If you took a quick glance at the NHL standings this morning, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Seattle Kraken have yet to face any turbulence this season. The team owns a record of 9-5-5 through 19 games, and boasts the third-highest points percentage (PTS%) in the Pacific Division, and sit just outside the top 10 leaguewide. For a club that experienced a 22-point drop in the standings between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, this hot start is a welcome surprise.
Under the surface, however, things aren’t so rosy in the Pacific Northwest. We are only a month or so into the season, and the injured list has already swelled to capacity.
Before Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, starting goaltender Joey Daccord hadn’t played since being pulled midway through the game on Nov. 5 against the San Jose Sharks and was placed on injured reserve a few days later. In addition, the trio of Jared McCann (missed 14 games), Ryker Evans (13), and Kaapo Kakko (12) has been absent from the lineup for a significant chunk of the schedule to date.
McCann (first in points-per-game last season) and Kakko (fifth) are two of the Kraken’s best offensive weapons, and their absence has contributed to Seattle’s team offense going ice-cold (bottom five in goals-per-game). Their ability to drive play (along with Evans’ presence on the blue line) has been sorely missed, as evidenced by the Kraken ranking 27th or worse in the league in shots, scoring chances, expected goals, and high-danger opportunities at five-on-five.
So if the team can’t score or drive play into the offensive zone, how are they staying afloat? The biggest reason (one I touched on recently) is their goaltending. While Daccord has been serviceable when available (top 32 in both save percentage and goals saved above expected), the veteran tandem of Matt Murray and the much-maligned Grubauer has combined to hold down the fort in his absence.
The 31-year-old Murray is with his fourth NHL organization, and this could be his last chance in the big leagues after signing a one-year, show-me deal with the Kraken this summer. Given Grubauer’s historical struggles, he figured he could jostle with the German netminder for the backup job for most of the campaign. Daccord’s injury thrust him into the limelight, and he responded admirably, although he has since cruelly been ruled out for six weeks with a lower-body injury.
Among goalies who have made at least five appearances this season, Murray is firmly in the top 10 by save percentage (.922) and goals-against average (2.21), and has saved five more goals than expected, which puts him near the top of the league on a per-game basis. Murray has remarkably not recorded a win this season, but that’s more on the Kraken’s inept attack than on his performance.
Even Grubauer (who turns 34 next week) has managed to keep his usual struggles at bay. His .903 save percentage and 2.2.1 goals-against average over five games are the highest marks he’s posted in either category across his entire tenure in Seattle. He also owns a positive goals saved above expected tally, which, if the season finished today, would only be the second time he’s done so in the past five seasons. Together, the three-headed monster in goal
Up front, two veteran forwards in 33-year-old Jaden Schwartz and 35-year-old captain Jordan Eberle are carrying the load offensively. The pair are tied for the team lead in points (both with 14 in 19 games) while Eberle edges out Schwartz with eight goals to the latter’s seven. 31-year-old Chandler Stephenson is fourth in scoring with 12 points (four goals and eight assists) in 19 games.
23-year-old center Matty Beniers is first on the team in assists (11), and two rookies, Jani Nyman and Berkly Catton, have played parts in the team’s early success, but it’s the greybeards who have steadied the ship amidst choppy waters.
Stephenson (first among Kraken forwards in average ice time), Eberle (third), and Schwartz (fourth) are being used heavily by new head coach Lane Lambert, who seems to be valuing reliability over all early in his tenure. Upon his return, 29-year-old McCann (fifth in average ice time) will be leaned on hard to provide offense as the lone player anywhere near the top 50 NHL forwards by goals-per-game over the past five seasons.
The elder statesmen are seeing more deployment at five-on-five and on the power play, but the penalty kill appears to be the domain of the youth, with the third- to fifth-most-utilized forwards being 24 or younger.
The situation on the blue line is slightly different, as, other than 23-year-old Evans, every defender used by the Kraken this season is older than 26, with four of the eight total being 29 or older. That’s another trend to watch with the slog that is the NHL season, but experience is the name of the game on the backend, given that Seattle has used all five of the first-round picks in franchise history on forwards rather than defensemen.
Fate of the Kraken’s Season Lies with the Veterans
The Kraken are far from unique in navigating an apparently leaguewide injury crisis, but their veterans are successfully pulling them from the brink of disaster.
There are clear issues to solve as their underlying numbers suggest, but accruing as many points as possible during the early stages of the season makes the run to the playoffs slightly less stressful. Lambert should be given the benefit of the doubt, given his already weaker-than-average attack has been robbed of several notable options, but leaning on the veteran figures in the locker room should remain a trend at least until the lineup returns to something resembling full strength.
Data courtesy of Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, and the NHL.
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