{"id":442448,"date":"2026-02-03T02:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T02:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/442448\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T02:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T02:01:18","slug":"monday-musings-mccann-do-sound-of-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/442448\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Musings: McCann-do – Sound Of Hockey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kraken just played their best four games of the season. They\u2019re sitting third in the Pacific Division and only three points back of the division\u2011leading Vegas Golden Knights.<\/p>\n

I mentioned last week that they should target three out of a possible six points to stay in the mix. Well, they got all six, and the last game served as a bit of an exclamation point with a 3\u20132 regulation win over Vegas<\/a>. Head coach Lane Lambert often talks about \u201cplaying the right way,\u201d and they did it in spades this week. It was the most consistent stretch of full 60\u2011minute efforts we\u2019ve seen in any three\u2011game span this season. They started strong and had complete buy\u2011in up and down the lineup.<\/p>\n

The games against the Washington Capitals<\/a> and Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> on Tuesday and Thursday were stress\u2011free wins. They held two\u2011goal leads for long stretches, and neither opponent could muster much offense. The Kraken caught both teams at particularly vulnerable times, as they\u2019ve been sliding down the standings, but it was still nice to see Seattle take care of business, something that hasn\u2019t always been guaranteed in the past.<\/p>\n

The 2025\u201326 Kraken have put together a longer winning streak this season, but these last four games are the best they\u2019ve looked. They\u2019re scoring at a respectable rate while also playing their suffocating defensive structure, paired with the steady goaltending they\u2019ve had all year. You can chalk the Capitals and Maple Leafs games up to weakened opponents (both teams looked bad), but you can\u2019t deny how good the Kraken looked against Vegas.<\/p>\n

The Kraken are scoring. What?!?<\/p>\n

After the first two months of the season, I expected the only way this team would win was by grinding out low\u2011event hockey games. We knew Lambert was defensive\u2011minded, and if that was the path to winning, I could live with it. On top of that, the Kraken dealt with several injuries in the first half, including multiple IR stints for Jared McCann, their leading scorer in three of the last four seasons.<\/p>\n

McCann\u2019s return was the shot in the arm they needed. He has 11 goals in 19 games since coming off IR in late December, tied for sixth in the league over that span. Matty Beniers is also on a heater with 10 goals in January, a number McCann matched one game later. Beyond those two, Berkly Catton chipped in five goals, and Jordan Eberle added five of his own during the month.<\/p>\n

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The ageless wonder of Jordan Eberle<\/p>\n

Speaking of scoring, you could make a case that Jordan Eberle has been the team\u2019s most valuable player this season. He\u2019s been a steady contributor while others have missed time, and he\u2019s on pace for one of his best goal\u2011producing seasons since 2015\u201316. That\u2019s not bad for a 35\u2011year\u2011old winger coming off a brutal injury last season.<\/p>\n

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It will be interesting to see if the Kraken try to sign him to an extension before the trade deadline or take their chances on him re-signing before free agency. From everything I gather, he and his family enjoy Seattle, but you have to imagine he wants a real shot at a Stanley Cup before he retires.<\/p>\n

Strength of schedule remaining<\/p>\n

Several people sent me The Athletic\u2019s \u201cstrength of schedule remaining<\/a>,\u201d which shows the Kraken with the hardest schedule in the league. I understand how the calculation works, but it feels a little flawed and not very translatable in layman\u2019s terms. The metric hinges on a \u201cProjected Net Rating\u201d based on a bottom\u2011up model of individual player contributions. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying the model is bad or that the Kraken don\u2019t have a tough road ahead, but I will point out that Dom\u2019s current model projects the Kraken to finish with 80.8 points \u2014 which would require a .354 points percentage the rest of the way. Models are inherently wrong; the question is simply how wrong they end up being.<\/p>\n

As an alternative, I offer my own \u201cStrength of Remaining Opponents,\u201d which simply averages each opponent\u2019s points percentage. Averages can be weak when outliers skew the numbers, so I added categories to illustrate the distribution of the strength of the opponents:<\/p>\n

Top: > .600<\/p>\n

High\u2011mid: .600\u2013.550<\/p>\n

Mid\u2011low: .550\u2013.500<\/p>\n

Low: < .500<\/p>\n

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By this measure, the Kraken have a relatively manageable schedule remaining, but compared to their Pacific Division counterparts, theirs is still tougher. It\u2019s not a perfect method, and I\u2019m not sure one exists, but we\u2019ll revisit it as the season progresses.<\/p>\n

Other musings<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happens in the final two games before the break, Kraken fans should be thrilled with where the team sits. Last season, on Feb. 2, 2025, they were 10 points back of the last wild\u2011card spot.<\/p>\n

Among Pacific Division teams, the Kraken have the second\u2011best record within the division and have wins against every divisional opponent.<\/p>\n

Jared McCann scored his 200th career NHL goal on Saturday against Vegas. Given how good he\u2019s been since joining Seattle, 200 feels low, but that\u2019s because he\u2019s essentially doubled his career goal total in roughly the same number of games he played elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one area of concern right now, it\u2019s the penalty kill. The Kraken have allowed at least one power\u2011play goal in seven straight games. Their PK sits at 73.1 percent over that stretch, which is near the bottom of the league.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s win over Toronto was the Kraken\u2019s first ever against the Leafs at Climate Pledge Arena.<\/p>\n

Across the entire 2025\u201326 season, the Kraken have led by two or more goals for 310 minutes. 76 of those minutes came in the last three games; the other 234 came in the previous 51.<\/p>\n

The Kraken are second in points percentage in games against Pacific Division opponents and have two more divisional games before the break.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Seattle Torrent\u2019s Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter have been named captain and alternate captain, respectively, for the USA Olympic team.<\/p>\n

Goal of the week<\/p>\n

I love this goal so much\u2026<\/p>\n

Player performance<\/p>\n

Joey Daccord (SEA) \u2013 Posted a .933 save percentage in two of the Kraken wins this week.
Jared McCann (SEA) \u2013 Four goals and three assists in three games and named the NHL\u2019s First Star of the Week.
Semyon Vyazovoi (YUL\/SEA) \u2013 The Kraken\u2019s sixth-round selection from the 2021 NHL Draft had three wins and a .943 save percentage for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL.<\/p>\n

The week ahead<\/p>\n

Only two games remain before the Olympic break, and both are massive. On Tuesday, the Kraken face the Anaheim Ducks, who are tied with them in points. On Wednesday, they play the Los Angeles Kings, who sit one point back. These aren\u2019t must\u2011win games, but getting at least two points would be ideal \u2014 three (or four) would be huge and would lock Seattle solidly into a playoff spot heading into the break.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long ago that the Kraken were embarrassed by the Ducks for two periods in Seattle. I\u2019m eager to see what kind of response we get, especially considering how well they\u2019ve started games lately and how much more control they\u2019ve shown. The Ducks have won eight of their last 10 and have figured out how to defend.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Kings return home after a 4\u20111\u20111 road trip. Hopefully they\u2019re already mentally on break, but that might be wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

And finally\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said it before, and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll say it again: fans should be happy with where the Kraken are right now. The early\u2011season winning might have been a bit of smoke and mirrors while they dealt with injuries, but the play in January might be who this team really is \u2014 and that should be enough to get them into the playoffs. Regardless of what happens before the break, I\u2019m feeling pretty good about this group. Of course, two wins would make the next three weeks a whole lot more enjoyable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kraken just played their best four games of the season. They\u2019re sitting third in the Pacific Division…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[5,9376,20,5172,4,5888,234,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-442448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-jared-mccann","10":"tag-maple-leafs","11":"tag-mapleleafs","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-seattle-hockey-news","14":"tag-seattle-kraken","15":"tag-toronto","16":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","17":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116004238066841678","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}