Kraken Fourth Line Has Been A Difference Maker 

Back when the Kraken first drafted Jacob Melanson, about the only thing anyone wanted to know was whether the young forward was related to a popular longtime former NHL backup goalie and Stanley Cup winner with the same surname and Canadian Maritimes heritage.

That’s because fifth round picks typically don’t inspire queries beyond the superficial, given they aren’t expected to contribute much at the NHL level. By the way, the answer to the above question is there are zero known family ties to former New York Islanders backup Roland “Rollie the Goalie” Melanson, despite the three-time Cup winner’s New Brunswick birthplace being only a few fish tosses away from the Kraken forward’s Nova Scotia roots.

“I get that one a lot, but no,” Melanson insisted with a laugh.

But as to relevant NHL contributions, Kraken draftee Melanson is changing some opinions about his fifth-round lineage. After making his NHL debut the final game of last season, the Kraken winger’s first 10 contests of this campaign have seen the team not-so-coincidentally post a 6-3-1 record as its fourth line comprised of Melanson, Ben Meyers and a combination of Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton sets the tone with a fast-paced, chaos inducing forecheck on offense.

The fourth trio has been so effective at shutting down top opponents and setting up ensuing Kraken lines for success that head coach Lane Lambert named Melanson, Meyers and Winterton as Thursday night’s starting unit against Nashville.

“That line has been very responsible, very good,” Lambert said postgame after the Kraken beat the Predators to extend what’s now become a season-changing seven-game points streak. “They started the game tonight. And with these games that we have coming up and the number of games that we’ve all talked about in January, we’re going to have to have everybody (contributing quality minutes). And I thought our minutes were fairly well distributed tonight.”

Lambert was referring to the Kraken playing a league-record-tying 17 games in a single month, spaced over 31 January days. They are now 2-0-0 two games into that, courtesy of a 4-3 shootout win in Vancouver on Friday night that completed the team’s second victory the last three tries on the tail-end of back-to-back contests.

They’ll have another back-to-back this week on Monday in Calgary and then at home facing Boston the following night.

And their fourth line, just as when facing Nashville and Vancouver, will be expected to play a key role.

The Kraken always expected bigger things out of winger Winterton, taken in the same 2021 draft as Melanson only two rounds higher in what was seen as a bargain at the time. Many had felt him a possible second round selection ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting his junior hockey development.

As for fourth line center Meyers, he’d been up and down with the Kraken before without generating anything as eye-catching as what’s now taking place. And Kartye had been a fourth line regular the past two seasons but without the unit enjoying the degree of success it has this time around.

But the addition of Melanson has seemingly been the catalyst that’s elevated this fourth line in a way the Kraken haven’t seen since their playoff campaign three years ago. He’s a ball of energy that admittedly hits everything in sight. His first game up with the Kraken three weeks ago, he registered four hits in the first period alone – more than all but one player on either team managed the entire game.

“Yeah, the way I play, I play physical and I bring energy,” Melanson said at the time. “And the easiest way to get into it is to get that first big hit. I felt much better than that.”

This current fourth line unit isn’t as productive in goal-scoring as that prior playoff trio from 2022-23. But it’s better versed on the traditional defensive and forechecking roles expected from a fourth line.

And still, they do generate their share of offense for a Kraken team that needs it a lot more than the prior high-scoring squad of three years ago.

Melanson has an assist in each of the last three games for his first three NHL points. One of those was on a Meyers goal Friday night against the Canucks in which Winterton drew the primary assist. Two nights ago, against Nashville, Melanson and Winterton did some hard forechecking work behind the net to set up Jamie Oleksiak for what turned out to be the winning goal.

And last Monday against the Canucks, it was Melanson streaking down the left side, outflanking a defender and setting up Winterton for a goal at the net front.

“I had a feeling it was coming across,” Winterton said. “Just some good speed by (Melanson). Great vision to see me. I kind of saw their D get tangled up a little bit there and thought we had a break. And I was lucky enough to get it.”

Considering the Kraken scored just eight goals on actual goalies in those three games – they got another via an empty net Thursday and were credited with one for winning Friday’s shootout round – those weren’t just three incidental fourth line contributions.

Still, the trio knows what its main role is.

“I mean, we’re just trying to play the right way,” Melanson said. “Trying to play physical, getting pucks in deep and trying to set up the next lines to come. It’s not about us getting the goals out there. It’s about us setting up the top lines to be able to have offensive zone draws and bringing energy for them.”

Melanson has 41 hits for the Kraken in only 10 games. That’s already three more than the since-traded Mason Marchment, reputed for his net front work and grinding style of game, had in 38 contests. It was Marchment falling ill Dec. 14 that got Melanson into the Kraken lineup in the first place as he hasn’t looked back since.

The Melanson hit total is now fifth highest on the team despite having played only a quarter of the games of the four players in front of him. But it isn’t a matter of his being a runaway freight train. What’s made the fourth line increasingly valuable is their ability to control the chaos they dish out without causing it to leave them out of position and vulnerable to opposition counterattacks.

“They’ve impacted the game lately…they’re responsible, they’re quick and they’re physical,” Lambert said, before adding: “They create energy for our hockey team. And they do it responsibly.”

Well enough for the Kraken to occupy the first Western Conference wild-card position nearly halfway through a season in which they hope to repeat a spring playoff scenario from the last time their fourth line was this impactful.