In year three of their existence, the Seattle Kraken roster underwent plenty of changes since their expansion draft a few summers ago. Their offence added plenty of names via free agency and trade, as did their defence. However, in goal, they still boast the same three netminders that they began with in their inaugural season. Philipp Grubauer remains their number one goalie. Chris Driedger, originally their backup, now sits third on the depth chart, playing in the AHL. That means their original number three has graduated to an opportunity as backup. And that promotion to NHL duties belongs to Joey Daccord.
Joey Daccord Growing into Full-time NHL Role
Entering 2023-24, Daccord only played ten NHL games for the Kraken over his first two seasons with the club. Before that, he registered just nine contests with his first team, the Ottawa Senators. At 27 years old now, Daccord finally earned a full-time opportunity at the NHL level. Before this season, he sat at least third in line for starting minutes, residing mostly in the AHL. Goalies develop at a slower rate than do other positions, so he appears to be arriving right on time.
Some Kraken fans anticipated seeing much more of Daccord in the NHL a year ago, which never really happened. Driedger suffered a significant offseason injury, which took him out of commission for basically the entire 2022-23 campaign. Rather than promoting Daccord, though, Seattle opted to acquire Martin Jones to fill their empty role.
Daccord’s AHL Breakout Season
Though most fans don’t know much about him at the NHL level yet, Daccord took significant strides in development with the Kraken’s AHL team. While 2021-22 was Seattle’s inaugural year, 2022-23 was their farm team’s inaugural year. The Coachella Valley Firebirds left an immediate mark on the league too, going all the way to the final round of the postseason.
All along the way, Daccord provided consistent goaltending as the team’s bonafide starter. He played every playoff game too, pushing them all the way to game seven. Unfortunately, a dramatic overtime defeat left the club just one goal shy of an AHL championship.
Thankfully, that didn’t undo all of the progress and valuable experience Daccord earned along the way. Clearly he benefitted from the opportunity in the AHL, and came to training camp better prepared than in previous years. He stole the backup job from Driedger, and so far performed in his starts with the Kraken.
Strong Start for Daccord in NHL this Season
In his first appearance of the year, Daccord suffered a shootout loss against the St. Louis Blues. He faced 25 shots, and only surrendered one goal against. He also gave up just one in the shootout. Unfortunately, the Kraken offence struggled at the other end. They potted just one on 31 shots, and failed on all three attempts in the shootout as well.
He followed that up by earning the team’s first victory of the season, in a 7-4 victory on home ice. He stopped 32 of 36 shots, holding down the fort admirably against a very good Carolina Hurricanes squad.
He simply looks comfortable in the net right now. His game isn’t turning any heads, but that’s typically the mark of a good goaltender. Rather than playing with a dramatic flare, Daccord makes it look easy. His calmness in net, combined with strong positioning and clean, crisp movement, has him making the job look routine right now.
What this Means for the Future
Ultimately, Seattle’s issues thus far lie at the opposite side of the ice from their own goal. Grubauer might be winless, but that hardly weighs on his shoulders. The team posted two goals, cumulatively, in his three starts. They allowed more empty net goals (3) in those same games.
That said, on paper, the gap sticks out. Grubauer, now 0-3-0, trails the youngster Daccord (1-0-1). Grubauer’s .909 save percentage, though not bad, now sits below Daccord’s .918. If that split continues, Daccord might find himself between the pipes a lot more often.
Main Photo: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
