News Kraken Team Notes

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Kraken overcome two-goal deficit, win 4-2 against Rangers

Those were two very large points for the Seattle Kraken, who overcame an early 2-0 deficit to escape from New York with a 4-2 win over the Rangers.

After Seattle saw its 10-game point streak snapped with a regulation loss Saturday in Carolina, getting back in the win column against a recently struggling team felt crucial. It wasn’t easy, but the Kraken figured it out.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-2 Kraken win over the Rangers.

Takeaway 1: Grubauer and Kraken recover after sketchy start​

There are probably some in the Kraken fanbase who still feel spikes in their blood pressure when the Kraken give up an early goal with Philipp Grubauer in net. In a previous version of Grubi, it was something we saw all too often, and the current version of Grubauer—Renaissance Grubi, as we’re calling him—has now given up early goals in his last two starts. The big difference between Renaissance Grubi and the old version of Grubi, though, is that he doesn’t seem to get rattled by early goals anymore.

Just as Grubauer did against Minnesota on Thursday—when the Kraken also rallied back from a 2-0 deficit and forced overtime—he settled into his game as it went on and once again gave his team a chance to complete the comeback, which they did this time.

The Rangers’ first goal was an odd one. Soon after an ineffective early power play ended, Mika Zibanejad missed the net with a shot, then beat Vince Dunn to the loose puck and chipped it toward Grubauer from below the goal line. Grubauer was sliding back toward the net and looking the wrong direction, and he dragged the puck into the net behind him. Give credit to Zibanejad, because it’s a smart play to quickly chip that toward the goalie, but it’s also a strange goal to give up.

#SeaKraken give up a very early, very wonky goal.

Mika Zibanejad wins the race to the loose puck and banks it in off Philipp Grubauer, who was sliding back to his post looking the other direction.

1-0 NYR early. Kraken chasing early again. pic.twitter.com/6yWsgVyEjy

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026

The next one was certainly not on Grubauer, but it came just 2:23 later, which made me wonder briefly if the netminder was off his game. Jared McCann tried to one-touch a breakout pass off the wall in the neutral zone backward toward Dunn, but inadvertently fired a missile six inches off the ice that was far too hot for Dunn to handle. That handed the Rangers a quick-developing 2-on-1, and Sam Carrick beat Grubauer from point-blank range.

Uh oh. 2-0. Vibes are bad. pic.twitter.com/COhXgsYKIJ

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026

Meanwhile, Jonathan Quick looked like a world-beater at the other end of the ice, stopping three Grade A Seattle chances in the first period, including a breakaway from Ryan Winterton.

Despite a few good chances, the vibes after that opening frame were not good, especially when the Kraken Hockey Network flashed the stat that the Rangers entered the game 12-0-0 on the season when leading after the first period.

BUT…

Grubauer and his teammates recovered and were visibly the better squad from the second period on, owning a 21-10 shots-on-goal advantage over the final 40 minutes. Grubauer made a few sharp saves the rest of the way, but his biggest stop of the night came with the Rangers pushing for the equalizer in the final 30 seconds, robbing J.T. Miller from about two feet away.

Takeaway 2: Kraken were a different team in the second​

The Kraken needed to shake off that first period, and they certainly did, scoring two quick goals to tie the game by the 4:27 mark of the middle frame.

The second line—still without Chandler Stephenson due to the birth of his third child—got things started offensively when Freddy Gaudreau stole a puck in the neutral zone to create a 2-on-1. He made an exquisite backhand saucer pass to Eeli Tolvanen, who chipped the puck up and over Quick to get Seattle on the board.

EELI GOALVANEN! #SeaKraken

Freddy Gaudreau with the neutral-zone steal and a great saucer pass to Eeli Tolvanen, who makes a move and buries it upstairs.

2-1 NYR pic.twitter.com/7ozOD21xMR

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026

Three minutes later, the top line of Kaapo Kakko, Matty Beniers, and Jordan Eberle—the captain was back in the lineup after a two-game hiatus—took the baton and went to work. Beniers retrieved a Dunn rebound at the left half wall and worked it low to Kakko. Kakko, making his triumphant return to Madison Square Garden, threaded a perfect pass through three Rangers defenders to Eberle at the top of the slot. Eberle delayed and waited for Quick to drop down, then sniped a perfect shot into the top-right corner to tie the game.

O, CAPTAIN!

Kaapo Kakko with a great setup to Jordan Eberle, who dusts it off and snipes the top corner.#SeaKraken have started shooting high on Jonathan Quick, a wise adjustment.

2-2 pic.twitter.com/b0VbKQqWq5

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026

That second line of Schwartz, Gaudreau, and Tolvanen was excellent in this game, by the way, and as BFOP Alison Lukan pointed out on the KHN post-game show, they controlled 98 percent of the shot quality when they were on the ice. That’s especially impressive considering they were deployed heavily against Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad, and Will Cuylle.

Takeaway 3: Third line finishes the comeback​

While the top two lines were responsible for pulling Seattle back into the game in the second, it was the third line of Berkly Catton, Shane Wright, and Jared McCann that completed the comeback. Wright carried the puck into the zone and dropped it for McCann just inside the blue line. McCann shoveled it to Ryan Lindgren—also making his triumphant return to MSG—who had activated and was cutting down the slot.

Lindgren made a skilled play to find Berkly Catton open at the backdoor, and although Catton fanned on what should have absolutely been his fourth goal in four games, Wright crashed in and helped poke the puck over the line. The goal was ultimately credited to Catton, though, giving the rookie his fourth goal in four games after being held goalless through his first 27 NHL games. It’s safe to say the floodgates are open for him.

This did get credited to Berkly Catton, so after going 27 games without a goal to start his NHL career, he now has four goals in his last four games. #SeaKraken https://t.co/sZTaYDxa9C

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026

The win was a big one for Seattle. It put things back on track after a brief derailment Saturday and also nudged the Kraken back ahead of the San Jose Sharks for third place in the Pacific Division standings.

—

The Kraken are getting healthier. Schwartz returned Saturday, Eberle returned Monday, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Stephenson rejoin the team for the back half of this road trip. Meanwhile, Brandon Montour skated with the team in a red non-contact jersey at morning skate Monday.

With depth players making such a massive impact over the last few weeks—guys like Ryan Winterton, Ben Meyers, Jacob Melanson, and Cale Fleury all chipping in—very difficult (and potentially unfair) decisions loom.

The post Three Takeaways – Kraken overcome two-goal deficit, win 4-2 against Rangers appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/1...ome-two-goal-deficit-win-4-2-against-rangers/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Monday Musings – Kraken need to keep it rolling

The Kraken have been rolling for the better part of a month now, riding a 10‑game point streak that finally snapped Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was bound to end eventually; you can only white‑knuckle your way through so many one‑goal games before the good luck you’ve been riding runs out. Seattle is back in the playoff picture, though, clinging to the first wild‑card spot. What’s been interesting about this run is that it didn’t just materialize out of thin air. The seeds were planted a little earlier.

Improved special teams​

If you zoom out a bit, the Kraken’s course correction really started before the win streak officially began. Dec. 8 against Minnesota, six games before the point streak kicked off, felt like the moment things began to turn. And the biggest driver of that shift has been special teams suddenly clicking.

Before Dec. 8, the power play was converting at 16.9 percent. Since then, it’s been humming along at 32.6 percent. The penalty kill has followed the same arc, jumping from 64.8 percent pre‑Dec. 8 to 80.4 percent since. When both sides of special teams swing that dramatically, it starts to show up in the standings, especially for a team that leads the league in one‑goal games if you strip out empty‑netters.

When your margins are razor thin every night, you don’t need elite special teams to change your season; you just need them to stop actively hurting you. The Kraken have gone a step further and turned them into a strength.

The tightness of the Pacific Division​

Of course, all of this is happening inside the tightest division in the NHL. The Pacific Division remains a tightly packed mess, with just three points separating second and fifth place as of Monday morning. Seattle sits fourth, holding two games in hand on both Edmonton (second) and San Jose (third).

For most of the season, I’ve assumed Edmonton and Vegas would eventually pull away and make this a race for third and a wild-card spot. And they still might. But neither has put together the kind of sustained run that slams the door on the rest of the division. The Kings and Ducks have their own vulnerabilities, and the Sharks, well, the Sharks are scoring goals, but they continue to play a Swiss cheese defense.

All of that is a long way of saying the Pacific is wide open. I’m not predicting the Kraken finish top‑two, but it’s no longer a fantasy‑land scenario. A month ago, that felt impossible. Now it feels… plausible. And that’s a testament to how dramatically this team has stabilized.

Everyone is talking about the fourth line​

One of the more delightful subplots of the last few weeks is that everywhere I go, people want to talk about the fourth line. And honestly, that’s cool.

The personnel has shuffled a bit with Ryan Winterton and Tye Kartye rotating in and out, but the heartbeat of the group has been Ben Meyers and Jacob Melanson. Melanson gets most of the attention because he plays with wreckless abandon. His forechecking is relentless, his hits are violent, and his energy is contagious.

But the line works because Meyers is the stabilizer. His positional play is so clean, and his skill level is surprisingly above average for a fourth‑line center. He’s been a key contributor in what the team has needed out of that role—reliable, smart, opportunistic—and has chipped in offensively at key moments. It’s also worth noting that he was the only personnel change on the penalty kill when that unit turned the corner in early December.

The Kraken have been searching for a fourth line with an identity for most of their existence. They might finally have one.

Other musings​

• Saturday’s loss to Carolina added yet another one-goal game to their tally this season. The Kraken have now played 32 one‑goal games (excluding empty‑netters), after logging 41 all of last season.
• Here’s another odd one: Seattle leads the NHL in percentage of game time spent tied, sitting at 49.6 percent. Nearly half their season has been played in a deadlock. No wonder every night feels like a stress test.
• The overtime frenzy has cooled a bit since the early-season chaos, but the Kraken still lead their brief franchise history with 14 overtime games already. Their single‑season record is 19 (2023‑24), and they’re well on pace to go over that mark this season.
• The Kraken finally held a four‑goal lead last Monday against Calgary, their first of the season. It was also the first time my blood pressure dipped below “concerning” since October.
• Seattle has also quietly posted a 3-2-2 record and .571 point percentage on the second half of back‑to‑backs. For the first time in franchise history, I no longer feel obligated to type the word “dreaded” before “back‑to‑back.”
• A small but interesting wrinkle from Thursday: Berkly Catton logged 51 seconds of TOI in overtime, the most he’s played in OT this season, and notably, it was the first time he started overtime. A tiny detail, but one that suggests growing trust.
• Eeli Tolvanen deserves a shoutout as one of this season’s unsung heroes. He leads all Kraken forwards with 46 blocked shots, including three big ones against Minnesota last Thursday. In a season where every game feels like a coin flip, those little moments matter.
• The Kraken’s 12 shots on goal against Carolina were the fewest in a single game in franchise history.
• Seattle now owns the ninth‑best power play in the NHL. If you had told me in October that this group would crack the top 10 at any point, I would have thought you were crazy. They finished 23rd last season.

Goal(s) of the week​

There were simply too many worthy candidates this week, so we’re rolling with three.

The first comes from Anabella Fanale of the Minnesota Gophers, but the real magic is in the setup from Abbey Murphy, who looked like she was screwing around at a Saturday morning stick and puck to make the play happen.

Next up: the two Kraken rookies who scored their first NHL goals this week.

Jacob Melanson gets the nod first. I included the full sequence because it perfectly encapsulates what this fourth line has been doing lately, relentless pressure, smart little plays, and a bit of chaos. Melanson’s skate pass on the entry is delightful, and Winterton’s recovery after Calgary tries to clear the zone is exactly the kind of detail that makes this line so effective.

Then there’s Berkly Catton, who scored three goals this week, all of which could have been goal‑of‑the‑week contenders. This one was my favorite, mostly because he didn’t realize it went in and skated away looking mildly annoyed.

Player performances​

Matty Beniers (SEA) – Three goals and two assists across four games. He looks like he’s rediscovering that swagger, and the Kraken need him to keep it going.

Kaapo Kakko (SEA) – Two goals and two assists as he continues to settle back in after missing a big chunk of the season. His confidence is creeping upward shift by shift.

Ben Meyers (SEA) – Not the flashiest stat line of the week, but he’s been a huge part of the fourth line’s recent success and has a knack for scoring at exactly the right moments. One goal, one assist, and a whole lot of impact.

The week ahead​

The Kraken have a real opportunity in front of them with a four‑game road swing through the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, and finally Utah Mammoth.

There are no easy games in the NHL, but Seattle is catching both the Rangers and Devils at vulnerable moments. New York is 3‑5‑2 in their last 10 and just got thumped 10‑2 by Boston. New Jersey is 2‑7‑1 in their last 10 and recently lost 9‑0 to the Islanders. Historically, the Kraken haven’t fared well in either building—one win ever at MSG, none at Prudential Center—but if there were ever a time to steal points, this is it.

Thursday brings a rematch with the Bruins, who have won five of their last six. The lone blemish? Their 7‑4 loss to the Kraken last week. On paper, that’s the toughest matchup of the trip.

But the biggest game of the week might be Saturday in Utah. The Mammoth are tied with Seattle at 48 points but have played three more games. That’s a classic four‑point swing scenario, and the kind of game that can influence the playoff picture down the stretch.

Four points out of eight would be perfectly acceptable. Six, with one coming against Utah, would go a long way toward keeping this momentum rolling.

And finally…​

After that brutal stretch from late November through mid‑December, the Kraken have played themselves back into the playoff picture and may still give us what we asked for back in October: meaningful hockey in mid‑March. Would it be nice to see them create a little breathing room in the standings? Absolutely. Is it required? Not yet.

Even with a couple dents showing in the last two games, I feel better about this team now than I did when they were winning early in the season. They look connected. They look committed. And maybe most importantly, they look like a group that genuinely believes it can win. What say you?

The post Monday Musings – Kraken need to keep it rolling appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/12/monday-musings-kraken-need-to-keep-it-rolling/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

With Kraken health improving, difficult lineup and roster decisions loom

[Knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood.] At the risk of jinxing them, the Seattle Kraken seem to be getting healthier with every passing day.

Jaden Schwartz returned to the lineup Saturday in Carolina after missing 19 games with a lower-body injury. His return coincided with Chandler Stephenson exiting and being designated as a non-roster player due to the birth of his third child. Stephenson missed two games and is expected to return Wednesday when the Kraken visit the New Jersey Devils. On Monday, captain Jordan Eberle returned from a two-game absence related to an upper-body injury.

Meanwhile, defenseman Brandon Montour—who has been out with a Mason Marchment-related hand injury since Dec. 16—has returned to practice and skated with the team again on Tuesday. Based on this and his original timeline, Montour could be nearing a return within the next few games.

If nobody else gets sick or injured in the next two contests, difficult decisions will have to be made by the Kraken brass as they decide who to scratch—and eventually who to send down to the Coachella Valley Firebirds—to make room for returning regulars.

The immediate conundrum – who to scratch against the Devils?​

Stephenson will almost certainly slot back into his second-line center role Wednesday. Without Stephenson, the forward lines for a 4-2 win at the New York Rangers on Monday looked like this:

Kaapo Kakko // Matty Beniers // Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz // Freddy Gaudreau // Eeli Tolvanen
Berkly Catton // Shane Wright // Jared McCann
Jacob Melanson // Ben Meyers // Ryan Winterton

With Stephenson back, who do you scratch if you’re Lane Lambert? Even that is a tough question to answer because the fourth line of Melanson/Meyers/Winterton has been the lynchpin for this team’s turnaround over the last month. But I would be surprised to see any player from the top three lines come out, especially after all three of those lines contributed to the comeback win at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Entering a back-to-back with travel against the Devils and Bruins, Lambert was unsurprisingly vague on his plans when asked about this so-called “good problem” by Bob Condor on Tuesday in New Jersey. “You take it one [game] at a time, so we’ll see where we’re at and set our lineup for tomorrow and deal with the Boston game when that comes. But certainly, there are some healthy bodies, and we have some numbers and some people that maybe we can put in some fresh legs.”

If it were my decision, I’d probably put Stephenson at 2C, Gaudreau at 4C, and scratch Meyers—only because that feels like the least disruptive option. My second choice would be to move Gaudreau to fourth-line wing and scratch Winterton.

I don’t particularly like either option, but something will have to give.

What happens when Montour returns?​

The bigger question—and again, this is all mooted if somebody gets sick or injured in the next couple of days—is what happens when Montour returns. The Kraken are currently at their 23-man roster limit, and that doesn’t include goaltender Matt Murray, who is still on injured reserve.

Once Montour is activated, Seattle will have to make a corresponding move. There are only three players who can be sent to the Coachella Valley Firebirds without being exposed to waivers: Wright, Winterton, and Melanson. Any other candidates—like Kartye, Meyers, Cale Fleury, or even Josh Mahura (yes, I think Mahura could be a candidate)—would have to be exposed to a claim from another team before they could be sent to the AHL. One could imagine a world in which any of those waivers-eligible players gets snatched up by a banged-up team looking for depth.

My preference would be for the Kraken to make a trade or two to clear out their multiple logjams of middle-to-bottom-six forwards and depth defensemen. But if that doesn’t happen, then my pick—and I really hate this call—would be to send Winterton to CV with the expectation that he comes back as soon as a spot opens up.

If that happens (or if Melanson gets sent down), the reasoning surely wouldn’t be because the Kraken front office thinks the player deserves a demotion. Instead, it would be done purely from an asset-management perspective. I do think this is the right approach, because the second the Kraken lose one of their depth guys to waivers, another player will get hurt, and they’ll be kicking themselves for losing a useful replacement.

This is also the exact reason that waivers exist; to protect the more veteran players from being sent haphazardly to the AHL.

The curious case of Matt Murray​

Adding another curious wrinkle to all this is the fact that the Kraken still have a third goalie waiting in the wings in Matt Murray. Murray has been on injured reserve since coming up lame against the San Jose Sharks way back on Nov. 15. He’s been practicing in full for quite some time now and is being slow-played by the Kraken, who are no doubt hesitant to activate him and use up a scarce roster spot.

At some point, they’ll have no choice but to activate Murray because according to the collective bargaining agreement, once a player is healthy enough to play, he must come off IR.

One has to wonder whether Murray gets sent to CV for a conditioning stint, which could buy a little more time before another roster decision has to be made. Murray would have to agree to such a loan, however, and may not want to go to the minors.

—

These things have had a way of working themselves out so far this season. Every time Seattle has appeared to be getting healthy, somebody else has gone down with yet another injury, and the decisions have made themselves.

But if that doesn’t happen this time, and everyone ends up available at once, how would you solve these conundrums?

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 With Kraken health improving, difficult lineup and roster decisions loom appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/13/kraken-roster-decisions-looming/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Women’s hockey off to a strong start in the Seattle market

The Seattle Torrent joining the fold here in the Pacific Northwest is a move that quickly made history in the sports community, both locally and beyond. For a city whose hockey culture has been steadily growing since the introduction of the Kraken, a professional women’s team has the potential to grow the fanbase even more. The Torrent have had some ups and downs in the early stages of their first season, but they’ve received unwavering support so far, which will hopefully only grow with on-ice improvement over time.

The expansion into the Seattle sports market was a smart one – when you combine the die-hard loyalty of Seattle sports fans with the excitement of a new franchise, you start to see some sports magic happen. This excitement was present when the Kraken were introduced, and the city rallied behind them. That magic continued when the Torrent started off their inaugural season. In their first regular-season game, the fans here in Seattle broke the attendance record for the PWHL, drawing 16,014. They haven’t reached that number in games since, but home attendance has remained strong, giving an early indication that the city’s support of the team is sustainable.

The fact that the Torrent have had three of their four wins come on home ice has definitely helped draw in more fans in the area. But, they are starting to make some progress on the road too, as just last Saturday they got their first win away from Climate Pledge Arena, a 3-2 victory against the Toronto Sceptres in Hamilton, Ont.

Plus, they started off the new calendar year on a good note, which always helps.

Starting 2026 with a dub pic.twitter.com/EGR5Jo88aZ

— Seattle Torrent (@PWHL__Seattle) January 4, 2026

The Torrent have a star-studded roster that should continue to bring excitement into the arena as they start to straighten out some of the bumps they have run into in the past few games. The top line will be something to continue to watch, specifically. It includes Captain Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter, and Julia Gosling who together have scored 10 of the Torrent’s 20 goals this season, with Knight also leading the team in assists. The Torrent’s roster is set up for success (and some exciting hockey) once they solidify their consistency throughout the three periods on the ice.

This success won’t just come from the top lines though, as the Torrent have proven to have some depth to their roster. Young players like Hannah Bilka have shown up in critical moments. The team also has some versatile goaltending options between young Hannah Murphy and veteran Corinne Schroeder. Seattle is set up to grow into a tough competitor, and their strong start with the fans proves that the city is ready for it.

Captain Hilary Knight skates towards the puck. (Photo/Brian Liesse)

The challenge lying ahead…​

While everyone hopes that the team will continue to win and improve its chemistry together, the fans will have to take a short break from watching the Torrent to turn their attention towards the Olympics. Luckily for Seattle fans, the Torrent has six players that are set to play at those Games. The USA lineup will include Alex Carpenter, Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka, and USA captain Hilary Knight, whose appearance will make this her fifth Olympics. Julia Gosling will join Team Canada’s roster, and Aneta Tejralová will be playing for Czechia.

The Olympic break has the potential to spotlight some of the Torrent players while also giving them some time to play with the most elite in the game. Hopefully the scale of attention and level of play that will be placed on them will follow them back to Seattle for the rest of the regular season and bring added interest in the women’s game. The Olympics coinciding with the start of the Torrent’s introduction to the league makes for an incredibly entertaining first season for Seattle fans.

The Torrent are just at the beginning of their story here in Seattle. Establishing themselves within the Seattle market has already been accomplished with their impressive first turnout of the season, but the next step is to continuing to grow their identity within that space. The Torrent’s performance and fan engagement post Olympics will be the next big step in building up that team identity to further solidify themselves as both a strong competitor in the PWHL and within the market here in Seattle.

The post Women’s hockey off to a strong start in the Seattle market appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/14/womens-hockey-off-to-a-strong-start-in-the-seattle-market/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Sluggish Kraken fall 3-2 to Devils in overtime

Although the Kraken are just a Brandon Montour (and a Matt Murray) away from having their full lineup available for the first time all season, they did not have their best performance in a 3-2 overtime loss to the reeling New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.

In a tough-sledding affair, Seattle didn’t get much going offensively in regulation—though the Kraken were buoyed by an opportunistic Adam Larsson goal and a power-play goal from Jared McCann—and then bungled the 3-on-3 OT period, as they did against the Minnesota Wild last week (the last time they went to OT).

The point is valuable and puts the Kraken two points clear of the idle San Jose Sharks for third place in the Pacific Division. But as coach Lane Lambert said after the game, Seattle left “something on the table” in this one.

Here are Three Takeaways from a low-energy, low-event 3-2 Kraken loss to the Devils.

Takeaway 1: Another early goal against​

The Kraken have seen an uncomfortable trend emerge recently, giving up the first goal early in games. In fact, it has happened in each of the last four contests—three times with Philipp Grubauer in net and once with Joey Daccord.

Against Minnesota on Thursday, Ryan Hartman scored first at the 5:00 mark. At Carolina on Saturday, Logan Stankoven scored at 3:23. Against the New York Rangers on Monday, Mika Zibanejad scored at 3:08, followed by Sam Carrick at 5:31.

And on Wednesday in New Jersey, a Dougie Hamilton shot from the point was tipped on the way in, leaving an easy tap-in for Cody Glass on the rebound. That goal came immediately following a defensive-zone face-off and put the Kraken back to chasing just 54 seconds into the game.

#SeaKraken trailing early, yet again. Dougie Hamilton's shot got deflected, which led to an easy Cody Glass rebound goal.

1-0. Goal came just 54 seconds in. pic.twitter.com/KKmMg72p5N

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 15, 2026

While the Kraken have consistently rallied back in each of these games, they’re still just 1-1-2 over that stretch. Zooming out, they’ve done a pretty good job of scoring first this season, but they need to nip this recent early-goal trend in the bud before it turns into a larger—and more damaging—issue.

Takeaway 2: Another bad OT period​

After what was easily Seattle’s worst overtime performance of the season against the Wild on Thursday, the Kraken looked only marginally better in the extra frame this time and came away with the same result.

New Jersey controlled the puck for almost the entire 3:42 of overtime, leading up to Nico Hischier’s second goal of the game and the game-winner. Jordan Eberle did have two looks after a fortunate bounce deep in the Devils’ end but couldn’t convert, and Vince Dunn also had a chance just before the deciding goal against.

Unfortunately for Dunn—who also assisted on both Kraken goals in this game—he picked exactly the wrong time to go for a line change.

#SeaKraken lose 3-2 after another very sloppy overtime period.

Vince Dunn picked a bad time to change here, which sent Nico Hischier on a partial breakaway. Second goal of the game for Hischier.

Kraken back to work tomorrow in Boston. pic.twitter.com/6kfvhDLikS

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 15, 2026

You can see how he made the decision. Eberle appeared to have Hischier covered, and Matty Beniers was also back, so from Dunn’s perspective there was sufficient coverage for a quick change. But the timing was off, with New Jersey having just gotten possession. Making matters worse, just as Dunn headed for the bench, Eberle switched sides to chase Jack Hughes, leaving a clear lane for Hischier up the ice. Hughes hit Hischier with a cross-ice pass, and he was off to the races, deking and beating Grubauer for the 3-2 final.

Takeaway 3: McCann/Wright/Catton line is cooking​

The only line that produced anything on this night was the third line of Jared McCann, Shane Wright, and Berkly Catton. That trio has really been humming lately, and on Catton’s 20th birthday, they connected once again.

Eight minutes after Glass gave the Devils an early lead, McCann took a perfect stretch pass from Dunn that put New Jersey’s defenders on their heels. Wright drove to the net and pushed New Jersey back, and McCann tried a quick feed to Catton racing down the opposite wing but fanned on the puck. Instead of panicking or forcing the issue, McCann reset and laid it back for a trailing Adam Larsson, who skated into it and ripped a shot over Jacob Markstrom to tie the game 1-1 at 8:55 of the first period.

THE BIG CAT!

Jared McCann whiffed on his initial pass to Berkly Catton, so Catton went to the net, and McCann passed to a trailing Adam Larsson instead. Larsson rips it home with Catton at the goalmouth.

1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/p3DhTXcLIT

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 15, 2026

McCann also scored a power-play goal, cleaning up a Dunn rebound just five seconds into a man-advantage opportunity to tie the game 2-2 at 5:06 of the second. With his goal and assist Wednesday, McCann now has 10 points (5-5—10) in 10 games since returning from injury on Dec. 28.

He’s been a nice, steadying presence for the young players he’s skating with, and they seem to be working off each other well. Catton, in particular, was especially good in this game and seems to be gaining more and more confidence with every outing alongside McCann.

---

With Chandler Stephenson returning to the lineup Wednesday after the birth of his third child, I was surprised that Jacob Melanson was the player Lambert chose to scratch. After all, he had seemed to be a catalyst in getting this team moving back in the right direction when he was inserted onto the fourth line a few weeks ago.

Given that they played what Lambert called a “slow” game against the Devils, one has to imagine Melanson will be back in the lineup Thursday in Boston, on a night when the Bruins will be highly motivated and Seattle will have to wait around for Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 to be lifted to the rafters in a pregame ceremony.

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].

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The post Three Takeaways – Sluggish Kraken fall 3-2 to Devils in overtime appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/14/kraken-lose-to-devils-in-overtime/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Three Takeaways – Kraken fall behind early, can’t catch up against Bruins in 4-2 loss

When we heard Thursday’s Kraken game at the Boston Bruins was jersey retirement night for Boston Bruins legend Zdeno Chara, we knew it would be an uphill battle for Seattle, facing an emotional team and playing its second game of a back-to-back with travel. What we didn’t necessarily expect (and maybe we should have) was just how early into the game the hill to climb would turn into a mountain.

With the Bruins riding the Chara wave, the Kraken fell behind very early yet again and then spent the entire game trying to dig their way out. They pushed hard in the closing minutes but came up short in the end.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-2 Kraken loss to the Bruins.

Takeaway 1: Another bad start and other similarities to Wednesday at NJ​

After Wednesday’s game in New Jersey, I started ringing alarm bells about Seattle conceding early goals after it had given up the icebreaker in four straight games. That trend turned into a clear and present danger Thursday—and one that needs to be addressed.

On Wednesday against the Devils, the Kraken gave up the opener 54 seconds in when Cody Glass found a rebound for an easy tap-in goal. On Thursday, Marat Khusnutdinov burned around Cale Fleury and then deked past Joey Daccord, who had dropped to his butterfly far too early and had no chance of recovering. Daccord, by the way, was just OK in this one, stopping 20 of 23 shots.

The time of Khusnutdinov’s goal? 54 seconds… AGAIN! What are the chances of that?!

The Kraken continued to drag a$$ for the next three minutes, and although they had numbers back on a rush, Jaden Schwartz and Fleury seemed to get crossed up momentarily in coverage. Schwartz recovered and got his stick on Viktor Arvidsson’s shot-pass to Casey Mittelstadt, but Schwartz poked the puck right into an open net, giving Arvidsson the goal and Boston a 2-0 lead.

To Lane Lambert’s credit, he immediately used his timeout. He was demonstrative and stern in his address to the team, and from the next face-off on, Seattle controlled the rest of the first period.

Another similarity to the night before: Seattle did get on the board within eight minutes, scoring five seconds into a power play drawn by Kaapo Kakko—the exact same amount of time that elapsed before Jared McCann scored a power-play goal Wednesday.

The problem this time, though, was that the Kraken didn’t get themselves sorted as quickly as they had the night before and allowed a second goal in between their opponent’s first goal and their own. That second one against came back to bite Seattle and meant chasing for the entire game.

Takeaway 2: Some good, some bad from power play​

The Kraken power play converted twice in this game, improving to seventh in the entire NHL at 23.7 percent on the season, which accounted for all of Seattle’s offense. As mentioned in Takeaway 1, Chandler Stephenson cut the deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 7:29 of the first period. Stephenson won the draw to Matty Beniers and then headed toward the net. Beniers poked it up to Vince Dunn, who sent it across to McCann at the top of the right circle. McCann then rifled a shot-pass to Stephenson at the top of the crease, who redirected it into an open net.

They made that one look easy.

Seattle added its second power-play goal at 12:27 of the second period, after Brandon Montour’s shot off the end wall skipped right to Eeli Tolvanen in the right circle. Tolvanen quickly sniped it over Jeremy Swayman’s left shoulder to pull the Kraken within 3-2.

Sandwiched between those two power-play goals, though, was a lackadaisical play by Beniers four minutes into the second period. He slowly drifted back to retrieve a puck in Seattle’s zone and, rather than turning on the jets to create separation from Mark Kastelic, tried a little shimmy-and-escape move. He was moving so slowly that it was an easy read for Kastelic, who picked Beniers’ pocket, went in on a breakaway, and scored a short-handed goal to put Boston up 3-1 at the time.

Despite a strong push late in the third, Tolvanen’s goal stood as Seattle’s final tally of the night, meaning Kastelic’s shorty ended up as the game-winner.

It was a rare misstep by Beniers, but a critical one nonetheless.

Takeaway 3: Montour returns, Melanson leaves, Evans scratched​

As I wrote earlier in the week, we knew the Kraken had difficult lineup and roster decisions coming with Brandon Montour nearing a return from a hand injury that sidelined him for a month. In that article, I predicted Ryan Winterton—one of just three players, along with Jacob Melanson and Shane Wright, eligible for assignment to the AHL without having to clear waivers—would be sent down to the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Instead, the Kraken scratched Melanson Wednesday, then reassigned him to CV on Thursday when they activated Montour from injured reserve.

The decision was a “six in one, half-dozen in the other” situation, because the front office surely didn’t want to lose a player to waivers, but also likely didn’t want to send either Melanson or Winterton down. Something had to give, though, with the lineup fully healthy for the first time all season, and this was the call they made.

Interestingly, on the same day the grittiest player on the team was sent down, Winterton had his first NHL fight after taking a nasty hit from Alex Steeves and then standing up for himself instead of letting Vince Dunn do his bidding.

I wouldn’t have liked the call to send Winterton down either, but I especially don’t like the decision to reassign Melanson. The team turned things around when he arrived in the NHL, and since he’s come out of the lineup, the Kraken have put together two straight uninspiring performances and gone 0-1-1. I’ll reiterate what I wrote in my previous article: I’d like to see the team make a trade to clear out its logjam, improve offensively, and get Melanson a permanent spot on the fourth line.

For as effective as Tye Kartye and Freddy Gaudreau can be as fourth-line players, the Kraken need to do what they can to reunite Winterton with Ben Meyers and Melanson. When those three played together, they looked like one of the best fourth lines in the NHL. Any other combination just doesn’t seem to work as well.

By the way, with Montour back in, Ryker Evans was healthy scratched. It wasn’t a bad call, given that Evans has had some tough outings lately, but Fleury also did not have a great game against the Bruins. I’m curious to see if things look different Saturday in Utah, as Lambert tries to salvage the final two points from an otherwise disappointing road trip on which the Kraken currently sit at 1-2-1.

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].

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The post Three Takeaways – Kraken fall behind early, can’t catch up against Bruins in 4-2 loss appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/16/kraken-lose-to-bruins-on-chara-night/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Down on the Farm – Jacob Melanson is speeding toward an NHL future despite the demotion

Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week, we’ll dig in on Jacob Melanson’s development and NHL performance following his reassignment to the AHL on Thursday, Jan. 15. Beyond that, we have news on a couple of notable all-star elections, weekly and season-to-date data updates, all-shifts videos, the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, and a preview of the week ahead, as always.

If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect–related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.

Jacob Melanson has improved drastically in one specific way​

Following a spate of injuries at the NHL level, the Seattle Kraken recalled 2021 fifth-round pick Jacob Melanson and deployed him for regular shifts on the team’s fourth line. Over a 15-game stretch from Dec. 14, 2025, through Jan. 12, 2026, with Melanson, 22, in the lineup for an average of 9:25 TOI per night, the Kraken went 9-4-2.

As Kraken GM Jason Botterill told the KHN Pregame Show on Wednesday, Nov. 14, the first word that comes to mind when you think of Jacob Melanson is “physicality.”

Among all players with at least 50 minutes of time on ice in the NHL this season, Melanson’s 28 hits per 60 minutes ranked second in the entire league—behind only Garnet Hathaway’s 30 hits per 60. This certainly brought a unique element to the Kraken lineup, which otherwise skews smaller and lighter. After Melanson, only Tye Kartye (18 hits per 60 minutes) ranked within the top 100 in this physicality rate metric.

The eye test told us that Melanson’s hard-nosed play style also seemed to inspire and catalyze the team to positive results.

That said, we should be cautious about confusing correlation and causation. Melanson was on the team during a hot streak, but he averaged fewer minutes on the ice than any of his teammates during that stretch and contributed just two points (one goal and one assist).

We also know hits alone do not necessarily correlate with team success. More hits often means you’re chasing an opponent in possession. And, to make matters worse, a player can leave his team vulnerable when he plays out of structure solely for the sake of being physical. Defense is more difficult four on four than it is five on five.

At least one scout criticized Melanson’s past play at the AHL level for precisely this reason. J.D. Burke of Elite Prospects wrote this about Melanson during the 2023-24 season: “I’m not a big fan of his game though. I suspect he’ll be so undisciplined that he’ll hurt your team more than he helps it at the NHL level. I’m not even just talking about the senseless penalties. He’s basically always out of position, and his linemates may as well be shorthanded in the offensive zone.” I admit that there were times when watching Melanson’s AHL games over the last couple of years that I had similar thoughts.

This year has been different, though. Melanson has done a much better job of controlling his aggression and deploying it within the framework of the play to win advantages rather than conceding them. This is underlined by the fact that he took zero penalties in 141 NHL minutes despite playing with emotion and “on the edge.” He also showed playable offensive instincts, often working to the front of the net after winning possession on the forecheck.

MELLY CELLY!

The fourth line does it AGAIN, and this time, it's Jacob Melanson getting his FIRST NHL GOAL!

Nice play by Winterton to get his own rebound and send it across.

1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/DJmg7QhQFs

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 6, 2026

Indeed, Botterill told KHN that he thinks Melanson has “improved drastically, even [since] training camp.” Discipline in channeling his physicality has been one area of improvement.

That said, from my vantage point, Melanson’s biggest developmental strides over the last year-plus have come in his skating.

A few months after Melanson was drafted, Elite Prospects gave him a significantly below-average skating grade. Cam Robinson wrote that “this is a player who lacks the foot speed to really contend for a future offensive role in the NHL.” Melanson is “lessed with good size and tenacity to use it on the forecheck,” Robinson wrote, but “[f]ifth-round picks are long shots to make the NHL, [and] ones that have challenges moving around are even less likely. Melanson falls into the latter category.”

That does not compute with the player I saw this past month, who was capable of outracing opponents to retrieve pucks for offensive-zone possession or scoring chances. So, I sought out Melanson’s player-tracking data to see if the numbers lined up with my eye test. The results were really interesting.

The NHL does not make analyzing NHL Edge data at scale very easy. It tends to present the data in counterintuitive ways. (Why “speed bursts per mile skated”? Why not “speed bursts per minute on ice”?) And it only provides results on an individual player basis, which makes scraping the data at scale quite difficult. That said, a couple of invaluable web resources, like Pucklytics, have done that yeoman’s work, and my insights are indebted to their efforts. (Pucklytics is missing a handful of players due to data retrieval errors here or there, but the numbers below should be in the right ballpark.)

According to NHL Edge, among all players with at least 10 games played, Jacob Melanson ranked ninth in the NHL in average skating speed at even strength. His average speed was second on the Kraken, behind only teammate Ben Meyers. This result was encouraging, but it also makes sense given that you want your fourth line to come out and play aggressively.

I also wanted to determine whether Melanson’s top-end speed was competitive. His top speed (22.19 miles per hour) ranked fourth on the Kraken, behind only Chandler Stephenson, Berkly Catton, and Ryan Winterton.

That said, what he may lack in true top-end speed, he more than made up for in his ability to hit speeds above 20 miles per hour with regularity. NHL Edge categorizes a skating speed over 20 miles per hour as a “speed burst.” Melanson has 19 speed bursts per 60 minutes on ice. This figure ranks third in the entire league, behind only Connor McDavid (23) and Vinnie Hinostroza (20).

This is an enormous developmental leap for a player who had “challenges moving around” as a junior player.

Put it all together, and Melanson is now able to deliver game-changing pace and physicality at the NHL level in 10-minute increments. In a 15-game sample, he leveraged those traits to positive relative shot-quality results despite starting more than his fair share of shifts in the defensive zone.

Everything about Melanson’s 15 games in the lineup points to a prototypical fourth-line profile moving forward. He’s not only an identity player, but also a positive play driver from the bottom of the lineup.

Notwithstanding all of this, Melanson’s run with the NHL team came to an abrupt end—for now—on Thursday, when the team reassigned him to the AHL. The move was necessary to open a roster spot for Brandon Montour in the defenseman’s return from injured reserve.

Why did this happen? As Sound Of Hockey‘s Darren Brown detailed before Montour’s activation, there was a necessary bit of “asset management” going on here. Only Melanson and Winterton could be reassigned to Coachella Valley without risking waivers. It’s understandable that the team opted to keep the longer-tenured Winterton for now.

That said, I think it’s fairly clear that Melanson has a real NHL career ahead of him as an 11th or 12th forward. I would be surprised if he was not in an NHL lineup “permanently” within the next 12 months.

As for the Kraken, they are winless in two games since removing Melanson from the lineup. After the team’s Jan. 14 game against the New Jersey Devils, coach Lane Lambert said: “I thought we played slow hockey tonight. Prior to the game, we said we were going to have to play fast and I didn’t think we were sharp. And part of being sharp is you play with some speed.” If that sharpness and speed isn’t there in the days ahead, the solution may be in Coachella Valley.

Notes on four more Kraken prospects​

Nikke Kokko | G | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

Top goalie prospect Nikke Kokko had to leave last Saturday’s game with an apparent (significant) lower-body injury. The team announced later in the week that Kokko is out week-to-week. While we hope for the best, this seems like an injury that could be on the longer side of the week-to-week timeline. I wonder if the Firebirds may benefit from a conditioning stint for Matt Murray to help bridge the gap until Kokko returns.

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

In his second professional year, Firkus has emerged as a point-per-game producer at the AHL level. He paces the Firebirds with 35 points (14 goals and 21 assists). That production has made him an AHL All-Star, as announced by the team on Jan. 15.

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

AHL rookie blueliner Tyson Jugnauth will join Firkus at the All-Star Game. This is an especially impressive feat for the rookie professional, and the achievement has its roots in hard work in Seattle this past summer. From my vantage point, Jugnauth still has a lot of work to do defensively, but this honor provides meaningful validation. The arrow is pointed in the right direction.

Jani Nyman | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)​

After a bit of a slow start back in the AHL following his reassignment, forward Jani Nyman caught fire over Coachella Valley’s last two games, compiling four goals in that stretch. Overall, he has five goals and an assist in seven AHL games this season. He seems to have gotten his legs back under him in an offensive role. The plan for the time being is likely for Nyman to keep that production rolling with the Firebirds until an injury (or other transaction) creates space for his recall in a top-nine role.

nyman extends the lead to 3-1! pic.twitter.com/w7rinlqcu3

— Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) January 15, 2026

Kraken prospects data update​

Jakub Fibigr debuted for the Windsor Spitfires this week, registering an assist in two games.

Jake O’Brien has yet to return to Brantford’s lineup due to a multi-week injury. Most recently, he missed a matchup with Fibigr and Nathan Villeneuve’s Spitfires last Sunday.

Fresh off a disappointing World Junior Championship, in which he didn’t play a single minute, Kim Saarinen started twice in Liiga this past week. He won both games, one by shutout. This effort was enough to edge fellow Finn Jani Nyman for Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.

Semyon Vyazovoi continues to stack success in the KHL. His three-win week warranted Prospect of the Week consideration too.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker​

3: Jagger Firkus, Kim Saarinen

2: Julius Miettinen, Nathan Villeneuve

1: Barrett Hall, Ollie Josephson, Tyson Jugnauth, Nikke Kokko, Jake O’Brien, Semyon Vyazovoi, Zaccharya Wisdom

Previewing the week ahead​

We have an active week ahead of us. We’ll give our Deep Sea Hockey Games of the Week to Friday and Saturday matchups between Clarke Caswell’s Univ. of Denver Pioneers against Ollie Josephson’s Univ. of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The NCHC matchups features two top-10 teams and should be great competition.

Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Adam Valentini​

After projected top-10 picks Gavin McKenna, Tynan Lawrence, and Keaton Verhoeff, Adam Valentini may be the next most notable draft-eligible college hockey player this season—him or Illia Morzov. Valentini’s 18 points trail only McKenna among all first-eligible NCAA players. Many draft prognosticators have the 5-foot-11, left-shot forward going within the top 50 picks in the draft.

Recent prospect updates​

January 9, 2026: World Juniors reports, CHL trades

January 2, 2026: Mid-season Kraken prospect ranking

December 26, 2025: Watching Kraken prospects at the 2026 World Junior Championship

December 20, 2025: Resetting Seattle Kraken draft capital after the Mason Marchment trade

December 13, 2025: Ryan Jankowski talks Kraken prospects

December 5, 2025: World Juniors Announcements, Kokko saving the day for the Firebirds

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.

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The post Down on the Farm – Jacob Melanson is speeding toward an NHL future despite the demotion appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/1...ng-toward-an-nhl-future-despite-the-demotion/

 

[Seattle Kraken]

Kraken Notebook – Seeking better chemistry with full roster healthy, Catton gaining confidence

At long last, the Seattle Kraken returned to Kraken Community Iceplex on Sunday for the first time in what felt like forever. With an intense cadence of home games to start the calendar year, followed by a nine-day, cross-country road trip, it really has been quite a while since the Kraken have had a regular practice at their Northgate facility.

It was still somewhat surprising that they practiced Sunday, the first day back after that long journey that ended 1-3-1, but Seattle will go right back to work against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on Monday. The early 2 p.m. start time means the Kraken will not hold a morning skate, so getting on the ice Sunday was the team’s only chance to iron out some of the missteps that have sunk the team recently. As a slight reprieve, coach Lane Lambert made the practice optional, though only a few select players took that option with most in attendance.

Lambert is looking for stability from his team, which has seen a pendulum of results swing from very bad (1-9-1 in 11 games between Nov. 23 and Dec. 18) to very good (8-0-2 in the next 10 games from Dec. 20 to Jan. 8), and now appears to be swinging back toward the bad category.

“Take it one game at a time and be ready to play tomorrow,” Lambert said, when asked how to avoid having this recent cool stretch spiral into another four-alarm emergency.

To their credit, the players seemed upbeat after the trip and know they were close to having significantly better results.

“They’ve been higher highs and higher lows than generally you want. But at the end of the day, I think on every team, you go through that,” captain Jordan Eberle said. “It’s just the reality of an 82-game schedule is there’s adversity at some point.

“We’ve overcome some pretty big lows, which is impressive, and we fought our way back and got ourselves in a position… where we’re fighting to get to the top of the division, so that’s what it comes down to. For me, it doesn’t matter how you get there. If anything, this way, I’ve seen that we’ve been able to streak and put together wins, and that’s a sign of a really good hockey team.”

Veteran winger Jaden Schwartz, who rejoined the team at the start of the road trip after a 19-game injury absence, echoed what Eberle said.

“That’s a season for every team, right?” Schwartz said. “You’re gonna have ups and downs throughout the year, but it’s important to keep the belief. There’s games where you feel like you should have won because you played good, and then maybe there’s games that you win that the other team maybe thought they won. So, I think we did a good job of just being consistent. You know, when we come to practice or come to the rink, we’re always prepared and ready. And the games we lost on the trip, they were kind of right there.”

Kraken looking for chemistry again​

With Schwartz and defenseman Brandon Montour both back from injury, Seattle now has its entire roster healthy—except for Matt Murray, who remains on injured reserve but has been practicing in full for several weeks.

On paper, that’s obviously the best-case scenario: having all your regulars available and playing. But it’s been interesting that things haven’t gone quite as swimmingly as one might have hoped with the vastly improved health of what was once an injury-ravaged roster.

It’s easy to assume that getting everybody back at once would immediately lead to positive results, but so far, it hasn’t worked out that way.

“It’s always sort of a great question. You’re going along really good, and then a couple guys come back, and it just puts everybody a little bit on a different seat kind of thing, when the rhythm is going,” Lambert said. “But at the same time, we need those players, and we need the depth, so we have to find a way to gain that chemistry back.

“I thought we played some really good hockey, let’s not lose sight of that. I thought we played some really good hockey on the road as well, but we just have to find a way to finish games off. We’ve had too many times where we’ve been tied or even leading with 10 minutes left to go in the game, and we’ve either gotten one point out of it or no points out of it.”

Lambert again mentioned how much he liked the Kraken’s outing against the Boston Bruins, in which they fell behind 2-0 early but pushed back and took control of long stretches before ultimately losing 4-2.

With the returns of Schwartz and Montour came a logjam that has forced a shakeup of the lines and squeezed gritty winger Jacob Melanson all the way back down to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. I personally think that’s been a killer to the team’s momentum, which—for a stretch—had an extremely effective fourth line going out and putting teams on their heels for about 10 minutes a night whenever Ryan Winterton, Ben Meyers, and Melanson skated together.

Now, with everyone back, Freddy Gaudreau has been moved to fourth-line wing alongside Winterton and Meyers. I’m not convinced that trio works as well as the Winterton/Meyers/Melanson line did, simply because Gaudreau is such a different type of player than Melanson. That’s not a knock on Gaudreau—I just liked him more on the line with Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen. But I also don’t know where to put Schwartz if you elevate Gaudreau again, so it’s a pickle for Lambert, who did imply we could see some shuffling this week.

Of course, all of this is moot if Seattle had won a couple more games on the road trip. But the slight discombobulation could be related to multiple players returning at once who are working to reintegrate themselves into the lineup and get back to peak performance levels after long absences.

“Every situation is a little bit different,” Schwartz said. “Certainly, when you’re out a while, it’s gonna take a little bit to get the timing and just know where guys are and feeling 100 percent. Sometimes things click right away, and then later on, there’s a little bit of a lull. Usually, you want to try to get back up to speed as quick as you can, but it’s not always going to be perfect.”

When asked if he feels like he’s back to full speed with five games under his belt since returning, Schwartz said: “I don’t know about that. I mean, I was out for quite a while. It’s good to be back and get the game lights back, but timing [can be a little bit better], and just little things, I feel like I could be a little bit better. But overall, I think outside of maybe one game, I felt like my game’s been pretty good. I’ve just got to find a way to bury some chances and create a little bit more.”

Montour, the other recent returnee, has had a very start-and-stop kind of season. He missed most of training camp due to surgery to remove a bursa from his ankle, then took a leave of absence following the tragic passing of his brother, and most recently missed another 14 games because of a hand injury that required surgery.

“Injuries suck,” Montour said. “I’ve had a tough start to over half the season now, with two surgeries and things off the ice. [For me, it’s not] necessarily the confidence. I know how I play, and I know what I bring, and so it’s not necessarily hard to get back into it [from that perspective because] I’ve experienced quite a bit. It’s about me just feeling good and getting my touches and getting my reps in. It’s tough missing training camp and missing games early on. And when you miss a good chunk of the month, you just kind of [need to] get the feeling back. But I think for me, it’s whatever it takes to stay in the mix and be a part of close games and being in the playoffs. That’s what it’s it’s all about.”

Catton gaining confidence, getting more comfortable at “home”​

You can tell the weight of the world is off Berkly Catton’s shoulders now that he’s scored a few goals in the NHL. He’s oozing confidence on the ice, and when you talk to him about scoring, there’s a noticeable tone of relief in his voice after posting four goals and one assist in his last seven games following a 27-game scoreless start to his NHL career.

“It was a while there. I didn’t know if I was ever going to score,” Catton said with a laugh. “It’s crazy how it can go like that. But I’m just so happy that first one went in, and then same game, another one, crazy how that works. And within three periods, or two periods, you’ve scored two goals, and then the rest of season you don’t score one, so it’s like… again… it’s the way hockey goes. Lots of learning within that experience of not scoring and stuff, but hopefully I can score a couple more.”

Catton has looked good for a while now, even as the schedule has compressed over the last month. One might assume a 19-year-old jumping straight from the WHL to the NHL would wear down as the rigors of an 82-game season really set in, but Catton said his junior experience prepared him well for those challenges.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” Catton said when asked if his junior days set him up for success at the top level. “I think those three in threes [three games in three days] you have on the weekends or long days on a bus, then playing, they kind of suck, but they do prepare you in lots of ways. So I think the long season and that stuff, having kind of gone through it a little bit—maybe not like this, this month’s insane—but it’s good to have gone through it a little bit already.”

And while he’s enjoyed some individual on-ice success recently, Catton also appears to be getting more comfortable on the “home” front as he continues to live with Stephenson and his growing family.

“It’s pretty funny, I was living by myself at the start of the year, so that part was a big change for me,” Catton said. “I wasn’t very good at it, so it’s nice to live with Chandler, and it’s basically like a billet family in junior, except you play with your billet; he’s on your team. So it’s pretty cool. They’ve been nothing but great to me, and they have a hectic household right now, obviously, with the newborn and stuff. And still, they’re just amazing. I can’t be more grateful and thankful for what they’ve done.”

What was it that Catton didn’t like about living alone?

“Obviously, the cooking and stuff, but it just sucks kind of being by yourself all the time, trying to kill time and stuff. So, I just like being in the house, hanging out with the kids, and having people to talk to all the time. It’s kind of just my personality, so I think that’s been great.”

Odds and ends​

• The players we noticed absent from the optional skate Sunday were Matty Beniers, Kaapo Kakko, Chandler Stephenson, and Eeli Tolvanen. There’s nothing to read into here, since—again—it was optional, and even Lambert stayed off the ice. Instead, it’s notable just how many players did hit the ice after a long road trip.
• Monday’s game is Kids Day at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken Hockey Network’s Scott Malone asked some great questions about what Eberle and Lambert remember from their respective childhoods playing hockey, and both shared some great memories. I won’t spoil them here, because I’m sure they’ll come up in the arena and on the broadcast.
• The Kraken’s game next Sunday, Jan. 25, against the New Jersey Devils has been moved up by an hour to 12 p.m. (previously 1 p.m.) to make a little more room for the start of the Seahawks’ NFC Championship game.

The post Kraken Notebook – Seeking better chemistry with full roster healthy, Catton gaining confidence appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.

Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2026/01/1...-mixed-chemistry-catton-confidence-improving/