Seattle's first major league team?

By Raymond V. Murphy

As the Seattle Kraken begin their third season in the National Hockey League their loyal fans are hoping the club continues its upward spiral that marked he conclusion of year number two.

The Kraken provided plenty of excitement for Pacific Northwest sports fans- not to mention a few surprises- as the team embarked on a Cinderella ride through the NHL  playoffs before losing to the Dallas Stars in the deciding seventh game of the Western Division semifinals.

Prior to that, the Kraken made hockey history with a stunning upset over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Seattle became the first team to knock off a defending champ in their postseason debut. this group's been together. Maybe you have to lose before you learn how to win."

"Everybody had written us off, but we took a big leap this year," said Kraken alternate captain Jordan Eberle. "Nobody expected us to make the playoffs nd nobody expected us to beat Colorado or to reach Game 7 against Dallas. This is the first time

The Kraken head into season three with guarded optimism. Along with last year’s success, Kraken general manager Ron Francis stocked up on draft choices via trades and a total of 61 players participated in opening practices at the Kraken’s Northgate practice facility. The Coachella Valley Firebirds, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Kraken, also boasted a successful season advancing to the finals of the AHL playoffs, before losing in seven games.

“At the end of camp, we just want everybody to be healthy and in game shape,” said Kraken coach Daver Hakstol as the team headed into the regular season.

Seattle’s offense should once again be led by a top line of Matty Beniers, the league’s Calder Trophy Winner presented to the top rookie in the NHL Jared McCann, who reached the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his career, and team leader Jordan Eberle who recorded a game-winning overtime goal in the playoffs against Colorado, one of the most thrilling moments in the Kraken’s brief history.

Defenseman Vince Dunn tallied 50 assists from the blue line to garner team Most Valuable Player honors. Dunn’s defense partner Adam Larsson is the team’s best defensive player a soft-spoken Swede leads by example.

In hockey, a team is only as good as its goaltender. Philipp Grubauer was a fortress in the playoffs compiling save percentage of 9.30. After a few rough patches in his first two seasons in the Pacific Northwest, Grubauer showed why the Kraken signed the 31-year-old netminder shortly after the expansion draft.

Andre Burakovsky returns to the Kraken after suffering a groin tear on the first shift in the first game after the All-Star break. Burakovsky, who scored an overtime game-winner for Colorado in the 2022 Stanley Cup finals, was the Kraken’s leading scorer before being going down for the remainder of the season.

While they won’t start the season in Seattle, several youngsters in camp showed why they were high draft picks by the Kraken. Defenseman Ryker Evans, a second-round pick in 2021 and AHL All-Star a year ago,  and forward Shane Wright were assigned to Coachella Valley after strong training camps. Evans saw more ice time than any Seattle D-man in the re-season, and Hakstol was impressed with the 21-year-old noting, “I was impressed with the things he did on the offensive blue line his poise, his ability to walk the line.”

At least one web site (not in Seattle) presented the misguided opinion that Wright had a poor training camp and the Kraken were beginning to wonder if he was a bust. The reality is that Seattle planned to send the 19-year-old to the minors to get regular playing time, hence the signing of veteran centerman Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, known as a faceoff man and a penalty killer.

Some prognosticators have pegged the Kraken as the fifth-place finisher in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, but likely a number-eight playoff seed as Seattle looks to have a better record than the fourth-place team in the Central Division of the Western Conference.