The 2023-24 NHL season only just began. Every squad still has 90% or more of their season left in front of them. Inevitably, though, opinions already take shape on every possible question. All teams feel at least slightly more or less optimistic about their situation now, even with such small sample sizes to reference. For the Seattle Kraken, an 1-3-1 start created some nerves amongst fans. Below sits Seattle’s roster, with some early season player notes for each and every Kraken.
Kraken Player Notes: At 1-3-1
First, let’s review the team as a whole before diving into player notes on individual Kraken skaters. Heading into game one, expectations vaulted sky-high following last season’s breakout campaign. A seven-game upset victory over the defending Stanley Cup Champions in round one put Seattle on everyone’s radar this season. They retained their entire top nine forward group from that team, as well as five of their six regular defencemen.
Needless to say, playoffs are now an expectation in Seattle. However, questions do exist regarding their ability to re-create last season’s success. Critics point to all the aspects that had to go right for them just to squeak in as a wild card team. The lack of any significant upgrades this summer means they’re expecting a lot of the same success stories this year too.
And so far, scoring looks like a real problem, from top to bottom. Last year, all four lines produced. This year, they have one five-on-five goal, and two overall, in three games. They look vulnerable, but with plenty of positive signs too. So let’s dissect that, across notes for each Kraken player.
Kraken Forwards
The sorting of players varies from time to time. Given the lack of scoring thus far, we’ll loosely focus on time on ice to work through the roster this first time around.
Ice-time Leaders
Kicking off our Kraken player notes stands Alexander Wennberg. He ranks as Seattle’s most-used forward in games thus far, playing almost 19 minutes per night. Unfortunately, his possession metrics sit well in the red, similar to his faceoff percentage. The only centre with a worse faceoff percentage, Matthew Beniers (44.2%), contributes better advanced metrics, but with only one assist to show for it. The team desperately needs him to get rolling offensively.
Winger Andre Burakovsky picked up his first points of the season Thursday night. That game settled nerves around the Kraken fanbase, as they finally broke through for more than one goal in a game. Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann, Seattle’s first line wing pair, produced the team’s only goal on opening night. That stood as their only five-on-five goal until their fourth game of the season. Surely, the top line will cash in more soon enough; they create the opportunities, but just need to start executing on their chances.
Because he plays nearly 20% of his minutes on the penalty kill, Yanni Gourde actually gets more usage than some top six forwards, despite playing on the third line. He notched a nice tip-in goal against Carolina to open the scoring that night, too. Jaden Schwartz, a whopping 112 minutes and 21 seconds after the team’s first goal, scored the team’s second goal of the season, coming on the power play. He added another on the PP against Carolina, too.
Remaining Forwards
Oliver Bjorkstrand notched two power play assists to-date, along with an empty net goal, and carries strong five-on-five metrics as well. His wingmate, Eeli Tolvanen, notched his first point in game five. That third line wing pairing potted 36 goals for the team last year. They play with the puck more often than not, but haven’t been able to find the back of the net at even strength yet.
Newcomers Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Kailer Yamamoto both play on the fourth line. Bellemare logs a lot of his time on the penalty kill, which looks great, with 14 kills on 15 opportunities. Bellemare picked up a shorthanded goal Thursday as well. Meanwhile Yamamoto has two points, including the first goal at Climate Pledge Arena this season. Fitting, for the kid returning to his home state of Washington.
Lastly, Brandon Tanev got hurt in the season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Brett Howden, suspended two games for the play, caught Tanev’s head on a heavy hit during the third period. In his place, Tye Kartye made his regular season debut in the NHL. He netted three goals for Seattle in the postseason last year, and now has an opportunity to carve out a role in the lineup. He’s definitely trending in the right direction, after picking up his first career fight and regular season goal, both on Thursday night.
Kraken Defencemen
The team’s top pairing of Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson paces the entire team in time on ice. Dunn, the only defenceman with points thus far, leads the entire roster in scoring with five points (one goal, four assists).
Next up, Jamie Oleksiak and William Borgen comprise the team’s second duo. The pairings remain the same from last season, except for Brian Dumoulin replacing the hole left by the departure of Carson Soucy. On his side, Justin Schultz seems to be carrying the lion’s share of the responsibility for the bottom pairing. Dumoulin has struggled the most amongst Seattle’s defence so far, but that could just be the learning curve he faces as he adjusts to his new team.
Kraken Goalies
Philipp Grubauer started the team’s first two games this year, losing both in regulation. He surrendered five of the seven goals scored by Seattle’s opponents; in both games, Seattle trailed and conceded an empty net goal before time expired. Even in their 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Grubauer performed well; the quality of chances the team allowed don’t help him much, and that shows.
You can’t blame the goalie when the rest of the team can’t score, and that’s been the case for Grubauer thus far. The Kraken posted only two goals for in his three starts, hardly a recipe for success.
Behind their Starter
Behind Grubauer, Joey Daccord earned the backup job out of training camp. His Kraken player note includes earning the team their first point in the standings, too. In game three of the season, Daccord stopped 24 of 25 shots, forcing overtime and a shootout. They ultimately lost, but again, at no fault of their goaltending.
He looked great against the Carolina Hurricanes, too, earning the team’s first victory of the year. That one stands out considering Carolina remains a Stanley Cup favourite this season. Daccord looked poised, well-positioned, and controlled all night long. It didn’t hurt that the Kraken finally scored more than once in front of him, either.
In the minors, Chris Driedger sits buried with his NHL cap hit. He and the Coachella Valley Firebirds dropped their home opener on Friday the 13th, allowing three goals on 28 shots in a 3-2 regulation defeat. Surely, that is one goalie fighting to get back to the NHL at some point in 2023-24.
Looking Ahead – Kraken Player Notes
The schedule carries on as Seattle hosts the New York Rangers on Saturday. Then, the team heads out east for a four game roadtrip. They hope to carry some momentum with them after earning their first victory Thursday.
By the end of that trip, Seattle will be ten games into the season. Six of those games will have come against the Eastern Conference. Here’s hoping we’ll have more goals and wins to highlight in the next set of Kraken player notes.
Main Photo: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
