2023-24 season:34-35-13 6th in Pacific Division, 12th in Western Conference, 25th in league
The Seattle Kraken had an interesting season this year. They started off very poorly with a combination of untimely goals against and a general lack of offense, but they caught fire in January with a 9 game winning streak to put them back into the playoff race. But after a good month in February they skidded in March and again near the end of the season. Despite maintaining a winning record most of the season, their offensive struggles cost them and they finished 34-35-13. Despite this, Joey Daccord, their expansion draft pick from Ottawa, proved to be a pleasant surprise, as he shut out Vegas 3-0 at the Winter Classic and finished the season with a .917 save percentage and stole the starting job from Philipp Grubauer, who was thought to be the one they would build their team around. Knowing this is interesting, because Ron Francis played on teams with strong centermen, and teams built from the net out, and there's no doubt which one worked out better. I would think that the man who was instrumental in keeping Pittsburgh alive would acknowledge that his role as a 1A behind Mario Lemieux is what helped them win in 1991 and 92. He had the Game 4 hat trick against the NY Rangers in the 2nd Round that started their 14 game playoff winning streak, and he scored the Cup winning goal. Without him Pittsburgh would not win in 1991, and they wouldn't get past the Rangers in 92, never mind having the longest playoff winning streak in history. Meanwhile, in Hartford and in Carolina, they heavily relied on goalies like Mike Liut and Arturs Irbe and their era as playoff contenders was much shorter lived because they never built a team around Ronnie Franchise. He is one of the smartest guys to have ever played the game, and he should know from his own history that good teams can't win a Stanley Cup built from the net out.
The Kraken have done a good job managing expectations and comparisons to their expansion counterparts in Vegas, and I appreciate their lack of cheating tendencies, and for that the Bettman Karma won't bounce back on them. All truthful jokes aside, many of their players overachieved last year, and regressed this year. The 4th best offense wasn't expected to fall nearly an entire goal per game in a single year. Vince Dunn was the only defenseman who didn't perform horribly last season, but he was injured for 23 games, and that didn't help their already struggling offense. As I mentioned before, I think Ron Francis has chosen how he wants to build his team, but he seems to have acknowledged the teams weaknesses down the middle and on the back end by signing Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour. They also went with a different Pennsylvania coach by firing Dave Hakstol and hiring Dan Bylsma, the 2009 Stanley Cup champion and 2011 Jack Adams Trophy winner. In addition to his awards, he also led the most successful Stanley Cup drought in Penguins history, as Pittsburgh had the best record when he was coaching them despite their delicate little flower, Marc-Andre Fleury, crumbling every playoff season. To say the least, that's not a mistake Francis will make twice, because to hire a good Flyers coach, you'd have to pull them out of their graves.
The Kraken will be a competitor, and as much as I would love to see a playoff battle of the Northwest, it is Vancouver's territory, and that would be a quick sweep for Vancouver. The Kraken still won't be in the playoffs, but I believe they will be part of a more competitive Western Conference than last year. I can see them finishing 38-30-14, 5th in the Pacific Division, 10th in the Western Conference, and 19th in the league because I believe their goaltending can take them to overtime, but they simply don't have the offense yet to be vying for that top spot.
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