Seattle Kraken expectations for 2022-23

[Sweetpotato]

Calgary (biased I know)
Edmonton
LA
Vegas
Vancouver
Anaheim/Seattle
SJS

Oiler fan. You're not biased lol I have absolutely no qualms with that list. Either of our teams could take the division.

 

[Figgy44]

47 point jump in one season is insane.

So the Kraken just need talents at the level of MacK, Rantenen, and Landeskog to see a 47 point increase. And to get a 100 pt season out of one of their players. Along with about 50-60 pts from a single dman.

Good luck to them.

Agreed.

Mack/Rantanen and Landeskog wise, that's arguably supposed to be Wright and Beniers but agreed the elite talent isn't on par with Colorado at all.

Colorado also did that on the backs of Grubauer and Varly, so we know who Seattle might want to target next for goalie acquisitions...

D corps wise, I think Seattle is superior on paper to what Colorado had in 2018, but I also hear Barrie might be available from Edmonton for some D corps rejuggling.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Depth doesn't mean much when you have no star power. That top line would get destroyed against Mcdrai, Mack and Rants, etc.

 

[Gurglesons]

47 point jump in one season is insane.

So the Kraken just need talents at the level of MacK, Rantenen, and Landeskog to see a 47 point increase. And to get a 100 pt season out of one of their players. Along with about 50-60 pts from a single dman.

Good luck to them.

Avs were awful in 12-13 and then had a bunch of 60-70 pt guys that led them to that 100 point season.

Granted 13-14 was a different landscape in terms of scoring.

 

[Evergreen]

One of their goalies has to have a Vezina caliber season for them to win the division. They’ve got a very deep, if not particularly elite, forward group. Their defense isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either. Their biggest disappointment last season was their goaltending IMO.

 

[Gardner McKay]

If.... the other teams in the Pacific are all disbanded and they are the only team left.

 

[The Marquis]

This will be a fun thread to revisit in a few months.

 

[Kerberos]

…pigs fly

But they already do.

 

[Panthaz89]

Wright and Matt are not Crosby and Malkin.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Too inexperienced down the middle.
Bottom 10 finish, they will battle and maybe put together a couple 3-4 win streaks but I can't see them within 15 pts of the 2nd wildcard in the West

COL
CGY
EDM
MIN
STL
VGK
DAL
VAN
NSH
LAK

All better teams alone in the West.

 

[PaulD]

The Good news -
The Kraken will be better than Fletchers Flyers.
The bad news -
So will everyone else.

 

[GrumpyKoala]

Out of the 15 NHL team in the West, last ?

 

[Gurglesons]

Berniers looks like he's bout to win a Calder.

Wright looks NHL ready.

Better put down those bets boys.

 

[majormajor]

Berniers looks like he's bout to win a Calder.

Wright looks NHL ready.

Better put down those bets boys.

I watched both pre-season games and I agree regarding Beniers and Wright. I don't know if Wright is ready to make a difference (probably not) but he is noticeably quicker and lighter on his feet compared to last year, with significantly more energy. So he can hang in there at least.

Beniers will make the team much better himself. He already looks like a high end first line talent, and I don't mean long term, I mean now. Bjorkstrand helps a lot. They could improve a lot and still not clear 80 pts. I just hope they're more fun to watch. Last year was tough. If I had to pick a number it would be just shy of 80 pts.

 

[Gurglesons]

I watched both pre-season games and I agree regarding Beniers and Wright. I don't know if Wright is ready to make a difference (probably not) but he is noticeably quicker and lighter on his feet compared to last year, with significantly more energy. So he can hang in there at least.

Beniers will make the team much better himself. He already looks like a high end first line talent, and I don't mean long term, I mean now. Bjorkstrand helps a lot. They could improve a lot and still not clear 80 pts. I just hope they're more fun to watch. Last year was tough. If I had to pick a number it would be just shy of 80 pts.

Can any team in the Pacific compete with their forward depth if Berniers takes off and Wright can be a 50 pt 2/3 C?

Edmonton, Calgary and Vegas obviously have the better top six groups, but their top nine and especially top twelve falls off hard.

Seattle would have Berniers Wright Gourde Wennberg down the gut and then six 20 goal 50 pt wingers.

Obviously won't matter if Grubs sucks ass again.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

will wright even make it to the opening day roster?

 

[Artorius Horus T]

last off season I insisted the Panthers had the best roster on paper in the league. they won the president's trophy.

this year, I look at Seattle and I see the deepest forward group in the West. IF Shane Wright can be an impact player. (50ish pts)

Burakovsky - Berniers - Bjorkstand
Schwartz - Wright - Eberle
McCann - Gourde - Donskoi
Tanev - Wennberg - Geekie

The defense is a little weaker, but if you look outside of Colorado and Calgary the West isn't exactly a powerhouse on the blue line so..

Dunn - Larsson
Oleksiak - Schultz
Soucy - Borgen

Grubs
Jones

Grubauer had a somewhat rough first season in Colorado. I see him turning it around this year with Seattle.

What do you guys think?

Gourde scored 50 points with 21 goals as the Kraken 1C
and all of the sudden gets pushed to 3C by 2 rookies?,

Gourde, who is also making 5+ million dollars a year...

0% chance

Gourde stays as 1C, Beniers might be 2C, might be,
but 3C in the beginning of the season is my guess

If Wright makes it to the Kraken line up, good for him.

 

[majormajor]

Can any team in the Pacific compete with their forward depth if Berniers takes off and Wright can be a 50 pt 2/3 C?

Edmonton, Calgary and Vegas obviously have the better top six groups, but their top nine and especially top twelve falls off hard.

Seattle would have Berniers Wright Gourde Wennberg down the gut and then six 20 goal 50 pt wingers.

Obviously won't matter if Grubs sucks ass again.

They have a bunch of guys like McCann, Gourde, Schwartz, Burakovsky, Donato, Eberle that could score 50 pts (last year only one Kraken did) but only if they're getting the plum minutes and top PP time. That's sort of the problem with building a team full of middle-sixers, a lot of the guys will just have to fall into lower lineup roles where they can't score much. I really only expect Bjorkstrand and Beniers to top 50 and then probably one or two more.

Can any team hang with them? I'd say with Hakstol at the helm to not expect big things. I saw Tortorella squeeze 108 pts out of a team with comparable 4-line talent (with a little help from Bobrovsky) but Hak has never had them rolling.

Gourde scored 50 points with 21 goals as the Kraken 1C
and all of the sudden gets pushed to 3C by 2 rookies?,

Gourde, who is also making 5+ million dollars a year...

0% chance

Gourde stays as 1C, Beniers might be 2C, might be,
but 3C in the beginning of the season is my guess

If Wright makes it to the Kraken line up, good for him.

Beniers is definitely 1C. Gourde is definitely 2C. Wright might get a sheltered minutes role, but I would lean against him playing more than 9 games. I get the respect you're putting on Gourde but that also just tells me you haven't been watching as much Beniers. He's by far the best player on the ice.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Can any team in the Pacific compete with their forward depth if Berniers takes off and Wright can be a 50 pt 2/3 C?

Edmonton, Calgary and Vegas obviously have the better top six groups, but their top nine and especially top twelve falls off hard.

Seattle would have Berniers Wright Gourde Wennberg down the gut and then six 20 goal 50 pt wingers.

Obviously won't matter if Grubs sucks ass again.

When was the last team that did well relying more on depth but no high end producers? Having a handful of 50 point forwards is all well and good to hover in the 80-90 point range, but the top teams are usually put over the top by having one or two actual elite talents.

 

[majormajor]

When was the last team that did well relying more on depth but no high end producers? Having a handful of 50 point forwards is all well and good to hover in the 80-90 point range, but the top teams are usually put over the top by having one or two actual elite talents.

I just referenced the 2016-17 Jackets, which also brings to mind the Wild team that year. 108 pts and 106 pts respectively. The top scorers were Cam Atkinson for the Jackets and Granlund for the Wild.

It certainly can happen. It's just not a predictable thing like it is with teams that have elite players.

 

[Gurglesons]

When was the last team that did well relying more on depth but no high end producers? Having a handful of 50 point forwards is all well and good to hover in the 80-90 point range, but the top teams are usually put over the top by having one or two actual elite talents.

St Louis last year.

Granted they got 70-80 out of a couple guys.

 

[Deas]

Some are still sleeping on Nashville's depth both at forward and on D?

And Vegas don't have good forward depth some say. This is a possible top 9:

Stephenson - Eichel - Stone
Smith - Karlsson - Marchessault
Manninen/Brisson - Roy - Kessel

I have also noticed Seattle's nice forward depth, so I agree with the OP to some extent but do rank it clearly lower.

Hoping for some tighter standings this year though. On paper I only see Arizona, Chicago, San Jose and Anaheim as clearly weaker than the middle tier teams. Seattle, Montreal and the Flyers for example should win some games.

 

[Super Cake]

Berniers looks like he's bout to win a Calder.

Wright looks NHL ready.

Better put down those bets boys.

You really saying htis after 2 preseason games?

 

[Gurglesons]

You really saying this after 2 preseason games?

Berniers was amazing for Seattle in his 10 games last year and has been absolute lights out for awhile now.

Wright for some reason fell out of favor at the draft but has been locked in as the next Tavares type 1st overall for years.

No.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Berniers was amazing for Seattle in his 10 games last year and has been absolute lights out for awhile now.

Wright for some reason fell out of favor at the draft but has been locked in as the next Tavares type 1st overall for years.

No.

Tavares had more goals in a single pre-draft OHL season than Wright had in his entire Jr career.