The Seattle Kraken missed the playoffs in the 2023-24 season after making the previous year’s postseason.
The Kraken finished with 81 points and a 34-35-13 record which led them to finish 25th in the NHL and land the eighth overall pick which was used on skilled forward Berkly Catton. Their 81 points were 17 back of the final playoff spot and were third worst in the Pacific Division. One reason that was glaringly obvious throughout the entire season was that the Kraken simply weren’t scoring enough goals. Their 217 goals were the fourth least in the NHL and were only better than the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks, the three worst teams in the NHL.
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Defensively, the Kraken gave up the ninth fewest goals in the NHL but still had a -19 goal differential.
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The Kraken’s 82 games against division opponents were split into 16 games against the Atlantic, 16 against the Metropolitan, 24 against the Central, and 26 against the Pacific. Their records against each division were broken down, with them posting a 7-6-3 record against the Atlantic, 8-7-1 against the Metro, 7-12-5 against the Central, and 12-10-4 against the Pacific.
The Central Divison were the opponents where the Kraken lost a lot of their points and hurt their playoff chances. With top teams like the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and the Nashville Predators, it’s not shocking that they struggled. The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild also finished with more points than the Kraken.
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The Kraken also lost far too many one-goal games, especially in overtime. Their 13 overtime losses were the fourth most in the league behind just the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and the Montreal Canadiens. The Kraken had a record of 13-7-13 in one-goal games and if they were able to change the results of just a few of those games and perform better against the Central Division, it could have kept the Kraken in playoff contention.
Offensively, one of the statistics that led to the Kraken’s struggles was their shot generation. They ranked 25th in the league in shots on goal and had a shooting percentage of 9.11%. Their PDO, which combines on-ice shooting percentage and save percentage ranked 23rd in the league, posting a 0.994. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken ranked 23rd in High-Danger Chances, 19th in scoring chances generated and 21st in expected goals percentage.
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For the Kraken to not only be in playoff contention but also make the playoffs, these stats need to be inside the top 15 or 20 like many of those categories were in the 2022-23 season. Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson should help to do so. Montour finished with the 21st most shots on goal by a defenceman with 168 and fifth in individual high-danger chances among defencemen.
Stephenson is a creative, playmaking forward who can work well alongside some of the Kraken’s shoot-first wingers which should generate more shots on goal.
If the Kraken could improve offensively while maintaining their strong defensive performances, the Kraken will be right where they want to be come April 2025.
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