With training camp just around the corner, some players have already hit the ice, including those who wear the Seattle Kraken’s colors. Officially, camp commences on Sept. 19, but something else is just days away: rookie camp on Sept. 12. One name adds the spice of intrigue to the team’s strategy of building for the future, that being of netminder Kim Saarinen. Seattle’s goalie roster, from the pro level to the affiliates, is worth analyzing. What is the team’s plan? Let’s discuss.
Questions about the Kraken’s Starting Duo
Fellow The Hockey Writers scribe Mike Fink recently published an article in which he took upon the unenviable task of ranking all 32 NHL franchises based on their goalie tandems. The Kraken came in 15th. That seems fair. Fair because last season’s numbers were good overall as Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord shared duties. Fair because – and this is where we extrapolate from Mike’s ranking – Seattle’s current netminder setup is bogged by degrees of uncertainty and unanswered questions.
Only Grubauer can claim to be a true NHL veteran. Don’t get it twisted. Daccord has been in the league for some time and the non-roster names have been associated with the Kraken for a few years but don’t have a second of big-league ice time to their name. Grubauer is 32 years old and hit the ice for the Washington Capitals as a wide-eyed rookie back in 2012-13. He played two games and since then has never looked back.
Well, yes and no. A quick look at his career stats reveals he has never been a dominant number-one goalkeeper. The 2021-22 maiden Kraken campaign was the first time he ever started as many as 54 games. His story is one of “close but no cigar.” Technically, he has a Stanley Cup to his name since he was on the 2017-2018 Capitals side that prevailed. The hiccup is that he started just two postseason games and was second fiddle to Braden Holtby. The 2019-20 season with the Colorado Avalanche was primed to be his time to shine. Alas, the injury bug bit him, forcing the club to give a lot more starts than expected to Pavel Francouz. He also got banged up during the summer 2020 “bubble” playoffs.
Lo and behold, his worst statistical season (2021-22) came one year after his best (2020-21, which didn’t stop Colorado from letting him go). It also coincided with his first season in Seattle, the same season in which the Avalanche finally got over the hump to win their first championship in decades. This leads us to last season which saw him suffer yet another injury, thrusting Daccord into the spotlight.
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But who is Daccord? We wrote a glowing piece about him in March when he did his darndest to keep Seattle’s dubious playoffs hopes afloat. He earned it. He was terrific in net, better than Grubauer before the German’s injury and after he came back. The Massachusetts native is 28 years old. Prior to 2023-24, the most games he ever played in a season was eight in 2020-21 as a member of the Ottawa Senators. Was last season a true breakout or will he be another one-season wonder à la Jim Carey No, not Jim Carrey. Jim Carey. Thankfully the Kraken are only playing him $1.2 million this season. He’s also an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Seattle’s Goaltender Pipeline
Enter Kim Saarinen. In truth, a few names enter the picture, but Saarinen is the new kid on the block who will partake in the rookie camp that begins shortly. At 18 years old, it’s a bit early for the franchise to rest its hopes on his shoulders, not to say presumptuous. Even so, getting drafted in the third round as he was this past June suggests the club likes him. He wasn’t a final draft round afterthought.
The young Finnish netminder has developed in his homeland, most recently with the Under-20 Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK for short). He wasn’t bad in 2023-24, posting a 14-5-0 tally, a 2.41 goals against average (GAA), and a shiny .911 save percentage (SV%.) In fact, he graduated mid-campaign to the U-20 HPK from its U-18 developmental squad with whom he was a dominant 8-1-0 courtesy of a ridiculous 1.67 GAA and .947 SV%. Saarinen is locked up for the next trio of campaigns. He’ll be a restricted free agent come July, 2027.
He is far from the only non-roster goalie gestating in the Kraken organization. Incidentally, there is another Finn, one barely older than Saarinen. Niklas Kokko was a second-round selection by Seattle in 2022. The 20-year-old has since remained in Finland to shield the net for a few clubs in that country’s top-flight Liiga, such as Kärpat and the Lahti Pelicans. Kokko – which is a very amusing name to type and say – is signed until the conclusion of the 2026-27 season.
One might think this is a decent set-up. Two goalies operating at the professional level with two more developing with the Kraken’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. But the reality is a bit more complicated. It’s not entirely certain how much Saarinen will have to do with the Firebirds in 2024-25, if anything.
As it stands, three other netminders are on Coachella Valley’s roster. The first is the aforementioned Kokko. Then there is 23-year-old Swede Victor Ostman. Ostman went undrafted and has since played in net for the University of Maine in the NCAA. In April, the Kraken signed him to a two-year deal that put him on the Firebirds’ roster, although he hasn’t played yet. At the time the number-one role was Chris Dreidger’s but the latter has since been sent to the Florida Panthers.
Finally, there is 27-year-old Ales Stezka. The Czechian has been associated with NHL clubs since 2015 when the Minnesota Wild drafted him 111th overall. He has never, however, skated on NHL ice for game time, having bounced around several teams in his homeland in the Czechia and Czechia 2 leagues. He is on a one-year deal that concludes next summer.
The Kraken’s Plan in Net
That’s a lot of goalies. From the Kraken down to the AHL and possibly the top Finnish league, the organization has six candidates who can play for them. That’s not to say that no other NHL clubs have that many netminders in the pipeline (the Vegas Golden Knights have seven!), but it’s an uncommonly high number. Making the rounds, it seems most teams have two at the pro level and two in the minors, with some listing as many as three at the minors.
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Something has to give and therein lies the rub. As much as pundits can admire how Seattle equipped itself in 2023-24 in net, the reality of the situation indicates there is a cloud hanging over this group. Why in the world would they have drafted yet another keeper in June? It wouldn’t add up if everything was hunky-dory.
It’s plausible that out of this sextet, Stezka is the odd man out. At 27 and having never partaken in any NHL action, it seems highly doubtful the Kraken are counting on him. He’s the lone minor leaguer with only a one-year deal.
A blunt assessment of the situation is that all bets are off. Everyone might play – albeit not equally. Grubauer has never been a true stud. A good goalie, but not a stud. It’s fair to argue the jury is out on Daccord. One season as a 28-year-old does not an NHL stalwart make, however strong that season was. With a trio of under-24-year-olds in the minors, surely general manager Ron Francis and even head coach Dan Bylsma will be keeping tabs on how things are going.
It feels as if anything is possible between the pipes for the Kraken in 2024-25. It speaks to the lack of clarity about the position. That sounds like a negative, and it might end up being one, but with so many options, it awards Seattle flexibility to discover what the future of the goalie position might resemble. Maybe come April it’s obvious Grubauer and Daccord are the only sensible options. On the flip side, don’t be surprised if someone else gets people talking at some point this season.
