It is time for another playoff update. With 10 games remaining, the Kraken are not mathematically eliminated just yet, but they’re closing in on that painful milestone. The Kings, Golden Knights, and Predators need to get more than 93 points for the Kraken to be officially out. Currently the Kings are at 87 points, the Golden Knights are at 88 points and the Predators are at 90 points.
What happened this week
Mar. 24 – Demoralizing Kraken loss to Montreal (5-1)
The Seattle Kraken gave up four goals in the first period and just looked flat the entire game. Philipp Grubauer was pulled, but this was definitely a loss by the whole team. Dave Hakstol called out the group after the loss, saying “Every time you put this jersey on, it means a lot, and right now we are not portraying that out on the ice. You play this game with passion, you play it with heart, and you play it for the guy next to you. And we are not doing that right now, and that’s more than disappointing. That’s hard to be part of and something we are going to change.”
"You play this game with passion. You play it with heart. You play it for the guy next to you. We're not doing that right now and that's more than disappointing."
General manager Ron Francis also had a message and delivered it in the form of bringing up some youth from Coachella Valley in 20-year-old Ryan Winterton and 21-year-old Logan Morrison.
Mar. 26 – Kraken shut out the Ducks (4-0)
The streak ended!!! The Kraken were on an eight-game skid, one shy of their longest losing streak ever, which was a nine-game losing streak during the inaugural season. The Kraken finally broke through on the scoresheet, putting up four goals after only averaging 1.38 goals per game in their previous eight contests. Goaltender Joey Daccord and the Kraken as a whole looked solid against a bad team and earned a shutout. The Ducks were limited to just 12 shots.
Morrison, playing in his first NHL game, received the Davy Jones hat from Andre Burakovsky and earned an impressive 14:21 of ice time, including 3:46 of power-play time. While he did not record a point, he had four good shots on net and generated two turnovers. Overall, the fourth line of Tye Kartye, Winterton, and Morrison looked good with a youthful and spirited effort.
Mar. 28 – Round two with Anaheim, Kraken win (4-2)
There was not much going on in the first and second periods, but the Kraken were able to get on the board and hold a 1-0 lead to start the third period. The third was wild, though, featuring five goals (including two short-handed by Anaheim), some fisticuffs, and 28 penalty minutes.
Even though the Kraken gave up two short-handed goals 44 seconds apart, they rallied and scored three straight to recapture the lead and win the game. Morrison had 13:12 of ice time with an incredible 6:30 on the power play. Unfortunately for Morrison, he also had the puck stripped from him, which led to the second short-handed marker by Jakob Silfverberg.
The key here is Hakstol is giving the youngsters on the fourth line lots of playing time and valuable experience.
Wild card race
St. Louis Blues
Realistically, only the St. Louis Blues are the only team outside the playoff bubble that still have a chance at a wild card spot, five points behind the Kings for the last position. Both Los Angeles and Vegas are in striking distance for St. Louis, but one of those two teams will qualify as the No. 3 seed in the Pacific Division. Vegas has a six-point lead with nine games remaining, and Los Angeles has 10 games left. According to tankathon.com, the Blues have the second easiest schedule remaining.
Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles is sitting at 87 points and won four of its last five games. The Kings do have a game in hand over St. Louis and Vegas but will need to finish strong to keep their playoff spot. The Kings also have an easy schedule remaining and actually have the easiest of all NHL teams, according to tankathon.com.
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas has the toughest remaining schedule of the teams fighting for a spot, coming in at 17th hardest in the NHL. The Knights did not make it easy on themselves, going to overtime with both St. Louis and Nashville, but they finished with an impressive 3-0-1 record this week that has put them in the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
Nashville Predators
Nashville’s unbeaten streak was ended at 18 games (16-0-2) by the Arizona Coyotes (of all teams) on Thursday night. The Predators have pretty much punched their ticket to the playoffs, holding an eight-point lead over St. Louis. They are only four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the third spot in the Central Division. The Jets and Predators will play one more time this season, so that lead could disappear quickly.
The week ahead for the Kraken
The Seattle Kraken have three games this week (Mar. 29-Apr. 3). They will face one team from each team categorization, Playoff-Bound, Bubble, and Tanker:
Mar. 30 (Home) – Kraken vs. Stars – Playoff Bound
Apr. 1 (Away) – Kraken vs. Sharks – Tanker
Apr. 3 (Away) – Kraken vs. Los Angeles – Bubble
Personally, I am looking to the game versus the San Jose Sharks, as the Kraken look to avenge the 2-0 shutout they got handed back on Jan. 30.
The Kraken probably will be eliminated from playoff contention in the next week or two. If the Kraken lose two or more games this week, that would likely do it. If they get a couple wins, this could stretch out for another week.
More call-ups?
With Morrison and Winterton getting called up to the Kraken, we are thinking that Shane Wright will be brought up for a couple games before the end of the season. Wright has only played in three games with the Kraken this year. He can play six more without burning a year of his entry-level contract. Overlaying the Firebirds schedule with the Kraken schedule, we theorize that if Wright is called up, it is most likely for the Apr. 9 and Apr. 11 home games against the Coyotes and Sharks.
Here. We. Go. The 2024 WHL Playoffs, the best time of year for fans of junior hockey, is finally upon us, with games beginning Friday night. The barns throughout the WHL will come alive and fill with some of the most passionate fans in not just junior hockey, but hockey as a whole. And with stakes in every game, there’s never a dull moment.
There will be goosebumps aplenty. Who will be dancing in the Western Conference this season?
1.Prince George vs. 8. Spokane
Pick: Prince George in five games
There’s going into the playoffs hot, then there’s what the Prince George Cougars have been doing down the stretch, with them winning nine in a row to clinch the Western Conference regular-season title. They also won the B.C. Division for the second time in their history since moving from Victoria in 1994.
A lot of the credit goes to the one-two punch of Zac Funk (WSH) and Riley Heidt (MIN), who have been the driving force on the front end for the Cougars. Funk and Heidt finished second and third respectively in points on the season, with Funk being the top goal getter in the WHL this season with 67.
The Cougars clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference during the final weekend of the regular season, having their spot in the dance reserved long before their first-round opponent in the Spokane Chiefs could even nab the No. 8 spot available to them.
The Chiefs gingerly enter the playoffs as the lowest seed, but they could be dangerous with a few weapons of their own. A pair of 100-point forwards in Berkly Catton and Conner Roulette are the lifeblood of the Chiefs’ offensive attack.
Catton, 2024 draft eligible and projected to go in the top 10, was named first-team All-U.S. Division with 116 points during the regular season and finished just one point behind Heidt for third in total WHL points.
Travel could play a factor in this series, which will be played in a 2-3-2 series to limit the number of trips back and forth. The ride from Prince George to Spokane will feel even longer for the Chiefs if they can’t find a way to pull off at least one win up north in Games 1 and 2.
Spokane’s key to the series: Production from all lines
The Chiefs were a team during the regular season that relied on their stars to do the heavy lifting offensively, with each contributing points on over 40 percent of the goals Spokane scored on the season. A dynamic player can steal a game or two in the playoffs, but involvement from up and down the lineup is pivotal against a team like Prince George.
Head-to-head: The Cougars and Chiefs each won a pair of games in the four matchups between the two this season, with each winning one game at home and one on the road.
2. Portland vs. 7. Victoria
Pick: Portland in four games
Arguably one of its deepest teams in franchise history, the Portland Winterhawks have a spread-out attack throughout their lineup. And they honestly couldn’t have asked for a more ideal first-round opponent.
The top-placing team in the U.S. Division couldn’t quite finish with the top seed in the conference, but still, the Winterhawks are going to be one tough cookie to crumble.
The front end is loaded and led by Gabe Klassen, James Stefan (EDM), and in-season acquisition Nate Danielson (DET), and Portland is led on the blue line by defensive stalwart Lucas Cagnoni (SJS), who became the first WHL defenseman in 30 years to reach 90-points in a single season.
The Winterhawks’ opponent in the Victoria Royals has had trouble neutralizing offenses this season with a negative-51 goal differential, by far the worst for any team that qualified for the playoffs.
Portland’s key to the series: stay true to offensive strengths
Against a weaker team like Victoria, even though at times they can force opponents to spread out across the ice and play to the outside, the Winterhawks need to keep the puck moving at a quick pace to stay the course.
Head-to-head: Portland and Victoria met four times in total during the regular season, with Portland grabbing wins in all four games played.
This series will be structured the same as the Prince George-Spokane series.
3. Everett vs. 6. Vancouver
Pick: Everett in six games
It’s been a roller coaster of a week for the Silvertips prior to their series against the Vancouver Giants.
Could there be potential distractions surrounding Everett, in particular for soon-to-be-former head coach and general manager Dennis Williams? Williams has been named the head coach at his alma mater, Bowling Green State University in the NCAA.
We officially welcome Dennis Williams to Bowling Green as our ninth head coach 🏒
He comes to BGSU after winning a gold medal for Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championships and a highly successful WHL career with the Everett Silvertips
The timing of the announcement is unfortunate with the series just about to begin, but in order for Williams to get a head start with the NCAA transfer portal, it had to be done sooner rather than later.
On Dennis Williams to Bowling Green: difficult timing with WHL playoffs. But NCAA hockey required a fast hire with the transfer portal opening next week. Time was of the essence. BG/Williams needed to move quick if he was the guy. The timing could help prevent underclassmen…
Williams will remain with the Silvertips through the playoffs, even though he was introduced at a Bowling Green press conference on Thursday. Even with him staying through the postseason, the coach having one foot out the door already leaves questions about how focused his group will be. Will that impede on the current mentality of the coaching staff as a whole? Will that trickle down to the players on the ice during these pivotal games?
Even if these playoffs go sideways as a result, winning the first overall selection in the WHL Prospects Draft for the first time in team history surely will help console Silvertips fans. Everett won thanks to one of the first-round picks they acquired from the Kamloops Blazers as a part of the Olen Zellweger deal last season. They will more than likely select ’09-born defenseman Landon Dupont from Edge School U18 Prep.
— x – Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) March 27, 2024
As for the current team, it’s been harped on all year that home ice is Everett’s bread and butter. To have the advantage of the extra game of a best-of-seven playoff series helps the team’s chances.
Leading point-getter Ben Hemmerling (VGK) and Dominik Rymon each matchup well against Vancouver’s steady blue line. Rymon has five goals and six assists in four games against Vancouver this season.
While Vancouver has gotten decent goaltending numbers, with starter Brett Mirwald finishing third in save percentage among goalies with 30 or more starts (.913), a high-volume shooting team like the Silvertips should overwhelm the Giants’ efforts to neutralize attacks.
Everett’s key to the series: getting the quick starts
The Silvertips were one of the better teams in the WHL at getting the ball rolling early in games this season, scoring the first goal in 26 of 36 home games, and those goals would often come within the first 10 minutes of action. It sets the tone for them and gives them the direction they need.
Head-to-head: The Silvertips took three out of four in season series, but the Giants took the most recent matchup 4-3 on Feb. 3.
4. Wenatchee vs. 5. Kelowna
Pick: Kelowna in seven games
For the first time in Wenatchee, not only will they be in the playoffs, but they’ll hold home-ice advantage. Unfortunately for the Wild, it’s the dreaded four versus five, flip-of-a-coin matchup that could go either way.
Kelowna stuttered into the playoffs but still has a more complete offense to match up with Graham Sward and the Wild’s defense units.
Andrew Cristall (WSH) and 2024 draft-eligible prospect Tij Iginla lead the charge for the Rockets. Each recorded over 40 goals during the regular season.
Wenatchee’s key to the series: Kenta Isogai
Just let Isogai go off and do his thing. The leading scorer on the Wild this season had his best performance against the Rockets on Jan. 6 when he tallied three goals and two assists. The Wild are going to need him to channel that energy more often to give them a chance to win.
Head-to-head: Both teams took two games apiece from each other in the four games they played this season, but haven’t met since that Jan. 6 game when the Wild snatched a 6-3 win.
Hey, as long as the Seattle Kraken play the Anaheim Ducks every game, they’ll be just fine. Unfortunately, that’s not how NHL scheduling works, so they do still have to face other teams, but this two-game sweep by Seattle offered a nice respite from the losing that we had come to expect.
It wasn’t easy or particularly pretty on Thursday, and the first two periods were rather dull. But the third period got chaotic after the Kraken gave up two short-handed goals in a span of 44 seconds and put themselves up against the ropes.
“I guess it’s how you answer, and our power play answered,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “Obviously, to give up the sloppy goals back to back that we did can be catastrophic in a game. Fortunately for us, we had another opportunity coming, and those guys were able to capitalize and get one back.”
Indeed, the Kraken took advantage of a whole raft of Ducks swimming to the penalty box, especially in the third period, and skated away with a 4-2 win.
Takeaway #1: Tye Kartye plays hero
It had been a long time since Tye Kartye scored a goal—he went 25 games without one, in fact—before Yanni Gourde found him streaking down the slot for the eventual game-winner on Friday.
“Yeah, it felt pretty good,” Kartye said with a sheepish grin.
Through the recent long stretch of poor efforts from the Kraken, Kartye stood out as a player that was giving it his all every single night, so it was good to see him get rewarded in this one.
“He’s one of the guys up front that consistently plays a hard, heavy game, plays a straight-line game,” Hakstol said. “I know he’s still growing as a player, he’s still learning to find his spots and pick his spots. But he plays a straight-line game, and he’s most effective when he’s doing that and when he’s physical.”
Kartye was also seen mucking it up with various Ducks throughout this game, and Hakstol said that it was him, Gourde, and Brandon Tanev that helped will the Kraken back into the lead after they fell behind 2-1 in the third period.
“I don’t think we’ve had many third-period comebacks this year… I mean, I guess it wasn’t a comeback,” Kartye said. “But yeah, it feels good, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”
Takeaway #2: Chaotic third period
This was a strange game, in general. The first 40 minutes were relatively uneventful, with Jaden Schwartz scoring the lone goal by falling down in the crease and having Jordan Eberle’s 400th career assist bank in off his stick.
🚨 THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
Assist No. 400 for Jordan Eberle, as he banks it off Schwartz in the blue paint. PPG.
So, Seattle took a 1-0 lead to the third, but things when haywire in the final 20. On one power play, the Kraken allowed two separate partial breakaways to Isac Lundestrom and Jakob Silfverberg, and both ended up in the back of the Kraken’s net for short-handed goals. With a manpower advantage, they went from ahead 1-0 to down 2-1.
What if we told you the #SeaKraken gave up a second short-handed goal within a minute?
“I feel like we stayed positive, and we knew there’s still a lot of time left,” Kartye said. “That’s why we were able to sneak one out there.”
Indeed, Andre Burakovsky got Seattle’s second power-play goal to tie the game at 6:25, then Kartye scored at 13:03, and Matty Beniers tipped home a Jared McCann shot at 15:35 to solidify the win.
“I thought [McCann] got a stick on it because his stick was right there,” Burakovsky said of his tying goal. “I told him to go first in line and fist bump the boys, but he said he didn’t touch it. I mean, it went in either way, so it was nice to see it go in.”
Takeaway #3: Terrible discipline from the Ducks
Helping bail Seattle out was horrendous discipline from Anaheim, which took a total of 12 penalties in the game and gave the Kraken 10 power-play opportunities, on which the Kraken converted thrice. Kartye’s goal also came just a few seconds after a power play had ended.
Trevor Zegras, who returned from a long-term ankle injury for Tuesday’s game and was mostly unnoticeable in these two matchups, made a bone-headed play at 5:21 of the third period, just a couple minutes after Silfverberg had given Anaheim the lead.
Racing up the boards with Tanev, Zegras took a holding penalty (though that call perhaps could have gone the other way), then let his emotions get the better of him and cross checked Tanev in the back to earn a second penalty. The infraction was announced as four minutes for cross checking, but that was later changed to two for holding and two for cross checking, which made more sense.
Trevor Zegras takes an ill-advised four-minute cross-checking penalty.
Strange, though, the official put his arm up on the original hit but only called 4 minutes for cross checking. 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/6RCVUI2Je4
It was during the four-minute power play that Burakovsky scored his tying goal and got Seattle back on track.
Zegras did not play another shift after that. We know he has been in trade rumors, and that some folks have said Seattle should try to get him this offseason. Of course, he’s fresh off a major injury, but these two games did nothing to indicate that he would be a fit in Seattle or that he would do anything to help push the club forward. No thanks.
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 guys are fresh off a trip to Vegas, Arizona, and Coachella Valley, and Darren road the Zamboni, so all things considered, they’re quite chipper for this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. Plus, the Kraken finally broke their miserable eight-game losing streak, which brought back some semblance of positivity.
Lots of fun trip recapping and prospect talk on this episode, and segments include:
Well, that was a lot more fun than any of the home Seattle Kraken games we’ve experienced in a while. The Kraken dominated the lowly Anaheim Ducks, finally snapping their second miserable eight-game skid of the season, and giving their fans reason to cheer at Climate Pledge Arena for the first time since Feb. 29.
Unsurprisingly, the mood in the dressing room after the game was better than it has felt in a long… long time.
“That’s what winning does, right?” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s only one way to get to that feeling, and you have to do the work. You’ve got to grind through. I mean, it’s been a long haul here over the last… seven to 10 days.”
Joey Daccord wasn’t worked too hard, but he stopped all 12 (yes, just 12) of the shots he faced and earned his third career shutout. Plus, he actually got some run support at the other end of the ice.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 4-0 Kraken win over the Ducks.
Takeaway #1: Something to cheer about
It’s been a tough campaign for Kraken fans, who came in with high hopes that Seattle could build off its trip to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. But 2023-24 got off to a rocky start, and despite some positive stretches here and there, things slowly went sideways before the group started nosediving into the abyss after they lost to Vegas on March 12.
Since then, the group’s effort—particularly at home—has been putrid. But the Kraken looked good on this night, coming out with jump, taking advantage of all the time and space a terrible Ducks team was giving them, and finding the back of the net four times behind John Gibson.
“We had great life,” Hakstol said. “We came out, we played very well right from the start of the game, scoring the first couple goals.”
Watching this team play at home has been tough lately. Yet the home fans have continued to show up and root on their squad, and this night was no different. This was a meaningless contest between two teams going nowhere on a Tuesday night in late March, and the home club was on a 0-6-2 skid. Still, when the Kraken took the ice before the game, you would have thought they were on the verge of winning the Pacific Division with the pop they got from the home crowd.
“We’re in Year 3, and we have one of the greatest fanbases in the National Hockey League,” Hakstol said. “So, these last couple nights before tonight have been difficult here at home.”
They have, indeed, Dave. They have, indeed. It was nice to see and hear CPA truly alive again on Tuesday.
Takeaway #2: Kraken get some offense
In the six previous games, the Kraken potted a whopping seven total goals, scoring just once in every game except the 6-2 loss to Buffalo, when… they scored two (in case that wasn’t clear from the 6-2 final).
On this night, Seattle tilted the ice consistently and outshot the ugly Ducklings by a 3-1 margin.
Leading the way offensively were Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen, who showed some real chemistry on their recently assembled line with Oliver Bjorkstrand. Beniers set up Tolvanen in the slot to make it 1-0 at 7:50 of the first period, and Tolvanen returned the favor off a 3-on-1 rush at 15:55 to stretch the lead to 4-0.
“He’s just a really smart player,” Beniers said of Tolvanen. “So he does a really good job of reading the play and reading off me and Ollie and being in good spots. And you saw tonight, he makes that play back to me, and he’s got the brains for that.”
The duo also combined to create Bjorkstrand’s goal that made it 3-0, giving them each a goal and two assists on the night.
“He’s an unbelievable player,” Tolvanen gushed back at Beniers. “Every time he touches the puck, you have to get open… It’s not a coincidence he won the Calder last year.”
It has been a tough season statistically for Beniers, but it would be nice to see him heat up before the end of this season and head into 2024-25 on a high note.
Takeaway #3: The kids were… pretty good
After Seattle called up Ryan Winterton and Logan Morrison, we were curious to see how Hakstol would utilize them and who he would scratch from the lineup to make room. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Kailer Yamamoto both went out (unsurprising, since they each have spent plenty of time in the press box this season), but Tomas Tatar was also scratched for the first time since being acquired from Colorado.
In went Coachella Valley roommates Morrison and Winterton for their first and fourth NHL games respectively.
“It was a pretty special experience,” Morrison said. “Before [the game], I expected a lot, and it definitely exceeded that. The fans were unbelievable, it’s such a nice rink, and I had a great time.”
Morrison had three shots on goal in 14:21 of ice time, including 3:46 on the power play. He had a couple great looks with the manpower advantage and appeared poised with the puck, especially as the game went on.
“I thought maybe [I was going to get one],” Morrison said. “The one in the third where I came out and just hit the goalie’s glove there, I thought maybe, and then I heard the fans screaming. I don’t know if that was for me or just in general, but that was pretty cool… I had my looks, and I’m pretty happy with that.”
Although they were making up the fourth line, it was a fun way for Hakstol to deploy the two newcomers, grouping them into a trio with fellow rookie and former Firebird Tye Kartye. Again, it was against a very bad Ducks team, but we thought the “kids” line looked solid.
“They’re doing it under the bright lights here, and I’m sure there’s some excitement, some nerves, all of that,” Hakstol said. “I didn’t really see a ton of it. If there was some, which I’m sure there was, they worked through it really quick.”
Bonus Takeaway: My other ride is the Zamboni
Huge shoutout to the Kraken Game Ops department for letting me ride the Zamboni to deliver an intermission “Zamboni and Talk.” Also, congrats to Doug, who was also making his NHL debut driving the resurfacer. He called it “surreal.”
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.
In a past life, when I was a full-time sportswriter going to games and not just spewing nonsense into a Google Doc from my couch, I once had a moral quandary that I still think about to this day. During my tenure covering the Everett Silvertips and the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Daily Herald in Everett, there was a time when, due to injuries, a local goalie prospect was asked to fill in for the Silvertips for a game on an emergency basis.
The player’s name wasn’t made public. As a journalist, that immediately caused alarm bells to go off in my head, but when I asked then Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson why that was the case, he said it was because that kid might want to retain his NCAA eligibility. Even suiting up in a WHL game could jeopardize it.
That rationale made perfect sense, and in the interest of not torpedoing a player’s career, I decided not to disclose his name.
But I was conflicted, and I know I wasn’t the only WHL writer in that situation. Rumblings about this topic could one day eliminate awkward conundrums like this one.
On the 32 Thoughts Podcast on Feb. 5, Sportsnet’s Eliotte Friedman said the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and NCAA are contemplating an agreement to allow CHL players to play in the NCAA.
“I think we are getting there, I really do,” Friedman said.
NCAA players could always pivot to the CHL – Exhibit A: Kiefer Bellows, who left Boston University after one season and joined the Portland Winterhawks for the 2017-18 season. Exhibit B: Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth left the Wisconsin Badgers earlier this season and also joined the Winterhawks. It doesn’t happen often, but that’s an option for players.
Due to NCAA amateurism rules, though, CHL players can’t do the reverse (outside of a few random, mysterious exceptions that seemingly slipped through the cracks, like Austin Swankler). Once players sign a contract with a CHL team, their NCAA eligibility is gone because they receive per diems and play against players who have signed professional contracts.
The agreement between the CHL and NCAA is far from a done deal, and it may be an uphill battle to get this over the line. According to a tweet from Jimmy Connelly of USCHO.com, NCAA coaches have little support for letting CHL players play college hockey.
According to a source familiar with the discussions, the potential @NCAA legislation that would allow @CHLHockey players to play @collegehockey after playing Major Juniors does not have strong support among NCAA D1 coaches and athletic directors. Likely a dead issue. @USCHO
However, with name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules offering monetary options, most notably with college football and college basketball, it’s hard to see this issue dying immediately.
Here’s what something like this would mean for the hockey world if an agreement was enacted.
Who benefits more: NCAA or CHL?
There are multiple trains of thought on this subject.
The consensus seems that this wouldn’t be good for NCAA programs because they are already getting the top American players, and the level of play is already high.
In other words, they don’t need the CHL’s player pool, and it might make recruiting more complicated than it is now. Although there are exceptions to this rule, generally, the top Americans play college hockey, and the top Canadians play in the CHL (I wrote a story for the Herald years back about how complex recruiting American players is for WHL teams like the Silvertips, and it’s one I’m really proud of!).
Now, you would think that NCAA programs would love a second chance at landing top American players like former Everett Silvertips goalie and California native Dustin Wolf, because, under the current rules, once he plays in a CHL game, he’s ineligible to play in an NCAA game.
However, the upside of stealing a CHL player once they can enroll in college doesn’t outweigh the risk of top Americans eventually staying in the CHL.
Maybe it’s paranoia, but perhaps there’s some truth to it. Good friend of the Sound Of HockeyPodcast Chris Peters mentioned on his podcast, Talking Hockey Sense, that a benefit to drafting CHL prospects is that NHL teams can sign them and keep them in junior hockey. NCAA athletes can’t sign professional contracts and maintain eligibility. Peters cited Shane Wright as an example, as Seattle signed him and gave him a chance to make the NHL roster before eventually sending him back to junior hockey.
For CHL teams, this is less complicated.
Yes, losing a top player to college hockey as soon as they’re drafted would sting – could you imagine Mathew Barzal leaving the Seattle Thunderbirds for the University of Denver right after being drafted by the Islanders? But getting players like Macklin Celebrini to play their 16- and 17-year-old seasons for the Thunderbirds – Seattle drafted him in the 2021 U.S. WHL prospects draft – before heading to college at 18 would likely outweigh those downsides for CHL teams.
Could this help NCAA hockey expand to the West Coast?
Perhaps. With the player pool expanding, thus creating more pathways to compose competitive rosters, it could create a push for some schools to make the leap and add men’s hockey.
What happens to other junior leagues like the BCHL?
Unfortunately, the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and other junior leagues like the United States Hockey League (USHL) will be collateral damage if this agreement is ever implemented.
Since the BCHL and USHL don’t allow players with professional contracts, several college-bound players gravitate toward these leagues as stepping stones from youth hockey to college hockey. Currently, players typically have a two-to-three-year window from when they are 16-to-18 years old to play in these leagues.
Without current restrictions in place, the talent of these leagues will dip quite a bit, as the CHL is viewed as a more advanced and prestigious league.
The agreement would also hurt teams in “U Sports,” Canada’s collegiate athletics governing body, whose teams typically receive the CHL players who either aren’t good enough for professional hockey or aren’t interested in it. With any agreement, CHL players have more options post-playing career.
Who would this agreement benefit the most?
Such an agreement would benefit the players, and that’s what makes this nearly a no-brainer in my mind.
Overall, I am intrigued by the potential benefits for players, who would no longer need to decide and commit to a path by the time they are 16. They can keep their options open while putting themselves in the best position possible.
You’ve seen a “player empowerment” movement in college sports, allowing athletes to earn what they’re worth through NIL deals and more freedom on where to play with the “transfer portal.” These new standards have created some consternation, though, particularly for head coaches in college football and basketball having to navigate a new reality.
NCAA coaches won’t like this. BCHL and USHL programs will take a significant hit. Some CHL franchises will hate seeing their players plucked by NCAA teams. “U Sports” won’t have the same CHL pipeline it’s used to seeing.
But ultimately, player development wins from all of this. That’s all that should matter.
Header photo by Brian Liesse. Photo courtesy of the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Kraken did more of the same on Sunday and dropped their eighth straight game, this one a 5-1 embarrassment on home ice against a Montreal Canadiens club that is last in the Atlantic Division and carries an even worse record than Seattle.
This was the second home game of the season that I personally have not attended and couldn’t watch live. My plan was to get home late, watch the replay of the game, and write Three Takeaways off of that. But when I saw the score and the reactions of our great followers on social media, it occurred to me that I really didn’t need to watch this game. I’ve seen it before. I saw it against Washington, Nashville, and Buffalo last week, and I also saw it in Arizona on Friday. (To be fair, the Kraken played a little better in that game before blowing another late lead. And I did watch the “highlights” from Sunday’s game, because I’m a sicko like that.)
So why waste my time? Similarly, why should fans waste their time and money to attend these games, when the home team isn’t even going to put forth an honest effort?
Well, I apparently wasn’t alone in these sentiments, because even head coach Dave Hakstol had seen enough and didn’t pull punches in his post-game presser.
"You play this game with passion. You play it with heart. You play it for the guy next to you. We're not doing that right now and that's more than disappointing."
In three years covering this team, I’ve seen Hakstol keep a level head in every media scrum he’s done. Other than Sunday night, if you didn’t watch the game and just listened to his media availability on any given night, you usually wouldn’t know from Hakstol’s demeanor whether the Kraken had just won 5-0 or lost by 10. That’s how steady he is when he talks to us.
“Every time you put this jersey on, it means a lot, and right now, we are not portraying that out on the ice.” Those are strong words from any coach, let alone Hakstol who has always (and I mean always) found a way to put a positive spin on every game, no matter how big of a steaming pile of hockey it was.
The truth is that since the Kraken blew a two-goal lead and lost in overtime to Vegas on March 12, they have been a broken group that has looked ready to hit the golf course. They have not been trying, and it was oddly refreshing to hear Hakstol call it as such on Sunday. For a group that “has a lot of pride,” as we’ve heard constantly, they have not shown it and should be ashamed of the shows they’ve been putting on for the fans that have shelled out thousands of dollars to watch them mail it in at Climate Pledge Arena.
Changes made
While we’ve watched these players glide through this losing streak, which now matches the length of the eight-game skid in November and December that helped put them in this position in the first place, we’ve been especially irked by the lack of accountability. They have seemed to have no regard for their jobs, because for most of the veterans, their positions have been etched in stone since Day 1.
With the exception of Kailer Yamamoto or Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, nobody was getting healthy scratched because there wasn’t anybody else to insert into the lineup. So, players were allowed to give half efforts and go through the motions to make it look like they (sort of) care, even though a trained eye like that of Hakstol or general manager Ron Francis can plainly see that the “pride” has disappeared.
Hakstol put his foot down publicly after the game Sunday (perhaps five games too late), and Francis followed suit, immediately calling up Ryan Winterton and Logan Morrison from AHL Coachella Valley.
We’ve said it before, but at this point in the season, we’re fine with losing. The more Seattle loses, the higher it rises in the draft lottery, so in the long run, it may be a good thing to drop some additional games down the stretch.
Besides, the Kraken are who they are, and this roster was never talented enough to make a real run at the postseason if it didn’t stay almost totally healthy, which it did not. Add to that a soft sell at the trade deadline, and any optimism we maintained at that time was misguided, but we never thought we’d see these players quit playing, and that’s a tough pill to swallow.
If you’re going to lose because you aren’t good enough, we’re fine with that. But if you’re going to lose because you aren’t trying, then changes need to be made, and Francis sent his first real message to the club with these call-ups.
If Winterton and/or Morrison draw in on Tuesday against Anaheim, who they replace in the lineup will speak volumes.
What next?
Now that Hakstol has pulled the lever of the public shaming of his team, and Francis has yanked the “call up some kids” ripcord, we’re curious to see what other mechanisms get deployed in these last few weeks of the season.
Seattle’s front office plays things close to the vest, so we can’t tell you what Francis and his staff are thinking. But it’s been clear for a while that any messages being sent to the players have not been received. So is Hakstol coaching for his job right now, or does Francis view the team’s many shortcomings as player personnel issues that can be addressed in the 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.
A week has gone by since our last update, and the Seattle Kraken have not maintained the point percentage they needed to stay in the wild card race. They are not mathematically eliminated yet, but according to MoneyPuck.com they have a 0.6-percent chance to make the playoffs at this point. The Kraken went 0-3-0, extending their losing streak to a depressing six games (0-5-1). They also gave valuable points to both wild card teams, Nashville and Vegas, in the process.
A devastating week for the Kraken
Mar. 16 – 4-1 loss against the Nashville Predators. The Kraken looked outmatched in this game, but provided some hope by tying the game 1-1 in the third, only to surrender three straight goals.
Mar. 18 – 6-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The night started off well with Jordan Eberle scoring on the first shot of the game. But Tage Thompson matched this feat, scoring on Buffalo’s first shot with a snipe under the bar. Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch add two more goals to put Buffalo ahead for good, all prior to the six-minute mark of the first period. That was enough for Joey Daccord to get the hook with one save on four shots. Ouch.
Mar. 21 – 3-1 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken got outplayed in this game, but Philipp Grubauer stood on his head and kept the game close. It took late-game heroics by Vegas to eke out a win with former Seattle Thunderbirds forward, Keegan Kolesar, scoring the go-ahead goal with under two minutes remaining.
**Author’s note: Even though the Kraken suffered their sixth loss in a row, another Washington team won Thursday. The Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team is dancing and defeated Drake University 66-61 to advance to the round of 32. Go Cougs!!!
Wild card race
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings went 3-1-0 during the past week, including two shutouts. They beat Chicago twice and wild card hopeful Minnesota once but lost to the playoff-bound Dallas Stars. The Kings are on pace for 99 points, putting them almost certainly in the playoffs.
Nashville Predators
The Predators have extended their unbeaten streak, which is now at 16 games, going 3-0-0 during the past week. Watching the Kraken versus Nashville game made me realize that Nashville is a better team than I originally gave them credit for. With Juuse Saros between the pipes, Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi locking down the blue line, and Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustuv Nyquist up front, give this team a chance to make some noise in the playoffs.
The Predators are on pace for 101 points and look like a lock for the first wild card spot.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are still struggling, going 1-2-0 during the past week (of course, the one win came against Seattle). The St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild are nipping at the heels of Vegas and are only four and five points out of a wild card spot respectively. The pressure is on for the Golden Knights, who have games in hand but need to start winning if they hope to make it to the postseason. Vegas is on pace for 96 points.
Team categorizations
Teams in bold have a game remaining this season against the Kraken.
The week ahead
The Kraken have four games for the week of Mar. 22-28, all against Tanker teams, so an end to the current losing streak hopefully is close. Seattle has one more road game and will then come back for a four-game homestand.
Mar. 22 – Arizona Coyotes – Away (Tanker)
Mar. 24 – Montreal Canadiens – Home (Tanker)
Mar. 26 – Anaheim Ducks – Home (Tanker) (Jared McCann Bobblehead night)
Mar. 28 – Anaheim Ducks – Home (Tanker)
Kraken playoff hopes
While not officially eliminated from the postseason, the Kraken are trending towards 82-88 points, which gives them zero chance of making it through. The Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Minnesota Wild are all ahead of the Kraken in the standings. With Vegas trending towards 96 points, the Kraken would need four teams to falter, and they would need to basically win out.
With three losses this week, a dagger has been thrust into the Kraken’s playoff hopes. The 0.6-percent that MoneyPuck gives the Kraken is because they have the easiest schedule remaining in the NHL, with eight games remaining against Tanker teams.
What’s next for the Kraken?
With the Kraken out of the playoff picture, what is next for them? Could bringing up Shane Wright for some more NHL experience be in the cards? General manager Ron Francis has indicated Wright is in a good place in Coachella Valley, which leads us to believe he might remain with the Firebirds to fully contribute to the rest of the Firebirds season and playoff run. But bringing him up for a few games wouldn’t hurt.
There is also the issue that if they bring Wright up to the NHL, and he plays seven games (10 total on the season), the Kraken would burn a year on his entry-level contract. If he plays fewer games than that with the Kraken, his contract would slide, meaning Seattle would get to keep him for entry-level dollars for three more years.
The expectation for next season is that Wright will step into Alex Wennberg’s vacated second-line center role. But Sound Of Hockey‘s own Darren Brown and John Barr interviewed the humble 2022 fourth overall draft pick, and Wright believes he will step into a bottom-six role with the Kraken and have to earn a top-six spot through his play and building trust with the coaches.
Seattle currently is 25th in the NHL standings as of Mar. 21 with a six-point gap to the 26th team, the Montreal Canadiens. There is not much of a benefit to tanking at this point, because the difference between the eight overall pick and, say, the 12th overall pick is not a huge difference in talent. I would rather the Kraken focus on winning and building that mindset into the team’s culture.
They lost the game 3-1, but the Seattle Kraken were downright watchable against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Being “watchable” doesn’t sound like much, but it is a significant improvement over how Seattle performed in its three prior outings, all of which they lost on home ice by a combined score of 12-4. Still, this one brought the same result and extended the team’s losing streak to six games (5-0-1).
Unlike in the three previous contests, there were some things to like about this game, from Philipp Grubauer’s 34-save showing that put him back over a .900 save percentage for the season, to Jaden Schwartz returning to the lineup and contributing with a tying goal.
“We battled really hard all night, fought back to tie the game up, and stayed with it on the power play in order to do that,” coach Dave Hakstol said.
It’s never fun to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights, though, and damaging their playoff hopes would have been nice.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 3-1 Kraken loss to the Golden Knights.
Takeaway #1: The power of the Schwartz
Schwartz returned after a four-game injury hiatus and had a solid outing. He tipped in a Ryker Evans shot from the point for a power-play goal that tied the game 1-1 at 13:29 of the third, so that was his biggest play, but he did seem to have some nice jump in this game in general.
🚨 NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
Jaden Schwartz, in his first game back from injury, tips a Ryker Evans shot in for a game-tying PPG.
“I mean, obviously, you want to come back and help the team out as much as you can,” Schwartz said. “I thought overall it was a back-and-forth game. Both goalies played good, and it could have gone either way. It would have been nice to take that into overtime.”
From our vantage point, it seemed to be a relatively quick ramp up to game action this time for Schwartz, who we only saw skate with the team in practice on Wednesday. Usually, when a player is returning from injury, he eases back in with a couple of sessions with the team and often doesn’t fully participate the first and/or second time out. But Schwartz was fully involved at Wednesday’s practice, taking regular line rushes and full contact, and then got into the game Thursday.
By contrast, Vince Dunn seemed to be working his way back more slowly, first skating on his own, then participating in a couple of practices with the main group. But he left midway through Sunday’s practice after a half-effort on a drill, and he hasn’t skated with the team since. Hakstol confirmed to reporters at morning skate Thursday that he was not on the trip. We wonder if there was a setback in Dunn’s recovery.
Back to Schwartz, he is one of those players that doesn’t always stand out in an individual game. But when he comes back from an absence, you do notice him because of his tenacious forechecking and willingness to go right to the front of the net.
It was good to have him back in there. Now, if only the Kraken can get Dunn back…
Takeaway #2: Close call on the winning goal
This was one of those “bend but don’t break” games for the Kraken, and it looked for a few minutes like they were on their way to a rope-a-dope victory. They withstood body blow after body blow, thanks in large part to Grubauer standing tall, but Brett Howden drove hard to the net with a minute left in the game, and Keegan Kolesar cleaned up the rebound.
#SeaKraken challenged this play for offside with 1:20 left. Could have also considered a goalie interference challenge.
Hakstol tried an offside challenge, and replay showed that it was about as close to being offside as it could possibly be. But there wasn’t an angle that showed 100-percent certainty that it was offside, so the play stood.
“That was my judgment call on it,” Hakstol said. “It’s extremely close. I believe it is offside. Obviously, it’s a really close, tight play at the line, and I feel the responsibility [to make the call] because of how hard our guys fought.”
With the way Howden ran into Grubauer in the crease, we thought there could have also been a challenge for goalie interference on this one, thought whether that would have succeeded is anyone’s guess.
Takeaway #3: The Golden Knights get ’em again
With the Kraken firmly out of the playoff picture, our expectations when watching these games have changed. Winning just isn’t as big of a deal anymore, and realistically, losing more often than not will be beneficial to the club in the long run.
Even so, when Schwartz tied the game with 6:31 left—a goal you could see coming from a mile away with the way Seattle was sticking in the game—we became ignorantly hopeful the Kraken were going to pull out a rare victory in Vegas.
Instead, the Golden Knights landed yet another demoralizing blow to Seattle, which is now 2-9-1 all time against Vegas. And this one came on the heels of the 5-4 overtime loss that effectively ended the Seattle’s season on March 12. The Kraken got the win in the Winter Classic, but man, these guys just own Seattle and continuously find ways to inflict pain
How did we manage to let ourselves get disappointed by a game that means nothing to the Kraken? Ugh. Alas, in a season full of skids, the current one is the second longest of the season.
“We’ve got to stick together and climb out of this together and try get some momentum going our way,” Schwartz said.
Indeed. The Kraken now head into a string of four very winnable games against Arizona, Montreal, and Anaheim twice. How about they rack up a few W’s for the psyche of the fanbase?
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.
For veteran WHL players like Spokane Chiefs forward Shea Van Olm, playoff experience he has already garnered needs to rub off on the teammates around him. Harnessing confidence could be the difference between winning and losing in an upcoming playoff series.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play in two Memorial Cups now,” Van Olm, who played in the previous two Memorial Cups with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Kamloops Blazers, said. “I’m trying to bring the experience I have and bring my advice and knowledge into our locker room now that shows what it takes to go on a deep playoff run.”
For Van Olm and other 20-year-old players set to graduate out of the WHL, the regular season has flown by too fast. He and others will look to extend their respective seasons for as long as possible.
Deep playoff runs are in the plans for every team qualified in the U.S. Division, especially the top two.
Portland Winterhawks: 46-15-3-1–96pts
Back on top of the standings are the Portland Winterhawks, winning their first U.S. Division championship since the canceled 2019-20 season. They will compete as the top U.S. seed in the playoffs for the first time since 2014-15, back when current Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand was on the team.
It’s been yet another week in the CHL Top 10 rankings for them too, checking in at No. 4, after statement victories against the Tri-City Americans and Wenatchee Wild. The Winterhawks pummeled the Americans on Friday night, 11-1. Forward Nate Danielson caught fire yet again, with two goals and two assists in that game, but so did the Winterhawks social media team with this laugh-out-loud tweet in response to the Kelowna Rockets.
At 7-0-1-0 in the month of March, they’ve outscored opponents 44 to 20. Their plus-123 goal differential for the season is still among the best across the entire CHL.
The Winterhawks are guaranteed to finish as either the first or second seed in the Western Conference and are sitting a point behind the Prince George Cougars for first place. They face three games in three days to round out the regular season this weekend, with a road trip to Tri-City on Thursday and then a home-and-home series with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday and Sunday.
With these upcoming games against eliminated opponents, as well as having an extra game in hand on Prince George, the weekend presents a good opportunity for the Winterhawks to catch and surpass the Cougars and snatch the top spot in the conference. Portland will face either Kelowna, Victoria, or Spokane in the first round.
Everett Silvertips: 43-18-2-3–91pts
The Silvertips are officially locked into the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs and are on a five-game winning streak. They will look to stretch the ice to continue to create offense in the playoffs.
“The biggest thing is staying strong and making sure we’re playing to our identity,” Silvertips defenseman Kaden Hammell said. “It’s been really good going into [this time of year] so far, and hopefully that means we can go into the playoffs feeling really good, too.”
Everett will stick to its foundations of rolling all four lines and finding the depth contributions from everyone on the ice.
The Silvertips will have home-ice advantage in Round 1 at Angel of the Winds Arena, with possible opponents being Wenatchee, Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria, and Spokane.
Wenatchee Wild: 33-29-4-0–70pts
The final push for the Wild has felt like more of a nudge. There’s no real leadership presence on the forward side to drive the play themselves, and the defensive side looks bleaker by the game.
Outside of Graham Sward, their defensemen looked lethargic against the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday, leading to a 6-1 defeat.
A lack of physicality and no answers for dynamic players are a few of the causes for concern, especially when the Wild go to the penalty kill. The Wild have killed just 74.1 percent of their penalties on the season, sixth worst in the league.
The Wild wrap up their inaugural WHL regular season with road games on Friday in Victoria and Saturday in Everett. They are currently occupying the fourth seed in the Western Conference, but only three points separate them from the current sixth-seeded Kelowna Rockets, making them eligible for seeds four through six. With their likely playoff opponent being either Vancouver or Kelowna, just one point on the weekend clinches them home-ice advantage in the first round.
Spokane Chiefs: 29-31-5-1–64pts
What an awesome way to clinch a playoff spot. With the game looking destined for overtime, thanks to a tying goal from Chiefs phenom Berkly Catton with 2:10 left, Will McIsaac finished off found a winner with 13.6 seconds remaining in regulation. McIsaac claimed to have “blacked out” after from the high emotions.
🍀 | Where there’s a Will there’s a way (to the playoffs)!
With 13 seconds left in regulation, Will McIsaac punched our ticket to the post-season with his 6th goal of the year! Berkly Catton and Conner Roulette earned assists on the play.#GoChiefsGo | @walotterypic.twitter.com/bckzPD1eBd
Spokane coach Ryan Smith wants the focus to remain one game at a time, not worrying about playoffs until the official end of the season.
“We’ve got to worry about next weekend first,” Smith said. “We don’t know who we’re going to play, but it’ll be a tough matchup whoever it is. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We’re focused on getting ourselves healthy and going the right way.”
The Chiefs finish up the year with road games in Seattle and Tri-City and have the possibility of finishing as high as the sixth seed. Spokane will likely face either Prince George or Portland in the first round, and due to strenuous travel to and from both cities, the series would be formatted in a two home, three road, two home format instead of a more traditional two-two-one-one-one.
The WHL playoffs are set to begin Friday, March 29. Series previews to come next week.
Header photo taken by Brian Liesse, courtesy Seattle Thunderbirds.
