After watching Seattle’s 3-0 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday, I’m starting to believe that the Kraken are good and that the Nashville Predators are truly broken.
It was tough sledding to break through against a razor-sharp Juuse Saros in this game, but Daniel Sprong rang the bell for the first time since rejoining the Kraken in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 8. Brandon Montour had a goal and an assist, and Chandler Stephenson pitched in with three assists to help Seattle secure its fifth win of the six-game homestand.
“You couldn’t ask for more energy this week or the last two weeks,” Montour said. “Guys are excited to see what direction we’re going in right now.”
All five wins, by the way, came with Joey Daccord in net. Continuing his stretch of exceptional play, Daccord was rewarded with his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career, turning away 24 Nashville offerings.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-0 Kraken win over the Predators.
Takeaway #1: The New Guys®
Both of the big offseason acquisitions—Stephenson and Montour—and the recent trade pickup—Sprong—had huge impacts on this game.
Let’s start with Montour’s performance. I’ve made a claim a few times on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast that Brandon Montour became Seattle’s best player when he signed a seven-year, $50 million deal on July 1. His performance on Wednesday supported that argument and showcased just how dynamic he can be in all three zones.
The first highlight-reel play Montour made in the game came when Gustav Nyquist got behind him for a breakaway. Montour sprinted back, caught up to Nyquist, and got shoulder-to-shoulder with him before wrenching Nyquist’s stick up into the air. The way Montour played it without getting a penalty was a work of art.
Deep in the second period, with the game still scoreless, Montour took a nothing play and suddenly turned it into something, while also looping Stephenson and Sprong into the action.
Philip Tomasino tried to force a clearing attempt up the wall, but Montour knocked it out of the air at the blue line. In an instant, he sent the puck back toward the net, where Stephenson had set up shop at the top of the crease. Stephenson showed his elite patience and vision by getting Saros to commit to him and—instead of shoveling it into the netminder—dished it backward to Sprong, who was left with an easy tap-in.
[Aggressively clears throat]:
🗣️ DING DONG! 🚨
Feels good to write that.
Insane pass by Chandler Stephenson, and Daniel Sprong rings the bell for the first time since returning to Seattle.
“When Monty threw it to the net, I was more going for the rebound first,” Sprong said. “And then Stephenson went to his backhand, and in a split second, I’m like, ‘I think it might come back to me.’ So, I was just ready in case it did.”
Montour wasn’t done there, and neither was Stephenson. On their first shift of the third period, Montour dished to Stephenson at the offensive blue line and took off, even though Nashville had numbers back. Facing a mismatched 2-on-3 rush, Montour beat the Predators defenders to the far post, and Stephenson made another outrageous pass, threading it around Josi’s skate and into a perfect spot for Montour to tip it up and over Saros’ pad.
THE FULL MONTY! 🚨
That’s two sick passes by Chandler Stephenson to create the two goals in this game. This time, Brandon Montour gets on the other end of it.
“As soon as [Montour] gave it to me, and ripped over the blue line, he said, ‘Yeah,’ he was calling for it,” Stephenson said. “He turned on the burners, and I just kind of delayed there for him. And so it worked out.”
After the game, Stephenson sounded a little down on himself about not scoring many goals and used the term “snakebit.” When asked if he considered shooting on the Sprong goal, Stephenson said, “Not with how things are going right now.”
So, goals aren’t going in for him, but he sure found a way to be impactful on Wednesday, as did the other “New Guys.”
Takeaway #2: Joey does it again
Daccord is quietly rising up the ranks in a lot of goaltending statistical categories, and by stopping all 24 of the shots he faced Wednesday, he improved to a .923 save percentage (good for sixth in the NHL) and a 2.31 goals-against average (eighth in the league). He’s also sixth in wins with nine and third in goals saved above expected with 7.6, according to MoneyPuck.
It’s almost sounding like a broken record when Bylsma gets asked after every game about how well Daccord is playing, but there’s no denying that he is playing exceptionally well.
This game was an interesting one because it really felt for a while like Saros was going to steal the show. But Daccord went toe to toe with the star backstop, got a little luck with a negated Tommy Novak kick-in goal and a post in the third period, and pitched his first shutout of the season.
“I was disappointed [Daccord] didn’t get the shutout in [a 3-2 win over the Islanders on Saturday], just because of how well he’s been playing,” Bylsma said. “And tonight, it was gratifying to see him get the shutout just to accent how well he’s played.”
As Daccord continues to play well, the team in front of him will only grow more confident. If the Kraken can find a way to win Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings, then look out, because this group could be in the midst of a major run.
Takeaway #3: What’s up with the Predators?
I’m not trying to take anything away from Seattle’s performance Wednesday because it was a strong top-to-bottom effort, but the lack of success for this star-studded Nashville roster this season is baffling. A team that already had superstars like Josi, Ryan O’Reilly, and Filip Forsberg added Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos over the offseason.
Yet, a quarter of the way into the season, Nashville sits at 6-11-3, just two points ahead of Chicago for last place in the Central Division. It’s a team that should be playing desperate hockey right now, and for much of the game against the Kraken, they were getting outshot by a 2-1 ratio.
I have to wonder if there are changes on the horizon for the Predators, especially when considering that they managed to get called for the rare “starting the game with an incorrect lineup” penalty and then got blanked to close out their five-game road trip with a 1-2-2 record.
By the way, on that call, Bylsma said the Kraken bench recognized during the national anthem that the guys Nashville had sent out seemed off because those players don’t normally play together. So, once the puck had dropped, they alerted the officials, and the penalty was assessed at the first whistle. You don’t see that every day.
The penalty didn’t really cost Nashville, but it did feel like a microcosm of just how out of sorts this team is right now.
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.
We always knew November would be a good opportunity to gain ground by accumulating points during a softer stretch of the schedule. While no game in the NHL is ever automatic, bubble playoff teams need to take advantage of matchups by banking points against weaker opponents. That’s exactly what the Seattle Kraken have done over the last week, earning six out of a possible eight points (and eight out of 10 if you include the game against Vegas last Friday).
I’m not ready to declare this team a playoff contender just yet, but the preseason forecast suggested they could be a bubble postseason team. So far, that projection seems accurate.
Their wins weren’t dominant by any means, but it was encouraging to see the Kraken handle business against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks. It wasn’t always pretty—when they fell behind by two goals to Columbus, I’ll admit I started to panic. However, the Kraken rallied and, for the third time this season, overcame a two-goal deficit to win.
The victory against the Islanders was a very different story. The Kraken struggled to generate quality scoring chances, largely due to the Islanders’ disciplined, defensively focused play. While it wasn’t a signature win, it was still a significant one, particularly against one of the better goaltenders in the NHL, Ilya Sorokin.
Ironically, the Kraken might have played their best game of the week in a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers. Playing on back-to-back nights against one of the league’s top teams, the Kraken came out strong and went toe-to-toe with the Rangers for most of the game. It served as a good benchmark for where the team stands, and overall, they performed well.
Eberle out
In case you missed it, Jordan Eberle suffered an injury during Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. He was able to labor off the ice, but the situation didn’t look promising, and he’s been out of the lineup ever since. Eberle is currently second on the team with six goals this season, and an extended absence leaves a significant hole in the Kraken’s lineup. November may be a softer spot in the schedule, but the team can’t afford to lose him for long.
Dan Bylsma didn’t make it sound like a long-term thing, but Sound Of Hockey did seem him on crutches at Climate Pledge Arena this weekend.
Need more contributions
The Yanni Gourde line continues to exceed expectations this season. It was especially great to see Gourde score on Saturday, even if it came in an unconventional way—catching a shot/pass from Tanev off his neck! That didn’t stop Gourde from celebrating the goal, and it’s emblematic of the line’s gritty, determined play.
This team will need more contributions across all lines if they hope to make a serious push for the playoffs. Andre Burakovsky has strung together his best stretch of games this season but has yet to find the back of the net. Since Jordan Eberle’s injury, Burakovsky has been playing alongside Matty Beniers and Jared McCann. That trio was the best line on the ice Sunday against the Rangers, controlling an impressive 88.3 percent of shot quality during their shifts.
Below is a breakdown of the shot attempts (excluding blocked shots) generated by each line in the game against the Rangers:
Burakovsky is overdue, and he’s looking increasingly confident. Expect him to break through with a goal or two in the coming week.
Other musings
The Kraken’s win against the Islanders on Saturday marked their second home Saturday victory of the season. Notably, they didn’t win any home Saturday games last season.
Joey Daccord deserves more recognition here. He’s been stellar in November, posting a 4-1-0 record with a .929 save percentage.
Even in their losses, the Kraken have been competitive. Excluding empty-net goals, 89 percent of their games have been decided by two goals or fewer—a mark tied for second in the league for the most games in that range.
Shane Wright played a season-low 8:34 in Saturday’s game against the Islanders and was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Rangers.
Coincidentally, Oliver Bjorkstrand logged his most ice time of the season on Saturday with 20:08 and followed it up with 20:46 on Sunday. Remember, he was a healthy scratch last Tuesday in Colorado.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are on a roll, winning their last five games, including a two-game sweep of the Abbotsford Canucks.
Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard returned to action Thursday for HV71 in the SHL, his first game since Sept. 21. While he didn’t score in his return, he notched two assists in his second game back.
It was a bummer that former Seattle Thunderbird Nolan Allan did not suit up against the Kraken last Thursday. The defenseman, a healthy scratch that night, has played in 14 of the Blackhawks’ 18 games this season. It’s been great to see his progress.
Ryan Donato continues to impress with the Chicago Blackhawks, tallying eight goals in 17 games. It’s hard to watch anyone score against the Kraken, but was there a more classic Donato goal than that one?
Some exciting news was announced Monday that the PWHL will be making a stop in Seattle this season. The Boston Fleet will play the Montreal Victoire at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday Jan. 5 in a neutral-site game. Tickets will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
Goal of the week
Eduard Sale is having a solid season with Coachella Valley Firebirds
Brandon Tanev (SEA) – Since last Friday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, “Turbo” has tallied four goals and two assists in a five-game stretch. He’s having a fantastic season and consistently provides a spark when the Kraken need it most. Nikke Kokko (CV/SEA) – The Coachella Valley Firebirds’ goaltender is off to a perfect start this season, boasting a 5-0-0 record. On Friday, he stopped 20 of 21 shots in the Firebirds’ 4-1 win over the Abbotsford Canucks. Ryan Winterton (CV/SEA) – The forward contributed one goal and two assists in two games against the Abbotsford Canucks over the weekend.
The week ahead
After playing four games last week, the Kraken face a lighter schedule with just two games over the next seven days. The first is a home matchup against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, who will likely be seeking revenge after a humiliating loss earlier this season when the Kraken scored seven goals in Nashville. The Predators haven’t lived up to preseason expectations but are coming off a 5-3 win against the Canucks. This game will serve as a solid test for the Kraken.
The second game of the week is a Saturday afternoon tilt against the Los Angeles Kings, a true benchmark matchup. If the Kraken are aiming to contend for a playoff spot, the Kings are one of the teams they may need to battle with for one of the final spots in the Western Conference. While it’s still too early to focus heavily on playoff positioning, the Kings, a playoff team last season, should offer insight into how competitive the Kraken can be moving forward. The Kings might also be without their regular starting goalie, as Darcy Kuemper was placed on injured reserve last Friday.
Earning two points this week would be sufficient, especially with a favorable schedule the following week featuring two games each against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks.
The Seattle Kraken faced their third set of back-to-back games of the season, this time entirely on home ice. The weekend featured matchups against both New York teams, with the Kraken coming away with two points after splitting the series with a win over the Islanders on Saturday and a loss to the Rangers on Sunday.
Kraken vs. Islanders (Nov. 16, win 3-2)
This game showcased the classic “bend but don’t break” mentality. The teams traded goals throughout the night, with neither holding more than a one-goal lead at any time. Both finished with about 20 shots on goal, but the Kraken emerged victorious, securing a 3-2 win.
Despite the final score, the Islanders had the edge in shot quality, generating 56.5 percent of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. At times, it felt like the Islanders might take control, but the Kraken held on. The Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, and Tye Kartye line provided crucial energy, while Joey Daccord delivered another solid performance in net, marking his fourth consecutive start.
Kraken vs. Rangers (Nov. 17, Loss 2-0)
Another close contest, but this time the Kraken came up short, falling 2-0 to the New York Rangers. The Rangers came out firing, recording the game’s first five shots before the Kraken found their footing.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken out-chanced the Rangers in high-danger shot attempts (HDSA), 10-7. Despite tilting the ice slightly in their favor, the Kraken couldn’t find the back of the net. Moneypuck’s “Deserve to Win O’Meter” gave Seattle a 54.8 percent chance of winning this matchup, but the scoreboard told a different story.
This weekend marked the Kraken’s third back-to-back set of the season, and the trend continues to be a concern. They have not fared well in any of the second games, going 0-3 and losing all three by identical 2-0 shutout scores.
Takeaway #1: Backwards weekend
Both games this weekend were closely contested and could have gone either way. Based on the Kraken’s performance, you might have expected them to lose to the Islanders and beat the Rangers. Instead, the results flipped. Take a look at the shot heat maps for both games—Seattle vs. Islanders on the left and Kraken vs. Rangers on the right:
The Kraken consistently got pucks to the front of the net against the Rangers, which is a strong indicator of long-term success, even if it didn’t translate into goals against on Sunday.
Takeaway #2: Goaltending tandem looked solid
I liked the coaching staff’s decision to start Joey Daccord against the Islanders and Philipp Grubauer against the Rangers. The reasoning was sound: knowing Igor Shesterkin started the Rangers’ previous game against the San Jose Sharks, there was a strong likelihood Jonathan Quick would face Seattle. Shesterkin is the better goalie, though Quick has been outstanding in his few appearances this season. By factoring this in, the Kraken coaching staff maximized their chances of winning at least one game—and it paid off, as they split the weekend 1-1 and earned two valuable points. Sure, four points would have been better, but let’s not get greedy.
Daccord was strong again, posting a .917 save percentage and saving 1.07 goals above expected to help secure the win against the Islanders. Grubauer, meanwhile, earned third-star honors for his performance against the Rangers with a .913 save percentage and two goals against. Unfortunately, he had zero goal support for the third time this season. Sure, the second goal Grubauer let in was one he’d surely want back, but it doesn’t matter if the Kraken don’t provide any offensive support. The loss against the Rangers rests squarely on the offense’s inability to produce in this game.
Takeaway #3: Wright’s line struggles to produce
Shane Wright logged a season-low 8:34 of ice time in the game against the Islanders. Head coach Dan Bylsma addressed the limited usage, explaining, “[Shane Wright’s] minutes in terms of the game was a lot to do with the flow of the game… Some of the decisions on the ice were due to the fact that we were dealing with a top-heavy [Islanders] group.”
In the following game against the Rangers, Bylsma made the call to scratch Wright in favor of recent call-up Ben Meyers. Regarding the decision, Bylsma shared, “The message [for Shane Wright] is, take a reset, watch the game tonight, which he did, and get back focused on playing the way you can play.” Credit to Curtis Isacke, who predicted Wright’s scratch in favor of Meyers on Episode 311 of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast early this week.
Unfortunately, Meyers didn’t fare much better centering the line with Daniel Sprong and Eeli Tolvanen, finishing with just 8:21 of ice time. With the other three Kraken lines generating offensive pressure, most of the ice time this weekend was spread between those three lines.
Watching Wright play, I’m not overly concerned yet. He’s getting to the right spots on the ice and hasn’t been a defensive liability. However, this line isn’t clicking offensively. Whether it’s bad luck or poor line chemistry, the puck isn’t finding its way to Wright—or the front of the net—when this line is on the ice.
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.
This is ‘Down on the Farm,’ a moniker borrowed from the Sound Of Hockey Podcast segment of the same name. We’re here to talk about the week that was for the Seattle Kraken prospect pool and get you an overall data update on where things stand.
Typically, we begin with a featured prospect, but this week I’m changing that up a bit to feature a question that could have implications for Seattle Kraken prospects next year and beyond. I’ll follow that with a shorter “feature” on Kraken prospect Caden Price before moving onto our other standard sections. Let’s dive in.
Kraken prospect question of the week
Q: Will the NCAA rule declaring CHL players eligible to play Division I college hockey affect any Seattle Kraken prospects?
A: On Nov. 7 the NCAA adopted a rule opening Division I college hockey eligibility to players from the Canadian Hockey League, effective as of Aug. 1, 2025. Until this ruling, a player who played even one preseason game in the CHL was no longer eligible to play NCAA hockey. This is in contrast with leagues like the BCHL and USHL, where a player could play and retain their NCAA eligibility. This dynamic forced young hockey players with professional aspirations into an early choice to pursue a college track or not. Since players in all junior leagues are now NCAA eligible, the hockey landscape is likely to see significant changes.
DI Council adopts rules change in men’s ice hockey & skiing, allowing involvement with pro teams prior to college enrollment (in line w/other sports), effective Aug. 1, 2025.
Decision is not final until meeting concludes this afternoon.
As for existing Kraken prospects, I don’t foresee any immediate seismic shifts, but it is possible we could see a few players currently in the CHL play NCAA hockey next year.
Players who have signed true professional contracts (like Berkly Catton, who has signed an NHL contract, or Zeb Forsfjall, who signed in the SHL) remain ineligible to play NCAA hockey. So, college isn’t an option for them.
CHL players not currently signed with the Kraken may have the NCAA option, though, regardless of their age. To date the CHL leagues have taken the position that only players who have aged out (20 years old-plus) can move to the NCAA. But most analysts believe that the contracts players sign with their CHL clubs will not prevent them from leaving to take an NCAA opportunity earlier.
This opens the door for players like Clarke Caswell, Nathan Villenevue, Alexis Bernier, and Ollie Josephson to consider the college option. Consider Caswell’s case, for example. He is currently averaging 1.7 points per game, near the top of the WHL in scoring. By the end of the year, he may reach the conclusion that his development would be hurt by remaining in the WHL for another year. On the other hand, he’ll still be too young for an AHL assignment, and it’s doubtful the Kraken would view him as a serious NHL option. Before this ruling, Caswell would have been trapped in a junior holding pattern. After this ruling, the NCAA option likely exists for Caswell.
I don’t know if any of these players would seriously consider the college avenue or if the Kraken would steer them toward or away from NCAA hockey. Right now I’m skeptical any existing Kraken prospects will move, but the landscape is changing quickly. At the least, it’s an option that did not previously exist. We will be monitoring developments in this area closely.
Featured Kraken prospect: Caden Price
Kelowna Rockets (WHL) | LD | 19 years old | 15 games played | 4 goals | 19 assists | 1.53 PPG
Kraken defense prospect Caden Price is off to a prolific scoring start for the WHL Kelowna Rockets. He has 19 assists in 15 games, and is near the top of the league in highest percentage of his team’s total assists. This is not entirely surprising since he is quick to activate, loves to have the puck on his stick, and is logging heavy first-pair minutes for Kelowna.
He has also scored four goals, including two in Kelowna’s matchup against the Spokane Chiefs last Saturday. His shifts from that game are excerpted in the video above. The game gives a solid snapshot of his ample offensive skillset with the puck through the neutral zone and his attacking mentality in the offensive zone. There were also examples of his defensive shortcomings, particularly with his footwork. He ended up lunging and diving to defend a handful of chances against Spokane. Berkly Catton beat him in one such case, and Price was lucky not to pick up a penalty or two in other instances.
Overall I’m optimistic on Price. He looks stronger and more athletic this season with an ever-improving offensive game. His 23 points are tied for first among defensemen in the WHL. And the tools are there to develop his defensive game over time. The arrow is pointing up on the 2023 third-round pick.
Most importantly: Price’s six points in three games since our last update earns him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.
Notes on three more Kraken prospects
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard
HV71 (SHL) | 19 years old | C | 2 games played | 0 goals | 0 assists | 0 PPG
The biggest Kraken prospect news of the past seven days is the return of Oscar Fisker Mølgaard to the lineup for HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League. Mølgaard was injured in HV71’s regular-season opener and missed 53 days with a lower-body concern. In his return to the lineup he had 13:05 time on ice, two shots on goal, and won four of seven draws. I suspect his play time and involvement will continue to ramp up over the next couple weeks, but it’s good to have him back out there for now.
Kaden Hammell
Everett Silvertips (WHL) | RD | 19 years old | 18 games played | 2 goals | 9 assists | 0.61 PPG
You may have heard: The Everett Silvertips are quite good this year. Everett’s 31 standings points lead the entire WHL, as does the team’s +41 goal differential. Kraken prospect Kaden Hammell is the Silvertips’ co-Captain and first-pair right defenseman. In that role he has an eye-popping +22 on-ice plus-minus. This is second in the entire WHL behind only teammate Tyler McKenzie. Over the last seven days he chipped in with some scoring too, potting one goal and adding four assists in three games.
Hammell is currently unsigned, and the Kraken face a June 1, 2025, deadline to get him under contract or the team loses its exclusive NHL negotiating rights. His situation is one to monitor as we proceed through the winter into spring.
Zaccharya Wisdom
Colorado College (NCAA) | RW | 20 years old | 8 games played | 2 goals | 4 assists | 0.75 PPG
Like the previously profiled Justin Janicke, Barrett Hall, and Ben MacDonald, Zaccharya Wisdom is a Kraken drafted player playing hockey in college, which puts him on a longer development path and extends the deadline for the team to sign him. His grinding play saw relatively few individual rewards on the scoreboard last season, as he posted only .67 points per game. (That said, he did score a mind-boggling four goals during the one Colorado College game I saw broadcast on ROOT Sports last year; check out all of his shifts from that game here.) In his sophomore year, the production has ticked up a bit; he’s at .75 points per game currently. Most significantly, he scored an overtime gaming-winning goal last Friday night to keep his Colorado College Tigers undefeated.
Mitchell Stephens, Max McCormick, and Jacob Melanson all missed Coachella Valley’s two games since our last update due to injury. Forsfjall returned to his SHL team’s lineup yesterday after an absence due to the U20 Five Nations Tournament. He recorded an assist in that game.
Ben Meyers is tied for the Firebirds team lead in points and continues to be the veteran engine of the team, particularly with Stephens and McCormick missing. He remains high on my personal “first recall” list.
Kraken goalies in the system won five of six total starts over the last seven days. Kim Saarinen didn’t get a start due to his attendance at the U20 Five Nations Tournament.
Overall, Semyon Vyazovoy continued his strong play as the second goalie in a tandem for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL. Visa Vedenpaa remains out.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Berkly Catton: 1
Caden Price: 1
Previewing the week ahead
The Firebirds have three games in the next seven days, including a back-to-back tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday). I suspect Niklas Kokko will draw one of those starts. Julius Miettinen, Kaden Hammell, and the Everett Silvertips take on their rival Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent tomorrow (Saturday). Ollie Josephson and the Red Deer Rebels visit Tyson Jugnauth and the Portland Winterhawks tonight (Friday) and then take on Berkly Catton and the Spokane Chiefs in Spokane tomorrow (Satruday). Mølgaard and Forsfjall clash in an SHL matchup tomorrow (Saturday).
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.
It was a win/loss kind of night for the Seattle Kraken, who won 3-1 over the Chicago Blackhawks but lost their captain, Jordan Eberle, to a lower-body injury.
The Kraken had a much better first period than in previous games, dominating play for most of the first 40 minutes before the Blackhawks pushed back in the third. Matty Beniers and Jaden Schwartz scored key goals, while Brandon Tanev added an empty-netter—his fourth goal in three games.
“The mindset with which we came out to execute was we made hard plays, we made north plays, and the result was getting to play in the offensive zone,” coach Dan Bylsma said.
Here are Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s 3-1 win over the Blackhawks.
Takeaway #1: Concern for Eberle
While the win marked Seattle’s third consecutive victory since snapping their recent four-game skid, the biggest storyline from this game was Jordan Eberle’s injury. The Kraken captain hobbled down the tunnel with assistance from the medical staff after an awkward crash into the boards.
Eberle was racing for a puck with Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy when the two became tangled, sending Eberle hard into the boards. Though he got up quickly, he was hunched over on his way to the bench and appeared to struggle as he headed to the dressing room.
Uh oh. Jordan Eberle with a VERY hard slam into the end wall.
The injury caused lineup shuffling for the Kraken, who rotated players on different lines, even experimenting with Shane Wright as a winger alongside Beniers at times.
“It created a situation where we used a couple different wingers, and as we saw, Wrighter stepped in and did a great job with Matty for a couple shifts there,” Bylsma said.
Whether Eberle will miss significant time remains unclear. Bylsma noted postgame that Eberle was still being evaluated. Interestingly, the Kraken announced during the game that Eberle was “unlikely to return” due to a lower-body injury, rather than immediately ruling him out entirely—a potentially encouraging sign. Could there have been some thought that he might return? Or maybe I’m just reading into that too much.
If Eberle does miss games, the timing is notable. Daniel Sprong, acquired in a trade with Vancouver but delayed by work visa issues, could debut in the upcoming games against the New York teams. A scoring winger stepping in as another scoring winger goes out? That might be fortuitous, albeit bittersweet.
Still, you hate to see anyone get hurt, especially a captain who’s been central to the Kraken’s success this season. Here’s hoping for good news on Eberle.
Takeaway #2: Ryker Evans was excellent
Flying under the radar in this game—though the broadcast gave him due credit—was Ryker Evans, who had the second assist on Jaden Schwartz’s game-winning power-play goal early in the third period.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
Great setup off the zone entry by Stephenson, career goal No. 200 for Jaden Schwartz.
I’ve been impressed with the young defenseman all season and believe he could develop into a top puck-moving blueliner for this team. On Thursday, Evans was especially sharp in all three zones and led all Kraken skaters with 24:33 of ice time. In those minutes, he remained calm, cool, and collected, making no noticeable mistakes.
It’s amusing to recall the criticism Seattle faced for drafting Evans as an over-ager in 2021, with pundits calling it an “off-the-board” pick. While there were other strong players available (Logan Stankoven comes to mind), Evans’ development into an every-game player suggests the Kraken’s drafting and development strategies are paying off.
Takeaway #3: A 60-minute effort
The Kraken have hung some crooked numbers on the Blackhawks in the past, but this Chicago team is improved, and goalie Petr Mrazek has been stellar in the first quarter of this season.
Though the score remained close, Seattle controlled the game from the start, something they’ve struggled with on several occasions this season. The Kraken outshot the Blackhawks 20-9 through two periods and held Chicago to just 19 shots overall. Old friend Ryan Donato’s fluky third-period rebound goal tightened the score (his eighth goal of the season—good for him!), but Seattle never gave up much defensively.
“The focus has been on our starts the last few games,” Bylsma said. “I thought the guys did a great job of coming out and—really, led by Matty’s line—they had the first couple shifts in the offensive zone.”
Seattle finished the night with 73 percent of the shot quality according to Natural Stat Trick. It was a solid, top-to-bottom effort that showed the Kraken are capable of taking care of business against inferior opponents.
Ding dong, Daniel Sprong is back in Seattle, or he will be as soon as his visa paperwork is processed. Sprong, a fan favorite in Seattle two seasons ago, scored 27 goals in 82 games for the Kraken, making his mark on the team’s offense.
But despite a career shooting percentage of 11.6 percent, Sprong has bounced around the NHL throughout his career, suiting up for six different teams. When it’s time for the Dutch winger to re-sign, teams—including the Kraken—have opted to let the sniper move on. The critique of Sprong’s game has always been his defensive play, or lack thereof. But he can score, and the Kraken know that finding consistent goal scorers in the NHL is no easy feat.
Sound Of Hockey’s own John Barr has already covered the salary cap implications in Monday Musings, so I won’t dive into that aspect here. Darren Brown also had a write-up following Sprong’s trade to Seattle. But I am curious to understand where he might fit into the lineup.
Ding Dong! Who’s there? The fourth line
Sprong was a key part of Seattle’s fourth line during the Kraken’s 2022-23 campaign. Rounding out the line were Ryan Donato and Morgan Geekie most nights, though others did rotate through. Despite bringing critical depth scoring, none of the three were re-signed after the 2022-23 season: Donato is now with the Chicago Blackhawks, and Geekie joined the Boston Bruins. While it might seem reasonable to assume Sprong will return to the fourth line, I have my doubts about whether that’s where he’ll ultimately play.
The 2024-25 edition of the fourth line consists of Brandon Tanev, Yanni Gourde, and Tye Kartye—all of whom excel on the defensive side of the ice. Tanev and Gourde are mainstays on the penalty-killing units, with Kartye often stepping in when one of the regular penalty killers is in the box. This defensive emphasis is what first raised my eyebrows about the idea of slotting Sprong into the fourth line, where the focus has shifted firmly to playing defense first.
Shift starts
With Sprong’s offense-first reputation, I took a closer look at how this season’s fourth-line trio—Kartye, Gourde, and Tanev—compares to the 2022-23 group of Donato, Geekie, and Sprong in terms of shift starts. All data in this article was gathered from MoneyPuck and is current as of Nov 13.
During the 2022-23 season, Sprong had a team-low 4.8 percent of his shifts start in the defensive zone. Overall, Donato, Geekie, and Sprong started only 7.3 percent of their 5v5 shifts in the defensive end. By contrast, this season’s fourth line of Tanev, Gourde, and Kartye has defensive-zone starts at 12.8 percent, jumping to 18.1 percent when factoring in all situations.
Neutral-zone starts can be murky to analyze since these face-offs can occur at center ice or near the blue lines, with four of the five dots being close to either the offensive or defensive zones, but still being considered neutral zone. This season’s fourth line starts 21.3 percent of shifts in the neutral zone, compared to 15.4 percent for Sprong’s line.
These percentages may seem small, but that’s due to hockey’s game flow. Roughly 50 to 60 percent of shifts start on the fly (meaning during play), while the rest begin with face-offs in the offensive, neutral, or defensive zones. When a player’s on-the-fly percentage is over 60 percent, it suggests the coaching staff is managing their minutes to control the situations they play in.
In this regard, Kartye, Gourde, and Tanev fall within the typical 50-to-60-percent range, with 56.6 percent of shifts starting on the fly. In contrast, Donato, Geekie, and Sprong had 64.1 percent of shifts starting on the fly; that’s the highest of any Kraken forward line, indicating that former coach Dave Hakstol was shielding their play to specific scenarios.
Third line
We’re still early in the season, and head coach Dan Bylsma continues to tweak the lines. However, one line stands out with a similar zone start profile to Sprong’s fourth line: the third line, currently featuring Andre Burakovsky, Shane Wright, and Eeli Tolvanen.
Burakovsky has moved around lines this season, currently starting 13.2 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone, which pulls up the line’s overall defensive-zone start average. In comparison, Wright and Tolvanen each start 9.6 percent of their shifts in the defensive zone. Both these lines have over 60 percent of shifts starting on the fly, feature the lowest defensive-zone deployment rates for their respective seasons, and show similar usage in offensive and neutral zones. This sheltered usage and shift-deployment model aligns with where the Kraken have seen Sprong succeed and could offer him the easiest path to playing time.
Adding a new player to the lineup always creates competition, meaning someone will have to sit or even be offloaded from the roster if everyone remains healthy when Vince Dunn returns from his stint on long-term injured reserve. The coaching staff has shown it won’t hesitate to scratch big-name players to make a point, as was recently done with Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Where will Sprong go?
We’ll see how this unfolds in the coming days and weeks. For now, Sprong is set to join the Kraken, and if he can replicate his scoring touch from his last stint in Seattle, there will be some tough decisions ahead for general manager Ron Francis as he works to keep the team under the salary cap. If Sprong doesn’t work out, he could be waived and potentially sent down to the AHL.
Where do you see Sprong slotting into the Kraken lineup? Who do you think will sit to make room for Sprong? Let me know in the comments below.
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.
The first period was terrible. The second period was excellent. That pretty much sums up how this game played out for the Seattle Kraken, who ultimately came away with a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“I don’t think anybody on the bench was happy with the way the first period was going,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “Maybe it’s a reset after the period [when the] 20 minutes is up, but I just… the response from the group is great to see.”
The fourth line came through again, Joey Daccord had a season-high 38 saves, and Seattle had its third two-goal comeback win of the campaign after never doing that last season.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken win over the Blue Jackets.
Takeaway #1: A tough first period against the Blue Jackets
Give credit to the Blue Jackets for how the first period went. The Blue Jackets, who entered the game on a five-game losing streak and were looking to salvage at least one victory out of their winless five-game West Coast swing, came out flying. Remember, this is a team that had a winning record before its current skid began, so there is some talent on that side.
They tilted the ice in Seattle’s direction for almost the whole opening frame, firing 18 shots at Daccord. For a few fleeting moments, it started to feel like the Kraken were going to get to the dressing room unscathed, but in the blink of an eye, the game developed into an uphill battle.
Sean Kuraly broke the ice at 13:46 after Zach Aston-Reese’s shot hit him in the pants, and he poked it over the line. In classic Kraken fashion, the Blue Jackets struck again 22 seconds later, when Kuraly returned the favor to Aston-Reese by winning a race and throwing the puck blindly toward the crease, where Aston-Reese deflected it in.
Here’s Bylsma’s explanation of the first goal: ”Coming out of D-zone coverage, we had a wall play that—from where our position was, the puck bounces over our stick, it gets taken back, and we’re executing off a skate, which leads to a turnover.”
Here’s Bylsma’s explanation of the second goal: “The second one is just a hard forecheck that we get beat on the rim around the wall. They sling it to the net, and they’re ready at the net, and we’re not.”
The “executing off a skate” comment on the first goal was in reference to a bad pass by Josh Mahura into the feet of Jordan Eberle that caused Eberle to cough up the puck. The “we get beat on the rim around the wall” comment was also in reference to Mahura losing the race for the puck and then getting bumped perfectly by Kuraly to give the CBJ forward just enough time to throw it into the middle.
It was a rough shift for Mahura and the Kraken. Bylsma called timeout after that to start settling things down, but the real reset happened at the end of the period.
Takeaway #2: An incredible second period
Even after the abysmal first period, I had a hunch that if Seattle could get one relatively early in the second and build some momentum, then the Blue Jackets would go away quietly. Yes, they were desperate, but teams on losing streaks like that often tend to be fragile and struggle to respond when a game shifts.
Whatever was discussed between periods in Seattle’s dressing room must have been pretty magical because the Kraken looked like a completely different team when they came out for the middle frame.
“[The messaging] was simple. It wasn’t good enough,” Brandon Tanev said. “It’s lazy, sloppy hockey, but I think at the end of the day, we had 40 minutes to figure it out, and I think we definitely did that.”
Seattle did figure it out to the tune of four unanswered goals in the second to gain control of the game. The fourth line with Tye Kartye, Yanni Gourde, and Tanev led the way yet again, with Kartye breaking the ice at 2:50 on a greasy net-front goal and Tanev scoring a beauty off a 2-on-1 rush with Gourde.
“Yanni… drove and pushed everyone back and cleared some space for me,” Tanev said. “And then it was just making a play. [I was] fortunate to get a puck and put it in the right spot for it to go in.”
I do love the way Gourde and Tanev worked off each other on that play. Tanev didn’t try to force a pass, and even with a strong back check from Mathieu Olivier, Gourde’s drive through the slot took all the attention away from Tanev and gave him plenty of space to cut to the slot and fire it home. This was Tanev’s third goal in two games, by the way, and the fourth line now has four of Seattle’s last nine goals since Kartye was scratched in Colorado, and the team subsequently traded for Daniel Sprong.
Eeli Tolvanen followed up Tanev’s goal with a power-play marker all of 10 seconds later, when Seattle executed a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play off the face-off that ended with Tolvanen tapping in a cross-crease pass from Eberle.
EELI GOALVANEN! 🚨
Beautiful setup, right off the face-off of the power play. Eberle finds Tolvanen on the far post, and the #SeaKraken score their third in a row and take a 3-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/QLpcMiVfp1
“Our first power play, we stepped over the boards with the mindset we were going to score, and that got us into the lead,” Bylsma said.
Seattle’s second-period surge marked a massive turnaround, helping the Kraken take control over the Blue Jackets.
Takeaway #3: Another huge night for Joey Daccord
Daccord deserves some praise in this one as well, because without him, Seattle wouldn’t have had a chance after that opening frame. In total, Daccord faced 40 shots in the game and notched an impressive .950 save percentage and 2.0 goals saved above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick.
As the Kraken have struggled at times this season, Daccord has quietly put together a fairly stellar campaign so far. On a team that is 7-8-1 through 16 games, Daccord is 6-3-1 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, good for sixth in the NHL among goalies that have played at least six games.
“It’s kind of been the script for us,” Bylsma said. “In the first period, when things were going a little bit haywire, he kept us in the match… kept it at two [goals], and gave us a chance to come back in the second.”
It’s becoming difficult to not view Daccord as the full-time starter for this team.
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.
If you are a frequent visitor to this website or listener of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, by now you probably know that Sound Of Hockey has set up a Patreon. It’s our firm belief that the podcast and articles on this website should be free and available to the public. But this project of ours is not costless, and that’s where the Patreon comes in and helps us make it all work.
In return for the Patreon community’s generous support, we periodically deliver extra content and benefits–including bi-monthly bonus podcasts, prospect videos, watch parties, meetups, ticket giveaways, and the like. I’m here today to publicize a new benefit that Sound Of Hockey Patreon community members will get access to this year: Data cards for all players in the Kraken organization–whether in the NHL, AHL, junior hockey, or elsewhere.
The long-term goal is to integrate these data features into the public website, but as we continue to build out the necessary infrastructure to do that, we wanted to get this information into the hands of hockey fans now and solicit feedback so that we can get you the best and most useful content. The Patreon is the best way to do that for now.
So, if you’re a Sound Of Hockey community member already, first, thank you! Second, look for the announcement post in the Patreon feed with next steps on how to get access to the Kraken Player Cards beta testing. (The cards have been stable and reliably updating overnight for the last couple weeks, but I’m certain there will be bugs and downtime to deal with along the way. I appreciate your patience on that!)
If you’re not part of the community yet, I don’t think there has ever been a better time to give it a try. Beyond getting access to the cards, a brand new bonus pod is scheduled for this week. Everything is happening. So, sign up here or use the link at the bottom of this post. Any new members at the $5.00 level will get access to the cards for the remainder of the season.
Genesis of the Kraken player cards
If you’ve followed my posts here, you know that one of my projects is tracking Kraken prospects as they navigate their way to professional hockey. Anyone who has tried to do the same knows the challenge involved. NHL prospects play in dozens of leagues around the world–many of which require specific streaming services to watch, if they are available to watch at all.
In an effort to bridge the gap for fans, I have made prospect videos–almost all of which you can find on the Deep Sea Hockey YouTube page. This year I’ve also started delivering weekly Down on the Farm reports with the goal of getting fans a little closer to the players below the NHL level.
Even so, there is far more that can be done. My goal is to build a Kraken organization data hub that keeps fans updated on a day-to-day basis. The data cards are an offshoot of my ongoing efforts to build that resource.
Kraken player cards explainer
The player cards are in Google Sheets. Unfortunately, there is no way for any one person’s scrolling to be viewable to that person only. Accordingly, I’ve made a number of duplicate sheets within the master file, accessible via the tabs at the bottom of the page (see below). Some have all Kraken players, some have only the NHL players, and some have only non-NHL players. They are labelled accordingly. If another viewer is editing the sheet you are looking at, pick a different tab at the bottom. This courtesy will avoid disrupting others’ viewing.
The cards themselves have five sections. Beyond that, each card has two additional resources at the bottom that I will also describe. Starting from the top, the cards begin with basic biographical information for each player. Most important here is that you can navigate from player to player via the dropdown menu accessed by clicking the downward carrot in the top-right corner (as indicated by the red circle below).
The information provided here is, I believe, self-explanatory but the cards have a full glossary if any clarification is needed.
Next up is a basic statistics section that has information for skaters and goalies no matter what level of hockey they are at. One exception is that TOI (“time on ice”) data is available for skaters at the NHL level only. A skater’s card (this one is Adam Larsson) looks like this:
If the player is currently playing at the NHL level, this field will show the player’s “NHL total” stats. For example, Daniel Sprong’s card includes his stats from Vancouver.
If the player is not currently in the NHL, it will show the player’s “total” season statistics below the NHL level, even if those statistics were accrued for multiple teams or across multiple leagues. (International or other exhibition play is not included though.) A minor league goalie’s card (this one is Kim Saarinen) looks like this:
After that comes a section with detailed on-ice and advanced statistics for NHL level players only. These stats are mostly from Natural Stat Trick. The skater card (again, Larsson) looks like this:
The goalie card (Daccord) looks like this:
Since these are less commonly used terms, here are the glossary descriptions:
The fourth section of the player cards provides summary contract information. Here is Berkly Catton’s card, for example:
Here, again, the glossary provides definitions and explanatory examples. Finally, the last section provides additional information on career NHL statistics, recent season data, and draft history, and also provides links to underlying data sources. This is Adam Larsson’s card:
Below each card is a space for links to “All Shifts” videos for the player (if I have made any). These videos contain all of a player’s on-ice time from a specific game. I believe these fulsome viewings are more valuable than highlight reals, which tend to accentuate a player’s scoring or strengths at the expense of everything else. Here is what this part of Berkly Catton’s card looks like:
The images are links to the videos, which can be previewed within Google Sheets or watched on YouTube. The vast majority of these videos are available to Patreon community members and non-members alike at the Deep Sea Hockey YouTube channel. Community members get early access to some videos though, as a benefit.
Finally, the page ends with summary tables to compare the selected player against teammates and/or others in the organization. Here is what the NHL skaters table looks like on Adam Larsson’s card:
* * *
Thanks to everyone who has looked at the cards so far and offered encouragement or given feedback. For those just getting acquainted, I’m looking forward to your feedback too (more information on that via the Patreon). Thanks for reading.
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.
