Just moments after free agency opened on July 1 the Seattle Kraken stole headlines, announcing the team had signed defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year, $50 million contract. The move may have been a bit of “zag” for those expecting a forward addition, but Montour was a premier piece. And the importance of a high-end offensive defenseman was on display just months earlier when the Kraken entered a late-season nosedive following Vince Dunn’s injury. (Blaiz Grubic broke down the Montour signing for us.)
Yet, as Kraken fans and media basked in the Montour news believing it to be Seattle’s one big splash, a second report struck like lightning: The Seattle Kraken were also signing former Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson to a seven-year, $43.75 million deal.
Huh.
With the benefit of time, there is a lot we can say about the Stephenson deal. Stephenson will play a vital role as a short-term shield for Matty Beniers and Shane Wright–and an Alex Wennberg replacement–who can take difficult matchups and play in all situations. If the team wanted to be competitive this year, it needed someone to take on that role. And Stephenson brings more transition and finishing skill than Wennberg, so the team should see at least a modest bump in offensive production from that role.
That said, the seven-year bet on a 30-year-old forward with limited overall offensive and defensive value brings questions. It may be a move Kraken management felt like it “needed” to make–particularly since it faced offseason pressure from ownership to be competitive. But the deal has potential to be an anchor almost immediately, not to mention years five through seven.
While the salary cap will go up and ease the contract burden down the road, the short-term opportunity cost from a cap and roster construction perspective is high. I do not know if other free agents were realistically available to the team, and Stephenson was one of just a couple of centers available that can play a top-six role.
But the team is now in a cap crunch and may need to retain money or attach an asset to a player in a trade to obtain needed cap flexibility. This underscores that the cost of the Stephenson strategy goes beyond his $6.25 million AAV cap hit.
In the end, two things can be true at once. The deal may end up being a painful one for Seattle, but if the Kraken claw their way back into the playoffs this season, Stephenson will be a critical reason why, and to some extent, that makes it worth it. Let’s get into it.
The Stephenson signing mitigates a key loss, fills an important role
The Kraken entered the offseason knowing they needed to improve. But the first step in getting better is not getting worse. And after last season’s deadline trade of Alex Wennberg, the team undoubtedly got worse.
Alex Wennberg (Photo/Brian Liesse)
“When we couldn’t get something done with Wennberg at the deadline, it left a big hole for us,” Francis told the media on July 1 after the Stephenson deal was announced. “So, getting Chandler to add to our lineup is a huge addition.”
As mentioned above, much of the team’s struggles down the stretch last season may be ascribed to the contemporaneous injury to No. 1 defenseman Vince Dunn, but Wennberg played an underappreciated and important role on the team.
First, the Kraken trusted Wennberg with the most difficult even-strength situations. One way a team “shelters” a player or a line is by deployment “on the fly,” i.e., in the flow of play as opposed to after a stoppage. In this regard it is notable that the Kraken did just the opposite with Wennberg. As of the trade last season, Wennberg led all Kraken forwards in deployments for face-offs, and defensive-zone face-offs specifically.
According to Evolving Hockey, Wennberg also faced a more difficult average even strength “quality of competition”–i.e., quality of players he was on the ice against–than any other Kraken player.
Second, Wennberg led all Kraken skaters in special teams minutes, which are by definition higher leverage.
These are vital minutes, and the team certainly believed that it would be a tall order to ask Shane Wright–in his first full NHL season–or Matty Beniers–coming off a challenging campaign–to assume those roles. At the very least, a team with playoff aspirations would risk exposing an Achilles heel without an alternative plan.
Enter Chandler Stephenson, who led all Las Vegas Golden Knights forwards who played at least 20 games played in the 2023-24 season in even-strength (1) total face-off starts per game played (13.7), (2) defensive-zone face-offs per game played (4.2), and (3) quality of competition, as measured by Evolving Hockey. In each instance, his numbers were nearly identical on a per-game basis to Wennberg’s numbers.
Not only that, Stephenson averaged more than a minute-and-a-half shorthanded and almost three minutes on the power play per game, for a per-game total of 4:30 per game on special teams. This would have topped all Kraken forwards, narrowly edging Wennberg, and ranked 42nd overall in the 2023-24 season in special teams time per game.
The Kraken knew simply giving Wennberg’s gloves to another Kraken forward wasn’t enough. Before the team could improve, it needed to replace Wennberg’s role in the lineup. And no other player on the 2024 free-agent market (short of Elias Lindholm) so perfectly fit the bill as Stephenson.
Stephenson’s sneaky skill set fits what the Kraken want to do
When the media assembled around Kraken general manager Ron Francis on July 1, Francis explained the signing by saying “Stephenson is a really good two-way guy who plays with pace [and] has a sneaky skill set,” before going on to mention the added value of Stephenson’s championship experience.
From a pure point production standpoint, Stephenson doesn’t stand out, even on a talented Golden Knights roster. His 51 points ranked 127th in the league in the 2023-24 season.
But Stephenson does have clear standout traits if you turn on the tape. First and foremost, his skill in transition and ability to push play north-south stands out immediately (see video at 1:43).
Over the course of the offseason, the team has made clear that it wants to prioritize a high-speed, rush-based attack as a team identity. On July 1, Francis said, “Stephenson has a lot of pace to his game, and that’s the way we like to play.” On April 22, as the team was contemplating the dismissal of coach Dave Hakstol, Francis mentioned that the team needed to get back to its identity as a “fast” team.
This is Stephenson’s strength. And if he helps the team play with more pace, it has the potential to unlock the most dangerous skills of the team’s other relatively recent big-money free-agent forward signing, Andre Burakovsky.
Stephenson may not rank among the fastest in the league in a 1-on-1 race, particularly at this stage in his career, but he plays with a relentless pace that can wear down the opposition.
All Three Zones Player Card
He averaged 10.31 miles per hour at even strength during the 2023-24 season according to NHL Edge data, which ranked 60th overall in the league and would have been fifth-fastest on the Seattle Kraken, behind only Matty Beniers, Andre Burakovsky, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev.
Stephenson uses his speed to create scoring chances. According to data tracked by Corey Sznajder of All Three Zones, Stephenson was in the top 15 percent of the league in the 2023-24 season creating controlled zone entries into the offensive zone leading directly to a scoring chance. His statistics from previous seasons are even stronger, closer to the top five percent in the league.
His passing skill, particularly his ability to set up high-danger opportunities for his teammates, also stands out on tape.
Though his numbers were down in this regard in 2023-24, according to All Three Zones, Stephenson has been an above-average facilitator of dangerous opportunities over the last four seasons in Vegas.
Stephenson’s overall on-ice impacts are lackluster
That said, though Stephenson can dictate terms with skill in some ways, his overall on-ice shot impacts are fairly weak. Kraken fans no doubt recall with some frustration Wennberg’s inability to generate his own shots on goal. Wennberg has generated 4.24 shots on goal per 60 minutes on ice for his career. Yet, Stephenson has produced just 4.32 shots on goal per 60 minutes. (For reference, Stephenson’s career shot rate is the lowest among forwards projected to the 2024-25 Kraken roster; Brandon Tanev is the next lowest with 5.91 shots on goal per 60 minutes for his career.)
In terms of individual shot quality, Wennberg and Stephenson are again similar: Wennberg’s shots could be expected to generate .52 goals per 60 minutes, with Stephenson only slightly better at .61 expected goals per 60 minutes. (Stephenson’s career rate is again the lowest among forwards projected to Seattle’s 2024-25 roster.)
This hints at the broader concern. Overall team shot quality with Stephenson on the ice is a problem. Sorting through Natural Stat Trick‘s forward line tool, there are very few forward combinations where a companion Golden Knights player saw better shot quality outcomes with Stephenson on the ice rather than without him.
The most egregious and well-cited example is Mark Stone. Over the last three seasons, Stephenson and Stone played 1370 minutes together even strength and generated 51.9 percent of overall shot quality during that time. This is good. But the Golden Knights generated 60.6 percent of overall shot quality with only Stone but not Stephenson on the ice. In the reverse scenario–with only Stephenson and not Stone–Vegas generated only 47.8 percent of overall shot quality.
This same pattern repeated with many of Stephenson’s teammates. Data analysts use these disparities to ascribe relative play-driving impacts to individual players. And, as you might surmise, Stephenson has graded quite poorly. This past season, Evolving Hockey had Stephenson’s overall quality impacts once accounting for quality of competition and teammates in the eighth percentile in the league (i.e. bottom 10 percent).
HockeyViz–which provides visual mapping of shot quality outcomes attributed to a player–shows that Vegas generated fewer dangerous opportunities offensively (six percent below average) with Chandler Stephenson on the ice rather than off the ice (three percent above average). Likewise, the Golden Knights conceded more dangerous chances (18 percent worse than average) with Stephenson on the ice rather than off the ice (six percent better than average).
These trends extend to the penalty kill and power play as well. HockeyViz had Stephenson responsible for a five percentage-point reduction in power-play shot quality and three percentage-point increase in penalty-kill shot quality against.
While the 2023-24 season was a nadir for Stephenson, his previous seasons in Vegas were directionally similar. Overall, Stephenson has not been able to translate his skills into successful on-ice shot quality results when divorced from hyper-talented teammates like Stone.
The Stephenson contract is a risky bet
If Stephenson’s on-ice impacts are troubling at age 30, and his overall offensive impacts are similar to Wennberg–who signed a two-year, $10 million contract with San Jose this offseason–one may doubt the value of Seattle’s seven-year, $43.75 million investment. I assembled a list of all contracts signed in the last 10 years by a forward aged 29 years old to 31 years old with a contract term of six years or longer, and an AAV of between 6.1 and 8.1 percent of the salary cap in the first year of the contract. This exercise returned 11 total results, including Stephenson’s deal:
At the time of signing, these players had averaged .59 points per game. Stephenson trails that average only slightly, averaging .55 points per game for his career. However, that figure masks significant underlying weakness in Stephenson’s profile.
No player on the list had fewer goals scored per game played than Stephenson’s .18. No player had fewer shots on goal per 60 minutes than Stephenson’s 4.3–indeed, no other player was below 6.4. And no player in the grouping generated a higher percentage of his points via secondary assists than Stephenson (31 percent).
Perhaps most concerning of all, no player with a comparable contract had generated lower shot quality per 60 minutes than Stephenson’s .61 expected goals per 60 minutes. Tom Wilson was next lowest at .78 expected goals per 60 minutes when he signed his deal last offseason.
Based on how players age, we know that a long-term contract for a player over 30 is unlikely to be a good one. Yet, even when compared against this risky peer group, Stephenson’s contract may be a reach.
The Kraken are gambling their short-term competitive window on Stephenson
Entering the offseason, Kraken fans and media were rightly focused on acquiring a top-end offensive talent, perhaps via a prospect trade. Instead, the team signed Stephenson, an upgrade on Wennberg in the same role, but as we see here, only a marginal upgrade.
Like Wennberg, Stephenson is capable of taking tough assignments and may very well help Beniers and Wright succeed. But also like Wennberg, Stephenson is unlikely to flip his difficult minutes significantly to Seattle’s advantage. By acquiring Stephenson, the team avoided a step back, certainly. But the Kraken also committed its available short-term cap space without taking a huge leap with its forward corps.
The Kraken are gambling that they can get production out of Stephenson that hasn’t been there in the previous 10 years of his career. The Kraken may very well be proven correct; their scouting assessments have been at least solid previously. But it’s a long-shot gamble that will likely determine the team’s short-term competitive prospects.
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Your turn. Dig into our Chandler Stephenson All Shifts videos over on the DeepSeaHockey YouTube Channel and let us know what you see in the comments below or on X/Twitter @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
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 Seattle Kraken participated in the 2024 Rookie Faceoff hosted by the Los Angeles Kings this weekend, the first time they have taken part in such a prospect tournament. Seven teams participated in the series, but the Kraken rooks played in two games.
Colorado Avalanche, Saturday, Sept 14 – Kraken won 5-1
Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, Sept 15 – Golden Knights won 5-3
New Coachella Valley Firebirds coach, Derek Laxdal, emphasized that this would be a “business trip” for the Kraken youngsters, and they did turn in a decent performance that taught us quite a bit about Seattle’s future. Here are our Three Takeaways from the series.
Jagger Firkus stresses the value of rookie tournament in finding the next level of compete and in getting to know the newly drafted rookie #SeaKraken as well. The message from Coach Laxdal was the LA tournament is a “business trip.” pic.twitter.com/HKSTGaXYZ7
Niklas Kokko started against the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 14, performing exceptionally and stopping 29 of 30 shots. Despite the Seattle Kraken coming out flat-footed and being under heavy pressure for the first 10 minutes of the game, Kokko remained calm and made timely saves, keeping the game tied 0-0.
Buoyed by Kokko’s strong performance, the Kraken rookies exploded for three goals in the second period and never looked back. They easily defeated the Avalanche 5-1. Kokko played strong positionally and never let the Avalanche back into the game. The solitary goal was scored on a power-play rebound late in the third period.
Kokko’s development this season will be closely monitored, as he prepares to adjust to the North American pro game. He will play in either in the AHL or ECHL this season, but from this small sample size of one game, he looks like he can play.
Takeaway #2 – Players that impressed
Two players surprised with their excellent play: Andrei Loshko and Nathan Villeneuve.
Loshko lights the lamp
Loshko was a versatile presence in both Rookie Faceoff games, contributing in all situations. He saw ice time on the power play, penalty kill, and at even strength. Despite usually playing as a winger, he was frequently deployed on the faceoff dot for Kraken special teams.
In the first game, Loshko formed a dynamic line with Jacob Melanson and Nathan Villeneuve. Their chemistry was evident as they generated numerous scoring chances. Loshko capped off the performance with a wrist shot goal from the slot.
Loshko is entering his 20-year-old season, which means he is eligible to play in Coachella Valley, if the Kraken sign him to an entry-level contract (he is currently unsigned). If Loshko keeps up his strong play in training came, reporting to the AHL is in the cards.
Villeneuve drops the gloves
2024 second-round draft pick, Nathan Villeneuve, proved to be a physical force on the ice. Following a strong first game, he was elevated to the top line, joining Jagger Firkus and Berkly Catton.
Despite being just 18, Villeneuve quickly made his presence felt. Known as a gritty player in the OHL, he dropped the gloves in both games over the weekend, showcasing his toughess. Villeneuve also contributed offensively, scoring a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 rush with Jagger Firkus.
Villeneuve seemed to earn the coach’s trust and was out on the ice late in the second game as the Kraken attempted to get the equalizer with goaltender Victor Ostman on the bench.
Honorable mentions
Jagger Firkus – Tallied one goal and three assists for four points. His defensive play was also impressive; he made some key poke checks on the penalty kill that led to a goal and a breakaway opportunity.
Jakub Fibigr – Despite playing just one game, Fibigr showcased his defensive prowess. He was not hesitant to join the attack and capped off his outing with a snipe from the left point, securing the third goal for the Kraken.
Tucker Robertson – Robertson played in the second game against the Golden Knights and was a standout despite the team’s heavy shots against. He was involved in many of the Kraken’s offensive chances and scored the second Kraken goal by tipping in a shot from Caden Price.
Takeaway #3 – Kraken didn’t quit
Colorado Avalanche – Sept. 14
Despite the 5-1 score, the Avalanche dominated play for the first period. However, the Kraken improved as the game went on and eventually took over. Kokko’s stellar performance kept the Kraken in the game until the offense could find its rhythm. Once they had scoring chances, the Kraken capitalized, netting three goals in the second period and ultimately reversing the momentum.
Vegas Golden Knights – Sept. 15
The Golden Knights controlled the play early in this game and built a 4-0 lead. Led by Jagger Firkus’ three-point performance, the Kraken showed resilience, scoring three consecutive goals to narrow the gap to one. Despite pulling goaltender Victor Ostman, the Kraken couldn’t equalize and fell 5-3 to Vegas. But, the team’s push to get back in the game showed some heart and tenacity.
Welcome back to Year 2 of our composite ranking of Seattle Kraken prospects—which we have called the “Deep Sea Blue Chips.” Similar to our NHL Draft composite ranking—the Sound Of Hockey Big Board—we have gathered a shortlist of public scouting and draft analyst rankings often published this time of year and created a consensus board. Here are the sources we used:
Which Kraken prospects are at the top of the stack? How do these players match up with top prospects from other organizations? And how does the organization measure up as a whole? Let’s dig in on those questions first, and then I’ll give a few more prospect-specific thoughts, along with my own personal rankings and a few new “All Shifts” videos, to close it out.
Berkly Catton tops the 2024 Deep Sea Blue Chips
The drama starts at the top with Berkly Catton narrowly edging Shane Wright as the organization’s top prospect. Three of the six boards we utilized had Catton as Seattle’s No. 1 overall prospect, with the others ranking him second overall. Two of the six boards had Shane Wright first, with three slotting him second, and one (Elite Prospects) holding him ineligible based on their ranking criteria. Based on its writing over the summer, it’s fair to say Elite Prospects is bullish on Wright, so this is close to a dead heat, but Catton tops the list on the strength of his first-place votes.
Carson Rehkopf rounds out a strong top three. Talented 2022 second-round picks Jagger Firkus and David Goyette closely follow, joined by defenseman Ryker Evans if you still consider him a prospect, which three lists did. Evans is the only defenseman in Seattle’s top 12. Niklas Kokko is Seattle’s top-ranked goalie prospect at No. 12 overall.
The Kraken have a top-10 prospect pool in the league
Group wisdom puts the Kraken prospect pool somewhere around No. 9 in the league. Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff, Corey Pronman of The Athletic, and Elite Prospects all have Seattle with the ninth-best system. McKeen’s is a little higher on Seattle’s prospect pipeline, ranking the Kraken fifth overall.
More data-inclined analyses have rated the Kraken even higher. My pre-draft data-only ranking had the Kraken third in the league based on the total Data Score of their prospects within the top 200 in the league. Before the draft, Scouching had Seattle as his top prospect pool overall.
The strength of the system remains its depth of viable NHL talent
Where the Kraken fall short of some of their competitors is in perceived high-end talent. No prospect analyst we consulted had any Kraken prospect graded within the top 10 overall in the sport. (For context, my data-based approach agrees, putting Wright just outside the top 10.) Berkly Catton and Shane Wright fell within the next tier—ranked between 10th and 30th overall by every analyst we consulted. After that, both Carson Rehkopf and Jagger Firkus were ranked within the top 100 on four of five boards. But no other Kraken prospect received more than one top-100 ranking.
The strength of Seattle’s system shows up in its depth. While ranking only two Seattle prospects in its top 50, McKeen’s gives Seattle 13 of the top 200 prospects in the game. The tier from Jani Nyman (No. 7) down to Ville Ottavainen (No. 17) on the list above would be the envy of most teams.
Few teams have the depth of viable potential NHL contributors Seattle currently boasts. The challenge ahead for the Kraken is in identifying which prospects to elevate into a future core and which to use as chips in acquiring the high-end talent the system seems to lack.
Lukas Dragicevic (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Scouting the Kraken—a personal list of top Seattle Kraken prospects
Here is how I would stack Seattle’s prospects entering the 2024-25 season. I’ve broken the prospects out into tiers, and I’ll provide brief comments after each group.
The “DSH Rank” is my ranking. The “Comp. Rank” column reflects the same consensus public ranking discussed above. The “Diff.” column shows how far my ranking departs from the public consensus. The “Upside” column is a numerical value I’ve assigned to each prospect’s ceiling on a 1-10 scale. My ranking considers upside, likelihood of reaching that upside, and the player’s timeline to the NHL. Let’s dig in.
While I agree with the public analysts that it’s a close proposition at the top, I’d have Shane Wright as the No. 1 overall prospect based on his strong—and underrated—2023-24 pro season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. I believe Catton’s game will also translate, but he hasn’t had the same opportunity.
Wright has a bit more adversity on his resume than Catton does. But, particularly after last season’s skating improvements, Wright has every trait to excel in the NHL. He brings height, weight, speed, skill, hockey intelligence, and leadership. He plays a heady game in both the offensive and defensive zones, and makes his teammates better.
Catton has the advantage as a transition-game player and projects at least equally effective as a distributor and shooter in the offensive zone. But I have more questions about his long-term defensive value and suspect his highest and best use may be on the wing. Taken together, it’s close, but I give the edge to Wright.
Moving off that debate, it’s possible I buried the lede; I believe Carson Rehkopf belongs in the same tier with Wright and Catton. Like those players, he brings an offensive toolkit that can be confidently projected into the top six. He has similar defensive questions to Catton and has already been moved off the center position, but he has size and strength to pair a pinpoint shot with a physical style in the offensive zone. Rehkopf’s upside is closer to Catton and Wright than the next tier.
While players in the first tier match top-of-the-lineup upside with a strong probability to realizing an NHL role, players in this next tier are a step down either in overall upside or probability of achieving that outcome. The first two players listed exemplify this.
Evans—to the extent you still consider him a prospect—is a strong bet to play in the NHL for the next half decade as a bottom-four defender, but his upside seems capped. Jani Nyman, on the other hand, has the highest upside of any player in the system outside the first tier but needs to take significant strides with his skating and North American-style hockey sense before we can pencil him into an NHL lineup.
Public consensus says I’m high on Ryan Winterton, but I adored his game with the Coachella Valley Firebirds this past season. He plays tenacious defense, can kill penalties, and moves the puck on the rush. Even if he doesn’t add another level to his offensive game—which I believe he still could—he’s ready to be a good NHL checking forward already.
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard strikes me as a similar player to Winterton, one with the advantage that he may stick at center but with a longer developmental runway left to go. I admit I was excited when I saw Elite Prospects rank him third in the organization. I’d love to see that proven correct.
After that, we get to Seattle’s two hyper-prolific CHL scorers, Jagger Firkus and David Goyette. I switched them back and forth a few times in preparing this ranking. Both face questions about their size, ability to withstand physical pressure, and perform defensively. Firkus took a step forward handling and solving defensive pressure at the junior level this past season, but his ability to carry that over against bigger, faster pros is still up in the air. Goyette has stronger movement skills, but he needs to prove he can produce without the space his junior play speed afforded him. The two of them project to top-nine roles with Coachella Valley and will be Must-See TV on the AHL’s new streaming home FloHockey this year.
The third tier is a high-probability, lower-upside tier. I think Morrison and Ottavainen both have multi-year NHL careers. Ottavainen may be on track to take over the third pair right defense role in Seattle as early as the 2025-26 season, and Morrison has shown he is not out of place in a sheltered NHL role. I believe the consensus ranks on both are too low, failing to fully account for Ottavainen’s tremendous rookie season in the AHL (eighth in the league in plus-minus, first among rookies) and Morrison’s skating gains.
The fourth tier is the reverse of the previous one—made up of the high-upside, low-probability prospects in the organization. Niklas Kokko has shown pretty much everything he could in Liiga, and I believe he is deeply underrated when compared against fellow goalie prospects. That said, the unpredictable nature of the goalie position makes it hard for me to push his ranking much higher until he produces consistently at the AHL level.
Eduard Sale had a difficult first year in the OHL. He appeared to struggle with the transition to the North American game and at times failed to stay engaged off the puck. His production suffered. On the other hand, the flashes of brilliance with the puck on his stick remain—and have started to shine through with a bit more regularity this summer. Lukas Dragicevic is a project defenseman, loaded with offensive skill but working hard to layer in adequate defensive instincts and production. If he can do that, he has second-pair upside.
The fifth tier is separated from the fourth by a step down in overall upside. These players could end up as average NHL contributors if everything clicks for them. Bizarrely, I probably had the most difficult time ranking Julius Miettinen. For a time, I had him ranked in Tier 3 because he strikes me as a higher-certainty projection, but in the end I decided the track record just isn’t long enough yet. If he can improve his on-puck play and scoring production in the WHL this year, he would quickly move up my ranking and closer to his consensus position.
Tier 6 is made up of mostly high-uncertainty players, but also a handful of players who are farther along in their career arc but with more limited upside. I wouldn’t put quite as much stock in the order of the prospects at this point, but I’m intrigued whether Lleyton Roed can carve out an NHL role in the coming years and considered ranking him higher. His play speed and compete level provide a good baseline.
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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 smell of hockey is officially in the air (and that’s a good thing). The Seattle Kraken rookies took the ice for the first time on Thursday, and many of the vets have been skating informally for several weeks now.
Before rookie camp got started, though, Kraken general manager Ron Francis addressed the media along with defenseman Adam Larsson and center Matty Beniers on Wednesday. Both players signed new contracts with the team within the last month, a four-year deal for Larsson that kicks in next year and a seven-year contract that starts this season for Beniers.
I won’t lie to you. Before Wednesday, I wasn’t sure if I was 100 percent ready to get this thing rolling. I was probably 95 percent there, but the summer has been a nice break from the rink, and I know that once the hockey machine gets humming, it rattles on for a loooooooong time.
But being there at Kraken Community Iceplex Wednesday, you could really feel the renewed sense of excitement that comes with the clean slate of a new season. That feeling of optimism, being among the players, the GM, and the local media cohort, injected the hockey bug right back into my veins. Let’s do the damn thing.
Beniers and Larsson love Seattle
Driving that excitement were Beniers and Larsson, who both gushed over what it means to play for the Seattle Kraken and their fanbase.
“It’s been three fun years here in Seattle,” Larsson, whose extension will pay him $21 million over four seasons, said. “Just seeing how much this city and the fans and everyone around the city loves the team, that was something I really wanted to see a lot more of, and I will now moving forward after this.”
The thing with Larsson is that we knew he loved playing in Seattle. He was one of the guys that chose to sign with the Kraken in advance of the Expansion Draft and was then selected from Edmonton. Seeing him sign on to stay longer was not a surprise to us.
For Beniers, I wasn’t always totally convinced he wanted to spend the bulk of his career here. He never said or did anything to indicate otherwise, but I always just wondered if a young man who is so close with his family and so far from home would feel an emotional pull to move east sooner rather than later. But by signing for seven years, he eliminated that question from my brain.
“It’s a great place, I love it here,” Beniers said. “The fans are awesome; you can’t really get a better organization in terms of how they treat us—the rink, the facilities, the stuff behind the scenes, the trainers, the equipment guys, the weight room, they’re all so top-notch and great people. So, that’s the first thing, and then the boys here are just awesome, so I love that too.”
Beniers said that last part about “the boys” with a wry smile. Also worth noting, although he has now been handed an enormous bag of cash, $49.98 million over the next seven years, he confirmed he will not be getting his own place and leaving roommate Will Borgen in the lurch.
Beniers is bigger and stronger
Comically, the biggest news of the day was that Matty Beniers put on 10 pounds this offseason, as offered up by Francis. Could you imagine getting back to work after a break and having people widely discussing how much weight you put on? I digress.
I actually found this quite interesting, because I remember seeing Matty at training camp last season and being surprised that he still looked as slight as he had at the end of the previous season.
Indeed, when Beniers arrived in front of the Kraken backdrop on Wednesday, he did look thicker than I remember him looking last season.
“I’m a leaner guy, so that’s important, putting on some corner weight, and getting back to feeling really, really good on the ice,” Beniers said. “I’m just feeling bigger, feeling stronger, a little bit more heavy on my feet out there, not getting… not falling down as much. I know I have a tendency to do that.”
It’s no question that after his outstanding rookie season, opposing teams keyed in on Beniers in 2023-24 and found success in knocking him off his skates. You can bet he was challenged by Kraken brass to get stronger this summer, and he delivered.
How this translates on the ice remains to be seen, but it is a good sign that Beniers is maturing physically and worked hard this offseason to improve.
Kraken are happy to have these players signed
While we get the sense that Larsson wasn’t too difficult of a negotiation, being that he made it clear he wanted to continue playing in Seattle, the Beniers talks started last offseason.
“There’s always challenges on dollar amount and then term are usually the two key factors in negotiations,” Francis said. “We did have some discussions last year, couldn’t get anything done before the season started, played the season out, and then you’re back to kind of square one when we start this year. So it was a lot of dialog, a lot of discussion, talked a lot of different terms, a lot of different scenarios, but at the end of the day, really happy that we got something worked out.”
The feeling was mutual for Larsson and Beniers as well, and Beniers went so far as to say that he “hates” the business side of the NHL.
“It’s definitely nice to get that done and have some security, and now you can put the business side behind you and just play hockey, which is the best part of it,” Beniers said.
Ultimately, the delay in getting the deal done played in the Kraken’s favor. We are quite certain Beniers could have gotten more money had he signed last summer. Regardless, both sides seem pleased to have the deal done.
Hope springs eternal
Both Larsson and Beniers referenced getting back to playing the way Seattle played two seasons ago, when it scored almost at will, racked up 100 standings points, and came just one goal shy of the Western Conference Finals.
Larsson, especially, indicated that the players were not happy with how last season went.
“[The expectations] should be high,” Larsson said. “I mean, everybody walking out of last year, it was kind of a disappointment. I feel like the guys are hungry, and obviously the additions [Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson] are two very, very good good players. So they will for sure help us, push us to where we want to be.”
These kinds of statements are akin to what we heard from players returning after the inaugural season. So, it seems like the motivation to return to relevancy this season is very much there.
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.
Seattle Kraken rookie camp kicks off on Thursday at Kraken Community Ice. With four draft classes now in the organization’s pipeline, there will be plenty of competition to advance to the main training camp, which starts on Sept. 19. Notable and expected absences include any NCAA prospects and players playing in Europe for the coming season, as their seasons kick off next week (for instance, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and VisaVedenpää will not attend). The rookie camp roster can be found here.
While there are some obvious players to keep an eye on, like Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton, Carson Rehkopf, Jagger Firkus, and Berkly Catton, here are four less obvious players we’ll be watching closely in this year’s rookie camp.
David Goyette
It might sound ridiculous to say that a player who led the OHL in points is flying under the radar, but we haven’t talked about him enough. David Goyette, a second-round draft pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, continues to take steps in his development and is expected to play his first professional season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Goyette scored 40 goals and 117 points in 68 games in the OHL while playing for the Sudbury Wolves last season. He is a great skater with a knack for driving offense. We expect him to advance to the main camp and really stand out in rookie camp.
Lleyton Roed
The Seattle Kraken signed undrafted Lleyton Roed in March after he finished his NCAA season at Bemidji State University. Roed led the Beavers in goals and points last season and is known as a great playmaker. After signing with the Kraken in the spring, he joined the Coachella Valley Firebirds and played in five regular-season games and five AHL playoff games.
In the games we watched, he kept up with the pace of play and looked like he fit in well in the AHL. At development camp earlier this summer, he looked very fast. While I’m not prepared to call Roed the next Tye Kartye, Kartye really stood out in his first rookie camp, and seeing how Roed performs might give us a good idea of the trajectory he’ll follow within the Kraken organization.
Ville Ottavainen
The big Finnish defenseman was part of the first Seattle Kraken draft back in 2021 when he was selected in the fourth round. He played the following two seasons in Liiga (Finland) before joining the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the entire 2023-24 season.
Despite being known as a shutdown defenseman with a physical presence, Ottavainen managed eight goals and 26 assists over 70 games with the Firebirds last season. The Kraken’s prospect pool is relatively light on defense, but Ottavainen is considered the closest to cracking the NHL roster. Barring any injuries, we don’t expect Ottavainen to start the season in Seattle, but he could get some NHL games this season.
Nathan Villeneuve was selected 63rd overall in this most recent draft, and several pundits felt that was a bit early. Villeneuve is a strong two-way center known for his physical presence. His offensive statistics don’t jump off the page—23 goals and 27 assists over 56 games last season for the Sudbury Wolves—but he had a hat trick in his preseason game on Sunday against the Peterborough Petes. He is several years away from potentially making an NHL appearance, but his tenacity and compete level should be on full display and fun to watch.
Even if you can’t attend the rookie camp on-ice sessions, all the prospects should play in the 2024 Rookie Faceoff in El Segundo, Calif., over the weekend. Both Kraken prospect games will be streamed. The entire training camp schedule can be found here.
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The Seattle Kraken, for the first time in their young franchise history, are facing a critical challenge—navigating the NHL salary cap with no wiggle room. With fewer than 30 days until the roster is locked, and barring an unfortunate injury that would require the use of long-term injured reserve, the Kraken will need to make a trade to create some roster flexibility.
A tight cap squeeze
Earlier this summer, fans applauded the announcement of Matty Beniers being locked up with a seven-year contract, but the $7.14 million AAV has pushed the Kraken close to the upper limit of the NHL salary cap for the 2024-25 season. Let’s take a closer look at the salaries on the roster.
We are reasonably certain that the 12th forward and 20th overall slot will be filled by Shane Wright, with a salary cap hit of $886,666. That leaves just $780K of cap space to cover the remaining roster spots, which is only enough to add a player on a league-minimum salary, such as defenseman Josh Mahura or forward Ben Meyers.
The maximum roster size in the NHL is 23 players for most of the season, with no size limit after the trade deadline. During the 2023-24 season, the Kraken averaged a roster size of 22.5 players up until the trade deadline last season, and 94 percent of the time, the Kraken had an active roster size of 22 or more. In other words, an active roster size of 21 players is extremely risky and uncommon.
No matter how you look at it, the Kraken do not have the cap space to carry a 22nd player on the roster right now.
Injuries happen
The Kraken dealt with a host of injuries last season. When a player is placed on short-term injured reserve, a roster spot opens up for a call-up, but the salary cap hit of the injured player still counts toward the team’s overall cap calculation. Last season, when you add up the scratches and players on injured reserve, the Kraken averaged 3.8 players per game that weren’t playing but needed to fit under the salary cap.
For example, in their game against the LA Kings on Dec. 20, they had 20 players in the lineup, three scratched players, and four players on injured reserve, for a total of 27 players that needed to fit under last season’s salary cap.
Long-term injured reserve
There are scenarios where a team will place a player on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) when they are expected to miss at least 10 games or 24 days. In those cases, the team is given salary cap relief for the duration of that player’s time on LTIR.
There was some concern about a possible injury to Oliver Bjorkstrand when he was out of the lineup for Denmark’s Olympic qualifying games at the end of August. If Bjorkstrand were expected to miss more than 10 games or 24 days, that could have been a short-term solution to the Kraken’s salary cap issue. Fortunately, we received confirmation from the Kraken organization that Oliver Bjorkstrand is expected to be fully ready for camp.
Lineup competition
Another reason it is important to have additional players on your roster is to maintain competition for roster spots. Extra players create competition for spots in the lineup every game, which helps maintain a high level of performance. When players know their place in the lineup is not guaranteed, it pushes them to continually improve their skills, work harder in practice, and perform at their best during games.
Additionally, it helps develop depth throughout the roster, as players who might otherwise become complacent are driven to stay sharp and ready to contribute whenever called upon. A good example of this level of competition was during the 2022-23 season when Ryan Donato, Daniel Sprong, and Morgan Geekie were often competing for two spots in the lineup. If the Kraken are unable to fit additional players into their lineup, it could lead to complacency among some individuals, even if it’s completely subconscious.
Is a trade coming?
All signs point to a trade not just being likely, but necessary, given the Kraken’s current situation. Ideally, the Kraken would move roughly $3 million off the roster, which would open up space for three additional roster spots for players on league-minimum contracts.
Looking at the current roster, the most likely candidate for a trade would be fan favorite Brandon Tanev. While Tanev still provides significant value in penalty killing and bringing energy to the lineup, Tye Kartye has been able to play a similar role at a third of Tanev’s $3.5 million salary cap hit. Of course, making a trade requires two sides to agree, and other teams might not see the same value in Tanev, which could mean that someone else would need to be traded. As painful as it is to say, Yanni Gourde is another candidate that would need to be considered. Gourde carries a $5.2 million cap hit and might require the Kraken to retain some salary in a trade.
Navigating the tight salary cap while maintaining a competitive roster will require some tough decisions, including the possibility of trading beloved players like Tanev or Gourde. These moves, though challenging, are necessary to create the roster flexibility Seattle will need to compete this season. As the season approaches, all eyes will be on the Kraken’s front office to see how they maneuver through this cap crunch.
What are your thoughts? How would you handle this situation if you were Ron Francis?
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The Seattle Kraken are reportedly signing veteran right-shot defenseman Adam Larsson to a four-year contract extension worth an average annual salary cap hit of $5.25 million. The deal was first officially reported by Frank Seravalli, though Larsson’s defense partner, Vince Dunn, seemed to have the real scoop.
Larsson, 31, is entering the last season of his current contract, so this new deal will kick in starting in 2025-26 and will keep the “Big Cat” in deep sea blue through the 2028-29 campaign.
A native of Skellefteå, Sweden, Larsson has played 13 seasons in the NHL and has been a rock on the blue line for Seattle since Day 1 of the franchise. In fact, he has appeared in every Kraken game except one this past season when his daughter was born.
He isn’t known for his scoring, but he has contributed 76 points (20-56=76) during his time with Seattle. He has also led the team with 22:57 average time on ice per game over that period and proudly dons the deepest undershirt “V” in franchise history.
*adding a signature Lars deep v neck shirt to our wish list for santa*
Skating on the top pair, Larsson’s reliable stay-at-home style has allowed Dunn to flourish as an offensive threat. One has to wonder how much of an impact Larsson has had on Dunn’s progression as a player.
Why the extension makes sense
I personally like this term for Larsson and think it should age well based on his style of play. As we have mentioned a few times on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, we had a hunch he wanted to stay in Seattle beyond this season. He was one of the players who chose to be here before the Expansion Draft, signing as a free agent before the Kraken selected him from the Edmonton Oilers. And, since then, every indication from him has been that he’s genuinely enjoyed his time here.
Giving a player entering the later stages of his career a four-year deal always carries some risk, but Larsson has been remarkably durable since arriving in the Pacific Northwest. A player like Larsson doesn’t rely as heavily on speed as others, so even if he loses a step over the next few years, he should still be an effective defender and can simply move down to a lower defensive pair.
As for the salary, his current deal pays him $4 million per year. It’s a significant raise to $5.25 million, but a deserved one that kicks in when the salary cap is expected to rise. One thing that concerns me slightly is that the Kraken are starting to commit a lot to players in their 30’s, with Brandon Montour, Chandler Stephenson, and now Larsson combining for more than $19 million during the course of Larsson’s contract. But that’s a concern for another day.
The captaincy plot thickens
I recently made my case for naming Jordan Eberle as captain of the Kraken, seeing him as a bridge captain until Matty Beniers or Shane Wright is ready to take the reins. But Sound Of Hockey’s own John Barr has been gently beating the drum for Larsson to get the “C” this summer, accurately predicting this extension several weeks ago. I recall him stating that he expected the Kraken to sign Larsson to a new deal, followed by naming him captain.
Well, the first step in John’s prophecy is now done, and I suddenly feel less confident in my prediction that Eberle will become the next captain.
Will it be the Big Cat after all?
Regardless, in honor of the extension, let’s enjoy this incredible Big Cat hype video from last season.
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 was the final practice session of Spokane Chiefs training camp on Saturday, with players as young as 15 ready to show that they had what it takes to make it and compete in the Western Hockey League. Well before the Zamboni completed its final laps, players participating in each session piled onto the bench, eagerly awaiting their turn to jump on the ice.
One of the team names from camp was Team Yamamoto, aptly named after former Chiefs assistant captain and former Seattle Kraken forward Kailer Yamamoto. While most everyone from the Yamamoto roster had crammed onto one bench like each of the teams before them had, one player was missing from the pile-up.
Where was standout forward Berkly Catton? Look no further than the opposite bench. Normally, the entrance to the opposite bench was used exclusively by Chiefs coaches throughout camp, but the Kraken’s 2024 No. 8 overall pick occupied the area by himself, a pre-season metaphor for the kind of player he is for Spokane.
Berkly Catton (right bench) and other participants in Spokane Chiefs training camp await their chance to take the ice. (Photo/Cameron Riggers)
If this past year has proven anything for Catton, it’s that he’s been nothing less than a star in the WHL. Catton, a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, was putting up numbers that not many wearing a Spokane uniform had before. His 116 points in 68 games in 2023-24 were good for seventh all-time in a single season by a Chiefs player, and he accomplished that in a season he started as a 17-year-old (he turned 18 on Jan. 14).
He was a highlight machine last season, with a game-wrecking move being all but imminent every time he had the puck on his stick. He attributes a lot of his skills to watching highlights of Pavel Datsyuk, Sergei Fedorov, as well as the late Johnny Gaudreau.
One of the smoother and stronger skaters in the draft class, Catton also brought impressive agility at his smaller stature of 5-foot-10, 174 lbs. He prioritized enhancing his shooting and playmaking abilities heading into his draft year.
“I spend a lot of my summers just shooting pucks, learning that it’s not easy to score goals in this league,” Catton said back in February. “I think by doing that I’ve taken my shot to the next level.”
The summer of Catton
To begin his summer, he attended the Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., in June, where he met with many teams, including the Kraken.
“We had our meeting at the Scouting Combine and [they] touched base a little bit throughout the year,” Catton said. “They were really strong meetings. I thought at the Combine, it went really well. I think the questions that they rolled off of me, I handled them well.”
As the draft approached, despite favorable meetings with Seattle, there wasn’t much indication that the Kraken would wind up picking him; many pegged them to take a defenseman with the No. 8 pick.
“They didn’t give much of an [indication] as to where they were going,” Catton said. “Rather than some teams telling you if they liked you or they didn’t, I honestly didn’t really expect [to be picked by them].”
Much to the surprise of many draft boards, the Kraken selected him eighth overall, effectively sending Spokane fans into a frenzy.
“Living here in Washington [for three years] now, I’ve been able to see the impact that the team’s had on the state,” Catton said. “I’m just extremely excited to see that and hopefully be a part of it pretty soon.”
As a byproduct of going to Las Vegas for the draft, Catton got to hang out with former Seahawks running back and minority owner of the Kraken, Marshawn Lynch. He wasn’t that familiar with Lynch or his impact on the Seattle sports scene, but he quickly learned just how revered a figure he is in the city.
“When I initially hung out with him and met him, I probably didn’t know quite how much he did,” Catton said. “After being in Seattle, I don’t think [people] really cared I went eighth overall—they cared I hung out with Marshawn Lynch more than anything.”
Following the draft, Catton headed to Development Camp at Kraken Community Iceplex in Seattle, where he signed his entry-level contract. Though he didn’t envision the signing happening on the ice in front of hundreds of Kraken fans, he marked it as his “Welcome to Seattle” moment.
“We think he’s a really high-end skill player,” general manager Ron Francis said at the draft. “He’s got elite hockey sense, high-end speed, a real good skillset, and is highly competitive.”
The Kraken’s guiding hand
Since signing his ELC, the Kraken have been very open about communicating their goals for Catton in the coming season and beyond. Sports science and performance consultant Gary Roberts has been a big influence on Catton in terms of diet and exercise thus far. Roberts helps train many high-profile NHL stars, including Connor McDavid.
And the influence has been noticeable, with Catton seemingly gaining much more muscle tone over the summer. Bulking up even further could help bolster his transition into pro hockey.
The Kraken also talked to Catton about wanting to see improvements on the defensive side of the puck, which was one of the knocks on his game entering the draft. Among the top 10 point-getters last season in the WHL, Catton had the second-lowest plus-minus figure at +15, which is about 18 below the top-10 average.
While his struggles could probably be attributed to the Chiefs’ defense and goaltending not being optimal last season, Catton spoke with determination to wash that away and get better in that aspect of his game, as well as with high aspirations heading into Kraken training camp.
“I think going into the camp in Seattle, my goal is to try and make that team,” Catton said. “If not, come back [to Spokane] to be a leader on this team, be an offensive threat, and get a little bit better on the defensive side.”
Is there an opportunity for Catton to make the Kraken’s opening day lineup this season? There’s definitely a point to be made about finding a jolt for the Kraken offense, which finished fourth to last in goals for last season. However, throwing Catton into the NHL at 18 years old may have a negative impact on his development, especially if he doesn’t get sufficient playing time. Plus, if he plays more than nine games for the Kraken, then Seattle uses up a year of his ELC.
Also, only a handful of non-first-overall picks in recent years have managed to secure a spot on an opening night roster the season after they were drafted and stick through the entire season—Zach Benson and Cole Sillinger being a couple examples. While it’s unlikely Catton will stay with the NHL team for the full year, it is possible, and it’s also possible that he could get a few games out of camp and then get sent back. Still, the most likely outcome for him this season is a return to Spokane for another full year.
No matter where he plays this season, there’s little doubt that he will receive more attention than ever before. Over 75 percent of games the Chiefs play this year will be in the U.S., making it easy for Kraken fans and staff to follow him. Spokane is also set to be a strong team this year, one that’s sure to vie for a top seed in the WHL playoffs, assuming Catton returns. The Chiefs may even have a chance at winning the U.S. Division, something that hasn’t been done since 1999-00.
“Before [camp], I was saying to all the guys that it’s not a squeak-into-the-playoffs-type year,” Catton said. “It’s to solidify ourselves early in the year and let everyone know we’re a team you don’t want to play in the first round—to be in that 1, 2, 3, or 4 seed and have that home-ice advantage. That’s the ultimate goal.”
He doesn’t set numerical goals for himself, but he’s committed to building on last season. He has a lot to look forward to this year, including a likely invitation to the World Junior Championship and possibly being in the 60-goal conversation by season’s end.
New Chiefs head coach Brad Lauer is as optimistic as anyone about Catton’s upcoming season.
“When you have a player like Berkly, as a coach, it’s exciting,” Lauer said. “For me as a coach now, it’s about developing him and getting him to the next level.”
So, here you go… five things I’m looking forward to for the upcoming Seattle Kraken season.
1. Dealing with Dan Bylsma
My first topic is perhaps not the most relatable for fans, since most do not get many opportunities to interact directly with the head coach of an NHL team. But fans do get to hear from the coach regularly via press conferences and interviews, and those watching and listening from afar get to know said coach in that sense.
For me and others in the press corps, it’s a little more personal. I’ve said MANY times before that I really liked Dave Hakstol as a person, and that sentiment stands, even after he was let go by the organization. He had a rigid exterior and a never-changing demeanor, and he did his best to keep the media at arm’s length, but every now and then, he’d let his guard down just a little. When he did, you would see what a kind and caring person he was beneath that tough shell.
That said, new coach Dan Bylsma brings a very different vibe. In my few interactions with him so far, he has not hidden or sugarcoated anything, and there’s been no indication that he wants the media to be guessing. He jokes, wears his heart on his sleeve, and makes you feel like you’re an old friend.
While I’m excited to see what improvements Bylsma can bring to the Kraken on the ice, I’m actually more interested in seeing how the dynamics will change in the dressing room now that “Disco Dan” is at the helm. My hope is that his openness creates some deeper connections with the fanbase as well.
2. Seeing how Montour and Stephenson can help
The Kraken made two huge offseason bets on free-agent acquisitions, Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson, committing more than 15 percent of this season’s salary cap to these newcomers. The seven-year contracts got mixed reviews when they were first signed, including from me, but after the initial guttural responses wore off, I started to get excited about how these players can change the complexion of the team.
In a way, general manager Ron Francis did this offseason what I hoped he would do last summer, bolstering the team from the top down. Last summer, my expectation was that he would add a couple of scoring forwards, causing a trickle-down effect to the fourth line. Instead, he let the entire productive fourth line from 2022-23 walk and replaced those players with role players.
This summer, Francis again let the fourth line walk, only this time, he added Stephenson to the top of the forward corps and plans to backfill the rest of the fourth line from within the organization. Coupling the Stephenson acquisition with the impending arrival of Shane Wright, Yanni Gourde could be destined for a fourth-line center role, which will only strengthen Seattle’s depth.
Meanwhile, Montour replaced Justin Schultz, and Ryker Evans replaced Brian Dumoulin as a full-time third-pair defenseman. Suddenly, the Kraken appear poised to be much more offensively productive from the back end. How this plays out in Seattle’s defensive zone remains to be seen, but I think the Kraken should see a significant uptick in scoring, and that will be fun to watch.
3. Shane Wright’s progression
Wright is all but guaranteed a spot on the Kraken roster out of training camp, which should mean he is entering his first full season in the NHL. The No. 4 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft has had a bumpy development road, losing an entire OHL season to COVID and playing for a slew of different teams before finally getting a chance to enjoy some consistency this past season in Coachella Valley.
The result was a huge step in his progression and a feeling that he is back on track to become one of the faces of the franchise in the near future. Wright’s five points (4-1=5) in five NHL games in April, plus 47 points (22-25=47) in 59 games in Coachella Valley last season, left Kraken fans salivating over what he might bring, now that he has found his footing as a pro.
Look for Wright to have a strong training camp as he seeks his first full-time NHL roster spot.
4. Matty Beniers’ response to last season
By most accounts, Matty Beniers followed his Calder Trophy-winning rookie season with a sophomore slump in 2023-24, going through some loooooong scoring droughts despite being anchored in the middle of Seattle’s top line and a constant on the power play.
But he did start to find his way through tighter checking from opponents toward the end of the season and still managed a very respectable 15 goals and 22 assists—numbers we would have been pleased with from a 21-year-old had he not scored 57 points (24-33=57) the season prior.
Last summer was a funky one for Beniers after an extended playoff run, Calder Trophy celebrations, and a season of playing more hockey than he ever had in his life. Now armed with a new seven-year contract, a full offseason of training, and a (hopefully) stronger cast of centers that could lower the focus on him, I’m eager to see if Beniers can get back to playing more freely.
I personally expect a big jump in production from him this season. Will I be right?
5. A more competitive team
Kraken ownership gave Francis and his staff a directive to make the team more competitive after a very disappointing result in 2023-24 left fans feeling uninspired about the future of the club. The front office responded with a couple of key upgrades and a coaching change.
Seeing the team flounder down the stretch—especially after Alex Wennberg was dealt at the Trade Deadline and Vince Dunn got injured—was disheartening and, at times, downright depressing.
Hope springs eternal when a new season starts, and I definitely have that optimistic vibe back right now. Here’s hoping that feeling carries all the way through to the end of the season, and that we will be seeing meaningful hockey in March and (dare I say) beyond.
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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.
Seattle’s defense got a significant upgrade this offseason. Brandon Montour, fresh off a Stanley Cup win with the Florida Panthers, signed a hefty seven-year, $50 million contract with the Kraken on the opening day of free agency. This commitment is underscored by a no-trade clause for the first three years, which then transitions to a modified NTC for the remainder of the deal. Let’s delve into Montour’s playing style and what Kraken fans can expect from their newest defenseman.
Montour’s offensive prowess
Montour’s offensive prowess is a cornerstone of his game. Over the past two seasons, he’s amassed an impressive 106 points in 146 games, with a career-best 73-point campaign in 2022-23. His ability to move the puck and generate offense from the back end is a significant upgrade for the Kraken.
Seattle’s previous reliance on a dump-and-chase style can be improved with Montour’s puck-moving ability, which will allow for more controlled entries and smooth transitions. His right-handed shot will complement the team’s existing defensive corps, and his ability to jump into the rush while maintaining situational awareness will add a new dimension to their offensive attack. The smooth-skating defenseman excels at starting the breakout with quick passes to get the puck moving up the ice. Here are a few clips of Montour making the first pass.
Shot selection
Adam Larsson has led Kraken defensemen in shots since the team’s inception with 392. Montour easily eclipses that mark, with 563 shots during the same time frame. This penchant for shooting will be welcomed by the Kraken.
As illustrated in the provided heatmaps (source: MoneyPuck), Montour’s shots are primarily concentrated at the point, but he’s not afraid to move around the ice and take shots from various angles. His ability to generate a high volume of shots, especially from long range, will be instrumental in creating scoring opportunities by generating rebounds and deflections.
Montour’s familiarity with the 1-3-1 power play strategy, a system also utilized by the Seattle Kraken, played a role in his shooting habits. This formation often anchors the power play quarterback at the point, which aligns with Montour’s primary shooting location.
Overall, Montour’s shooting style and offensive instincts make him a valuable addition to the Kraken’s blue line. His ability to generate shots and create scoring chances will be a key asset for the team as they strive for success.
Defensive abilities
While Montour is primarily known for his offensive contributions, he also possesses solid defensive skills. He’s positionally sound, adept at breaking up plays with his poke check, and effective at clogging passing lanes. Contrary to what his offensive reputation might suggest, Montour plays a more conservative defensive style, prioritizing his positional responsibilities over unnecessary offensive ventures.
Montour’s defensive play is heavily influenced by the systems implemented by the Florida Panthers. Through careful observation, it’s evident that Montour adheres to specific assignments in various zones, minimizing risky plays and prioritizing defensive responsibility.
Offense zone defense
Whilst playing defense in the offensive zone, Montour primarily occupies the point position. He’s quick to exit the zone once the puck is controlled by the opposing team, demonstrating his conservative approach to defense.
When the opponent contests but does not control puck along the boards, Montour does not hesitate to pinch and apply pressure to the opposing winger, aiming to regain possession. However, he’s always mindful of maintaining proper coverage, ensuring that a forward is in position to cover defense and limit odd-man rushes.
Here are a few clips of Montour pinching to maintain puck possession.
Given the Kraken’s similar defensive strategies, Montour’s familiarity with these tactics should allow him to seamlessly integrate into the team’s system.
Defensive zone
In the defensive zone, his home is in front of the net and in the corners. He is constantly scanning the ice for potential threats. Communication is key, and the right-shot defenseman can be seen during play talking to his teammates and pointing to opponents to ensure defensive coverage.
While Montour isn’t known for delivering heavy hits, he’s adept at using his body to separate the puck carrier from the puck and subsequently retrieving it. Once he gains possession, his puck-handling skills come into play, allowing him to quickly move the puck to a teammate and ensure his team keeps control.
The fast-paced nature of hockey often leads to odd-man rushes, and Montour’s poke check is a valuable asset in these situations. His ability to anticipate passes, combined with his willingness to sacrifice his body to block shots, makes him a formidable defender. Here are some clips of Montour’s poke checks.
The power play quarterback
Montour’s contributions extend beyond even-strength play, as evidenced by his league-leading average of 4:05 of average power play time per game over the past two seasons. While his goal production on the man advantage has been modest (four goals in two years), he’s established himself as a top distributor, ranking fifth in the NHL among defensemen with 46 power play assists during the same timeframe.
His role as a power play quarterback revolves around facilitating puck movement and creating scoring opportunities. The addition of Montour provides the Kraken with a formidable one-two punch alongside Vince Dunn, who will surely quarterback the other unit. Sharing the workload could potentially lead to a decrease in Montour’s power play time, as both he and Dunn will command plenty of opportunities.
It’s worth acknowledging the dip in Montour’s power play production during the 2023-24 season, coinciding with the emergence of Sam Reinhart and his 57 goals. Reinhart playing the bumper position, coupled with the Panthers’ strategy of cycling the puck low, limited Montour’s direct opportunities for assists. Check out this clip of a textbook Panthers power-play goal.
If the NHL counted third assists, Montour’s season totals would have definitely been higher. Regardless, Montour remained a valuable contributor to one of the league’s best power plays. The Florida Panthers power play was the fourth best in the NHL over the last two years, scoring 126 goals.
Montour’s experience and puck-moving abilities will be a significant asset for the Kraken’s special teams unit.
Coming back from injury
Following a tough Stanley Cup Final defeat to end the 2022-23 season and subsequent surgery to repair a torn labrum, Montour missed the first 16 games to start 2023-24. Despite returning to action and averaging 23:13 of ice time, Montour struggled to regain his pre-injury scoring touch during the early stages of the season. He was limited to 11 points in the first 36 games.
However, as the season progressed, his play began to show signs of improvement. Over the final 30 games, he demonstrated a significant uptick in production, averaging .73 points per game. This is equivalent to a 60-point pace for a full season. This surge suggests that Montour has fully regained his strength and confidence, and it bodes well for his potential in Seattle.
There is a lot going on in the following visualization (source: HockeyViz). What these graphics show is when Montour is on the ice, how do all the Panthers perform as a team? The image on the left is the 2022-23 season, and the right image is the 2023-24 season.
Here are my three takeaways from this data.
The top left heatmap for the 2023-24 season shows when Montour is on the ice, the even-strength offense heavily favored to Montour’s side of the ice.
The bottom left heatmap for the 2023-24 season shows very few shots are coming from the right side, indicating strong defense.
The top right heatmap shows Florida’s power-play shots. In the 2022-23 season, a bigger portion of the team’s shots were from the point than in 2023-24. That could be due to team strategy and Sam Reinhart’s team-leading 27 power-play goals.
Montour will boost the Kraken
Brandon Montour’s addition to the Seattle Kraken is a significant boost to their already strong defensive corps. The Kraken were already a top-10 team in goals against (232) prior to Montour’s arrival, and his presence will only further solidify their defensive foundation.
Beyond his defensive contributions, Montour’s offensive abilities offer the potential to enhance the Kraken’s scoring capabilities. His skillset aligns well with the team’s strategy, and his presence on the blue line will undoubtedly make them a better team.
Kraken fans can eagerly anticipate seeing Montour in a Kraken jersey when training camp begins on Sept 19. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below. You can find me on the X at @blaizg.
