With the 2024 NHL All-Star break in the rearview, the Seattle Kraken have returned to regularly-scheduled programming. The team lost their lone game since the break and currently own a record of 21-20-10 (52 points) through 51 games, an 11-point drop from the same point in their schedule last season.
I took a look at the Kraken’s playoff outlook a few weeks ago, prior to the All-Star break, and it’s safe to say that the landscape has not changed all that much for Seattle. Let’s dive into where they stand in the Western Conference postseason picture as of this writing and what awaits them in the final three months of the regular season.
Kraken Face Manageable Remaining Schedule Down the Stretch
Though they sit on the outskirts of the playoff race, the Kraken face a generally favorable schedule for the rest of the regular season, ranking 16th according to Tankathon.
Eleven of their 31 remaining games are scheduled to come against the NHL’s ten worst teams in the overall standings, with multiple matchups against the Anaheim Ducks (three), San Jose Sharks (two), Arizona Coyotes (two), and the Minnesota Wild (two).
Those are effectively must-win games and represent a massive opportunity to collect easy points in a rapidly tightening playoff race. On the other hand, the Kraken are slated to face off against a handful of the NHL’s top teams down the stretch, which balances out their rest-of-season schedule strength.
Related: Seattle Kraken 2023-24 Midseason Review – Daccord, Win Streaks, And More
There are multiple games against the Winnipeg Jets (three), Vegas Golden Knights (two), Boston Bruins (two), and Dallas Stars (two), as well as one more game against each of the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks. That gives them 11 games against six of the league’s ten best teams by points percentage (PTS%), which could either be a significant roadblock on their road to the playoffs or a chance to build momentum against difficult opposition.
With the Golden Knights and Oilers sitting 16 and nine points ahead of the Kraken, respectively, the Pacific Division’s final two automatic playoff berths are probably locked up. Seattle has a game in hand on Vegas, but Edmonton has three in hand on the Kraken.
Instead, the attention should shift to the wildcard race in the West, with five teams realistically battling it out for two places with three months to go.
Western Conference Wildcard Race Heating Up
So far, we’ve accounted for 22 of the Kraken’s final 31 games of the season, with those coming against the best and the worst that the NHL has to offer.
Four of the other nine games come against several teams challenging the Kraken for the two wildcard spots, including the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Los Angeles Kings (one each). These are the key matchups on Seattle’s remaining schedule as they represent the only chances to take points off of their rivals directly, especially as all four sit ahead of the Kraken by six points or fewer.
The Kings are the closest to beating out the Oilers for the final automatic spot in the Pacific, sitting three points behind while playing one more game. They have six more points than the Kraken and two games in hand.
The Blues are level with the Kraken on games played but hold a six-point lead for the final wildcard place and are in a decent spot to end the season.
The Predators join the Kraken in chasing the aforementioned pair, with Seattle only four points behind with a single game in hand.
Despite holding a three-point lead on the Kraken (with one more game played), the Flames have signaled that they are looking to sell off their expiring veteran assets, with Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Jacob Markstrom likely to follow the already-traded Nikita Zadorov and Elias Londholm out the door by the 2024 Trade Deadline (Mar. 8th). Their status as the deadline’s biggest players will likely see them drop out of the race as a serious contender.
| Team | Points | Games Remaining |
| Kings | 58 | 33 |
| Blues | 58 | 31 |
| Predators | 56 | 30 |
| Flames | 55 | 30 |
| Kraken | 52 | 31 |
The odds are not in the Kraken’s favor, given both the number of points needed to catch up and the discrepancy in games played. Still, the team has an outside shot at the playoffs due to the four direct matchups and shouldn’t be written off prematurely as a result.
Kraken Unlikely to Qualify for 2024 NHL Playoffs
With all of the context laid out bare, it’s no surprise that some of the industry’s biggest statistical players are not giving the Kraken much chance at claiming one of the West’s two wildcard spots.
MoneyPuck gives Seattle just over a 20% chance at the playoffs, only ranking higher than the Flames among those in the wildcard chase, according to the site’s projections.
The Athletic is even more pessimistic, giving the Kraken around a 10% shot at the wildcard, which is lower than any of their immediate postseason rivals. Hockey Reference’s model comes in at a similar number, suggesting that the Kraken are a playoff longshot at this point in the season and should seriously re-evaluate their organizational direction as the season winds down.
Kraken Are At Franchise Crossroads
Despite a surprising run to Game Seven of the second round of the 2023 Playoffs, the Kraken appear farther away from Stanley Cup contention than they have at any point in the past two seasons.
The organization ranks highly in terms of its prospect pool, which is a notable accomplishment given that the Kraken have only participated in three drafts to date.
Apart from Matty Beniers (age 21), Ryker Evans (22), and Eeli Tolvanen (24), the team’s core group of skaters are at or moving out of their primes.
The Kraken’s eight highest-paid forwards and six highest-paid defensemen are aged 27 or older, as are the three netminders who have played NHL games for them this season. Of those 17 players, only four will see their current contracts expire this summer, leaving the team with little wiggle room when it comes to overhauling the roster.
The Kraken must shift their competitive timeline through a brief retool or a significant rebuild, both of which would take multiple seasons to see through to completion. Occupying a spot in the NHL’s mushy middle is an unenviable position for any organization, and how the next few months unfold could determine which direction general manager Ron Francis and the Kraken take heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
