![]() 7 and due to setbacks didn’t play the rest of the season.Īs the first big free agent signing in franchise history, goaltender Philipp Grubauer was immediately saddled with lofty expectations. Andre Burakovsky was Seattle’s leading scorer with 39 points when he was injured on Feb. There were stars that emerged, like forward Jared McCann, who had 40 goals and 70 points, and defenseman Vince Dunn, who lined himself up for a big pay day this offseason as a restricted free agent after 64 points.īut depth was the key, like the 21 goals from Daniel Sprong or the 16 from Eeli Tolvanen. In the playoffs, 17 different players scored over the 14 games. Seattle had 13 players score at least 13 goals and 18 players scored at least 20 points. They adopted Hakstol’s formula of playing fast, forechecking hard and not relying on just one or two players to carry the scoring responsibility. “It started last year, but I think we took a lot of steps in the right direction this year.”ĭepth defined Seattle’s success, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. “We built something here this year,” forward Yanni Gourde said. But it does provide significant optimism for what could be on the horizon for the Kraken. That doesn’t take away the pain of falling short this time around, especially for the veterans scattered about Seattle’s roster. The fact the Kraken seem ahead of the timetable is magnified when considering how many pieces Seattle could bring back to a team that was on the cusp of reaching the Western Conference final. This was always the goal for Seattle, to develop a foundation for the franchise that leads to year-after-year success, contention for playoff berths and – eventually – a Stanley Cup. ![]() “This particular group had the guts to change the culture, the belief, the trajectory of our franchise as well.” “This group also changed the landscape of hockey in Seattle,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. Fans filled bars, restaurants and even Climate Pledge Arena for watch parties as Seattle’s unexpected postseason run continued far longer than most predicated. ![]() And by the time Seattle’s season ended with a Game 7 loss to Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night, the Kraken had successfully grabbed the sports landscape in its hometown.
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