Already without Philipp Grubauer who was recently injured and Matt Murray who has been out for most of the season, the Kraken now have starting goalie Joey Daccord sidelined with a lower-body injury as well. As a result, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled netminder Victor Ostman from AHL Coachella Valley.
The 25-year-old has made just one NHL appearance in his career, that coming last April when he made 12 saves on 12 shots in mop-up duty of a late-season game against Utah. Beyond that, his professional experience has come exclusively in the minors.
Last season, Ostman spent most of the year at the ECHL level, only getting into five AHL outings. This season, he has seen regular action with the Firebirds, getting into 37 games where he has posted a 2.77 GAA with a .907 SV%. This is his first recall to Seattle this season.
While Seattle finds itself in a bottom-five spot in the standings, they technically enter play today against Calgary with a slim chance at a playoff spot. For that to happen, they’ll have to win out and hope a whole lot else goes their way. But they’ll be turning to Niklas Kokko – Ostman’s platoon partner in Coachella Valley – to help get that victory; he’ll be making his first NHL start tonight.
With Daccord’s injury, Ostman’s recall qualifies for emergency circumstances. Accordingly, his promotion won’t count against their post-deadline recall limit.
Front office full of nepotistic, DEI, and useless hires. Want a good laugh, check out the Kraken website and take a look at thier off ice team. Add that to the fact the players are stuck with an un-fireable, in over her head, assistant coach – dumb organization run by virtue signalers. How hard is to figure out your team needs a a couple superstar level, impact players, by the way? Every NHL fan has known what the Kraken’s major issue has been for 3 years now. Feel for the Kraken fans, their team is never going to win the Cup.
Oh shut it. The Kraken aren’t much different than any other expansion team that didn’t get 10 extra players and a Hall of Fame goalie in their expansion draft.
Look at how many decent draft picks the Kraken have amassed, and then compare against how many have turned into useful players? By my count, it’s only Beniers, Evans, Kartye, and Wright. (Kartye was UFA but basically still counts) A few other picks have come up and played forgettable bit parts.
If you want to say that the team is playing it slow with player dev while chasing playoffs at the NHL level, that’s a fair statement but they wasted a huge business opportunity while the Mariners and Seahawks were bad. If you want to say that Seattle’s future should be compared against other expansion teams like the CBJ or Wild, then I guess you’re saying everyone should come back in 20 years.
First, the Mariners have won 90, 90, 88, 85 and 90 the last 5 years. That’s not bad. The Seahawks have not been bad that whole time too (except when Russ got hurt, but fans understand an injured QB). So, you should never use that point again.
Second, as far as the draft picks, what should they have gotten from their drafts? Obviously Beniers and Wright have fallen short, but beyond those picks, what should have been produced from 5 drafts? They do have top 10 prospect pool, so it’s not like they’re barren. It may be too soon. And just because Francis underperformed, that doesn’t mean they’re destined forever to failure.
Finally, yes, I do believe that we will know a lot more in 20 years. The op said they’d never win anything based off 5 years and basically one GM. That’s the ridiculous point that I object to. Through 5 years, only the Wild and Panthers advanced further in any playoff, (Florida’s run was a huge anomaly for 25 years), and none were anything but low seeded playoff teams. San Jose had a big playoff upset early on I recall, but low seeded disruptor is a typical fate.
Good for Kokko getting a chance to start a few to end the year. Developing a goalie internally would go a long ways toward getting the team into contention. And losing a few games as the price of him getting experience isn’t the worst thing at this point.