{"id":346994,"date":"2025-12-09T22:45:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/346994\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T22:45:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:45:36","slug":"monday-musings-is-this-the-bottom-for-the-seattle-kraken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/346994\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Musings: Is this the bottom for the Seattle Kraken?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going into Saturday night\u2019s game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Seattle Kraken were riding a four-game losing streak, capped by an embarrassing 9\u20134 drubbing<\/a> by the Edmonton Oilers just two nights earlier. The team had been sliding down the Pacific Division standings, and it felt like one of those \u201cmust-win\u201d games to stop the bleeding, at least temporarily. As you probably know by now, the Kraken came up short again, dropping another one in regulation despite a mostly solid effort.<\/p>\n

They now sit sixth in the Pacific after being as high as second just two weeks ago. It feels like the team is in a full-on death spiral and drifting toward irrelevance again. But is it really that dire? No, not quite. If you\u2019re in \u201cmust-win\u201d territory in December, the problems run deeper than standings position. <\/p>\n

When you sort the division<\/a> by point percentage, the Kraken are actually fourth, and they\u2019ve played the fewest games in the league. Is there reason for concern? Absolutely. But if you\u2019d offered this position in the standings before the season started, most fans probably would\u2019ve signed up for it on the spot.<\/p>\n

The real anchor this week was that Oilers game, giving up nine goals, including four on the power play. That set a franchise record for most goals allowed in a single outing, and if not for a last-second Jani Nyman tally, it would\u2019ve matched their worst-ever goal differential too. If you could magically erase that one from memory, the narrative around this losing streak would look a little different.<\/p>\n

A sign of some offense?<\/p>\n

For as rough as the week felt, the Kraken did show some signs of life offensively. Seven goals in two games isn\u2019t exactly fireworks, but compare that to the two goals they mustered over the previous three games. Their 74 and 77 shot attempts against the Oilers and Red Wings, respectively, are actually their top two totals of the season.<\/p>\n

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Vince Dunn summed things up well when he talked to Piper Shaw<\/a> after the 4\u20133 loss to Detroit: \u201cI think we\u2019re finally fixing the things that we weren\u2019t doing so well, and then now we\u2019re maybe slipping a little bit with the things that we were doing so well. So it\u2019s about balance right now and battling through the adversity that we\u2019re going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s only a two-game sample, so we can\u2019t exactly call it a trend. But in a week where silver linings were scarce, the uptick in shot volume does stand out. If they can pair that with the defensive structure we saw early in the season, maybe they can pull themselves out of this skid.<\/p>\n

Face-off possession challenges<\/p>\n

Face-offs continue to be an issue for the Kraken, and more specifically, what happens after the actual draw. The league doesn\u2019t publicly track post-face-off possession, so I usually use shot attempts within 10 seconds of a face-off as a proxy. By that measure, Seattle ranks 28th in the NHL with 6.7 face-off shot attempts per game, and they sit 26th in allowing face-off attempts against. Not ideal.<\/p>\n

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I am not sure if anyone caught it but several times in the Detroit game Kraken head coach Lane Lambert sent out Freddy Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson together for a face-off to increase their chances of possession and to have a true center available in case the first one got booted out of the circle. <\/p>\n

Other musings<\/p>\n

Seattle scored two rebound goals in that same game, giving them 10 on the season, which is tied for eighth in the league. That\u2019s one of the perks of actually getting pucks to the net.<\/p>\n

The Kraken are the only team in the Pacific Division that hasn\u2019t scored six or more goals in a game this season, something they did 10 times last year.<\/p>\n

With Freddy Gaudreau scoring on Thursday, Berkly Catton is now the lone forward on the roster without a goal. The good news: he\u2019s generated more shot attempts in his last five games than in any other five-game stretch this season. The bad news, though, is that the team announced he will miss a week with an upper-body injury<\/a>. We believe the injury came on his third-period shot block against the Red Wings.<\/p>\n

Catton will not be loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship this month. The Jaden Schwartz injury seems to have shifted the calculus there, and plus, Catton is now injured. <\/p>\n

Speaking of Schwartz\u2026 I\u2019ll probably keep saying this for the next month, but the Kraken really miss him, especially on the power play.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a hot topic on this site and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, but the penalty kill has been rough lately. Here\u2019s a look at the numbers over the last 10 games.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s been a lot of chatter about Shane Wright\u2019s ice time. What I do know is that it\u2019s not as simple as \u201cjust play him more.\u201d My hunch is that Lambert doesn\u2019t fully trust Wright in face-off situations, and with the Kraken killing penalties more often lately, that matters. That\u2019s speculation, sure\u2014but it\u2019s rooted in the data.<\/p>\n

On the topic of uneducated ranting, I\u2019m a little surprised Philipp Grubauer hasn\u2019t gotten a start recently (he will start Monday against Minnesota). Joey Daccord has had more than a couple games where he hasn\u2019t looked particularly sharp, and it probably wouldn\u2019t hurt to give him a breather. Grubauer has looked good enough to at least get a turn in the net.<\/p>\n

I really love Adam Larsson goals.<\/p>\n

29 \u27a1\ufe0f 6 \u27a1\ufe0f \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n

and with the assist on Adam Larsson\u2019s goal, Vince Dunn has officially tallied his 300th @NHL<\/a> point! Congrats, Dunner \ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/vA6REEB6Ko<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The Kraken haven\u2019t scored the first goal in five straight games\u2014and they\u2019ve lost all five.<\/p>\n

After a slow start to the season, the Coachella Valley Firebirds have turned things around, going 7-2-1 over their last 10. As is usually the case in the AHL, the scoring is coming from a mix of vets and young prospects. Jagger Firkus has 11 goals in 21 games, and Ben Meyers has nine in just 11.<\/p>\n

Congrats to 2025 first-round pick Jake O\u2019Brien on being invited to Canada\u2019s World Junior camp. O\u2019Brien leads the OHL with 45 points this season.<\/p>\n

Goal of the week<\/p>\n

Seattle\u2019s 2022 sixth-round pick, Barrett Hall, scored a slick shorthanded goal against North Dakota over the weekend. He\u2019s now up to seven goals halfway through the season, already matching his total from 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n

What a play by @BarrettHall11<\/a>! \ud83e\udd2f#SCTop10<\/a> | #HuskyHockey<\/a> \ud83c\udfd2 pic.twitter.com\/9ehwPNjcKW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Cloud State Men\u2019s Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_MH) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Player performances<\/p>\n

Ben Meyers (CVF\/SEA) \u2013 Meyers had four points in three games this week and has picked up at least one point in every game he\u2019s played for Coachella Valley this season.<\/p>\n

Semyon Vyazovoi (SYU\/SEA) \u2013 The Kraken\u2019s sixth-round pick from 2021 posted a .913 save percentage over three games for Salavat Yulaev in the KHL last week. He has the eighth-best save percentage in the league right now and is expected to come to North America next season.<\/p>\n

Jesse Heslop (EVT) \u2013 The Everett winger put up four points in three games this past week and is riding a seven-game point streak.<\/p>\n

The week ahead<\/p>\n

After back-to-back two-game weeks, things are about to get a lot busier with four games this week and nine in a 16-day stretch. By the time we hit the Christmas break, we should have a much clearer sense of what this team actually is.<\/p>\n

Seattle faces Minnesota (Monday at home), Los Angeles (Wednesday at home), Utah (Friday in Utah), and Buffalo (Sunday at home). I\u2019m not taking anyone lightly these days, so \u201ceasy outs\u201d don\u2019t exist. The Kraken have been better at home this season, though, so with three home dates, you\u2019d hope they can snap the losing streak sooner rather than later\u2014preferably before Sunday rolls around.<\/p>\n

Minnesota is 7-2-1 in its last 10, but those two losses came in their most recent games against Calgary and Vancouver, so maybe they\u2019re not quite the buzzsaw they looked like a week ago. Still, nothing is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happens Monday, getting a regulation win over LA on Wednesday would be huge. The Kings enter the week five points ahead of Seattle but have played two more games. The two teams are also among the lowest-scoring clubs in the league. I\u2019m told someone has to score to win, so something needs to give\u2026 or maybe not<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Utah sits ahead of Seattle as well, holding the last wild card spot with 31 points\u2014three more than the Kraken\u2014but they\u2019ve also played four extra games, so that cushion is a bit inflated. What could go wrong in Utah<\/a>?<\/p>\n

As for Buffalo\u2026 I genuinely don\u2019t want to imagine losing that one, but we\u2019ve all lived through a \u201cno way they lose this<\/a>\u201d meltdown before, so let\u2019s just not tempt fate. The Sabres are one of the worst teams in the league, but they\u2019ve actually won five of their last 10, which\u2014sadly\u2014is one point better than Seattle over that stretch.<\/p>\n

At this point, I\u2019d be content with four out of eight points this week. That won\u2019t move them in the standings, but it at least keeps them in the fight. I\u2019ll be popping champagne if they find a way to grab six. And no matter what the results are, I really hope they can figure out the penalty kill. One kill in your last eight is, without exaggeration, a disaster.<\/p>\n

What say you? Any predictions for the week?<\/p>\n

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