One thing we already know about the Seattle Kraken is that they know how to keep a secret. A year ago, they announced the team’s name, logo, and jersey design with nary a leak. No stolen mockups made the rounds, and we all experienced the name together.
A week ago, they struck again by hiring Dave Hakstol as the first Kraken head coach. Hakstol’s name was not mentioned by all the self-proclaimed media insiders leading up to the official announcement.
Yet there he was at the Edgewater Inn, sitting between general manager Ron Francis and CEO Tod Leiweke last Thursday.
“We didn’t do anything extraordinary,” Francis said about keeping the hire a secret. “Dave was employed by Toronto, so we didn’t want that being out there and a distraction, as he’s coaching with the Leafs so we just had the conversations, we talked about things and, you know, I think a lot of that credit goes to Dave. He just didn’t talk about it to anybody and when you don’t do that it doesn’t get out there.”
Seems simple enough.
So, what kind of coach are the Kraken getting in Hakstol? What kind of team will he put on the ice?
“If you go through an 82-game schedule and hopefully into a playoff run, resiliency is a huge part of what our team will be about,” Hakstol said. “It’s not always easy. The teams that relish those tough days and want to come back and battle together. Those are the teams that have success. I’ve always said humility as part of the group, humility to hold standards really allows you to respect this game and the game deserves respect … those are some of the different elements that lead us to the opportunity that we have here in terms of building tradition.”
The Seattle Kraken introduced new head coach Dave Hakstol last week (photo Brian Liesse)
Dave Hakstol and numbers
The Kraken have built a robust and highly credentialed analytics staff as part of their hockey operations. Led by Alex Mandrycky, it’s obvious that Seattle will use analytics as a tool towards building, and sustaining, a successful on-ice product.
It seems to reason that hiring a coach willing to embrace and work with analytics would be of importance.
“You know when I was actually being interviewed for my position that was something we came up with,” Francis said. “The ownership group is interested in that and thought that we should make that a part of our processes as we build out our team. So, certainly when we were asking the questions on the coaches, there were questions surrounding analytics and we did that with everybody. It wasn’t the only question, but it was certainly part of the process to make our final decision for sure.”
Not all coaches have embraced analytics in today’s NHL.
It seems counter intuitive not to. Embracing analytics doesn’t mean you turn into a robot, relying on charts to set your line combinations, or make adjustments to your game plan. The data, however, informs the decisions that the coach eventually has to make.
There’s nothing wrong with making tough calls armed with as much information as possible.
“It’s a phenomenal tool for us as coaches to evaluate and to discover and to find different avenues to improve our team,” Hakstol said. “The second piece of that is still a very human game 100% on the ice, it’s played with emotion and passion… So, the combination of the two is valuable. Never forget, this is a game that’s played on emotion and it’s a human game.”
Hakstol’s time in Philadelphia was a mixed bag
Hakstol was just the third coach to go straight from coaching in college to the NHL when he accepted the head coaching gig with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2015. It came after an impressive 11-year run in college with the University of North Dakota.
He spent three full seasons with the Flyers — he was let go 31 games into his fourth year after a 12-15-4 start — and led them to the playoffs twice.
The numbers for those Flyers teams are what you would expect for a middling team that made it into the postseason but lost in the first round. Their underlying metrics were all around 50 percent, including an expected goals forced percentage of 51. His goaltending was perhaps a bit under par with a collection of guys that included Steve Mason, Brian Elliott, and a group of seven additional journeymen who manned the pipes during his last season.
Over the three full years he was a coach, the Flyers’ goalies combined for a high-danger save percentage of 79 percent, which was 30th in the league for that time. Hakstol needed a guy to make a save for him.
None of that is to suggest that Hakstol was responsible for the Flyers inability to find a consistent goaltender. That’s long been a hitch in the Flyers’ stride and was so until Carter Hart arrived at the end of Hakstol’s tenure in 2018-2019.
It’s also tough to glean too much information from the stats of those Flyers teams when assessing Hakstol. Even the best coaches require talented players and the Flyers’ struggles this past season, where they failed to make the playoffs with a minus-38 goal differential, suggest that the team’s problems were deeper than coaching.
Hakstol has a chance now to take the lessons learned from that experience, plus two years as an assistant with a good Toronto team, and apply them to the Kraken, something he talked about last week.
There have been many cases of “second chance” coaches who didn’t win big in their first go-around but would get a second shot and end up succeeding. See Gerard Gallant, who had only a first-round loss in four years between Columbus and Florida before taking Vegas to the Cup Final in 2018.
Or check out Pete DeBoer, who has taken two teams, New Jersey and San Jose, to the Stanley Cup Final and three of the last four conference finals. Before all that he spent three seasons as the Florida Panthers head coach (2008-2011) and missed the playoffs each time.
Hakstol’s track record shows that he knows the game and knows how to win. That’s what led him to be the first Kraken head coach.
Coach Hakstol on team leadership with Kraken
During last Thursday’s press conference, Hakstol talked about the task ahead.
He has to put together a coaching staff and prepare to take a collection of payers thrown together after the Expansion Draft on July 21.
Part of that is finding leadership. There won’t be an established leader when the team first is assembled. The Vegas Golden Knights had the same challenge and famously didn’t have a captain until turning to Mark Stone this past season. Leadership is an important part of a hockey team and with the constant turnover of a college roster, it’s something Hakstol has some experience with.
“There may be that one guy that’s just absolute,” he said. “If that’s the case that usually becomes pretty apparent. With any group that I’ve coached I look at the core group. Our core leadership group. What the number of that group is, I don’t know what that number will be, maybe it’s four, five, maybe six, but its more so than just solely focusing on who the captain will be. It’s focusing on that leadership group.”
Don’t be surprised if there is no official Kraken captain in year one.
Whether you are new to hockey, recently adopted the Seattle Kraken as your new favorite NHL team, or just want another angle on how to watch the Stanley Cup Final, I present to you the Kraken Fan’s Guide to the Stanley Cup Final.
Local ties
There are two players in the Stanley Cup Final that have local ties to the region.
Tyler Johnson, forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning, is one of the most locally connected players in the area. Born and raised in Spokane, Johnson played four full seasons for the Spokane Chiefs, including during their run to the Memorial Cup Championship in 2008. Johnson had 282 points in his career for the Chiefs and 115 points in his last season alone, which was the second-most points in the WHL that season.
Johnson went undrafted but eventually signed a free-agent contract with the Lightning. After two years in the minors, he became a regular part of the Lightning’s roster.
His opportunities may be limited in his role as a fourth-line center now, but he is also part of the second power play unit.
Standout goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, Carey Price, played four seasons with the Tri-City Americans in Central Washington. Unlike Johnson, there have always been high expectations for Carey Price. After he was drafted fifth overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Price played 41 NHL games in his first full year with the Canadiens in 2007-08.
Carey Price is one of the major contributors to the Canadiens’ first trip back to the Stanley Cup Final in 28 years. He is currently second in save percentage behind the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy. Should the Habs win the Stanley Cup, Price will be the odds-on favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the most valuable player in the playoffs.
Confirmed: Blondes do have more fun. Good luck to Carey Price in Round Three! pic.twitter.com/QDv7q63WbJ
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the most likely team to have a side deal with the Seattle Kraken in the Expansion Draft, which makes forecasting the protected list almost impossible. The Lightning will need to make some offseason moves to get cap compliant going into next season, and who better to help move salary off their books than a team that is starting from scratch?
Without any assumptions around side deals or trades, this is how the Tampa Bay Lightning look heading into the Expansion Draft:
If I were a betting man, I would say Tampa tries to move somewhere between $5 million and $10 million in cap hit off its roster. This could mean a combination of Alex Killorn, Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Johnson. Ron Francis and team will probably want some draft picks or prospects to offset the salary cap hit if they take on any significant contracts.
Expansion Draft Watch – Montreal Canadiens
Almost the complete opposite from Tampa Bay’s situation relative to the Expansion Draft, Montreal has very little to offer the Seattle Kraken.
Most prognosticators seem to think 31-year-old backup goaltender, Jake Allen, will be the selection in Montreal. But there are a lot of 30-plus-year-old goaltenders that should be available via the Expansion Draft, so Seattle might look elsewhere. Shea Weber could also be available in the draft, but at 35 years old and with five years remaining on his current contract at $7.9 million per year, I do not see the Kraken taking that on.
Free Agents
Projecting who the Seattle Kraken might be interested in during free agency is a bit of a mystery. When Vegas went through its first free agency period, its signings were very underwhelming, with Brad Hunt being the only player that played more than 40 games in the NHL the following season. This may change for Seattle, as cap space comes at a premium. Teams will be less likely to spend, which could create an opportunity for Seattle to get some valuable players on the free agent market.
Let us look at some of the pending free agents playing in the Stanley Cup Final.
Blake Coleman (Forward – TBL): Coleman will be a sought-after player when free agency opens on July 28. He is a third-line winger on the Tampa Bay Lightning but would probably fit right into a second-line role with a lot of teams in the NHL. He is only getting $1.8 million currently and is due for a pay increase when he signs his next deal.
Joel Armia (Forward – MTL): Armia will start the Stanley Cup Final series on the NHL Covid Protocol list. Armia is another player that could fit into a second-line role on the Seattle Kraken. He had a disappointing 2020-21 regular season with only 14 points in 41 games. Armia is currently getting paid $2.6 million, and his next contract should come in right around that same mark.
Phillip Danault (Forward – MTL): Danault has been getting a lot of praise during these playoffs with his smart two-way style of play that usually pits him against the opposing team’s top line. A native of Quebec, most people assume he will re-sign with the Montreal Canadiens in free agency, but the better he plays, the more money he will be able to collect on the open market. There’s a chance he prices himself out of the Montreal Canadiens’ budget.
This felt like the last big pre-we’re-a-real-team milestone, didn’t it? Kraken general manager Ron Francis has been maintaining for MANY months that the organization’s hiring plan for its first head coach was to wait for the end of the NHL season to see what options were available. The second piece of the plan was to have the coach in place by the end of the second quarter of 2021. With just six days to spare before that self-imposed deadline, the team finally did the damn thing and hired Dave Hakstol as the first coach in Seattle Kraken franchise history, just as absolutely nobody anticipated.
Dave Hakstol hired as Seattle Kraken Head Coach
Why Dave Hakstol was never really considered a candidate to be the first Seattle Kraken Head Coach is anybody’s guess, but the best way we can explain it is… well… nobody ever really asked if Dave Hakstol was a candidate. He certainly ticks the boxes of being somebody with NHL head coaching experience and also somebody who believes that analytics are a useful tool for teams to evaluate and improve. He also—despite being fired by the Flyers after four seasons—had a winning record in Philadelphia and took a relatively young team to the playoffs twice.
And being that he just wrapped up a two-year stint as an assistant coach in hockey-crazed Toronto, how did Hakstol and the Kraken manage to keep his name out of the rumor mill all the way until Thursday morning?
“Actually, we didn’t do anything—I would think—extraordinary,” Francis said during Hakstol’s introductory presser on Thursday. “We first talked to Dave last year. I mean, it’s an interesting process because sometimes you talk to teams, and they request that you keep it quiet. At the time, Dave was employed by Toronto so you certainly don’t want that out there as a distraction as he’s coaching with the Leafs.”
Francis added, “So you know on our end, we just had the conversations, we talked about things, and I think a lot of that credit goes to Dave. He just didn’t talk about it to anybody and when you don’t do that, it doesn’t get out there. So, as I said, we had multiple conversations, and it was able to be kept sort of in house until this morning.”
As far as introductory press conferences go, it really was a good one. Hakstol carries himself as somebody who perfectly fits the mold of what the Kraken were seeking. He looks and sounds like a coach who has been here before, and he’s excited for—but also humbled by—the opportunity to lead an expansion franchise as its first-ever bench boss.
Dave Hakstol speaks at his introductory press conference. Photo: Brian Liesse.
We at Sound Of Hockey were certainly surprised by the hire, but we dig it. Let us know what you think about Dave Hakstol as the first Seattle Kraken head coach!
Stanley Cup Final matchup set
Sure, everybody had the Tampa Bay Lightning and their “$18-million-over-the-cap” payroll in the Stanley Cup Final. But there cannot have been too many brackets out there that featured the Montreal Canadiens as one of the two last teams standing.
It’s hard to even explain how the Habs have gotten to this point. They still are not and never have been the best team in this tournament, but they’ve played the style of hockey that gets it done in the playoffs and have done so to near perfection. Outstanding team defense. Clutch scoring. Elite goaltending. That’s the formula.
Meanwhile, the Bolts return for a chance at a second-consecutive swig from Lord Stanley’s Cup.
It’s funny how the tides of public perception turn so quickly when your team wins. It felt like everyone was pulling for Tampa Bay in last year’s bubble, and now they feel like this evil empire, just toying with the hearts and minds of hockey fans everywhere.
Following suit in the semifinals, America really appeared to be cheering for the Islanders, who were impressive again this season. Barry Trotz’s troops gave everything they had to try to find an equalizer in Friday’s Game 7. But remarkably, potential future Seattle Kraken Yanni Gourde’s short-handed tally early in the second period was enough to skate Tampa Bay back into the Final.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final gets underway Monday at 5 P.M. on NBC Sports, not the main network. Based on their schedule, it would appear that local news, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and American Ninja Warrior take precedent over the Stanley Cup Final. NBC has officially mailed it in. We are very ready for the NHL’s new TV partners to take over.
Man, I sure hated these guys in my formative years as a Minnesota Wild fan, but now that I live so close to Vancouver and have had a glimpse at how much they mean to that city, I get it. It really does make a lot of sense for Henrik and Daniel Sedin to be employed by the team with which they became so synonymous over their playing careers.
The Sedins have been hired as special advisers to the general manager, which gives a real “Assistant TO the Regional Manager” vibe. Hopefully for Vancouver fans, the twins can kickstart the team’s seven-year plan, which is now entering its eighth year.
Twitter had a couple funnies about the simultaneous hirings that we thought were worth sharing.
As the NHL Stanley Cup Semifinals reached their respective boiling points this week, Celine Dion may have pushed the city of Montreal over the edge, had the Habs not ultimately won the series.
The Quebec native and French Canada’s favorite daughter appeared in a pre-game hype video on the Jumbotron (do we still call them Jumbotrons?) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas sporting heavy makeup, a Vegas hockey helmet, and [gasp!] a Golden Knights jersey.
How could you, Celine?
There are some conspiracy theories out there that the photo was doctored, but we will continue to investigate this very important topic.
Anyway, the Canadiens won the game and eventually the series, so Habs fans’ hearts will go on.
Around the boards
The local WHL squads released their full schedules this week for the 2021-22 season. Both the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds will play their home openers against the Portland Winterhawks on Oct. 8 and 9 respectively. The Silvertips Preseason Classic, which did not take place in 2020-21 will return this season, starting on Sept. 10.
Congratulations to our good friend, Ryan Hardy, who was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs to join their front office in a role to be determined. Hardy built the Chicago Steel of the USHL into an absolute powerhouse organization and is a hilarious and generally awesome dude. Well deserved.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
SEATTLE – After keeping the name under wraps amidst a tempest of rumor and speculation, the Seattle Kraken announced Thursday morning that Dave Hakstol would become the first head coach of the expansion franchise.
Hakstol, 52, spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs after four-plus seasons as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Once in town, he and his family were introduced to the Seattle media at a press conference held at the Edgewater Hotel.
“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind, but what a great whirlwind,” Hakstol said.
The Kraken did an outstanding job keeping Hakstol’s name a secret. Over the past few months, names like Rick Tocchet, Joel Quenneville, Gerard Gallant, Kevin Dineen, Tony Granato, and Joe Sacco had emerged as potential candidates to take the job. Nobody mentioned Hakstol’s name until Thursday morning.
It’s surprising because Seattle general manager Ron Francis says that the team’s first discussions with the new coach began last summer. The seed may have been planted long before, however.
“In 2019 with Hockey Canada, I was part of the management team and Dave was part of the coaching staff,” Francis said. “We got to spend four weeks together over in Austria. I got to know him as a person and kind of watch his work ethic and how he operated… as we went through the process, he was certainly a guy that I had an interest in talking to.
“He’s been in the league for six years, he’s worked with some different coaches in getting a lot more experience. I like the way he communicates his message and I know he cares about his players. So all those things made it the right choice for me as a coach.”
Hakstol’s coaching career began in the USHL when he took over mid-season for the struggling Sioux City Musketeers in 1996. The team only won eight games that first year, but Hakstol would quickly turn the franchise around, and over the next three campaigns he had a 96-53-11 record.
He would leave the USHL to become an assistant coach for his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, in 2000. He spent the next three seasons as an associate coach before being named head coach in 2004. For the next 11 years, Hakstol guided North Dakota to winning records, topping a .600 winning percentage every season, while reaching the Frozen Four seven times.
That led to Hakstol being hired in 2015 by the Philadelphia Flyers, making the jump from college to the NHL. In Philadelphia, Hakstol brought the Flyers to the playoffs twice – in 2016 and 2018 – before being let go early into the 2018-2019 season. He compiled a 134-101-42 overall record with the Flyers.
“I think there’s a lot of guys who have gotten that second chance and really take advantage of it,” Francis said.
New Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol answers questions Thursday. (Brian Liesse photo)
Hakstol’s second chance comes after two seasons of looking at the coaching position from a different angle.
After spending time as an assistant in college, he again lived the assistant life for two NHL seasons under Mike Babcock and Sheldon Keefe in Toronto. That experience will be added to his prior time as a head coach as he takes over in Seattle.
“It definitely brings a different perspective,” Hakstol said of his Toronto experience. “You know, it’s a different routine and rhythm within your daily organization, no question about that, but it’s also a little different perspective with the players. I had an opportunity to work with two outstanding coaches with both Mike and Sheldon in Toronto as well as the other assistant coaches that were there. The people surrounding you, you take a piece from.”
With the July 21 Expansion Draft a month away, he plans on hitting the ground running. Hakstol will put together a coaching staff and begin to prepare for players coming on board. There will not be a lot of time, as after the Expansion Draft the team will have just a couple of short months before training camp opens in September.
What is Hakstol going to do now that he’s officially the first coach of the Kraken?
“Don’t waste a day,” he said. “There’s a ton of work to do and we don’t have any time to waste there. It’s not waiting until training camp to begin putting our team together, it’s building relationships with players immediately (after the Expansion Draft) so we have to be ready to go.”
On this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, one of the hosts is playing hurt. Darren is dealing with a bit of what he believes is food poisoning, so whether or not he makes it through the recording is a bit touch and go. This is his Michael Jordan flu game.
When they aren’t talking about food poisoning, the guys share the latest scuttlebutt on the Seattle coaching front and what Rod Brind’Amour’s re-signing in Carolina means for the Kraken (spoiler: they aren’t hiring Rod). Also on the Kraken topic, John, Andy, and Darren react to the team’s hiring of JT Brown as its first TV color analyst.
Next, the show moves into a unique listener-initiated Get Off My Lawn, before a healthy dose of #Minnutiae to talk through the concerning (for Darren) Kirill Kaprizov contract situation.
Bits include Sound Of Hockey’s Three Stars. Segments include Weekly One-Timers and Tweets of the Week.
On this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, one of the hosts is playing hurt. Darren is dealing with a bit of what he believes is food poisoning, so whether or not he makes it through the recording is a bit touch and go. This is his Michael Jordan flu game.
When they aren’t talking about food poisoning, the guys share the latest scuttlebutt on the Seattle coaching front and what Rod Brind’Amour’s re-signing in Carolina means for the Kraken (spoiler: they aren’t hiring Rod). Also on the Kraken topic, John, Andy, and Darren react to the team’s hiring of JT Brown as its first TV color analyst.
Next, the show moves into a unique listener-initiated Get Off My Lawn, before a healthy dose of #Minnutiae to talk through the concerning (for Darren) Kirill Kaprizov contract situation.
Bits include Sound Of Hockey’s Three Stars. Segments include Weekly One-Timers and Tweets of the Week.
The NHL distributed the injured reserve exemption list for the NHL Expansion Draft yesterday. We took a peek to identify any surprises and impacts to the Kraken. This list identifies any players with potential career-ending injuries who have missed more than the previous 60 consecutive games (or who otherwise have been confirmed to have a career-threatening injury).
These players are deemed exempt from selection in the Expansion Draft.
The league has identified 18 players that are exempt from the Expansion Draft due to Injury
The one notable callout on the list is Brent Seabrook. The Chicago Blackhawks dodged a bullet with Seabrook announcing his retirement earlier this season. Seabrook had a full no-movement clause (NMC) in his contract that would have required Chicago to protect him in the Expansion Draft. This would have exposed a quality defenseman to Seattle. Seabrook was a wonderful player in his prime, but his most recent quality of play – thanks largely to injuries – would not have warranted protection in the draft.
None of the other names on the list should come as surprises since most of them have either announced their retirement or have not played in the league in several years.
Who is not on the exemption list
Two names we were keeping an eye for the injury exemption list were Jonathan Toews and Oscar Klefbom. What should be considered good news for Seattle, neither of them were on the exemption list.
Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks
Toews missed the entire 2020-21 season for the Chicago Blackhawks after announcing that he has an undisclosed condition that leaves him “feeling drained and lethargic.” The fact that he is not on the long-term injured reserve list should be considered good news for his return. Toews also has a full NMC that requires Chicago to protect him in the Expansion Draft.
Here is a look at the Expansion Draft projections for the Chicago Blackhawks:
Chicago does not have many quality options for the Kraken to choose from, so the mandated protection of Jonathan Toews is low impact for the Blackhawks.
Oscar Klefbom and the Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers situation is very interesting. Oscar Klefbom missed the entire 2020-21 season recovering from shoulder surgery. As recent as April, Klefbom has cast a bit of doubt on his ability to recover and play in the NHL again. A healthy Klefbom would be protected, but the Oilers are now forced to decide between protecting a rehabbing Klefbom or a much younger Caleb Jones.
Here is a look at the Expansion Draft projections for the Edmonton Oilers:
I am still projecting Klefbom as protected and feel that the doubt cast by his long-term recovery is a bit of a ruse to get Seattle to steer clear of him, should he be available. If Klefbom is exposed, I believe the risk is well worth the potential reward. Outside of the Klefbom/Jones scenario, I do not feel the Oilers have much to offer the Kraken in the Expansion Draft.
Now that the injured reserve exemption list is published, we are one step closer to the final protection lists and are now less than 30 days away from the Expansion Draft. Buckle up!
SEATTLE – JT Brown officially announced his retirement from professional hockey Monday morning, but it didn’t take long for him to be back in the NHL. Along with Brown’s retirement, the Seattle Kraken announced that they had hired Brown to take part in their television broadcast crew as an analyst, joining play-by-play voice John Forslund.
Kraken games will be telecast on ROOT sports, and Brown brings to the booth vast hockey experience and knowledge after playing 11 seasons of both collegiate and NHL hockey.
“It was a big decision to hang up my skates, but one that was made easier by the opportunity to work alongside John Forslund for the Seattle Kraken,” Brown said via a press release. “I am excited for the opportunity to continue my career within the hockey world and to join an organization that is dedicated to making forward progress within the sport, and I look forward to the ability to make a lasting impact on the game I’ve loved for over 25 years.”
Brown, 30, is originally from Burnsville, MN, and played NCAA hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He played in 81 games for UMD, scoring 40 goals and 84 points along the way. In 2011 he led the Bulldogs to an NCAA National Championship where he was named the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player.
Undrafted, Brown would sign a pro contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and after a season and a half in the AHL became an NHL regular with the Lightning in 2013. He would go on to play 365 NHL games with Tampa Bay, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Minnesota Wild. All told he scored 23 goals, 49 assists, and 72 points over his NHL career which included playing for the Stanley Cup during Tampa Bay’s run in 2015.
“We are excited to welcome JT Brown to the Seattle Kraken,” said Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Seattle Kraken via release. “His experience as a player winning a National Championship with the University of Minnesota Duluth and playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the Tampa Bay Lightning gives him unique insight into what it takes to compete night in and night out at the highest levels of hockey. Off the ice, JT’s values and dedication to the community reflect our own and we know he will be a great addition.”
Active in the community, Brown is a long-time advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He was named to the NHL’s Fan Inclusion Committee in 2020 to help develop action-oriented solutions that positively impact the access, opportunity, and experiences that underrepresented groups have in the game and in the business of hockey.
He has championed ‘Black Girl Hockey Club,’ a non-profit organization that focuses on making hockey more inclusive for Black women and girls and has used his platform as a player and Twitch streamer to raise funds for the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone campaign.
The Kraken continue to prepare for the NHL Expansion Draft on July 21st and the Entry Draft on July 23rd and 24th.
For this week’s Data Dump Saturday, I wanted to take a deep dive into playoff goal scoring. We often hear tidbits from hockey media on scoring, but rarely are we given context, so I thought it would be a fun topic to explore.
Playoff scoring versus regular-season scoring
It is far more difficult to score in the playoffs given greater parity in the team matchups. A basic look at average goals scored by season proves that out.
One disclaimer on the above, the disparity between playoffs and regular season is bigger than the visual illustrates since this is per game and NOT per 60 minutes. There tends to be more overtime in the playoffs, therefore there are more minutes per game.
Another way to look at the difference between playoff and regular-season scoring is by looking at the shooting percentage.
The shooting percentage goes down in the playoffs for a couple reasons. First, teams are playing their best goalies as much as possible, if not exclusively. Second, qualifying teams represent the best squads in the league and scoring against them is often more difficult than against the teams that did not qualify for the playoffs.
If we take a quick peek at the 2021 playoff teams, it is no surprise that those that are still alive have a relatively higher shooting percentage than the teams eliminated. Only Colorado has a higher shooting percentage than the four teams remaining in the playoffs.
Scoring by position
When Jan Rutta scored in the third period of Game 2 of the semifinal series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders, it was the first goal scored by a Lightning defenseman in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That game was the thirteenth game for Tampa Bay in the playoffs, and one defensive goal every 13 games is well below average gap in games with a defensive goal. I immediately began to wonder if it is becoming more challenging for defensemen to score in the playoffs compared to the regular season.
I am not prepared to make any hard and fast conclusions, but it certainly seems like the trend in the playoffs is a steady decline in scoring by defensemen with only 12% thus far of 2021 playoff goals scored by defensemen.
If we look into the shooting percentage by defensemen, we see they are less effective than they have been in previous years.
Again, the 2021 playoffs could be a random anomaly and does not mean that teams should stop valuing scoring defensemen, but it is something to keep an eye on.
Power play scoring in the playoffs
The last segment I want look at is power play scoring in the playoffs versus the regular season. We have already established that there are more penalties called in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, thus leading to more opportunities for power play goals.
What I would like to understand is if power play goals account for a higher percentage of all goals scored during the playoffs versus the regular season.
As the visual shows, power play goals represent a higher percent of the goals scored in the playoffs compared to the regular season.
If we peak at 2021 playoff data to date, we can see there is no correlation to the teams that have advanced to the semifinals versus the teams that have been eliminated.
It is amazing to see the difference between Tampa Bay and Vegas right now with 38% of Tampa’s goals coming on the power play versus Vegas’ 8%.
I hope this gives you some more insights on goal scoring in the playoffs and adds context to the comments we hear during the television broadcasts. If you have any questions or have an area you want me to dig into, let me know in the comments section or contact me on twitter.
The dominoes are falling. With the Expansion Draft just over a month away and the semifinals of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in full swing, things really are heating up in the search for the first head coach of the Seattle Kraken.
Seattle Kraken head coach search
It has long been stated by Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis that the head coach hiring process hinges on who might be available after the conclusion of the NHL season. He has also held firm that the team hopes to have a coach in place by the end of the second quarter of the year.
Sure, there are still four teams playing, but the chances of the remaining coaches—Barry Trotz, Jon Cooper, Pete DeBoer, or Dominique Ducharme—becoming available are nil at this point. In a way, we’ve really crossed the “season is over” threshold, because the field of available coaches is set, barring any additional firings in the coming days. And as for the “second quarter” timeframe? Well, I’m no calendar expert, but I believe the second quarter ends in 12 days.
We at SOH believe that Rod Brind’Amour was the lynchpin of the “wait for who is available” hold-up and was absolutely Plan A for Seattle. Brind’Amour had been in dragged-out contract negotiations with the Hurricanes for months. So we surmised that Francis may have been hoping to lure the newly named Jack Adams Award winner away from the franchise and community to which he is so closely connected, even as it was continuously being reported that Brind’Amour was close to signing a new deal.
What’s Plan B for the Seattle Kraken head coach search?
We at SOH also think it is not a coincidence that news broke on Thursday that Rick Tocchet is being granted a third interview for the Seattle Kraken head coach position.
Sounds like Rick Tocchet has a third meeting scheduled with the Seattle Kraken. Nothing done, but seems like a good omen for him.
If Brind’Amour really was Plan A, then certainly Francis and his staff had been thinking through some other options in case Rod the Bod did end up keeping his rippling abs in Carolina.
Rod Brind’Amour has rippling abs.
Plan B is now being kicked into high gear. Tocchet, former head coach of the Arizona Coyotes, is an obvious fit for the role as well, so his progress through the interview process comes as no surprise. And what about David Quinn? Could he be given a shot?
Our own Jim Wilkie did a great rundown on all the candidates back in May, so give that a read to bring yourself up to speed on everyone who could be considered for the position.
Whether it ends up being Tocchet or somebody else, it does feel like a Seattle Kraken head coach hire is imminent.
Other Seattle Kraken news
The Kraken are continuing to demonstrate that they are well aware their market expands beyond the borders of Washington State. This week, the team announced a partnership with Bristol Bay Native Corporation. According to the release, “Bristol Bay will be prominently represented throughout Climate Pledge Arena on hundreds of TV screens and the arena’s LED rings for arena visitors, on the main scoreboards during televised games, at the state-of-the-art Kraken training center, and at one of the arena’s prime marketplaces.”
BBNC is a for-profit corporation that converts those profits into benefits for its shareholders. The mission of the organization is to encourage its shareholders to pursue educational opportunities and to promote and preserve cultural heritage.
“Would You Rather?” Round 2 results
This week, we had a second round of Expansion Draft “Would You Rather?” on soundofhockey.com. I gave John Barr a bit of grief for this one because by including a goalie in the field, even some light Googling could have revealed that Team 3 was clearly the Washington Capitals. But that’s neither here nor there.
Here are the results:
Blackhawks sued again for sexual assault cover-up during 2009-10 season
This is a terrible story, and one that is continuing to develop. The Chicago Blackhawks now face a second lawsuit for not properly addressing allegations of sexual assault by former video coach Bradley Dale Aldrich on a player during the 2009-10 season.
This new lawsuit comes from a former high school hockey player in Michigan and alleges that because the Blackhawks did not act on the aforementioned assault in 2009-10, Aldrich was allowed to remain in hockey circles. Aldrich later assaulted this new plaintiff in 2013 and was eventually sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation for his crime.
Stephen Johns has been dealing with severe depression after repeated concussions ended his hockey career prematurely. He has decided to take control over his life and his mental health by embarking on a remarkable journey to rollerblade and road trip across the United States, making a movie about it along the way. Johns aims to “help others facing their own battles,” as he puts in countless “Mental Miles.” Very cool.
The WHL has announced an October 1 start date, with a full 68-game season planned for all teams. The main caveat to this otherwise normal-looking season for the Dub is that there will be no crossover play between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. Other than that, Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds fans should be fully back in business this fall.
Palate cleanser
Is Jimmy Fallon just pretending to be a New York Islanders fan for attention? Friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, investigates.
Jimmy Fallon is here. I couldn't get a photo of him on the Jumbotron so I'll just use this older image of him at a New York game. pic.twitter.com/LBbIkMkgg2
I'm so sorry, I tried to get another picture but it was blurry so here he is in one of his New York jerseys photo-bombing Jessica Chastain. pic.twitter.com/qD8fWvUXhH
Ralph Maccio does come across as a true Isles fan, though, doesn’t he?
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
