The Seattle Kraken had a hard task in front of them. Try and enter the league as an expansion team immediately after Vegas had done it so exceptionally. Even before the expansion draft, the Kraken weren't taken lightly. GMs across the NHL prepared for this expansion draft, making sure their rosters were aligned so nobody of value was lost. There were no blockbuster trades giving Seattle extra draft capital or high-end talent. Seattle did their best, but they just didn’t have enough to ever get going. Now that we know where they stand and as they pick up some more players, better days hopefully will be on the horizon.
2021-22 Preseason Expectations: After everyone got blown away by the first season from Vegas, nobody was going to sleep on another expansion team. The expectations heading into the season were moderate, nobody expected a cup contender, but nobody expected a bottom feeder either. The general consensus was they would be strong in net and strong on the back end, with some trouble scoring goals. But even with not a lot of talent up front, people expected them to grind out victories and be competitive for a wild card spot deep into the season.
2021-22 Season Results: Things did not go as planned, you could even say they went about as bad as they could have. The Kraken ended up in last place in the Pacific, managing to gain only 60 points for the season. The Kraken, as expected, were the fourth lowest scoring team in the NHL, managing to score only 216 goals. But the surprise problem was in the defensive end, and mainly in goal, where the Kraken gave up an unexpected 285 goals. They just couldn’t afford to give up that many goals given the lack up scoring depth up front. A recipe for disaster.
What Went Right: The Kraken were solid on defense and good at suppressing shots and high danger scoring chances. Mark Giordano, Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, and Vince Dunn didn’t give up much, especially for a team with so many holes. If they had gotten even league average goaltending, they at least would have been competitive throughout the season. At least Giordano got them some good value at the trade deadline too.
The 2021 second-overall pick Matty Beniers joined the team for 10 games after the end of his collegiate career at the University of Michiagn. It was only 10 games, but he managed 9 points and looked right at home. He should slide nicely into the lineup this year, plus with Shane Wright right behind him, the Kraken get the young depth a new franchise so desperately needs.
What Went Wrong: Going into the season, the big acquisition that the Kraken made was signing Phillipp Grubauer to a very reasonable 6-year contract with an AAV of $5.9 million. The Kraken looked solid in net. Unfortunately, Grubauer looked nothing like the reliable goalie he had been previously. He finished the year with an 18-31-5 record and an .889 save percentage in 55 games. To a make matter worse, he was even more terrible in the first half of the season.
Backup Chris Driedger wasn’t much better, going 9-14-1 in 27 games, with a save percentage of .899. As if things weren’t bad enough, Driedger will be out until at least January, after tearing his right ACL on May 29 during the IIHF Men’s World Championship while in goal for Team Canada. This will only put more pressure on Grubauer to get right, and Seattle will have to find a backup that can step-in if that doesn’t happen.
Reasons to be Optimistic: The Kraken with the 4th pick in the draft were somehow able to add the best player in the draft, Shane Wright. Wright brings the Kraken another much-needed young center to build a team around. Also, if this season doesn’t go as planned, the Kraken may have to seriously consider tanking in the second half to try and land Connor Bedard with the top pick in next year’s draft. Bedard probably has the most hype of any prospect since reigning MVP Auston Matthews was drafted first overall in 2016. If the Kraken started lining up down the middle with Bedard, Wright, and Beniers this team would start heading places fast.
But if Seattle’s sights aren’t on tanking, one thing to be optimistic about is that Grubauer couldn’t possibly be this bad again. He improved as the season went on, and he has years as an established goalie in this league. Goalies frequently have bumps in the road, only the true elite can be counted on every year. If Grubauer reverts back to form, this year’s Kraken could end up like the team everyone thought they would see this year: a defensive minded team that is tough to play against.
Reasons to be Pessimistic: Seattle still hasn’t really solved the problem of who is going to put the puck in the net. The one thing they do have is cap space. Is it worth it to go out and get a top-tier player like Johnny Gaudreau, Nazem Kadri, or Evgeni Malkin to help put the puck in the net? It sure seems like a big name would move the needle a lot in Seattle. But are the Kraken willing to commit cap space right now when it also could be their biggest weapon to try and amass assets to build for the future? Seattle’s front office has been very measured and calculated so far, though they have said they will be active in free agency. We shall see how long Kraken fans will have to wait before the front office starts adding big pieces.
What this team needs: The Kraken were 28th in goals scored per game and had the 29th-ranked power play this season that converted at a measly 14.6% rate. They need to score more. They need goal scorers and guys that can get pucks to goal scorers. Any of the high-end options mentioned above would work. Even mid-tier guys like Andre Burakovsky, Bryan Rust, or Rickard Rakell would be welcome upgrades. Ideally, the Kraken would add one high-end guy and one mid-tier guy, to really improve their top six. That plus adding Wright and Beniers would send a message that the Kraken are here to compete this year. But even one addition could go a long way as the young centers develop.
2022-23 Expectations: The Kraken’s expectations really depend on what they do in free agency. A cautious approach, and you may expect them to be in the bottom third of the league again. A more active approach and you might expect them to be competing for a playoff spot in April. If Grubauer turns it around, they probably stay out of the basement. But if things go south in the early days of the season again, trying for Connor Bedard may be too hard to pass up.
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