After a disappointing 2023-24 season, the Seattle Kraken organization made important changes to its leadership structure. On the one hand, the Kraken brought in two big-ticket free agents in Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour–advertising both for their on-ice exploits but also their leadership and experience winning Stanley Cups.
On the other hand, the team shook up the coaching staff by dismissing bench boss Dave Hakstol and allowing his top assistants Paul McFarland and Jay Leach to depart. Into their places stepped Dan Bylsma, Jessica Campbell, and Bob Woods–along with an expanded role for holdover assistant Dave Lowry.
Jordan Eberle told Sound Of Hockey that this year’s group has “a different vibe.” “New coaching staff, some new players added. All in all, a new re-energized group.”
That said, the coaches aren’t exactly unknown quantities, having coached in the organization at the NHL or AHL previously. Ryan Winterton noted that it’s been an easy transition on the players mentally because “You know all the drills already.”
The only exception is Woods–the coach the team has tabbed to lead the Kraken defense and power play unit. Woods has experience coaching alongside Bylsma, but is a fresh voice for the players with his own coaching style and schematic preferences.
So, I wanted to take a look at Seattle’s one true outside coaching hire this past offseason. I dug into the data and film from Woods’ recent six-plus-year tenure with the Minnesota Wild, and a couple things stand out right away about how he got his defenses to play.
First, his defenses limit high-danger chances with ruthless efficiency. Woods’ teams stay disciplined to the inside protecting the “house,” and are more than willing to concede outside possession and high-low passes to the point that result in low-percentage chances. No team forced teams into worse-quality shots on a per-shot basis than the Wild. This is a credit to the Wild players, of course, but it is also by their coach’s design. I’ll explain further below.
Second, his teams play fundamentally sound, error-free hockey. The Wild prioritized structure over aggressiveness, but when the opponent slips up or takes a poor shot, the defense moves the puck out of harm’s way effectively–limiting rebound chances, avoiding defensive-zone giveaways and botched puck retrievals. All of this adds up to a defense that was not only annually above-average, but by some shot quality metrics the best in the league during Woods’ tenure.
Without further ado, let’s get into Woods’ experience and how his defenses have performed. In a Part II post, I’ll get into the schemes Woods has used, and what it can tell us about how the Kraken will play this coming season.
Woods is a hockey lifer and championship performer
Woods, a native of LeRoy, Saskatchewan, grew up playing junior hockey in Western Canada. In his draft season, Woods was a point-per-game defenseman for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, and the New Jersey Devils selected him in the 10th round of the 1988 NHL Draft.
He spent parts of the next three years with New Jersey’s AHL team, the Utica Devils, before settling in as mostly an ECHL player after that. Ultimately, he would total 164 AHL games and 644 in the ECHL, but he never broke through to play even a single NHL game.
As his career progressed later, Woods admits he started shifting his thinking about his hockey future: “Hockey was always a big part of my life, and it’s something I had a lot of passion for,” he said in his introductory press conference to local media. “Once you get later in your career you start thinking about what the future looks like, and I knew I wanted to stay involved with hockey.” Thus, during the 1997-98 season–while still playing defense for the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the ECHL–he added a new role: “assistant coach.”
The next year Woods began a career-defining partnership. He landed with the ECHL’s Mississippi Sea Wolves as a player-assistant coach under head coach Bruce Boudreau. That team ended as 1998-99 Kelly Cup champions, but perhaps more important to Woods was the relationship he built with Boudreau and just how much he learned about coaching: “I got to be with Bruce there which was a nice start. I learned a lot from him [in addition to] the coaches that I played for,” Woods explained. (Woods also played under Barry Trotz and Gerard Gallant, among others.)
Though Boudreau left the Sea Wolves after that championship season, Woods stayed on as a player and assistant coach for two more campaigns before finally hanging up the skates after the 2000-01 season. He could still play–he led the Sea Wolves in scoring his final season–but he had a new opportunity with the team: head coach.
Woods helmed the Sea Wolves for five seasons–an important time when he developed all aspects of his coaching. “At that level, you have your hands on everything. You do a lot of different roles and you learn to be pretty efficient [delivering your message],” Woods said in an interview with KJR Radio.
With that experience in hand, Woods left the ECHL in 2005 to reunite with Boudreau as assistant coach for the Hershey Bears. The collaboration was again immediately successful. The two reached the pinnacle of AHL success, a Calder Cup, in Year 1. (Woods had earlier won the Calder Cup with the Bears as a player in the 1996-97 season.)
The partnership continued for another season-plus until Boudreau was hired as coach of the Washington Capitals midway through the 2007-08 season and Woods stepped into the head job for the Bears.
As it turns out, the 2008-09 season was Woods’ only full season as an AHL head coach, but it was a memorable one, with Woods and Hershey again hoisting the Calder Cup at season’s end.
From there, Woods climbed into the NHL ranks, taking an assistant job on Boudreau’s Capitals staff (alongside Dean Evason) in the 2009-10 season. After the Capitals fired Boudreau and his staff midway through the 2011-12 season, Woods moved with Boudreau to Anaheim, where they coached together for another couple of years.
In 2014, Woods left Boudreau’s staff to take a job as general manager and head coach of the WHL Saskatoon Blades. He held these positions for two years until he got a call from then-Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma with an invitation to coach the defense and power play for Buffalo during the 2016-17 season.
“This was too great of an offer to pass up,” Woods said at the time. Referring to Bylsma specifically, Woods said, “It’s a chance to work alongside a Stanley Cup winning coach who also coached in the AHL. It’s an example I’d love to follow.”
Unfortunately for Woods and Bylsma, their Buffalo stint ended after that season. Back on the open market again, Woods found his way back onto a Boudreau staff, now in Minnesota.
Woods would end up coaching defense and the penalty kill unit for the Wild for the next six-plus seasons–even through a transition in head coach from Boudreau to Evason during the 2019-20 season. Woods’ time in Minnesota ended on Nov. 27, 2023, with the team’s firing of Evason.
When Bylsma and the Kraken contacted Woods this summer, it seems it was an easy decision for Woods to reunite with his former colleague. “[Bylsma has] such a passion for the game,” Woods said. “He’s got a lot of knowledge for the game. He’s very detailed. He’s a guy that makes it fun to come to the rink. You know, it’s not a grind. You’re grinding, but you’re having fun doing it.”
Perhaps most significantly, Woods saw that he’d have an important voice in building the next Kraken contender. “[Bylsma] gives you a voice. I thought that was the thing for me [in Buffalo] is he really allowed me to be able to have more to say and more involvement and just grow as a coach. I just took it from there [and] it just helped me grow.”
Woods’ NHL defenses have been disciplined and productive
How have Woods’ NHL defenses fared under his voice? While he hasn’t been able to replicate his minor league championships yet, his NHL defenses have consistently ranked among the league leaders in just about every important metric during his time in the league.
During Woods’ six full seasons in Minnesota (2017 to 2023), his teams ranked seventh in goals against at even strength, and 11th in goals against overall. That track record is solid, but his teams’ performances get really impressive when you try to sort through luck and goaltending effects and focus on shot quality only.
According to HockeyViz and Evolving Hockey, Minnesota’s even strength and penalty kill units were above average in suppressing opponent shot quality every season during Woods’ tenure.
Add it all up, according to Evolving Hockey the Wild were the best team in the NHL at suppressing opponent shot quality at even strength (2.05 xGAA per 60 minutes) during Woods’ six full seasons. For its part, MoneyPuck has the Wild third during this timeframe (2.28 xGAA per 60 minutes), just narrowly behind Dallas and Boston.
How have Woods’ defenses accomplished this success? A few areas stand out. From 2017-23, Woods’ Minnesota teams:
Avoided defensive-zone turnovers (fewest giveaways in the league).
Efficiently recovered and broke out pucks (second best in avoiding “botched” defensive zone retrievals in 2022-23, according to All Three Zones).
Prioritized defensive structure over aggressiveness and physicality (seventh fewest takeaways; second fewest hits).
Eliminated the second-chance opportunities (second fewest rebound attempts against and fewest rebound goals and expected goals against).
Maintained shooting-lane coverage (ninth in blocked shots).
Most importantly, his Wild teams forced their opponents to shoot from the exterior. I’ll get into how his schemes are designed to achieve this outcome next time, but the numbers are extreme. No team in the league suppressed shot quality on a per-shot basis better than the Wild. Let’s break it down.
Woods’ Minnesota Wild teams gave up the fewest total 5-on-5 shot attempts that MoneyPuck categorized as “high danger.” On the other hand, the team conceded 10th most “low-danger” shot attempts.
Unlike the Bruins or Hurricanes, who aggressively tried to kill all shot types, Minnesota’s design was clear–protect the middle and concede the distance shot, which is unlikely to threaten. Then, clean up the rebound and break the puck out of the zone. This is further evident if we compare opponent shot quality with total shots against. Most teams appear along an apparent trendline, but the Wild under Woods were an outlier. They were willing to live with some shots provided they won the shot quality war.
Indeed, Evolving Hockey has the Wild conceding by far the lowest-quality chances on a per-shot basis in league. How extreme was the result? The difference between the Wild and the second-place team, Boston, was larger than the difference in average per-shot quality between Boston and the 26th-place team, Winnipeg, in this metric.
MoneyPuck is again slightly more conservative on the Wild defense but still puts Minnesota atop the league in limiting both high-danger shot quality and overall average per-shot quality.
HockeyViz creates shot heat maps that show where teams create or allow shots. From a defensive perspective, blue is good (it indicates the team is allowing fewer shots from that area of the ice than average) and red is bad (it means more shots). The more intense the color, the greater the impact, good or bad.
Minnesota’s defensive heat maps during Woods’ tenure show the unmistakable common trend we found in the data above–fewer dangerous chances in the slot; more from outside. (Note that the 2023-24 heat map only covers the time when Woods and Evason were still coaching the Wild.)
Of course, we should be cautious to avoid allocating all of the “credit” for this success to Woods. Head coaches have the last word on systems and philosophies, of course. But the consistency in the results across multiple head coaching administrations (Boudreau, Evason) does underscore Woods’ role.
More importantly, we cannot discount that the Wild have good players, particularly on defense. Indeed, the team’s performance limiting high-danger chances the year before Woods arrived (the 2016-17 season) and during the partial season after Woods’ firing were pretty similar to the results above. On the other hand, that sample around the margins of Woods’ tenure is much smaller than the six-plus seasons of excellence described above.
Furthermore, talent alone does not always equal production, particularly defensively. When introducing Woods in July, Bylsma hinted that Woods had the benefit of good players in Minnesota, but framed Woods’ ability to connect with star players as one of the coach’s strengths. “Bob has coached . . . some pretty big-named [defensemen] and [has been] able to establish a relationship with those guys and get them to play their best.
“I think [the] good thing about Bob is you’ve seen him do it with lots of different types of [defensemen] in the game. Carlson, Fowler, Suter, Spurgeon, they’re all in different spots. They’re all different players, [and Woods has] been able to establish a relationship with all those players and get them playing their best.”
Woods’ adaptability, attention to detail, and the relentless efficiency of his defensive approach made the Minnesota Wild very difficult to beat the last seven seasons. How did he draw up his defenses and what can we expect in Seattle? We’ll turn to those questions next time.
Woods’ resume coaching the power play is short but positive
Bob Woods wasn’t responsible for coaching the power play unit during his time in Minnesota. Instead, he coached the penalty kill and did so effectively. Minnesota was above average in suppressing opponent shot quality when the Wild were on the PK in every full season Woods was there before slipping in his final partial season before his firing.
Woods last coached an NHL power play alongside Bylsma in Buffalo, and he also did that with strong results. Woods’ power play unit was first in the league in goals scored per 60 minutes and ninth in expected goals per 60 minutes. These results stood in marked contrast to the team’s even strength offense (not coached by Woods), which checked in at 28th (third worst) in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes and 24th (seventh worst) in expected goals per 60 minutes.
Again using HockeyViz visuals, we can see that the power play was more effective at generating high-danger chances (darker yellow) relative to average than the even-strength offense, which struggled to create shots overall.
Woods’ year in charge of the power play also stands in contrast to the seasons before and after his tenure. According to HockeyViz, Buffalo’s power play unit was 10 percent above average at generating shot quality in Woods’ 2016-17 season, but below average in shot quality in both the 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons.
That said, again, there is no denying that Woods was working with talent on the ice. There were elite offensive talents in Buffalo, including Jack Eichel. But in his introductory press conference, Woods was quick to downplay the need for a singular offensive talent to run a power play: “I don’t think you have to have the superstars [to succeed on the power play]. It definitely helps and creates that little bit more threat, but I think if you have five guys out there on the same page with a mission and a plan I think you can create a lot of good opportunities.” That work has begun in Seattle.
As mentioned, I’ll return with a follow-up post shortly that gets into the defensive schemes Woods deployed in Minnesota to achieve the results described above. I’ll also touch on what we’ve seen in the preseason and what we can expect from Seattle moving forward.
Do you have any other questions you would like to see addressed? Drop a note below or contact us X, formerly known as Twitter @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
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.
The Kraken lost again Monday, 4-3 in overtime, to the Calgary Flames, who remain undefeated in their meaningless preseason games. The story of this one was Seattle’s lack of punch on the power play, which had been showing signs of promise. Thankfully, Shane Wright finally broke through with the man-advantage on the Kraken’s sixth (!!!) power play of the night, which led to a fake loser point in the fake standings.
Andre Burakovsky returned from a minor injury, and Vince Dunn got his first game action of the preseason.
Here are our Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Flames.
Takeaway #1: Power play finally adjusts
It was frustrating to see the Kraken get power play after power play in the second period, including what should have been an extended 5-on-3 (though that was mostly negated by Wright flinging Rasmus Andersson’s stick up into the rafters of the Saddledome) and continually fail to convert.
It was even more frustrating to see 19-year-old forward prospect Samuel Honzek burn around Dunn like he was a cone and then dangle past Joey Daccord’s poke check, tucking in a shorthanded goal to make it 3-2 Flames.
While there was still plenty of player movement with the man advantage, the passing wasn’t very crisp for most of the opportunities. It seemed like the Kraken were trying to force passes through seams that weren’t there, resulting in turnovers and easy clears for Calgary.
After John Hayden drew a holding-the-stick penalty on Blake Coleman with seven seconds left in the second period, Seattle clearly addressed what was happening on the power play during intermission.
When they emerged from the dressing room, they funneled more pucks toward Flames goalie Dan Vladar and stopped forcing passes through the middle. After Vladar got bumped and lost his stick (he argued for goalie interference), Wright finally got a handle on a Burakovsky rebound and fired it in for his first goal of the preseason.
While we’ve been singing the praises of Seattle’s new and improved power play during this preseason, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. It was good to see an in-game adjustment, though.
Takeaway #2: Mixed results for Dunn, Burakovsky
The team has been markedly cautious with Dunn, who missed 23 games with injury in 2023-24, including the last seven games of the season. Before Monday, he had been a full participant in everything but had not yet skated in a preseason game.
He had some good moments where he looked fast and dynamic and nearly scored a buzzer-beater at the end of the second period, ringing a slap shot loudly off the post. He also had the second assist on Wright’s power-play goal and looked confident as the quarterback during the sequence that led to the tally.
But Dunn also had some not-so-good moments, getting torched by Honzek on his shorthanded goal and looking confused when he got caught in a partial 2-on-1 rush between Andrei Kuzmenko and Nazem Kadri in overtime. That one ended up in the back of Seattle’s net and ended the game.
Dunn led all Kraken players with 23:32 of ice time. He finished the night minus-two with one assist and one shot on goal.
Burakovsky, meanwhile, was Seattle’s best player when he last dressed for a game on Sept. 24 against the Canucks. But since then, he took multiple “maintenance” days and even donned a red non-contact jersey for a practice, raising more questions about his always tenuous health. So, it was good to see him back in the lineup, which indicates that he is fully healthy (the team wouldn’t rush him back from anything during preseason).
He didn’t look as dominant to me in this game as he did against Vancouver, but he still had an impact with the primary assist on Wright’s goal and started the play that led to Eeli Tolvanen’s marker off a beautiful Chandler Stephenson pass three minutes into the game.
Takeaway #3: A nice night for Wright
I liked Shane Wright’s game Monday. He’s looked confident and ready for full-time NHL duties throughout the preseason, but he seemed even more settled against Calgary, especially later in the game. Aside from his goal, he made several sneaky little passes that created opportunities for teammates, and he led all Kraken players with four shots on goal.
Seattle is banking on Wright to be a key contributor as a rookie this season, and this game gave me more confidence that he’s ready for that kind of role.
Bonus Takeaway: That was a sick pass by Stephenson
I don’t have much to say here, other than when passes like this work, they look really awesome. This one worked. And it looked awesome.
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 are now just days away from the Seattle Kraken’s regular-season opener. The Kraken are currently 1-3 this preseason, with two games remaining. I view preseason games as intense practices; everyone is still figuring things out and learning new systems. If you’re worried about preseason results, keep in mind that the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche are a combined 0-7-0 this preseason.
Curious case of Eduard Sale
It was nice to see the Kraken’s first-round selection from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Eduard Sale, score on Saturday night. Sure, it’s just a preseason game, but Sale’s transition to North American hockey has been challenging, so any bright spots are great to see. I think he has looked more comfortable this preseason than some of the other Kraken prospects from his draft year, but you always want your first-round picks to stand out more than Sale has shown to date.
HIP! HIP! SALE! 🚨
Eduard Sale’s first in #SeaKraken colors comes after impressive movement on the power play and an absolutely FILTHY saucer pass by Ryan Winterton.
Last season, Sale began playing for the Barrie Colts of the OHL. It was his first time playing for a team outside his home country, so you can understand the challenges an 18-year-old faces when playing in a foreign environment for the first time. He is the lone remaining rostered prospect who could be sent back to juniors, but the Kraken have some options for where they could send him. We covered this extensively last year with Shane Wright, but normally, 19-year-old CHL players must either play in the NHL or be sent back to their CHL teams.
Because Sale was drafted while playing in the Czech Extraliga, that clause in the NHL-CHL development agreement doesn’t apply. With Sale, the Kraken have the option to send him to the AHL this coming season, a possibility that looks more and more likely. It worked for Wright last season, so it could work for Sale this season.
Roster spot and cap space
The Kraken remain very close to the salary cap, with less than $5,000 of cap space if they were to fill 21 of the 23 maximum roster spots. They simply cannot add a 22nd or 23rd player. This seems like a risky position to be in at the start of the season. I’ve speculated that a trade was imminent, but trades are rare this close to the season, so carrying just one extra player might be the plan.
Coming into camp, I felt that the final roster spot would come down to Josh Mahura, Ben Meyers, or John Hayden. All three have played well enough to justify their spots, but there can be only one, and it’s possible that all three could be put on waivers to be assigned to Coachella and accrue some cap space for the start of the season. There’s also a scenario where Ryan Winterton makes the team to start the season, but unless there’s an injury, he’s unlikely to crack the starting lineup, so it might make more sense for him to play in the AHL. He also does not require waivers to get to Coachella Valley.
Checking in on Karson Kuhlman
Karson Kuhlman only played 39 games for the Kraken over two half-seasons. I always had a soft spot for Kuhlman. He was a waiver claim during the inaugural season and even came on our podcast for a fun interview. He worked hard on the ice, and, in my opinion, scored one of the most important regular-season goals in season two. During the Kraken’s impressive 2022-23 season, they had a 1-2-2 record heading into their sixth game of the campaign, facing the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche.
The season was starting to feel like a repeat of Season 1. The scrappy Kraken were up 2-1 in the third when they allowed a shorthanded goal seven minutes into the period. Kuhlman scored six minutes later, and the Kraken held on to win. The Kraken would go 6-3-1 over their next 10 games. That was Kuhlman’s only goal with the Kraken that season. He was eventually put on waivers and claimed when Seattle needed to make room for Eeli Tolvanen, a waiver claim of their own.
Kuhlman played the rest of the season for the Winnipeg Jets and the entire 2023-24 season with the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL. This season, he took his talents to Finland, signing with Lukko in Liiga. He’s off to a great start with two goals and four assists in his first seven games.
Other musings
We got our first look at Brandon Montour last week, and he’s coming in as advertised. His willingness to activate offensively should open some doors for other Kraken players. He had 16 shot attempts in his two preseason games—the most of any Kraken player.
He’s unlikely to make the opening-day roster, but Jacob Melanson has impressed me this preseason. Melanson flies a bit under the radar but appears closer to the NHL than I expected. He’s the type of player who can step into a fourth-line role without sacrificing his development. He had a goal in the game against Edmonton on Saturday, but go back and check his board play here to set up the Meyers goal.
We didn’t get to see much of Jani Nyman, but he did show off his powerful shot in his lone preseason game on Friday against the Vancouver Canucks. Nyman was assigned to the Firebirds on Saturday. He’ll be a fun one to watch in Coachella Valley this season.
Another player assigned to Coachella Valley was Lleyton Roed. Roed caught our attention as early as last spring when he played in the Calder Cup Finals with Coachella. If you haven’t checked out this profile piece on him, do it!
In case you missed it, the LA Kings will be without their top defenseman to start the season. Drew Doughty fractured his ankle in a preseason game last week. Doughty was second in the league in time on ice per game and led the Kings in power-play time last season. I’ve speculated that the Kings might take a step back and miss the playoffs this season, and this injury won’t help their chances.
The NHL regular season actually starts Friday, when the New Jersey Devils play the Buffalo Sabres in the first of two games in Czechia as part of the NHL Global Series. They play at 10 a.m. Pacific on Friday and 7 a.m. on Saturday. Sounds like a great way to start the weekend.
Also coming up this weekend is Faceoff: Inside the NHL, the docuseries on Prime Video. This six-part series is produced by the same company behind F1: Drive to Survive. If you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, put this at the top of your list—should be some great hockey content!
Micah Blake McCurdy just released his point projections for the 2024-25 season. It’s not a straightforward binary projection, but McCurdy’s mean projection puts the Kraken fourth in the Pacific Division.
I’m probably in the minority, but I love the 1:30 p.m. start time for next Tuesday’s opening day. There’s nothing I’d rather take a half-day off work for than hockey.
Did anyone see that reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck, allowed eight goals on 29 shots in Winnipeg’s preseason game against Minnesota on Friday? Just thought I’d point that out if anyone’s worried about a goalie’s preseason performance.
Goal of the week
Despite being sent back to his junior team, we are still keeping an eye on Andrei Loshko.
Porter Martone – A consensus top-five draft pick for the 2025 NHL Draft, Martone recorded one goal and five assists in his first two games of the season for the Brampton Steelheads of the OHL.
Michael Misa – Another high-end prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft, Misa tallied seven goals and one assist in his first three games with the Saginaw Spirit.
Matvei Michkov – The highly regarded Russian prospect, selected seventh overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, has three goals and three assists in three preseason games for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers visit Seattle on Oct. 17. He should be exciting to watch.
The week ahead
The Kraken have two final preseason games this week. With most junior players sent back to their respective teams and several others assigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, expect the Kraken to field a roster that will resemble their starting lineup next Tuesday. If there’s one thing I’d like to see in these last two preseason games, it’s some production from Shane Wright, Matty Beniers, and Jared McCann. All three have looked fine but have yet to make it onto the score sheet. Also, keep an eye out for Andre Burakovsky to return to the lineup and Vince Dunn to make his preseason debut. Both players will be key to the Kraken’s success this season.
With less than eight days to go, who’s ready for some regular-season hockey?
The Kraken lost 5-4 to the Oilers on Saturday in what would have been a crushing and embarrassing defeat if it were a regular-season game. Thankfully, this was just a meaningless preseason contest, so none of us need to lose sleep over it.
After conceding another early goal, just like they did last Sunday at home against the Calgary Flames, the Kraken bounced back and took control for a while, even briefly holding a two-goal lead late in the second period. But they gave up the dreaded response goal just 27 seconds later, and it was all downhill from there.
Still, there are some positive signs from this team. We have yet to see a full NHL lineup iced by the Kraken, and yet they’re showing significant progress in how they are playing.
Here are our Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s 5-4 preseason loss to the Oilers.
Takeaway #1: Tough night for Grubi
So far, it’s safe to say Joey Daccord has looked better in the preseason than Philipp Grubauer. After Grubauer’s first outing against Calgary last Sunday—where he seemed to be trying to catch up to game speed—he did look better for most of the game Saturday against the Oilers. There were some strong sequences in which he challenged shooters and tracked the puck well, kicking rebounds past crashing Edmonton forwards and recovering in time to stop the second and third waves of shooters.
But there were also a couple of gaffes, especially on the game-winning goal by Raphael Lavoie—the fifth goal allowed by the Kraken netminder on that night. On that one, Lavoie was in a good shooting position, but it was an unscreened, undeflected shot that slipped right through Grubi’s wickets at a key moment in this meaningless contest. You could tell from his reaction that Grubauer knew he should have had that one.
We chatted with Grubauer after the morning skate on Saturday, and he definitely sounded like he wanted more game action to continue ramping up. He did look sharper Saturday than last Sunday, so it was mostly a step in the right direction. Hopefully his final outing of the preseason (probably coming Wednesday at home) will be sharper still.
Grubauer finished the night with 31 saves, good for an .861 save percentage.
Takeaway #2: Kraken power play shows more signs of life
Over the past few seasons, the Kraken power play has gotten so stagnant. The players didn’t move around much last season, and as the campaign progressed, it felt like things only got more predictable. However, what we’ve seen from the power play in the last couple of games has been exciting. The players are moving a lot, and it seems to be throwing off opposing penalty killers.
On this night, it wasn’t even a full NHL-caliber power play that got the job done. Instead, it was a mix of prospects and projected AHLers who whipped the puck around the offensive zone before 2023 first-round draft pick Eduard Sale got his first goal in Kraken colors.
It was a beautiful play. Brandon Biro took a pass on the left half-wall and started moving toward the net to draw defenders. He dished it down low to Ryan Winterton, who then tossed a perfect saucer pass up and over a sprawled Mattias Ekholm, dropping it right onto Sale’s tape.
The power play only converted once, but seeing production and positive signs at this stage of the preseason gives Kraken fans reason to hope for continued success with the manpower advantage during the regular season.
It’s worth noting, however, that the power play allowed a short-handed goal to Vasily Podkolzin that tied the game 4-4 in the third period. But, as the Kraken social media admins would say, it’s preseason, so that didn’t count.
I’ve previously hypothesized that the battle for the last roster spot(s) seems to be boiling down to Winterton, Ben Meyers, and John Hayden. After an outstanding game Friday against Vancouver, Winterton was right back in the lineup Saturday, as was Meyers. Hayden also returned to action after making his physical presence known in Tuesday’s game against the Canucks.
All three players had an impact on the game Saturday, with Winterton beautifully setting up Sale’s goal in the first period, Hayden driving hard to the net and getting rewarded for it in the second, and Meyers looking off Biro and scoring off a 2-on-1 in the second period, while also adding a second assist on Jacob Melanson’s tally in the first.
Who coach Dan Bylsma ultimately picks to stay with the team out of training camp remains about as clear as mud.
What’s interesting, though, is that while I’m less convinced the Kraken will make a trade to become cap compliant than I was previously, Seattle is showing it has depth players who could theoretically backfill in the lineup if a player like, say, Brandon Tanev were to be dealt. Continue to keep an eye on this battle for roster spots.
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.
As far as preseason games go, that was a fun one for Seattle Kraken fans. The team looked more in sync than it did in either of the two previous outings, and the big-ticket offseason acquisitions looked excellent in their respective home debuts. But the story of this game was the performances of a couple of youngsters looking to at least leave a lasting impression and perhaps even carve out roster spots for themselves, either now or in the near future.
Eeli Tolvanen deflected home an Adam Larsson point shot at 4:02 of the first period, Brandon Montour got a nice bounce on an ugly shot at 18:41 of the first, and Ryan Winterton got his first goal in Kraken colors at 3:45 of the second. Joey Daccord had a few adventures playing the puck but otherwise looked solid with 18 saves.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 3-1 Kraken preseason win over the Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Brandon Montour is good
I was impressed by Brandon Montour’s game in Seattle’s 3-1 loss at Vancouver on Tuesday, but I watched that game from afar, so I perhaps didn’t get the full effect. Seeing Montour fly all over the ice live and in person on Friday was both exciting and encouraging—it shows that this team really has significantly improved in the offseason.
Montour brings multiple elements that no other Kraken player offers. Best friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Alison Lukan, often talks about “position-less hockey,” and Montour exemplifies that with how every time he’s on the ice, he seems to pop up on the puck no matter where it is.
Yes, he’s a right-shot defenseman, but that doesn’t mean he’s always playing right defense. He jumps up in the play, swings to the left, swings to the right, goes down low, stands guys up at the blue line… Basically, if he has a chance to win a puck, he’s going to go for it and rely on his elite mobility to get back if he misses.
He scored a lucky, flopping-puck goal Friday that caromed in off the back of Derek Forbort, but he could have had a couple more, including a one-timed rocket that rang loudly off the post in the third period. Because, by the way, he also has a VERY heavy slapshot.
As if I haven’t gushed about the guy enough, I do want to point out that Montour also quarterbacked the top power-play unit on this night, and—at the risk of being too hyperbolic—that group looked arguably more dynamic than any power play ever looked for the Kraken last season. The players moved, the puck moved, and dangerous chances were created.
“Nobody’s really played with each other at all,” Montour said. “So, get the confidence, we’re moving the puck, everyone can shoot on both units. We created a lot of chances, and the more we get repetitions and play with each other, the better we’re going to get.”
It was interesting hearing him talk after the game because he made it sound like he hadn’t really gotten his bearings in Seattle yet.
“I’ve only played in this rink I think two or three times, maybe, so obviously it’s nice,” Montour said. “This is my first time actually here [at Climate Pledge Arena] since we’ve been in Seattle. This is my first time kind of making this drive downtown, as well, so we’ll get used to it. I’ll have the Wayz app probably until the new year, I assume.”
Montour also joked that, coming into the arena, he had to look up where he was supposed to park his car and ask the security officer on duty how to get to the locker room.
Although Montour may have been lost trying to find his way into the Kraken dressing room, he looked very much at home on the ice. In total, Montour had 21:17 of ice time, led all players in the game with five shots on goal, was plus-2, and scored what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Takeaway #2: Chandler Stephenson also makes a good first impression
The other big offseason acquisition was center Chandler Stephenson, who made his preseason debut Friday. While the reaction to Stephenson’s contract was mixed, with the analytics community largely trashing the deal, the eyeball test told me on Friday that there’s a lot to be excited about with this player. He’s big, he wins battles along the wall, and there’s a certain quiet confidence that he exudes when the puck is on his stick.
Montour had an interesting phrase to describe Stephenson’s game, saying, “He just slows the play down so much.” What Montour means by that is when Stephenson gets the puck, he’s patient and calm and is confident enough in his skating and puck-handling that he can take his time and make the right play.
Coach Dan Bylsma shared similar sentiments. “In just a lot of areas, it’s just great to see,” Bylsma said of Stephenson. “He’s winning face-offs, his speed, his support on the ice… He’s a super intelligent player, and it showed. That’s just comforting to have on the ice from a coach. So it can get better, but it’s awesome to see him out there and awesome to see what he can do with this team.”
Stephenson had 18:35 of ice time and won 16 of 20 face-offs.
Takeaway #3: Big night for Lleyton Roed and Ryan Winterton
After the game on Tuesday, I had started to think that John Hayden and Ben Meyers were putting themselves ahead of Ryan Winterton in the competition for the last roster spot(s) out of camp. In the 6-1 Kraken loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday, Winterton didn’t demand a spot on the team the way I thought he might.
Friday’s game was a completely different story for the 21-year-old, though, who surely has his sights set on becoming a full-time NHLer. I’m not sure how to explain it, but he looked faster and more confident in himself, and almost every time he touched the puck, he seemed to make the right play. I believe Winterton’s performance in this game put him back in contention for a coveted spot with the big club.
“It’s massive,” Winterton said of how important it was for him to have a strong game against the Canucks. “I didn’t think I played my best game in my first game [against Calgary], so to come out tonight and play better, I think was huge for me. And whatever happens, happens. I’m going to keep trying to earn my spot and stay another day every day.”
Winterton’s biggest moment of the night came when he drove to the net and got on the receiving end of a Lleyton Roed pass from the corner.
OK!! That was fun! 🚨
GREAT rush by Lleyton Roed, who sets up Ryan Winterton for the goal.
The undrafted 22-year-old free-agent signee from Bemidji State University only got 10:39 of ice time, but he made the most of it with three shots on goal and an outstanding play to steal a puck in the neutral zone, then rip around Sammy Blais and Filip Hronek and fire a hard pass toward the crease to set up Winterton’s goal.
“It was just a track back. I stripped the puck and took the D wide and just went at the net hard,” Roed said. “Got the puck there, and [Winterton] did the rest… Speed’s kind of my thing, so it’s nice to see that it translates to this level, and I can make plays as well.”
We at Sound Of Hockey have been bullish on Roed for a while, and I picked a great time to write a profile on him, just prior to Friday’s game. Since I just wrote that, I won’t go too deep into his story here, but if you want to learn more about him, give that a read.
What I will say here is that Roed was awesome on Friday. He has NHL speed and used it to burn around NHL players on multiple occasions.
“It’s the job of the young kids… if Lleyton’s young… to show what they can do, what kind of player they are,” Bylsma said. “And I don’t think there’s any question about Lleyton’s game with how he played tonight. The speed, the tenacity, he was good on the penalty kill. Every chance he got, we saw the speed and tenacity.”
Roed will probably go down to Coachella Valley relatively soon, but man, he was fun to watch on Friday, and I would not put it out of the realm of possibility to see him up with the big club at some point this season.
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.
It has not been a conventional development… path (intentionally avoiding the very obvious pun) for speedy Seattle Kraken forward prospect Lleyton Roed. But the 22-year-old White Bear Lake, Minn., native has raised eyebrows in his first NHL training camp, and we’ve heard rumblings that he is well respected around the Kraken organization. Could the undrafted college free-agent signee follow in the footsteps of other undrafted Kraken youngsters and one day break into the best league in the world?
“He’s a factor with his speed, he’s a factor with his hunt and hound on a puck, and he’s going to get a chance to show it tonight,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “So, we’ll see.”
Roed will get his first chance to play on NHL ice against NHL competition when he suits up in deep sea blue at Climate Pledge Arena for Friday’s preseason game against the Vancouver Canucks.
“I’m pretty even keel right now,” Roed said on Friday morning. “But, I mean, [when I] get to the rink the nerves will probably kick in. But I think it’s more excitement than anything, your first chance playing on NHL ice in front of great fans.”
Born into a hockey family
Finding competition and tutelage at a young age was not difficult for Roed, whose father Peter was a professional hockey player that got drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1995 and played in the WHL, ECHL, AHL, UHL, and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany. Roed’s two younger brothers, Nolan and Nash, also appear to have bright hockey futures, with Nolan currently playing in the USHL and committed to St. Cloud State University, and Nash just entering high school.
“My brothers and I grew up in White Bear Lake in Minnesota, a great hockey town. We always had a pond in the backyard or a rink, so growing up with the brothers was always great, and Dad’s obviously been a great resource.
“So, I mean, we were always out there. Whether that’s Nolan and me picking on little Nash or Nolan and me going out head to head. It was great to see for Nash, the youngest one, he’s going to be a really good player, I think. He’s had to battle with us his whole life. But I mean, that’s what brotherhood is all about, and it was super fun growing up.”
Landing with the Kraken
The connection between Roed and the Kraken first began in the summer of 2023 when he was invited to the team’s summer development camp. Then preparing for his sophomore year at Bemidji State University, he showed well and put himself firmly on general manager Ron Francis’s radar.
Roed went back to college and racked up 30 points (14-16=30) in 38 games for the Beavers, following a 31-point (13-18=31) freshman campaign in 2022-23. Those performances garnered interest from multiple NHL teams that had previously passed on him in the draft.
“It was a great two years at Bemidji,” Roed said. “I kind of knew I’d have some options, whether to leave and where to, but… I ended up coming to dev camp two [summers] ago, and I think I made a good impression.”
That impression led to more scouting and communication from Seattle, which eventually was able to convince Roed to join the organization.
“I kept in contact with the staff, and I knew they were watching me during the whole year. I felt we had a good connection here, good relationships, and the trust level was there to sign a pro contract. So, very happy.”
Kraken organization was “intriguing”
One of the reasons Roed chose the Kraken was that they have shown a willingness to elevate undrafted players to the NHL. Many organizations tend to give favor to their drafted assets, so having examples of players making it to the top level despite not being selected by Seattle is attractive for players like Roed.
“It definitely was intriguing,” Roed said. “Because you see [Tye Kartye] do it, using Coachella, had a great year, hopped straight into the playoffs, and is now a full-time NHLer. And then you see Logan Morrison last year, he’s undrafted as well, and he gets a chance to get called up for some games. So, it’s very intriguing to see that. It’s nice to see the opportunity’s there if you earn it.”
After signing at the end of Bemidji State’s 2023-24 season, Roed reported directly to Coachella Valley of the AHL, where he worked with Bylsma, then the head coach of the Firebirds, and impressed with his fast skating and tenacious style of play.
“He got a chance to play a few games in the regular season after his college season and got bumped out of the lineup for a lot of the playoffs,” Bylsma recalled. “But with how he practiced and how he skated in those practices… earned him an opportunity to play games in the [Calder Cup] Finals against Hershey. And he got it because of his tenacity and the speed he brings to the game, which you’ve seen in camp so far.”
The jump to pro hockey from college is never an easy one. Roed said he noticed right away some differences between the two levels.
“It’s a little more physical. Probably the biggest thing is just stick detail. Like, me going against defensemen, how good they are with the puck and their sticks, so you’ve really got to learn to manage the puck, protect the puck, make plays under pressure.”
An impressive training camp
Now, Roed is continuing his learning journey with last week’s rookie camp and this week’s NHL training camp. He has continued to impress and has managed to stick around through three rounds of cuts, including two players—Luke Henman and Nikolas Brouillard—being placed on waivers Friday with the purpose of assigning them to the Firebirds.
“It’s been great,” Roed said. “We’re coming up on three weeks now. The rookie tournament with the first week, it was good to do that, get on the ice, get some game pace. And then the last week and a half, two weeks here, has been awesome seeing the NHL guys.”
Against his fellow prospects in rookie camp, he had the advantage of being two or three years older than much of his competition, so he should have stood out. But he also hasn’t looked out of place with NHLers on the ice either, at least in practices.
And while he is likely to land in Coachella Valley sooner or later, Roed is enjoying the experience and taking in every lesson he can in the meantime.
“[I’ve learned] how to handle myself,” Roed said. “I mean, details on and off the ice, whether it’s in the weight room, nutrition, on the ice, I think that’s what separates the guys [in the NHL]. It’s just how detailed they are at every aspect.”
Roed will look to apply those lessons when he takes the ice Friday night.
“I’m excited. I mean, it’ll be fun to be in an NHL arena, especially at home here on a Friday, should be a good crowd. So, you’ve just got to go out there and put your best foot forward and soak it in and just have fun.”
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.
There was a moment in the first preseason game for the Seattle Kraken on Sunday when forward Tye Kartye looked like a switch had flipped in his brain. The Kraken were down in the game, but Kartye was going to make sure his presence was known for the rest of the way. He could be seen slashing and crosschecking Calgary Flames players after the whistle, throwing his body around, and even diving headlong into a post-whistle hog pile in the goal crease.
These days, the first thing that stands out about Kartye’s game when you watch him play is his physicality. And while that feisty side jumps off the page, you wouldn’t know from talking to him that this is how he plays. Always mild-mannered and polite, it’s fascinating to watch him get under an opponent’s skin during a game.
The 5-foot-11, 202-pound Kartye isn’t afraid to go after players of any size in the heat of battle, whether it’s to separate a player from the puck, seek vengeance on behalf of a teammate, or create a spark for his team.
Though Dan Bylsma is new to the head coaching role with the Kraken this season, he is very familiar with Kartye’s physical game, having coached him throughout the 2022-23 season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
“You know, just last year, what [Kartye] established as his game was even greater than it was in Coachella,” Bylsma said. “In terms of being a physical presence, a checking presence, and taking the body at every chance he possibly gets. And he’s a little bit of a wrecking ball in that regard.”
Ready for a bigger role?
Fans who paid attention to Kartye’s performance with the Firebirds know there’s more to his game than just the physical side. Before being recalled for Seattle’s NHL playoff run, he lit up the AHL with 28 goals and 29 assists in 72 games, earning the Red Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding rookie.
Tye Kartye skates for the Coachella Valley Firebirds during the 2022-23 season. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
After his impressive NHL postseason debut, where he scored in his first game and added two more goals and two assists in 10 playoff games, fans were optimistic he could produce offensively as a full-time NHLer in 2023-24.
However, Kartye was largely confined to a fourth-line role last season, where scoring goals was not the emphasis. In 77 games for the Kraken, the Kingston, Ontario native notched 11 goals and nine assists, leaving room for growth this season.
The checking role and limited minutes last season didn’t bother Kartye, who said he would continue doing whatever he can to help the team, even if he finds himself in that role again this season.
“Everyone out there has an important role to play,” Kartye said. “Not everyone’s going to be the guy to get 100 points and score all the goals. You’ve got to have guys that are going to play roles and embrace roles if you want to be a successful team. And, you know, if I’m put in that role, I’ll just try to embrace it and be the best fourth-line player I can be for the team.”
But watching Kartye in camp this past week, he appears poised to take a big step forward in his career. He looks bigger, faster, and more like a veteran NHL player. Bylsma and his staff seem to have noticed, as they have him skating on a line with Shane Wright and Jordan Eberle, a trio that—if kept together—would surely be counted on to deliver offense.
“If that’s what they choose to do with me, to put me in a role where they expect me to score more, obviously I think I can bring that,” Kartye said. “I feel like I had a good summer, so I feel like I can definitely bring a little more offense and maybe some more goals.”
Continuing to improve
The 23-year-old winger said he took full advantage of the long summer break that comes with missing the playoffs. He focused heavily on his puck handling, edge work, and making plays with his head up—all skills that will help the offensive side of his game.
“I think he can continue to grow and add some of the things that we saw in the playoffs two years ago at the end of the year, where he came in and was able to show his shot off and score some goals for us,” Bylsma said.
Keeping the physical edge
While Kartye may have opportunities to showcase his big shot and produce more offensively this season, both he and Bylsma seem to agree that the feisty forward should continue to play with an edge.
“We have to continue to see the physicality,” Bylsma said. “But I’d like to see his game grow and for him to be a factor with his shot.”
That edginess does not come naturally to Kartye. Instead, it’s a skill he says he’s honed since his time in the OHL, where he first caught the eye of Kraken brass as a member of the Soo Greyhounds.
“I definitely don’t think it’s natural, because I didn’t have it until I got to junior,” Kartye recalled. “I realized that it’s something I’m going to have to develop if I want to progress in hockey. So yeah, being hard to play against is something I pride myself on. It’s kind of, when you get out there, you change your mindset and become really hard to play against, and that’s not fun for anybody.”
While he had older players and coaches influencing him in the OHL, Kartye said he taught himself how to be pesky toward opponents through trial and error.
“No one taught me. I feel like you start to realize the kind of hardness that guys don’t want to play against,” Kartye said. “And if you can do that repeatedly throughout a game and throughout a season, obviously it’s going to work for you. So I think [it was] just trial by fire in junior, just going out there and working as hard as I could and learning how to incorporate that into my game. And obviously I feel like that helped.”
Has Kartye shown enough of a blend of physicality and offensive prowess to earn an elevated role in the lineup when Seattle breaks camp?
“Potentially,” Bylsma said. “That’s up to him and what he earns. But he’s got that capability.”
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.
The battle for the final few roster spots is heating up in Seattle Kraken training camp. As I’ve mentioned a few times, Seattle already has a full lineup of players presumably etched into the Opening Night roster, and the team would be right up against the salary cap with a full complement of healthy skaters.
The cap crunch doesn’t account for any extra players, so we still don’t exactly know how the club would fit them in. But NHL teams always carry extras to create ongoing competition and to fill in for last-second injuries or illnesses. If Seattle can find a way to fit an extra player or two (or three?) under the cap, who will make it out of Kraken training camp with the big club?
Well, it depends on how many players the Kraken want to keep around. The maximum regular-season active roster size is 23 players, which means 18 skaters and two goalies in the lineup and up to three healthy scratches. For teams that keep the max 23, they typically go with two extra forwards and one spare defenseman.
Josh Mahura, Cale Fleury, and Gustav Olofsson are the most obvious options to remain with the otherwise set-in-stone defense corps. My gut says Mahura, the offseason free agent signee, would be the guy with the inside track. He did have a glaring mishap in the game Sunday against Calgary that ended up in Seattle’s net, though, so he has more to prove. We’ll continue to keep an eye out for signs of which depth defenseman seems to be rising to the top of the heap.
As for the forwards, that contest is quite intriguing. I’ve always thought Ryan Winterton had a good chance of sticking with the Kraken, and I still do. But John Hayden and Ben Meyers are also making strong claims for remaining in the NHL, and as the days go by, I’m growing more confident that the final decisions will come down to these three players.
John Hayden shows off physical element
Hayden’s time with the Kraken organization has been interesting. Since signing with the team prior to the 2022-23 season, he seems to be riding the NHL bubble but still has not been able to re-solidify himself as a full-time NHLer despite his 249 games of NHL experience.
I thought coming into last season’s camp that a roster spot was his to lose, but he got banged up and didn’t put his best foot forward. I asked Hayden about this today, and he said, “It’s a good point. I think that was pulling me back maybe a little bit, so it’s nice coming in this year feeling fresh and healthy.”
In this camp, he’s happy with what he’s shown to this point.
“I’ve felt pretty good so far, just trying to grow a little bit every year,” Hayden said. “I’ve definitely learned a lot from the staff over the last couple of years. That’s the thing about hockey is you can never perfect it, so there’s always something to work on and a North Star to chase, but so far, I’ve thought the compete’s been solid. But I think I have more to give as well.”
“I’m familiar with John’s game and what he brings to the table from having him [in Coachella Valley] the last two years,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “He’s been up in Seattle for a handful of games the past couple of years. But we even talked with John last year in the [AHL] playoffs, ‘Just let your game speak for itself.’ In the playoffs last year, he was a big, dominant power forward, physical, and added some scoring in the playoffs.”
Bylsma added that Hayden is showing a different side to his game in camp compared with what he demonstrated in the Calder Cup Playoffs. This version of Hayden seems to be working quite well in terms of making sure his presence is known.
“I just compete,” Hayden said. “I try and be a Swiss Army knife, whatever role I’m put in, and bring energy.”
Ben Meyers is also in the mix
I also thought it was interesting that Meyers was the one tagged to slot in for Chandler Stephenson between Jaden Schwartz and Andre Burakovsky Tuesday. Meyers did not disappoint, scoring Seattle’s lone goal and nearly tying the game with six minutes left.
“Ben’s a little bit different [than Hayden],” Bylsma said. “I talked about Ben [Tuesday]… I’ve played against him three times [in Coachella Valley], and they were fearful times. We were worried about Ben coming into… the Colorado lineup in the playoffs, because of his speed, because of his playmaking ability… It’s what he brought last night. He got an opportunity to do it with Schwartzy and Burky up on that top line, and he did an outstanding job with it. You see his speed on the goal, and he finishes it off there, and he’s got to keep it going.”
With Hayden and Meyers making strong (but very different) cases for belonging in the NHL, now Winterton will look for a chance to leave a lasting impression. Worth noting, with Burakovsky taking a maintenance day Wednesday, Winterton joined the forward line with Schwartz and Meyers.
The plot thickens.
Catton, Rehkopf, and Villeneuve returned to junior teams
As we were assembled and waiting for Bylsma to appear at the podium after practice Wednesday, we noticed No. 8 overall draft pick Berkly Catton walking through the Kraken dressing room carrying his fully packed Spokane Chiefs equipment bag and a couple of his sticks. This raised our antenna that perhaps the second round of cuts from training camp could be happening in that very moment.
Lo and behold, when Bylsma did appear, he confirmed that Catton, along with Nathan Villeneuve and Carson Rehkopf, would be returning to their respective junior clubs. The coach sounded pleased with what he saw from the youngsters during their time in Seattle.
“Awesome, awesome,” Bylsma said when asked specifically about Catton. “I think [there was] a lot of anticipation as to what kind of player he is and what he can do on the ice. I thought he showed great with this training camp, a high degree of skill and compete, great hockey sense, offensive mind for the game, and that showed up… And so I think the 10 days, 12 days went really well for him.”
As for the others, Bylsma sees an opportunity for them to return to the CHL and act as leaders on their teams.
“I think [getting] the opportunity here in camp to do it with our guys, see the pace, the speed, see how our guys work… Now it’s their job to take that to be leaders with their own careers,” Bylsma said. “When they’re going back to their junior teams, take leadership of where they’re at and what they are as a player.”
One thing we noticed about Catton is how he seemed to improve before our eyes during rookie camp and the main Kraken training camp. Heck, even in the lone preseason game he played against the Calgary Flames, he had a mistake early that led (in part) to Calgary’s first goal, but as that game went on, he looked more and more confident and started to show why he was a top pick in the draft. We saw flashes of his speed and offensive prowess, which led to a couple of scoring chances in the game, and even in practices, his motor seemed to be operating a faster rate at the end of his stint compared to the beginning of camp.
Villeneuve, meanwhile, did a lot to boost his brand during his time in Kraken training camp. He scored in that same Flames game and ruffled a lot of feathers along the way, earning his unexpectedly extended stay in Seattle. We will certainly be keeping tabs on him this season.
The cuts mean that Eduard Sale is the only player left who could potentially return to junior. The wrinkle with him is that—while other major junior players his age can only play in the NHL or CHL—Sale is an import, which makes him eligible to play in the AHL this season. Could the Kraken place him in Coachella Valley to really get their developmental hooks into him?
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.
The second group of Seattle Kraken players to skate in a preseason game performed much better than the first group, which was destroyed 6-1 by an unimposing Calgary Flames roster on Sunday. Still, that second group of Kraken came out on the losing end to the Canucks, though this contest had a more palatable 3-1 final score.
It was the second very feisty game Seattle has played, suggesting that coach Dan Bylsma’s emphasis on physical play could differ from that of former coach Dave Hakstol.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-1 Kraken preseason loss to the Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Fisticuffs and shenanigans
There were plenty of extracurricular activities in this game, including two fights and several skirmishes of varying intensity. Bylsma said after Sunday’s game that he wanted his team to be the aggressors when it came to physicality, rather than reacting later in the game, as the Kraken did against the Flames. Well, it seems he can just throw John Hayden into the lineup, and he’ll get his wish.
Hayden demonstrated why he’s valuable to the Kraken on Tuesday and made a strong case for being kept around as a depth forward.
After Logan Morrison was blindsided by a hit from 6-foot-6 Vilmer Alriksson, Hayden quickly jumped over the boards and wasted no time going after the much bigger forward. It was a spirited fight that lasted nearly a minute.
Fisticuffs! 🥊
6-foot-6 Viktor Alriksson crushes Logan Morrison with a blindside hit (replay of that at the end of the video), and John Hayden challenges Alriksson. Good bout. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/EZEboaHbNY
Later in the game, when fellow giant Tyler Myers—whom Hayden fought in last year’s preseason after Myers injured Matty Beniers the season before—went after new prized defenseman Brandon Montour, Hayden again came to the rescue. He quickly intervened, wrestling Myers away from Montour.
Then, as Brandon Tanev fought Mark Friedman after several earlier attempts, who was at the center of the commotion? You guessed it, Hayden.
Now, is fighting the most important part of hockey these days? Certainly not. But how many times last season did we see bad hits go unpunished by Seattle? How often did opposing teams come into Climate Pledge Arena and push the Kraken around? If nothing else, this team is sending early signals that it won’t back down from a physical game, and Hayden’s willingness to constantly be in the middle of the action can only help his chances of staying on the NHL roster.
Takeaway #2: Ben Meyers impresses
Another player competing for one of those elusive final roster spots is newcomer Ben Meyers, who—like Hayden—fits the mold of a potential 12th, 13th, or even 14th forward. The 25-year-old, 5-foot-11 forward has 67 career NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks, and 62 AHL games with the Colorado Eagles.
Chandler Stephenson had been centering the line between Andre Burakovsky and Jaden Schwartz during training camp, but Meyers was surprisingly slotted into that line Tuesday while Stephenson stayed home. Bylsma indicated Tuesday morning that the switch had more to do with Stephenson than getting a look at Meyers, explaining, “Each one of us is in different stages of camp and bumps and bruises, and it’s just a quick adjustment.”
Bylsma also had glowing things to say about Meyers, though, whom he had faced several times previously at the AHL level.
“I have seen Ben play in two, three American League games,” Bylsma said. “I feared him playing in a few more against CV, because he brings speed, brings intelligence, he brings a lot of—in his own way—compete. And so I don’t have to fear it anymore, I can expect it.”
All that talk made me wonder if the team did want to get a good, hard look at what Meyers could do. Sure, he was filling in for Stephenson, but Meyers was placed in a position to succeed between two veteran players.
Meyers made good on his opportunity, scoring Seattle’s lone goal off a 2-on-1 rush with Schwartz just 10 seconds into the third period. He nearly tied the game with six minutes left after another partial break with Schwartz.
I’m not ready to say Meyers is pushing for a spot on the team, but it’s encouraging to see players get a chance and make the most of it. If he doesn’t end up making it, he showed Tuesday he could be relied upon in a pinch.
Takeaway #3: Andre Burakovsky looks awesome
I’ve been keeping a close eye on Andre Burakovsky in camp because… well… he’s hard to miss out there. He has been flying around, looking stronger and faster than we’ve ever seen him in Kraken colors.
The oft-injured forward confirmed that he had a productive offseason, where he was able to focus on training rather than rehabbing injuries, as he did the two previous summers.
I wondered how his practices would translate into game action, and he did not disappoint on Tuesday. Burakovsky was everywhere, and when he had the puck, he looked dynamic, making it seem like the Canucks had no chance of taking it off him.
Aside from creating the above chances, Burakovsky led the Kraken with three shots on goal and came within inches of tying the game with three minutes left, only to be thwarted by a sprawling Arturs Silovs save.
I’ve loved what I’ve seen from Brandon Montour so far. He’s slick on his skates and makes a lot of smart decisions with the puck. He was a big addition for this club.
