What a Difference a Second Kraken Season Makes ...

Defensemen Vince Dunn and Will Borgen perhaps best exemplify the difference between the Kraken's inaugural season and this hockey year in which Seattle's current pace projects a finish of 105 standings points and .641 points percentage. That regular-season total would represent the most points and highest percentage in season two among the 26 expansion franchises to have joined the NHL since 1967-68.
Yes, it's midseason, and the playoff-push physical and mental ultramarathon is just revving up. But the next point the Kraken earn in the standings will match last year's total and a win will surpass those 60 points from 2021-22.
Why are Dunn and Borgen harbingers of what has unfolded before the very delighted eyes of Kraken fans across the city, region, state, various reaches of North America and definitely Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Germany?

Dunn himself is about to set a new career high for points in a regular season, 35, which he has accomplished twice over his five seasons. He notched seven goals and 28 assists last year and totaled 12 goals and 23 assists with St. Louis in 2018-19, then added a pair of goals and six assists in 20 playoff games as the Blues won the 2019 Stanley Cup. Dunn currently stands at nine goals and 25 assists in 46 games and set a franchise-record nine-game point streak this month.
Better still, especially from Kraken coach Dave Hakstol's perspective, Dunn has developed into a first-pair defenseman whose defensive skills have improved by all accounts (his partner Adam Larsson is vocal about it and a Pacific Division says Dunn "looks better all around and it's helping everyone on the team."). That advanced development was part of the master plan when Ron Francis selected Dunn from St. Louis during the expansion draft.
Then Hakstol and assistant coach Jay Leach took the baton by partnering Dunn with Larsson nearly exclusively during the second half of last season. Both players contend the consistent partnering last year was a way to get to know each other's tendencies at both ends of the ice.
As it turns out, Dunn can help the Kraken best an all-time best second-season points percentage set by his former franchise, which joined the league in 1967. The St. Louis Blues' .579 points percentage in 1968-69 is currently the best mark by an expansion team in its second year, followed by 2018-19 Vegas (.567) and the 1980-81 Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado) at .488. That's two second-year expansion franchises finishing over .500 and the other 23 previous season-two teams falling under the .500 mark.

Division rival Vegas notched the best points total (93) in season two among expansion teams, followed by the aforementioned Blues (88) and Nordiques (78). Stick tap to Kraken colleague and media relations manager Lindsey Brown for the expansion first- and second-season data.
What's more, the Kraken's improvement from season one to season two will outpace the 1973-74 New York Islanders, who notched 30 more points (a .167 increase in points percentage) than their first season. Seattle projects to 45 more points than the 2021-22 inaugural season, which calculates to a .275 increase in points percentage. After the Islanders, the Kraken's points percentage increase would more than double or even triple the other 24 franchises.
There are many reasons for the Kraken's undeniable rise during season two. It no doubt features expansion draft choices proving wise and productive (greatly quieting last year's doubters in the media) and key offseason free-agent signings (newcomers and returnees) addressing team needs uncovered in Year 1.
But there is an equally undeniable factor: The Kraken have been successfully developing players and getting dividends from those efforts, even with just two draft classes in the player system. That's because GM Ron Francis and his hockey operations staff leveraged the expansion draft to get young players in the organization to provide depth while indoctrinating them to the Kraken approach.
Borgen is a prime example. The team's pick from Buffalo barely played in the first half of the inaugural season, then got regular minutes after the trade deadline lightened the defenseman group. Borgen worked hard, day in and day out, with Leach for months without discouragement. He put in quality work and now, with Justin Schultz out "week-to-week," Borgen is playing an average of three to four more minutes each night and delivering alongside Jamie Oleksiak.
"He was really effective against Colorado," said Dave Hakstol about Borgen following Tuesday's practice. "It's a little different look and a little different pair for him. He's continually elevating his game throughout the year. It's going to be very important for him to continue to be able to do that. With [Schultz] out it does create more 5-on-5 minutes available."
To that end, when Borgen moved up to the second pair with Jamie Oleksiak, another expansion pick, Cale Fleury (Montreal) was called on to fill out the third pair with Carson Soucy. The 24-year-old, per Hakstol, has put in quality work every practice and morning skate, staying later to work with Leach.
Fleury is now the next man up and getting rave reviews from coaches and teammates alike. You can say the same about Ryan Donato or Daniel Sprong providing clutch scoring and Martin Jones collecting an NHL third-best 22 wins. It adds up to possible history in the works.