Seattle SPORTs Now 4/23

 

Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill met with the local media Wednesday at the Kraken Practice Facility at Northgate and said he plans to be `very aggressive’ during the off-season.

The Kraken looked headed towards a playoff berth until they weren’t. The team boasted a 10-5-2 record in the month of January where at one point they were only three points behind the top spot in the Pacific Division. On the year, Seattle was in a playoff spot for 117 days.

But when the team returned from the Olympic break in February it appeared to be lacking a spark and fell all the way down to 13^th place in the16-team Western Conference. Ironically, the Pacific Division was relatively weak this season and a top three finish would have placed the Kraken in the playoffs regardless of point totals.

``Our power play dropped off in March and April,’’ said Botterill, as the team went through a 5-14 streak after the Olympics. ``I feel our future is bright, but we’re not where we want to be.’’

In some ways it was the most disappointing season in the Kraken’s brief history. They looked like a playoff team in wins over Carolina and Vegas (three times) but would lose important games to lesser clubs- going 0-4 versus Nashville and St. Louis.

Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke announced the team would face an `internal audit’ where an independent organization would analyze the organization at every level. While there was some speculation about the future of Botterill and head coach Lane Lambert the press conference erased any doubt that the current GM and coach won’t be part of the organization next season.

``We have the pillars in place for the Kraken to have a lot of success,’’ said Botterill. ``Great ownership, a passionate fan base, Climate Pledge Arena, a fantastic practice facility, players who are proud to be in the Pacific Northwest, and a pipe line of young players coming.’’

However, Botterill admitted that not making the playoffs was ``a lost opportunity’’ for the Kraken. Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord had good seasons in goal. In a bounce back year for Grubauer (the Krakens’ original starting goalie was actually sent briefly to the minors in the 2024-25 season) with a save percentage of .908. Daccord slumped late in the year and finished with an .898 mark after being over the .900 mark most of the season.

``I know people are sick about hearing about prospects, but we had seven players on the roster this season who were 23 or younger,’’ said Botterill, adding that there are players from the Coachella Valley AHL affiliate- notably defensemen Ty Nelson, Tyson Jugnauth and Lukas Dragicievic- who could make their NHL debuts next season.

Ron Francis, the Kraken general manager for four seasons and President of Operations last season, always drafted forwards- usually centers- in the first round of the Amateur Draft- Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, Berkley Catton, Eduard Sale and Jake O’Brien (the last two have yet to play in the NHL). Francis, of course, was a Hall-of-Fame center in his NHL career.

With the possible exception of Beniers, Wright and Catton along with Ryan Winterton and Oscar Fisker Molgaard, haven’t scored much in their brief NHL careers. The good news is that it often takes awhile for a player to develop an elite scoring touch. Witness Morgan Geekie, who was a marginal prospect when the Kraken took him in the expansion draft a few years ago but scored 39 goals this past season (though it helps playing on the same line as David Pastrnak).

While Francis was still with the organization last season (``he was a mentor and a friend,’’ said Botterill), the new GM insisted that he had the final say on player transactions. That means Botterill brought players like Freddy Gaudreau, Ryan Lindgren and Bobby McMann into the organization.

McMann finished the season with 29 goals, ten with the Kraken after arriving from Toronto at the trade deadline. Botterill suspects that McMann will be a highly coveted free agent but notes, ``he enjoyed playing a bigger role with our team than he did in Toronto.’’

``Our auditors will work with Jason,’’ Leiweke noted. ``We’ll look at our first five years. What did we do well? What didn’t we do well? Getting fresh perceptions is super helpful.’’

``We’ve done a lot right,’’ said Botterill, who noted the Kraken have two first round picks in the upcoming draft. ``What Lane presented to us when he interviewed for the coaching job is exactly what he did.’’

The Gold Plan

While NHL teams haven’t been accused of `tanking’ as much as their NBA counterparts- tanking meaning weak teams not trying very hard to win games when they’re out of the playoff race, to get a higher pick in the amateur draft.

Perhaps every sports league should look at the Professional Women’s Hockey Associations draft format. The PWHL Draft consists of six rounds, with order determined by the "Gold Plan," where non-playoff teams earn the top picks based on points accumulated after being mathematically eliminated.

The Seattle Torrent and their expansion sisters, the Vancouver Goldeneyes, won’t make the playoffs this season, but the Torrent may have helped their bid to get the number-one pick with their 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Wednesday night.

Leave it to the women’s pro hockey league to get things right.