The Seattle Kraken’s hopes of getting back to the playoffs are fading.
With the NHL at its two-week break of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Kraken (24-29-4) find themselves 11 points out of a playoff spot with four more non-playoff teams in front of them and just 25 games to go. Furthermore, Seattle has the second-toughest remaining strength of schedule this season, per Tankathon.
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There is some good news for the Kraken, though, as they could get team captain Jordan Eberle back soon. The right winger has been out since mid-November with a pelvis injury and was assigned the team’s AHL affiliate Coachella Valley on a conditioning loan last Wednesday. But even if Eberle returns soon, the odds are stacked against them.
During a conversation with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, ESPN NHL insider Greg Wyshynski shared why he feels the franchise is hitting a critical point and has some hard choices to make in the near future.
“I just feel like we’re at a crossroads with the franchise right now,” Wyshyniski said. “Some of the players that were there through the expansion draft, some of the early free agents, they’re all after the season kind of heading towards the last years of their contracts with the team.
“And then you start to look at where the Kraken are in the standings and what the trajectory of the team is and what the roster looks like, and you start to have to really make some tough decisions on some familiar players because, obviously, it’s not progressing forward the way it should be at this point.”
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With the Kraken being at the type of crossroads Wyshynski described, they’re tasked with identifying who on the roster they can build a winning team around. Bump and Stacy producer Curtis Rogers asked if those type of pieces are currently on the roster.
“I think Matty Beniers is obviously someone that’s going to be here for a really long time, but you ask around the league and they see him probably cast better as a second-line center behind a real star on the top line,” Wyshynski said of the 2021 No. 2 overall pick. “It doesn’t mean he’s not great. It doesn’t mean he won’t eventually help you win, but it does remind me of the criticism that came to say a player like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the Edmonton Oilers for a long time.
“(Hopkins was) drafted highly (and) was never a superstar, but when it came around to the Oilers becoming a contender, he was an extremely valuable glue guy in the lineup – and I kind of see (Beniers) in the same way.”
Wyshynski also mentioned center Shane Wright’s recent improvement as a positive sign and noted veteran defenseman Adam Larsson and Brandon Montour as two pieces that should be around for a while.
“But as far as what the 25-and-under group’s going to look like (in two or three years), I couldn’t tell you,” Wyshynski said.
Hear the full conversation about the Seattle Kraken with insider Greg Wyshynski at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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