The Seattle Kraken offense is having a hard enough time getting shots ON goal, let alone IN goal.
Despite what the ad slogan says, it’s entirely possible for NOTHING to happen in Las Vegas. Those who watched the middle period of Saturday’s 6-2 Kraken loss to the Golden Knights already know. It was brought to you by the letter “Z.” As in, Zzzzzzzzzz. As in a snoozefest, hockey’s version of a sedative.
During a more than nine-minute stretch of the 2nd period, Seattle didn’t have even one shot on goal. To be fair, this overlapped a nine-minute segment in which Vegas failed to register a single shot on goal. That’s (not) entertainment!
Seattle did score two power play goals Saturday, by Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz. But that means the Kraken recorded zero scores and a meager 19 shots while playing 5-on-5. This represents a disturbing trend during their current five-game losing streak. Versus Tampa Bay Dec. 14, zero even strength goals on 17 shots; vs. Ottawa Dec. 17, zero/19; vs. Chicago Dec. 19, one/25; vs. Colorado Sunday, two/19.
That, friends, averages out to 0.6 goals per game and 19.8 shots per game at 5-on-5 over the last five, all regulation losses. A giant lump of coal in the Kraken stocking.
Trade Verdict: ‘Seattle Made Out Like A Bandit’
For Kraken fans looking for reasons to feel positive, Kaapo Kakko scored his first goal in a Seattle sweater Sunday against the Avalanche.
Add Hannah Kirkell of The Sporting News to the list of hockey analysts impressed with GM Ron Francis’ purloining of Kakko from the New York Rangers last week.
“Seattle made out like a bandit here. Sure, Kakko hasn’t yet lived up to the lofty expectations that come with being a highly drafted player, but the Kraken acquired him for peanuts. Even though Kakko didn’t bring the offensive production that New York clearly wanted from him, he has a strong defensive game. He’s young, fast, and will likely fit in well in Seattle. Kakko wasn’t scoring goals. So what? He was far from New York’s biggest issue.”
First Things First
It’s already impressive that Kaapo Kakko can spell his full name of ten letters using just four different ones; four “K’s,” three “A’s,” two “O’s,” and one “P.” Now consider that Kakko becomes the 10th skater on the 2024-25 Seattle roster to have been selected in the 1st round of an NHL Draft.
Here’s the list. Note that two towering defensemen on the Seattle blueline, “Big Cat” Adam Larsson and “Big Rig” Jamie Oleksiak, went ten picks apart in the front half of the 1st round in 2011.
- Jordan Eberle, 2008, #22 overall by Edmonton
- Jaden Schwartz, 2010, #14 overall by St. Louis
- Adam Larsson, 2011, #4 overall by New Jersey
- Jamie Oleksiak, 2011, #14 overall by Dallas
- Andre Burakovsky, 2013, #23 overall by Washington
- Jared McCann, 2014, #24 overall by Vancouver
- Eeli Tolvanen, 2017, #30 overall by Nashville
- Kaapo Kakko, 2019, #2 overall by N.Y. Rangers
- Matty Beniers, 2021, #2 overall by Seattle
- Shane Wright, 2022, #4 overall by Seattle
Their Cups Runneth Over
Also of note, Seattle’s roster includes eight players who are Stanley Cup champions, but just two are on that list of 1st-rounders: Schwartz (Blues, 2019) and Burakovsky (Avalanche, 2022 & Capitals, 2018).
The others are Josh Mahura and Brandon Montour (Panthers, 2024), Chandler Stephenson (Golden Knights, 2023 & Capitals, 2018), Vince Dunn (Blues, 2019) , Yanni Gourde (Lightning, 2020 & 2021), and Philipp Grubauer (Capitals, 2018).
Kraken Prospect Helps Denmark Return To World Juniors (In One Year)
Speaking of draft picks, 2023 2nd round choice Oscar Fisker Molgaard earlier this month helped his native Denmark qualify for the 2026 World Junior Championship tournament. Too bad that by that time, Molgaard, who turns 20 in February, will be too old to participate.
On Dec. 15 in Slovenia, Molgaard opened the scoring with a power play one-timer in the final of a qualifying tournament Denmark won 5-4 over Austria. I wrote about Molgaard this past summer after he signed an entry-level contract with Seattle.
By the way, the 2025 IIHF Junior World Championship opens play in host city Ottawa this Thursday, Dec. 26. The 2026 tourney one year from now, with Denmark but without Oscar, is being hosted primarily at Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild.
KHN’s Festerling Was Going To Talk Hockey Anyway
Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
New Kraken Hockey Network studio analyst Brett Festerling, an 88-game NHL player with Anaheim and Winnipeg, wants fans to have as much fun listening as he’s having talking.
“It’s been a nice reintroduction back into hockey, to follow it and still be around the game and be able to talk again,” Festerling was quoted by Coast Mountain News. “One of the biggest things you miss when you leave is just being able to talk hockey with like-minded because that’s what you do, you sit in the locker room and you talk about hockey and then you go play it.”
Festerling is well acquainted with Washington State, having played multiple WHL seasons both in Kennewick for the Tri-City Americans and north of the border for the Vancouver Giants. He’ll try to appeal to both hard-core and casual hockey viewers.
“Especially for a Seattle Kraken fan that maybe doesn’t have the history that maybe a typical Canadian fan would have, just explaining what’s going on and showing it on the broadcast so they can understand it. But then also it’s part of entertainment, trying to have fun with the analysts and discuss the team.”