Seattle Kraken at midseason – Part 1 Surprises, Redemption, and the GM
After 41 games of their 82 game schedule, the Seattle Kraken are halfway through the season. PNWS takes a deep look at the team’s first few months and what’s ahead for them.
The Seattle Kraken are halfway through their inaugural season. At the 41 game mark, Seattle has a record of 13-24-4, good for 30 points. That puts them last in the Pacific Division, and they have the fourth-lowest point total in the league. Now is a good time to review what’s happened so far and look forward to what’s ahead. We will do it roundtable style.
Pacific Northwest Sports contributors Jonathan West and Ciara Durant join me for this discussion. We also have a special guest RJ Eskanos.
RJ joins us as the Content & Media Manager for Emerald City Hockey, independently covering the Seattle Kraken. He founded ECH with Dylan Travers in the summer of 2020 with the goal of providing high-quality, interactive coverage of the team through its website, social media, YouTube channel, and podcast. RJ is a local member of the Seattle Kraken media.
What has been the biggest surprise of the season (good or bad)?
Ed Stein
It’s their goaltending or lack thereof. I was never sold on Chris Driedger, but I expected better from Philipp Grubauer. The surprise isn’t that he’s played poorly. It happens. Every goalie (except Ken Dryden) goes through a rough stretch during their career.
I’m surprised at how abysmal he’s been — like bordering on historically bad. It’s not all on the Seattle Kraken defense either. So far, Grubauer let in far too many pucks that he should have. He’s missing saves he should make and gives up too many second chances.
RJ Eskanos
Goaltending. When the Kraken signed Philipp Grubauer after selecting Chris Driedger in the expansion draft, I said they might just have the best goalie tandem in the NHL. I wasn’t alone. ESPN ranked them as the number four goalie tandem in the league going into the season. The Kraken having the worst goaltending in the league by far is something I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted.
Jonathan West (JW)
Empty seats. A sellout crowd is announced at each game, but the hockey vibe in the Greenhouse should be better. When a franchise spares no expense in its launch, there shouldn’t be consistently big blocks of empty seats when fans in the suburbs think ticket prices are untouchable.
There is a disconnect. And yes, there is still a pandemic. But before the Sonics return and during dismal Husky and Seahawks seasons, late 2021 was a perfect window to filter new fans into Lower Queen Anne.
Ciara Durant
The biggest surprise of the season, for me at least, has been Seattle’s dreadful goaltending. Both Grubauer and Driedger came off the best season of their career before going to Seattle. Now, neither of them has a save percentage above .900%. Where is the big disconnect? That’s hard to say. But their poor performances between the pipes are a big part of why Seattle hasn’t found themselves in the W column more this year.
Are they solely responsible? No. But this isn’t the goaltending tandem we signed up for. As far as positive surprises, for me, it’s Jared McCann. He hasn’t been afraid to call his team out when the time calls for it, and despite Seattle’s rough start in the NHL, he has been having a pretty good season.