Kraken making strides in 2nd NHL season

WASHINGTON -- When Andre Burakovsky was pondering his options as an unrestricted free agent this past summer, he looked at the Seattle Kraken and saw a promising opportunity.

"When I played against Seattle last year, I thought it was a really tough team to play against," Burakovsky said. "I thought it was a new team, an upcoming team, and I wanted to be a part of it. I definitely saw the potential in the team."
Following a challenging inaugural season in 2021-22, the expansion Kraken are reaching the potential Burakovsky envisioned and raising expectations in their second season. Seattle is 16-8-3 heading into the third game of a testing road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; BSSUN, ROOT-NW, ESPN+, SN NOW) after ending a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory at the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
It took the Kraken until Feb. 11 last season to get their 16th win, when they finished 27-49-6 and 37 points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
That fell well below the high bar set by the Vegas Golden Knights, who went 51-24-7 and reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017-18. But Seattle faced obstacles in their first season that Vegas did not that made it difficult to bring together a group of players with no previous connection.
"I just think last year was tough with everybody being new and trying to learn a new system and COVID playing a big part," Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. "Day to day, we didn't know who we had with our practice group and our game group. This year, it's been a little different, so we've been able to do a little more team-building stuff. I think that's contributed as well."
With no COVID restrictions and a season under their belts with coach Dave Hakstol and his system, the Kraken felt more connected and comfortable with each other on and off the ice from the start of this season and that's led to improved play, highlighted by a team-record seven-game winning streak from Nov. 17-Dec. 1.
"I think it has a lot to do with that everybody knows each other, everybody knows the city, the system and the coaches and all that," defenseman Adam Larsson said. "Everything was kind of new. We had guys last year that hadn't moved into their places before the season even started, so it was little chaotic at the start of the season. Then, we got off to a rough start too, and that did not help.
"But I think it's just a different kind of atmosphere on the team and a different feel going into every game."
The atmosphere and feel aren't all that's different for the Kraken in their second season. Burakovsky, who signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract ($5.5 million average annual value) July 13 after he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche last season, was their biggest addition. After establishing NHL career highs with 22 goals, 39 assists and 61 points in 80 games last season, the 27-year-old forward leads Seattle with 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 27 games.

The Kraken also acquired forward Oliver Bjorkstrand in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and signed defenseman Justin Schultz to a two-year, $6 million contract ($3 million AAV) and goalie Martin Jones to a one-year, $2 million contract. Bjorkstrand has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 27 games; Schultz has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in 27 games, including seven assists on the power play.
Seattle has also benefitted having forwards Jaden Schwartz, who was limited to 37 games last season by injuries (hand surgery, upper-body) and Brandon Tanev, who played 30 games last season before tearing the ACL in his right knee, healthy and 20-year-old Matty Beniers with them from the start of the season after a 10-game stint at the end of 2021-22.
Beniers, the No. 2 pick the 2021 NHL Draft, leads NHL rookies with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 27 games, Schwartz has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 26 games, and Tanev has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 27 games.
"There seems to be this portrayal that this is the same team from last year," TNT and Kraken television analyst Eddie Olczyk said. "But no Tanev, no Schwartz for the majority of last year and Beniers only played the last 10 [games]. So, you've got three guys that are in your top nine. Then, you added Burakovsky and Bjorkstrand and you added Schultz.
" … They've gotten healthier, they've got more skill, they've had the puck way more and the goaltending has been way more consistent than it was last year."

The addition of Jones (13-5-2, 2.91 goals-against average, .890 save percentage, one shutout) proved important when Philipp Grubauer (2-3-1 with 3.21 GAA, .882 save percentage) missed 11 games after sustaining a lower-body injury Oct. 21. The goaltending still has room for improvement; Seattle is 18th in the NHL in goals-against per game (3.15) and tied with the Dallas Stars and Panthers for 18th in the NHL with a .915 save percentage 5-on-5.
But that's an upgrade from last season, when the Kraken were 24th in the NHL in allowing 3.46 goals per game and 31st with a .900 save percentage 5-on-5 with Grubauer (18-31-5, 3.16 GAA, .889 save percentage, two shutouts) and Chris Driedger (9-14-1, 2.96 GAA, .899 save percentage, one shutout) each battling inconsistency.
"I think the underlying numbers said we weren't as bad as the numbers indicated, but at the end of the day our numbers are our numbers," Francis said. "But our goaltending has been good this year to this point and certainly that helps you too."
Seattle knows it has a long road ahead, but earning a playoff berth in its second season doesn't feel far-fetched after its first 27 games. The Kraken are tied with the Los Angeles Kings for second in the Pacific Division with 35 points (in four fewer games), six behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights.
"No team goes into a year and thinks, 'Let's just play to have fun and see what comes out at the end,'" Grubauer said. "There's a goal and our goal is the playoffs, and it's not like we're getting too high because we won seven games and it's not like we're getting too low after you lose. You've got to stay in the moment."
Still, after opening their road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday, the Kraken played with an urgency to end their losing streak against the Panthers. Seattle is 9-2-1 on the road this season.
"Just right from Day One this year, there was a real even competitiveness to our days, right from Day One of training camp all the way through, that's led to good positive chemistry," Hakstol said. "Guys fit and guys working hard together, that's brought some good results early and that has a way of building and growing with the confidence of the group.
"But beyond that, we've made some small progress and our guys should be excited about that and, most importantly, just be focused on the next step."