Monday Musings: The joys of hope
As a kid, I went to a lot of Oakland A’s games with my dad. We had season tickets, and barring school or a baseball game of my own, I would go to the ballpark. Depending on the score, we would often leave after the seventh inning to beat traffic. Leaving early was normal for me.
Fast forward a few years to high school, when I went to an A’s game with about eight friends. The A’s managed to score five runs in the final two innings to stage an epic comeback. It was an exhilarating win for everyone who stayed until the end, but unfortunately, I had convinced my friends to leave after the seventh inning.
Ever since that day, I’ve made a rule for myself: never leave a sporting event early because you never know what you might miss. I apply the same logic to watching games on TV. So, when the Kraken were down by three goals with under five minutes remaining in regulation against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, I kept watching just in case we witnessed something incredible. As luck would have it, we were rewarded with the biggest comeback in Seattle Kraken history. It’s a game I’ll never forget, and for that, I’m grateful I didn’t turn off the TV.
I firmly believe there’s no right or wrong way to be a fan. If you need to turn a game off or leave early, that’s entirely your choice, and I won’t judge. But if you do, you might miss something unforgettable.
No quit for the Seattle Kraken
Before the Kraken’s epic comeback win in Vancouver, they had lost five straight games. But as we’ve seen time and again, this team doesn’t quit. Saturday marked Seattle’s sixth comeback win after being down by two or more goals—more than they managed in the previous three seasons combined. Even during their losing streak, the Kraken continued to battle and work to get back into games.
I’m not trying to sugarcoat what’s been a challenging season, but moments like Saturday’s comeback are a big reason I still love watching this team.
The long odds
It’s no secret that the Kraken are a long shot to make the playoffs. But much like watching Saturday’s game, there’s always a chance they could defy the odds and create some magic. Money Puck currently gives the Kraken a five percent chance of making the playoffs, but the odds of them winning that game on Saturday were even slimmer.
The 2018-19 St. Louis Blues are the ultimate example of how anything is possible. They proved that a season can turn around in remarkable fashion. Here’s a look at the standings on Dec. 31 over the past eight comparable seasons (excluding 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to COVID impacts).
Seven of the last nine comparable seasons featured at least one team ranked 12th or lower in their conference on Dec. 31 that went on to make the playoffs. While the odds remain long, several teams in the Kraken’s position have managed to reach the postseason before.
Other musings
- Saturday’s comeback win marked the first time in franchise history that the Kraken overcame a three-goal deficit. Before this, they had lost all 82 games in which they trailed by three goals.
- Saturday was the 22nd time this season the Kraken allowed the first goal of the game, ranking fourth in the league. Their win percentage when trailing first is .318, compared to .600 when they score first.
- Although they didn’t score on Saturday, the Shane Wright, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Eeli Tolvanen line continues to perform well. Bjorkstrand assisted on the game-tying goal with 50 seconds left in regulation, but he was the only member of the line on the ice when Jaden Schwartz found the equalizer.
- Speaking of Jaden Schwartz, he might be one of the most underrated players in franchise history. His two goals on Saturday moved him into third place in goals scored in the Kraken’s brief history.
- After the Kraken scored two goals with their goalie pulled on Saturday, I hope more people understand the strategy behind pulling the goalie when trailing. It’s a matter of math: there are points in a game where pulling the goalie gives you a better (albeit slim) chance to win. That chance is even slimmer if you leave the goalie in.
- It’s been a while, but I loved Yanni Gourde’s comments during his intermission interview. I often get frustrated by the lack of honesty in player and coach interviews, so it’s refreshing when someone tells it like it is.
Candidate for intermission interview of the season right here from @PiperShawTV
Also Yanni Gourde is a real one. Ton of time for this guy.
— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) December 20, 2024
- The interview also reminded me how crushed I’ll feel when Yanni eventually leaves the Kraken.
- It’s way too early, but I love the idea of Kaapo Kakko developing long-term chemistry with Matty Beniers. Like I said, it’s early, but it’s an exciting thought.
- Despite how tough December has felt, the Kraken still managed to earn 50 percent of the points available, with a 5-6-2 record. A win Monday would push them over .500 for the month.
- I still enjoy watching the Winter Classic. This year’s game, taking place Tuesday on New Year’s Eve, features the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field.
- The World Juniors have been a blast to watch, especially with so many Seattle Kraken prospects participating. Four out of the 10 teams in the tournament have at least one Kraken prospect.
- Carson Rehkopf made his World Juniors debut against Germany, logging fewer than eight minutes of ice time.
Goal of the week
Speaking of the World Juniors, check out Eduard Šalé’s snipe from Czechia’s game against Slovakia.
Eduard Sale rifles one home to give Czechia a 4-1 lead.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/TDKgqsi9nl
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2024
That was Šalé’s second goal of the game. He now has three goals and two assists in Czechia’s first three games.
You don’t see that every day
Also, here is Seattle Kraken prospect Caden Price’s bank shot goal at World Juniors.
The @Kelowna_Rockets' Caden Price (#SeaKraken) with a big insurance goal for 🇨🇦! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/iQvv2JmGmS
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) December 30, 2024
Players of the week
Jakub Fibigr (CZE/SEA) – We’ve talked about Fibigr, an under-the-radar prospect for Seattle, before. But he continues to impress this season and has five assists in Czechia’s first three games at the World Juniors.
Jaden Schwartz (SEA) – Both of Schwartz’s goals were pivotal in the Kraken’s comeback win against the Canucks. The first sparked hope, and the second sent the game to overtime.
Kirill Marchenko (CBJ) – I’m not sure why, but I’ve watched a lot of Columbus Blue Jackets games this season, and Marchenko has been a joy to watch. He has three goals and four assists in his last four games. The Kraken visit Columbus next week.
The week ahead
Every game is crucial from here on out as the Kraken welcome three Western Conference teams to Climate Pledge Arena.
The first game is Monday against the Utah Hockey Club. This will be the first-ever matchup between the two teams, and it’s an important game for both sides. Utah is ranked higher than Seattle in the standings but is still battling to get into a wild card spot. Utah has lost its last two games but is 6-2-2 over its last 10.
I watched a lot of Utah HC’s games earlier this season and was convinced they were one of the stronger teams in the conference. Watching Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther move the puck around is entertaining, but I’m hoping we don’t see much of that Monday. Utah has been deadly on the power play, converting 33 percent of its opportunities over the last 10 games.
On Thursday night, the Vancouver Canucks return to Seattle, undoubtedly looking for redemption after Saturday’s epic collapse. The Canucks will be without Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes for this game, which could give the Kraken a significant advantage. Vancouver currently holds the last wild card spot, making this a prime opportunity for Seattle to gain ground with a regulation win.
Finally, the Kraken will host the Edmonton Oilers for the first time this season. After a slow start, the Oilers have been one of the best teams in the league since Nov. 1 and hold a 6-3-1 record against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena all time. Like the game against Utah, avoiding penalties will be critical, as Edmonton has converted nearly 35 percent of their power-play opportunities over the last 10 games.
Three Takeaways – Schwartz, Dunn lead shocking Kraken comeback win over Canucks
Well, that was fun! The Seattle Kraken did the unthinkable Saturday, rallying back from a 4-1 deficit with under five minutes left in the third period to win 5-4 in overtime against the Vancouver Canucks.
The unlikely victory marked the first time in franchise history that Seattle has come back from three goals down in the third period. It also snapped a five-game skid, avoiding a tie with the franchise’s worst-ever losing streak (two six-game streaks in its inaugural season). This was only the third time in NHL history that a team has rallied from three goals down with under five minutes left in regulation to win.
Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz each scored two goals for Seattle, with Dunn’s second marker serving as the overtime winner. Meanwhile, Matty Beniers got the proverbial monkey off his back with a lucky goal early in the second period.
“You saw it, it was not the cleanest game,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “The turning point for me was our power play having opportunities and not capitalizing [in the second period], and then [Conor Garland] getting the goal right out of the box… We had to respond.”
Respond, they did.
Here are Three Takeaways from a shocking 5-4 Kraken overtime win against the Canucks.
Takeaway #1: What a comeback!
A personal anecdote, due to family obligations, I didn’t get to watch this game live. When that happens, I always try to avoid learning the outcome because it’s just more fun to watch later without spoilers. Avoiding the final score in today’s world is a challenge, but on this night, I successfully stayed in the dark.
Lying in bed late Saturday night, I watched the Canucks snag a 4-1 lead at 3:09 of the third period. At that point, I strongly considered shutting it down and hitting the hay. I could fast-forward to the end or just check the final score—because this game was over.
Seattle caught a lucky break, though—one of many in the contest—just 20 seconds after Jake DeBrusk scored to make it 4-1. It appeared Dakota Joshua had scored again to extend the lead to 5-1, but video review overturned it, showing Joshua had played the puck with his hand. That kept the climb at three goals.
Even so, it still felt like Seattle was headed home with a whimper. For the next 12 minutes of the game, that feeling didn’t change.
The Kraken caught another lucky break at 15:15 of the third period when Jaden Schwartz banked a shot from below the goal line in off Thatcher Demko, cutting Vancouver’s lead to two goals.
For more than two minutes after Schwartz’s goal, though, Seattle struggled to establish anything offensively. With Philipp Grubauer pulled for an extra attacker, Kaapo Kakko and Daniel Sprong pressured Noah Juulsen and Carson Soucy into a horrendous turnover right onto Dunn’s stick. Suddenly, it was a one-goal game.
Surely, the comeback would end there, right?
Just 22 seconds later, Dunn followed a dump-in from the red line, and Brandon Montour attacked hard from the other side. With both Seattle defensemen below the offensive goal line, Oliver Bjorkstrand forced Pius Suter to cough the puck up to Schwartz. Schwartz drove to the net and got his own rebound to tie the game with 50 seconds left, marking his 500th NHL point.
“I think they definitely felt the pressure when we just kept coming after them, wave after wave, line after line,” Dunn said. “There wasn’t really any systematic things that we changed at all. It’s just finally committing to each other and playing the right way.”
“There was no quit in the guys,” Bylsma said. “We were looking pretty dismal at 5-1 and get the no-goal on the glove-in. And I thought we used that as a little bit of a wake-up call to put our best forward for the last bit of the game there.”
I’m so glad I didn’t know the outcome beforehand or give up and look up the final score. This comeback was something special.
Takeaway #2: Tyler Myers hands over the win
Kraken fans aren’t shy about their disdain for the 6-foot-8, 229-pound Tyler Myers, who infamously concussed Beniers with a needless cheap shot during the 2022-23 season.
So, it was extra sweet to see Myers essentially hand the game to Seattle in overtime Saturday.
Leading a clear-cut 3-on-1 with forward Shane Wright as the only player back for the Kraken, Myers inexplicably attempted a spin move in the left circle. He blindly passed the puck between Brock Boeser and JT Miller, straight to Dunn, who was trailing behind the play.
Dunn scooped it up, turned, and raced up the ice on a breakaway. He didn’t do too much with it, making a simple juke and then tucking the puck under Demko’s arm for the unthinkable game-winning goal.
“Honestly, it was kind of a blackout. I don’t think I’ve ever had a breakaway in my life,” Dunn said. “I saw Chandler [Stephenson] behind me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe this is going to be a little easier if I just drop it to him.’ And then he said, ‘It’s all you!,’ so then the pressure was on me. And I beat the goalie in the spot as earlier.”
Seattle deserves credit for not quitting despite trailing by three so late in the game. Still, the Kraken benefitted from plenty of breaks, including the overturned 5-1 goal, costly turnovers by Vancouver, missed empty-net chances, and Myers’ overtime gaffe.
Regardless of how it unfolded, the Kraken and their fans were happy to have the last laugh at Myers’ expense in this one.
Takeaway #3: Finally, some good feelings
Whether this leads to any positive momentum remains to be seen. The stretch before the holiday break was dreadful for the Kraken and may have already sealed their playoff fate.
Still, this unthinkable comeback against the Canucks offers at least a glimmer of hope.
“The way we came back, the way time was dwindling down, the effort should build a lot of confidence in the guys for being able to come back and being able to win a hockey game,” Bylsma said.
The group desperately needed some positivity, and they found it with this shocking 5-4 overtime win over a close rival. Now, the question is: Can the Kraken build off this performance?
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Data Dump: Nationality trends across the NHL
With Team USA set to defend their IIHF World Junior Championship title, it is a good time to check in on the nationality demographics in the NHL. About a year ago, I shared a similar analysis; this time, I am updating the data and adding some additional insights.
Nationalities of NHL players
The percentage of US-born players in the NHL is essentially flat compared to last season’s 29.2 percent, standing at 29.1 percent of the league. The percentage of Canadian players has dropped by half a percent, down to 41.1 percent of the league, which is the lowest of all time. While these figures may shift slightly due to injuries, call-ups, and other factors as the season progresses, the trends have been consistent for a while.
Another trend in the NHL is the diminishing number of Canadian goalies in the league. When isolating goalies, the reduction as a percentage is even more pronounced than among skaters.
Here is a look at the pure volume of players by nationality during the 2024-25 season to date:
Age distribution of NHL players by nationality
To delve deeper, I analyzed the nationalities of NHL players by birth year to see if any upcoming trends are emerging. For example, I compared the age distribution of US players in the NHL to their Canadian counterparts with the same birth year. Note that not all birth years are represented; I excluded birth years with fewer than 20 players in the league.
Consistent with last season’s analysis, this season’s NHL player data by birth year revealed no significant trends. The percentage of Canadian players by birth year fluctuates between 25 and 54 percent, while the percentage of US players ranges between 28 and 40 percent across birth years. The 18 percent of players in the “other” category for the 2004 birth year represents just five players, three of whom are Slovakian (Juraj Slafkovsky, Samuel Honzek, and Simon Nemec).
The growth of US representation in the NHL
As mentioned earlier, the number of US-born players in the NHL has been trending upward for a while. I also examined the birth states of US-born NHL players. Here is a look at the number of states represented by at least one NHL player during the season. This highlights how widely hockey has expanded geographically within the United States.
Note that the data shows a reduction in states season-over-season from 37 to 35. The number of states represented can only grow throughout the season, so it is possible and likely that the number of birth states represented during the 2024-25 season will return to 37.
I’ve long attributed the growing interest in hockey among Americans to three main events: 1) the Miracle on Ice in the 1980 Olympics, 2) Wayne Gretzky’s trade to the LA Kings, and 3) NHL expansion. While the first two are difficult to quantify definitively, the impact of NHL expansion aligns closely with growth in USA Hockey memberships by state over the years.
To illustrate this transformation, I compared maps of NHL players’ birth states from the 1990-91 season to the current 2024-25 season. The evidence of “southern expansion” becomes strikingly clear in this comparison.
Nationality breakdown by NHL team
As a fun bonus, here is a look at the nationality breakdown by current NHL team. For example, the Seattle Kraken roster is 61 percent Canadian and only 13 percent American. The team with the highest percentage of American players this season is the New York Rangers, at an impressive 50 percent.
If you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for further exploration, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you!
Kraken “searching” for answers after five-game tumble into holiday break
If your holiday cheer is based entirely on the success of the Seattle Kraken, then you’re surely feeling a bit Ebenezer Scrooge-ish right now. And while you’ve been hoping to see your team break out of its pre-holiday doldrums, Seattle has instead said, “bah humbug,” sinking farther and farther out of the playoff picture.
The Kraken hobbled into a four-day holiday break looking like the Wet Bandits after a tough trip through Kevin McCallister’s house of horrors, dropping five straight games—their worst streak of the season—including a weekend back-to-back sweep at the hands of the Golden Knights and Avalanche. They have been outscored 22-6 during the skid.
Desperate for a break and a whole lot of answers, the Kraken are now seven points out of the last wild card spot, with four teams to leapfrog to get back in. Such a deficit is not insurmountable; a big hot streak to start the 2025 calendar year could close that gap. But with the way things have been going for this team—and this deep into the season—it really feels like we’re heading toward Seattle’s third season of missing the playoffs in four tries.
What has gone wrong?
The answer to the question “what has gone wrong?” is… a lot has gone wrong. It’s no secret that the Kraken lack elite players who can put their team on their backs and carry them through times when the scoring dries up.
Jared McCann is the closest thing to that type of player Seattle has, but even he has been struggling to find the net for a long time. In some good news, he finally got his first non-empty-net goal in the entire month of December on Sunday in Colorado, so hopefully he regains his scoring touch.
Of course, it’s not just McCann. Matty Beniers hasn’t scored since Nov. 14 and has just four goals on the year. Andre Burakovsky has two total goals in 34 games. And let’s not forget that captain and top-line winger Jordan Eberle has been out since Nov. 14 and won’t be back for at least two more months.
When the top guys are struggling and/or absent, you either need: A.) secondary and tertiary scoring to come through, the way Seattle scored in 2022-23, or B.) to play an almost impenetrable defensive game.
On the first part, the Kraken have gotten offensive production in December from their third line of Eeli Tolvanen, Shane Wright, and Oliver Bjorkstrand. But even that trio went relatively quiet lately and was split up Sunday in an effort to spark other parts of the lineup (one could argue it sort of worked, since McCann scored off a beautiful feed from Wright).
On the second part, the Kraken had a little stretch of success earlier in December with a 3-1-0 East Coast road trip, followed by a shootout loss to the Florida Panthers and a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins at home. During that six-game run, Seattle started to show that it had found an identity as a staunch defensive team, allowing almost nothing through the middle of the defensive zone and counter-striking to create scoring opportunities off the rush.
But since that 5-1 win over Boston, the Kraken have gotten away from that style of play for some reason. Now, passes from opposing offenses seem to be getting through the slot with ease, while a propensity for overcommitting to offensive chances has led to odd-man rushes against—Seattle’s big killer in the game against the Avs.
So, they’re giving up goals too easily, and they aren’t scoring. That’s not a recipe for success. On the season, the Kraken are now 23rd in the league with 2.78 goals for per game while giving up 3.11 goals against per game, 22nd in the league. As a result, they sit 25th in the league standings.
Any reasons for optimism?
The Kraken front office and coaching staff have pulled a lot of different levers to help the team find success, although nothing has really worked so far. The biggest lever was Ron Francis trading Will Borgen and two draft picks for Kaapo Kakko last week.
If we’re looking for reasons for optimism (trust me, I’m feeling very pessimistic about this team’s chances right now), then Kakko’s game on Sunday might be one. Kakko scored off a face-off and battled to the front of the net for a late chance that could have tied the game if it weren’t thwarted by an outstanding Mackenzie Blackwood save. His line with Beniers and Jaden Schwartz was—as coach Dan Bylsma said—Seattle’s best line on Sunday, snagging 94 percent of the shot quality when they were on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Meanwhile, getting McCann off the schneid is potentially massive for this club if he can get hot following the hiatus.
You never want to crawl into a break in the schedule feeling bad about the way things have been going, but sometimes getting away from it all and not thinking about hockey for a bit is just what a struggling team needs. Surely, that’s the hope right now—that the players who are struggling the most will come back feeling refreshed when Seattle returns to game action on Saturday in Vancouver.
“We need to [reset],” Bylsma said after the 5-2 loss to the Avs on Sunday. “I think a lot’s been said, there’s a lot of searching… from the guys going on. We didn’t want to use the last two games as throw away and get to the break. We wanted to dig some growth as a team in these two games, and I think the effort that we put in tonight is considered growth for our group.
“But the four-day break we have to take as a break, both mentally… get away from the game a little bit, get refreshed.”
To be honest, I’m at a point where I’m writing off any hope of this team playing meaningful hockey for too much longer. So, give me a holiday gift and write some reasons for optimism in the comments section, please!
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Down on the Farm – Kraken system after the Kaapo Kakko trade, David Goyette’s progress, and World Juniors
This is “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Sound Of Hockey Podcast segment in written form. We will likely skip next week for the holidays, so this may be our last 2024 update. That means there is a lot to get to, including the state of the Seattle Kraken system after the Kaapo Kakko trade, how World Junior Championship camps are progressing, a reader question on Kraken prospect David Goyette’s progress in the AHL, and all of the statistics you can handle.
As always, if you have a prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey or on Bluesky at @deepseahockey or @soundofhockey.com. Let’s get to it.
David Goyette battling adversity in rookie AHL season
In the comments to last week’s column, Chuck H requested a “highlight on David Goyette, who seems to have disappeared down in CV.” I had been meaning to write on Goyette for a while, so thanks for the prompting, Chuck.
Before the season, I had Goyette as Seattle’s ninth-best prospect, just behind his Coachella Valley teammate Jagger Firkus. At the time I praised Goyette’s easy four-way mobility but said he “needs to prove he can produce without the space his junior play speed afforded him.”
Fast forward to today, David Goyette has played 20 AHL games, been scratched several times, and only has one goal and one assist to show for it so far. (For the sake of comparison, Jagger Firkus has six goals and eight assists in 25 games.)
What has held Goyette back? To me it looks like he is still trying to catch up with the pace of the professional game mentally. Similar in a way to the adversity Shane Wright faced in his early dose of NHL action in the 2022-23 season, you can almost see Goyette processing the play and responding, rather than anticipating and moving instinctually. This costs him a step or two, which is particularly devastating to him because it negates his greatest strength—the ability to beat players with speed and in space.
This inability to leverage his speed to create advantages also seems to have taken a toll on his confidence, as he is hesitant working through contact of any kind and frequently looking to defer rather than possess. (Here, again, his struggles remind me of Wright’s transition period.) Goyette is never going to be a grinder on the boards, but he is a non-entity when checked right now. During the run of play, he often defaults to floating off the puck, rather than pressing a play, which lessens his touches and overall impact.
These difficulties have taken a toll on his ice time and production. In the last few weeks he has not had a special teams role, and his even-strength time on ice has topped out in the 12-minute area. (This is an estimate; the AHL does not make time-on-ice data available.)
The silver lining here is that the pure movement skills are still evident, and presumably the creativity and playmaking that made him a standout junior player are still in there somewhere if he can start playing faster and can get himself the space to use those skills. Wright has more physicality and a broader skill set, but the template is there for a player to take a leap once he “gets it” at the professional level.
It has been a disappointing start, but I’m not writing Goyette off. Most players of his ilk spend a couple years at the AHL level before getting a shot in the NHL. If he can start putting things together over the second half of the season, he could lay the groundwork for a much more productive 2025-26 season in the AHL and be right on track. We’ll be watching closely.
The Kraken system after the Kakko trade
Earlier this week, the Seattle Kraken made waves by acquiring 23-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen and two draft picks, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round pick. Darren Brown covered the dynamics of the deal here.
From a system perspective, it makes sense to me that Seattle would be looking to consolidate its broad base of system assets into a potential impact piece at the NHL level. As we have covered in this space previously, the Kraken have as many high-scoring, high-floor prospects as virtually any team in the league. They have done well “hitting” on likely NHL players in the draft and undrafted free agency. But the team is still searching for true difference-makers. So, whether that means moving a few draft picks or a few top-10 prospects, I think the Kraken are wise to start taking swings, particularly on players in Kakko’s age range.
As for the 2025 draft, the Kraken still have their first- and second-round picks, as well as two fourth-round picks. So, the team still has plenty of capital to make further improvements—whether in making those selections or otherwise. If the season trends away from playoff contention before the deadline, the team will almost certainly be able to recoup the lost draft picks by moving “rental” players like Brandon Tanev, while still having Kakko under team control into the 2025-26 season. This was a fine piece of business by the team.
Looking ahead to the World Junior Championship
Last week we covered the eight Seattle Kraken prospects on national team rosters for the 2025 World Junior Championship. Since then, national team training camps have gotten underway in earnest. Team Canada played an exhibition game against Team Switzerland, and Berkly Catton scored. Canada has taken a long look at line combinations that paired Catton with Carson Rehkopf, though it moved away from that pairing on Friday.
Since we are unlikely to have another update before the tournament gets underway, here is the schedule of games. In the United States, NHL Network will carry all Team USA games and many others.
Last weekend, Team Denmark qualified for the 2026 World Junior Championship thanks in no small part to the contributions of Oscar Fisker Mølgaard. (That said, Mølgaard will be too old to participate in next year’s tournament.)
Let’s Get Quizzical
Kraken prospect Nikke Kokko has appeared in 10 games at the AHL level. He is one of only two goalies under the age of 22 to play that many games in the AHL so far this season. Can you name the other one? (Hint: There is a Seattle connection.) The answer comes later in the post.
Kraken prospect data update
With several prominent players participating in the World Juniors, it was a relatively light week of club hockey play for Seattle’s prospect pool. Andrei Loshko scored three goals and added four assists in his last three games, which earns him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.
Ollie Josephson hasn’t played since Nov. 30, 2024, which suggests he is likely dealing with some sort of injury.
The sample size is relatively small still due to injury and international play, but Mølgaard’s .67 points-per-game pace is impressive for a player his age in the SHL. The 19-year-old ranks third in points per game among all players 23 years old or younger in that league.
Kraken goalie prospects had anther strong week. Semyon Vyazovoy got two starts in the VHL (the second-level professional league in Russia) as he continues to look for more KHL time.
As mentioned above, Kokko is one of only two goalies under 22 years old to have started at least 10 games so far this season. The other? Former Seattle Thunderbird Thomas Milic.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Berkly Catton: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Andrei Loshko: 1
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: 1
Tyson Jugnauth: 1
Victor Östman: 1
Caden Price: 1
Previewing the week ahead
Here is your preview for the next two weeks of Kraken prospect hockey. Thank you so much for following along, and from everyone here at Sound Of Hockey, we wish you and yours a happy and restful holiday season.
Previous prospect updates
December 13, 2024: Three Kraken prospects make Team Canada WJC roster
December 6, 2024: Seattle Kraken goalie prospects progressing in the professional ranks
November 29, 2024: Data check in at U.S. Thanksgiving
November 22, 2024: Projecting the Seattle Kraken’s right defense prospects
November 15, 2024: Will an NCAA ruling change the landscape for Seattle Kraken prospects?
November 8, 2024: Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus is doing the little things necessary to succeed
November 1, 2024: ‘No days off’ approach for Kraken prospect Clarke Caswell
October 25, 2024: Kraken prospect Eduard Sale’s “tryout” in Coachella Valley is going well
October 18, 2024: Kraken prospect Andrei Loshko filling the stat sheet in the OHL
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
How good has the Eeli Tolvanen / Shane Wright / Oliver Bjorkstrand line been?
Head coach Dan Bylsma has experimented this season with sitting some players to send a message, often seeing dividends when they return. Today, we’re focusing on the “third” line featuring Shane Wright, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Eeli Tolvanen to see how this trio has jelled since Wright and Bjorkstrand were held out of the lineup for varying lengths of time. First, let’s look at each player individually.
Shane Wright
Earlier this season, we analyzed Shane Wright’s progression. At that time, Wright was doing the (W)right things but wasn’t putting up points, tallying just two through his first 10 games. Over the next few weeks, he still wasn’t producing, and his ice time dropped from 13:33 to a season-low 8:34 on Nov. 16.
Recognizing the need for a “reset,” Bylsma benched Wright for three games. The coach said this on Wright’s development: “He’s matured as a player over the last year and a half. But in training camp, he was playing his best hockey as a Kraken, and he just needed to reset and get focused on playing that way again.”
Since rejoining the lineup, Wright has been on fire, averaging a point per game with 12 points in his last 12 outings.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Before Wright’s healthy scratching, Bjorkstrand faced a similar fate, being benched for one game against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 5. Bjorkstrand struggled offensively early in the season, posting just five points in 13 games. Upon returning to the lineup on Nov. 8, he has amassed 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 19 games. More notably, 13 of those points came in the last 12 games, coinciding with Wright’s return.
Bjorkstrand is now on pace for 28 goals, potentially tying his career best. There are two key takeaways from this pace:
- In his previous 28-goal season with Columbus, Bjorkstrand averaged nearly 18 minutes of ice time per game. This season, he’s averaging just 15:27, highlighting his efficiency.
- Most of his production has been at 5-on-5. Bjorkstrand has only five power-play points, accounting for 23 percent of his total, compared to 34 percent over the last two Kraken seasons. During his recent 12-game scoring burst, four of his 13 points came on the power play (31 percent).
Eeli Tolvanen
Like Bjorkstrand and Wright, Eeli Tolvanen faced early season struggles. Though he hasn’t watched a game from the press box, Tolvanen had only six points through Nov. 23. Since Wright’s return, Tolvanen has recorded nine points (three goals, six assists) in 12 games. With eight goals on the season, he’s on track for his first 20-goal campaign, a possible career high.
Tolvanen has also seen a reduction in his ice time, averaging 13:34 per game—1:30 to 2:00 less than his average over the last two seasons. Despite this, he has still found success. He continues to contribute both offensively and defensively, maintaining his value on the ice.
Emergence of the third line
The Kraken coaching staff has experimented with different line combinations due to injuries, illnesses, and matchups. The Wright, Bjorkstrand, and Tolvanen line has now played together for 22 games, the second-most consistent line for Seattle this season. Per Moneypuck.com, they lead all Kraken forward lines with 4.15 goals per 60 minutes (minimum 50 minutes played). Defensively, they’ve been strong, allowing only three goals during those 22 games.
The most frequent line was Tye Kartye, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev, who played 26 games together but are currently split up as the Kraken search for a more sustained scoring threat.
5-on-5 play
Over the last 12 games, the Wright line has excelled at cycling the puck, forcing turnovers, and creating high-danger chances. All eight of their 5-on-5 goals during this stretch have come from the high slot or in front of the net.
Here are some example goals. From left to right: Bjorkstrand goal, Tolvanen goal, Wright goal.
These clips highlight the chemistry between the forwards and emphasize what coach Bylsma describes as “connected play.” Seven of their eight goals included either Wright, Bjorkstrand, or Tolvanen providing the primary assist. The lone exception was a deflection goal by Bjorkstrand off a Montour shot, but both Wright and Tolvanen were involved in winning the face-off and controlling the puck.
Power play
While this trio doesn’t play on the same power play unit, they’ve combined for 12 power-play points and seven goals during this span. Wright and Tolvanen, who both play on the second power play unit, continue to excel when on the ice together.
Ice time increasing
The trio’s success has resulted in increased ice time. Using Nov. 25 (Wright’s return from his “reset”) as the cutoff, here is each player’s average ice before Nov. 24, after Nov. 25, and an average of the last three games.
Will they stick together?
As this article was being written, news broke of the Kaapo Kakko trade, which could once again shuffle the lines. Injuries, game-day matchups, and roster changes ensure no line is ever truly set in stone. However, in the short term, the Wright, Bjorkstrand, and Tolvanen line has emerged as Seattle’s most productive combination. With all three on pace for career-best seasons, the hope is that this combination can stay intact and continue delivering results.
Despite their strong individual and collective performances over the last 12 games, the Kraken have gone just 5-6-1 during this stretch. For Seattle to find sustained success, they’ll need more consistent production from the rest of the lineup.
If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below or reach out to me on my socials. My handle is blaizg on multiple platforms.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
BREAKING: Kraken acquire Kaapo Kakko in blockbuster trade with Rangers for Will Borgen, picks
The Seattle Kraken made a blockbuster trade on Wednesday, sending defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft to the New York Rangers for 23-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko.
Hailing from Turku, Finland, Kakko is already in his sixth NHL season, having tallied 61 goals and 70 assists in 330 games—all with the Rangers. He has four goals and 10 assists this season. The best output of his career to date came in the 2022-23 season when he played all 82 games for the Rangers and posted 40 points (18-22=40).
Borgen, meanwhile, heads to Broadway where the Rangers hope he will help them shore up a leaky defense corps that has contributed to New York’s slide in the Metropolitan Division standings.
“Kaapo is a young, dynamic forward who brings skill and offense to our club,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “We’re excited to have him join us. I also want to thank Will for everything he’s done for our franchise. As an original member of the Kraken, we wish him all the best in New York.”
What the Kakko Kaapo trade brings to the Kraken
Kakko was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, and in the lead-up to that draft, there was even some discussion from pundits that he could end up supplanting Jack Hughes at No. 1. At the time, Kakko was seen as a developed skater with size and hockey IQ, ready to make an immediate NHL impact.
He hasn’t lived up to the sky-high expectations in New York, though, and with Rangers GM Chris Drury desperate to shake things up for his club, Kakko went the way of captain Jacob Trouba, who was dealt to Anaheim last week.
This trade for Kakko should help Seattle both now and in the future. He still has plenty of upside and a reasonable salary cap hit of just $2.4 million for this season. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the summer, meaning he will only be able to sign with Seattle but has some leverage in potentially incorporating a neutral party to determine a fair contract extension. We will talk more about that at a later date, but the point is that Kakko is likely to remain with the Kraken beyond this season.
This past week, Kakko found himself in headlines after he was surprisingly made a healthy scratch by Rangers coach Peter Laviolette on Sunday in what would turn out to be a 3-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues.
He publicly voiced displeasure with the decision, telling Mollie Walker of the New York Post, “I haven’t been on the ice too much when [opponents] score a goal… I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup.”
Interestingly, if you scour reactions from Rangers reporters, they seemed to agree that Kakko had not been the problem for New York. Vince Mercogliano of the USA Today tweeted, “Just my opinion, but this is a peculiar choice. If you’re going down the list of guys who have disappointed with their effort lately, I’d name at least a half dozen before I got to Kakko,” and Larry Brooks wrote on the same platform, “I don’t think Kakko has been at his best recently, but come on, he is the one singled out? Can’t be. This cannot simply be a run-of-the-mill healthy scratch.”
Our belief is that Francis made this trade looking for a player that can get to the inside to help create more dangerous chances for a team that has been starved for offense and looked incapable of generating chances the last two games. At first glance, this Kakko trade appears to be a win for Seattle, both for immediate impact and long-term potential, especially if he finds his footing in a new environment.
Best of luck, Will Borgen
It was fascinating to watch Will Borgen blossom from an unknown, oft-scratched blueliner in Seattle’s inaugural season to third-pair stalwart by the end of his tenure in Seattle. He played with an edge that few others on the Kraken carry and became a reliable player in all three zones.
During Vince Dunn’s extended absence, though, Josh Mahura filled in admirably and arguably performed better than Borgen during that time. With Borgen becoming a desirable asset around the league and playing on an expiring contract, packaging him now—well ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline—with a couple draft picks for a player of Kakko’s caliber and potential is a no-brainer.
We will remain big Borgen fans and wish him the best of luck in the Big Apple. We also worry for Matty Beniers, who will certainly be devastated to see his buddy and roommate moved on.
Sound Of Hockey will surely have more Kakko-related content in the coming days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, what do you think of this deal? Let us know in the comments.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Western Conference Wednesday – Kraken sinking deeper into a playoff logjam
We’re kicking off a new series here at Sound Of Hockey: “Western Conference Wednesdays.” Every other Wednesday, we’ll check in on what’s happening elsewhere in the West as Seattle battles for playoff positioning. Each edition will feature news and notes on teams competing with the Kraken for spots, what their current trends are, and how the Kraken compare in the standings.
As of now, the Western Conference is clogged full of teams just outside the playoff picture, with many failing to separate themselves from the pack. The Kraken have been playing some mediocre hockey lately, going 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, and if they continue that trend, it will get tougher and tougher to jump over teams in the standings. Seattle currently sits at 15-16-2, with 32 points, four points out of a wildcard spot and needing to pass three teams to claim the final playoff berth.
Teams that linger in the middle of the pack this far into the season often stay there or fade out of the playoff race entirely, especially if they decide to sell in advance of the NHL Trade Deadline. That said, a few teams can and have made late surges, like Tampa Bay last season, which was 14-13-5 on Dec. 18 before climbing into the first wild card spot in the East. So, while it’s not impossible for the Kraken to turn things around, they’ll still need a lot to go right to make a push for the playoffs.
But it’s still relatively early, and the teams ahead of Seattle are facing their own struggles. Let’s take a closer look at the teams currently in the mix with the Kraken, starting with the Colorado Avalanche.
Avalanche solving goaltending woes?
One of this season’s bigger letdowns thus far has been the Colorado Avalanche, who are currently tied with Calgary for the final wild card spot in the West. At 36 points, they’re four points ahead of the Kraken but would miss the playoffs if the season ended today.
The Avalanche’s offense hasn’t been an issue—they’re tied with Vegas for the second-most goals scored in the conference, with 108. Despite having less depth with their forward group than seasons past, stars like Nathan MacKinnon (leading the league in points) and Mikko Rantanen (fourth in points) continue to drive production.
What’s held the Avs back is largely their defense and goaltending situations. With six different starting netminders used since the beginning of the season, the most of any team in the league, Colorado ranks tied for second-most goals allowed with San Jose at 114. And with a league-worst .870 save percentage, general manager Chris MacFarland needed to make a change.
After swapping Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood on Nov. 30, Colorado acquired Mackenzie Blackwood from the Sharks for a few assets just over a week ago, which has fueled their more recent success of four wins in their last six games. So, Colorado looks more formidable now than it did a couple weeks ago, but the shallower roster has shown signs of wear and tear this season.
The Kraken will face the Avalanche on Sunday. Head-to-head has been tough for Seattle, which has lost three straight to Colorado, including a 0-2-0 record this season.
Avalanche record: 18-15-0; 36 points
Upcoming schedule: @ San Jose (Thu.), @ Anaheim (Fri.), vs. Seattle (Sun.)
Utah’s Finding Its Youthful Identity
Much like the Kraken in their inaugural season, it was uncertain how the Utah Hockey Club would fare with their new identity in a market still growing the sport. However, every game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City has been a sellout by its arena standards (the current hockey capacity is only 11,131), proving hockey is gaining traction in the area.
On the ice, Utah is holding its own in the playoff race, sitting three points out of the final wild card spot. Much of its production comes from youth, with former Seattle Thunderbird Dylan Guenther leading the team with 13 goals, and Logan Cooley contributing 19 assists and 28 points, both in 30 games played. The future looks bright for the young franchise.
Utah will make its first-ever visit to Climate Pledge Arena to face the Kraken on Dec. 30. Before that, they’ll play four of their next five games against teams currently ahead of them in the standings.
Utah record: 14-11-5; 33 points
Upcoming schedule: vs. Vancouver (Wed.), @ Minnesota (Fri.), @ Nashville (Sun.) // @ Seattle (Dec. 30)
Some shifting in St. Louis
The St. Louis Blues, like many teams fighting for spots, have undergone significant changes this season. After underperforming under then-head coach Drew Bannister, the Blues quickly scooped up Jim Montgomery after he was fired by the Bruins. The change has had an immediate effect, with the Blues going 6-3-2 in Montgomery’s brief tenure, in which they have outscored opponents 32-24.
This week, the Blues added veteran defenseman Cam Fowler from Anaheim for a second-round pick and Jeremie Biakabutuka, hoping to bolster their defense and help goalie Jordan Binnington. With defenseman Torey Krug out for the season and Nick Leddy’s status uncertain, this move was crucial for St. Louis’ playoff hopes. The Kraken won’t face the Blues for a couple of months, but they’ll need to keep an eye on a team that’s starting to find its footing.
Blues Record: 15-15-3; 33 points
Upcoming schedule: vs. Calgary (Thu.), @ Nashville (Sat.), @ Winnipeg (Sun.)
Other Headlines:
- Former T-bird forward Keegan Kolesar signed an extension for three years with Vegas, $2.5m AAV
- Defenseman Travis Dermott was placed on waivers by Edmonton and claimed by Minnesota
- Ducks forward Trevor Zegras will miss six weeks after surgery for a torn meniscus
Three Takeaways – Not enough from perplexing Kraken in 3-0 loss to Senators
The Seattle Kraken continued their perplexing ways Tuesday with an uninspiring 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators to close out a four-game homestand at 1-2-1. What I can’t explain about this team is how the players collectively seemed to have found—and then very quickly forgotten—their identity as a group that is stout defensively and opportunistic offensively.
On their recent 3-1-0 East Coast road trip and in two strong home performances against Florida and Boston, Seattle did a lot of good things at the defensive end of the ice and got mostly solid goaltending from both Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord. They also generated those crucial timely opportunistic looks offensively—enough to earn points on most nights.
In the last two games, however, the Kraken just… haven’t looked the same. The middle of the defensive zone seems more accessible now, and at the other end, they’ve struggled to create anything on the inside against the Lightning and Senators.
Plus, once Ottawa got a squeaker of a goal in the second period on Tuesday, the team looked more deflated than it has in a while, and the pushback was—as coach Dan Bylsma said—“Not enough.”
Here are Three Takeaways from an uninspiring 3-0 Kraken loss to the Senators.
Takeaway #1: Not enough of… anything
The Kraken were on their toes to start the game and fired 15 shots at a dominant Linus Ullmark in the first 20 minutes, but they got beaten at their own game. Much like how Seattle didn’t allow much inside from Boston in a 5-1 win on Thursday, it was the Kraken who were held almost entirely to the perimeter against Ottawa.
“We threw pucks [to the net], we had the shot on our mind, I think you saw that,” Bylsma said. “But I think Ullmark saw all of them. He’s a big goalie, he’s playing well. I think we probably had to get a little more dirty than we gave him.”
When pucks started going in Seattle’s net, the Kraken gave in in a way that we haven’t seen very often, fading quietly into the night. A group that has—at times—shown resiliency this season failed to produce anything for large swaths of the game. They didn’t get a single puck through to Ullmark for about 15 minutes—from five minutes left in the second period until 10 minutes left in the third.
It just… wasn’t good enough.
Takeaway #2: Not Joey’s night
In the post-game presser, I made the rookie mistake of giving my own analysis of Joey Daccord’s game in my question to Bylsma about the goalie’s performance.
Here’s what I said: “How do you assess Joey’s game today? From playing the puck to… he has some sharp saves early on, maybe a couple [goals] that were a little uncharacteristic for him. What did you think of his game tonight?”
Here’s what Bylsma said: “I think you just described it.”
I deserved that response.
Daccord wasn’t tested often in the first period, but he did have some tricky saves through traffic and redirected pucks that made me think he was very much on his game. He even created one of Seattle’s best offensive chances of the night, sending a perfect 120-foot aerial pass to the far blue line and onto Tye Kartye’s tape for a breakaway. Of course, Ullmark shut that down, but the signs were good early on that Daccord was dialed in.
Joey Daccord hits the alley-oop pass to Tye Kartye to create a breakaway, but Ullmark shuts it down.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 18, 2024
Insane pass by Joey. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/0rjha5DOBM
But in the second period, things went sideways for him. Shane Pinto scored with an unscreened shot that went through Joey’s five-hole, and Noah Gregor followed that up with another unscreened wrist shot that went over Daccord’s shoulder to make it 2-0.
Even Tim Stützle’s breakaway goal at 4:18 of the third (it’s a breakaway goal, so it’s hard to fault the goalie for that) hit Daccord’s stick and oddly popped up and over him. Aside from the goals, Joey had a few misplays with the puck that we haven’t seen in several weeks and generally didn’t look like himself from the second period on.
With Daccord having something of an off night, he sure could have used some goal support at the other end. But Ullmark wasn’t letting anything in on this night.
Takeaway #3: Give Ottawa credit
It’s easy to watch a game like this and just think Seattle looks downright bad, and at times, I think that was fair to say. But the Senators really played a good road game. They weathered the early pressure from Seattle by protecting the dangerous areas, got more excellent goaltending from Ullmark (who is now 7-0-1 in his last eight games), and took advantage of their chances.
The Senators are becoming a pretty good team. They happen to be hot right now and are playing excellent hockey.
Meanwhile, the Kraken have gone cold and are now playing bad hockey… again… which is still perplexing.
Bonus Takeaway: Other odds and ends
Just a few bullet points to close out this Three Takeaways:
- The Kraken looked like they really could have used Yanni Gourde’s energy on Tuesday. He is getting closer and was a full participant at an optional morning skate but still did not play. Hopefully, he will be back Thursday in Chicago.
- Jordan Eberle was spotted leaving the arena on crutches after the game. He has a long way to go in his recovery from pelvis surgery, but it was good to see him up and about.
- Brandon Montour made an incredible street hockey goalie save with Seattle’s net empty that perhaps got the biggest cheer of the night.
Brandon Montour with the WaFd Save of the Night! pic.twitter.com/5Aim1A4LzO
— SasquatchNHL (@SasquatchNHL) December 18, 2024
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
