If you’d asked Seattle Kraken fans who they thought would break out during the 2023-24 season, I’m not sure many of them would say Daniel Sprong. As a result, not only has he made a strong case for the Kraken to re-sign him this offseason, but he has also earned a pay raise.
It’s no secret that the Kraken became known for, and found success because of, their offensive depth. Considering that Sprong was playing on the fourth line, it should come as a surprise to many that he finished the season sixth on the team in scoring. Coming into the 2022-23 season, his career highs were 14 goals during the 2018-19 season playing for the Anaheim Ducks, and seven assists and 20 points for the Washington Capitals during the 2020-21 season.
He was drafted 46th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015 and really struggled to transition to the NHL and find a home. After scoring six goals in 16 games for the Kraken during their inaugural season, he came alive for the team. All that said, let’s put his season under the microscope; it’s time for a player grade.
Daniel Sprong Broke Out With a Bang
For the rest of his life, Sprong can say he was a 20-goal scorer in the NHL. In fact, he scored 21 goals along with 25 assists and 46 points in 66 games to close out the regular season. All those totals smashed his previous career highs, and he also finished the year with a career-high plus-13 in the plus/minus column. The Kraken were able to throw four lines on the ice every night, and each was a threat to get on the board. He averaged 11:25 time on ice, which was the second lowest of his career if you count the 8:44 average time on ice (ATOI) he played in 18 games for the Penguins during the 2015-16 season.
He didn’t see any penalty-killing action throughout the regular season but was regularly on the power play. He played 127:18 on the man advantage, which more than doubled his previous career high. Here’s something interesting; he scored six goals and 14 points on the power play, which means that he scored 15 goals and 32 points 5-on-5. He also had over a 50% Corsi-for percentage (CF%), scoring chances-for percentage (SCF%), and high-danger chances-for percentage (HDCF%) at 5-on-5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick.
He spent most of the year playing alongside Brandon Tanev, Morgan Geekie, and/or Ryan Donato. Tanev and Geekie also enjoyed career years, while Donato scored relatively around what could’ve been expected given his previous three seasons. Based on their level of play, especially with Sprong’s ability to rip the puck, I’d have put that fourth line up against any in the NHL.
I’ll close with this interesting little tidbit; he finished in the top 10 of the NHL in both Cost Per Goal and Cost Per Point, with $35,714 per goal and $16,304 per point, respectively. He also finished in the top 20 in Cost Per Assist with $30,000 per assist according to CapFriendly. It just goes to show how big of a steal he was for the Kraken this season.
Daniel Sprong’s Postseason Performance Left More to be Desired
While the Kraken still saw depth scoring in the postseason, Sprong saw his numbers fall off. He was still generating chances with a 52.71 CF% at 5-on-5, but saw his SCF% and HDCF% dip below 50%. It was his first postseason action since playing three games for the Capitals during the 2020-21 season where he registered an assist. He managed a goal and an assist in 10 Kraken playoff games, but both came on the power play, and he only managed to generate 13 shots at 5-on-5 play.
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It would be foolish to place the blame on Sprong for the Kraken’s Round 2 exit at the hands of the Dallas Stars, but given what he accomplished during the regular season, I think it’s fair to say that a bit more production was expected. His two points came during a single game, their Game 4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Round 1, and he only surpassed 10 minutes of ice time in four of his 10 games.
Daniel Sprong Should Remain a Kraken
Sprong put himself in a really good position this season, having a major offensive performance in a contract year. He’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, and at 26 years old he should be entering his prime. It’s tough to determine the size or length of his potential contract. General manager Ron Francis could take the route of a shorter term deal, along the lines of a “prove it deal” challenging him to show that this one successful season wasn’t an anomaly, but the new norm.
The Kraken have several players hitting both restricted and unrestricted free agency, with Vince Dunn being at the top of the list having had an explosive season himself. Being that he’s under team control, I can see a deal getting done here. The exact numbers elude me, but considering his previous cap hit was $725,000, I could see it raising to around the $2-$2.5 million per year range, but I’d be hesitant to sign him long-term. As I mentioned before, I’d want to make sure he can sustain this level of play, or at least not dip back down as low as his previous career-high of 20 points.
Another factor in this decision, as well as decisions on fellow arbitration-eligible restricted free agent Geekie and unrestricted free agent Donato, is that there could be some players within the organization ready to make the jump to the NHL next season. We’ve seen Tye Kartye and what he managed to do in his 10 playoff games, the first games of his career, and Shane Wright is knocking on the door after playing for four different teams across three leagues and the World Junior Championship. André Burakovsky should be returning from injury, and if some of those younger players make the varsity team, it could be hard to find a spot for some of their current depth pieces.
Related: Kraken Prospect Report: Tye Kartye Scores in 1st NHL Game
All that aside, he did just score over 20 goals in under 70 games in a fourth-line role, and has age on his side. In my mind, that’s enough to give him a shot to show that his explosive performance was the real deal. If that’s the case, he may finally have found his home in the NHL; the Emerald City.
Daniel Sprong’s 2022-23 Player Grade: A-
I was torn on this one between an A- and a B+. For me, it came down to his playoff performance and his ice time. I leaned B+ due to the regression he showed during the postseason. While he was a fourth-line player in both the regular and postseason, his ice time dropped by almost three minutes per game on average during the playoffs. Taking that into account, I allowed some leniency and feel pretty confident in my A- grade for his performance in the Kraken’s sophomore season.
Be sure to check out THW’s Draft Guide for everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft
