News Kraken Team Notes

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Kraken “battle” but fall 5-4 in OT at Canadiens

Bad news, gang: The Seattle Kraken will not go 82-0-0 this season. However, 81-0-1 is still on the table!

Yes, the Kraken took their first loss of the season Tuesday, 5-4 in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens. But considering the way the game started, it was again encouraging to see Seattle push back on a night when the home team seemed to have far more jump initially, and still come away with a standings point.

“We were playing hard right from the get go,” head coach Lane Lambert said. “If you look at the chances in the game, we have out-chanced them at 5-on-5. So I thought we did a great job of coming prepared, understanding what we needed to do, certainly in the first 10 minutes when they came out hard. We battled. I give our guys full credit for battling.”

Jared McCann scored for the third straight game, the power play connected for the second straight game, and the outcome easily could have gone the other way if it weren’t for some outstanding plays by Montreal’s stars—another encouraging sign in the early going of the season.

MCCANN CAN!

Montour's shot gets blocked, but it drops right for Jared McCann, who spins and snipes his third goal of the season. #SeaKraken grab their first lead of the game, 4-3. pic.twitter.com/KrRO84hF7W

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 15, 2025

Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-4 Kraken overtime loss to the Canadiens.

Takeaway #1: Competitive every night​

I wrote about this recently—Lambert has said that if the Kraken stick to his systems, they won’t win every game, but they’ll be competitive every night. Watching the opening period Tuesday, it felt like Seattle was getting caved in by a high-flying Montreal team.

Indeed, the Habs opened the scoring after a rare odd-man rush against, in which Ivan Demidov made an elite cut to the top of the right circle and an even more elite pass to the backdoor, where Alex Newhook redirected it over Joey Daccord.

Alex Newhook scores off a rush and a great pass by Ivan Demidov, and the #SeaKraken are chasing for the first time this season.

1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/YJ2fYH6x77

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 14, 2025

That goal came amidst some sloppy puck management that looked similar to what we saw from Seattle on Opening Night, when the Anaheim Ducks appeared a step faster and hemmed the Kraken in for much of the opening 20 minutes.

But…

As Lambert promised, even when the Kraken were again on their heels in the first period, they still stayed within striking distance, getting to the intermission down just 1-0 with a 4-4 shots-on-goal count.

It was no surprise to see them get things back on track in the second and start to take some control of the game.

Takeaway #2: Costly penalty, other mistakes​

Mason Marchment took a penalty at a very bad time, and it came back to bite the Kraken. Minutes after Jamie Oleksiak had given Seattle its only lead of the game with a seeing-eye shot through a double-layer screen set by Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, Seattle went shorthanded, clinging to a 4-3 lead.

The PKers appeared to have an outstanding kill in the books, but before Marchment could rejoin the play, Demidov made his second all-world move of the night. With Oleksiak tangled up with Brendan Gallagher in the crease, Daccord was shielded from getting to his angle. Demidov waited, and waited, and finally lofted it into an open net to tie the game 4-4 and send it to overtime.

Just as the #SeaKraken PK appeared to have gotten a monster kill, Ivan Demidov makes his second elite play of the game and ties it 4-4. pic.twitter.com/0kPaijxklp

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 15, 2025

There were other mistakes in this game—like a turnover by Chandler Stephenson that led to Cole Caufield’s first of two goals—but that penalty definitely hurt Seattle’s chances in this one.

“We made some mistakes, and those mistakes ended up in the back of our net tonight, whereas maybe in Games 1 and 2, they didn’t,” Lambert said. “[They were] structural and systematic mistakes that we have no business making those mistakes.”

Takeaway #3: Montreal’s skill wins out​

The Kraken deserve plenty of credit for making this another close game and, even though it was different from the previous two (Seattle allowed five goals instead of one), for earning another point in the standings.

But I have to say, the Canadiens have some very skilled players. Demidov, Caufield, and Lane Hutson all made their respective presences known, with Demidov (1-1=2) and Caufield (2-0=2) each notching two points.

Caufield put an exclamation point on Montreal’s late comeback after Nick Suzuki beat Beniers on an offensive-zone face-off, pulling it back to Hutson, who danced around and created a cross-and-drop opportunity for Caufield.

Caufield streaked down the flank, Daccord dropped down and gave him a sliver of net to hit, and Caufield picked the corner from a sharp angle.

#SeaKraken lose 5-4 in overtime.

You gotta tip your hat… Outstanding play by Lane Hutson on the cross-and-drop, then Daccord gives Cole Caufield just a sliver of net to work with, and he takes it.

Kraken fall to 2-0-1. pic.twitter.com/Ojrmp9u56o

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 15, 2025

It was a beautiful goal to cap off a night full of highlight-reel plays by a talented Montreal squad—a scary team, indeed.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Three Takeaways – Kraken “battle” but fall 5-4 in OT at Canadiens appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/14/kraken-lose-to-canadiens-overtime/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

The subtle art of wall play in the NHL

When we think of elite players in the NHL, we tend to think of individuals who are especially good at obvious things; the types of things that get highlighted in an NHL Skills Competition, like fastest skater, hardest shot, and most accurate shooter. And when you ask what makes a skilled player elite, these are often the first attributes that come to mind.

This makes sense intuitively because the NHL’s elite players usually fall into one or multiple of these categories. McDavid is fast, Ovechkin shoots the puck hard, and Crosby is pinpoint accurate.

This line of thinking makes a player like Matthew Tkachuk a uniquely interesting case study. Tkachuk is one of the preeminent wingers in the NHL. His combination of physicality, verbal sparring, and high-end scoring skill is a rare combination. His NHL Edge stats, hilariously, paint a confounding picture.

These NHL Edge stats suggest that Tkachuk is slow, doesn’t cover much ice, and has below-average velocity on his shot. And yet, he’s elite at driving offensive zone time (92nd percentile) and goal scoring (81st percentile).

Tkachuk is known for his physicality, goal-scoring, and antagonism, but in my opinion, the skillset that works as his proverbial glue is his elite wall play. His smarts and top-notch ability to get the puck off the wall, combined with his other traits, make him a maddeningly effective player, which can extend possession sequences and create scoring chances like few can.

What does any of this have to do with the Seattle Kraken? The last article I wrote for Sound Of Hockey highlighted how simple habits with the mid-lane drive can produce high-quality scoring chances. This article has a similar theme – how the subtle skillset of strong wall play is the foundation of driving play effectively.

Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle – a case study in fundamentals​

Jordan Eberle playing in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo/Brian Liesse)

The first time I watched either Jordan Eberle or Jaden Schwartz play was the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2009. For many players, the World Juniors are their first foray into the bright lights of national recognition.

Eberle seemed to rise to the occasion for big moments. He scored the game-tying goal and a critical shootout goal for Canada in a semifinal against Russia (more on that later). The next year, he scored twice in the final three minutes of the gold medal game to send Canada to overtime against USA (a game where the Americans eventually prevailed).

Schwartz played for Canada in 2011 and 2012. Those Canadian teams were less successful, and I’ll confess that as a younger hockey fan, I felt a little underwhelmed. I think I expected Schwartz to be a flashy winger, but that type of performance didn’t materialize. Looking back, I think one of the reasons why I felt underwhelmed was that I personally didn’t understand what really good hockey fundamentals looked like.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can see how both Schwartz and Eberle have evolved from junior hockey stars to highly successful NHLers. In a lot of ways, Schwartz and Eberle share a lot of similarities. They’re both on the slightly smaller side, and they are skilled offensive wingers but high-end speed isn’t their calling card. Their games have also aged gracefully, and I believe one of the reasons why is that they’re both masters of wall play. Show me a player skilled on the wall, and I’ll show you a key play driver on your team.

An underappreciated skill​

First, let’s set the stage for what makes wall play so challenging and important. Former NHL coach and player Dallas Eakins once observed that within NHL games, the puck is within three feet of the boards about 80 percent of the game. The boards serve as a natural outlet for many plays when direct tape-to-tape passes are not an option.

Handling pucks off the wall is difficult because rimmed pucks are often moving fast, and the boards can cause the puck to bounce unpredictably. You often need to be able to pull the puck off the wall with the toe of your stick, which is less than ideal for puck control. When you add the element of pressure and the fact that lingering too long on the wall with the puck leads to repeated hits, you can see why wall play is challenging.

At the same time, successful wall play leads to defensive-zone exits and transition play. Successful wall play keeps pucks in the offensive zone, allowing your team to wear down the opposition with extended offensive-zone sequences. Players that can consistently make plays off the wall help tilt the possession battle. You simply cannot be an effective play driver in the NHL without mastering the fundamentals of wall play.

In the offensive zone​

Let’s look at some key moments from last season where skill on the wall led to a positive outcome for the Kraken.

Excellent wall play can force unexpected turnovers on the forecheck, leading to prime scoring chances. In this sequence, Schwartz is the first forward (or F1) on the forecheck. After the Kraken dump it in, Montreal defender Arber Xhekaj is first to the puck. Schwartz correctly reads that Xhekaj does not have an option to move it up the strongside boards and moves to cut off the rimmed puck behind the net.

In almost one smooth motion, Schwartz is able to pick up the rimmed puck and move it out front to a wide-open Oliver Bjorkstrand. It’s a great shot by Bjorkstrand, but that play is only there because Schwartz is able to pick up the rimmed puck and move it quickly.

The ability to pick the puck off the wall quickly also allows you to move the puck faster, opening up passing lanes. This next clip illustrates how Eberle is able to retrieve the puck off the wall and find a streaking Jani Nyman before the defense can react.

Eberle enters the zone on the power play and is forced down the wall to the corner before sending it back up high to the blue line. Montour is a right-handed shot, so moving the puck from east to west is risky. He opts to rim the puck back low to Eberle. Eberle is able catch the rim and immediately move it to a wide-open Nyman for his first career NHL goal. It looks like a routine play, but it’s not. If Eberle needs to take an extra second to pick up that puck, that passing lane gets shut down either by the defender Matheson (No. 8) or a well-timed poke check from the Montreal goaltender.

More recently, Eberle displayed his mastery by one-touching a back-hander between his own legs to Matty Beniers, who finished off a beautiful power-play goal against Vegas last week.

MATTY MAGIC!

Sick setup, sick finish, sick celly.

Power-play goal, and it's 1-0 #SeaKraken. pic.twitter.com/AfVFcsAmxz

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 12, 2025

In transition​

The Kraken had a lot of trouble transitioning the puck last year, likely contributing to their less-than-stellar results for offensive- and defensive-zone time. Making successful plays on the wall is a key ingredient to moving the puck out of your zone in an organized fashion. The following two plays show how making a wall play in transition leads to offensive-zone possession and a goal.

Eberle finds himself with the puck in tight against the wall attempting to break it out. His options are somewhat limited. He doesn’t have much speed, and he’s about to take a hit from a back checker. The lateral pass to teammate Chandler Stephenson is unavailable due to a well-positioned stick from Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher (No. 11). However, he remains poised and is able to make a skilled play and find Vince Dunn sprinting up the middle, which opens up more breakout options.

The Kraken ultimately dump the puck in, and the Montreal goaltender, unable to handle the rimmed puck, allows it to go to the other side where Eberle is ready to make a play. He one-touches the rimmed puck to Eeli Tolvanen, who makes no mistake scoring. That last play wasn’t a fortuitous deflection. That was the subtle art of wall play.

This next example features neither Eberle nor Schwartz but is simply too good not to share. Kaapo Kakko takes a breakout pass along the wall. Although he has to receive this pass with his back turned to the middle of the ice, limiting his vision, he pre-scans prior to getting the puck, knowing that Beniers is skating up the middle. He makes a skilled play, simultaneously protecting the puck and finding a clever outlet to Beniers.

Because Kakko is able to move the puck to an already-moving Beniers, the Kraken are able to get the zone entry and create an initial scoring chance. That chance doesn’t go in, but the Oilers fail to recover the puck, and Kakko is able to make yet another skilled wall play, catching a rimmed pass on his backhand and walking out in front of the net to set up Beniers for a backdoor tap-in goal.

Defending​

Being great at wall play doesn’t just mean you’re on the ice for key offensive situations; it also means that coaches will put you out when your team is defending a lead. When the trailing team is pressing, making plays off the wall is crucial to clearing pucks and relieving pressure. If you can’t make those plays, the puck can end up in the back of your net very quickly.

In the above, a good play on the wall prevents a clean zone exit, and the Oilers are forced to rim the puck back behind their own net. Jake Walman has the next chance to pull the puck off the wall and clear it, but under pressure, he ends up putting it right on the stick of Schwartz, who scores his second goal of the evening.

In this next clip, the Oilers go from having clear possession to pulling the puck out of the back of their net within a matter of seconds. The culprit? A botched clearing attempt.

Oilers defender Ty Emberson has difficulty handling the puck behind his net and, under pressure, rims it hard to his partner Troy Stecher, who is positioned near the hash marks. Stecher is unable to handle the hard rim, leading to a turnover at the blue line. Ryker Evans sends it the other way, and Andre Burakovsky finishes the scoring chance from the top of the crease.

Strong wall play is critical in the NHL​

Let’s revisit Eberle’s famous goal against Russia in the 2009 WJC semifinal. Russia defends pretty well here, keeping the puck on the wall and staying in shooting lanes. The entire sequence prior to the goal is a slog along the wall.

Ultimately, the Canadians win enough small wall battles to find a fortuitous opening, and that makes all the difference in the game that sent them to the final.

In hockey, all these little moments add up to one bigger one. This is winning hockey – the ability to win the hard pucks along the wall in critical moments.

Wall play is a subtle and underappreciated skill. It’s not really sexy, and it’s equal parts hard work and talent. It’s also hard to highlight on TV because the typical broadcast angle doesn’t give a full view of the nearside boards. But players who master it have staying power in the NHL.

One can never get too good at picking up rimmed pucks on the backhand… pic.twitter.com/BbGiigVUBG

— Jack Han (@JhanHky) September 11, 2025

The next time you go to a Kraken game or even an open practice, I would encourage you to keep an eye out for players working on their wall skills. They might partner off and work on it individually or you might see it baked into a puck retrieval drill. For some of you, it may be a whole other dimension to the skill game waiting to be discovered.

The post The subtle art of wall play in the NHL appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/16/the-subtle-art-of-wall-play-in-the-nhl/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeways – Kraken secure another point in shootout loss to the Senators

The Seattle Kraken rolled into Ottawa on Thursday night for Game 2 of their six-game road trip. The Ottawa Senators were on the second game of a back-to-back, having lost the first leg to the Buffalo Sabres 8-4 the night before. The Kraken got some respect from Ottawa, as the Senators started their No. 1 goaltender, Linus Ullmark, after opting for backup Leevi Meriläinen the previous night. Ottawa was also without captain Brady Tkachuk, who is out six-to-eight weeks with a hand injury.

With Shane Wright’s grandparents in attendance, the Kraken got off to a quick start with Wright scoring in the first five minutes. The Senators and Kraken then traded goals before ending regulation tied 3-3.

Seattle dominated puck possession in overtime but couldn’t find the winner, ultimately falling in the shootout. Shane Pinto and Tim Stützle scored for Ottawa to seal the 4-3 victory. Still, the Kraken earned a point and improved to 2-0-2, maintaining a .750 points percentage through their first four games.

Shane.Wright.Grandparents.Wholesome.gif #SeaKraken https://t.co/DorZir0Dob pic.twitter.com/yY1vBmnIwU

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 16, 2025

Takeaway #1: First goals​

Wright and Chandler Stephenson both scored their first goals of the season, with Stephenson lighting the lamp twice. The forward lineup stayed the same, but Ryan Winterton and Eeli Tolvanen swapped spots. Neither recorded a point, but their lines contributed offensively, and we all know scoring from all four lines will be needed for Seattle to have success this season.

Stephenson’s first goal came from an aggressive forecheck and takeaway by Jaden Schwartz and Tolvanen, followed by a laser shot that hit the post, bounced off Ullmark, and in. Both Wright and Stephenson scored on rebounds—a good sign that the Kraken are getting pucks to the net with support to clean up the scraps.

The Chan Chan man can! Great stick lift and steal from Schwartz, who feeds Stephenson for his first of the year. Shot rings off the bar and bounces in off Ullmark. Game all tied 2-2! #SeaKraken #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/1xPwI4dFjc

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 17, 2025

Takeaway #2: Backup goaltending​

After starting the first three games, it was nice to see Joey Daccord get a full day off. This is one benefit of carrying three goalies—a situation I’m not advocating for—but it allowed Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray to share the workload.

Grubauer wasn’t perfect, but only one of the three goals (the tying goal) against felt like one he should have stopped. To the naked eye, it appeared Grubauer just whiffed on it, but Jamie Oleksiak may have screened him on the shot from Dylan Cozens, who fired quickly off the boards before Grubauer could track the puck. Regardless, this one came at a tough time, with the Kraken trying to secure a regulation win deep in the third period.

The first Senators goal came off an unlucky bounce that went right to Pinto, who buried his league-leading sixth of the season just seconds after a power play expired. Ottawa’s second goal came on the man advantage, with Claude Giroux threading a cross-ice pass to David Perron, who fired it home short side.

Grubauer did enough to keep Seattle in the game, earning the team a point. Just a hunch, but we could see Murray in net when the Kraken face the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 20, the first leg of back-to-back games.

Takeway #3: No quit​

The season is young, but in both games of this road trip, Seattle has trailed at times and battled back. In both contests, they also held a third-period lead—a positive sign. Unfortunately, they surrendered late goals in each that forced overtime before losing, but they still earned points both nights. The Kraken aren’t folding, and that resilience has them collecting points in all four games this season. If they keep competing like this, the points will keep rolling in.

The Kraken improved as the game went on. After trailing 2-1 in the first period, they outshot the Senators 25-16, including a 5-1 edge in overtime. Although they left with a shootout loss, Seattle outplayed Ottawa and, on most nights, would likely come away with a win.

Beniers with two great looks in overtime. Would’ve liked to see him fire on the first one, but a solid sequence by the #SeaKraken. pic.twitter.com/nAwjLfoREo

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 17, 2025

Strong start to season continues​

The Kraken are off to a strong start but will need to dig in as the road trip gets tougher. Next up is the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team Seattle has struggled against, going just 1-7 all time. After that, they face their first back-to-back set of the season.

Freddy Gaudreau left in the second period after going awkwardly into the boards. There was no update on his status, but he did not return. Of course, Berkly Catton is still on the roster and waiting in the wings for his NHL debut.

The post Three Takeways – Kraken secure another point in shootout loss to the Senators appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/1...other-point-in-shootout-loss-to-the-senators/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Down on the Farm – Tyson Jugnauth earns important role with the Firebirds

“Down on the Farm” is your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week we’ll focus on new Firebirds defender Tyson Jugnuath, catching you up on his recent development steps and his early play in Coachella Valley. After that, we’ll pass along thoughts on Berkly Catton’s status, check back in on the Firebirds, and get you updated on an eventful week elsewhere in the Kraken system. As always, if you have a Kraken prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey. Let’s dive in.

Jugnauth’s hard work pays off with a top-four role in Coachella Valley, but development hurdles remain​

Tyson Jugnauth is a unique player in the Kraken organization. “You don’t teach a lot of the things he has,” Firebirds vice president of hockey and business operations Troy Bodie told Judd Spicer in an interview on the Fire & Ice Podcast. “He moves the puck very well. Reads and scans the power play well. Moves the puck quick[ly]. Very smart defender as well.”

“We’re excited to see him on the backend, what he can do for our power play, and hopefully put some points up right away,” Brodie said.

Yet, Jugnauth’s progress to this point was not pre-ordained. For years, a professional future of any kind was not guaranteed for the 2022 fourth-round pick. Hard work, a unique bet on himself, and a prolific-scoring age 20 season with the Portland Winterhawks last year earned him an entry-level contract with the Kraken.

It’s clear Jugnauth wants more, though. As a slight-framed, 5-foot-11 defenseman, he knew there were steps he needed to take to succeed as a professional. So, he rented an apartment in the Seattle area on his own dime this past summer and worked out at the Kraken Community Iceplex with Seattle’s strength and conditioning staff to add muscle.

“It’s always been a weak spot for me; I’ve never been the strongest or biggest guy,” Jugnauth told reporters at Kraken rookie camp. “I knew I needed to get my body in a place where I could absorb the [professional] game. Once I signed my entry-level contract, it was like ‘I’ve got three months to do this.'”

“The best way for me to do that was to stay in Seattle. Nate [Brookerson] and Jake [Jensen] are great at what they do. I think now I’m ready. I feel good on the ice. I think it will be a big step for me.”

“Tyson has committed himself to improving his fitness and his strength,” Brodie explained. “For a young player to come to us and tell us he’s going to forego his summer with his friends and family because he’s committed to playing better hockey and developing properly is a huge step in the right direction.”

“It is something that he will benefit from greatly. We’re very impressed with his maturity,” Brodie said. “It’s not something that is taken lightly.” Indeed, it’s clear the Kraken want Jugnauth’s commitment to serve as an example for the team’s other prospects. “Hopefully it’s something that other players understand he’s going to get rewarded for this year.”

The “reward” Jugnauth earned was evident on Firebirds Opening Night as a 21-year-old rookie stood near the blue line at puck drop. Jugnauth played heavy minutes in the early going alongside Ty Nelson at even strength and quarterbacked the first-unit power play. He was clearly ahead of fellow rookies Lukas Dragicevic and Caden Price (who formed the Firebirds’ third pair) and Kaden Hammell (who was scratched).

That said, the AHL has a way of humbling young players, and there were rough spots for Jugnauth in this one, particularly in front of his own net. On the first goal against, Jugnauth lost track of the puck and stopped skating instead of engaging a forward during a scramble at the net front.

On the second goal against, Jugnauth didn’t help pick up a net front player, instead holding the back post on a play in the opposite corner. This may have been his textbook proper positioning, but a lack of awareness of the positioning of his opponents (and teammates) left the net front player to make a play while Jugnauth was guarding air.

On the fourth goal against, Jugnauth was caught in between in defensive transition. He didn’t move to take away the cross-seam pass (perhaps thinking Goyette had the pass covered, which he did not), and the young blueliner did not step up to block or take away the shooter.

These goals were not entirely on Jugnauth, of course. One can point to other errors and breakdowns as well. And, even when Jugnauth was off the ice, the Gulls still tilted the ice toward the Firebirds net. But, it is clear there were a number of lessons for the AHL rookie in this one.

If history is any indication, Jugnauth will take the challenge seriously and come back better for it.

Coachella check-in​

Revisiting my projection from before the opener, I had every sit-start decision and player position correct except for one: Ian McKinnon started the opener over the newly-acquired J.R. Avon. And I hedged when it came to McKinnon, noting that I expected him to be in the lineup more than half the time for the Firebirds.

On the other hand, my pregame line projections were not close at all. To begin the night, the Firebirds staff distributed their forward veterans throughout the lineup rather than consolidating them on one line. Those plans shifted after the team lost one of it’s key players just over 20 minutes into the game (more on that in a moment). Across the second and third periods, we often saw two of the veteran leaders together.

The opener was a tough 5-0 loss. There were a few good things from the Firebirds young players, but there is no sugar coating the outcome. As I implied last week, I do think that this season will be an enormous challenge, particularly early, due to the youth on the roster. The team needs to find new point producers up front and develop sound defensive play from a very young blue line. This will take time.

The challenge will be even tougher in the short term with the Kraken recalling John Hayden to the NHL club on Friday, Oct. 17, following Freddy Gaudreau’s placement on injured reserve. Only two AHL “veterans” remain on the team: Mitchell Stephens and Gustav Olofsson.

The Firebirds should receive solid play in net from Nikke Kokko and Victor Ostman. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the raw goaltending stats take a step back in the early going as the Firebirds struggle to suppress shot quality.

If, by the end of the year, the arrow is pointing up and the Firebirds make the playoffs at all, I’ll count that as a successful season. I’m not ruling out more. The AHL team in Palm Desert, California, has exceeded my expectations every season so far. But development is the priority in the early going.

The Catton conundrum​

I have made no secret that I am high on Berkly Catton’s potential to help the Seattle Kraken this season. After the first two Kraken home games, though, I was on board with the vision of utilizing Ryan Winterton’s defensive talents as the team looked to establish a sound defensive structure and details in their breakouts and transition game. As we discussed on the last Sound Of Hockey Podcast, I think this was the right call.

I suspect we’ll see movement on the Catton situation shortly though. Freddy Gaudreau’s placement on injured reserve suggests he’ll miss at least a week. Plus, Winterton has taken minor penalties in each of the last two games and Jani Nyman’s usage continues to be minimal. (After trending up for a while, Nyman was back down to 6:19 TOI on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Ottawa.)

Catton could enter the NHL lineup on Saturday in Toronto in place of Gaudreau, Winterton, or Nyman. If not that, the team has back-to-back games in lower-exposure spots Monday and Tuesday of next week. That may be a natural chance to rest a veteran and get Catton into the lineup over John Hayden, for example.

There is also the possibility of a conditioning loan to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The team’s injury situation and decision to carry three goalies in the early going may make that difficult at the moment though. (A player loaned to the AHL for a conditioning stint still counts against the NHL roster limit.)

Regardless, if you are in Berkly Catton withdrawal like I am, here are his shifts from Seattle’s September 29, 2025, preseason game against the Calgary Flames—i.e., the game during which Catton scored his first (preseason) NHL goal. Do I have more of these videos? Yes. Will I keeping posting them until Catton makes his way into the NHL lineup? As a bit of harmless fun, sure. Why not?

Notes on five more Kraken prospects​

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Speaking of the young Firebirds, Mølgaard left the ice for Coachella Valley in the first minute of the second period and did not return. Mølgaard did not take any contact on the shift but skated straight for the bench and down the tunnel at his first opportunity. Mølgaard had a slightly awkward fall on his last shift in the first period, but it was not obvious that he suffered an injury as a result. I did not notice any other potentially injurious contact on any of his other shifts. (You can watch his time on ice here.) This is one to monitor, as Brodie called Mølgaard “a big part of our team” before the game.

Nathan Villeneuve | F | Sudbury Wolves (OHL)​

Now recovered from an injury sustained during Kraken training camp, Villeneuve took the ice last Friday for Sudbury as the team’s captain. Who did he square up against for the opening face-off? None other than fellow Kraken prospect Jake O’Brien. The two went head to head frequently that night, with O’Brien’s Brantford Bulldogs holding the advantage. O’Brien had a goal, two assists, and was plus-three in a 6-0 Bulldogs win. Though Villeneuve was held scoreless that night (with a minus-two on-ice plus-minus), he rebounded with three assists in two additional games last weekend.

Jake O’Brien | F | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)​

O’Brien and the Brantford Bulldogs didn’t slow down after their win over Sudbury. O’Brien had a hat trick and two assists on Sunday, Oct. 12, to lead the Bulldogs to an 8-5 win over the Ottawa 67’s. O’Brien’s eight points in two contests earned him the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week. As of Thursday afternoon, O’Brien is tied for first in the OHL in points per game (2.17) and tied for fifth in points overall (13).

Clarke Caswell | F | Univ. of Denver (NCAA)​

Following a productive junior career, Clarke Caswell made his college debut playing for David Carle and the University of Denver last weekend. The 2024 fifth-round pick scored a goal last Friday in his first game versus Air Force off a hard-working net front battle. Overall he compiled a team-high seven shots on goal in 19:47 time on ice—which was one second short of the most on the team among Denver forwards. The next night Caswell once again assumed a top-six forward role and recorded two assists in Denver’s game versus Bentley. He’ll look to keep the production going this weekend with two games at Lindenwood University. Both contests will be available to stream on FloHockey.

A hardworking first @NCAAIceHockey goal for freshman Clarke Caswell last night. #GoPios pic.twitter.com/d7anb4FIGL

— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) October 11, 2025

Loke Krantz | F | Linköping HC (SHL)​

On Saturday, Oct. 11, Loke Krantz made his debut in the SHL, Sweden’s top level pro league, for Linköping HC. He played just over eight minutes and wasted no time getting on the scoresheet either, recording an assist. The under-the-radar 2025 seventh-round pick has stuck with the SHL club since then, getting into his second pro game on Thursday, Oct. 16. Krantz is the seventh-youngest player in the SHL to record a point this season.

Kraken prospects data update​

Karl Annborn has had an eventful few months since departing Kraken development camp in July. He played three games for Sweden’s U20 team and 14 club games for three different teams in three different Swedish leagues. Most recently he has played three games for Västerås IK of HockeyAllsvenkan. Despite all of that activity and change, his last game, on Wednesday, Oct. 15, brought another first: His first point of the season (an assist).

There were a number of league debuts this week, including Jugnauth and Price in the AHL, Annborn in Allsvenskan, Krantz in the SHL, and Caswell and Ollie Josephson in the NCAA.

Jakub Fibigr is third in the OHL in points per game (1.4) among defensemen. The baseline for offensive success has been there for Fibigr, even if the raw point totals haven’t yet followed. Over the summer we predicted this might be the year his production ticks up. So far, so good for Fibigr.

For his part, Julius Miettinen is tied for second in the WHL in points per game (2.0) among all players.

Semyon Vyazovoi posted his first quality game of the season last week, stopping 26 of 27 shots in a 40-minute relief appearance. Hopefully, this is the springboard Vyazovoi needed.

Nikke Kokko was in net for the Firebirds in what was a tough team effort. As mentioned above, he could play better this year and his stats could take a minor step back. I wouldn’t worry too much about that in the abstract.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker​

2: Kim Saarinen, Julius Miettinen

1: Jake O’Brien

There were a number of strong candidates this week, but O’Brien’s eight points in two games could not be denied.

Previewing the week ahead​

The Deep Sea Hockey Game of the Week is a Friday, Oct. 17, 4:00 pm PDT OHL tilt between Jake O’Brien’s Brantford Bulldogs and Jakub Fibigr’s Brampton Steelheads. Will our OHL Correspondent John Barr be in attendance? (If you miss this one, the two teams have a rematch set for Saturday at 1:00 pm PDT.)

Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Ivar Stenberg​

Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg tops most international player lists for the 2026 NHL Draft. After logging 25 games in the SHL in his draft-minus-one season, he has moved into a prominent scoring role for Frolunda this year, scoring two goals and adding seven assists in 11 games. He will likely hear his name called in top-10, if not top-five, come draft day.

Recent prospect updates​

October 10, 2025: Firebirds drop the puck on the 2025-26 season

October 3, 2025: Catton makes his case for the NHL Roster

September 26, 2025: Junior seasons begin, J.R. Avon settles in

Curtis Isacke

Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.

Read more from Curtis

The post Down on the Farm – Tyson Jugnauth earns important role with the Firebirds appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/1...auth-earns-important-role-with-the-firebirds/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Kraken defeat Maple Leafs 4-3, extend point streak to five

The Seattle Kraken took the ice in Toronto under the bright lights of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. And, following their fourth-straight overtime contest, the team took home a rare win over the Maple Leafs, 4-3.

There were a number of storylines going into this one. Seattle’s hockey team was squaring off against Toronto’s squad the night before the cities’ baseball teams are set to face one another in Game 6 of the ALCS. Meanwhile, the Kraken personnel situation was strained, with mounting injuries (Freddy Gaudreau will miss four-to-six weeks) and other absences (Brandon Montour is away from the team right now for a personal reason). And Lane Lambert was returning to take on the team he coached last season.

In the end, though, the Kraken made their way through all of those distractions and delivered a sound, detailed effort against a high-powered Toronto team. There were isolated breakdowns in Seattle’s game (unnecessary penalties, failed or indecisive challenges at the blue line), but there was more good than bad overall on this night.

“[The Kraken] outworked us in front of the net. They blocked shots. They beat us up and down the ice,” Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz said postgame. “The score was indicative of that. They just outworked us, plain and simple.”

We’ll highlight a couple of the hardworking “plays before the play” that made a big difference in the outcome tonight.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken win over the Maple Leafs.

Takeaway #1: Nyman generates offensive-zone possession, gets rewarded​

There were aspects of Jani Nyman’s game Saturday that were not perfect (he struggled with breakouts and transition skating a bit), but still, Nyman delivered one of his better performances in the National Hockey League on the strength of his work low in the offensive zone. In the first period, he dominated possession below the goal line to the extent that Toronto’s Nicolas Roy eventually got his stick in a bad position and tripped Nyman.

Excellent wall work from Li’l Jani, who draws the tripping call. #SeaKraken to the powerplay. pic.twitter.com/n4jFrvI7Jg

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 18, 2025

This sent the Kraken to the power play where Seattle grabbed an early lead on Shane Wright’s rebound goal.

Shane Wright buries a powerplay rebound from Marchment to open the scoring! A fitting way to celebrate his 100th NHL game. #SeaKraken up 1-0. Kraken have held #LeafsForever to zero shots so far. pic.twitter.com/OgBxClK7F3

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 18, 2025

Nyman’s work was a big part of that score. And the coaching staff recognized that, elevating Nyman into a middle-six role alongside Wright and Mason Marchment for the remainder of the game.

Nyman continued to deliver in the second period. After a brief push by the Maple Leafs, Nyman helped flip the momentum midway through the frame by contributing to another dominating possession shift in the offensive zone. That work cemented Nyman’s elevation and kept him on Wright’s line and in position to receive a feed from Marchment that Nyman would bury for Seattle’s second goal.

LI'L JANI!

GREAT play by Shane Wright and Mason Marchment, and Jani Nyman blasts it home!

2-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/HJcshJa3Iz

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 19, 2025

In the end, Nyman posted a season-high 13:23 TOI. When Nyman, Marchment, and Wright were on the ice together 5-on-5, the Kraken had 63.57 percent of total shot quality, according to Natural Stat Trick. Nyman was a big part of Seattle’s success in this game.

Ryan Winterton was the player that moved down due to Nyman’s elevation. To Winterton’s credit, he continued to play his forechecking and backchecking game there, looking comfortable alongside his former Coachella Valley teammates Tye Kartye and John Hayden.

Takeaway #2: Seattle’s net-front work creates offense​

As Stolarz said, the Kraken outworked the Maple Leafs at the front of the net all night. While Seattle forced the large majority of the Maple Leafs’ shots on Joey Daccord’s net to the outside, they were equally effective getting in close to Stolarz and making his life uncomfortable.

Seattle’s third goal may read like a simple, low-danger point shot from Vince Dunn in the box score, but the goal doesn’t happen without Jaden Schwartz’s hard-nosed play at the net front. If Schwartz is not working to that difficult area, the Toronto defender Brandon Carlo is not forced to make a split-second decision on checking through Schwartz’s body to prevent a potential rebound chance. Unfortunately for Carlo, Schwartz’s effective net-front screen turned into some legal “goaltender interference” as Carlo propelled Schwartz into Stolarz, allowing Dunn’s shot to pass uncontested.

“Ugly” goals like this come from the hard work. And, so far this season, the Kraken are putting in that work.

HE DUNN DID IT!

Jaden Schwartz gets shoved into Stolarz by Brandon Carlo, and Vince Dunn gets a good bounce. #SeaKraken regain a 3-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/a7IKQ2UZTM

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 19, 2025

Takeaway #3: Work without the puck delivers the game-winner in overtime​

Overtime hockey is all about puck possession. With Toronto gaining control first, Seattle needed to stay patient and prepare for any opportunity to seize the puck back. Schwartz did just that early in the overtime, when he stripped a puck clean in a confined area behind the net. This takeaway set Seattle up with a number of chances to win the game, which Stolarz rebuffed (at least temporarily).

Later in the five-minute frame, Chandler Stephenson redeemed an earlier sloppy possession play with a hard-skating backcheck to disrupt a transition chance from William Nylander. The Kraken gained possession thereafter, transitioned back to offense, sprung Josh Mahura on a breakaway, and the blueliner buried the game-winning shot—much to Stolarz’s chagrin.

no better time to score your first goal as a #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/6GTLKszCNF

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) October 19, 2025

The goal was Mahura’s first as a Kraken. Coincidentally, Mahura’s last goal, which came in 2023 as a member of the Florida Panthers, was also scored in Toronto. The goaltender Mahura scored on? Current teammate Matt Murray.

Bonus: You don’t see that everyday​

At 19:05 in the second period, Marchment lost his edge attempting a transition chance, plowed into Stolarz, and came to a stop in the Leafs’ net. Stolarz—likely still hot from giving up a goal with Schwartz in his lap just over a minute earlier—had seen enough. He got to his feet, threw the goal off its pegs and dove on Marchment in attack mode. For a moment it seemed like we were watching pro wrestling. “I [was] not happy,” Stolarz said of the collision. “If guys are going to run me, I’m going to stand up for myself.” You don’t see that move everyday.

Mason Marchment slams into Anthony Stolarz, and an incensed Stolarz gets up and takes it out on the goal, for some reason. All heck breaks loose. #SeaKraken take a 3-2 lead to the 3rd. Goals by Nyman, Tavares, and Dunn in 2nd.

Marchment will have 1:06 of penalty time left. pic.twitter.com/BfZCTto1Kw

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 19, 2025

The road ahead​

The Kraken have taken four of a possible six points in the first three games of this difficult road trip. Overall, the team still has not lost in regulation this season. Seattle’s next game will come in Philadelphia on Monday. Puck drop is at 4:00 pm PDT.

Curtis Isacke

Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.

Read more from Curtis

The post Three Takeaways – Kraken defeat Maple Leafs 4-3, extend point streak to five appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/1...-maple-leafs-4-3-extend-point-streak-to-five/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Monday Musings: The train keeps rolling despite injuries, Catton making NHL debut

Don’t look now, but the Seattle Kraken have a five-game point streak to start the season and just grabbed four of six possible points on their swing through eastern Canada. If you’re not on the Lane Train yet, it’s time to hop aboard.

Being competitive​

I’ve mentioned it on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and in our preseason roundtable, but one of the biggest things I wanted to see from this team was simple: be competitive. Anyone can look at the team’s four overtime games and see that the Kraken have been right there in every one, even coming away with victories in two of the four.

It is more than just the end results. I love how this team responds after getting scored on. It’s almost like they refuse to let opponents build momentum off a goal. Several times against the Maple Leafs, I thought Toronto might take over after tying the game, but to the Kraken’s credit, that never really happened. In fact, a few times, it felt like Seattle grabbed control right back.

They’ve never trailed by more than one goal this season and have only allowed two consecutive goals in regulation once. That’s likely another byproduct of Lane Lambert’s defensive structure, and honestly, it’s a pleasure to watch.

Face-off possession​

One area that continues to challenge the Kraken is face-offs. And I’m not just talking about the percentages you see in the box score. While there’s no public data tracking “possession after a face-off,” the Kraken are currently allowing the second-most shot attempts against within 10 seconds of a face-off draw, an average of 10.8 per game.

That issue burned them a couple times this week, most notably on Cole Caufield’s overtime winner for the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and John Tavares’s third-period goal against Toronto on Saturday.

wins the draw and buries the rebound pic.twitter.com/5q9f3Zvq4b

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 19, 2025

It’s something they’ll need to tighten up as the season goes along.

Injuries continue to pile up, Catton making NHL debut​

In case you missed it, the team announced that center Freddy Gaudreau has been placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss four to six weeks. Gaudreau is much more than just a fourth-line center. He plays a crucial complementary role as a right-shot pivot who kills penalties and thrives in the shootout.

Before his injury, Gaudreau was on the ice for nearly 45 percent of the Kraken’s total penalty-kill minutes. He now joins Kaapo Kakko and Ryker Evans, who have both missed the entire season to this point and remain a few weeks away from their original return targets.

The Kraken called up John Hayden from Coachella Valley to fill that fourth-line center role. He got some time on the penalty kill, but it looks like Tye Kartye and Chandler Stephenson will take on more of Gaudreau’s PK minutes for now.

On top of that, Ryan Lindgren left the Toronto game late in the third period after being struck in the face by a puck. The team hasn’t shared an update yet, but they did recall Ville Ottavainen on Sunday to join them for the back half of this road trip. With back-to-back games ahead, the Ottavainen call-up might just be a precaution in case anyone else gets dinged up.

As if it could not get any worse, the Kraken announced that Jared McCann is out day-to-day with a lower body injury. That’s another unfortunate development for arguably the Kraken’s best goal scorer.

On the flip side, McCann’s injury creates an opportunity for Berkly Catton to make his NHL debut, which he will do Monday in Philadelphia.

#SeaKraken forward Jared McCann will not play tonight and is out day-to-day with a lower body injury.

— Seattle Kraken PR (@SeattleKrakenPR) October 20, 2025

We have generally assumed the plan was to keep Catton on the roster as a healthy scratch long enough to send him for a conditioning stint in the AHL, but the long list of injuries has forced Seattle’s hand. Now, the 19-year-old rookie will get a look on a line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle.

Berkly Catton is making his NHL debut tonight in Philadelphia Caught up with him after #SeaKraken morning skate. pic.twitter.com/qMSiB55ysl

— Piper Shaw (@PiperShawTV) October 20, 2025

Other musings​

• It’s probably stating the obvious, but with three wins and two overtime losses in their first five games, the Kraken are off to their best start through five games in franchise history.

• Before Saturday night’s matchup, the Kraken were just 1-6-1 against the Maple Leafs all time, and they still haven’t beaten Toronto at Climate Pledge Arena.
• With four of their first five games going to overtime, it’s no surprise the Kraken have played more OT games than any other team so far this season. For comparison, it took Seattle until Game 15 last season to reach four overtime appearances.
• The Kraken have also scored first in four of five games, which is a trend you love to see.
• It’s felt like the Kraken have taken a lot of penalties and spent a lot of time shorthanded this season, but that’s actually not the case. They’re averaging just 2.4 times shorthanded per game, which ranks among the top five in fewest times shorthanded per game in the NHL.
• It’s still early, but the Kraken’s power play is clicking at 28.6 percent, currently fifth best in the league.
• Seattle also leads the NHL in blocked shots, averaging 20.6 per game, a stat that fits perfectly with the blue-collar identity Lambert is building.
• Chandler Stephenson is the only Kraken center with a face-off win percentage above 50 percent this season.
• Before I get in trouble, I fully recognize that the “Lane Train” was first coined by the BFOTP, Alison Lukan.

Goal of the week​

From everything I’ve heard, Josh Mahura might be the most universally liked guy in the Kraken room. So when he scored that huge first goal as a Kraken, the celebration said it all, everyone was fired up for him.

no better time to score your first goal as a #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/6GTLKszCNF

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) October 19, 2025

Players of the week​

Shane Wright (SEA) – After a quiet start, Wright flipped the switch this week with two goals and two assists in three games. The confidence is showing, and it feels like he’s just getting started.

Ryan Donato (CHI) – A forever Kraken OG, Donnie’s doing Donnie things again — three goals, two assists, and an overtime winner against the Ducks for good measure. It’s hard not to root for him.

Chandler Stephenson (SEA) – Stephenson continues to be an absolute workhorse. He has four points in three games, leading all Kraken forwards in ice time, and is now taking on even more with Gaudreau out. The man’s everywhere.

The week ahead​

With injuries stacking up, the back half of this road trip is about to get tricky. The Kraken will play their first back-to-back of the season, Flyers Monday, Capitals Tuesday, before wrapping it up Thursday in Winnipeg. Three games, six possible points. If they can come away with three or more, that’s seven of 12 for the trip, not bad at all for a team that’s decimated by injuries and is still finding its rhythm.

The second game of that back-to-back will be the one to watch. Washington is 4-2-0 and playing well, and remember: the Kraken went 0-12-0 on the second night of back-to-backs last year. Even a single point Tuesday night would already be progress.

Then there’s the goaltending situation. Joey Daccord has started four out of the five games this season, and he’s been solid. But with games on consecutive nights, we should see one of the backups — Philipp Grubauer or Matt Murray — get a look. The team hasn’t tipped their hand on how they’ll handle the rotation yet, so this week should give us our first real clue about how this might play out with three goaltenders.

And finally…​

The Kraken are far from perfect, but through five games, they’ve shown they can hang with anyone. To be clear, I still don’t really know what we have with this group yet, but the early results are undeniably positive. If they keep grinding out points on this trip, we might be looking at a team that’s quietly figuring out how to win the hard way.

The post Monday Musings: The train keeps rolling despite injuries, Catton making NHL debut appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/2...ing-despite-injuries-catton-making-nhl-debut/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Catton gets point in NHL debut, Kraken lose to Flyers 5-2

With nothing else going on in the Seattle sports world on Monday, the Kraken had the full attention of the local sports fandom (right?). Sadly for those fans, the guys on the ice didn’t have their best against the Flyers and fell 5-2 in Philadelphia.

“Not sharp. We were not sharp,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “It wasn’t our best effort, that’s for sure. We have to be better.”

It was a night of firsts: Berkly Catton’s first NHL game and point, the first time the Kraken trailed by more than a goal this season, and their first regulation loss of the year.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken defeat to the Flyers.

Takeaway #1: Berkly Catton immediately gets on the scoresheet​

The Kraken were already injury-riddled before they announced Monday morning that their best goal scorer, Jared McCann, was out day to day with a lower-body injury. McCann joined an ever-growing injury ward that already housed Kaapo Kakko, Ryker Evans, and Freddy Gaudreau, while Seattle also continues to miss Brandon Montour, who is away from the team on a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons.

McCann being out meant five regular players were unavailable for this game.

In stepped 19-year-old top prospect Berkly Catton, who had been waiting in the wings as a healthy scratch since breaking training camp with the team. With his parents in the building after flying from Saskatoon to Calgary to Atlanta to Philadelphia, Catton got on the scoresheet just seven minutes into his first NHL game.

Featuring wholesome Catton parent content…

The goal is now Eberle from Fleury and Catton, BTW. #SeaKraken https://t.co/LzqI8oDUx8 pic.twitter.com/ArRfXxkAnC

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 20, 2025

Matty Beniers hustled to the corner to pick off a bad Vladar clearing attempt, then rimmed it around to Catton at the right hash marks. Catton simply pulled it off the wall and tapped it to Cale Fleury at the point, who ripped a shot toward goal. Eberle got a piece of it, and just like that, Catton became the fourth Kraken player to record a point in his regular-season debut.

“I think my first touch of the game was an assist, so that was pretty cool,” Catton said.

I do believe the Kraken were trying to keep him as a healthy scratch long enough to make him eligible for a rehab stint in the AHL. But with McCann out, that forced the Kraken’s hand and pushed Catton into the lineup.

All in all, it was a solid first outing for the youngster, who nearly scored in the second period and didn’t have any glaring turnovers or costly mistakes, finishing plus-one in 13:49 of ice time.

Takeaway #2: Tough night for Joey​

On a night when the Kraken were facing Dan Vladar—a backup goalie who has oddly had Seattle’s number since their inception—their own netminder, Joey Daccord, had an uncharacteristically rough night.

Daccord allowed five goals on 21 shots through two periods before being lifted and replaced by Philipp Grubauer.

Two of the goals against, both scored by the red-hot, red-headed Owen Tippett, were of the “wanted that one back” variety. The first of those came just two minutes after Eberle had given the Kraken an early 1-0 lead.

As a dumped-in puck rattled around behind the Seattle net, Daccord corralled it and had options, with Jamie Oleksiak and Ryan Lindgren both available in the corners. He waited far too long to make a decision, though, and by the time he went to move it, Sean Couturier snuck up behind him and stripped him of the puck. It eventually got to Tippett, who chipped it into an open net.

1st period is in the books. 2-1 Flyers. #SeaKraken jumped out to a 1-0 lead, scored by Jordan Eberle and created by Berkly Catton's first career point.

But then Philly took advantage of a Joey Daccord Adventure (video of that here) and added a PPG. pic.twitter.com/L9HsWVU5Ch

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 20, 2025

The other stinker was the one that effectively sealed the game for the Flyers. Seattle had gotten back within two goals after falling behind 4-1. If the Kraken had scored again before the second intermission, they might have entered miracle comeback territory. Instead, off a 3-on-3 rush with four minutes left in the frame, Tippett threw it at Daccord from a sharp angle. Reading pass, Daccord got too deep in his net and left the short side open. The puck squeezed through.

5-2 Flyers. Joey gets too deep in his net, and it leaks through.

Owen Tippett's second of the game. pic.twitter.com/D7X71iPXdX

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 21, 2025

Grubauer came in for the third period and looked solid. It will be interesting to see what the Kraken do in goal Tuesday for their first back-to-back of the season. Does Grubi go right back in after stopping six of six shots Monday? Or does Matt Murray get his first look of the season?

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Vladar improved to 7-1-1 all time against the Kraken.

Takeaway #3: Jani Nyman is a weapon on the power play​

…but we already knew that.

Jani Nyman’s utilization in a fourth-line role with no power-play time to start the season wasn’t particularly bothersome to me—except that it didn’t give him many chances to showcase his best asset: his howitzer of a shot.

With injuries piling up and Nyman’s steady play earning him more trust, he’s quietly worked his way up the lineup at 5-on-5 and, with McCann out, finally got a look on the power play Monday.

After scoring at even strength on Saturday in Toronto, Nyman cashed in again against Philly, this time on the power play after Beniers pulled a loose puck out of a bevy of humanity and snapped it over to an open Nyman, who sent it home for his third goal of the season.

LI'L JANI!

Beniers pulls a loose puck out of the pile, and Jani Nyman scores for the second game in a row. PPG.

4-2 Flyers pic.twitter.com/1HbOBb5Ppj

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 21, 2025

It was a smart play by Beniers to recognize that with the puck in the slot, all four Flyers penalty killers had collapsed to try to gain control. Once it squirted out to Matty, he didn’t force it back into the pile. Instead, he pulled it out and passed it to Nyman, who had the much better angle.

Back to Nyman… It was especially fun to see him rip two one-timers in a row in the third period, one that rang hard off the glass and another that rang even harder off the post.

Yeah, Jani Nyman on the power play is fun. pic.twitter.com/uO1ou5vC76

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 21, 2025

One would have to think that Nyman—and his wicked shot—will get more opportunities with the man advantage moving forward.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Three Takeaways – Catton gets point in NHL debut, Kraken lose to Flyers 5-2 appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/20/kraken-flyers-berkly-catton-debuts/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Injury-riddled Kraken team comes up short against Capitals

The Kraken won’t make any excuses for losing on back-to-back nights—Monday in Philadelphia and Tuesday in Washington, D.C.—but if there were ever a time to make them, this might be it. Just when it seemed like the injury situation couldn’t get any worse, a team already missing Kaapo Kakko, Ryker Evans, Freddy Gaudreau, Brandon Montour (personal), and Jared McCann also announced that Mason Marchment would be out day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

“We’re definitely being tested,” Jordan Eberle said. “We have some adversity, some big guys out, but ultimately, you’re going to go through a season, and every team there’s injuries that happen, guys need to step up, play more minutes. Right now, that’s the case for us… Adversity happens, and that’s right now.”

Marchment’s sudden absence makes it six regulars out of the lineup at once.

Meanwhile, because Seattle continues to carry three goalies on its roster, there are no extra skaters available. The team has maxed out its roster while resisting placing McCann and Marchment on injured reserve, moves that would require either player to miss at least seven days. (The fact Seattle hasn’t done so suggests the organization doesn’t expect either player to be out for long.)

Still, we were hoping for a little more from the Kraken on Tuesday against the Capitals, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead and fended off a late push.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-1 Kraken loss to the Capitals.

Takeaway #1: Slow start dooms undermanned Kraken​

When you consider the depleted roster and the tired legs from playing the night before, it’s easy to imagine a team looking sluggish and ineffective—and then packing it in once it falls behind. The Kraken did fall behind, but to their credit, they put together a strong third period and even started to generate a bit of belief that maybe… just maybe… they could come back.

That didn’t happen, but it was still an impressive final frame in which they turned the momentum and controlled large portions of play.

Matt Murray made his official Kraken debut, and although it would have been nice to get a save on the third goal—a power-play tally by Jacob Chychrun from the top of the right circle—he played a relatively solid game, stopping 30 shots in all.

Seattle, however, looked understandably flat for most of the first two periods. Before Murray could truly settle in, Nic Dowd scored an easy tap-in off a sharp passing play, Ryan Leonard beat Murray after an Adam Larsson turnover, and Chychrun added the power-play goal.

“I felt a little bit off, and really, if I make a save there early in the second period, maybe there’s a different flow to the game,” Murray said. “But I love the way that our guys battled out there. We defended hard, and for a team going through a lot of adversity right now, I loved our compete level. So, there’s some positives to build on.”

Seattle battled hard in the third, but it was too little, too late.

“I thought we made more plays in the third period,” head coach Lane Lambert said. “We inflicted pain on ourselves by turning pucks over, not making plays quick enough, certainly early on in the game. And you can’t do that. We have to be better than that… You can’t put yourself in a position where you’re down 3-0 in this league.”

Takeaway #2: Berkly Catton is an NHLer​

Although Berkly Catton had an assist and a few good looks in the Philadelphia game, he looked tentative—similar to what we’ve seen from other young Kraken players in their debuts. He’d get the puck and quickly dish it off even when he had time, a sign of a 19-year-old trying to avoid mistakes.

On Tuesday, he looked like a different player… an NHL player, in fact. He held onto pucks, distributed confidently, and showed real creativity and poise.

Catton could have had several points, both goals and assists, but a few big saves by Logan Thompson and some near misses kept him off the scoresheet. Case in point: This perfect pass by Catton to Eberle that should have gotten Seattle within one goal.

Here's Schwartz getting hurt and Eberle getting robbed off a great setup by Catton. #SeaKraken https://t.co/sLcJZkoy7P pic.twitter.com/wc8PscYl76

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 22, 2025

While the Kraken came out losers again, it was an impressive showing for Catton. He made the most of his opportunity, earning 18:13 of ice time—including power-play minutes and a late shift during the 6-on-5 push when Lambert was trying to spark a comeback. He finished with three shots on goal and a plus-one rating.

When you think back to how Shane Wright looked in his first few NHL games—when he frankly seemed in over his head—as a 19-year-old, it’s encouraging and exciting to see Catton driving play and earning the coaching staff’s trust in just his second game.

Of course, it’s only two games, but I’m now feeling more sold than I did a week ago that Catton can stick with this team and be an impactful player.

Takeaway #3: Injuries killing the vibes​

Seattle started the day Tuesday by sending defenseman Ville Ottavainen back to Coachella Valley of the AHL and recalling forward Ben Meyers. Then, just before puck drop, it became clear Meyers would be playing. For a moment, that raised the question of whether Catton might be coming back out of the lineup.

Not so. Instead, the team announced minutes before the game that Meyers had actually been summoned to replace Marchment, who had joined the ever-growing injured list.

This rash of injuries is both shocking and, somehow, predictable. When Seattle saw players dropping during training camp, it felt concerning—not because of the immediate absences, but because when injuries pile up early, they often have a way of snowballing once the season starts.

Sure enough, three weeks into the season, Seattle is desperate for healthy bodies.

And while the roster has taken a massive hit, the vibes on this six-game road trip have also tanked. For a while, it looked like Seattle might cruise through this stretch and bring home eight or more points out of 12. Now, after two regulation losses, the Kraken need a win against a good Winnipeg Jets team on Thursday just to salvage six of 12.

“We have an opportunity here,” Lambert said. “We can lament in the last couple games, but we have an opportunity in Winnipeg to go .500 on this road trip. That’s our focus.”

The vibes have gone from immaculate to pretty stinky in just two days. Let’s see if the Kraken can turn it back around and come home from this long road trip feeling good about themselves, despite this massive adversity.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Three Takeaways – Injury-riddled Kraken team comes up short against Capitals appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/21/kraken-lose-to-capitals-marchment-injured/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Kraken finish road trip strong with 3-0 statement win over Jets

“Well, what a disappointment that road trip ended up being.”

…Is what we would have written if the Kraken had come up short against the high-flying Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. After starting the trip 1-0-2—including an impressive win over the Toronto Maple Leafs—dropping the final three games and returning home 1-3-2 would have really stung.

Instead, the Kraken handed the Jets their first home shutout loss since the middle of the 2023-24 season and brought home a downright solid 2-2-2 record, collecting six points and improving to 4-2-2 on the year.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of responding from the Washington game [on Tuesday] where I don’t think any of us were happy, coaches or players,” head coach Lane Lambert said.

On this night, Joey Daccord pitched a 32-save shutout and had an assist, while Jaden Schwartz notched two goals and an assist.

Here are Three Takeaways from an all-around 3-0 Kraken win over the Jets.

Takeaway #1: Just a solid game​

Considering all this team has endured over the past two weeks—visiting six different cities, crossing into Canada twice, jumping time zones, and dealing with as many as six simultaneous absences to key players—it would have been understandable if they’d limped home with an underwhelming result.

(Thankfully, Mason Marchment returned after a one-game hiatus and delivered some high comedy.)

GOT HIM! pic.twitter.com/mzKwTtTyEj

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 24, 2025

The Kraken refused to let their manpower challenges be an excuse, though, and built off an improved third period in Washington on Tuesday and followed it up with a full 60-minute, all-hands-on-deck effort Thursday. The result was a huge win over what should be one of the top teams in the NHL.

We’ll talk about Joey in the next Takeaway, because he deserves plenty of praise. But it’s worth noting he didn’t need to be spectacular in this one. The Kraken played with structure and discipline, stifling nearly every bit of momentum Winnipeg tried to generate.

Did you ever hear the typically raucous home crowd really get into the game? Maybe for a few minutes in the third, when the Jets strung together a couple of solid shifts in the offensive zone, but otherwise, Seattle made them look disjointed and kept the home fans quiet.

Takeaway #2: Daccord out-duels Hellebuyck​

Joey Daccord surely wants to make Team USA for the Olympics, though his inclusion has generally been seen as a long shot. Meanwhile, the presumed starter for that team—Connor Hellebuyck—was in the opposite crease Thursday, fresh off a season in which he won both the Vezina and Hart Trophies and started for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

On Hellebuyck’s home ice, it was Daccord who came away victorious.

Daccord needed a strong outing after a couple of questionable goals in Philadelphia on Monday landed him on the bench for the third period and ultimately took the Kraken out of that game. He responded in a big way.

As noted in Takeaway No. 1, he mostly needed to be steady rather than spectacular, thanks to the defensive effort in front of him. But against an elite team like Winnipeg, any goalie will face chances, and Daccord turned aside every one of them.

The biggest scare came late in the first period, when Mark Scheifele’s point shot deflected up and over Daccord, clanged off the crossbar, and dropped into the crease. Daccord swept it out with his stick, right back to Scheifele, then dove across and gloved Scheifele’s follow-up shot to end the period in chaotic fashion.

WHAT?! #SeaKraken #gojetsgo

That's how the period ends… 0-0 through 20. pic.twitter.com/SqMMe6Bc4f

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 24, 2025

Aside from that wild sequence, Daccord was calm, cool, and collected throughout and even chipped in offensively with an assist on Jordan Eberle’s empty-net goal to seal the deal.

I’m pretty sure Joey was thinking about taking the shot himself before he rimmed it around. Good for him for taking the unselfish point.

JORDAN EBERLE EMPTY-NETTER!

3-0 #SeaKraken… DEF thought Joey was going to shoot this, but he settles for the assist. https://t.co/VqZYjeAQbv pic.twitter.com/6CNwCZWzaY

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 24, 2025

Takeaway #3: Jaden Schwartz’s big night​

Is it me, or does Jaden Schwartz just keep getting better? After posting 26 goals and 23 assists last season, the 33-year-old winger is off to another hot start with eight points (4-4=8) in eight games.

He got the sluggish Kraken on the board with their lone goal Tuesday, then on Thursday provided all the offense Seattle needed by doing what he does best: going to the front of the net.

Just 2:28 into the second period, Shane Wright made a heady play from the right circle, intentionally shooting into Hellebuyck’s right pad to create a rebound. He placed it perfectly, forcing the big netminder to kick the puck into a dangerous spot.

THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ!

Shane Wright with a pass off the pads, and Jaden Schwartz bangs it home for his second goal in two games.

Note Jani Nyman right in front, creating confusion.

1-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/i92jzywGya

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 24, 2025

Sure enough, Schwartz crashed in from the weak side, found the rebound right on his stick, and buried it into an open net. For good measure, he added an empty-netter at 18:20 of the third, then assisted on Eberle’s ENG 23 seconds later.

Never underestimate the power of the Schwartz.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Three Takeaways – Kraken finish road trip strong with 3-0 statement win over Jets appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/23/kraken-defeat-jets-daccord-shutout/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Down on the Farm – Mølgaard is an all-situations contributor as an AHL rookie

“Down on the Farm” is your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week we’ll focus on Firebirds rookie center Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and his rapid ascension into an important role in North America. After that, we’ll pass along injury news, standout performances, and other notes from the Kraken system.

As always, if you have a Kraken prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey. Let’s dive in.

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard shows skill and maturity in key AHL minutes​

When we highlighted Oscar Fisker Mølgaard last season, we noted that the Danish center was an impressive but underexposed prospect. His career to date had been in the Swedish league, and his trade was speed, smarts, and defensive ability, rather than gaudy scoring production.

Mølgaard came to North America for a cup of coffee with the Coachella Valley Firebirds at the end of last season. During that stint, he gave fans a hint that his game would translate to a smaller ice surface and the more physical, pressure-based play style of the AHL and NHL. But he was a role player in his time in the Valley, focused on acclimating.

“[Mølgaard] is a 20-year-old player, but he’s been playing with the men in the [SHL] for three years, [and] three years on the Danish Men’s National Team as well,” Firebirds vice president of hockey and business operations Troy Bodie said. “He’s a very smart player, good skill. We saw that last year when he adapted to not only the league, but he’s never played on the small ice. In a lot of ways it’s a different game. Just how smart of a player he is, he adapted very well.”

Mølgaard discussed his journey with Sound Of Hockey at Kraken Rookie Camp this summer.

As Kraken training camp progressed, players were re-assigned to junior leagues or the Firebirds in multiple waves, but Mølgaard remained. He stuck with the team until the very last day of cuts, along with players like John Hayden and Ville Ottavainen—both of whom have already been recalled to the Kraken for stints in the NHL early this season. This gave us a hint of the team’s view of the young Dane.

“It means a lot because you’re [still with the NHL team] in the final stages here,” head coach Lane Lambert said of the last group of cuts. “And let’s be clear, this is an NHL season, which is 82 games. It’s an Olympic year, which condenses those 82 games, and you’re going to need players. There’s a lot of games in a short period of time, and so anyone who’s here at this point in time… it bodes well for them, for sure.”

Even though he had only played a handful of AHL games, the team viewed Mølgaard as a top option for the big club.

Fair or not, this raised expectations for Mølgaard. It was up to him to prove that he could meet that standard on the ice in Coachella Valley. From my vantage—and, apparently, the team’s—he has done all of that and more.

“Oscar is a very intelligent, very skilled, two-way player,” Bodie said. “He’ll be a big part of [the Firebirds].”

With only two AHL “veterans” on the Firebirds roster at the moment (and one of them is day-to-day with a lower-body injury), Coachella Valley has been leaning on its young players in key roles. No first-year player has responded as well as Mølgaard.

He quickly assimilated to the smaller spaces available to him on North American ice; his speed through the neutral zone transporting the puck into the offensive zone is perhaps even more noticeable now than it was in Europe. It allows him to tilt the ice in his team’s favor, particularly when matched with his strong backchecking, shot blocking, and defensive-zone instincts. Those latter aspects of his game could be true high-end traits at his peak.

On the penalty kill he is active and instinctual, particularly as the high neutral-zone forechecker. He is responsible for a handful of disruptions in the early going that have helped the Firebirds qualify as a top-10 penalty-kill unit.

Most surprising to me is his deployment on the power play, where he has been the first center over the boards, taking the draw and manning the half-wall “quarterback” position. He can connect on a one-timer when the situation calls for it, but that is not a strength of his game at this point. Even still, he has been comfortable skating and passing the puck to open areas from the half wall, which is a skillset we didn’t see from him in Europe (perhaps because he never had the chance).

His overall offensive production, including a willingness to get to the net front, has also surpassed my expectations. I have seen a skill level in his hands in the early going that wasn’t evident in his role within his SHL team’s structure. If he can keep it going, and add some necessary size, his projection will look more and more like a middle-six player than a bottom-six defensive specialist.

Notes on five more Kraken prospects​

Eduard Sale | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Injuries have been a theme of the early season for the NHL team. Kraken prospects in the system have fared a bit better so far, but the strain on the Kraken has been felt by the Firebirds as well—with key players like John Hayden and Ben Meyers unavailable to the team because they are filling roles in the NHL. The forward depth will be tested further with Eduard Sale also out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. (Luckily, Mølgaard did not miss any additional time after leaving the team’s game on Oct. 10.)

Ty Nelson | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Add to the strain on the Firebirds forwards a recent week-to-week lower-body injury for defenseman Ty Nelson, and the Firebirds are certainly undermanned at the moment. Nelson was one of only two players to play every game for the Firebirds last year, so his absence will be keenly felt.

Kaden Hammell | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Hammell made his AHL debut this week and picked up both his first professional assist and first professional goal in two contests. With Nelson out, Hammell should have an extended opportunity to make his mark and prove he deserves to remain active on game days. His size and physical play are valuable, though there are some details in his reads that he needs to improve to succeed at the AHL level.

HAMMELL WITH HIS FIRST AHL GOAL pic.twitter.com/PoHYhbZtvb

— Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) October 23, 2025

Semyon Vyazovoi | G | Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)​

Semyon Vyazovoi started the season playing sparingly, likely hampered by an injury. When he did get in there, the results were not up to his standard. That changed over the last week, with Vyazovoi earning each of his KHL team’s starts and performing well. He was 2-1-0 from Friday, Oct. 17, through Thursday, Oct. 23—the time period technically covered by this late-arriving column—with a .931 save percentage. With that, all of a sudden, he leads the Kraken organization in save percentage again, as he frequently has done in recent years. His performance makes him our Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week. (He also added a .958 save percentage win on Saturday, Oct. 25, but we’re objective here and did not allow that to sway our player of the week “voting.”)

Let’s Get Quzzical: Two of Vyazovoi’s starts last week matched him up against a former Kraken goaltender. Name the goalie. Answer later in the column.

Jake O’Brien | F | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)​

You know you’re a star 19-year-old in junior hockey when a two-point-per-game week qualifies as “ho hum” and actually lowers your season average. That said, Sound Of Hockey got an in-person viewing of O’Brien last week from our OHL Correspondent John Barr. Check out that conversation at about the eight-minute mark in the most recent Sound Of Hockey Podcast.

Kraken prospects data update​

(Author’s Note: This update covers games through Thursday, Oct. 23.)

Loke Krantz returned to the Swedish U20 league and had a productive week, scoring three goals and adding two assists.

Logan Morrison has stepped up as a top forward for the Firebirds in the early going, playing key minutes. As a third-year player, he qualifies as an experienced leader on this year’s club.

Kim Saarinen has had a couple of tough outings in recent weeks, but he continues to operate as a lead goalie for HPK in Liiga.

Victor Ostman cracked the Firebirds lineup last week, and while his numbers weren’t very good, he was mostly solid. He should be productive if he continues as the AHL backup this season. The longevity of the three-goaltender situation at the NHL level remains a question mark.

Let’s Get Quizzical Answer: The former Kraken goalie that Vyazovoi faced twice last week was Chris Driedger, who is playing for Traktor this season. Vyazovoi was 1-1-0 in those contests.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker​

2: Kim Saarinen, Julius Miettinen

1: Jake O’Brien, Semyon Vyazovoi

Previewing the week ahead​

With apologies that this is coming late, hopefully it can still orient your watching for Saturday and the remainder of the week. Both Clarke Caswell’s Denver team and Ollie Josephson’s North Dakota team will have games available to stream on ESPN+ this weekend. The Deep Sea Hockey Game of the Week is a Sunday matchup between two top WHL squads: Julius Miettinen’s Everett Silvertips and the Spokane Chiefs.

Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Ryan Roobroeck​

While he has been overshadowed by some buzzier prospects, few can match the junior scoring production of OHL forward Ryan Roobroeck. Add in a 6-foot-4, 216-pound frame and there is a lot to dream on with this player. Roobroeck has had a relatively quiet (by his standards) 11 points through 12 games this season.

Recent prospect updates​

October 17, 2025: Tyson Jugnauth earns important role with the Firebirds

October 10, 2025: Firebirds drop the puck on the 2025-26 season

October 3, 2025: Catton makes his case for the NHL Roster

September 26, 2025: Junior seasons begin, J.R. Avon settles in

Curtis Isacke

Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.

Read more from Curtis

The post Down on the Farm – Mølgaard is an all-situations contributor as an AHL rookie appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/2...-all-situations-contributor-as-an-ahl-rookie/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Kraken rally around Brandon Montour in emotional 3-2 win over Oilers

They did it for Monty.

On an emotional day and night in which Brandon Montour returned from a four-game hiatus that was due to the tragic passing of his older brother, Cameron, the Seattle Kraken pulled out an impressive 3-2 win over the always-dangerous Edmonton Oilers.

“He’s a brother. I mean, anytime someone goes through something like that, it’s extremely hard,” Jordan Eberle said, his voice cracking slightly. “Just for him to be out here tonight and battling with us, it just shows his compassion and the level that he has… You just try to be there as much as you can for him.”

Meanwhile, the first game back after a long road trip is traditionally viewed as a difficult one for the home team, but Seattle was ready for the challenge. Although Edmonton pushed hard and spent long stretches in the offensive zone during the third period, the Kraken bent but didn’t break, sticking to their structure and snagging a few opportunistic goals.

In the end, Joey Daccord delivered an outstanding performance, Eberle scored two crucial goals, and the fourth line chipped in with some magic.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Takeaway #1: An emotional day​

Montour took the ice with the Kraken at Saturday’s morning skate for the first time since the team had announced he would be leaving the recent road trip to deal with a personal matter.

While the team practiced, word came that Montour planned to address the media about his absence. Following the skate, he stood at his stall and—unprompted—spoke through tears about the devastating loss of his brother after a long and painful battle with ALS.

“So, my older brother’s been dealing with ALS for three, four years now, and it was a rough week,” Montour managed to say. “I’m very proud and very happy to be his brother. He’s somebody that I’ve looked up to since, obviously, Day 1. [He was] a great son, brother, best friend, father. He’s got two baby girls.

“He battled hard. It puts everything in perspective with the highs that I’ve had in the last couple years with winning and hockey and having babies and creating my own family. [All that time], he was at home battling. Right until Monday when it happened, he was smiling, and he was ready.”

An extremely emotional Brandon Montour discusses losing his older brother Cameron this past week after a long fight with ALS. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/Gau614Xm96

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2025

It was one of those “bigger than sports” moments—a reminder that the professional athletes we admire are humans who sometimes face unimaginable challenges away from the rink. In the case of Montour, who is so affable and carries such a big personality, it’s hard to imagine the grief he’s managed through privately for years.

One thing we often hear from athletes who’ve endured emotional trauma is that returning to competition provides an outlet—a way to take their minds off what’s happened.

“It’s important to have him back, not only as a player, but certainly as a leader,” head coach Lane Lambert said Saturday morning. “And it’s important for him to get back into the groove of the game and maybe take his mind off a little bit of the outside part of it. But certainly, we feel for him, we’ve supported, and we’ll continue to support.”

Just as you wouldn’t have known Montour was carrying such a burden behind the scenes, you wouldn’t have known from watching him play Saturday that he’d just experienced one of the hardest weeks of his life. He looked like his old self—flying around, jumping up in the play, driving offense, and finishing with three shots on goal and a plus-one rating in 23:39 of ice time.

“In my mind, [Montour] didn’t miss a beat,” Lambert said. “Full credit to him for what he’s doing and how he played, and obviously, we’re all with him and feeling for him.”

Takeaway #2: Goals off rushes​

Lane Lambert has placed plenty of emphasis this season on creating net-front traffic, and Seattle has found success scoring those gritty goals in tight. But that wasn’t how the Kraken scored their three goals Saturday against a leaky Stuart Skinner.

Instead, all three goals came off the rush—two from 2-on-1’s and one from a breakaway.

In a way, this game represented a “new way to win” for the 2025-26 Kraken, who turned defense into offense (another Lambert hallmark) on all three tallies.

Eberle opened the scoring early after Berkly Catton poked the puck past an over-aggressive Evan Bouchard, springing his linemates. Beniers slowed at the blue line and sauced a perfect pass. Eberle caught it and ripped it past Skinner, who looked oddly off balance.

O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN!

2-on-1 after Vince Dunn dumped Connor McDavid on his tuchus.

Matty Beniers hits Jordan Eberle, and Stuart Skinner moves politely out of the way.

1-0 #SeaKraken. pic.twitter.com/AzLsBTdr1Z

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 26, 2025

In the second period, the fourth line contributed after an outstanding defensive sequence led to another 2-on-1 for Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton. Winterton made a phenomenal pass to Kartye, and Skinner did the Kraken another favor by getting himself caught down on the ice and ineffectively diving for the puck.

KARTYE PARTYE!

At the end of a long shift in the defensive zone, Ryan Winterton makes an outstanding pass to Tye Kartye.

Skinner inexplicably dives for it and misses.

2-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/GxEUWLDl7W

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 26, 2025

“I was calling for it, but that was an unreal pass from [Winterton]. Made it pretty easy for me,” Kartye said.

Eberle’s second of the night pushed Seattle’s lead to 3-1 at 12:11 of the third, when Bouchard (who also scored a power-play goal) again misplayed the puck at the offensive blue line. He whiffed trying to swat it deeper, sending it straight to Beniers, who sent Eberle on a breakaway. Eberle snapped it over Skinner’s shoulder for what proved to be the game-winning goal.

O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN AGAIN!

Bouchard whiffs on a puck at the blue line, and Beniers sends Eberle on a breakaway. He goes BarrDown Studios for his second of the game.

3-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/vTgMuJXE8k

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 26, 2025

Takeaway #3: Another outstanding night for Joey​

When Daccord earned his 32-save shutout Thursday in Winnipeg, I wrote that he didn’t need to be spectacular because the Kraken defended so well in front of him. Seattle again defended well Saturday, but against the supremely talented Oilers, chances are inevitable.

Daccord was brilliant, yielding only a Bouchard power-play blast and a Darnell Nurse deflection goal.

“Joey’s been outstanding,” Eberle said. “I think there’s nights where he’s had to make some big saves, and tonight was no different. To get wins, you need good goaltending, and obviously, he’s been there.”

Daccord stopped 31 shots, many of them in the “10-bell” category, while Skinner at the other end occasionally looked like he was ducking out of the way. I can’t believe the Oilers didn’t upgrade their goalie situation this offseason.

Anyway, it was an excellent performance from Daccord and a massive win for the Kraken, who improved to 5-2-2 on the season.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Three Takeaways – Kraken rally around Brandon Montour in emotional 3-2 win over Oilers appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/26/kraken-oilers-brandon-montour/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Photo Gallery – Kraken vs Oilers – Oct 25th

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The post Photo Gallery – Kraken vs Oilers – Oct 25th appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/25/photo-gallery-kraken-vs-oilers-oct-25th/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Monday Musings: Kraken playing stingy

The Kraken are officially off to the best start in franchise history, and this week, they won games in style, knocking off last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, the Winnipeg Jets, and the two-time Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. I try not to get too excited about early-season success, but honestly, they’re making it really hard to contain emotions.

Stingy hockey​

One of the areas we flagged as a potential opportunity for improvement heading into the season was team defense. Head coach Lane Lambert came in with a reputation for being defensively sound, and so far, he’s delivered on that front.

The Kraken are allowing just 2.67 goals per game, the 10th fewest in the league, down more than half a goal from last season’s average. That’s a meaningful step forward and a big part of why they’ve been so competitive night after night.

The one area starting to show some cracks, though, is the penalty kill. Seattle’s penalty kill currently sits at 70 percent, which ranks 26th in the NHL. It didn’t start out this way; through the first four games, they were killing off 75 percent of their penalties, but things took a dip after Freddy Gaudreau was injured late in the second period of Game 4 against Ottawa.

Since that injury, the Kraken have killed just 67 percent of their penalties. That tracks, given that Gaudreau was on the ice for nearly 45 percent of Seattle’s total penalty-kill time before he went down. There’s no reason to hit the panic button yet, but it’s clear the Kraken miss Gaudreau’s steadiness and structure when they’re down a man.

If there are few areas of improvement the Kraken will be looking to tighten up heading into November, the penalty kill is probably one of them. Having said all that, Lambert did comment recently that he likes the way the penalty kill is performing, even though the stats aren’t reflecting particularly strong execution.

Tight hockey​

Lambert has also talked about patience and getting comfortable in tight games. So far, the Kraken are walking the walk in this regard. In the seven games where they’ve picked up at least a point, 93.4 percent of the game time has been played either tied or within a one-goal margin.

I’m not saying a one-goal lead suddenly feels safe, but it definitely feels safer than it used to. In each of the last two games, Seattle entered the third period up by one. Across those two games, the opponents nearly doubled the Kraken’s shot attempts in the third, but Seattle held firm, keeping their defensive structure intact and limiting dangerous chances to close things out. Here’s a look at the third-period shot attempts against from those two games:

The Kraken are also blocking more shots than ever. Through nine games, they’re averaging 18.4 blocked shots per game, up from 16.2 last season. It’s not just players throwing their bodies in front of pucks for fun—it’s a byproduct of how the team is defending. They’re protecting the middle of the ice, forcing opponents into lower-danger areas, and as a result, they’re getting in front of more shots.

And, of course, teams tend to block more when they’re ahead—especially late in games when they’re collapsing to protect the lead. Vince Dunn gave us a perfect example Saturday night, blocking two shots in the final 15 seconds to seal the win. That’s commitment.

Rolling through October​

Heading into the season, there was plenty of concern (mostly from the Sound Of Hockey crew) that October could be rough for the Kraken. They faced a six-game road trip, eight of 11 matchups against 2025 playoff teams, and an entirely new coaching staff installing fresh systems. That’s a lot to handle right out of the gate.

Then you add a boatload of injuries on top of all that? Yeah, it had the makings of a rocky start.

Instead, the Kraken have turned it into one of the most impressive opening months in franchise history. No matter what happens Tuesday, October has already been a massive statement, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

Other Musings​

• The dying minutes of the Kraken–Oilers game featured some hysterically long shifts. For the Kraken: Jordan Eberle (1:44), Chandler Stephenson (1:40), Jaden Schwartz (1:45), Dunn (1:43), and Brandon Montour (2:22). For Edmonton: Evan Bouchard (2:21), Leon Draisaitl (2:28), Jake Walman (2:15), and Connor McDavid (2:30). That’s a lot of tired legs.
• It was confounding to see neither team use a timeout in those closing moments. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch probably didn’t want to give the Kraken a breather, while Lane Lambert likely didn’t want to give Edmonton a chance to draw up a play.
• Saturday night was the first time this season that McDavid was held without a single shot attempt. The last time that happened was Dec. 28, 2024.
• Saturday also marked the seventh time this season the Kraken scored the first goal of a game, the most in the NHL so far.
• The Kraken are now 4-1-2 against last year’s playoff teams… Not too shabby.
• In case you missed it, Kaapo Kakko is back skating and is currently day-to-day. It looks like he’s getting closer to returning, but with a three-day break between Tuesday’s game against Montreal and Saturday’s matchup with the Rangers, my money is on that Rangers game being his season debut.
• Schwartz continues to be one of the more underrated players on the roster. He factored into all three goals against Winnipeg on Thursday, but his real value goes beyond the scoresheet. He is excellent along the walls, helping the Kraken gain and keep possession in key moments.
• It’s way too early to be scoreboard watching, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t quietly rooting for every other Pacific Division team to lose every night.
• Last week I said we’d get a better sense of how Lambert plans to handle the three-goalie rotation with Joey Daccord as the starter and Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray as the backups. I was wrong. We still have no idea how this is going to shake out. Both backups have played fine—just fine—but neither has really grabbed the spotlight yet.
• The Coachella Valley Firebirds picked up their first win of the season last Wednesday and now sit at 2-3-1. It could be a bit of a transition year for the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, but this roster is loaded with real prospects. My eyes lit up when I saw their top power-play unit: Logan Morrison, Carson Rehkopf, Jagger Firkus, Tyson Jugnauth, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard. Other than Morrison, every one of those players is 21 or younger.

MOLGAARD WITH THE POWERPLAY GOAL!! 4-3 pic.twitter.com/ZqwhOMlqlf

— Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) October 26, 2025

• And finally, a reminder that the PWHL season kicks off in November! PWHL Seattle opens on the road against PWHL Vancouver on Friday, Nov. 21, with their first home game a week later on Nov. 28. Tickets are limited, so if you want to witness history, now’s the time to grab them.

Goal of the week​

This was such a huge goal for the Kraken, and I just love the setup from Ryan Winterton who is probably one of the unsung contributors to the early Kraken success.

2-0 #seaKraken

The fourth line has been a big part of the last two games – they get rewarded. Two big blocks by Kartye, a battle won by Meyers and then an odd man rush Winterton->Kartye-> pic.twitter.com/YUZjswxKb2

— Alison (@AlisonL) October 26, 2025

Player performances​

Jordan Eberle (SEA) – Three goals in the last two games, including a clutch third-period tally that stood as the game-winner against Edmonton on Saturday night.

Nathan Villeneuve (SBY/SEA) – The Kraken prospect put up seven points over two games this past weekend. After missing the first six games of Sudbury’s season due to an injury sustained in Kraken training camp, he’s racked up 13 points in just seven games so far.

Semyon Vyazovoi (SYA/SEA) – The first goalie ever drafted by the Kraken (back in 2021) had three wins and a .936 save percentage over the last week in the KHL. He’s expected to come to North America next season.

The week ahead​

After a busy start to the season, the Kraken have a lighter schedule this week with just two home games: Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens and Saturday against the New York Rangers.

Seattle will look to avenge that overtime loss to Montreal from a few weeks back when the Kraken had the win in their grasp before the Canadiens tied it with under three minutes left in regulation. Montreal currently sits atop the Atlantic Division with a 7-3-0 record and has quickly earned the title of “most fun team to watch” in the early going.

On Saturday, the Kraken host the last-place Rangers—yes, Mike Sullivan’s new team is last place in the Metropolitan Division. New York has struggled to score and is still searching for its first win at Madison Square Garden, though oddly enough, they’re 3-1-1 on the road.

It’ll also be Will Borgen’s first game back at Climate Pledge Arena since the trade that brought Kaapo Kakko to Seattle last season. I always liked Borgen, who really hit his stride during the 2022–23 campaign. My favorite on-ice memory of his will always be that Winter Classic goal… but his “baking skills” might have left the bigger impression.

And finally…

To be clear, I still don’t know exactly what kind of team this is, and that’s okay. What I do know is that they’ve built a solid defensive identity, they’re winning close games, and they’re doing it while short-handed and still learning a new system. If that’s the foundation, the ceiling could be pretty high.

The post Monday Musings: Kraken playing stingy appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/27/monday-musings-playing-stingy/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Kraken Notebook: Limiting odd-man rushes, Kakko and McCann injury updates

After the Kraken defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in overtime at home on Oct. 11, Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said something about Seattle that piqued my interest:

“They had a game plan, and they weren’t going to lose D up the ice. Even though I think they did a pretty good job of getting involved in the offense, it didn’t allow us a lot of odd-man rushes to get through the neutral zone clean. So I think it took us a while to figure that part out.”

The high-flying, downright lethal offensive talent of the Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t generate odd-man rushes against Seattle? How is that possible? What has head coach Lane Lambert changed so successfully?

“I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily a ton of things different,” Matty Beniers said. “I think Lane is just big on details and making sure everyone knows where they need to be at all times, and we’re gonna be there. That just builds trust over time.”

Since that Vegas game, I’ve been watching closely for odd-man rushes against—and anecdotally, there just haven’t been many.

To make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me, I checked in with best friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Alison Lukan, who confirmed that the Kraken are, in fact, No. 1 in the NHL at limiting odd-man rushes against.

How about that?

Good tracking, staying above their defensemen​

A few goals against have come off the rush—one that jumps to mind is the Alex Newhook goal in Seattle’s 5-4 overtime loss in Montreal—but even in those cases, the Kraken have generally had numbers back.

On that Newhook goal, for instance, Seattle had three players in defensive posture, with Mason Marchment back and helping Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn. The Kraken defenders were technically outnumbered, since Habs defenseman Alexandre Carrier jumped up to support Ivan Demidov, Newhook, and Oliver Kapanen, but Demidov still had to make an elite cut to get around Dunn and thread a perfect seam pass to Newhook.

Alex Newhook scores off a rush and a great pass by Ivan Demidov, and the #SeaKraken are chasing for the first time this season.

1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/YJ2fYH6x77

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 14, 2025

“I think [we’re doing] pretty good [in limiting odd-man rushes],” Lambert said Monday. “I think that we’ve talked about it as a group here. I think there’s some things that we can do better when we come into the zone with some of our reads, so that will again enhance our ability to not give up any chances or things like that off the rush, so it’s a work in progress.”

I also spoke with Beniers on Monday about Seattle’s improved defensive structure and mentioned the Demidov–Newhook connection as one of only a handful of times I could recall an opponent scoring off a rush.

“The Demidov play was brought up today,” Beniers said with a smile. Funny timing.

It makes sense that this play would be discussed with the Canadiens visiting Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday. But it also shows just how intent Lambert and his staff are on not allowing the same mistakes to happen twice.

Beniers said Lambert has emphasized “tracking”—another term for backchecking—and how players should react when they find themselves behind the play and chasing to rejoin Seattle’s defensive unit.

“That’s definitely a focus for us,” Beniers said. “On every play that could potentially happen, Lane’s trying to make sure that we have a plan for each time. If it’s a speed kick, if it’s a standing still guy on the wall, if there’s guys coming back, and you’re the fourth guy, or you’re the third guy, or you’re the fifth guy, he paints it pretty clear, so we know what we’re doing.”

Another factor Beniers pointed to in explaining Seattle’s success at limiting dangerous chances is “having a good F3.”

For context, F1, F2, and F3 refer to forechecking responsibilities, with F1 and F2 being the first two forwards into the offensive zone, usually pressuring the opponent’s puck carrier or working down low. The third forward (F3) stays high, available for a shot and ready to support the defense when the puck transitions the other way. When that happens, Beniers says the F3 must stay above any defensemen joining the rush.

“It’s getting back and staying above their D, especially against teams like Vegas with [Jack] Eichel that have active D or last game with Edmonton,” Beniers said. “They obviously have [Connor] McDavid flying around, and their D are pretty active too. It’s definitely a focus going into the game, just making sure we’re staying above them. And if you stay above a guy, you don’t give them a lot of time and space to create those rush chances.”

“It’s believing that we’re a good hockey team”​

We’ve heard several players in the last week utter some variation of the phrase, “We believe we’re a good hockey team.” In discussing Seattle’s early-season defensive success with netminder Joey Daccord, he echoed that sentiment.

“I think it’s mindset,” Daccord said of what’s different about this version of the Kraken. “We’ve added some pieces, but we’re obviously down a lot of bodies right now and still finding ways to win. I think it’s a mindset from our group. I think it’s self-belief, I think it’s believing that we’re a good hockey team.”

Daccord added that having a strong game plan to keep opponents to the outside and limit rush chances is critical, but sustained success depends on total buy-in.

“I just think there’s a commitment to defensive structure and everyone being in the right spots,” Daccord said. “You look at the block that [Vince Dunn] made with a second left in the game [against Edmonton], those are game-winning plays. And that’s the mentality we have to have for 82 games.”

Injury updates​

Seattle’s ongoing injury woes make its 5-2-2 start even more impressive. Even with Brandon Montour back from his leave of absence, the Kraken remain without four regulars—Kaapo Kakko, Ryker Evans, Freddy Gaudreau, and Jared McCann—all on injured reserve.

There’s some good news and some bad news on that front.

First, the good: Kaapo Kakko appears ahead of schedule in his recovery and could return sooner than the original six-week timeline suggested. The team gave that estimate on Sept. 28, which would have put the Finnish winger’s return around Nov. 9. But Kakko was a full participant in Monday’s practice, even joining line rushes and taking light contact.

Kaapo is also participating in drills… https://t.co/EpDuLpMzcd pic.twitter.com/Ieb91BVhZW

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 27, 2025

He’s unlikely to play Tuesday against Montreal, but Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers looks like a realistic target.

On the other hand, McCann has now missed four games and doesn’t appear close to returning. I asked Lambert if McCann is progressing or still in a holding pattern.

“He’s in a little bit of a holding pattern,” Lambert said. “So, we’ll see where we go with him. We should know more here, day to day, as we go forward.”

The Kraken haven’t changed McCann’s official status, but based on Lambert’s comments and McCann’s continued absence from practice, I wouldn’t expect to see him in a game any time soon. Hopefully, whatever the Kraken do learn about their best goal scorer in the coming days doesn’t bring worse news than that.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Kraken Notebook: Limiting odd-man rushes, Kakko and McCann injury updates appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/27/kraken-defense-limiting-rushes-mccann-kakko-injury/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Montour leads Kraken rally back from 3-0, but Canadiens win in OT

If you missed Tuesday’s game between the Seattle Kraken and Montreal Canadiens and plan to go back and watch, I might recommend skipping ahead a bit. In fact, you can probably fast-forward all the way to about 13 minutes remaining in the third period, when Montreal defenseman Jayden Struble took an ill-advised penalty inside Seattle’s blue line, hooking Berkly Catton on the hands.

That’s when the tide finally started to turn for the Kraken, who looked flat through the first two periods. They’d shown more jam to start the third but had then just allowed their second power-play goal against at 5:55 of the final frame.

But on that Struble penalty, Seattle coach Lane Lambert opted to send out the second power-play unit instead of the first—which had struggled mightily in the contest—and Catton connected with Brandon Montour to finally get the Kraken on the board.

From there, it was the Brandon Montour Show, as he put the team on his back and willed Seattle to an astonishing point in the standings.

The Kraken ultimately came up short, but that was one heckuva comeback. Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken overtime loss to the Canadiens.

Takeaway #1: Brandon Montour… that’s it… that’s the Takeaway​

Like most of the Kraken, Montour wasn’t having his best outing through two periods. One sequence that stood out came late in the first, when he threw an errant pass toward Adam Larsson, then got caught flat-footed in no-man’s land and was walked by Kirby Dach. Joey Daccord sprawled and flared his left pad out, robbing Dach and keeping the score 2-0 through the first period.

Woof. Sloppy puck play leads to a power move by Kirby Dach. Joey Daccord stretches out and robs him with the left toe. pic.twitter.com/A0jqc5bEOY

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 29, 2025

But just when Seattle appeared ready to fade quietly into the night, sinking into a 3-0 deficit with 14 minutes left, Montour lifted up his teammates with two goals and an assist in under 10 minutes.

Both his goals were simple one-timers through traffic, using Montreal defenders as screens. On the first, he fired low on the ice and got a fortunate redirection off Alexandre Carrier’s stick that ramped the puck into the top corner over Jakub Dobes.

BRANDON BOMBTOUR!

The power play comes through! Catton with a simple pass, and Montour one-times it and gets a good bounce off Alexandre Carrier. Schwartz with the screen. #SeaKraken on the board, but still a big hill to climb.

3-1. pic.twitter.com/utmOyr3LmW

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 29, 2025

“Just getting the shot,” Montour said. “I don’t even know— at that time [of the power-play goal], we might have had 12 shots on net, 11 shots on net. We didn’t give that goalie much work tonight, but [we had Jaden Schwartz], guys in front of the net, I just tried to get it there and kind of find a lane. Nice to see them go through.”

Montour’s next trick was helping Eeli Tolvanen turn a broken play into a perfect setup for Shane Wright. Both Montour and Tolvanen drove hard to the net, lost the puck, then kept the play alive with a retrieval and pass behind the net back to Montour. He quickly found Wright in the slot, who ripped it through traffic and beat Dobes clean.

Then, with the game on the line, Montour did it again—completing Seattle’s three-goal comeback with his second of the night. With Daccord off for an extra skater, Montour blasted another one-timer from distance that found its way in.

“We found ways to get a few more pucks to the net [in the third period] and get them in,” Lambert said. “Obviously, we did a really good job 6-on-5, and our power play scored a big goal for us to get us going. And again, it’s just another shot. There were power plays at the start of the game where we just passed it around. We’ve got to get pucks to the net.”

Remember, Montour is playing with a heavy heart; he’s just one game removed from a leave of absence after the passing of his brother, Cameron, on Monday following a battle with ALS.

“It’s pretty amazing to see [what he’s doing],” Wright said of Montour. “What he’s been through the last couple of weeks here, to even just be here, let alone playing as well as he is, and perform at that level. He always performs that way, day in, day out. It’s really special.”

Takeaway #2: Some interesting line shuffling​

As Seattle struggled to generate any semblance of offense through the first two periods, the only trio that consistently created pressure was the fourth line of Tye Kartye, Ben Meyers, and Ryan Winterton.

Late in the second, with the Kraken desperate for a spark, Winterton, who looked fast and pesky all night, was suddenly elevated to the second line with Jaden Schwartz and Chandler Stephenson.

When Seattle came out for the third, Lambert had also moved Jani Nyman down to the fourth line, while the new third line featured Mason Marchment, Wright, and Tolvanen.

The juggling worked. And while Nyman’s move to the fourth line could be seen as a demotion, he made an almost immediate impact, going right after Dach following a dangerous hit on Meyers.

Yikes. Bad hit by Dach on Ben Meyers, and the whole #SeaKraken team goes after him.

Nyman and Dach each got 2 minutes. We'll play 4v4. pic.twitter.com/aNj8C63PGJ

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 29, 2025

Wright’s goal that got Seattle within 3-2 came during the ensuing 4-on-4.

“I think it was fantastic [by Jani],” Lambert said. “We have to be team tough, and when one of our teammates gets hit, which we considered it to be a dirty hit, we have to stand up for him. And I thought it was a good momentum turner.”

Takeaway #3: Cole Caufield finishes the job​

Just like when the Kraken and Canadiens went to overtime in Montreal on Oct. 14, Cole Caufield scored his second of the game to end it. The circumstances were different this time—Seattle rallied instead of Montreal—but the result was the same.

COLE CAUFIELD ÉTABLIT UN NOUVEAU RECORD DE FRANCHISE POUR LE NOMBRE DE BUTS EN PROLONGATION

COLE CAUFIELD, THE MOST OT GOALS IN FRANCHISE HISTORY#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/8cYFKq2suT

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 29, 2025

“Honestly, we had the puck, we lost the puck, they made a stretch pass, and we got it back,” Caufield said. “Hockey happens fast, and I saw a hole there, and luckily it went in. I [made it look] like I was going behind the net, and I just stopped up. I’ve never played goalie before, but that can’t be too easy to grab the post there. So, I just made a read.”

Caufield remains an elite scorer, surrounded by other top-tier talent that makes Montreal a skilled and increasingly dangerous team for the foreseeable future.

“I thought [Caufield] was excellent on both sides of the puck,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I thought he was crisp, and he defended hard. He had his fastball tonight.”

Seattle’s season series with Montreal is now complete, with the Kraken finishing 0-0-2 against the Habs. Perhaps these two teams will meet again in the Stanley Cup Final, though?

Okay, I’ll show myself out.

It would have been nice for the Kraken to cap off the comeback with a win, but earning a point on a night when they trailed 3-0 with 14 minutes to go is no small feat.

Darren Brown​

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].

Read more from Darren

The post Three Takeaways – Montour leads Kraken rally back from 3-0, but Canadiens win in OT appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/29/kraken-canadiens-brandon-montour-cole-caufield-overtime/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Strive for 95 (points) – November update for the Kraken and their playoff chances

All aboard the Lane Train! Head coach Lane Lambert has navigated the Seattle Kraken to their best start in franchise history, going 5-2-3 for 13 points in 10 games, and sitting second in the Pacific Division. The Kraken’s previous best start was last season when they finished October with 11 points in 11 games. This season, they bested that mark in just 10 games. Seattle wrapped up its October schedule on the 28th, so all statistics are as of that date.

Injuries​

What’s more impressive about this start is the Kraken have continued to collect points despite a slew of injuries. In total, Kraken starters have missed 36 man-games.

• Ryker Evans – 10
• Kaapo Kakko – 10
• Freddy Gaudreau – 6
• Jared McCann – 5
• Brandon Montour (personal) – 4
• Mason Marchment – 1

Fighting through the injuries and missed games, the Kraken have maintained their defensive structure, making them a tough team to play against. As of Oct. 28, the Kraken ranked ninth in the NHL in goals-against average at 2.80.

The injuries also created opportunity, allowing Berkly Catton to make his NHL debut. He’s maintained a spot on the top line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle. Catton has yet to score his first goal but has three assists through five games and looks like he belongs in the NHL.

October update​

The Kraken had a target of 11 points for October and exceeded it, earning points in eight of 10 games for a total of 13. If you remember from the October edition of Strive for 95, the Kraken had five games against Playoff Bound teams, four against Bubble teams, and one against a Tanker team. Last season, the Kraken struggled against the Playoff Bound tier with a .234 points percentage. This season, they thrived in that tier, earning eight of 10 possible points (.800 points percentage).

October target versus actual

Against the Bubble tier, they hit their target with five points. Two of those came against a sneaky-good Montreal team, with both matchups going to overtime. The lone Tanker-tier game, a matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, was their worst performance of the month, which included Joey Daccord getting pulled. However, the Flyers appear to be improved this season, holding a 5-1 home record and sitting in the final wild card spot in the East.

The Kraken have played a sound defensive game, focusing on limiting high- and medium-danger chances while allowing opponents to take low-danger shots. The coaching staff has done an excellent job getting the team to buy into this structure, and the results speak for themselves. One nitpick: even at 5-2-3, the Kraken have scored just 28 goals and have an even goal differential. Getting the offense rolling would elevate this team further, but their identity is clearly rooted in strong defensive play and structure.

data from moneypuck.com

Updated tiers​

Through the first month of the season, there are plenty of new names in playoff position. It’s early, so expect these tiers to shift as the season progresses.

Bolded teams are teams the Kraken play in November. ‘x2’ indicates the Kraken face that team twice. Up and down arrows show teams that moved between tiers.

Notes on tier movement​

Atlantic Division: Montreal and Detroit have played strong hockey to start, but moving them into the Playoff Bound tier feels premature. November will be telling for both clubs. Florida and Toronto are hovering around .500, so they stay put for now but remain on watch.

Metropolitan Division: Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are both in playoff position with winning records, so they move out of the Tanker tier for now.

Central Division: Utah looks legit, scoring in bunches and remaining undefeated at home. That success forced a bit of a reshuffle, as having four teams from one division in the Playoff Bound tier this early felt excessive. Dallas slides down to the Bubble tier. Meanwhile, Minnesota and St. Louis have struggled out of the gate and move to the Tanker tier—not because they’ve given up, but because they’ve yet to find their rhythm.

Pacific Division: Calgary has struggled to find the back of the net and ranks last in the league in goals per game at 2.09, prompting their drop in tier.

November breakdown​

November features 14 games — eight at home and six on the road — including two sets of back-to-backs. The road games are split between two trips, the first being a two-game swing and the second a four-game swing. The Kraken are two points above a 95-point pace, but there’s no reason to ease off the gas. The monthly target is 17 points.

Playoff Bound tier​

The Kraken face just one team in this tier in November—the Winnipeg Jets at home. In their first meeting this season, Seattle shut Winnipeg out 3-0 as Daccord outdueled three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. Target: one point.

Bubble tier​

Seattle will play 10 games against eight teams in this category, including two each versus Dallas and Chicago. They’ll also face Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus, the Islanders, Rangers, and Edmonton. Target: 11 points.

Tanker tier​

There will be one game versus St. Louis and two against San Jose. The Blues and Sharks currently rank 31st and 32nd in goals against per game, at 4.4 and 4.6 respectively. Target: five points.

Looking ahead​

It’s still early, and teams are feeling each other out. As the season progresses, the tiers will become clearer. The Kraken have started strong and put themselves in a good position to succeed. They can’t look too far ahead, but with only one game against a Playoff Bound team in November, there’s an opportunity to bank more points.

Blaiz Grubic​

Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.

Read more from Blaiz

The post Strive for 95 (points) – November update for the Kraken and their playoff chances appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/3...ate-for-the-kraken-and-their-playoff-chances/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Down on the Farm – College hockey seasons under way for Kraken prospects

“Down on the Farm” is your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week we’ll set the table for the Seattle Kraken prospects playing NCAA hockey this season, update on injuries and standout performances, and pass along other notes from around the Kraken system.

As always, if you have a Kraken prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey. Let’s dive in.

Several Kraken prospects assume key roles for their NCAA teams​

Though they play here in North America, Kraken prospects playing NCAA hockey often fly under the radar. Several factors contribute to this. Most notably, fans and media based in the Pacific Northwest simply don’t see these players play as much. College players aren’t available to participate in Kraken rookie camp (or training camp) due to their college commitments. And once college games begin, it is often difficult or impractical to watch them because the various NCAA conferences have their own broadcast agreements or streaming packages.

At the same time, the college path from the draft to the NHL (or AHL) is a much slower one. Players often stay at school for three or four years before team and player are forced to make a call on the player’s professional future. This is a longer time horizon than applies to CHL prospects, for example, and it tends to push these players down the list of priorities.

That said, thanks in part to an NCAA rule change rendering CHL players eligible for college hockey, the Kraken have more prospects than ever playing in the NCAA ranks. Let’s check in on these players and where things stand for them.

Clarke Caswell | F | Freshman | Univ. of Denver (NCAA)​

Forward Clarke Caswell, 19, played the last three seasons for the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL. After the Kraken selected Caswell in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, he was a leader for Swift Current on the ice (1.29 points per game) and off (as the team’s captain).

Still too young to play professionally in the AHL and with little left to prove in junior hockey, the NCAA option appealed to the young center. “When Denver showed their interest, it helped me make the decision,” Caswell told Bob Condor of SeattleKraken.com.

It would have been reasonable to expect a decreased role or move to the wing for Caswell following this college hockey move, but he earned a key position immediately. Caswell has skated as a top-of-the-lineup center and top power-play forward. Every game he ranks among the top Denver forwards in ice time. And the production has followed: With six points in six games, Caswell trails only Hagen Burrows (Lightning draft pick) and Eric Pohlkamp (Sharks draft pick) for the Pioneers.

Ollie Josephson | F | Freshman | Univ. of North Dakota (NCAA)​

Similar to Caswell, forward Ollie Josephson was the captain of his WHL team last season and a key all-situations contributor. Josephson, 19, was not the prolific scorer Caswell was, though. He profiles as more of a defend-and-counterattack playmaker. He’s slightly smaller in stature and without the junior scoring resume, but the realistic best-case scenario for Josephson is as a Ryan Winterton-type professional.

With this in mind, it was not a foregone conclusion Josephson would have the opportunity to climb the developmental ladder this year. When North Dakota asked him to take a visit in Grand Forks, “I was fully going to go back to Red Deer,” Josephson told Condor, referring to his WHL club. The opportunity with North Dakota—another top NCAA team—was too much to pass up though.

Looking at North Dakota’s impressive depth chart over the summer, I was hoping Josephson would simply earn a regular, bottom-six role. Josephson has done so much more than that in the early going. He has skated as a top-nine center with a role on both special teams units. This is an immense opportunity for Josephson to prove that his low-event, defensive style can translate against stronger competition.

Ben MacDonald | F | Junior | Harvard Univ. (NCAA)​

Perennially, MacDonald’s Harvard Crimson are the last team to take the ice for the season, and this year is no different. With Harvard’s season beginning Friday, the entire Kraken organization is finally underway. MacDonald, 21, has skated mostly on the wing for Harvard in his first two seasons. He has also operated from the half wall on Crimson power-play units, which has helped him improve his per-game scoring statistics year over year. Now a junior and coming off a solid Kraken Development Camp, MacDonald will look to take the production to the next level.

Barrett Hall | F | Junior | St. Cloud State (NCAA)​

Now in his third year at St. Cloud State, Hall has elevated his status as a leader (alternate captain) and scorer (more than a point per game) for the Huskies. Hall’s nine points are second on the team behind only Anaheim Ducks draft pick Austin Burnevik. His plus-three plus-minus leads the team.

Zaccharya Wisdom | F | Junior | Western Michigan Univ. (NCAA)​

Wisdom, 21, played his first two college hockey seasons as a bottom-six winger for Colorado College. Over the summer, Wisdom transferred to Western Michigan University, a national championship contender. At the time I viewed it as an opportunity for a modest upgrade in competition level and a chance to improve his production when surrounded by better talent. His production in the early going has borne that out. His .67 points per game through six games would be an NCAA career high.

Wisdom and Western Michigan square off against Hall and St. Cloud State twice this weekend.

Notes on three more Kraken prospects​

Lleyton Roed | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Roed was injured during the second prospect scrimmage against the Vancouver Canucks at Kraken Rookie Camp. Subsequently, it was reported to be an upper-body injury that would require a two-month absence. Even so, Roed returned to the Firebirds lineup on Thursday night approximately two weeks ahead of schedule. Roed tallied an assist in the Firebirds win.

Tyson Jugnauth | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Speaking of the Firebirds win, defenseman Tyson Jugnauth was credited with the overtime winner on a shot that was initially saved but took a “fortuitous” bounce of a San Diego Gulls defender. Jugnauth will certainly take it; it’s the young blueliner’s first professional goal.

The San Diego Gulls helped Tyson Jugnauth score his first pro goal.
Only problem?
He plays for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.@Firebirds | @TheAHL | @pdxwinterhawks | @BadgerMHockey#LetsFly #AHL pic.twitter.com/rfttyEHgep

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 31, 2025

Jagger Firkus | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

As we have detailed over the last couple of weeks, a lot of responsibility has fallen on a group of young Firebirds players to grow into the scoring production void left by Max McCormick, Jani Nyman, and others. With Eduard Sale sidelined week-to-week, the pressure was probably felt most keenly by second-year forward Jagger Firkus.

Well, Firkus responded with two goals and two assists in three contests this week. If the Firebirds are going to hang around the playoff picture this season, I suspect Firkus’ emergence as a consistent top scoring threat will be a big reason why.

Kraken prospects data update​

Nathan Villeneuve is really hitting his stride in the OHL right now. The Sudbury captain had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in three games over the last week. That effort is enough to earn him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.

Jake O’Brien now leads the OHL in total points and points per game.

Semyon Vyazovoi, 22, is scalding hot right now. After a slow start, he now leads the KHL in save percentage among all under-25 goalies with at least nine games played.

Nikke Kokko left the Firebirds game last Friday, Oct. 24, with an upper-body injury. The Firebirds have since deemed Kokko day-to-day. Victor Ostman has started each Firebirds game since, with Jack LaFontaine active as the backup.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker​

2: Kim Saarinen, Julius Miettinen

1: Jake O’Brien, Semyon Vyazovoi, Nathan Villeneuve

Previewing the week ahead​

As mentioned above, MacDonald’s Harvard Crimson finally join the fray Friday against the University of Connecticut Huskies. The Deep Sea Hockey Games of the Week pit Kraken prospects Hall and Wisdom against each other on both Friday and Saturday.

Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: J.P. Hurlbert​

Hurlbert was widely regarded as a top-45 prospect coming into the year after a solid season for the United States National Team Development Program. Now with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, he has taken his scoring production to a new level. His 28 points in 15 games lead the entire WHL by a wide margin. If he keeps up any semblance of this scoring pace, he won’t make it out of the first half or Round 1 in June.

Recent prospect updates​

October 25, 2005: Mølgaard is an all-situations contributor as an AHL rookie

October 17, 2025: Tyson Jugnauth earns important role with the Firebirds

October 10, 2025: Firebirds drop the puck on the 2025-26 season

October 3, 2025: Catton makes his case for the NHL Roster

September 26, 2025: Junior seasons begin, J.R. Avon settles in

Curtis Isacke

Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.

Read more from Curtis

The post Down on the Farm – College hockey seasons under way for Kraken prospects appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/10/3...ockey-seasons-under-way-for-kraken-prospects/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

10 for 10: 10 data points in the Kraken’s first 10 games

Introducing a new recurring feature here at Sound Of Hockey called 10 for 10. Every 10 games, we’ll take a step back and look at 10 different stats that tell the story of where the Seattle Kraken are trending.

Some numbers will be straightforward, things like goals, shot attempts, or save percentage, while others might be a little more offbeat or meant to challenge assumptions about the team. Each stat will include a visual and a short breakdown to help make sense (or nonsense) of what’s happening with the Kraken over the last 10 games.

Data Point 1: Pace​

It’s been well reported, and often mentioned on broadcasts, that the Kraken are off to their best start in franchise history. Here’s how that path looks compared to other seasons:

As Blaiz pointed out earlier this week, November shapes up as a much softer stretch from a strength-of-schedule perspective, but the 2022–23 team earned 17 out of a possible 20 points in games 11–20. Keeping pace with that group could still be a challenge.

Data Point 2: Rebound goals​

I first started thinking about “rebound goals” when I read an article about the Kraken head coach’s vision for the team. It got me thinking more about those gritty, inside-area chances Seattle has been trying to create. For this analysis, I defined a rebound goal as a goal scored within three seconds of another shot on goal.

The chart above shows all situations; two of the Kraken’s rebound goals came on the power play. Worth noting, Seattle has only allowed two rebound goals against, which is tied for the third fewest in the league.

Data Point 3: Shot attempts against off the faceoff​

We’ve established that the faceoff stats tracked and published by the league aren’t all that useful, but one thing we can tease out is the number of shot attempts for and against following a draw. That gives us a decent proxy for possession after a faceoff.

I started to worry about this when the Kraken allowed three goals immediately after faceoffs during their road trip. If you want to see the goals, here are some examples:

• Cole Caufield (OT vs. Montreal)
• John Tavares (3rd period, also a rebound goal)
• Jakob Chychrun (2nd period vs. Washington)

Those turned out to be the only faceoff goals allowed by the Kraken this season, but could it be a symptom of a bigger issue? Let’s look at the data.

It doesn’t seem to be as big of an issue as I might have thought. The Kraken are definitely allowing more shot attempts after a faceoff than most other teams in the league but not as many shots are getting through to the goalie. And like I mentioned above, only a few made it in the net.

Data Point 4: Penalty kill success rate and volume​

One area that’s gotten plenty of attention is Seattle’s penalty kill. From a percentage standpoint, the Kraken rank 29th in the NHL with a 64 percent success rate. The positive spin? They haven’t been shorthanded often, allowing nine power-play goals—tied for 18th in the league.

Regardless of how you frame it, though, 64 percent is brutally low. If the Kraken continue to play tight games, even a modest improvement toward league average could be the difference in picking up a few extra points in the standings.

It’s also interesting that the PK is among the best in the NHL at limiting high-danger opportunities during the PK, despite the team’s struggles at preventing goals. Lambert spoke about this on Saturday morning.

Hear from Lane Lambert on the #SeaKraken having outstanding underlying PK numbers but poor PK stats in terms of allowing goals. pic.twitter.com/bc3Wkz7iHB

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 1, 2025

Data Point 5: Scoring first​

Seattle has earned points in all but one game when not scoring first (Philadelphia). Seattle has scored first in seven of its first 10 games, winning five of those. On a league-wide basis, 90 percent of the time, teams that score first get at least a point and 66 percent of the time they win. For further context, last season’s team scored first in just 42.7 percent of its games (35 total).

On the other hand, Seattle has earned at least a point in every game when giving up the first goal (Philadelphia).

Data Point 6: Average goals against​

This has been the story of Seattle’s early-season success. The Kraken have tightened up defensively, which gives them a chance to win every night. Last season, they allowed 3.2 goals per game compared to just 2.8 through the first 10 games this year.

On the flip side, Kraken goal scoring is down a bit, but getting Kaapo Kakko and (hopefully) Jared McCann back should help boost that.

Data Point 7: Goal differential (excluding empty-net goals)​

One data point I probably over-index to when evaluating teams is their goal differential excluding empty-net goals. My target for the Kraken to remain competitive and in the playoff hunt is around even to plus-five.

Right now, they sit at minus-one, which isn’t great on paper but isn’t alarming either. With the exception of the season opener against Anaheim, all of Seattle’s wins have come by a single non-empty-net goal, which explains why their differential trails their solid 5-2-3 record.

Last season’s Kraken were plus-five after 10 games (5-4-1). Considering this year’s injury issues, I’ll take that minus-one in stride.

Data Point 8: Games lost to injury or absence​

It would be irresponsible to talk about the first 10 games without mentioning the injury bug that’s bitten this team since preseason. It started when Kaapo Kakko broke his hand on a slash in an exhibition game, and it’s snowballed from there.

The good news: Ryker Evans and Kakko both appear close to returning, and Freddy Gaudreau is back skating.

Data Point 9: Berkly Catton’s ice time​

One silver lining of all those injuries has been the opportunity for Berkly Catton to get NHL reps. His first two games coincided with Seattle’s roughest stretch of the season, but that also meant more ice time for him in situations where the Kraken were chasing offense rather than protecting leads.

Catton is just four games away from burning the first year of his entry-level contract, so it’ll be interesting to see how the team handles him over the next few weeks. He’s clearly shown flashes of NHL skill, but he still makes the occasional high-risk mistake. With margins of victory this thin, every decision on his usage matters.

Data Point 10: Goalie starts​

I was hoping these 10 games would clarify how the Kraken plan to manage their three-goalie situation, but honestly, it’s still hard to tell. For now, it looks like they’re just riding Joey Daccord except in back-to-back situations.

Wrapping it up​

This series is a bit of an experiment, so I’d love to hear your feedback. Which metrics helped you understand the Kraken better, and which ones left you wanting more? I’ll adjust and evolve 10 for 10 as we go, so tell me what should make the cut for Games 11–20.

The post 10 for 10: 10 data points in the Kraken’s first 10 games appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/11/01/10-for-10-10-data-points-in-the-krakens-first-10-games/