Will the Kraken Bounce Back in 2024-25? 

The moves made in the offseason indicates that the team will switch more towards a transitional style of attack. Hopefully Matty can bounce back, and we’re totally pumped to have Shane up here full-time. He was our main bright spot after things went sour after the trade deadline.

I'm really hoping that Wright and Evans take the next step.

Vince Dunn is gonna hold the line. Also: this is such a majestic board man, wtf.

My take is that the team overperformed in year 2 and underperformed in year 3, so hopefully this year we see a team which plays as well as it is and is also playoff-caliber

Dunn's pace was exactly the same, as the previous year, prorated for number of game at .79 points per game.

I was at the first game Matty Beniers played in the NHL. That kid is going to be a star and I think he really bounces back this season.

Kings and Kraken will be vying for the same wildcard spot, I feel.

Seattle is my pick to really surprise people this year.

I think we'll benefit from the fact that last year was as unusually bad of an offense as the year before was unusually good. It's hard to be a statistical outlier in any direction for years on end.

Thank you for talking about tye kartye, I think he has good potential and has done pretty good so far for us

I think Seattle is in the low to mid 90s, which may be good enough for a wildcard but definitely will be interesting most of the season

Daccord is easily the number 1 goalie 2:00

fyi the teal is difficult to read on the white board

I was not aware that the Stephenson and Montour contracts were so generous and LONG. Oh Boy. I hope Ron knows what he is doing.

Beniers is going to bounce back. Wright is going to impress.

He had a sophomore slump but Beniers should bounce back, I mean there’s no reason why he can’t get to the player he was last year. He showed how much talent he has and I’ve watched him in person before and I know people who know him since, he’s from my area. If he has like an 80 points that could help them in a huge way. They should be a better team next year

Some people sleep on beds. Some people sleep on couches. And some people sleep on the SEATTLE KRAKEN!!!!

Expectations are somewhere between their 2nd year and 3rd, but closer to their 2nd. More goal scoring, but maybe not to the level they had in year 2. I'd expect them to be on of the 3-4 teams fighting for a wildcard spot, but be on the inside and make the playoffs as like a 2nd wildcard

Considering the Kraken have had one of each kind of season so far (bad, great and average), year four will sort of be the team-defining one since they’ll repeat one of those. Compared to other expansion teams, they’ve been pretty successful so far - if you omit the Vegas anomaly.

Yes! Let's go Kraken!

Pacific Division will be Vegas and Edmonton battling for top spot. Vancouver should be comfortable 3rd, and the Kraken might be a WC playoff team.

As long as some rookies pan out and get playing time that contributes to success we will have a very good season, also Beniers needs to get 75-85 points for a breakout year

Time flies,can't believe the Kraken are already heading into Season #4

I'm thinking Berniers bounces back and Wright has a rookie season especially with Bylsma behind the bench. They really overpaid on Montour & Stephenson though.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Dunn puts up season 2 numbers. The main reason he missed so many games was because of Pospisil’s hit on him (which was brutal, if you haven’t seen it, it gives a whole lot more insight into why he’s been gone). I also think that Daccord is the clear starter. He had the 6th best SV% in the league I believe while playing as the starter. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they split it 50/50 though

My money is on Daccord to be the starter, his numbers blew Gru out the water

Kartye has 229 hits last year, highest across the Kraken in all 3 of its seasons. He was 3rd across rookies and 19th in the NHL in hits. With 24 takeaways and 9 giveaways, he was 2nd amongst rookies with a +15 takeaway advantage. Reuniting with Dan & Jess, his coaches from his AHL ROTY season, I look forward to more from Karts next year!

Shane will develop , just matter of when

85-89 battling for the 2nd wild card spot until we get another consistent offensive piece and/or one of the boys develop fast this year. Might be Shane Wright as a 4th line C, our second year we had 4 strong lines we miss Sprong but maybe it’s time for Kartye.

that d core is stacked

Wennberg was traded to Rangers at deadline, not left as a UFA.

Been waiting for this one :)

I hope they do bounce back. I absolutely love that Yanni Gourde! A bad ass Tampa Bay product that we MISS!!!!!

I just moved to Seattle Thursday! And with the yotes defunct and other recent events Seattle has jumped from my 4th favorite team to my second! Go kraken!

We'll bounce back if Daccord's sophomore season measures up to his rookie outing. I like the additions, even witht he term. Matty and Francis need to get off the stick and sign his @#$% contract.

I love this team so much and still am gitty about NHL hockey in Seattle. With that said, I would love a division crown but this team needs a superstar to do that. Until we get one. I just see us as a wild card team.

getting rid of Hakstol was a good move. But hard to say if its this season or next when they improve. I'm watching for Wright. He's gonna do well.

Beniers reminds me of a Kadri-Spezza hybrid. He'll be a great player when all is said and done. Bylsma coming up with Wright and Evans is the best scenario for all three. A wildcard is definitely in the cards, and if Vegas and/or LA stumbles, that third spot could be open.

Go Kraken! Beniers should probably be about a point per game player. Breakthrough season on the horizon for him. Shane Wright should be full time Kraken this season. Both Stephenson and Montour should help. If Kraken can score 3 plus goals per game and keep goals against down with solid goaltending, then playoffs are likely. OK The Hockey Guy helped me out haha. I watched the video before this comment.

Daccord was goalie during the Kraken 8-game winning streak when the whole team played their souls out, which buffs his numbers a lot. So the starter role may not be as clear-cut as a lot of people in here seem to think.

While I think that the Kraken will be better this year and make the playoffs again, how much better is the question. SOME of the harsh realities are: I really like Beniers, I think he's great, but he's not the same player he was before the concussion. I, however, think he's still a very good player and will be a part of this team for years to come. He, IMO, is the defacto face of the team and should be the next captain. Grubauer's contract hampers our ability to aquire other FAs that could help the team. I thought he was a great pickup at the time, but he's not producing like he did in CO, and that hurts the team. I think the Kraken should have gone defense in this year's draft. There were so many good players available, and we passed on all of them! I like the players we have, but the team has to get younger. In 3-5 years, the Kraken will have a roster full of 32-37 year old's, and while you don't want a roster full of 20-24 year old's either, you do need a mix. Bring up some of the younger players from CV (Evans, Wright, Morrison) and let them play. Lack of a superstar player is also a thing. The Kraken don't have "that guy" other than Beniers that everyone wants to watch. The best player always goes to the worst team though, and as in any sport having one great player doesn't make you a contender for the cup, the Super Bowl or any other championship for that matter.

Opposing teams are going to have their hands full with the new look Kraken. Can you imagine? Here comes the Beniers line. Here comes the Stephenson line. Now we have to deal with a Wright line. Oh jeez, now the Gourde line is coming out. On top of that you are having to deal with Dunn, Montour and Evans coming at you. On top of all this, you now have a super aggressive, highly experienced coach players love to play for. All Kraken records won’t just be broken this upcoming season. They will be blown out of the water.

Would something Seattle Kraken go all the way

If Grubauer is the #1 over Daccord everybody in the building needs to be fired. They brought Bylsma up from Coachella specifically to get the young guys (Ryker Evans/Shane Wright/Tye Kartye) going, and he had Daccord playing at an elite level down there, they arent going back to Gru #1

I think the Kraken are vying for a wildcard slot in the Pacific. Canucks and Oilers will still be pretty good. I expect Vegas to slip a little. I don't follow the Kings as much so if I assume that they stay about the same, they'll be in 3rd and I see VGK, SEA, and NSH bumping around for those wild-card slots. I have this feeling Vegas letting Marchessault go to the Preds is going to bite them in the rear.

I’m ready for this team to go back to the playoffs. Lots of younger talent entered, sure. But looking down the projected line up, along with the coaching changes, I can help but be excited and optimistic about this upcoming season.

Bubble playoff team, I can't see us repeating a 10 game win streak to the go on a matching winless one. Now if we make the playoffs, I like our chances to surprise some people given our style of play. Still some questions on scoring with Matty, Burky, and Wright but our defense continues to improve letting some of the guys showing more liability on that end walking to free agency. I would like to see Yamamoto return but it might be less a money issue and more the number of contracts on the books. Teams are allowed 50 and according to Puckpedia we are at 51 with still needing to re-sign Matty. Not saying it is for sure just noted the possibility.

As a Kraken fan, getting back into the playoffs would be great and on paper looks possible. I would also accept more scoring regardless. It was tough to watch defense to play well, but offense struggle so much. As for the contracts, I agree they're not ideal but: 1, The cap is going to go up. 2, realistically for high-end talent, after last season Seattle is probably not a desirable location to go for players wanting to make cup runs. With that in mind, we're going to have to pay a little bit of premium to begin to draw them here. So I'm hoping Montour and Stephenson, in conjunction with our existing vets and young guys finding their form, begin to build a record of success that draws more talent to it in the years to come. Thanks for the vid Shan

Shane's first three games were early in the season on a call up to play on the 4th line with no points scored.. Then his last five games late in the season he had a point per game on the second line (against mostly weaker teams though). I'm hopeful he has found his form and becomes productive for the team.

I think the team will rebound somewhat. Last season saw a regression in terms of on ice chemistry that helped them get to the playoffs. I'm not sure if the new additions caused the regression, but they certainly didn't gel as much as was anticipated. Given other changes in the pacific division the door will be open for the Kraken to make it into the playoffs as long as Bylsma can coach the team through the inevitable rough patches. The other thing that needs to change is that the Kraken need have more than a set pattern for dump ins and offensive zone entry during the PP. It became predictable what was coming and that made it much too easy to defend against for the opposition.

sharp transition passing from team defense zone to produce more scoring?

Can we get a little bit more sound volume. ?

In the 90s, a 27-49-6 year 1 would have been seen as a solid expansion year season (without looking it up, I recall Tampa getting about 60ish points in year 1 and it was seen as a solid first year).

Since the Pacific is pretty weak now, I feel like they could be in a mix for a wildcard spot

I've liked the kraken more than their recent expansion buddy Vegas precisely because they have had a more conventional growth arc. They have drafted a lot. They made a serious and cap crippling signing of Phillip Grubauer and he's been an anchor on them ever since, despite being marginally better last year. They have been a good, shot suppressing defensive team since inception and that's why Grubauer has hamstrung them and why average goaltending would serve them well. Grubauer has never been an above average goalie for them in his three years. He had his best season last year but still had an .899 save percentage, not NHL average, he only started 34 games for them and he's buttressed by that defense that gave up the eighth fewest shots against last year. An average goalie should do better. That's 5.9 $ million they are setting on fire. The forward group is getting old. Hopefully a Shane Wright/Jagger Firkus/Carson Reikopf/David Goyette and third year matty Berniers can inject some youthful offense into the line-up. It's getting late in the game to expect Gourde, eberle, schwartz, Burakowsky to do it. I want Seattle to make the playoffs and I think they could be a bubble team except I'm not sure who they replace. A good goalie to pair with d'Accord could be the difference maker. I guess I expect Vegas, winnipeg, st Louis to be worse, but that much worse. Maybe Seattle gets 95 points and just misses the playoffs.

Super hard to anticipate continuity with a brand new coach

I think ultimately, this team is a mid 90's point team. It's not gonna blow you away with any one line. They're built to mix and match. Beniers should bounce back, Wright should be on the opening day lineup. Daccord is in net opening night. I just hope the max deals given out won't handcuff the team going forward

Hard for any team in the west that didn't make the playoffs this year to push into the playoffs spots next year

Bounce back my guy they just became a franchise in 2020 give them time to get decent draft picks first before they make any noise. This is like saying bounce back to the new hockey team that moved from Arizona like no man big trades and picks need be made first.

they did yamamoto so dirty this year. he didn't have the best year but neither did so many of their forwards yet they started scratching him so much he couldn't even prove himself. makes me sad

When Grubauer went down, Daccord owned the net, the team played with more energy, went on a winning streak, and he became an instant fan favorite on a team that sorely needs personality and spark. His GAA and Save % were top 10 in the league. Grubauer's were ... not. Even his W-L was fine til the team collectively gave up with 10-12 games to go. Let the youth movement show what it can do.

What about Tanev?

Now what happens when Firkus is NHL ready?

Hopefully Matty can figure out how to not get absolutely bodied when he’s carrying the puck. Even slightly larger guys can swipe the puck hella easy.

Off topic, Shannon. Labor agreement reached at Disney.

We need to hear Tom Grossi's reaction. A Kraken cast featuring you two would be awesome.

As sexy as Slaf's looking, I'm still nervous about Wright eventually being the one that got away...

I can't fathom how you can look at the numbers (including advanced stats) and think Grubauer should be the starter over Daccord. I could see if it was a smaller sample size as a backup playing against worse teams, but Daccord played/started more games by a decent margin and had INSANELY better numbers, it's not even CLOSE. Grubauer having his "best season" with the Kraken is technically correct but that's a VERY VERY low bar, not enough reason to say he's your guy. If Daccord plays like that again and Montour trends even slightly closer to his 22-23 season, and Matty bounces back decently, I for sure can see them back in the playoffs.

Who do you think will be named Capitan?

Doesn't seem like a playoff team unless Wright really shows up and 80% of the players bounce back from their weak 2023/24 seasons.

This video confirms what I was afraid of... We're fu....d

Daccord's record gets you 49 points in 48 games played, Grubauer's record gets you 30 points in 32 games played.

Cup!!

Wright will center the 3rd line, and Yanni Gourde will be centering the 4th line with Kartye and Turbo.

bring back yamo! 🍠

I can't wait to see Wright shine, after being punished for his cockiness about how he had to be the #1 obvious choice. It's clear he is too good for the AHL now, time has come. He was given the Phil Housley treatment for being too confident in his means (poor Phil didn't make THG's top 20 defensemen since he watches hockey (I think that starts on season 80-81), the guy is 4 points for D, 4th in goals too, never had a Norris trophy, because he said he would be better than Bobby Orr when he was in Juniors (he did break Orr records there) and I guess he never was given a fair shake because of that, a Stanley Cup would have been nice, he's been close often, but no cigar. As for the Kraken, they got a chance of picking one of the Wildcard spots, maybe more if things fit in just Wright.

I can believe that Seattle can return to the postseason

The kraken came into the league with a lot of value contracts and cap space and they have wasted it

Grubauer needs to stay healthy.

No player lost more $ last season than Matty Beniers. A truly awful season. He’s the only young player who’s never been with Bylsma. Huge season for him this year

Kraken are probably a wildcard team, depends on the luck they and the Kings have.

Will the Kraken be better in 2024-25? Yes, from the additions of the 2 FAs signed, better seasons from several players who were injured a lot last season, the new energy from Wright and Evans, and the Bylsma bounce. However, and I have seen this across a number of your videos, you seem to have a love affair with Grubauer. For someone who lives so close to Seattle, I am not sure why you do not see he has been mostly terrible for three seasons. I expect Daccord to fully seize the number one job again and Grubauer to be bought out next summer, so they can sign Joey to a bigger AAV contract. Maybe the Kraken should trade Grubauer to the Canucks for Demko and you can watch him up close.

Who's their Captain?

Best team in the NHL .

Grubby is starting , end of story .

We had a good 2nd season because of the goals from the donato geekie sprong 4th line. We didn't address the lack of scoring last year and haven't so far this off season, dark days ahead. Top line of Mccann/matty/eberle isn't good enough, they're all weak physically and get bullied on the boards

We don't talk enough about how hot Chris Driedger is tbh.

West finals. Mark it down.

No they won’t.

Hayden is useless in NHL and can’t fight.

They will be middling. Highly doubtful they make the playoffs. They will tease it and be close but they are not as good as Edmonton or Vancouver as well as little less than Vegas and the Kings. Progress though. We’ll see if those 2 contracts don’t weigh them down

Such a corny team name. Still can’t get over it