2024-25 Kraken Roster discussion

[gstommylee]

Well, here's the first 10 games...

vsEDM
vsSTL
@MIN
@DAL
@NSH
vsPHI
vsCGY
vsCOL
vsWPG
vsCAR

7 of the first 10 at home, some other "bubble" teams in there like STL, MIN, NSH and CGY to get a feel how Seattle stacks up.

our first game is against blues. Not edmonton. Edmonton game is a pre-season game.

 

[Irie]

Are the Kraken improved?

Absolutely.

While I've mostly disliked Francis' summer roster moves, moving on from Hakstol and his inability to adapt to adversity should be a huge improvement for the team overall.

 

[majormajor]

Absolutely.

While I've mostly disliked Francis' summer roster moves, moving on from Hakstol and his inability to adapt to adversity should be a huge improvement for the team overall.

The wheels fell off in the last quarter of the year but prior to that, as bad as Hakstol was, it was still a consistently hard working team. I don't think there's that much room to improve on that.

There were some nice additions and some young players will improve, but there's also a significant number of players who are on the wrong side of the age curve.

 

[Quackenator]

Daccord should be 1a to Grus 1b. And I think daccord is for real

 

[PocketNines]

you guys literally have a goalie named "Joe Average" how can you not root for him?

OTOH philipp grubauer sounds like he is robbing nakatomi plaza

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

The wheels fell off in the last quarter of the year but prior to that, as bad as Hakstol was, it was still a consistently hard working team. I don't think there's that much room to improve on that.

The problem with dependence solely on hard work, which I felt Hakstol relied on way too much, is that the team cannot afford to have any "off" games. This is a big issue over a very physical 82-game season.

There were some nice additions and some young players will improve, but there's also a significant number of players who are on the wrong side of the age curve.

I do not believe age is a factor this season or even next. Montour's impact could be very significant. My concerns are still around our ability to consistently get good goal-tending from Daccord and Gru. If we can get close to the same level of goal tending this season, I think we are going to be fighting for a playoff spot.

 

[majormajor]

The problem with dependence solely on hard work, which I felt Hakstol relied on way too much, is that the team cannot afford to have any "off" games. This is a big issue over a very physical 82-game season.

Unless you've got an elite powerplay or something, you lose your off games. That's the way it is for most clubs.

Isn't a new coach bounce largely from players working hard? Which they were already doing under Hak? Do we see Bylsma getting gains from systems or special teams? Hak is just a prick but I think the team was getting close to its best possible results for 2/3 or so of the year.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Unless you've got an elite powerplay or something, you lose your off games. That's the way it is for most clubs.

Isn't a new coach bounce largely from players working hard? Which they were already doing under Hak? Do we see Bylsma getting gains from systems or special teams? Hak is just a prick but I think the team was getting close to its best possible results for 2/3 or so of the year.

Just having more skill and offense helps make up for that one off period. An off day is going to be a L for us unless the other team is off even more. But this gives us a bigger chance to make up for bad bounces or mistakes resulting in goals against.

I am not expecting us to have more effort. Hakstol, like you mentioned, already got that covered. What I expect, or rather hope, is that Bylsma does a better job than “go out and play hard” as the coaching strategy.

 

[Kevinsane]

Further to the above, I hope Bylsma will resonate more with the younger guys, and those blown two goal leads of early last year will be less frequent due to instruction and correction instead of the “play hard and get them back” approach to coming from behind.

 

[kihei]

My hope with Blysma is that he will be able to effectively mentor the young prospects who will be arriving with greater frequency from this point onward. I doubt there is much that he can do about the immediate present, but I hope he will have a real impact on our future.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Any chance Kartye moves up the lineup for you guys?? 20 points last season but before that had a really good rookie season in the AHL and put up 57 points in 72 games and was named AHL rookie of the year and also had a pretty good junior career points wise… or will he always be a 4th liner guy

 

[GrungeHockey]

My hope with Blysma is that he will be able to effectively mentor the young prospects who will be arriving with greater frequency from this point onward. I doubt there is much that he can do about the immediate present, but I hope he will have a real impact on our future.

idk but Bylsma is my biggest question mark on the season and it's a big question mark. He was okay in Pittsburgh, but he had Crosby (and others). he stunk in Buffalo and they played a really boring brand of hockey under him. So he gets an AHL redo and seems ready to try NHL again. Will he be any good? No idea. I have my doubts.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Any chance Kartye moves up the lineup for you guys?? 20 points last season but before that had a really good rookie season in the AHL and put up 57 points in 72 games and was named AHL rookie of the year and also had a pretty good junior career points wise… or will he always be a 4th liner guy

He has to outplay a decent amount of skaters and/or injuries to do so.

McCann
Beniers
Stephenson
Burakovsky
Bjorkstrand
Schwartz
Tolvanen
Gourde
Eberle
Tolvanen

Those 10 are very likely to play above Kartye. Then you throw Wright in the mix and it becomes even tougher for Kartye.

 

[Scomerica]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1833283954256056534

Anyone wanna decrypt this? Captain? Traded? He did similar when he got the extension

 

[gstommylee]

 

[The Marquis]

Cats…. Hmmm.

 

[The Marquis]

Could have something to do with Larsson.

 

[gstommylee]

 

[The Marquis]

Called it! Haha. Really didn’t expect that to be true but I’m happy with it. He’s the type of player who is very consistent.

 

[Scomerica]

So what's the cap situation now?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

So what's the cap situation now?

Unchanged. Larsson's new contract does not kick in till next season.

 

[kihei]

Good deal all around. He's meant a great day to what success we have had, and he deserves a good contract, especially one that doesn't have excessive term or salary.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Makes sense.

Larsson's game isn't based too much on his skating which should make him productive enough throughout this contract.

With the cap going up even more in the next couple of years that contract shouldn't be a problem and age well enough.

 

[Interior Cascadian]

My hope with Blysma is that he will be able to effectively mentor the young prospects who will be arriving with greater frequency from this point onward. I doubt there is much that he can do about the immediate present, but I hope he will have a real impact on our future.

I don’t mean to single you out but I see a lot of criticism of Hak that sounds like this. How do you know what he’s telling his young players in the locker room, on the bench, and in practices?

The notion that Hak didn’t know how to develop or communicate with young players is silly- prior to the NHL he was running a very successful powerhouse college program in Grand Forks. I maintain that last year’s problem was much less Hak and mostly a roster that never had a lot of star power, but then also lost its depth in the offseason.

 

[kihei]

I don’t mean to single you out but I see a lot of criticism of Hak that sounds like this. How do you know what he’s telling his young players in the locker room, on the bench, and in practices?

The notion that Hak didn’t know how to develop or communicate with young players is silly- prior to the NHL he was running a very successful powerhouse college program in Grand Forks. I maintain that last year’s problem was much less Hak and mostly a roster that never had a lot of star power, but then also lost its depth in the offseason.

I wasn't impressed the way he handled Wright's first year, that's for sure. Last year, the team collectively did not seem to play hard every night the way that they had in the past. In fact it had been, to my way of thinking, a point of pride how hard the team played in its first two years. Last year too many times, they just seemed to mail it in. It made too many games, especially in the second half of the season, an absolute chore to watch. I have no way of knowing but it seemed Hakstol lost the room. Plus, if you are the GM, you can't have your team playing listless hockey, especially at home. I thank Hakstol for his contributions, but I also think it was time for a change. We just couldn't risk another year like the last one.