Kraken Must Build Off Their Holiday Reprieve

To say Christmas came early for the Kraken amounts to a dramatic understatement of an overused cliche. It wasn’t just early. More like just in time. There was enough soot building in that chimney to keep Santa and an entire platoon of elves from digging through to any tree had things spiraled another day or two.

Not that a total sweep in California this past week for the first time in Kraken history was some holiday miracle that restores our faith in humanity. Divine intervention didn’t help the Kraken defeat the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings in successive road games. The Kraken earned and deserved all three victories. It's just the timing that made them a pre-Christmas gift to Kraken fans -- and the team itself -- who now can look forward to something meaningful once the post-holiday shopping frenzy subsides.

When last week ended, many assumed the only thing the Kraken and their faithful had in store the next few months was a race to the NHL basement in hopes of winning the annual draft pick lottery. While some still hope for that, others recognize even the poorest of regular season finishes is no guarantee of landing the type of impact prospect destined to change a team's fortunes in short order.

After all, the New York Islanders drafted No. 1 last spring despite finishing with a better record than the Kraken. And the Isles spent much of last season still trying to claim a playoff spot. That's just the way the ping-pong balls bounce sometimes and why it's always preferable to maximize the present while you still can rather than dismissing it outright with a constant eye toward a future that doesn't always materialize.

The Kraken, of course, are still working toward their own future with the likes of a now-healthy Berkly Catton, as well as Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, Ryker Evans, Ryan Winterton, Jani Nyman, Jacob Melanson and other young players still developing. Throw in Kaapo Kakko, that's three first rounders drafted in the top four overall slots and four players taken in the top eight overall positions since 2019. Even better, those players beyond Catton now have the requisite early struggles out of the way and have gained seasoned NHL experience. 

But they continue to build upon that experience and their futures while playing for a Kraken team very much in the thick of playing meaningful games right now. As in, today. Not three, five, or seven years down the road.

And that's the holiday gift part. 

No, it wasn't looking good when the Kraken lost 10 of 11. No matter how close the scores were. And yes, that losing stretch blunted -- OK, put a massive dent in -- a positive start to the season.

Still, we are only 35 games into a season of 82. As I type this out, the Kraken currently sit in a playoff spot if we go by points percentage. Yes, you heard correctly. The Kraken on Friday sat just three points behind the Utah Mammoth for the No. 8 Western Conference seed but also held four -- yes, four -- games in-hand. Win all four and the Kraken would be five points ahead of Utah with nothing the Mammoth can do about it.

The Kraken are also only three points behind No. 7 Los Angeles but hold a game in hand on the Kings. And the only team standing between the Kraken and those playoff-positioned squads is San Jose. But it's just a one-point Sharks edge and the Kraken hold two games in-hand on them. 

Meaning, the Kraken have played well enough in 2025-26 to make the playoffs. How many of you would have signed on to that bargain 35 games in if offered it back in early October?

Forget about the losing stretch that just happened. None of it matters now. It will only be relevant if the Kraken repeat it. For now, their holiday gift is being able to start fresh on Sunday against Philadelphia at home knowing they are playoff positioned in terms of points percentage.

Now, as others have already written, starting fresh doesn't mean the Kraken are out of the proverbial woods. Nope, there is still plenty of smoke -- and possibly bears, cougars and even fire -- lurking in those woods that can do them in should they keep running around in circles without escaping issues that led to their prior nosedive.

That means no more messing around on special teams. The Kraken don't have to be the NHL's finest power play and penalty kill specialists, but they cannot go through weeks on end trending as the league's worst. Recent play suggests a leveling off more towards the league's middle tier on both fronts.

Also, no more scoring two goals or fewer in games. All three Kraken wins on the California swing saw them score three or more times. The Kraken are 14-4-3 when they score at least three goals. They are 1-10-3 when scoring two goals or fewer. 

Three goals per game is not that high a bar to surpass. There are 17 teams out of 32 averaging at least three. This is middle-of-the-road stuff, even for a Kraken team averaging only 2.54 goals per contest right now. Look, the Kraken probably won't get their seasonal average above three goals per game by season's end, but they can sure try to top that three-goal bar over the span of their remaining 47 matchups. Do that, they probably make the playoffs.

Also, no more abandoning defense. The Kraken for a three-week span allowed four goals or more in seven of nine games. And lost all seven.

Those seven games in nine equaled the number of such four-plus-goal defensive breakdowns the Kraken had over their first 23 matchups. The defense that had helped an underperforming offense pile up standings points suddenly went AWOL and the losses quickly multiplied.

To wit: The Kraken are 15-3-3 when allowing three goals or fewer, with two of the regulation losses coming 3-2 and 2-1 against powerhouse Dallas. They are 0-11-3 when allowing more than three goals. 

So, there you have it. When the Kraken get their special teams going at even moderate levels, they tend to score just enough and prevent just enough to win most nights.

The Kraken should also soon see Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann back from injury. They haven't had a point all season when the projected roster was fully healthy. Can the injury toll possibly get worse? Or course, anything can happen in pro sports. But odds suggest the Kraken are in line to get healthier. 

And they need a boost because it’s doubtful the Kraken, or any team, makes the playoffs at their current 84-point pace. It's been an unusual NHL season parity-wise but even so, 90-to-95 points is usually the minimum playoff entry range, meaning the Kraken cannot sustain further prolonged losing streaks and remain in the hunt. In fact, they could use a significant winning streak — perhaps by building off this current one through immediate improvement on a 7-7-3 mark at home.

But they are still in it right now, for whatever reason and despite all they've been through. That is their holiday gift. To keep playing meaningful games into the new year. The rest, as they and fans well know, must come from them and most certainly will not be gift wrapped.