Toronto Maple Leafs: Get to Know the Seattle Kraken (Anyways)
The Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Seattle Kraken has been postponed.
Despite the postponement (postponing?) of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Seattle Kraken game today, I still have this informative post about the Kraken ready to go, so why not use it anyways?
If you are reading this, then the odds are good you already know that the game has been postponed due to Covid, but what you might not know is that the Seattle Kraken are a much better team than their record indicates.
So let’s get to know them.
Getting to know the Seattle Kraken
The Kraken are the NHL’s 32nd team, and in my opinion, everything from their baby blue colours to their Liam Neesom inspired nickname is terrible. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
Personally, If I was going to go with a Liam Neesom inspired choice, I think the Seattle Taken would have been a much better name. Or the Seattle Commuters.
The Kraken also play in a place called Climate Pledge Arena, which makes the name of their team look great by comparison. I suppose it’s better than any corporate name, but not by much.
The Kraken are in the Western Conference, in the Pacific Division and they are in last place. Though there were dreams of being another success story like the LV Golden Knights, the team failed to capitalize on their position in the expansion draft by making trades and weaponizing their cap space.
The fact that they started their franchise off by making no trades ahead of the expansion draft was a very inauspicious beginning.
You may remember that the Toronto Maple Leafs lost Jared McCann in the E-Draft. This was criticized at the time, but the Leafs actually got through the draft by losing just a B prospect and a late pick.
McCann would have been nice on the Leafs, but they’re so deep on forward that they barely care. Additionally, Justin Holl is a top-four defender on a dirt-cheap contract, so even if it was ultimately the wrong move to protect him, the thought process at least was sensible.
Besides, if the Leafs have McCann, they might not have Rookie of the Year candidate Michael Bunting.
The Kraken have a 10-17-3 record, and their 23 points put them 28th in the league.
Jordan Eberle leads them with 12 goals and 21 points.
Next. An Unrecognized Genius at the Helm. dark
This, however, isn’t really indicative of how good they are. The Kraken are last in the NHL in PDO and last in 5v5 save percentage, by a mile. They’re 23rd by expected-goals percentage, so it’s not like they’re a great team, but they just aren’t as bad as their record says they are.