Stakes Rise in Second 'Half'

The puck drops on a bonafide playoff push for the Kraken Tuesday night, facing the New York Islanders in Elmont, NY. The UBS Arena, circa late 2021, is not far from the storied Belmont racetrack where 13 horses have won the final leg of the Triple Crown since 1919.
Fittingly, the Belmont Stakes is the longest of the three races that include the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. The one-and-a-half miles is the maximum distance most any race horse will run during a career of competition.
February, March and the first 13 days of April are likely to feel lengthy for Seattle's winter team, but adrenaline no doubt will fuel their playoff push. Accordingly, fans will be living the thrill of the second-year squad traversing this stretch run and busting into the winning circle of eight teams qualifying for the Western Conference playoffs to decide who meets the Eastern Conference champs in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Kraken appear to be fortified for what's ahead. Here are triple reasons for optimism, in no particular order of prominence because any of these elements could be key to holding onto first place in the Pacific Division or making the postseason field by a top-three Pacific finish or one of the two wild-card spots.

Goaltending Tandem

Martin Jones, signed on the first day of last summer's NHL free agency period, has delivered 23 wins and a calmness that boosts the confidence of the SEA players and coaching staff alike. He has made all sorts of crucial saves to keep a game tied or lead safe with elite positioning. He's played exactly 2,000 minutes going into the unofficial second half of the season and will play a lot more in the 33 games ahead.

Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer has worked through an early-season injury and long layoff to post seven quality starts in his last nine appearances. The latest was a Jan. 28 3-1 workman-like win that Seattle will need to emulate to weather the Pacific Division storm. Coach Dave Hakstol surmised Grubauer's performance in the win was "under cover" in the victory. But the effort seals Grubauer's standing in a goalie tandem will be need as early as this week with back-to-back games Thursday in New Jersey (Devils) and Friday at Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers).
"We've quietly felt that way all year [about a dependable goalie tandem]," said Hakstol. "You know, I don't care what the outside world thinks or believes or wants to talk about. Our two guys have done a good job."

Minutes Men

Seattle clearly boasts a top defensive pairing that stands in with any twosome across the NHL. There are all sorts of ways to dissect which D-pairs are the best of the best, but there is no debating whether Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn are in that particular horse race.
Larsson is exactly the sort of minutes-crunching stalwart who always seems to be turning the foe's top forwards to the outside and, on occasion,

headed in the Kraken net. For what it's worth, division rival Edmonton, who left Larsson unprotected in the 2021 expansion draft, is in need of a defenseman just like their former blueliner.

Larsson's four goals and 19 assists are welcome, too, spotlighting the growth of his partner, Dunn, for stay-at-home defensive responsibilities. Improving Dunn's work in the Kraken and neutral zones was a key objective for both the player and his coaches (especially assistant Jay Leach) when he was the team's expansion pick from St. Louis. Mission accomplished to date and lets agree Dunn knows he can be even better at defending.
What's exciting is Dunn, whose 23:57 average time on ice is a near-second to Larsson's 24:17 and four minutes higher than any other Kraken player, is one of many Kraken players already busting through or nearing career-highs in points. He is enjoying a breakout season and likely making Blues fans thinking what-if as St. Louis jockeys its own gate to the playoffs.
For added evidence on Dunn: He was named NHL Third Star of the Month, topping all league defensemen with five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 15 January games. Dunn nearly doubled his scoring from his first 34 games of the season (4-15-19), collected points in 11 of his 15 appearances - including a career-high nine straight outings from Jan. 5 to 19 (5-8-13).

Going Deep (Into the Roster)

When GM Ron Francis and his hockey operations group set out to build a roster for the Seattle expansion franchise, their approach was squarely on building depth at all positions, especially the forwards and defensemen. Francis was looking for players who could lift the team with balanced scoring and, just like his own Hall of Fame playing days, who are willing to play hard in all zones. Last season, that group of the ideal 12 forwards played exactly two periods together all year.
This summer, the hockey operations group looked to fortify the roster and savored the return of players such as Brandon Tanev and Jaden Schwartz, plus a full season from rookie All-Star Matty Beniers. Eleven expansion draft choices are the foundation of this first-place team at break. Free-agent signee Andre Burakovsky is the team's leading scorer. Justin Schultz has proved both puck-mover and shutdown defenseman - and rivals Jones as the most important addition to the roster and on-ice lineup. Some fans might argue waiver pick-up Eeli Tolvanen (eight goals in 15 January games) belongs in that stakes race.

Eight Kraken players are already in double-digits in goals and three more are on the cusp with nine goals to date. Fourth-liner Daniel Sprong has notched 15 goals with his elite shot and pucks-on-net mentality. His 14 assists place him at seventh in Seattle scoring. He was acquired at last year's trade deadline and made the active roster this season after accepting a non-guaranteed professional tryout invitation to training camp. It's hard to imagine a successful stretch run without him and those three scorers destined to go double-dights in goals (Dunn, Tanev and Oliver Bjorkstrand, who looks poised for a boffo second half).
Depth was on the mind of Francis this week when he traded a 2023 fourth-round draft choice (the Kraken have two) for 6-foot-6, 220-pound defenseman Jaycob Megna to add an eighth defenseman to the roster. The Kraken were down to six healthy defensemen in late January with AHL call-up candidate Gustav Olofsson out with a broken foot. Megna, like Tolvanen before him, will likely need some practice and skate time to learn the Kraken systems. But he is clearly NHL-tested with 135 career games and playing first-pairing minutes for the Sharks.
Happily, the aforementioned Schultz, Schwartz and Beniers have all been skating with the team out East. We will see who is in the lineup Tuesday for what will be the restart of a promising season.