Seattle Kraken’s Jared McCann Showing Importance To Playoff Hopes

Despite last night’s loss to the Boston Bruins, the Seattle Kraken are chugging along to a surprising playoff berth halfway through the first month of 2026. The team’s record dropped to 9-2-3 in its last 14 games and to 21-16-9 on the season through 46 games (51 points). Seattle has staked a claim to the third and final automatic playoff spot in the Pacific Division. It’s an incredible reversal of form from the middle of December, when the team was mired in a streak of having won only one of 11 games between Nov. 23rd and Dec. 18.

One of the key driving forces behind Seattle’s resurgence has been the return of forward Jared McCan. The 29-year-old is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals, points, points-per-game, and shots, and remains the Kraken’s only single-season 40-goal scorer in franchise history. He has 10 goals and 19 points in 22 games this year, marks that put him on pace to challenge career highs in both categories.

Without an elite forward on the roster, McCann is the straw that stirs the team’s proverbial drink on offense. His absence this season (he’s missed 24 of 46 games) was a big reason for their 12-game run without a win in regulation from the end of November to the middle of December.

After producing three goals and four points through Seattle’s first six games of the season, McCann would be sidelined for over a month with a lower-body injury, but would return for a stretch of games. Once again suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 10th against the Los Angeles Kings and did not return to action until the 28th. It’s been a frustrating season of stops and starts, but he and the Kraken have been playing well when he’s been available.

The team has won six of 11 since his latest return and earned points in nine of 11, demonstrating how his presence helps slot the other forwards into more appropriate spots in the lineup.

On the season, they are 10-6-6 with him in the lineup, representing a 97-point pace over 82 games. If McCann is healthy, Seattle performs like one of the best teams in the Pacific. Without him, they are 11-10-3 and much closer to the middle of the pack. Now, there are plenty of variables that go into determining team success at the NHL level. Still, both Seattle’s surface-level record and the underlying numbers paint a clear picture of his importance. Let’s dive in.

Kraken Much Better with McCann on the Ice

While there are some issues with using relative on-ice metrics as a be-all and end-all in contextualizing how valuable certain players are to their teams, they illustrate how important McCann is to the Kraken attack. Only Jacob Melanson and Ben Meyers are better than him in any category, and that’s primarily due to their lower usage and easier deployment.

Beyond the team’s overall results when McCann is on the ice, the veteran forward is having one of his best seasons on an individual basis. According to Natural Stat Trick, McCann leads the team’s forward group in penalties drawn, primary assists, and points per-60-minutes at five-on-five, is second in rush attempts, fourth in scoring chances, and fifth in goals. He’s a crafty player with a great shot and uses his skill set to great effect.

McCann’s most common linemates at five-on-five are Matty Beniers (149 minutes) and Jordan Eberle (115), often coming together to form the Kraken’s first line. Despite being force-fed minutes against other teams’ top defensive pairs, the trio has dominated play as Seattle’s guiding light in attack.

They have accounted for 56% or more of all shots, expected goals, scoring chances, and high-danger opportunities when they take to the ice. Those numbers are either the best on the team or only bettered by lines that play limited minutes, against weaker opposition, or both. That kind of success gives head coach Lane Lambert a reliable, effective option to trot out when the going is tough, and hopefully spark some creativity.

McCann Boosting Strong Kraken Power Play

The Kraken power play – already formidable in ranking seventh in the league at 23.7% – has leveled up with McCann’s return. The forward ranks first on the team in terms of goals, points, and shots per-60 with the man advantage. Since McCann returned to the lineup, Seattle owns the third-best power play (34.6%) and is second (32.2%) since Dec. 1, with the latter partially coming with McCann out of the lineup.

While having to include the penalty kill in discussions surrounding all situations statistics does make highlighting offensive impact slightly wonky, that is where McCann’s overall impact is stark. He ranks either first or second on the Kraken in goals, primary assists, points, shots, and individual expected goals, and penalties drawn per-60, spearheading Seattle’s run to an unexpected playoff berth.

Kraken Need McCann To Maintain Hold on Playoff Spot

For all of the Kraken’s success through the first half of the 2025-26 season, they remain underdogs in the playoff race.

The prognosticators over at The Athletic pegged Seattle for 77 points in the standings prior to the season, gave them a 14% chance of making the playoffs, and tossed them a cursory 0.5% shot at hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Despite the Kraken still sitting below 1% in the outlet’s Stanley Cup odds, they’re now projected to eclipse 80 points and are over 15% to qualify for the playoffs. 

One would think that being on pace for over 90 points in a weaker-than-usual Western Conference and currently being in a playoff spot would garner more optimism, but the team is still being dragged down by its poor recent history. 

If the Kraken are going to prove the doubters wrong, Jared McCann must remain healthy and continue to play a massive role in their offensive revival.

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