2023-24 NHL Season Preview: Seattle Kraken Edition

Grav joins SDPN to preview the 2023-24 season from a Seattle Kraken perspective

Stay tuned for Grav to preview EVERY SINGLE TEAM through the month of August.

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[krakenhockey]

Joey Daccord will be the backup not Driedger.

[cnash]

Seattle Kraken legend Joonas Korpisalo

[kolebowyer]

There are still a few players in the AHL that could be brought up this year still. Ryker Evans, Shane Wright, and Tye Kartye. I don't think this lineup will be solidified until after the training camp and preseason. They'll definitely want Shane Wright to play with a veteran Center to get the insight to take the steps he needs. Just my opinion.

Also, Joey Daccord will be the backup. He should have been mentioned.

[jfreezee]

That Gourde, Tolvanen, Bjorkstrand line tho. 😮😮😮

[theaquanova]

Also one thing I would like to point out is Seattle played the entire second half of the season and playoffs without Burakovsky, who at that point was their leading scorer. I could see them even improving in the standings just from having him back for a full season

[pahul]

Ron Francis has built this team in a great way. They are loaded with tons of depth on forwsrd, high draftpick centers in wright and beners and a star defender in Vince Dunn. I would say that the only thing they are missing are another elite defender and an elite goalie and they will win a cup. Ron Francis is a fantastic gm

[anjelabug]

As a bunch of commenters have said, Joey Daccord (who played phenomenally in the Calder Cup playoffs and is a perennial fan favorite) is going to be competing HARD for that backup role. I don't think we'll know until the end of the preseason, but it won't surprise me one bit if it's Joey. He and Driedger both have a lot of energy in their style of goaltending, but Daccord works really hard at puckhandling, which is both good (he got compliments from Larsson for helping the D out with puck movement) and terrifying (Gourde said it's always a little scary having him leave the net, and he's not wrong!). I feel like we really haven't had a good view of Driedger, since he spent a chunk of 21-22 injured or with COVID, and then lost the entire 22-23 season to his ACL rehab; by the time he got to Coachella Valley, Daccord was on such a heater that it was hard to work Driedger in for games. Watching the games with the CV feed is great for goalie evaluation, since one of their analysts is Grant Fuhr, who never hesitates to give his opinion on what goalies are doing and what they can improve on.

Also agree with the other commenters who are pointing out that the roster as currently assembled is leaving a lot of opportunity open for our young players. Ryker Evans is definitely poised to start making moves toward coming up to the NHL, although it won't surprise me if he needs another year in CV. Cale Fleury has re-signed with us, and even if he spent most of last season in the press box, he slotted in really well when he finally got the opportunity for some games -- I'm sure he's itching to compete for more ice time.

We're currently in talks with the CHL and AHL to see if we can qualify Shane Wright to play in the AHL if he isn't in the NHL next season (technically he doesn't have the four years needed in the CHL, but he has one year of exceptional status, one year after that, his third year was lost to COVID when the OHL shut down, and he had 24 games last year -- he needed 25 for it to qualify as a year played). So it's extremely borderline, and Wright picked up speed in the Calder Cup Playoffs to the point where he was playing his best hockey all year in the last series -- by the time CV reached the end of the line, he was driving offense and making spectacular defensive plays. It was ridiculously fun to watch.

Tye Kartye walked into the Kraken lineup in round 1 of the playoffs last season and looked like he belonged, then went back to CV as soon as the Kraken were eliminated to help them get all the way to game 7 OT. At the end of the season I thought he was a lock to make the team, but we'll see what happens in training camp. John Hayden and Jesper Froeden were competing hard for those fill-in roles, and I like both of them, but I'm not sure they're quite there yet. Kole Lind is a more intriguing option; he didn't get called up, and I think it's because he was playing too well and he would have had to clear waivers to go back down. I'd love to see him make the team. He finished the 21-22 season on the Kraken roster, and his game has only gotten more polished since then.

[FalseNie]

Absolutely love the previews! Keep it up!

[commanderneyo]

Dude really!? Joonas Korpisalo!? You didn't even try with Donskoi's name!!! The actual hell

[Quantum-yzfc]

I think it looks like the Kraken lost more than they gained but really I think it's making room for younger players like Wright, Evans, and Kartye to move up into the NHL this year or next.

[zackbaskett]

Grav you're awesome. Always enjoy hearing your thoughts on this stuff

[lexter]

Bro, how are you guys gonna butcher Joonas Donskoi!? 😂 Joey Daccord should be the backup.

[theaquanova]

Losing soucy isn’t as big of a deal as I think grav is making it seem. He’s solid, but he did make a lot of boneheaded plays (like sucker punching Dubois in the back of the head with 20 seconds left in a game they were winning) that cost the team. Dumoulin could be solid but I also think Ryker Evans could get some time in the nhl. Last year he was a ppg in the Calder cup playoffs as a rookie defenseman

[jamesruscheinski]

team defense back in own zone after active forecheck?

[helloruan]

Every single media outlet is already doing the same thing that they did at the start and throughout last season. Writing the Kraken off and saying we aren't going to be anything special. Proved everyone wrong last season and will do it again this year.

[wakankinyan]

They have depth and their goalies are bad.

Insightful analysis from SDPN.

[ilai]

Hoping my Canucks with the improvements made can edge out Seattle for the last WC spot (IMO top 3 will be EDM, LA and VGK with SEA and VAN fighting for the WC)