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Kraken vs Flames PREVIEW: Of frostbite and bee stings

Kraken players join together in celebration after a goal, as the Flames' goalie skates away from the scene
Caean Couto-USA TODAY Sports

The Need to Knows

  • The Time: 6:00 pm PT / 9:00 pm ET
  • The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA
  • Where to Watch: KHN, KONG, ESPN+ (all other U.S. markets)
  • Where to Listen: Kraken Audio Network on KJR 93.3

Know Your Enemy

As the league gears up for the 4 Nations Faceoff, it seems as if GMs across the league have started to create a sort of pseudo trade deadline. Mikko Rantanen is now a Carolina Hurricane, whatever drama has been brewing in Vancouver has lead to JT Miller returning to the New York Rangers, and the Sharks have sent off Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars. Most relevant to tonight’s contest is that the Calgary Flames traded Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee.

As the site’s resident Philadelphian, it’s a lot easier for me to explain exactly who and what the Flames are gaining in this trade as opposed to exploring who they gave up. I’m also probably going to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about two guys who are now going to be divisional rivals of the Kraken, but these two were my personal favorite Flyers. My wordiness here is me coping through the pain.

Frost was the Flyers’ 27th overall draft pick in 2017, and Farabee followed in 2018 at 14th overall. When the two first-rounders made their pro debuts with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the start of the 2019-2020 season, Flyers fans were looking toward them as two of the most shining examples of what was supposed to be one of the deepest prospect pools in the league, and the contributions of those two rookies helped push the Flyers to a very secure playoff spot when the season abruptly ended in March 2020. They should have been staples of the franchise for years to come. Former captain Claude Giroux even said on the eve of what turned out to be his final game as a Flyer that he expected Farabee to “break all my records” with the franchise. But life has a funny way of playing out, and both players began to fall from grace.

Frost’s history with the Flyers had always been on shakier ground from the start. While Farabee really only stuck around in the AHL long enough for a cup of coffee, Frost was constantly sent up and down in his rookie season. When Frost made his comments to the Flames’ media about how he’s never played a playoff game in his career, it had jogged my memory about another detail of that rookie season. While he had been a part of the bubble squad during the 2020 playoffs, the Flyers never used him in any games. In general, though, Frost’s primary skill comes from being a playmaker. It’s his vision and his quick instincts that allow him to be truly effective when paired with wingers that can best read him. Yet, he can also get a little too fancy with it and make costly mistakes. Those tendencies mean that Frost has been a perennial favorite to sit in Coach John Tortorella’s doghouse. Granted, Tortorella has a particular way he wants players to play the game, and he’s known for a style of coaching that can’t even be called tough love because there’s not a whole lot of love in it. Still, the writing had been on the wall for years that Frost’s development was not panning out to be the top line center the team expected and needed him to be.

Farabee, however, had started off as a much stronger player for the Flyers. While it was a shortened season, in 2021, Farabee was the second-youngest player in franchise history (only beat by Eric Lindros) to be crowned as the Flyers’ overall goals leader. Even as recently as the 2023-2024 season, Farabee hit a career high of 50 points. An interesting quirk throughout Farabee’s career is that the vast majority of his points have come at 5-on-5, with power play points hard to come by for him. This season, though, he’s struggled to put his game together at all with only 8 goals and 19 total points. Yet, it’s felt more like he’s been snake-bitten as opposed to him fully losing his entire ability to play.

Flames GM Craig Conroy said that he went out and acquired Frost and Farabee to give the Flames “a boost, a shot in the arm” going into this final stretch of the playoff race. The Flames currently sit in the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with 57 points, and the third place spot in the Pacific, which is currently held by the 60-point LA Kings, doesn’t look too far out of reach either. It’s not an assured spot in the standings, as the Canucks are right behind them with 56 points, but they are in the thick of it.

It’s up to Frost and Farabee to prove whether a fresh start—a term that came up even they themselves embrace—can unlock their potentials and help keep the Flames alive in their playoff hunt. While neither of them are likely to become players capable of single-handedly moving the needle and taking over games the way a superstar would, the Flames could very well have added just enough spark with this trade to complement their existing roster to push them through to the finish line. The two of them just need to put the pieces together, with an emphasis on together.

Game Preview

While their divisional rivals are out here making moves with an eye on the playoffs, the Kraken continue to be monitoring the return of their injured players. Jordan Eberle has been seen getting in skating reps, but he’s still a long ways out from his initial recovery timeline. With Yanni Gourde, the Kraken announced on Friday that he had undergone successful sports hernia surgery and would be out another 5 to 7 weeks. As Sky wrote, the interesting wrinkle involving Gourde is that he’s also been the discussion of many trade bait rumors. The recovery timeline hits right up against the day of the trade deadline at the earliest, so the question becomes whether or not teams want to trade for someone who might not even be able to play for them for the first couple of weeks after the deadline passes.

The Kraken are coming off an electric win over the Sharks on Thursday night with two days of rest in between games. Contrast that with the Flames who played in Calgary against the Red Wings last night and had to travel into Seattle. Thanks to the back-to-back, the Kraken are unlikely to see the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January, Dustin Wolf, in net. Dan Vladar’s 3.12 goals against average and .886 save percentage are much easier fare for the Kraken to face down. Also, of what I was able to watch of last night’s game, the Flames were getting goalie’d by Cam Talbot and shooting themselves in the foot with some sloppy defensive play. Combine that with the lack of rest, and the Kraken might be in good position to see if they can put out some of the fire behind the Flames’ playoff push.

Talking Points