The Need to Knows
- The Time: 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET
- The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA
- Where to Watch: KHN, KONG, Victory+ (Dallas market), ESPN+ (all other U.S. markets)
- Where to Listen: Kraken Audio Network on KJR 93.3
Know Your Enemy
I would like to think that all of us are pretty familiar with our enemy since, well, the Kraken just finished playing the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. But hey, it’s our article format, and maybe you don’t watch every single game and had no idea that the NHL decided to make these teams play two times in a row!
In defeating the Kraken that night, the Stars punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the previous two seasons, the Stars went all the way to the Western Conference Final, only to fall to the Edmonton Oilers last season and the Vegas Golden Knights (who then went on to win the Cup) the season prior. After going after Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline, the Stars’ front office proved that they are all-in at maximizing the current window that they’re in.
While the mindset might be that now that the Stars have punched their ticket to the playoffs, they don’t have as much to play for going into tonight’s contest. Yet, there are 6 points separating them and the Winnipeg Jets for Central Division supremacy. The Stars have played one less game than the Jets, giving them some additional potential wiggle room. It’s not the easiest feat to get those extra points to leapfrog the Jets, but securing any potential advantage in the playoffs might be crucial for a team who is clearly in Cup-or-bust mode.
Game Preview
While the Stars might be playing for seeding, the Kraken have nothing to play for standings-wise but draft lottery odds after being officially eliminated from contention on Saturday. In approaching tonight’s re-match, this where one would typically outline all the things the Kraken did wrong the last game and say, “Just don’t do that!” After all, they’re facing the same opponent as before, so they should work on figuring out how to combat what the Stars threw at them last game. However, not only is that easier said than done when facing against a talented team such as the Stars, the question is should fans want them to?
Glenn can usually be found breaking down the positioning for draft odds for us here at the site, but I feel the need to step on his toes a tad, because I feel like the issue of tanking is at the front of everyone’s minds. While the Kraken probably aren’t going to reach the infamy of San Jose or Chicago, it could still be plausible to sink so low as to pass Nashville for the 3rd worst record. However, look at how many teams sit right on the Kraken’s tail (errr…tentacles?) with only a few more points. Each Kraken win is in danger of climbing up the standings past these other teams.
What are these other teams doing, you may ask? The Sabres have won 4 of their past 5, the Flyers have been on a goal-scoring tear their past couple of games after the firing of John Tortorella, the Bruins have been deeply sinking as they’re on an 8-game losing streak, and the Penguins lost 3 of their past 5. For the person who desperately wants the Kraken’s draft lottery odds to be the best, what you want to see is the teams above the Kraken winning. Yet, that’s not something that can be easily controlled. Those teams will do what they want. What is under some form of control is how the Kraken play.
Don’t get too eager for the Kraken to start throwing matches now, though! There’s a key word I mentioned in the last paragraph: lottery. If the Kraken lose the rest of the season, they aren’t officially locked in at the fourth (or maybe even third) draft pick. No, that determines the odds as to whether they get to pick in the top 2. After the lottery takes place, then the draft order is filled in from there based on the end-of-season standings. So, yes, it could look appealing to try for the 4th-best odds at getting to draft number 1 this year. But also, there’s that chance that the ping pong balls fall in such a way that the teams getting to pick at 1 and 2 are, say, the 6th and 7th worst teams. Sure, the Kraken will still pick higher in the draft than whoever had the 8th worst record, but the point I’m making here is that it’s a bit of a crapshoot. It’s a tricky balance to hit that sweet spot where you still pick in the top 5 regardless of how the lottery plays out.
Additionally, there’s something to be said about ending a team’s season purposely saying, “Look, there’s nothing else to play for, so you might as well lose.” There’s a reason the Kraken have made call-ups of some of their young players at this time of year. It’s a time for observation. It’s a time for figuring out what needs to be done in the offseason. Even if it might seem antithetical to building for the future for the team to potentially miss out on drafting the highest it possibly can, part of building for the future also includes ensuring the team culture remains motivated and focused even in the darkest moments. If it looks like the Kraken come out of the gates tonight motivated to win a hockey game, it’s because the players themselves should never lose that spark.