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Seattle Kraken Sign Goaltender Niklas Kokko To ELC

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The Seattle Kraken have announced that they have signed goaltender Niklas Kokko to a three year entry-level contract. Kokko was on the roster of Finland’s 2023 IIHF World Junior team but did not see any game action.

The 19-year-old spent the bulk of this past season with Hermes of the Mestis league where he put up fairly pedestrian numbers. Kokko had a 4-6-4 record with a .901 save percentage and a 2.95 goals-against average. Although Kokko didn’t see any game action in the recent World Juniors tournament he did backstop Finland’s U18 squad to a bronze medal at the 2022 U18 IIHF World Juniors.

Kokko was Seattle’s second round pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft and has good size for a young goaltender standing 6’3” tall and weighing around 185 pounds. He will likely fill out a bit more as he gets older, which should help him improve on his numbers. Given what Seattle is doing they must be happy with his development thus far.

It will be interesting to see where Kokko fits into Seattle’s plans. He is a long way from the NHL, but Seattle will be looking to develop him over the next few years to likely be the heir apparent to Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer is signed for another four seasons while Chris Driedger is signed for just one more. The Kraken still have Joey Daccord in the AHL but may let him walk when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. The only other goaltender of note in the Kraken system is Ales Stezka. He continues to play in Czechia and at the age of 26 it appears that he will likely not be an NHL option for Seattle. With Grubauer signed long term it appears as though Kokko will have ample time to develop in Seattle’s system and could have a golden opportunity in the very near future.

PHR Playoff Primer: Dallas Stars vs. Seattle Kraken

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With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs now underway, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We begin our second-round coverage with the Western Conference matchup between the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken.

The Seattle fanbase waited a long time for a team to cheer for and the Seattle Kraken have given them something to cheer about in just their second season by knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champions in seven games. The Dallas Stars on the other hand were able to dispatch of the Minnesota Wild in just six games on the back of incredible goaltending from Jake Oettinger. Their second-round matchup will mark the first time the two teams have met in the playoffs.

What a difference a season makes. A year ago, Kraken general manager Ron Francis looked as though he’d butchered the expansion draft as Seattle finished near the bottom of the NHL standings. But, fast forward one year later and the Kraken have their first 100-point season, a playoff series victory, and the opportunity for more.  For Dallas, they are just three years removed from a Stanley Cup finals appearance in which they lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Stars do still have several of the core pieces from that 2020 team, they’ve added a lot of elite young talent to mix in with their older core pieces.

It’s hard to get excited for a series in which the two teams have never met in the playoffs before, but Dallas quietly had one of the most exciting series of the first round, and Seattle provided ample fireworks of their own. This series might not have the draw that some other series may have, but there will be plenty of star power on the ice for Dallas, while Seattle has one of the most balanced lineups in the entire NHL and can outwork almost any team.

Regular Season Performance

Dallas Stars: 51-22-9, 111 points, +43 goal differential
Seattle Kraken: 46-28-8, 100 points, +33 goal differential.

Head-To-Head

March 11, 2023: Dallas 4, Seattle 3 (OT)

March 13, 2023: Dallas 5, Seattle 2

March 21, 2023: Seattle 5, Dallas 4 (OT)

Dallas takes the season series 2-0-1

Team Storylines

One might not think these teams would have much in the way of a rivalry, however for ten days in mid-March they saw a lot of each other. The teams played three times and developed a bit of hate in that time. While a lot has happened since then, there could be carryover.

The biggest storyline in this series will be the high-end skill of the Dallas Stars against the workmanlike attitude of the Seattle Kraken. Dallas has the offense and the goaltending to make a deep run in these playoffs and have much higher expectations than the Kraken, however Seattle has shown an incredible amount of heart this season and are playing with house money at this point. Sometimes the pressure can cause a team to wilt, and sometimes no pressure at all can make a team play fast and loose. It’ll be interesting to see it play out.

The Dallas Stars play with a ton of skill and a ton of speed, led by Jason Robertson, they can put the puck in your net in several ways and can push the pace, or slow down the game if they need to grind out a win. They still possess Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and a few other players from the 2020 run to the finals that know how to get the job done in the playoffs. They have the confidence in their group and their goalie to get it done. Seattle on the other can also play with a lot of pace, they come at you in waves, line after line can contribute on the offensive end. Every line can score, but they don’t have the gamebreakers that Dallas has.

On the backend, both teams have strong blue lines that can help generate offense. Seattle has the size advantage with a couple of towering forces that can crash and bang and clear the front of the net, but Dallas may possess the strength advantage with a physically imposing lineup in which every man in the unit is over six foot. Dallas has the most elite puck mover in Miro Heiskanen, but this year’s version of Vince Dunn isn’t far off, and Seattle has a better collection of point producers and a deeper unit of six. While the Stars defense can do it all, Seattle’s defense can all do it. Coach Dave Hakstol has somehow managed to spread his defensive minutes about as evenly as you will ever see for a defensive unit. I would give the advantage to Seattle in this area as they seem to find an extra gear late in games and have a good track record of shutting the door on their opponents.

In goal, Dallas boasts one of the best goaltenders in the world in Jake Oettinger. His playoff resume is short, but it is strong. He was dominant in the first round, and should he play at that level in this series, Dallas will be tough to beat. Regular season numbers would tell us that Oettinger gives Dallas a huge advantage over Seattle in net, but in round one Seattle received elite goaltending as well. Philipp Grubauer finally gave Seattle the goaltending they thought they were getting when they signed the former Avalanche goalie to a six year $35.4MM contract in 2021. The German netminder hasn’t been able to sustain much success over his two years with the Kraken, but if he can build on his impressive stretch of play in round one, Seattle will have a punchers chance to advance.

Prediction

Anytime an elite goaltender is involved in a series it is always difficult to bet against them. Jake Oettinger has proven himself to be one of the best in the world and so far, has shown an ability to rise to the occasion when the games mean the most. If he can steal a game or two in this series, it will give Dallas a sizeable advantage and could be the difference in the series.

The other element that comes into play is experience. Dallas has a ton of players who have been here before, and while Seattle has some veterans with Stanley Cup playoff experience, it isn’t on the same level. This small detail could be the difference maker for the Stars if they can draw on that experience and find that extra push.

The prediction: Dallas win in seven games.

Seattle Kraken Recall Joey Daccord Under Emergency Conditions

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The Seattle Kraken have called up netminder Joey Daccord from the minors under emergency conditions, the team announced Monday midday.

Daccord presumably comes up to the Kraken roster to relieve Philipp Grubauer, who left the Kraken’s Saturday loss to the Edmonton Oilers with an undisclosed illness. Grubauer allowed three goals on 10 shots before leaving the game early in the second period.

With Seattle in a battle for playoff positioning, don’t expect Daccord to see much action during his third recall of the season. Considering that Grubauer’s absence appears to be a short one, Martin Jones should see all of the starts until Grubauer is ready to return.

That’s unless Jones falters mightily, which isn’t out of the picture. He’s made just three appearances in the month of March, recording a .807 save percentage and two losses. However, Daccord has only gotten into game action once for the Kraken this year, saving 36 out of 40 shots in a 5-4 win against the Calgary Flames back on November 1, 2022. It will likely take some serious missteps for the more experienced Jones to sit for Daccord at such a critical point in the season.

With that being said, Daccord’s numbers in the AHL have been strong for a second consecutive season. In 34 appearances with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the 26-year-old Daccord has a 2.43 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, three shutouts, and a 24-6-3 record.

Seattle Kraken Activate Philipp Grubauer

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The Seattle Kraken have activated goaltender Philipp Grubauer off of injured reserve. In a corresponding move, defenseman Gustav Olofsson has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Grubauer, 30, was placed on injured reserve on October 25th after suffering an injury during a game against the Colorado Avalanche, his former team. After a moderate absence, he is now healthy and ready to return to the ice.

Complicating Grubauer’s return, though, is the current state of the Kraken and the current performance of the man signed to be Grubauer’s backup: Martin Jones. The Kraken currently sit fifth place in the Western Conference, and have a solid 9-5-3 record, with seven of those wins coming in their last ten games. Jones’ play has been a major part of that, and he at the moment is giving the Kraken some of the best goaltending in their brief franchise history.

Last season, the poor play in net was one of the major reasons the Kraken were among the NHL’s worst teams. Grubauer was perhaps the worst starting netminder in hockey in 2021-22, posting a nightmarish .889 save percentage in 55 games. Backup Chris Driedger didn’t fare much better with a .899 of his own, and this season it’s been more of the same for Grubauer. In four games this season, he has a 3.70 goals-against-average and a .860 save percentage.

In contrast, Jones has posted a .912 save percentage and 2.34 goals-against-average. So the simple answer with Grubauer returning is to maintain Jones’ starring role.

But complicating the situation, and potentially necessitating a different answer from that simple one, is the contract status of each goalie.

The Kraken have significant dollars tied to Grubauer, as he makes $5.9MM each year for the next five seasons. Jones, on the other hand, is playing on an expiring one-year, $2MM deal.

So on one hand, the Kraken likely stand to have the best odds of winning as many games as possible if Jones gets the lion’s share of starts.

But on the other, playing Jones and limiting Grubauer’s game action could further damage Grubauer’s confidence, and hurt his odds of bouncing back and playing like the quality netminder he was with the Avalanche and Washington Capitals.

The Kraken are tied to Grubauer, after all, and while Jones operating as a full-on starter may have short-term benefits, it could cost them in the long term.

This could be a difficult decision for head coach Dave Hakstol to make. But since coaches are often the first to fall if a team hits a rough patch, they typically take the “win the game in front of you” approach to roster decisions, which is entirely reasonable. So with that in mind, it seems that Grubauer’s return won’t take a major chunk out of Jones’ workload.

But regardless of what the situation looks like now, Grubauer’s return to the Kraken roster and how he is deployed is certainly something worth tracking in the coming weeks.

Picture courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Kraken Place Philipp Grubauer On LTIR, Recall Gustav Olofsson

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With Seattle only carrying six defensemen on their roster, it felt like some more roster moves were on the horizon.  Those moves have now been made as CapFriendly reports (Twitter links) that goaltender Philipp Grubauer has been placed on LTIR.  They become the 18th team in the league that is currently utilizing LTIR.  Using the cap space created by that placement, defenseman Gustav Olofsson was recalled from Coachella Valley of the AHL.

Grubauer has been out for close to three weeks due to a lower-body injury sustained against Colorado last month.  Prior to going down, he was off to a slow start to his season with a 3.77 GAA and a .860 SV%, numbers that were considerably worse than his totals from 2021-22 which were by far the worst of his career.  Martin Jones has certainly stepped up in his absence as the Kraken have reeled off five straight victories heading into tonight’s contest against Minnesota.  Magnus Hellberg was reacquired yesterday off waivers and will serve as their backup for the time being.  It’s worth noting that Grubauer resumed skating earlier this week so even with this move, he’s likely not too far away from returning to the lineup; the minimum time he’ll have to miss is 10 games and 24 days from the original injury date, not today’s placement.

As for Olofsson, the 27-year-old is in his second season with Seattle and has yet to play for them in the NHL; his last action at the top level came with Montreal back in 2019-20 when he made three of his 59 career NHL appearances.  This season, Olofsson has played in eight games with the Firebirds, picking up four assists.  His addition to the roster puts the Kraken back at the maximum of 23 players.

Philipp Grubauer Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Seattle Kraken have lost their starting goaltender, as Philipp Grubauer was placed on injured reserve today. Grubauer was injured in last Friday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, leaving Martin Jones to start (and lose) on Sunday. The team recalled Joey Daccord to give them another goaltender, and that’s the tandem the team will have to go with for the time being.

Grubauer, 30, was arguably the worst goaltender in the league last season, posting an .889 save percentage in 55 appearances. That was a stark difference from his career totals, which to that point had him sitting near the best save percentages of all-time with a .920 and a Vezina Trophy finalist the year prior.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like an aberration when this season began. Grubauer was shelled for five goals on 27 shots in his first game, and another five on 34 shots in his second start. Even the two goals on 19 shots before leaving the Colorado game had him as a sub .900 netminder, something the team certainly wasn’t expecting when they signed him to a six-year, $35.4MM contract in the summer of 2021.

Even worse, he still may have been their best option. Jones, 33, hasn’t posted a save percentage over .900 since 2017-18, and is now sitting at .860 for this season. There’s no way that the Kraken can stay competitive with that kind of goaltending, meaning either Daccord is going to need to take over, Grubauer is going to need to get healthy and back to form, or the team is going to have to make a change.

Chris Driedger, the team’s other goaltender who was meant to form an impressive tandem with Grubauer, tore his ACL while playing at the World Championship earlier this year. He is expected to be out through January at least, with the recovery period likely being even longer than that. After spending even more money in the offseason, with veteran additions like Oliver Bjorkstrand and Andre Burakovsky, the Kraken are clearly trying to contend in the Pacific Division.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine that given the goaltending they have received so far – especially now that Grubauer is on the shelf.

Kraken Recall Joey Daccord

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With Philipp Grubauer being injured late in Friday’s victory over Colorado, it was only a matter of time before Seattle needed to call up a second goaltender.  That move has now been made as the team announced (Twitter link) that Joey Daccord has been recalled from Coachella Valley of the AHL.

Grubauer struggled considerably last season, his first with the Kraken after surprisingly turning down an offer from Colorado to ink a six-year, $35.4MM deal with Seattle in 2021.  Things haven’t gone any better in the early going this year as the 30-year-old has a 3.77 GAA along with a save percentage of just .860 through his first four appearances.  Head coach Dave Hakstol didn’t speak with the media today so there is no information on how long Grubauer might be out for.

Daccord, meanwhile, cleared waivers at the end of training camp and made three starts in the minors for the Firebirds in the early going this season.  He has seen NHL action in three of his first four professional seasons but has made just 14 appearances over that stretch, posting a 3.77 GAA and a save percentage of just .878.  He will serve as the backup to Martin Jones who now takes over as the starter with Grubauer injured and Chris Driedger still months away from returning.

Worth noting is that Daccord was the only NHL-contracted goalie that Seattle had in the minors (Magnus Hellberg was scooped off waivers by Ottawa when Seattle tried to send him down) so if another netminder gets hurt before Grubauer is able to return, the Kraken will need to make a quick move to sign another goalie.

Germany, Switzerland, Russia Announce Members Of 2022 Olympic Team

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The first three members of each participating Olympic hockey nation are being announced this week, with top names like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak and Victor Hedman already locked in to compete for their respective countries. Today, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, Denmark and Russia all revealed the first three names on their roster sheet.

For Germany, it comes as no surprise that Leon Draisaitl leads the way. The Edmonton Oilers superstar is one of the most dangerous playmakers in the world, winning the Hart and Art Ross trophies in 2020. He’ll be joined by Philipp Grubauer, who gives the German squad an elite goaltending option for the tournament.

The third member is an interesting choice though, as Moritz Seider, the Detroit Red Wings prospect who has yet to even make his NHL debut, has already locked in his spot at the Games. The 20-year-old defenseman was the sixth-overall pick in 2019 and has is expected to make an impact for the Red Wings in short order.

Switzerland has a trio of impressive NHL talents, starting with Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi. The 31-year-old defenseman won the Norris Trophy in 2020 and has helped his small country take home two silver medals at the World Championship. In fact, in 2013 when Switzerland came in second, Josi was named tournament MVP. Josi will be joined by Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks and Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils, two established NHL forwards that have represented Switzerland on several occasions in the past.

The Slovaks may now have quite the same star power, but there’s still plenty of NHL experience announced today. Andrej Sekera, Erik Cernak and Jaroslav Halak will all be donning their nation’s colors next year, bringing the building blocks of a strong defensive unit. Cernak, 24, has developed into an extremely valuable and versatile player for the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning two Stanley Cup championships in his first three years of NHL action.

Latvia and Denmark, who don’t usually have much of a chance at a medal actually have some NHL talent of their own to announce today. Rudolfs Balcers, Zemgus Girgensons and Kristians Rubins will take part for Latvia, while Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nikolaj Ehlers and Alexander True make up a great start for the Danes.

It’s Russia that will draw the most attention today though, as the three players announced have all been considered among the best in the world at some point. Alex Ovechkin, a player who is chasing down history by attempting to catch and break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal record, Nikita Kucherov, the 2019 Hart Trophy winner and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the most recent Conn Smythe recipient, make up a trio that’s hard to match. Russia, who will be competing as the “Russian Olympic Committee” is the reigning Olympic champion after taking home the award (then as the Olympic Athletes from Russia) in 2018 when the NHL did not participate.

NHL Central Registry Rejects Philipp Grubauer’s Contract

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With the sheer volume of contracts that were filed with NHL Central Registry at the start of free agency, it has taken them some time to review them all to ensure they’re in compliance with all of the CBA rules.  Once in a while, deals are rejected because an element doesn’t meet the criteria and CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that this is the case with the Kraken’s deal for goaltender Philipp Grubauer.  CapFriendly has the full details of the deal here.

Since more than half of the salary is paid out in the first three years of the contract ($18.5MM out of $35.4MM or 52.25%), it qualifies as a front-loaded contract which has some stricter rules than non-front-loaded deals and those rules changed when the new CBA was agreed on last year.

One of the rules for front-loaded contracts is that any salary variance from one year to the next cannot exceed 25% of the salary in the first year.  Grubauer’s salary in 2021-22 was set to be $5MM and 25% of that is $1.25MM.  Accordingly, any year-over-year variance cannot be greater than $1.25MM.  However, Grubauer’s original 2022-23 salary was $6MM and his 2023-24 salary was $7.5MM, a difference of $1.5MM.  This is what caused the contract to be rejected.

This shouldn’t be any cause for concern for the Kraken.  They just have to fiddle with the salary numbers to come up with a new agreement.  Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times reports (Twitter link) that a revised contract has already been filed that moves $250K in salary from 2023-24 to 2022-23, keeping the cap hit the same.  Technically, Grubauer is now a free agent once again but that shouldn’t last long once that revised contract is approved by the league.

Washington Capitals Re-Acquire Vitek Vanecek

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Now that the Seattle Kraken have signed Philipp Grubauer in free agency, they are sending Vitek Vanecek back to the Washington Capitals. It was just a week-long vacation for the young netminder, who was claimed in the expansion draft and now sent back to Washington in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick.

This move will raise quite a few eyebrows, given the Kraken passed up the opportunity to select Brenden Dillon from Washington, only to see him flipped for two-second round picks on Monday. In fact, it’s one of those picks that Washington is using to reclaim Vanecek, sending Winnipeg’s 2023 selection.

At any rate, the Capitals have their tandem of Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov back intact and basically only lost a second-round pick in the expansion draft. The 25-year-old goaltender actually carries a cap hit of just $716K this season, less than the league minimum of $750K. That’s because of the three-year deal they signed him to back in 2019 before he’d ever even played at the NHL level. In 37 appearances this season, Vanecek posted a .908 save percentage, a 21-10-4 record and a 2.69 goals-against average. The Capitals would have been forced to look outside the organization if he hadn’t become available again, but they’ll now be able to go about an offseason as if nothing happened.

For Seattle, adding a second-round pick is important, even if it comes with some regrets. The big win here was signing Grubauer, who can anchor the franchise even if they go through a few growing pains in the early years. He and Chris Driedger will form the NHL tandem, while Joey Daccord is also still in the system.

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