The-Season-Hasn’t-Even-Started-Yet Seattle Kraken Playoff Predictions

Same Kraken Water Bottle, Two Playoff Opinions

It’s hockey prediction season! In the Kraken water bottle half-empty camp, The Athletic’s Harman Dayal.

“The Kraken should be closer to the playoff race than they are to the bottom of the league standings this year. They’ll be competitive if they can manufacture more offense and that seems like a realistic aspiration. Colleague Dom Luszczyszyn’s model had them as the league’s seventh-most-improved team this offseason. It’s hard to see how the Kraken can become anything more than a fringe playoff team over the next three seasons, though. Seattle still lacks star power.”

Daval terms the most recent free agent signings of Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson “risky,” and previous FA deals to Philipp Grubauer, Andre Burakovsky, and Jaden Schwartz “inefficient.”

THN’s Carol Schram sees the Kraken water bottle half-full, with a return to the playoffs.

“Both recent Stanley Cup winners, Montour and Stephenson should help pump up the Kraken’s dressing-room culture and improve the pace of play on the ice. Add in new coach Dan Bylsma, a Cup-winner himself who’s coming off two strong seasons with AHL Coachella Valley, and the Kraken should be more exciting and more successful.”

Easy-To-Swallow Suggestions

Here all this time you thought you were attending hockey games at Climate Pledge Arena and perhaps ordering food.

Seattle Eater sees it a bit differently. “It’s possible to think of Climate Pledge as a really big restaurant that happens to have an ice hockey rink in the middle of it.” The article goes on to review the new and returning items prepared by the “culinary team, headed by executive chef Molly DeMers.”

Should you fancy a Mexican theme, consider combining main course nachos with tacos for dessert. Of 1st Ave. Nachos, Eater writes, “Remember when nacho cheese had the consistency of paint? Thankfully those days are over – these nachos come with Oaxaca cheese and birria.” Then, cool the burn at the Sweet Ride mobile ice cream cart. “It’s worth chasing down for the chocolate-dipped taco.” Not that any extra reasons are needed for ice cream, but it’s a tasty remedy after one’s vocal cords have been strained by cheering for too many Kraken goals.

Camp Will Be Proving Ground For Pair Of Former Kraken

Two former Kraken forwards have signed pro tryout (PTO) contracts with other teams. Kailer Yamamoto is in camp with Utah Hockey Club, formerly the Arizona Coyotes. If Kailer sticks with Utah, he might become Yeti Yamamoto. Regarding the still-unannounced club nickname, “It sounds like it’s going to be the Yeti,” forward Clayton Keller told NHL.com.

Meanwhile, the franchise with an Abominable Snowman foot for a secondary logo, the Colorado Avalanche, have invited Pierre-Edouard Bellemare for his own PTO. “Bellemare will turn 40 in March, which is ancient by hockey standards,” notes TheDNVR.com.

Whether he earns a second tour of duty in Denver will depend on if he can keep up. “Skating speed has never been a hallmark of Bellemare’s game. He got to the NHL (at age 29!) on the back of his hockey IQ and defensive acumen. That’s how he’s stayed there. Those remain the pillars of his success.”

Kraken & Baker Kneaded Each Other

Longtime Seattle Times sportswriter Geoff Baker crossed the street this summer to join the Kraken as VP of Editorial. “I think it’s a good fit,” Baker explained on KJR-FM’s Overtime podcast with Mike Benton.

“I grew up around hockey in Montreal. When I was writing for the Times, I wanted to help this sport gain a foothold in the Pacific Northwest. I have a chance now to see things from the inside, to help not just write about sports business, but to help be a part of a sports business. That’s very exciting.”

Although his employer has changed, Baker says his writing philosophy won’t. “There’s a huge story here that a lot of people don’t necessarily know about just yet. There’s there’s a lot of room to expose people to the team and to what it’s about.”

Baker still sounded like a reporter with a preseason prediction about how the Kraken will address their tight salary cap situation. “If Shane Wright makes the team, and if Ryan Winterton makes the team, then I think somebody’s getting traded before the season, because I don’t think it’s possible to keep both of them out of camp.”