Montour Crucial To Seattle Kraken’s 2026 Playoff Hopes

With November in the rear view and with the Seattle Kraken not playing again until Thursday night, it’s an opportune time to assess how the season is going so far.

Despite facing down several key injuries early on, the Kraken own a record of 11-7-6 (28 points) through 24 games and occupy one of the Western Conference’s two wildcard slots. They are on pace for 96 points, which would both represent a massive 20-point improvement over last season and likely be enough to claim the franchise’s second-ever postseason berth. 

All three of Jared McCann (17 games), Kappo Kakko (16), and Ryker Evans (13) have missed more than half of Seattle’s games to date, representing extending absences to the team’s first, fifth, and 14th-highest scorers, respectively, by points-per-game last season. Evans was third among their defensemen, providing a tertiary offensive outlet behind Brandon Montour and Vince Dunn on a blueline otherwise populated by stay-at-home types (Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, and now Ryan Lindgren).

The key to their fledgling playoff hopes is the 31-year-old Montour, currently in his second season with the organization after signing on as a free agent during the 2024 offseason. The veteran rearguard has anchored the team’s efforts through the first third of the season with five goals and 13 points in 20 games, tied for second among all Kraken skaters in points-per-game (0.65). He is on track to score more than 50 points in a season for the second time in his career, and for the first time since tallying 73 points in 80 games as a member of the Florida Panthers during the 2022-23 season.

Montour’s start to the 2025-26 campaign puts him up to 23 goals and 54 points in 101 games since the start of last season, totals which rank fourth and 24th, respectively, among NHL defensemen over that time and make him a dark-horse to be named to the Canadian Olympic team in February. The embarrassment of riches Canada has at its disposal will likely keep that possibility a pipe dream. Still, it shows the kind of conversations Montour has forced himself into with his play since leaving the Buffalo Sabres in 2021.

Montour ranks second on the team in average ice time in all situations this season, but is Seattle’s most-utilized blueliner at five-on-five. Evans does lead the team’s blueliners in points per-60-minutes at five-on-five, but Montour is first in shots, expected goals, and scoring chances created per-60, while also maintaining the defense’s second-highest production rate. 

Where Montour’s impact is most clear is in his relative on-ice possession metrics, where one can see how his isolated results compare to the team as a whole.

Despite taking on the heaviest and most difficult workload among Kraken defensemen at five-on-five, Montour ranks either first or second in four out of five categories. The only one where he does not (goals for) can be explained away by swings in variance over a small sample (fewer than half a season’s worth of games).

Evans ranks above Montour in terms of shot-share, goals-share, and scoring chance-share, but he has also missed more than half of the season to date and is fifth on the Kraken blueline in average five-on-five ice time.

Another reason to draw attention to Montour’s excellent relative metrics is that, to put it simply, the Kraken stink at five-on-five. The team currently ranks fifth or worse in the league in terms of their share of shots, expected goals, scoring chances, and high-danger chances, but is somehow dead even in the actual goals department (cough, cough, league-best goaltending at five-on-five). Teams can overcome such an imbalance in the short term through hot shooting or elite goaltending, but those factors often struggle to hold back the pressure over the course of an entire season before the dam breaks.

With all of their defensemen healthy, the Kraken have rolled out three regular pairs:  Larsson with Dunn, Montour and Lindgren, and Evans and Oleksiak. The first duo is the most used at five-on-five, by a minute per game more than the second, while the third lags behind the second by about 3 minutes per game.

Montour and Dunn are occasionally paired together when head coach Lane Lambert is looking for an injection of offense, and the two do drive play in the right direction. They have accounted for 59% of expected goals, 67% of scoring chances, and 60% of high-danger opportunities while on the ice.

Those are easily the highest marks on the team among qualified defensive pairs (minimum 20 minutes spent together). Still, the two are used together very sparingly to spread out the puck-moving talent. Adding another capable puck transporter could let Lambert put his two best defenders together for longer stretches and stabilize the backend when neither is on the ice.

The Kraken should be building for the future, but they do have nine first- or second-round picks over the next three drafts, and that’s before accounting for potential selling off of expiring assets at this year’s deadline. Splurging on a younger defender who could fit into the team’s long-term timeline but is also able to contribute now and push them towards playoff contention could give them the best of both worlds.

Montour a Beacon of Hope for the Kraken

Any analysis of Montour’s season would be incomplete without mentioning the recent death of his brother due to a years-long struggle with ALS. Carrying such an emotional burden is incredibly difficult in normal circumstances, but even more so amidst the grind of a professional sports season. We wish Montour and his family the best, and hope to see him continue his on-ice success throughout the rest of the season and beyond.

If Montour maintains his current level of performance, the Kraken can boast a formidable trio of himself, Dunn, and Evans, who can reliably drive offense from the backend. That is only one part of the equation, but many teams would love to be in their position, warts and all. Can Montour lead Seattle back to the playoffs?

Data courtesy of Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, and the NHL.