Seattle Kraken Season Preview

Can the Kraken improve their scoring and return to the playoffs?

As the Seattle Kraken enter year four, the expectations for the local hockey franchise are unclear. After a so-so first season, the Kraken surprised the league with a 100-point season and a fantastic playoff run in 2022-23.

However, Seattle faded in year three with a disappointing season and a return to watching the playoffs on television. Despite the free agent signings of Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour, most national hockey writers don’t have the Kraken returning to the playoffs.

If there was ever a time to use the word “mid”, expectations for Seattle would be it. The Athletic projects the Kraken at 87 points, finishing 22nd in the NHL. ESPN opens with Seattle as the 26th team in the league in their power rankings. So the question is: can the Kraken be better than mid?

Three Keys This Season

1. Score More Goals

Seems kind of obvious right? But the lack of goal scoring for the Seattle Kraken is a bigger problem than you might realize. In the 2023-24 season, the Kraken were near the bottom of the NHL in nearly every category that involves scoring goals. Seattle was fifth from the bottom in goals scored but actually 15th in expected goals. This is because the Kraken are terrible at creating chances and shooting on goal. Seattle was fifth worst in percentage of shots on goal and also had the highest percentage of shots that were blocked. That means the Kraken are not good at shooting and also not good at creating opportunities to shoot.

In order to score more goals, the Kraken will need Matty Beniers to be closer to the player he was two years ago. In 2022-23, Beniers recorded 57 points and won the Calder trophy (rookie of the year). However, Beniers was not the same dynamic player last season with only 37 points and a lack of creativity on the offensive end. Beniers is an underrated defensive player, but the Kraken really need him to become an alpha on the offensive end to reach their potential.

2. Penalty Kill

While this may seem like a very niche key to the season, the Kraken, under former coach Dave Hakstol, were simply inept at killing power plays. Maybe inept is too strong of a word, but certainly not good enough for a team that doesn’t score a lot of goals or even get shots off. With the Kraken not shooting often, every penalty kill becomes more and more essential. Over the past three seasons, Seattle ranks between 25th and 20th in the NHL in penalty kill percentage. The good news is that it has gone up from 25th to 23rd to 20th (78.8% last year), but they have to be better. Without star power on offense, the Kraken have to be closer to 81% on penalty kill percentage this year to make a playoff push.

3. Free Agent Signings Making an Impact

This is probably true for any sports franchise across the board, but for a team with limited star power, free agent signings have to hit for the Kraken. Combined with the length of contract given to Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson (7 years each), Seattle needs these two guys to be impact players right away.

Most NHL pundits are skeptical of Stephenson returning to form after a mediocre 2023-24 season. The Athletic’s preview of the Kraken really slams Stephenson for his drop in play the last two years and notes that he doesn’t have as much talent around him. One area where Stephenson can make an immediate impact is faceoff percentage. The Kraken were terrible in this area last year (47.5%) and Stephenson immediately makes them better (52.6% last year and over 58% the year before).

New Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson/Seattle Times

Montour should be a clear upgrade for the Kraken on the defensive end. However, his impact might be more as an offensive weapon. Montour ranks in the 97th percentile in shot speed in the NHL with multiple shots over 100 miles per hour last year while playing for the Florida Panthers. It will be interesting to see how much Montour plays on the power play and how much he impacts the offensive end of the ice for the Kraken. The combo of Montour with the “Big Rig”, Jamie Oleksiak is exciting.

Three Players to Watch

Shane Wright

The former #4 overall pick, Shane Wright officially made the Kraken roster. Wright had a nice preseason and has experienced success at Coachella Valley. The question is whether that talent and success can translate to the NHL. Wright finished the preseason with three goals in the last two games, including this awesome finish.

Yes, Wright scores this with a blind backhand. You need to see the video. For the Kraken to make a jump, Matty Beniers and Shane Wright need to play to their pedigree. Wright is clearly a player to watch early this season to see if the Kraken have indeed improved offensively.

Andre Burakovsky

When Andre Burakovsky signed a five-year deal in Seattle, it felt like he was going to be a 20 goal scorer every season at minimum. Burakovsky was coming off 20 goals, 19 goals and 22 goals in his three seasons prior for the Colorado Avalanche. With an elevated role in Seattle and entering his prime at age 27, expectations were high for Burakovsky. Unfortunately, he just can’t stay healthy. He has played only 49 games the past two seasons for the Kraken. If he can (knock on wood) be a little healthier, a 20 goal season seems reasonable. Considering the Kraken only had two scorers over 20 goals in 2023-24, that would be a huge deal for Seattle.

Philip Grubauer

Joey Daccord had an awesome season in 2023-24, placing in the top six in both save percentage and goals allowed per game. While Daccord’s season helped keep the Kraken afloat, Philipp Grubauer was confounding once again. Since he signed a massive five-year deal ($5.9 million per year), Grubauer has only danced with periods of brilliance. Overall, he has been a backup quality at best. If the Kraken can get a good performance from Grubauer with any consistency, their prospects change drastically.

Projected Lineup

Forwards
Jared McCann - Matty Beniers - Jordan Eberle

Jaden Schwartz - Chandler Stephenson - Andre Burakovsky

Eeli Tolvanen - Shane Wright - Oliver Bjorkstrand

Tye Kartye - Yanni Gourde - Brandon Tanev

*Note: these are the lines from practice on 10/7

Defense
Vince Dunn - Adam Larsson

Jamie Oleksiak - Brandon Montour

Ryker Evans - Will Borgen

Goaltenders
Philipp Grubauer

Joey Daccord

Prediction

The Kraken will have a more dynamic offense under new coach Dan Bylsma. Their depth of solid players will overcome their lack of star power while Shane Wright makes the jump to the second-best offensive player on the roster. Seattle ends up with around 98 points on the season and makes the playoffs.