I heard someone say the other day, “The Seattle Kraken made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history!” While this is true, let’s take a step back. Yes, the Kraken are playoff bound, but they haven’t even completed their second season in the NHL yet. That said, what a second season it has been. How did they get to this point?
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Building the Kraken
On Oct. 2, 2018, the NHL Executive Committee unanimously agreed to hand over Seattle’s bid for an expansion team to the Board of Governors for a vote. On Dec. 4, that same Board of Governors did vote, and it was unanimous and approved Seattle’s expansion bid, and the Kraken were off and running. Three years later, which I assume felt like 10, the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft was held.
For general manager Ron Francis, this draft was the biggest of his post-playing career, and he had to select a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders. When the dust settled, Francis chose who he thought would be a good start to the roster, with defensemen like Brandon Tanev, Jamie Oleksiak, and Vince Dunn. Up front, Yanni Gourde was chosen, along with Jared McCann and Joonas Donskoi.
The goaltenders were Vitek Vanecek — who, on July 28, was dealt back to the Washington Capitals for the Winnipeg Jets’ second-round pick in 2023 — and Joey Daccord, who has played sparingly, if at all, with the Kraken this season. Francis knew that his inaugural team wasn’t going to be the most dangerous, the fastest, or the deepest. When head coach Dave Hakstol was hired on June 24, 2021, he was also well aware of this. Then came the 2021 NHL Entry Draft when the Kraken had the second-overall selection and chose Matty Beniers, one of the top prospects after putting up 31 goals and 67 points in 61 games with the Michigan Wolverines. Thus, they had a foundation to build on.
Seattle’s Tough First Season
It was supposed to be a slow, hard grind, and it was. The Kraken won 27 games and finished 30th in the league with just 60 points. They were bad at home, going 16-22-3 and worse on the road, winning just 11 of 42 games. But all of this was expected. After all, the Kraken weren’t the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken scored 216 goals (fourth lowest in the NHL) and allowed 285, which ranked 23rd in the league. They also averaged 2.60 goals per game (G/G), which was the fifth-worst average in the NHL, and they were ninth in the league in allowing 3.46 G/G.
The Kraken’s leading scorer was Jared McCann, with 27 goals, and he was the only player with at least 50 points. Along with McCann, six other players had at least 10 goals — Gourde, Jordan Eberle, Alex Wennberg, Ryan Donato, Calle Jarnkrok, and Carson Soucy. The Kraken weren’t built through the expansion draft or free agency to be a high-scoring club.
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Of the top-13 scorers on the Kraken last season, none were a plus-1 or above. In fact, the numbers were alarming. McCann was a minus-26, Eberle a minus-28, Dunn a minus-21, and Adam Larsson was a minus-23. When you give up more goals than you score, this tends to happen in the NHL, and with a team plus/minus of minus-69, this makes sense why individual players’ numbers suffered as well. Despite this, though, they maintained that work ethic, something that Francis and Hakstol continued to focus on throughout the season. When they approached the off-season, the goal was to improve the team but not go overboard with signings, keeping in mind cap space and lengthy contracts while exploring free agency, and they did just that.
Among those heading to Seattle was Andre Burakovsky, who signed a five-year, $25.5 million contract, while Justin Schultz inked a two-year, $3 million deal. Goaltender Martin Jones signed a one-year, $2 million contract, and Adam Larsson was given a four-year, $16 million contract. Finally, Philipp Grubauer, whose price to return to the Colorado Avalanche was too steep, so the Kraken jumped in and signed him to a six-year, $35.4 million contract. Management also drafted Shane Wright fourth overall at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and hoped to have him not only make the team but stick with the club for the season. However, as we know, that never materialized into much of anything for the 19-year-old.
A Second Season Turnaround
All indications were that 2022-23 would have a better roster, but the question was how much better? Many people made their season previews last summer, and the majority agreed that the team would, in fact, be stronger and more competitive in year two. Not many, if any, predicted the Kraken would be a playoff team, though.
Well, this club is far better and has locked down its playoff spot. Not only that, but the Kraken have a legitimate chance of moving out of a wild-card spot and into third place in the division. The Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers are battling for that number one seed, but third place is possible. The Kraken have a game in hand on the Los Angeles Kings and sit two points back with two games to go, and the Kraken have won five straight.
The Kraken are a much better club than they were a season ago, and the numbers tell the story. They have 46 wins and hit the century mark in points, with their 99th and 100th coming in their latest win over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. The Kraken rank third in league scoring with 287 goals and 20th in goals allowed with 245 — both major improvements from a season ago. They are also third in the NHL at 3.59 G/G and 14th in the league giving up 3.06 G/G. The Kraken haven’t changed their style of play very much. But what has changed is having a second year under Hakstol’s system and the emergence of certain players having career years; for example, Vince Dunn, whose 64 points are almost double his career high.
Their plus/minus has dramatically changed as well. Remember, no Kraken in the top-13 in team scoring had a plus/minus over one last season. This season, the team has 10, led by Dunn’s plus-30. Furthermore, seven players have at least 40 points, with McCann leading the way with 70; he led the team in scoring last season with 50 points. The Kraken also have 18 players with at least 20 points, six with no less than 30, one 40-goal scorer (McCann), and five players with at least 20 goals.
The turnaround from one season to another has been remarkable. The City of Seattle is buzzing, and this will be even greater next week when the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.