What a Gourde Line!

When you dig into what made the 2022-23 Kraken so successful, you have to go all the way back to last summer. First, general manager Ron Francis made key additions in the off-season including a trade for Oliver Bjorkstrand. He added pieces throughout the season including waiver wire pickup Eeli Tolvanen. And then given those building blocks, Dave Hakstol and his staff constructed a lineup that gave players stability while maximizing each one's individual contributions.

One of those combinations was the forward line of Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Eeli Tolvanen - a trio that took on some of the biggest challenges in the league and thrived arguably as the best "third line" in the league.

To look at each player individually, putting them together isn't a concept that might immediately jump off the page. Gourde's signature grit and tenacity all over the ice combined with two players like Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand whose calling cards seemed to be more offensive skill.

But these players together were able to reveal a lot more within each of them. Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand can certainly score (all three players on this line were top ten among Kraken players in even strength points per 60), but each had built impressive defensive resumes as well.

Before joining the Kraken both Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand were reducing opponents' attack by double-digit percentages. Add in the talents of a player like Gourde and as a result, of the 40 forward lines that played at least 300 minutes together last season, this Kraken line had the twelfth best shot quality suppression in the league.

"I feel like (we were) a good mix of grittiness from Gourdo and then Bjorky being a shooter," Tolvanen said. "I feel like we had the same mindset: playing simple and taking care of the D zone. I think that was the biggest key. I think we played really good defensively and that's why we got lucky in offense."

But playing defensively didn't just mean only shutting down opponents. Of 918 skaters to play in the NHL last season, only one team had four skaters in the top 15 when it came to having more takeaways than giveaways. Two of them (Bjorkstrand, plus-31 and Gourde, plus-26) were on this line.

The three had the ability to stop another team's offense, gain possession, and then move the puck north and create scoring opportunities. Of the 74 lines that played 200 or more minutes together this year, the Gourde line ranked seventeenth in goals for.

Bjorkstrand had already seen quite a bit of playing time with Gourde, but when Tolvanen first took to the ice on Jan. 1, this line combination was born. The Dane says he saw the newest Kraken at the time was hungry and wanted to make an impression. He grabbed the opportunity he had in joining the lineup - that helped Bjorkstrand and Gourde and they helped Tolvanen in return.

"I think the coaches saw that chemistry right off the bat and that's why the line was pretty much aligned the rest of the season," Bjorkstrand said. "We found a way to play and be comfortable playing our way and have success. It was good chemistry on and off ice, honestly. Most importantly, I felt like our communication within the line was really good. And for most of the time, we're just really on the same page, which is huge."

And that might be the biggest key of all as to why this line was as impactful as it was. As the trio that played the second most minutes of any Kraken line this season (384.4), you'd often seen them talking with one another - a signature trait Gourde brings to his game and to his teammates. They'd work through scenarios on the ice - what was driving results, how to improve on the next play, or how to take on some of the toughest competition in the league which was often their matchup.

"I think all three of us, we work hard, we play a simple game," Gourde said. "One of the best parts about the three of us was communication. I thought we communicated very well. On and off the ice. After each game, we had a meeting the next day, talking about how we played, watching video, trying to get better as a group.

"That's what the season is about - trying to get better every single day and trying to find the rhythm and I thought we did a great job at doing that. We became faster and more predictable (to one another) because of all the work we put in all season."