Inside look at Seattle Kraken

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 8-Sept. 8. Today, the Seattle Kraken.

The Seattle Kraken are focused on putting their inaugural season behind them.
The Kraken (27-49-6) finished with the third-worst record in the NHL last season. They also were tied for 28th in goals per game (2.60), 29th on the power play (14.6 percent) and tied for 30th on the penalty kill (74.9 percent).
"It's a results-based league, so our job is to show improvement in everything that we did," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "At the end of the day, everybody's extremely competitive and you want to compete, to be playing at meaningful times and playing meaningful games at the key time of the regular season and compete to be in a playoff spot and have that opportunity."
In order to take a step closer to that, the Kraken brought in new faces this offseason, including forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand (acquired in trade with Columbus Blue Jackets on July 22) and Andre Burakovsky (signed five-year contract July 13), defenseman Justin Schultz (signed two-year contract July 13) and goalie Martin Jones (signed two-year contract July 13).
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"I could imagine, after what Vegas [had] done (advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018) and then coming into the League, I'm sure they were [having] high expectations of them doing well," Bjorkstrand said of the Kraken. "Unfortunately for them, it didn't go that way. So I would say that this year expectations are different. But as a group, you've got to go in and prove people wrong now and prove to them that you have a good team."
Also hoping to make an impact this season is center Matty Beniers. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 10 games, and Seattle's offense improved when the 19-year-old arrived after agreeing to a three-year, entry-level contract April 10. The Kraken averaged 2.90 goals per game and converted at 17.2 percent on the power play with Beniers, up from 2.56 goals per game and 14.1 percent on the power play in their first 72 games.
Beniers could be joined in Seattle this season by forward Shane Wright, the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
"He's an outstanding fit for us," Hakstol said of the 18-year-old. " … I've been really impressed with the way his summer has gone right from the days after the draft through our development camp (in July) and now on looking forward to training camp. Just getting a real focus as to the job at hand every day … and feel really good about where he is and really confident in what he's doing."

It's a lot to ask of two teenagers to help the Kraken improve their scoring, especially at 5-on-5, where Seattle was 28th with 152 goals. At 5-on-5, Burakovsky scored 18 of his 22 goals and Bjorkstrand scored 16 of his 28, and the healthy returns of forwards Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Tanev also should provide a boost.
More offense, and more time in the offensive zone in general, should take pressure off the goalies. Philipp Grubauer is expected to be the No. 1, with Jones serving as the backup while Chris Driedger recovers from having surgery June 6 to repair a torn ACL in his right knee; with recovery expected to take 7-9 months, he's likely to miss at least the first three months of the season.
Grubauer was 18-31-5 in 55 games last season, and his .889 save percentage was the worst of his 10 NHL seasons.
"A lot of the focus lands on a goaltender's numbers, and our goaltenders' numbers need to be better … [but] also, we want to empower our goaltenders by giving them a little bit more margin for error as well," Hakstol said.
Helping with that could be Schultz, with Hakstol calling him "an extremely good puck-mover who gets you out of the zone."
The 32-year-old won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 2017) and will provide another veteran voice in the dressing room.
"When I look at the lineup, I feel like it's definitely a team that could be competitive," Bjorkstrand said. "But just because you look at the roster and the guys on the team, you think it'll be competitive, you've still got to go out and do it. ... You've got to have the attitude that you're good enough to make it (to the Stanley Cup Playoffs) and that should be your goal. And again, looking at the roster, I think that we're allowed to have that type of thought process."