Analytics with Alison: What a Difference a Year Makes

You could spill a lot of digital ink on the improvements made by the Kraken this season. With nine games still to play, Seattle has already beaten last season's win total by 13; topped last year's point total by 28 (an NHL record for an expansion team in year two); and is sitting in a playoff spot (first wild card) going into the Mar. 29 games. Nine different players are setting new career highs in points categories.
There of course have been new additions to the roster (Andre Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz), but new to the team or not, such success must mean key players getting more playing time, right?

What if I told you that if you looked at every Kraken skater who also played in the NHL last year, only six have seen an increase in even strength playing time compared to last season? (And one of them is rookie, Matty Beniers)
In a testament to execution and player deployment, Kraken skaters are technically playing less and producing more.
Let's dig in.
First, for perspective, we looked at Kraken skaters who had played at least 10 games this season. Additionally, for every data point we looked at we rated out per 60 minutes of play. That way, we weren't just looking at totals, we were looking at numbers as they relate to how much time a skater is on the ice. That lets us compare apples to apples across two different seasons when players may or may not have played more.
With that out of the way, let's talk about players with time on ice increases first. Those who lead the way in terms of more playing time this season compared to last are Adam Larsson (plus-1.02 min per game) and his partner Vince Dunn (plus-1.94). New addition Eeli Tolvanen has also seen a bump (plus-1.32). After that are the aforementioned Beniers (plus-.55), Will Borgen (plus-.21) and Justin Schultz (plus-.06).
All of those players have seen an increase in points per 60 and all of them except Tolvanen and Borgen are shooting the puck more. All but Borgen are generating more shot quality.
That's well-deserved success to players who have taken on more responsibility and made the most of it.
Now for some even more fun stuff.
Here's a look at every Kraken skater that, to date, has not seen a per game increase in time on ice. We noted the size of the change, as well as the degree to which their scoring changed in terms of goals and total points.
In an effort to remove questions about "puck luck" or tying these numbers to just shooting percentage, we also looked at underlying behaviors that lead to scoring including shot quality and shot volume.
Shaded green cells indicate an increase in any stat in the 2022-23 season compared to 2021-22.

It's pretty impressive to see that even with decreases in ice time, almost every Kraken skater has upped their point production and, in many cases, that includes goals coming off their own sticks, as well.
And pretty much every Seattle player is deserving of that increase because they've been shooting more and generating better quality chances compared to last season.
Some specific highlights:
But play away from the puck is important, too. Are all these increases due to Kraken skaters abandoning responsible play?
The good news is no. We looked at a few other stats to examine the supporting behaviors that can lead to success: taking the puck away from opponents; not giving the puck away to opponents; increasing elusiveness and avoiding hits; drawing penalties to give your team power play opportunities.
Again, green indicates an increase for the better (meaning, for measures like giveaways and hits where you want to see a player taking less, we inverted the scale to show decreases as a positive).

Again, even in less time, players are doing more to drive possession the Kraken's way not just in terms of keeping hold of the puck, but also in terms of not giving opponents as many chances to try gain possession, or, if they do, it's maybe more often a risky play that gives Seattle a power play.
All in all, it's a testament to how the Kraken are playing this season. It's not just that players are performing up and down the lineup, they are making the most of the minutes they have.