3 Things That Could Make Seattle Kraken a Playoff Team

The Centers

The center position is one of the most important positions in hockey. Players down the middle of the lineup are tasked with playing a 200-foot game, and each play starts with them in the faceoff circle.

No team can have enough depth at center, and fortunately for the Kraken, it’s a position at which they have a pile of potential.

To begin, Seattle has five players that have either proven to be solid centers or are expected to reach that level very soon.

As mentioned on the last slide, Jared McCann led the Kraken offense last year, scoring 50 points in a season for the first time in his career. While he can also play on the wing, coach Dave Hakstol should have no problem trusting the 26-year-old at center.

Yanni Gourde and Alexander Wennberg are the other established players that can line up in the middle of the formation. Gourde, a 30-year-old two-time champion, recorded 48 points a season ago and was one of Seattle’s better faceoff men. Wennberg, 27, notched 37 points last season.

Finally, the future of the Kraken comes in the form of the 2021 second-overall pick, Matty Beniers, and the 2022 fourth-overall pick, Shane Wright. Neither player is 20 years of age, and Beniers already has ten games under his belt in which he scored nine points.

If those two are able to play consistent minutes and become key contributors for the Kraken this year, Seattle could be knocking on the door to the Stanley Cup Playoffs very quickly.