In a trend that won’t surprise most fans of the Seattle Kraken, the team once again sits below average league-wide in terms of offense to start the 2024-25 campaign. It’s a big reason why the team sits outside of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, as their record sits at a mediocre 4-4-1 after nine games.
After scoring 3.52 goals per game during the 2022-23 season (the franchise’s single-season record), the Kraken took a step back with only 2.61 goals per game in 2023-24. That drop represented a quarter of the team’s offense year-over-year and a ranking change of fifth to 29th.
While Seattle is currently firing at a slightly improved rate of 2.89 goals per game, that mark still sits in the bottom half of the NHL this season. The power play is also struggling, converting below a 20% clip for the third time in the Kraken’s four seasons of existence (15.4%).
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The front office recruited offensive reinforcements in free agency to remedy that problem and signed utility-forward Chandler Stephenson and offensive defenseman Brandon Montour to sizable long-term contracts. The pair have offered mixed results to date.
Stephenson has a single goal and three assists (four points) in nine games, while Montour has one goal and four assists (five points) to his name in nine games. The Kraken may have hoped for more out of the two marquee signings, especially considering their respective cap hits and the fact that star defender Vince Dunn is sidelined for several weeks with an injury.
With that context in mind, let’s dive into which players are driving the Kraken’s attack, what the numbers look like under the hood, and whether the offense can pop at some point in the season.
Kraken Struggling to Create Scoring Chances … Again
For all of their offensive warts, the Kraken have fostered a reputation as a defensively responsible unit since joining the league in 2021-22. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken ranked fifth or better by shots (SA), expected goals (xGA), scoring chances (SCA), and high-danger chances (HDCA) against per-60-minutes at five-on-five across their first three seasons of existence. Those are elite numbers over a significant sample size that have mostly held up in 2024-25.
Seattle currently ranks in the top 10 of the NHL by xGA and HDCA against per-60 but is average when it comes to SA and SCA, which suggests that new head coach Dave Bylsma is focusing on suppressing the quality of chances early in his tenure. For all the praise earned on the defensive side of the puck, the offensive side has not kept up this season.
| Statistic (Per-60-Minutes)) | Kraken (Five-on-Five) | NHL Rank |
| Shots | 28.1 | 18th |
| Expected Goals | 2.31 | 25th |
| Scoring Chances | 24.7 | 23rd |
| High-Danger Chances | 11.3 | 14th |
In the NHL, teams either score goals by overwhelming teams with a high volume of shots, only taking higher-quality chances, generating both a ton of shots and dangerous opportunities, or employing enough shooting skill that they can frequently capitalize on a lower-than-average number of chances.
Apart from Jared McCann, the Kraken lack such game-breaking talent. This is one of the reasons that they’ve struggled to make the playoffs despite a strong defensive structure (other than goaltending), and it will have to be rectified sooner rather than later if legitimate contention is the goal.
There is some intriguing talent coming up in the pipeline, but those prospects may not mature until after the current veteran core has aged out of its prime. It’s a difficult balancing act that many organizations fail to complete successfully and one that has left the Kraken’s few talented shooters isolated on an island.
Eberle and McCann Carrying Offensive Workload
A statistic that is emblematic of the Kraken’s middling offense is the fact that of the team’s 26 goals this season, 11 have been scored by only two players – Jordan Eberle (six) and McCann (five) – with no other skater tallying more than two thus far. In a fun coincidence, those two also rank first (McCann, 101) and second (Eberle, 64) on the franchise’s all-time goal-scoring leaderboard.
McCann is scoring at a career-best 46-goal, 109-point pace, while Eberle has turned back the clock with a 55-goal, 73-point pace after nine games. Neither forward is likely to maintain such a high pace throughout the entire season, though McCann does have a 40-goal season on his resumé.
Eberle, in particular, is running an astronomical 40% shooting percentage (SH%), while his single-season career-best is 18.9% during the 2011-12 season. McCann scored at a 19.1% rate during his 40-goal season (2022-23) and is closer to his prime than the 34-year-old Eberle, so a 35-plus goal season isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Related: 4 Key Takeaways From The Seattle Kraken’s First 4 Games Of The 2024-25 Season
As for which players could see their luck turn, all three of Andre Burakovsky (zero goals on 14 shots), Yanni Gourde (zero on seven), and Brandon Montour (one on 29) have scored about a goal less than expected, according to MoneyPuck’s expected goals model. Montour, in particular, has taken seven more shots than the next-highest player (Oliver Bjorkstrand with 22). However, his propensity to shoot the puck from any angle may cut down on his overall efficiency.
In addition, the injury to Dunn has put more pressure on Montour and sophomore defenseman Ryker Evans to take on the brunt of the puck-carrying workload. Evans has stepped up to the plate with five points in nine games to tie Montour for the team lead in defensemen scoring while averaging 21:30 per game in the four games since Dunn hit the injured list, second only to Montour on the team.
For teams like the Kraken, their defensemen have to take on a greater role in creating offensive opportunities with their skating and puck-handling abilities. While none of Seattle’s blueliners are at his level, look no further than Colorado Avalanche defender Cale Makar who, despite being a defenseman, is among the league leaders in scoring.
If the Kraken can get anything close to that from their collection of rearguards, that would go a long way in making the team more competitive in the playoff race.
Kraken Need More Skill on the Roster
Despite having an enviable group of skilled defensemen when healthy, the Kraken still need more skilled talent up front to take pressure off of their back-end. While a reliable sharpshooter, McCann would not be the best forward on any potential Stanley Cup champion.
If trading significant assets is not palatable for general manager Ron Francis and company, the organization may have no choice but to wait for their top prospects to mature for the chance to possess elite NHL scoring talent.
Shane Wright had a strong second professional season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with 47 points in 59 games as a 20-year-old. Jagger Firkus scored an eye-popping 75 goals in 83 combined regular-season and playoff games in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Berkly Catton also had 54 in 68 in the WHL regular season. Carson Rehkopf had 58 in 70 combined games with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
The future is bright, and Seattle should be a future Western superpower. The only problem is that it may be too late for this iteration of the Kraken to contend. Can they find an effective stopgap in the meantime?
Data courtesy of Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, the NHL.
