Why The Seattle Kraken’s Start Is Not As Problematic As It Seems
By Jim Lynch
The Seattle Kraken did not start the season following a similar path to the Vegas Golden Knights during their first year in the league. While the Knights had no expectations going in, they defied everything and made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, the Kraken have not done that great in their first year.
The Kraken find themselves trying to compete for a draft lottery pick near the bottom of the standings in the league. Most of what is being said about the Kraken is not great. They will miss Brandon Tanev for the rest of the season. They certainly have gone on their fair share of losing streaks, and they missed out on a golden opportunity during the expansion draft to take advantage of some struggling salary cap teams.
The Kraken did not have the illustrious start the Vegas Golden Knights had. But they have nothing to fear regarding their long-term goal of winning down the line. The Kraken have all of their picks during the upcoming draft and the Calgary Flames fourth-rounder they picked up this past offseason.
While they might not have an influx of draft picks to utilize this offseason, they definitely can add some.
The Kraken have ten of their players on the NHL roster that are currently playing on expiring deals. Guys like Jared McCann, Marcus Johansson, Mark Giordano, Haydn Fleury, and Riley Sheahan could make for exciting trade pieces as the season comes to an end.
The Kraken’s start wasn’t the blockbuster film story we saw with Vegas, but it can still lead to success down the line as the Kraken get their feet in the door and start to build a roster that can compete down the line. This team has cap space to take advantage of and time on their side with no pressure in a win-now mode.
Sure Kraken fans might not enjoy watching a struggling team out of the gate, but it is only going to make winning, later on, feel that much better. Besides, as long as they eventually have more success than the Florida Panthers have had as an expansion team, they will be off to a good start in my book.