Just the Halfway of It

The Kraken have officially reached the halfway mark of the 2022-2023 NHL season, 41 games played and 41 to go. The halftime report is wholly and wonderfully different from the midway checkpoint of the inaugural season.
With Thursday's shutout win in Boston, Seattle has amassed 54 standings points. Last year's team didn't reach 54 points until an April 16th shootout win over New Jersey in the 74th game of the Kraken 2021-22 season.
The 54 points officially marks the Kraken in third-place in the Pacific Division, good for a playoff spot per the NHL system of advancing three teams from each division (Pacific and Central in the Western Conference, Metropolitan and Atlantic in the East). From there, the final spots in eight-team conference playoffs go to the following two teams with the best record no matter the division.

The third-place position looks even brighter when considering games played. Vegas leads the Pacific with 58 points in 43 games played. Second-place Los Angeles has 56 points but in 45 games played. The Kraken have four games in hand (up to an additional eight standing points) on LA and two on Vegas. Plus, Seattle has two games in hand on their closest pursuers in the vision (Calgary, 49 standings points in 43 games, and Edmonton, 47 in 43 games).
It should be noted the Kraken winning percentage of .659 is third overall in the Western Conference and left head coach Dave Hakstol just of being the Pacific Division coach at the upcoming NHL All-Star weekend. Only division leaders Vegas (.674) and Dallas (.663) have higher numbers and have two games in hand on Dallas too.
A common question from Kraken fans and media types alike is, "What's different about this year's team?" Hakstol answered the question in a recent media scrum, starting with "A lot" and then pointing to the togetherness of the players in the locker room. That was before this glorious road trip, which in turn had Hakstol and assorted veterans talking about a strong belief system in the ability to win any game and stay with any NHL team.
"We just keep working," Hakstol said this week. "These guys work hard together. They care about having success together."
After the road trip finishes in Chicago, the players' belief in themselves and the coaching staff will come in handy with three home games this coming week against 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay on Monday, the Eastern Conference's fourth-best team, New Jersey, Thursday, and 2022 Stanley Cup champ Colorado coming to town Saturday. For good testing protocol, the Kraken will fly to Edmonton after Monday's matinee (honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day) to play the second back-to-back set in as many weeks.
The "what's different?" question is valid and an obvious part of the answer is the players added to the roster, such as Andre Burakovsky, Justin Schultz, and Martin Jones (all signed on the first day of NHL Free Agency last summer). Getting Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Tanev back from the injured reserve list is not to be overlooked or underappreciated. A full season of Matty Beniers is huge, both for winning games and attracting new fans. Plus, one under-the-radar move: Dave Hakstol adding Dave Lowry (and NHL player and coaching credentials) to the coaching staff.
But another way to evaluate this Kraken squad is what's the same about the franchise that Ron Francis and his hockey operations staff have built to date? A lot.
Let's start with the Adam Larsson-Vince Dunn top defensemen pairing. The two paired most of last year's second half of the season, getting to know each other's tendencies. They face the best lines from every opponent and have flourished as offensive contributors. Larsson has a goal and seven assists in the last 12 games, including a seven-game point streak. Dunn has two goals and 11 assists in those same dozen games.
Larsson, the team's expansion pick from Edmonton via signing him during a Kraken-exclusive free-agency period, teams up with defenseman Jamie Oleksiak (Seattle's expansion pick from Dallas during the same free-agency period) as the first-out penalty killers on defense.
The Kraken's third D-pairing, solid as the first two, features carpool mates Carson Soucy and Will Borgen (the latter is housemates with rookie All-Star Matty Beniers, so they all ride together). Soucy was the team's pick from Minnesota and ditto for Borgen coming from Buffalo. Borgen, the odd man out early last season, played regularly in last season's second half and clearly upped his game on all fronts.
That's five of the six regular defensemen as plotted by Francis first, now Hakstol and assistant coach Jay Leach marking them in the lineup with little shuffling.
The current Alex Wennberg line includes expansion pick Jared McCann, back as leading goal scorer with Beniers and Daniel Sprong in hot pursuit. Wennberg was signed the first day of 2021 NHL Free Agency and same for current linemate Jaden Schwartz, whose value as a playmaker, net-front warrior and respected voice in the locker room cannot be exaggerated.
Yanni Gourde (Tampa Bay) and Jordan Eberle (New York Islanders) are both expansion choices. Gourde is a gamer extraordinaire and never one to worry whether his line is called first, second or third. Eberle playing and passing with Beniers is a work of hockey art in historic progress and worthy of closer examination as fans watch the second half unfold.
The fourth line is manned by three Kraken expansion picks (Tanev, Ryan Donato and Morgan Geekie) and one trade acquisition Francis made at the trade deadline last season (Sprong). Geekie and Donato are taking turns as a healthy scratch, with both players being consummate teammates who are diligent about getting their skating/shooting/stickhandling work during practices and morning skates when not in the game lineup. That's 11 expansion draft picks plus two vital free agent signings (Wennberg and Schwartz), Sprong (via trade) and Donato (free agent) returning from last year's skaters roster.
"It was a tough season last year," said Ron Francis during a recent conversation. "The guys who were here to finish the season, they never quit. They kept on kept working. They kept battling, right?
"That's the mentality and culture you want to establish. I think a lot of things came together: Signing Burakovsky, Schultz, and [20-wins goalie] Jones, being able to trade for [Oliver] Bjorkstrand with our cap room. Getting a healthy Tanev and Schwartz back. There's a lot of different pieces that go into it. But I give credit to the guys that were here, continuing to work hard, and having some fun believing in themselves. It's great to see."