It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old-fashioned Data Dump, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been actively scouring the publicly available data for insights. I spent the better part of my weekend rebuilding my data pipelines so that I could condense things into a few charts to share what I found. This will be all about the Stanley Cup Playoffs to date.
Stanley Cup Playoff series length
This year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs seemed to start out really slowly, with several teams winning their first two games of the series, and we all started to worry that we would see a lot of sweeps. As luck would have it, several teams turned it around to give us some competitive series and a couple of Game 7’s. That said, only three of the eight series went longer than five games, thus bringing down the average games per series.
By the looks of the chart, maybe we were just spoiled the two prior years, which had longer series than usual in Round 1.
I do have some bad news, though. The second round of the last three Stanley Cup Playoffs saw lower average series lengths than the first round.
I would not put too much stock in this since 2019 and 2020 had an average series length of six or more games in the second round.
Stanley Cup Playoff scoring
After a few low-scoring games over the weekend, I wanted to examine how goal scoring in Round 1 compared to the regular season and previous season’s playoffs.
After a string of regular seasons in which the average goal scoring exceeded six goals per game, these playoffs have dipped to under six goals per game for the first time since the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s important to note that playoff averages only include goals scored by the top 16 teams in the league, as half the teams don’t qualify.
Playoff teams have been scoring less in the postseason so far than they did in the regular season.
Another aspect of playoff goal scoring I like to examine is the percentage of goals scored on the power play. I’ve heard a lot about the Edmonton Oilers’ power play, so I was a little surprised to see the Rangers at the top of the list for the highest percentage of goals scored via power play.
Blocked shots
We often hear about the commitment of players to blocking shots in the playoffs. The eye test suggests that shot blocking goes up in the postseason, but is this common narrative true?
So yes, blocked shots do historically go up in the playoffs, but only marginally. I would have expected a higher increase in the playoffs.
Here is a look at a team-by-team breakdown of blocked shots in the playoffs compared to the regular season.
Hitting in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Another aspect of the game that changes is the number of hits in playoff games. This change can be most noticeable in Game 1 of a series, when teams come out with a lot of adrenaline and look to “set the tone” physically. Here’s a look at the average hits per game per team.
Let’s not forget that out-hitting does not necessarily translate to winning. We examined this during the regular season in the last Monday Musings chart of the week. Here are the winning percentages when you are out-hit (negative differential) versus out-hitting (positive differential) your opponent.
In my definition, a negative differential occurs when the opponent has four or more hits than your team, whereas a positive differential means your team has four or more hits than the opponent.
More playoff Data Dumps to come
I plan to do a couple more Data Dumps throughout the playoffs. The next area I am going to investigate is the roster construction, but if there is anything else you want me to look into, let me know in the comments, and I will see what I can do. In the meantime, enjoy the playoffs.
The Dallas Stars have punched their ticket to the second round after winning a decisive Game 7 on Sunday night, making them the last of eight teams to advance through the opening series. We reviewed the Eastern Conference here, and in this article we will preview the two upcoming Western Conference series. As with the Eastern Conference preview, we will call out potential unrestricted free agents that have some offensive upside. This can give Kraken fans some players to keep an eye on while watching the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Out of all first-round series there was only one “upset,” and that was the Colorado Avalanche over the Winnipeg Jets. The Vegas Golden Knights had Dallas on the ropes but ultimately took a first-round exit, guaranteeing a new Stanley Cup champion will be crowned this year. Meanwhile, there are only two Canadian teams remaining, and since they are playing each other, there will be one in the Western Conference Finals and one hitting the golf course.
Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche
Former Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Colorado and Dallas
Nov. 18 – Colorado won 6-3
Jan. 1 – Colorado won 5-4 in overtime
Feb. 27 – Colorado won 5-1
Apr. 7 – Dallas won 7-4
The Colorado Avalanche won the season series 3-1. More impressively, Colorado scored four or more goals in each game.
The Avs stumbled into the playoffs, losing seven of their last 11 games. Their offense woke up in their first-round matchup with the Winnipeg Jets, though, and scored five or more goals in every game. That came against a Winnipeg team whose save percentage and goals-against average were the best in the NHL during the regular season.
The Dallas Stars are coming off a hard-fought seven-game series with the defending Stanley Cup champions. Dallas showed resilience in coming back from a 0-2 start in the series. Wyatt Johnston has had an amazing sophomore season, leading the Stars in goals with 32 during the regular season. His skill has been on full display in the playoffs, and he has scored some big timely goals and led the team with four goals and seven points in Round 1.
Jake Oettinger was also strong in the first round, posting an impressive 1.95 GAA and .925 save percentage while playing all seven games of the series.
Trade Deadline acquisitions
The Trade Deadline was a busy time for the Avalanche, who added Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Duhaime, Yakov Trenin, and Sean Walker. They also moved on from Ryan Johansen, but had to part ways with Bowen Byram to shore up the second-line center role with Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt had a bit of a slow start but has blossomed in the playoffs with six points in five games.
Trenin and Duhaime have retooled Colorado’s fourth line. Walker is playing a depth role and helping out on the third defensive pairing.
The Dallas Stars added to their defensive corps at the deadline by trading for Chris Tanev. Former Kamloops Blazer, Logan Stankoven, also cracked the Stars lineup and has definitely turned some heads while chipping in 14 points in 24 games.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series
Series outcome
This series has two Stanley Cup favorites going toe-to-toe, and fans should sit back and enjoy the ride. With the recency bias of Colorado handling Winnipeg, we think they have the slight edge going into the series.
Prediction: Colorado wins in seven games (though I will be pulling for Dallas to win)
Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers
Former Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy, now with the Vancouver Canucks. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Vancouver and Edmonton
Oct. 11 – Vancouver won 8-1
Oct. 14 – Vancouver won 4-3
Nov. 6 – Vancouver won 6-3
Apr. 13 – Vancouver won 3-1
The Vancouver Canucks swept the season series winning all four games. However, three of those games took place during the first month of the season when Edmonton could do nothing right.
Canucks goaltending
The Canucks all-star goaltender, Thatcher Demko, sustained a knee injury in Game 1 of Vancouver’s first-round matchup with the Nashville Predators. He is listed as week-to-week and has yet to participate in practice, but has been seen skating. Coach Rick Tocchet has ruled Demko out for at least Game 1 of the series.
Furthermore, Vancouver’s backup goaltender Casey DeSmith was also injured in Game 3 in the first round series. Arturs Silovs was thrust into action and has thrived with a 1.70 GAA and .938 save percentage in three games. He seems to have taken the de facto starting job for now, even as DeSmith has recovered from injury. Silovs is set to start game one vs Edmonton.
Having uncertainty in your goaltending is not something you want as you set to start a playoff series against the top two NHL point leaders over the past nine year. Connor McDavid has scored 982 points and Leon Draisaitl has scored 841. Nobody else in the NHL has scored even 800 points in the last nine years
Edmonton on a roll
The Edmonton Oilers’ standings points from the regular season are a bit misleading. On Nov. 6, after the Oilers lost to Vancouver, they had five total points and were in 31st place. They fired Jay Woodcroft, hired Kris Knoblauch, and since then, they have have been on a tear, earning 99 points to finish the season, best in the NHL over that span. The Oilers continued on that pace into the first round of the playoffs, disposing of the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Trade Deadline
To prepare for the playoffs, Vancouver swung for the fences and traded for center Elias Lindholm. However, he has not panned out as well as the Canucks front office imagined. His 0.46 points per game (12 in 26 games) is well below his career average of 0.68 points per game.
The Edmonton Oilers acquired Adam Henrique to help round out their top six. Henrique has landed a dream role of playing with Connor McDavid, but his point totals have declined from his time with the Anaheim Ducks.
Series outcome
Although neither team hit home runs with their deadline acquisitions, they are still excellent teams that had success in the regular season. Edmonton has the edge in goals scored per game, power play percentage, and penalty kill percentage.
It should not be overlooked that Vancouver was 4-0 versus Edmonton. The Canucks have the ability to win on any night. Ultimately, though, the carousel in goal is what will cause the Canucks to lose this series.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series
Prediction: Edmonton Oilers win in six games
Second round wrap-up
As with the Eastern Conference, a case could be made for all four teams remaining to be able to hoist the Stanley Cup. It has been speculated all year that a team will have to run the gauntlet to make it out of the East, but the West is no easier. The team that emerges will have gone through battle.
There is not a clear-cut favorite in any of the remaining series, and as a hockey fan, I am here for it. Crack a college soda (or your favorite beverage) and enjoy the playoff hockey as much as you can. If you need more beyond the NHL, the Coachella Valley Firebirds best-of-five series is tied 1-1.
The first round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books and featured goaltending controversies and injuries, two Game 7 thrillers, and another heart-breaking ouster for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, the hockey world turns its attention to the second round, so we’re putting together a quick pair of preview articles for what to look for in this next set of games, starting in the Eastern Conference.
The Seattle Kraken are already out working on their golf game, but the team’s front office is busy trying to fill the head coaching position as well as finding some needed scoring for next season. Here, we will consider each of the second-round playoff matchups and call out any unrestricted free agents (UFA’s) that might be of interest to the Kraken, focusing on forwards with an offensive touch. Hopefully, that can give you some players to watch while you are unable to root for the Kraken.
New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes
Alex Wennberg playing against the Hurricanes. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Carolina and New York
Nov. 2 – New York Rangers won 2-1
Jan. 2 – Carolina Hurricanes won 6-1
Mar. 12 – New York Rangers won 1-0
The Rangers also jumped out to a 1-0 series lead with a 4-3 win at Madison Square Garden in Game 1 on Sunday.
New York Rangers overview
The New York Rangers hold the season series edge at 2-1, but that is a little deceiving. In those games, Carolina only gave up four total goals and scored seven on Igor Shesterkin. Plus, Frederik Andersen sat out most of the year due to a blood clotting issue but returned in early March. Since returning, Andersen has played in 15 games (including playoffs) and went 13-2.
The Rangers won the Presidents Trophy for a reason. They scored 3.39 goals per game (seventh in the league during the regular season), have an excellent goaltender in Shesterkin, and their power play and penalty kill are top three in the NHL. Key additions at the deadline were former Seattle Kraken Alex Wennberg and former Columbus Blue Jacket Jack Roslovic. Both of these players are shoring up the depth for New York, but Wennberg is still contributing on 5-on-5, power play, and penalty kill scenarios.
One item of note for Kraken fans, Seattle received New York’s second-round draft pick in 2024 for Wennberg. If New York were to lose this series, four teams would finish above them, and the pick would improve to No. 61 (from No. 65). There are 33 picks in the second round because the Philadelphia Flyers have a compensatory pick for not signing their 2018 first-round draft pick, Jay O’Brien. If the New York Rangers win the series, Seattle’s acquired pick will fall in the 63-65 range.
Carolina Hurricanes overview
The Carolina Hurricanes are no slouch either and finished just three points behind the Rangers. The Hurricanes were eighth in the NHL in scoring in the regular season, have a very good goaltending tandem in Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, have the second-best power play in the league and the best overall penalty kill. Key additions at the trade detail were Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Guentzel has been a perfect fit with the team’s offense and has scored 29 points in 22 games since arriving in Carolina.
Both of these teams have a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup if they can make it out of the second round. Expect this series to go the distance or close to it.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series:
Prediction: Carolina wins in seven games
Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins
Season series between Florida and Boston
Oct. 30 – Boston Bruins won 3-2 in overtime
Nov. 22 – Boston Bruins won 3-1
Mar. 26 – Boston Bruins won 4-3
Apr. 6 – Boston Bruins won 3-2 in overtime
The Boston Bruins swept the season series, but they were all close games with two being decided in overtime. Both Boston and Florida played better on the road in the season series. The Panthers have home-ice advantage, but does that mean Boston actually has the edge in this series?
The teams are also evenly matched when looking at goals scored, power play, and penalty kill.
The Bruins are more likable than they used to be, thanks to former Kraken Morgan Geekie joining the fold.
Goaltending
The difference in this series could come down to goaltending. As a team, Florida statistically had the best goaltending in the league and relied heavily on Sergei Bobrovsky playing 57 games with Anthony Stolarz playing the remaining 25. Boston’s duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark was the fifth-best tandem in the league but had a much more even split of games with Swayman playing 43 and Ullmark playing 39.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as Stolarz was excellent in the regular season. Stolarz actually led the entire NHL in save percentage (.925) and goals-against average (2.03), but it should be noted that out of Stolarz’s 25 games, only seven were against teams that made the playoffs and zero were against teams still remaining in the playoffs. Even with Florida being the No. 1 goaltending duo, the depth that Boston has at the position is an asset. We would expect Bobrovsky to play every game for Florida, assuming he doesn’t get hurt or have a stinker, and the Bruins to continue rotating.
If things go haywire in the crease for the Panthers, Kraken legend Magnus Hellberg is waiting in the wings.
Trade deadline additions
Boston did struggle to score in their last three games, only potting four total goals. That will not get it done against Florida, and the Bruins will have to find their scoring touch again. Boston did not add any key players at the deadline, other than Patrick Maroon who has played in four Stanley Cup Finals, helping his team win in three of them.
Florida added two players of note at the deadline, Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo. Tarasenko has been a good fit and has chipped in 14 points in 19 games. Okposo has not worked out as well and has seen his playing time reduced to 7:19 per game in the playoffs.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series:
Prediction: Boston wins in six games
Wrap up
Any one of the four teams in the Eastern Conference is good enough to hoist the Stanley Cup this year. Both series should be hard fought and exciting to watch.
Unrelated, if you’re looking for a hockey fix that has more relevance to the Seattle Kraken, the Coachella Valley Firebirds are playing a best-of-five series against the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Game 1 – May 3, 6:00 pm in Calgary (4-1 Loss)
Game 2 – May 5, 3:00 pm in Calgary (4-3 Win in overtime)
Game 3 – May 8, 8:00 pm in Coachella Valley
Game 4 – May 10, 7:00 pm in Coachella Valley
Game 5 – May 12, 3:00 pm in Coachella Valley (if needed)
While none of what Francis said was particularly surprising, we did take away that this was a difficult decision for the always cautious and guarded GM, and we aren’t convinced he wanted to make this move but may have felt he had no choice based on how the season played out. Francis indicated that he didn’t make his final decision until Sunday and met with Hakstol to inform him on Monday morning in Seattle, calling it “an extremely sad day.”
#SeaKraken Ron Francis said he didn’t come to this final decision to move on from Dave Hakstol until yesterday.
“It’s never an easy day, it’s never an easy decision,” Francis said. “We let a guy who’s a good coach and a really good person go, and it’s not easy. But, you know, looking at the organization and just looking at the season, I thought we were a little more inconsistent than we had been, a few too many losing streaks, and losing streaks of significant numbers. And so we just felt it was time to try a new voice here.”
Francis made it clear he didn’t think everything that happened this season was Hakstol’s fault. Instead, he commended the coach for his “thorough” approach and reiterated that there were externalities that were outside of Hakstol’s control.
“We had guys that had off seasons, we had guys that missed a lot of time, so there were a lot of challenges to the roster as well.”
Where do the Kraken go from here?
One thing this move does is crank up the heat on Francis to find success next season. Historically, a GM tends to get one coach firing before the attention turns in their direction. Francis has shown he is taking a slower “build from within” type of approach, which eventually worked in Carolina after he left there. It’s a good approach for the long-term health of the organization, but will Seattle’s ownership be patient enough to let some of Francis’ draft picks arrive and become impact players? Or will there be more pressure moving forward to contend?
So, while we think Hakstol was a fine first pick, the next hiring needs to be the perfect fit, and it needs to be somebody who can move the needle right away. Francis said the process to find that next bench boss starts immediately, but there’s no “definite timeline” for a hiring.
In our previous article about the firing, we threw out a few names we thought could be candidates to replace Hakstol, and we did ask Francis what attributes he thought were important, but he declined to fully comment on that.
“If I answer that question, it’s going to be tied to ‘this is what I didn’t think Dave was doing,’ so I’d rather not do that at this point.”
Fair enough. If we were to guess what the team will be looking for moving forward, it will be somebody who can be a players’ coach, one who fits into the dressing room and can have strong relationships with the players. The next coach needs to be able to hold players accountable while showing fairness in approach (meaning, if a player is playing, they get rewarded, and vice versa).
We also do not think the head coach is the only “change” this organization will need. The team announced this morning that assistant coach Paul McFarland will also not return. And Francis mentioned the roster on many occasions Monday, He said in clear terms, “We have to make some changes to the roster and try and get back to where we want to get to next season.”
How the roster changes look remain to be seen, but there’s no doubt Francis will try to uncover some scoring from elsewhere in the league this summer.
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 Seattle Kraken have relieved Dave Hakstol of his head coaching duties, the team announced on Monday.
“I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise,” said Kraken general manager Ron Francis via a press release. “Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position. These decisions are never easy, but we feel that this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best. We will begin our search for the Kraken’s next head coach immediately.”
The team also announced that assistant coach Paul McFarland will not return.
Over the past week, it became clear that Francis was considering making a change behind the bench. The potential for such a move came into focus when at his end-of-season presser—which he performed solo, instead of with Hakstol by his side like last season—Francis skirted around a real answer on whether Hakstol would be back for 2024-25.
“It’s part of the process we go through now, right?” Francis said. “Meeting with the coaching staff, the management team, all that stuff, and assessing, and so we’re still in that process now.”
That sparked speculation amongst local media about the future of the only head coach the Kraken organization has ever had.
Hakstol’s tenure ended after 246 regular-season games behind the bench, plus 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He had a 107-112-27 record and most notably led his team to an unprecedented turnaround between the first and second seasons in franchise history with a 40-point improvement from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
That got the Kraken into the playoffs last season, where they defeated the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games before coming up one game shy of the Western Conference Finals, losing to Dallas in a heartbreaking Game 7. Hakstol was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year after that run but lost out to Boston’s Jim Montgomery.
Things went in the opposite direction this season, and the Kraken took a step back, finishing well outside of the playoff picture with 81 points, a 19-point drop from 2022-23. They had a legitimate chance to qualify as late March, but a slow start to the season, no scoring punch, and several long losing streaks ultimately did Seattle in
Unfortunately for Hakstol, this was necessary
Through most of the season, I denied the plausibility of such a firing, largely because general manager Ron Francis signed Hakstol to a two-year contract extension prior to this season. That deal starts next season, so with Hakstol getting the pink slip now, Seattle is on the hook to pay him for two more years (unless it can work out some contract-sharing deal with a different team that might hire him in the future).
Even so, as the campaign unfolded, and the players began mailing it in down the stretch, the writing on the wall got bolder and bolder. In the past week, I became certain that a change was coming.
Speaking personally, I wasn’t rooting for this, because I’ve genuinely enjoyed my interactions with Dave Hakstol. He has never been anything other than respectful and professional toward me, and he has answered every one of my questions over the last three seasons with grace and thoughtfulness, even when I asked stupid ones.
Heck, Hakstol even played along with some of my more outlandish questions, like when I went down a rabbit hole asking him about his favorite Sarah McLachlan songs. That’s a story for another day, but the point is that I’m sad to see Hakstol go. He’s a good man that I think deserved better from his team this season.
Every NHL player and coach will tell you, though, that this is a results-driven business. Hakstol was no longer getting the results his GM expected, and a change became necessary.
The search for Hakstol’s replacement starts now
If Hakstol’s arrival in Seattle was any indication of how the team’s search for its next head coach will go, then don’t expect to hear much official news about candidates.
Remember, when Hakstol was hired, people were widely reporting that Rick Tocchet was set to become the head coach, only for the official announcement to come out with Dave Hakstol’s name on it a couple days later. At that point, no hockey pundits on the planet had even mentioned Hakstol’s name as a candidate, and I genuinely believe that his ability to keep his interviews quiet played into his hiring by the very secretive Francis.
So, I’m very much speculating here on who I think the top candidates will be, but these are a few educated guesses.
Dan Bylsma
Coach Dan is perhaps the most obvious candidate to take over the helm. The current coach of the Coachella Valley Firebirds has worked wonders with Seattle’s AHL affiliate and brings the pedigree of winning a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
Disco Dan is well known by pretty much everyone in the organization, and from what I’ve gathered, players seem to really enjoy playing for him.
I interviewed Bylsma along with the late, great Andy Eide at Kraken Community Iceplex before last season for the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. Give that a listen here to get to know Bylsma’s personality a bit (and hear from Andy again).
Bylsma has a 320-190-55 record in the NHL, has led a dominant Firebirds team to a regular-season record of 94-32-11-7 over the past two seasons, and came one game shy of the Calder Cup in 2022-23.
Dean Evason
Dean Evason may not be quite as familiar to Kraken fans, but he and Francis go way back.
Evason is a successful, fiery, and often quirky coach that has been friends with Francis since his playing days. The two played together on the Hartford Whalers from the 1984-85 season until Francis was traded to Pittsburgh in March, 1991.
Evason, 59, spent parts of five seasons as bench boss of the Minnesota Wild after initially getting hired there as an assistant coach in 2018. He was elevated to interim head coach on Feb. 14, 2020, and had success down the stretch that season, guiding his new team to a 8-4-0 record in the final 12 games of the regular season before it lost 3-1 in the play-in round of the modified COVID bubble playoffs.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin was so pleased with the job Evason had done under the circumstances, he removed the interim tag the following offseason and officially made Evason an NHL head coach for the first time in his career. Evason rewarded Guerin with .670, .689, and .628 seasons, good for two third-place finishes and one second-place finish in the Central Division. The Wild lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of those three seasons.
With Evason still at the helm to start the 2023-24 campaign, Minnesota got off to a dreadful start, and he was fired one day after his team lost its seventh game in a row on Nov. 26, replaced immediately by John Hynes.
Evason has reportedly been interviewing already with the Ottawa Senators.
Rod Brind’Amour
This one feels like a stretch, but I’m throwing it out there. If Rod Brind’Amour becomes available this offseason, he will be at the top of every coaching candidate list in the NHL. His contract is up after this season, and getting him signed the last time around proved difficult for the always cost-conscious Tom Dundon, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes.
A deal eventually got done last time, and Brind’Amour is a legend in the Hurricanes organization, so I’m guessing another extension will come soon.
If no deal comes to fruition, though, you don’t have to look far to find connections between Francis and Brind’Amour.
*Author’s note: I initially ended my list here, but a couple other names got thrown at me that I thought were worth including.
Jay Woodcroft
“Woody,” as he’s known, coached parts of the last three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers before being canned after just 13 games this season. Ironically, I attended what I believe was Woodcroft’s last press availability before his firing, because Edmonton pulled the trigger the morning after the Oilers beat the Kraken 4-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 11.
At the time, Edmonton had a horrendous 3-9-1 record, and they proved to be one of the best teams in the league under his successor, Kris Knoblauch.
Still, the Oilers were awesome in Woodcroft’s lone full season, and finished with 109 points before getting bounced in the second round by the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights.
Despite the bad start to this season, Woodcroft still ended his tenure with an impressive 79-41-13 record and (from what I gathered) seemed to be well liked by his players.
Jay Leach
What about Leachy? We have heard whispers that Leach, the well-loved defensive coach for the Kraken, has been close to landing an NHL head-coaching job in the past couple seasons. We’ve also heard Seattle defensemen rave about what Leach has done to help shape their games.
Leach has served as an assistant coach for Seattle for the past three seasons and spent the previous four as the head coach of the Providence Bruins of the AHL.
Craig Berube
Craig Berube’s name is also out there as a potential for head-coaching vacancies, although I’m not sure I see the fit here. We do think more of a “players coach” will be hired by Seattle, and the gruff Stanley Cup winner does not seem to fit that mold, from what I know about him.
Who else am I missing?
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.
I assure you, there will be extensive analysis of the Seattle Kraken’s performance throughout the 2023-24 season in the coming days, weeks, and months. We’ll delve deeper into what went wrong and speculate on offseason plans starting this week.
My mind is filled with topics to investigate and evaluate. Each investigation takes me down a different rabbit hole, and these don’t always yield findings worth sharing, so it will take me time to get through these. In the meantime, I thought I would wrap up the season with a final ‘Monday Musings.’
Injuries
Injuries were mentioned a couple of times during the season-ending press availabilities, and they truly took a toll on Seattle’s performance throughout the year. While maladies were a constant presence, we may not have fully grasped the extent of the challenge they presented this season for the Kraken.
Injuries are a part of the game, and the team faced a few last season as well. It’s hard to compare how this season’s man-games lost relates with last season or with other teams because of players on LTIR (Chris Driedger was included in Seattle’s man-games lost in 2022-23 but was replaced by Martin Jones).
Regardless, the above chart gives a good feel for just how much hockey was missed by key players. Due to turnover on the goal-scoring fourth line, the margin for error became much narrower this season. So in a season where goal-scoring was a challenge, the extended absences of Andre Burakovsky, Jaden Schwartz, and Vince Dunn had a significantly greater impact compared to the 2022-23 season.
Watching the playoffs though a Kraken lens
During Saturday night’s playoff game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, I sent out a tongue-in-cheek tweet suggesting Mitch Marner could be traded to Seattle. While a Marner trade would be a long shot, these are the types of scenarios that general manager Ron Francis could be considering during the offseason. Players entering the last year of their contract, with several quality years left in their career, may become targets—especially those unlikely to re-sign with their current team or in situations where the current club is seeking change. Marner is just one example of the type of player Francis could be exploring.
As I watch every second of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I also find myself keeping an eye on pending free agents who might fit into the Kraken’s lineup next season. In my opinion, signing the top free agents with lengthy contracts isn’t ideal, as they often don’t age well. Instead, the team needs a reliable goal scorer who can commit to a shorter contract of two or three years while the prospect pool matures. Among the players I’ve observed in the playoffs who fit this criteria are Tyler Toffoli, Anthony Duclair, and Jake DeBrusk. All three of them possess goal-scoring abilities and would be valuable additions to help address the team’s pressing need for scoring.
Thoughts on the new TV deal
The feedback and thoughts about the new Kraken TV partnership with TEGNA (KING 5/KONG) and Amazon Prime Video have been overwhelmingly positive. This partnership will remove significant financial barriers for fans to enjoy Kraken games. I’ve received numerous texts from Kraken fans expressing excitement about finally being able to watch locally broadcasted games.
However, a couple of fans raised legitimate questions. For instance, how will people in Idaho and Montana watch the games? The Kraken’s press release specifically mentioned availability in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, suggesting that Idaho and Montana may not have local broadcast access via over-the-air or Amazon Prime Video.
We asked about this and were told that viewers in those states can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch games as “out of market” fans.
Another question is whether Amazon Prime Video will offer the capability to start games on a delay. Not everyone can make it home for a 4 pm start for games on the East Coast and might prefer a ‘start from the beginning’ option. While this feature is standard for many streaming services, Amazon’s first-time regional game broadcast could see some evolution in capabilities.
Regarding replays, will they be available on Amazon Prime Video immediately or will fans need to wait 48 hours as with ESPN+? NFL game replays on Prime Video are typically available right away, but it’s uncertain whether the same will apply to these games.
We have also asked about the ‘DVR’ functionality and will pass along what we hear back.
Fans have also asked about pre- and post-game shows. How will these be presented, and will Piper Shaw be joining the team? Imagine a world without #TheExperience!
This transition in distribution is a significant undertaking, and I anticipate there may be some initial challenges. Let’s all practice patience as the Kraken work to develop this new solution.
Other Musings
In case you missed it, the Kraken signed Carson Rehkopf, one of their second-round selections from last year’s draft, after his Kitchener Rangers squad was eliminated from the OHL playoffs. He will be joining the Coachella Valley Firebirds for their playoff run.
With the signing of Rehkopf, Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard remains as the last unsigned second-round pick from last year’s draft. Expect him to join the Denmark national team at the IIHF World Championship in Czechia.
The Kraken will have strong representation at the upcoming World Championship, starting May 10, as announced by Ron Francis in his postseason press availability. Players such as Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev, Jamie Oleksiak, Andre Burakovsky, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Philipp Grubauer, and Tomas Tatar will be playing for their respective countries.
Although it feels like ages ago, I was deeply moved watching the final Arizona Coyotes game at Mullett Arena. When I started NHLtoSeattle some 14 years ago, the possibility of the Coyotes relocating to Seattle was often discussed. I vividly recall texting with the prospective ownership group on the night of the Glendale vote in 2013. It wasn’t something I was rooting for, but I was certainly keeping a close eye on it. There were incredibly dedicated fans there, and I hope the NHL returns to Arizona soon.
The Coyotes have made the playoffs only once since the NHL-owned team reached the Western Conference Final in 2012.
Here’s an interesting tidbit I came across recently: During the 2023-24 season, the Kraken had 15 fighting majors. Interestingly, seven out of the nine teams with fewer fighting majors than the Kraken are currently in the playoffs.
Get Off My Lawn
With the significant news of the Seattle Kraken moving on from ROOT Sports, I began researching streaming options. The top two choices for my needs are YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, with Hulu + Live TV being the favorite due to its bundle options with ESPN+. However, a major drawback with either option is the inability to add the NHL Network.
For passionate hockey fans like myself, the NHL Network offers 24/7 hockey content and serves as the home for events like the U18’s, Women’s Worlds, Men’s World Juniors, and Rivalry Series games. The only alternative streaming option would be Sling, but adding the NHL Network requires subscribing to the Orange package (~$40) and then purchasing the ‘Sports Extra’ add-on for an additional $10, totaling an extra $50 per month. That’s a bit steep for just adding the NHL Network, so I’ll pass on that option.
NHL Network distribution options, get off my lawn.
Down on the Farm
The Coachella Valley Firebirds earned a first-round bye in the Calder Cup Playoffs, and their second-round matchup is now set against the Calgary Wranglers. The series will follow a five-game format with the first two games scheduled in Calgary and the next three in Coachella Valley. This two-three format is often used to reduce travel costs when teams are geographically distant. Similarly, Abbotsford and Ontario are adopting a similar format for their series. I don’t love it for the Firebirds’ sake, since it feels like a disadvantage to open the series on the road.
Here is the schedule:
In case you missed it, early last week the Kraken and Firebirds announced that prospects Carson Rehkopf, David Goyette, Caden Price, Kaden Hammell, Andrei Loshko, and Eduard Šalé would be joining the Firebirds. Most of these guys will not get into any playoff games and are just around to absorb the pro atmosphere. But don’t be surprised if a couple of them get into a few games. Last season, Goyette ended up playing seven AHL playoff games after his junior season ended. Jagger Firkus and Jacob Melanson also got into one AHL playoff game each last season.
Speaking of Firkus, he will not be joining the Firebirds, since his Moose Jaw Warriors are still going and are knotted up at one game apiece against the Saskatoon Blades in Round 3 of the WHL Playoffs. On the other side of the WHL playoff bracket, Tyson Jugnauth and the Portland Winterhawks are tied 1-1 in their series with Prince George. Meanwhile, Ty Nelson of the North Bay Battalion is the only Kraken prospect still playing in the OHL playoffs.
You Don’t See That Every Day
This happened a while ago, but any time you see a goalie goal, you share it.
This is just a friendly reminder that the Kraken still have more playoff wins in the last three seasons than Vancouver.
Thank you all for reading and engaging with the Musings this season. It has been a rewarding routine that sparked discussions about the highlights and challenges of the Kraken’s season. Your thoughtful interactions in the comments section have been enriching and sometimes challenging, expanding my perspective and prompting me to reconsider my assumptions. Once again, thank you!
I have a substantial backlog of areas to investigate, but if you have any thoughts or ideas, please share them in the comments section.
Welcome back! We’re continuing on with our end-of-season Kraken Roundtable series, which we launched last week. This week, we’re getting a bit more tactical with our discussion to understand the missteps of the Seattle Kraken in 2023-24 and to look ahead to the offseason.
In this one, Blaiz Grubic, John Barr, and Darren Brown teamed up to give their thoughts.
Enjoy!
What went wrong
Darren – I’m going to get a little “hot takey” with this one, but the obvious issue for the team was scoring. We’ve talked ad nauseam about how the fourth line took a step back, but as the offensive woes dragged on throughout the season, I thought the Kraken missed the likes of Daniel Sprong and Morgan Geekie (and to a lesser degree Ryan Donato) more and more. There were so many times last season where the top two lines couldn’t score, and then all of a sudden, the fourth line would chip one in and get things going. Scoring is contagious, and when you only have a few guys that can put the puck in the net, slumps can sweep through the entire roster.
Blaiz – The Kraken could not get key wins when they needed them. During the Thanksgiving break, the Kraken held onto the second wild card spot and looked poised to turn the corner, but instead, they came back from the break with an eight-game losing streak. This losing streak included losses to bottom dwellers Ottawa, Chicago, and Montreal.
Later in the season, just before the All-Star break, the Kraken laid an egg against San Jose. A win that night would have put them in a tie for the final wild card spot, but they instead went into the hiatus on a three-game losing streak. The final gasp was the loss to Vegas on March 3 at home, when they blew a two-goal lead in the third period and lost in overtime. Following the Vegas loss, the Kraken could not break the cycle and rattled off seven more losses, essentially eliminating themselves from playoff contention.
John – I’ve mentioned it before, but for me, it was the way the season started that put the Kraken at a severe disadvantage. They scored one goal or less in five of their first six games, setting a challenging tone for the rest of the season. While they flirted with a playoff position at times, they consistently took a step back whenever they got close to solidifying themselves as a contending team.
Pleasant surprise
John – The goaltending performance this year was excellent. The team finished ninth in the league in save percentage overall, but since Dec. 1, the Kraken ranked third in the entire NHL. Given the challenges the goaltending position has presented in the first two seasons, this improvement was quite surprising. Joey Daccord really stepped up when the team needed a boost, especially highlighted by his performance in the Winter Classic. Additionally, Philipp Grubauer showed great consistency in the second half of the season, which bodes well for the team heading into next season.
Blaiz – The Kraken recently announced that most Kraken regular-season games will be broadcast on King/Kong and Prime Video, removing the need for an expensive cable/streaming TV package. This will allow fans to watch the Kraken for free and help continue to grow the fanbase for the Seattle Kraken. What a pleasant surprise!
Darren – I shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but I was a little surprised at how good Shane Wright looked in his call-up at the end of the season. He truly looked like a different player. For some reason, I expected him to come back up and still appear a little behind at the NHL level, but he showed me he is ready to make the team next season and potentially be an impactful player. That was exciting to see.
Reason to be optimistic
John – I believe the greatest strength of this franchise lies in its prospect pool, extending far beyond Coachella Valley. Numerous Kraken prospects playing in juniors or European leagues have been excelling in their respective teams.
Across the pond, Jani Nyman concluded the Liiga season in Finland by earning the Red Bull helmet, awarded to the top goal scorer under 20 years old. Oscar Fisker-Molgaard, drafted in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, saw significant ice time as a second-line center in the Swedish Hockey League, one of the world’s premier leagues. Additionally, Niklas Kokko has served as the starting goalie for Pelicans, currently competing in the Liiga finals.
In the CHL, Carson Rehkopf, a 2023 second-round selection, capped off his OHL season with an impressive 52 goals. David Goyette, drafted in 2022’s second round, led the OHL in points. Meanwhile, Jagger Firkus dominated the WHL with an astonishing 61 goals and 126 points.
Blaiz – Andre Burakovsky had a terrible year with 16 points in 49 games. The Swedish winger is too talented to continue to remain off the scoresheet. I wrote about Burakovsky’s struggles earlier this year. Burakovsky was able to finish the season playing 22 games straight without injury and scored six of his seven goals during that stretch. Hopefully with some stable linemates, he can return to his offensive self and be a strong contributor to fixing the Kraken’s scoring woes.
Darren – In that same realm, Blaiz, it was good to see Matty Beniers get going a little more toward the end of the season. He’s still very slight in stature, so I’m interested to see what he can do with a full offseason of training. Can he put on some weight this summer and come back more prepared to handle the physical nature of the NHL?
I’m also excited about what this team might do to improve this offseason. It has cap space and an improving prospect pool, plus plenty of motivation to get better. When you look at how this season played out, Seattle is not that far from being a scary team again, but it will need an injection of offense from the front office. These should be a few interesting months ahead.
Reason to be pessimistic
John – It’s highly unlikely that Tomas Tatar, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Kailer Yamamoto, and Justin Schultz will return to the Kraken next season. I expect Shane Wright to claim one of the vacated spots and Ryker Evans to become a regular in the lineup next season. This leaves only one starting forward position available, and it’s unclear whether one new addition to the lineup can make a significant impact on such a key position.
Blaiz – There could still be a lack of scoring next season. I was glad to see general manager Ron Francis acknowledge this issue in his end-of-season presser. There are many players that scored below their career averages this year, although next season, Burakovsky, Beniers, and Jaden Schwartz should rebound a bit and add somewhere between 18 and 23 goals. The prospect pool is impressive, but those players are also not fully baked, and outside of Wright, the prospects are all still one-to-two seasons out. It would be a nice surprise if one of them could contribute meaningfully to the Kraken scoring, but that is a lot to put on any rookie.
Darren – It was painfully obvious to me that the Kraken needed to add a weapon or two last offseason, and I would argue they iced a significantly worse roster this season. I’m just afraid Francis might be a little too cautious for his own good again this summer at a time when some bigger swings feel necessary.
Prospect you are most excited about
Blaiz – Shane Wright has been the prospect I am most excited about since Seattle drafted him fourth overall in 2022. Due to his lost season during the pandemic, Wright was developmentally one year behind Beniers when he was drafted. Now with the two years under his belt in the Kraken development system, Wright looks poised to make the jump full-time to the Kraken. My hot take is Wright will be the Kraken first-line center within the next three years. This is nothing against Beniers, who I think will also rebound and continue to develop next year, but the offensive ceiling is higher for Wright. I am super excited to have Beniers and Wright be the Kraken’s one-two punch for years to come.
Darren – Yeah, Wright is the obvious answer here, and you may be onto something with him as the top center. Either way, Beniers and Wright should serve as a very nice top-two center duo a couple seasons from now. BUT… since you went with Wright, I’ll go in a different direction here and say Jani Nyman (leaving Carson Rehkopf for you, John). I think Nyman will need a year in the AHL to work on his skating and getting used to the North American game, but his size and shot are pretty exciting attributes. If he can get a little faster working with Jess Campbell, I think he could be a player in a couple years.
John – I am excited about Shane, but I am particularly enthusiastic about Rehkopf (thanks for the layup, Darren). I’ve been consistently impressed by his knack for scoring goals from all areas of the ice throughout the season. He appears to be one of the most talented shooters ever in the Kraken’s prospect pool. In my view, the Kraken should seriously consider giving him an opportunity to make the team next season. At the very least, he deserves a chance to start the season with the team and play some regular-season NHL games.
The Seattle Kraken will have a new TV broadcast home for the foreseeable future, the team announced Thursday morning. After three seasons with ROOT Sports as the flagship television network for the team, the Kraken will partner with TEGNA (KING 5 and KONG) in a “multi-year agreement.” All games that haven’t been picked up for national coverage will be viewable on KONG, and a handful of games will also be simulcast on KING 5.
Additionally, the team has entered into a new first-of-its-kind partnership with Prime Video, which will allow streaming of all locally broadcasted games to Prime members for no additional cost.
These new deals should make games more accessible for local viewers, who will now be able to watch Kraken hockey “over the air,” even without a cable subscription (a simple cheap antenna should get you access to both KING 5 and KONG), or with a more economical streaming option than before.
“ROOT has been a terrific partner for us; we have appreciated their support as we determined our broadcast plans moving forward,” said Kraken owner, Sam Holloway in a press release. “Today’s announcement is a game changer for our fans. Our goal is to increase the ways they can watch our games – whether they’re cheering us on at home or on the go. To have both TEGNA and Prime Video as trusted partners is a dream come true. I can’t wait for more fans to fall in love with Kraken hockey.”
The viewing area for both the over-the-air option and the streaming option will cover Washington, Oregon, and Alaska (KGW in Portland and KREM in Spokane will carry the games, since KONG and KING 5 are not readily available in those markets).
Why move away from ROOT?
The broadcast team at ROOT did a fantastic job. We’ve watched plenty of local broadcasts from other markets, and we can honestly say (biases aside) that the Kraken broadcast has been one of, if not the best in the business over the past three seasons.
But there were barriers for fans or potential fans to access games on TV, and limited streaming options made games on ROOT difficult to find without some sort of significant financial investment from viewers.
The content wasn’t the issue. The issue was simply that for fans to watch ROOT, they not only needed a cable subscription like Xfinity, they also got an added kick recently of having to pay even more for an elevated tier to access the sports network.
For those that had switched out of cable, Fubo TV was a fine solution, but to get ROOT, “cord cutters” still had to pay north of $100 per month.
Now, there are more economical (and even free) options available to viewers, a huge win for Kraken fans.
What’s happening with the broadcast team?
Up to now, games have been produced mostly by ROOT employees and/or contractors, with some Kraken personnel factoring in. Moving forward, production of the games will not be handed over to TEGNA, though their employees will certainly be involved.
Instead, a lot of the production will now be done “in house” by the Kraken, meaning more of the individuals working on the show will be team employees, and they will use some of TEGNA’s existing infrastructure. This is a shift from how things were being done previously and (we assume) gives the team a bit more control over branding, graphics, visuals, etc.
The difficult piece here is that there are good people at ROOT who did a great job on broadcasts for three seasons that are now facing uncertainty. On the flipside, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Kraken hire some of these individuals who have already been part of the show.
As for the on-air broadcast team, all the Kraken employees that you became accustomed to seeing will be around next season. So, we expect John Forslund, Eddie Olczyk, JT Brown, Alison Lukan, and Nick Olczyk to continue participating in 2024-25.
Other on-air personalities that appeared on games previously are ROOT employees, including Piper Shaw. Currently, there isn’t much that we can share on this front.
Good news for Kraken fans
Whichever way you slice it, this is a positive move for Kraken fans. Our hope is that it will truly allow the team to reach more new fans and get hooks into more casual fans to turn them into diehards. The franchise has done a solid job of building its brand locally, but we have wondered about the true reach beyond the Seattle metro area. This is a huge shift that should really help on this front.
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.
Hi all! Darren Brown here. Our wonderful photographer, Brian Liesse, graciously put together a collection of his favorite photos from the 2023-24 season, and we are thrilled to share them with you here.
Please note that these photos are property of Sound Of Hockey and cannot be reused.
If you were expecting fireworks from the Seattle Kraken’s end-of-season locker cleanout days, you may have been disappointed. While there were plenty of interesting tidbits to be gleaned from what was said by the players and head coach Dave Hakstol on Saturday and general manager Ron Francis on Monday, no official bombs have been dropped at this point.
Coming in, we were at least half expecting some sort of big personnel-related news, seeing as things went sideways for this club, which couldn’t score its way out of a paper bag and finished 19 standings points worse than last season.
But, the always cautious and taciturn Ron Francis continued to slow play any adjustments while also not ruling them out.
The future of the coaching staff
While we weren’t *certain* changes to the coaching staff would come, we also wouldn’t have been shocked if something like this came out over the past couple of days.
Our spidey senses had been piqued for a couple of reasons. First, there is a precedent of changes to the coaching staff being announced in this setting. Two seasons ago, after the Kraken had dreadfully bad goaltending in their inaugural campaign, Francis announced at his end-of-season presser that goalie coach Andrew Allen would not return in that role (though Allen has remained on staff with Seattle as a pro scout). So, another such announcement after the Kraken failed to live up to expectations in 2023-24 wouldn’t have surprised us.
The other thing that made us wonder if there was a personnel-related announcement coming was Francis doing his availability solo. This doesn’t sound like that big of a thing, but Francis and Hakstol spoke with the media together as a united front last season, after the team reached the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and came up one goal shy of the Western Conference Final.
This season, Hakstol spoke after the players on Saturday, and Francis spoke alone on Monday. Was there something to that slight procedural change?
Francis was asked about the coaching staff, and he stopped short of any definitive declarations.
“It’s part of the process we go through now, right?” Francis said. “Meeting with the coaching staff, the management team, all that stuff, and assessing, and so we’re still in that process now.”
Francis then spoke at length about the many injuries the team sustained this season, and implied that those were being factored into any decisions the team is still making.
When asked specifically about Hakstol’s future with the organization, Francis said, “Well, you’re going to read into it one way or the other, but this is the process we do every year, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
So, that’s not exactly a resounding, ‘Yes, Dave Hakstol will be the head coach of the Seattle Kraken next season,’ but it’s also not a, ‘We’re moving on from Dave Hakstol’ type of response either.
Hearing Hakstol on Saturday, he sounded generally disappointed with the result of the season, but he also did not sound like a coach that expected to be terminated. Instead, Hakstol spoke a lot about his conversations with players and how he was pleased with their reactions to not making the playoffs.
“Most of the player meetings have been really good,” Hakstol said. “Just straight up, honest discussions, not necessarily individually based. We’ve got some really smart guys, we’ve got some great veterans, and everybody cares a lot. So today is… as we gain perspective, it’s also Day 1 or Day 2 of working toward solving some of the issues that lead to some inconsistencies.”
Reading the tea leaves, we truly don’t think anything has been decided on the coaching staff just yet. It’s entirely possible that the whole crew returns next season, but there is due diligence being done by the front office right now to help them make those calls.
Worth noting, we did ask defenseman Vince Dunn about how the message from the coaches was landing with the team in the later stages of the season, and here is what he said:
“I thought we responded to what they said the same way throughout the whole year. I think there’s only so much a coach can say, realistically. If you want to point fingers around the room, and it’s easy to do, it ultimately comes down to the guys in the dressing room, and we’re the ones out there that need to do what it takes to win. I think there’s obviously moments in the season where there’s tension between players and everything, with so many distractions and outside noise and so much pressure when it’s time to push for the playoffs. And the messages are very direct and very intense, but by no means was the dressing room lost.”
While no announcement of personnel changes has come yet, we still would not be shocked to see something happen on this front in the coming weeks.
Injury updates
Seattle finally got mostly healthy toward the end of the season, but Dunn, arguably the team’s best player, missed all but two games from March 4 onward after a very dirty hit by Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil.
WHAT IS WITH THIS POSPISIL KID?!
Now he blows up Vince Dunn from behind and sends him head-first into the dasher board.
Dunn declined on Saturday to tell us what the injury was, but Francis said Monday that it was a neck injury. On the plus side, Dunn did imply that he was close to 100 percent, but that the injury was one he didn’t want to “mess with.” So, we would expect him to be fully healthy in time for training camp.
Jared McCann missed a few days toward the end of the season but returned for the last couple games. He said he is fully healthy and will join Team Canada for the upcoming IIHF World Championship.
Francis also revealed that Jordan Eberle broke his hand early in the season in his lone fight of the year, after Logan O’Connor of the Colorado Avalanche made him “answer the bell” for injuring Andrew Cogliano in the playoffs last season. Eberle played through the injury.
Shane Wright talk
Both Francis and Hakstol spoke highly of top prospect Shane Wright and his recent stint with the team in which he racked up five points (4-1—5) in five games between April 1 and April 11 before returning to Coachella Valley.
Here’s what Dave Hakstol said:
“Really positive performances for Shane in his games with us here at the end of the season. The offensive piece is an easy one again to evaluate, and he produced there. He produced on a consistent basis, and he looked like he was ready to do it, right? Some of the goals that he scored, they were National Hockey League goals. They were inside, they were on and off his tape, so very, very positive in that sense. Some of the other growth is a little bit harder to evaluate through stats, but things you can see with your eyes, he’s much more comfortable with the puck on his tape in tight spaces, getting us out of our zone, really a ton of advancement in his game defensively, positionally, from stick detail to positioning of his feet, his body. So, we saw some great growth in his game.”
And Ron Francis:
“In Shane’s case, I’ve always seen things in his game that we like. I think he’s come a long way in his development. I think he’s much more confident, I think he’s having fun again playing the game, and the stint he had up here, I’m not sure it could have went much better other than if he got the hat trick in Anaheim, then it would be really good… We see a bright future for Shane in the organization. I don’t think there’s any reason why he couldn’t make our team coming out of camp [next season].”
Will the team name a captain?
The team will at least have discussions about the *idea* of naming a captain this offseason.
Said Hakstol, “I’m not leaning either way on that. That’s a discussion that I think is a valid discussion to have, as we get into the early part of this offseason.”
Added Francis, “We talked about that as the season went along, looking at naming a captain next year.”
Fans seem to care about this a lot, but we really don’t think it has a huge bearing on the success (or not) of the team. Leaders can lead regardless of if they have a ‘C’ on their jersey.
Contractual items
Francis implied that conversations would be starting very soon with restricted free agents Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen to try to “get something done.” He also indicated the team will have to make a decision on whether or not to qualify Kailer Yamamoto, who has arbitration rights. “If we qualify him, then he can take us to [arbitration].”
It’s just our guess, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Yamamoto is cut loose this offseason.
Meanwhile, Francis was coy about his unrestricted free agents, but we did ask defenseman Justin Schultz about his future.
“It’s still pretty early,” Schultz said. “Obviously, I love it here, and there’s still a lot to be played out. We’ll see what happens over the summer.”
Again, just looking at his fit with the club now that Ryker Evans has mostly proven he’s ready for the NHL, we would expect Seattle to let Schultz move on, but we shall see.
General takeaways
The general mood of the press availabilities was unsurprisingly one of disappointment. The Kraken players expected to still be playing at this point, and they recognized that they could have performed better this season.
“I think maybe we came into the year thinking things were just going to be the same, and we’ll just [make the playoffs] again, and it didn’t turn out that way,” Eberle said. “So I think you’ll see a different team that will come back and try and get back to that point next year.”
The slow start to the season was also a common theme, as was the sharp decrease in scoring. Hakstol had some interesting things to say about the team’s offense in the below video clip.
Now the Kraken players have a full offseason ahead of them to recuperate, train, and marinate on what it’s like to be done playing in April. If nothing else, hopefully we see a quicker start out of the gates in 2024-25.
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.
