Seattle Kraken: Five breakout candidates to watch
Ed Stein
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3 – Kole Lind, wing
A broken nose delayed Kole Lind‘s rise to the Vancouver Canucks main roster in 2020-21. Even with the injury, he still showed enough potential to be a late-season callup. The Swift Current, Sask. native went scoreless in seven games but averaged over 13 minutes per night.
Lind can play both with skill and physicality. With Utica in 2019-20, he had 44 points and 64 penalty minutes over 61 games. The rookie will be counted on to use his grit in the dirty areas and nifty puck skills to create scoring opportunities.
By the end of this season, Lind will be recognized as one of the biggest steals of the expansion draft. Vancouver will regret exposing him.
2 – Mason Appleton, wing
Talk about an opportunity waiting to happen. Mason Appleton fought his way up the Winnipeg Jets depth chart the last two seasons, eventually earning top-six minutes. The Jets felt he was on the cusp of a breakout last year. They put him on a line with scorers Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers.
Now Seattle can get the benefit of Appleton’s growth. While not necessarily a primary scoring threat, the former Michigan State Spartans star native excels at distributing the puck to his teammates for quality scoring chances.
At 6-3, 200-pounds, Appleton fits in with Kraken’s strategy of adding big bodies. However, his size doesn’t come at the expense of either speed or puck passing skills. Appleton will get his shot at Seattle’s top-six and second-unit power-play time.