What happened to the Kraken???

 

 

In this year’s Baseball Prospectus, the go-to book for baseball stat geeks, writer Lauren Thiessen noted in the San Diego Padres preview that you can judge how disastrous a team’s season is by the amount of games left when the post-mortems are written.

In the case of the Seattle Krakens, coming off a recent eight-game winless streak, the `what happened to the Kraken’ musings are popping up almost daily. But the contest most likely to get the finger-pointing treatment is the Kraken’s Mar. 12 game hosting the Vegas Golden Knights.

Kraken fans and their followers had a good feeling heading into that contest. While the Kraken were coming off a loss to Winnipeg, they had posted a rare victory against the Knights at the Winter Classic on New Years’ Day and recent road wins at Calgary and Winnipeg.

Plus, Jordan Eberle who’s a big part of the Kraken’s brief history, signed a contract extension the previous day, when it appeared he was headed out of town at the trade deadline. Sure enough, the Kraken came out flying and when Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on a breakaway with 11 minutes remaining, Seattle had a 4-2 lead.

Then the ceiling and the season caved in. Jack Eichel scored an overtime game-winner after Jonathan Marchessault had tied the game for the defending Stanley Cup champs with 16 seconds remaining. That placed Seattle eight points out of a playoff berth. They lost their next six, scoring a measly one goal in five of those contests.

Where did it all go wrong for the Kraken? A team that made the playoffs in its second year of existence and shocked the rest of the NHL with an opening round victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

In fairness, Kraken GM Ron Francis adopted a long-term approach to building the Kraken as opposed to the Vegas Golden Knights who brought veterans into the fold in their initial season. Francis discarded players from the expansion draft he didn’t really want, and stockpiled draft choices. The Kraken owned 17 amateur picks in their second and third seasons.

The reality – the Kraken’s playoff run was a bit of a surprise and perhaps more likely this season. Hopes were high – maybe too high – heading into this season. There was some disappointment that Seattle lost some scoring punch from forwards Ryan Donato, Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong (who Kraken coach Dave Hakstol felt was lacking on the defensive end) who all left via free agency. But it was more a case of lack of production from the players who replaced them.

Free-agent signees Pierre-Edauord Bellemare (admittedly hampered by injuries) and Kailer Yamamoto posted meager scoring totals. Andre Burakovsky, who missed the latter stages of last season with a groin injury, was expected to boost the offense. But he was again slowed by injuries and had only four goals and eight assists, a far cry from the 22 goals and 39 assists he compiled for the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22.

However, the biggest disappointment on this year’s team may have been one of the teams’ most popular players- forward Matty Beniers. Coming off a season where he captured the Calder Trophy, awarded to the top NHL rookie, Beniers’ offensive prowess went South. His 2022-2023 numbers- 24 goals, 33 assists, 57 points, +14; this season a drop-off to 11-20-31, -8.

According to the Kraken coaching staff, there’s no problem with Beniers’ attitude or work ethic. Some scoff at the concept of the `sophomore jinx,’ but it’s been the case with many athletes, in many sports, over the years. Plus, Beniers is still only 21-years-old.

Assuming that Beniers has a bounce back season in 2024-25 and American Hockey leaguers such as Shane Wright, a former first-round draft pick, along with Ryker Evans, Ryan Winterton and Logan Morrison (who’ve all advanced to the big club as the season ends) make an impact next season, that could improve the team’s record right there. The irony of this year’s team is that the squad has improved in some facets of the game- notably goaltender where Philipp Grubauer has had his best season as a Kraken and Joey Daccord has been close to All-Star caliber.

Seattle also has players who are a few seasons away from the NHL. Two 19-year-olds, Jagger Fergus (Ontario Junior League) and David Goyette (Western Hockey League) lead their respective amateur leagues in scoring. However, both are 19-year-olds and members of that age group don’t compete at an NHL-caliber level, unless they’re named Wayne Gretzky or Bobby Orr. Plus, Fergus is listed in Kraken media notes at 153 pounds. Players that light don’t play in the NHL, but he’s got a few years to bulk up.

It will be interesting to see what the Kraken do in the upcoming free-agent marker. The team could still use depth at forward, and most fans would agree they could use what hockey followers call grit. A list of Kraken players who’ve been injured by dirty hits recently appeared on social media, with the note that for the most part, Seattle hasn’t retaliated.

The game is much faster today than the `80’s and `90’s, so it’s more difficult to carry a `policeman’ like Ryan Reaves (okay, some would say `goon’) but most of the top teams in the NHL, particularly Eastern clubs like Florida, Boston, Toronto and the Rangers, can play a physical, chippy, game when needed. What direction Seattle turns will be interesting to see.

Like their fellow Seattle teams, the Sounders and the Storm, the Kraken have a hardcore of loyal fans. But they need to win to capture the interest of an entire community and record solid TV ratings. Stay tuned.