Kraken vs Stars PREVIEW: Season of the Tanevs

The Need To Knows

• The Time: 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET
• The Place: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
• Where to Watch: ROOT Sports NW+, Bally Sports SW, ESPN+ (for out-of-market)
• Where to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM
• An Opposing Viewpoint: Defending Big D

Know Your Enemy

The last time the Kraken faced down the Dallas Stars, it was December 18. Since then, the Stars have continued to bolster their way to proving that they could be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. Prior to the trade deadline, they traded for defenseman Chris Tanev (who I sung the praises of in a previous preview piece about the Calgary Flames) for absolute peanuts. Like, Ron Francis has done his magic in allowing the Kraken to get players like Eeli Tolvanen, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Tomáš Tatar for barely anything, but the magic that Jim Nill pulled off in order to get Tanev for only two draft picks (and neither of them a first rounder) and a prospect that wasn’t one of their top guys while also asking another team to retain 50% salary is sheer highway robbery. I’d respect it more if I wasn’t, personally, still bitter about the Stars eliminating the Kraken from the playoffs last season. However, this just means that we all get to sit back and watch another Battle of the Tanevs with a team that actually has more rivalry potential at this point. (Also, if anyone thought an ex-Flame was fraternizing with his old enemy in the Oilers, no, Noah Kahan just looks like Chris Tanev. It’s an easy mistake.)

Beyond this, the Stars didn’t feel the need to make more trade deadline moves. It makes sense. The biggest issue they faced going into the final playoff push was defense, and they managed to nab the top defenseman on the market. They have a stacked roster, with a 20-year-old Wyatt Johnston leading the team with 28 goals, Jason Robertson leading with 76 points, Matt Duchene turning out to have been a pretty good off-season acquisition with 62 points, Joe Pavelski being 39 years old and also at 62 points…and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface in terms of the talent of this Dallas Stars roster. Not only do they lead the entire Western Conference right now, they are the first team in the West to have clinched a playoff spot.

The Dallas Stars are absolutely primed and ready for whatever the playoffs are going to bring their way.

Game Preview

The Seattle Kraken have finally been winning some games. Both wins have come from the same opponent, the Anaheim Ducks, but hey, you gotta start somewhere!

However, the Dallas Stars are absolutely not the Ducks.

Now, part of the success over the past couple of games has been watching Matty Beniers get back into the form we were hoping from him at the start of the year. It’s taken some getting used to seeing him on a line that doesn’t include Jordan Eberle (“I see a 10 on the ice…where is number 7?”), but the recent line shuffling that’s been happening seems to have provided some benefit from the Kraken. After a three-point effort from Beniers in the first game against the Ducks, he provided a power play goal in the second game to help seal the victory for the Kraken. One of the biggest things I’ve wanted to see from the Kraken, regardless of standings, is for Beniers to regain some of the playmaking and scoring ability he had shown in his rookie season. It might feel bittersweet to see it now. No, the Kraken aren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention yet, but it feels all but inevitable now. Yet, if the Kraken aren’t going to have any more meaningful games down the stretch, it’s up for the individual players to make it be meaningful.

Could Beniers and his newfound linemates in Eeli Tolvanen and Oliver Bjorkstrand make things interesting for the Stars? Who knows! But at the risk of sounding like a pessimist, it’s hard not to consider the sheer gap in talent between the Ducks and the Stars. If this were last year’s Kraken, they could absolutely hang with Dallas. This year, though, has me afraid that it could be a return to Seattle’s losing ways.

Hey, at least we all get to watch Brandon vs Chris Tanev! Also, if the game does take a turn for the worst, Mariners baseball is officially back! Just ask their most recent honorary first pitch invitee, Joey Daccord.