-round NHL playoff series, John, Andy, and Darren will fill you in on all that has transpired.
NHL topics discussed include, but are not limited to: The Kraken reportedly (but unofficially) signing Samuel Bucek. The Flames and Oilers both giving up hilarious goals. The Panthers getting swept Name Kadri turning from villain to hero.
Segments this week include Hype-o-theticals, Weekly One-Timers, Tweets of the Week, and Three Stars.
There’s been a lot happening in the hockey world this past week, and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here to bring you up to speed. From the Seattle Thunderbirds continuing their run deep in the WHL playoffs to the three remaining second-round NHL playoff series, John, Andy, and Darren will fill you in on all that has transpired.
NHL topics discussed include, but are not limited to:
The Kraken reportedly (but unofficially) signing Samuel Bucek.
The Flames and Oilers both giving up hilarious goals.
The Panthers getting swept
Name Kadri turning from villain to hero.
Segments this week include Hype-o-theticals, Weekly One-Timers, Tweets of the Week, and Three Stars.
It’s no secret the Seattle Kraken intend to be active in free agency this summer. While the team was resilient throughout its inaugural season, it became abundantly clear in the end that there was a significant talent gap between what Seattle was icing and what its opponents were trotting out on a lot of nights. General manager Ron Francis has been frank in stating his intent to close that gap by bringing in talent from the outside, and there is a necessity for the team to fill out both its NHL and AHL rosters for next season. So a LOT of contracts will surely be handed out in the coming months.
But is now the time to hand out massive deals to bring in a top free agent or two? Or should Seattle hold off and build for the longer-term future?
Why the Kraken should swing for the fences in free agency
There are a couple players on expiring contracts—Johnny Gaudreau and Filip Forsberg—who would individually move the needle for the Kraken offensively. Both of these players are bona fide top-line forwards in the NHL who will be fresh off 40-plus-goal seasons. In a different way, right-shot, smooth-skating defenseman John Klingberg could also help and would also come at a big price tag.
With almost $23 million in available salary cap space, Seattle happens to be one of just a handful of teams in the NHL that can theoretically foot the bill for guys in this tier of unrestricted free agents. But after finishing two spots above last place in the NHL this past season, would big-name players in the primes of their respective careers want to come to a franchise that is just getting its tentacles wet? And if they do want to, should Seattle dish out long-term deal(s) that could land in the 10-digit-per-season realm?
The case study that supports signing a star player now would be the New York Rangers. In Feb. 2018, then-general manager Jeff Gorton and then-president Glen Sather wrote a letter to the team’s fanbase pleading for patience, as the franchise planned to sell off some of its core players. Later that month, Rick Nash, J.T. Miller, Ryan McDonagh, and Michael Grabner were jettisoned, followed by Mats Zuccarello the following year.
If we’re trying to draw parallels (which we are), an argument could be made that Seattle has already gone through this “plead for patience” phase that the Rangers experienced in 2018 and 2019. Though Seattle is certainly less established in the league, and it’s debatable how integral the traded players would have been to the team’s long-term plans, six regular Kraken players were dealt at this year’s NHL Trade Deadline for a bevy of draft picks. So, consider that part done.
The next step for the Rangers was a bit surprising at the time. Just a few months after sending Zuccarello to Dallas, New York landed the biggest fish on the 2019 free agency market, signing superstar winger Artemi Panarin to a seven-year, $81.5 million contract. The move raised eye brows because the idea of signing the biggest available UFA seemed to contradict the rebuild that had been signaled so clearly just one year prior.
The Blueshirts immediately returned to the playoffs in 2019-20, missed the postseason in 20-21, and are currently knotted at 2-2 in their second-round series with the Carolina Hurricanes in this season’s playoffs.
So, there’s proof that signing a star player and building around him can actually work.
Of course, the Rangers got some fortuitous bounces along the way, like landing the second- and first-overall picks in back-to-back drafts, hitting on late first-round picks Filip Chytil and K’Andre Miller, and somehow stealing 2021 Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox from Carolina for just a second- and third-round pick. Oh, and having Igor Shesterkin develop into perhaps the game’s best goalie hasn’t hurt.
Looking again at the current situation with the Kraken, they seem to have hit on No. 2 overall pick Matty Beniers and are set to select No. 4 overall in July. So, some parallels are certainly there. Should they follow in the mold of the Rangers and go for that big fish this summer?
Why the Kraken should be patient in free agency
Good things come to those who wait. But will Kraken fans wait?
Whether it has been stated by the franchise or not, there has to be some internal pressure to field a competitive team quickly. The team sold out its season tickets in the blink of an eye for the first year, and there was certainly excitement around the shiny new product in 2021-22. Still, we can’t help wondering how long that excitement holds if the team is around the bottom of the league for the next few seasons.
Having said all that, there is plenty of evidence to support the case for holding off for one or even two more seasons before trying to land big-time UFA’s. Looking at teams like Tampa Bay and Carolina, the cores of those clubs are built around homegrown talent that was drafted and developed in house. Now the Canes are perennial contenders, and the Bolts appear to be marching toward a third consecutive Stanley Cup.
Francis was a big part of the building process for the Hurricanes, and he now is armed with 34 draft picks over the next three seasons. So could the long game be the route Seattle takes?
What will Seattle do?
If the Kraken can persuade a top-tier and a middle-tier free agent to come to Seattle this offseason, we believe they will dish out the money. Both at the NHL Trade Deadline and at the conclusion of the season, Francis made no bones about his intentions to be aggressive in free agency, and we believe this means taking a run at the Forsbergs and Gaudreaus of the world.
Here’s hoping he’s successful in landing the guys he wants and that some of the fortuitous bounces that the Rangers got will also happen for the Kraken.
Last summer, Seattle Thunderbirds winger Reid Schaefer prepared for his first full season in the Western Hockey League with some grueling workouts. That’s standard for hockey players, but Schaefer would get a surprise in the fall when the NHL Central Scouting Service released its first rankings for the 2022 NHL Draft and Schaefer’s name was on the list as a prospect to be selected.
“I wasn’t really expecting to see myself on that list,” Schaefer said after a recent Thunderbirds practice. “It was great to feel noticed. It’s definitely one of those confidence boosters and to see that just makes you want to get that much more hungrier and just rise up the list.”
Being rated a ‘C’ skater was a surprise because coming into this season, Schaefer had played 25 WHL games over two years and had three assists with no goals. But the scouts saw something in the 18-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alberta.
Schaefer was an eighth-round pick by the Thunderbirds during the 2018 WHL Draft. Eighth-round picks normally don’t end up on the NHL Scouting list, but at 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, Schaefer was noticeable.
It turns out, the scouts were onto something with Schaefer. His first goal of the 2021-22 season came right away on opening night in Portland, and that was just the beginning. By the end of the regular season Schaefer had 32 goals, and with his Thunderbirds team in the Western Conference Championship Series, he’s scored six more times in 14 playoff games to go with 11 assists.
How did he go from zero to 32?
“I got my feet wet [last season] and learned what it takes to be successful in this league,” Schaefer said. “Really took it into my offseason and just worked hard and came into this year with that mindset. I’m just going to give it all and just work hard and I think it’s definitely worked out this season. I’ve been having some success.”
“It was awesome to be on a big stage like that and be noticed,” Schaefer said. “Such a cool experience. Not everyone gets to have that experience in their life. To be able to be a part of it was definitely awesome and I really enjoyed it.”
Reid Schaefer turned in a monster year for the Seattle Thunderbirds. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
He didn’t find the back of the net in that game but was noticeable. He created chances and was making plays at both ends of the ice. The highlight of the night came late in the game after Schaefer made a power move to get in close to the net for a scoring chance. Before he could unleash a shot, however, he was tackled from behind by the opposing defenseman.
That defenseman happened to be his Seattle teammate, Kevin Korchinski.
“Just battling against your own teammate,” Schaefer says of the play, with a laugh. “That never really happens so for him to get a penalty against me was pretty funny.”
Schaefer has never been to Montreal but says he’s hoping that he and his family make the trip this July to hear his name called at the 2022 NHL Draft.
What do the scouts say about Reid Schaefer?
Whether it was the 32 goals or the Top Prospects performance, Schaefer has climbed up the draft rankings. On some lists, he’s ascended all the way into being a potential first-round pick.
The upside for Schaefer is somewhat obvious. He has the size, he has a good shot, and he can skate. That’s an attractive package for scouts.
“He’s a strong, two-way winger with some scoring touch,” an NHL scout says of Schaefer. “He made some real nice strides in his game since the beginning of the year. He could add a little quickness overall.”
Schaefer describes himself as a power forward who has some speed and grit to his game. When it comes to what skills he wants to improve on, he agrees with the scout.
“I’m definitely looking to enhance my quickness,” he said. “I think my first three strides, I want to be better at and be more explosive, but also my lateral agility. Just being a bigger guy, I want to be able to shake defenders and use my speed to my advantage.”
Reid Schaefer on film
It’s one thing to have size, but Schaefer has some speed and hands, which here he uses to create a scoring chance while fending off an opposing defenseman.
The more you watch, the more details you see. Reid is terrific at supporting positioning, subtly moving into pass reception spaces, and using his size to leverage possession. Add soft hands into the mix too. #2022NHLDraftpic.twitter.com/YzU6qg5BYj
— Puck Preps Western Canada (@PuckPrepsWestCa) April 7, 2022
Schaefer scored nine times on the power play this past regular season. Here you can see that he can get into scoring areas and has a quick release and gets a good shot.
His shot is an asset, and he can score from all over the ice. Here he leans into a slapper from the point.
Working on the Reid Schaefer profile, so I'll be tweeting about him throughout the night. First, he's a threat to score based on his shot alone, but this one surprised me. pic.twitter.com/KgoNmJf6IF
The Seattle Thunderbirds will face the Kamloops Blazers this weekend in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship. A week ago, it looked like Seattle’s season was about to end. They played perhaps the worst game of the playoffs during a 5-1 home loss against the Portland Winterhawks. The loss put Seattle’s back against the wall and the Thunderbirds were down three games to one in their best-of-seven, second-round series.
“It stung for a little while,” Thunderbirds captain Tyrel Bauer said. “The gravity of the situation kind of started to dwell on us knowing that now we’re playing for our lives here. Our motto was just one more day, just play one more day, spend one more day with each other. We have a lot of belief in the group.”
That belief manifested itself as Seattle won the following two games, setting up an all-or-nothing Game 7, in Portland, against the Thunderbirds’ most bitter rivals. Junior hockey players don’t get to experience the thrill and angst that a Game 7 provides very often.
Growing up, they play in tournaments and maybe have a tournament final, but that pales in comparison to the finality of a Game 7 in the playoffs. Few of Seattle’s players had experienced it before.
“Playoff hockey is the most fun you’ll have playing hockey,” center Henrik Rybinski said. “It’s fun to battle with your teammates, and it’s what hockey is all about. You don’t dream about playing regular season. [Game 7] was nerve wracking, but [you] just got to realize you just gotta go and play. You had to put all those nerves behind you and just go out there and just play the way you can play and stick to the game plan.”
Seattle skated away with a 6-3 win with Rybinski picking up a pair of assists and a plus-4 rating.
The win propelled the Thunderbirds to the Western Conference Championship Series against the Kamloops Blazers. It’s the third time Seattle has been this far in the playoffs since 2016. Seattle won the conference that year and would win again the following season on its way to the first WHL title in franchise history.
COVID wiped out the last two playoffs in the WHL, and for the Seattle players, they are savoring the chance in front of them now.
To win again they’ll have to get past a good Kamloops squad who won the B.C. Division during the regular season and will have home ice in this series.
“They’re a really good team so just stick to what makes us good,” Rybinski said. “Being hard on the forecheck, getting the O-zone buzzing, which we are really good at. We got some big guys who can protect protect the puck and get pucks to the net and then, just be cautious. It’ll be a great series.”
Kamloops versus Seattle, the match up
The series starts Friday and Saturday with both Games 1 and 2 played in Kamloops at the Sandman Centre. Game’s 3 and 4 will be Tuesday the 24th and Wednesday the 25th at the accesso ShoWare Center.
Seattle and Kamloops played three times during the regular season. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Kamloops won the season series, taking two of three games. Those wins for the Blazers came in back-to-back games in late November, while Seattle won the only game of the season series in Kamloops.
The two teams looked different for those games which are meaningless when handicapping the upcoming series.
“Those games might as well have been a season ago with how much has transpired since then,” Thunderbirds assistant coach Kyle Hagel said. “Their team looks a little bit different, and we’ve evolved a lot since then. But in preparation they have a lot of similarities with Portland in some ways and are really good on special teams… some of the same blueprint for us will apply.”
Seattle has its hands full here, and the Blazers are a nice combination of a team that can score (second in the Western Conference in goals) and defends (allowed the fewest goals in the conference).
Key players
Kamloops will feature six NHL drafted or signed players led by forward Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars), who was third in the WHL scoring race with 104 points. He’s loaded with speed and skill, and the Thunderbirds will need to try and contain the impact he has on the series. In 10 playoff games this spring he’s piled up 21 points.
In net, Kamloops will feature New York Rangers 2020 fourth-round pick Dylan Garand who was second in the WHL regular season with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. He won eight of ten games so far in the playoffs with an impressive .940 save percentage.
The Thunderbirds have seven drafted or signed players along with three – defensemen Kevin Korchinski and forwards Reid Schaefer and Jordan Gustafson – who are expected to be selected in the first three rounds of July’s NHL Draft. Seattle was led this season by a breakout year from Jared Davidson. 19, who scored 42 times and will be counted on again.
Rybinski (Washington Capitals) and Point Roberts product Lucas Svejkovsky (Pittsburgh Penguins) have come on strong for the Thunderbirds in the playoffs. Seattle acquired Svejkovsky at the trade deadline, and in 33 games with the Thunderbirds, he’s scored 23 goals and 46 points. Rybinski is in his final season with Seattle and is a relentless forechecker and playmaker.
“Rybinski has just been a machine out there on the forecheck, and he’s all over the puck,” Hagel said. “He’s our engine that drives us, and Svejkovsky has been fantastic coming through with clutch, huge goals. When we got him we knew that he was gonna score, but I think that we’ve all been surprised at how incredibly competitive he is and how good his habits are.”
The two are playing their final junior seasons as 20-year-olds and will be looking to go out with a trip to the WHL Championship Series.
Thomas Milic will mind the net for the Thunderbirds and is a player on a mission. Overlooked by the NHL Draft – although he was an invite to the Seattle Kraken training camp only to miss it to injury before he got there – Milic had an outstanding series against Portland where he had one shutout and comes into the series hot.
The supporting cast for the Thunderbirds will be key. They have players like Matt Rempe (New York Rangers), Conner Roulette (Dallas Stars), and Lucas Ciona (Calgary Flames) who can provide plenty of offense. On the blue line, Seattle is stout with Bauer (Winnipeg Jets) and Slovakian import Sam Knazko (Columbus Blue Jackets) who will be tasked with slowing down Stankoven, et al.
The intangibles
Special teams can make or break a playoff series, and discipline will be key for both as Seattle’s power play is clicking at 27.7 percent in the playoffs. The Blazers aren’t slouching either with a 22.4 percent power-play unit.
The Thunderbirds struggled with Portland’s power play in the second round, and their penalty kill is at 75 percent for the playoffs, something they’ll have to figure out if they want to win.
One intangible that is hard to measure is being battle-tested. The Blazers arrived at the Conference Championship beating two teams that finished at the bottom of the playoff bracket. They opened with a sweep of seventh-seeded Spokane and then beat the eighth-seeded Vancouver Giants.
The Thunderbirds had to go through the fifth-seeded Kelowna Rockets in the first round and the third-seeded Winterhawks. Seattle also dealt with a number of injuries during the regular season and found ways to win, as they did coming from behind in the second round, staving off elimination in the final three games.
“I think it strengthens our team in the sense that guys are even more confident that they can come back and perform when their back’s against the wall,” Hagel said.
That confidence will be put to the test against the Blazers.
Episode 188 is here, and there are conversations to be had about all levels of hockey, from the WHL to the AHL to the NHL.
At the AHL level, the Charlotte Checkers are alive and well and are heading into the second… er… third round of the Calder Cup playoffs. In the WHL, the Seattle Thunderbirds have reached the Western Conference Championship Series and will take on the Kamloops Blazers. And at the NHL level, the second round of the playoffs is now underway.
Looking back on the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Sound Of Hockey Podcast discusses the onslaught of Game 7’s that happened last week and the many wonders of Jake Oettinger (among other topics).
Eventually, John, Andy, and Darren will shift to segments, which this week include Weekly One-Timers, Tweets of the Week, and Three Stars.
Episode 188 is here, and there are conversations to be had about all levels of hockey, from the WHL to the AHL to the NHL.
At the AHL level, the Charlotte Checkers are alive and well and are heading into the second… er… third round of the Calder Cup playoffs. In the WHL, the Seattle Thunderbirds have reached the Western Conference Championship Series and will take on the Kamloops Blazers. And at the NHL level, the second round of the playoffs is now underway.
Looking back on the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Sound Of Hockey Podcast discusses the onslaught of Game 7’s that happened last week and the many wonders of Jake Oettinger (among other topics).
Eventually, John, Andy, and Darren will shift to segments, which this week include Weekly One-Timers, Tweets of the Week, and Three Stars.
At the end of the inaugural season for the Seattle Kraken, the team’s roster looked very different from how it looked in Oct., 2021, when the team played its first game. General manager Ron Francis was active at the NHL Trade Deadline, and he shed six regular players to (mostly) contending teams in exchange for a bevy of draft picks. Now, with one round of the playoffs in the rearview and the second round underway, we felt it was time to check in on former Kraken players to see how they fared after being dealt.
Mason Appleton
We will ease you into it with a check-in on Mason Appleton. Appleton’s time in Seattle was underwhelming. He just never seemed to find his footing with the team and ended up getting traded back to the club from which he was plucked in the Expansion Draft. After scoring six goals and 11 assists for Seattle in 49 games, the 26-year-old forward returned to the Winnipeg Jets and amassed just four more points in the final 19 games of the season.
Mason Appleton was traded to the Winnipeg Jets. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
The Jets did not qualify for the playoffs, and Appleton’s contract is now up. He is a restricted free agent and has arbitration rights. It wasn’t much of a return, but we thought at the deadline that a fourth-round pick was fair, and this still seems accurate.
Jeremy Lauzon
The second-round pick that Francis got for Jeremy Lauzon raised some eye brows when the transaction went through. Lauzon (somewhat unfairly) drew the ire of a lot of Kraken fans when he was in Seattle, thanks to some early-season defensive struggles. He improved as the season went on, but we still recall seeing some surprised reactions that he fetched a second-round pick on the trade market.
With his new team, the Nashville Predators, Lauzon injured his leg on April 16 against Chicago and missed the last seven games of the regular season and Game 1 of the team’s series against Colorado. He returned to play Games 2, 3, and 4, which was just long enough to feel the full wrath of the Avalanche, who swept the Preds and sent them home with a whimper.
Lauzon had no points in his three playoff games, was minus three, and averaged a little under 17 minutes of ice time. He had one goal and one assist for Nashville in 13 games of regular-season play. Lauzon is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason.
The return that Francis got for Lauzon looks even better with Nashville’s early exit, as Seattle will select No. 49 overall with that pick.
Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell
Some (but not all) of us felt a little bad for the Maple Leafs after they lost to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions in seven games in the first round. The hot takes about Toronto’s continuing postseason failures were running rampant, but thankfully the bulk of the disdain did not seem to be directed at Mark Giordano or Colin Blackwell.
Giordano and Blackwell were two players who performed well during their respective tenures in Seattle, and they were two of the most affable guys in the organization when dealing with the media, which we certainly appreciated.
So, we were sad to see both of them go and were quietly hoping to see them succeed. But, the Leafs decided to make like trees and… leave… early in the postseason yet again.
Colin Blackwell joined Mark Giordano in Toronto after the NHL Trade Deadline. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Giordano played a big role on the blue line for Toronto and logged at least 18 minutes per night against the Lightning. He registered assists in Games 5 and 6, but was otherwise held off the scoresheet. In 20 regular season games for his hometown team, Gio had two goals and 10 assists after posting 23 points for Seattle.
As for Blackwell, the grinding forward predictably played a depth role after leaving the Kraken. He added just three regular-season points, plus one goal and one assist in the playoffs.
What happens for these players now? Both are on expiring contracts and are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Giordano is 38 years old, but never gave any indication he was ready to hang it up. Blackwell is 29 and can bring value to a third- or fourth-line role. Maybe Seattle will try to get him back?
Marcus Johansson
Marcus Johansson was a pleasant surprise as a Kraken player. Signed to a one-year deal late last offseason, we had low expectations for the veteran forward. But he ended up playing a huge role for Seattle, typically in a top-six spot, and serving as the bumper on the power play most nights.
Johansson was traded to one of his old teams, the Washington Capitals, at the deadline and had three goals and three assists in the regular season after the move. He then added one goal and one assist in Washington’s six-game loss to the Florida Panthers.
Johansson is also a UFA and has played for six different teams since the 2018-19 season. He’s still just 31 years old, though, so he will surely be looking for a multi-year deal.
Calle Jarnkrok
Of the players traded away at the deadline, Calle Jarnkrok is the lone player on a team that survived the first round. His Flames defeated the Dallas Stars in a thrilling Game 7 that went to overtime, and Calgary now moves on to a much-anticipated Battle of Alberta in the conference semifinals.
Jarnkrok had an interesting season for Seattle. He was sick with COVID, then injured, then injured again, and got off to a horrible start as a result. Once finally healthy, he turned it on and ended up having a solid campaign with 12 goals and 14 assists in 49 games for the Kraken.
Calle Jarnkrok and the Calgary Flames advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Since moving to Calgary, Jarnkrok hasn’t produced much offensively. He has yet to score a goal for the Flames in the regular season or playoffs, and had just five total assists with one of those coming in the Dallas playoff series.
Jarnkrok’s underlying numbers have been good, and coach Darryl Sutter has been using him regularly in a checking role.
Jarnkrok, 30, is an unrestricted free agent too following his playoff run.
