- Seattle could be close to getting a key winger back as head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters including Mike Benton of the Kraken Audio Network (Twitter link) that Jaden Schwartz is near a return to the lineup. The 31-year-old has missed a little more than a month with a lower-body injury and is currently on LTIR. Schwartz had gotten off to a nice start to his year with 15 points in 23 games before the injury.
Kraken Rumors
Blackhawks Claim Jaycob Megna Off Waivers
The Chicago Blackhawks have claimed defenseman Jaycob Megna off waivers from the Seattle Kraken. Megna has served as Seattle’s seventh defenseman since being recalled on December 12th, though his only playing time this season has been through an AHL conditioning stint that saw Megna play two games, score one goal, and record a +3 rating. Seattle traded for Megna at last season’s trade deadline, sending a fourth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks that was used to select defenseman Luca Cagnoni.
Chicago will become the sixth NHL organization that Megna has been a part of, though he’s only played NHL games for three teams – serving out minor league deals with the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. Megna’s career kicked off with the Anaheim Ducks, who took him with the second-to-last pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. He turned pro quickly, making his AHL at the end of the 2013-14 season. He spent the next four seasons in the minor leagues, capping the stretch off with 27 points scored across 62 games – a mark that remains the most Megna has scored in any league since juniors. Megna played his rookie NHL season two years later, scoring four points and recording 12 penalty minutes across 28 games.
Megna wouldn’t appear in the NHL again until he earned a strong role with the San Jose Sharks for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, playing in 44 and 48 games, respectively. Megna set an NHL career-high of 12 points in the latter season, adding 21 penalty minutes and a +6. He now joins a Blackhawks team that’s depleted of a lot of depth. He’ll look to carve out a role in competition with Louis Crevier and Jarred Tinordi.
Seattle Kraken Place Jaycob Megna On Waivers
According to a team release, the Seattle Kraken have placed defenseman Jaycob Megna on waivers to assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. This will mark the sixth time Megna has been placed on waivers since breaking into the league during the 2016-17 season.
Originally the second to last pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, it would take Megna five seasons to crack an NHL roster after finishing out his collegiate career with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, making his NHL debut with the Anaheim Ducks during the 2016-17 season. Only skating in one contest that year, Megna would regularly skate with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
Without gaining much traction in the NHL throughout his three-year stretch with the Ducks, Megna would make a few more pit stops throughout the AHL, before landing with the San Jose Sharks as an unrestricted free agent before the 2021-22 season. Although producing modestly relative to the rest of the league, Megna would skate in 44 games for the Sharks, scoring two goals and eight points, both career highs at that time.
San Jose would go on to reward Megna’s depth play for the organization, signing Megna to a two-year, $1.525MM contract the following summer. Last year, in the first season of that contract, Megna would suit up in 48 games for the Sharks, scoring one goal and 12 points in total, before finally being shipped to the Kraken in early February.
Since the beginning of the season, Megna has been on the active roster for Seattle, albeit from a three-day conditioning loan that had him playing two games for Coachella Valley. Serving as the seventh or even eighth defenseman on the Kraken for the year up to this point, Megna has not played in any games for Seattle this season.
Similar to a majority of players throughout the league, Megna has historically been much more productive at the AHL level, scoring 18 goals and 98 points over 370 regular season games. He will now suit up for a Firebirds team that is looking to defend their Western Conference championship from a season ago, as they currently sit sixth in the Pacific Division with a 16-10-2 record on the year.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Seattle Kraken
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Seattle Kraken.
Who are the Kraken thankful for?
It seems a lot of things are clicking at the right time for the Seattle Kraken, but their season has been underlined by Joey Daccord’s surge into the starting role. The 27-year-old goaltender has appeared in 23 games this season, setting a 9-5-8 record and .919 save percentage – the highest save percentage of any goalie with 20-or-more games in Seattle’s short history. Daccord’s eight extra time losses leads the league, with the goaltender facing an average of 28.5 shots in his overtime outings. His season could easily be leaned in a much more impressive light with a few lucky bounces in extra time, though Daccord doesn’t seemed phased by the poor record – kicking off the new year in style by recording the first shutout in Winter Classic history. The netminder saved all 35 shots that the Vegas Golden Knights sent his way on January 1st, en route to his second shutout of the season and the fifth-most saves he’s had this season.
Seattle has been in need of a true starting goalie after Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger failed to confidently hold onto the role in the chances they were given. They turned to Daccord this summer, signing him to a two-year, $2.4MM contract despite him playing in just 19 NHL games prior to the 2023-24 season. But he’s going above-and-beyond to prove Seattle right for taking a chance on him, establishing himself as not only a starter, but maybe one of the best options in the league on the back of the NHL’s fifth-highest save percentage.
What are the Kraken thankful for?
Low-event hockey.
Daccord has provided a great back-end for Seattle this season but that hasn’t exactly inspired the team to new heights. They still remain in the bottom-five of goals-for this season, and middle-of-the-pack in goals-allowed. The Kraken aren’t favorites to go out and out-skill any given team but they’re starting to find the secret to winning – low-event hockey. The Kraken have done best in games where they aren’t recording a ton of shots, going 7-1-2 over their last 10 games while averaging just 26.2 shots-for. This is pitted against an average of 31.6 shots-against, speaking to the ability of Daccord to hold Seattle in games. It’s been a quality-over-quantity approach, with the Kraken going 10-7-3 in games where they record 30-or-fewer shots, and 4-7-5 in games where they record more than 30 shots. This is regardless of how the opponent performs, with the Kraken going 7-4-4 in games where they’ve faced more than 30 shots.
It’s clear Seattle is at their best when they’re able to slow down the game and take time in creating their chances. They rank in the bottom five of both high-dancer chances-for and against this season, showing how strong they can be when chances are forced to the outside and strikes to the net are few-and-far between. It’s a style done to good effect by smooth puck-mover Vince Dunn, shoot-first forwards like Oliver Bjorkstrand, Eeli Tolvanen, and Jordan Eberle, and one capped off nicely by strong net-front presences like Matthew Beniers. But the question will inevitably become whether it’s a style that can maintain Seattle through the postseason, or if the team will need to inevitably lean into high-action hockey.
What would the Kraken be even more thankful for?
A top scorer.
The Kraken got off to a bit of a slow start but have since gotten plenty of production from their top end, with 14 different players boasting 10-or-more points. The group is led by Dunn’s 31 points in 38 games, followed by Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen who have 29 points and 23 points in as many games. And while those numbers are certainly admirable, the lack of a true top-scoring forward is holding Seattle back. Jared McCann was able to fill this role last season, netting a 40-goal, 70-point season that deserved more excitement at the time. But he’s lost that spark this year, managing only 14 goals and 22 points in 37 games. That still leads the Kraken lineup in goals, but it hasn’t been enough to revitalize a team that ranked sixth in goals-for last season. The lack of a true top-scorer has also impacted – or maybe it’s the result of – how Seattle is able to roll out their lineup, with head coach Dave Hakstol preferring a roll-four approach with bottom-line players are averaging between 12 and 14 minutes of ice time, while the top line only sees a slight boost to 16 to 18 minutes. That’s certainly different than how a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs have used their bottom line, with their depth averaging closer to seven-to-nine minutes of ice time. The Kraken will need to find a way to either lift up their past top scorers or fold in new ones if they want their offense to start producing enough to start helping Daccord win in extra time.
What should be on the Kraken holiday wish list?
A quiet Pacific Division.
The Kraken enter the new year combatting with the Arizona Coyotes and the Edmonton Oilers for the last Wild Card in the West. Exactly where everyone expected these teams to be at the start of the year, right? And while Seattle is absolutely heating up, they also sit with the most games in the Western Conference, giving them a disadvantage as other teams begin to catch up and paint a clearer picture in the standings. If the Kraken want to keep trained on the postseason, they will need their division to remain quiet for the rest of the season. That means no phenomenal explosion from Connor McDavid as he tries to pull Edmonton back to where they were expected to rank – it means no resurgence from the Calgary Flames as they look to pull themselves up by their bootstraps under a new coach – and it means no more flashy offense from the likes of Vancouver or Los Angeles, two teams performing well above their preseason expectations. Seattle has made their living on calm, low-event hockey this season and, if they want their playoff chances to stay rich, they’ll need to find a way to project that energy onto the rest of their division.
Jagger Firkus Added To Team Canada Roster
Originally drafted by the Seattle Kraken in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, Firkus will now make his international debut under the Canadian flag. Currently playing for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League, Firkus has 27 goals and 59 points in 32 games, sitting fourth in the league in scoring.
Kraken Facing Lawsuit For Winter Classic Jersey Design
The Seattle Kraken are getting sued by the trademark holder of the old Seattle Metropolitans logo for how the Kraken decided to design their Winter Classic jerseys. Trademark holder Paul Kim claims that the red ‘S’ draws close similarity to the old Metropolitans logo, despite the Kraken telling Kim that they would go in a different direction with the Winter Classic jerseys after dispute over the early design.
This lawsuit details the breakdown between Kim and the Kraken organization over the course of 24 pages, claiming that the logo, colors, and pattern used by the Kraken were ”virtually identical” to the Metropolitans jersey, going as far as featuring “1917” on the collar in reference to the Metropolitans’ 1917 Stanley Cup Win. Seattle Metropolitans Hockey LLC claims they’ve lost an estimated $2.5MM from the release of the Kraken’s Winter Classic jerseys. Seattle will still wear the contentious jerseys in Monday’s Winter Classic, with the lawsuit coming too close to the event to alter the team’s course. The decision made in this lawsuit could help define the future relationship that the NHL’s newest franchise can have with its predecessor.
Kraken Activate André Burakovsky
The Kraken activated winger André Burakovsky from the injured list today, per CapFriendly’s transactions log. He will be an option for tonight’s game against the Flyers after participating in the team’s morning skate. Burakovsky had been listed as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury since early this month, his second long-term absence of the season.
While a true top-six threat, the 28-year-old Burakovsky hasn’t had much of a chance to show off his skills since signing a five-year, $27.5MM pact with the Kraken as a free agent in 2022. He’s played in 56 out of 118 regular-season games (less than half) since the beginning of 2022 due to injuries and missed all 14 postseason contests last year. A groin muscle tear cost him the latter half of 2022-23, while an upper-body injury sidelined him for 20 consecutive games earlier this season.
That’s limited Burakovsky to seven games on the season for the struggling Kraken, notching three assists. With 39 points in 49 games last season, Burakovsky was the team’s second-highest scorer on a per-game basis. His 0.80 points per game were behind only Jared McCann’s 0.89.
He’s coming back at the right time for Seattle, who’s rattled off three straight wins for the first time this season and are 5-0-2 in their past seven games. It’s been a crucial run for a team looking to right the ship and make their second consecutive postseason appearance. At one game below the .500 mark, they still have a ways to go, but they currently sit just three points back of the Predators for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
The Kraken only had 22 players on the active roster prior to activating Burakovsky, so no corresponding move is necessary.
Seattle Kraken Assign Kole Lind To AHL
Saturday: The Kraken announced that Lind has been returned to the Firebirds. He played 5:59 on Wednesday against Los Angeles, his first NHL game of the season.
Tuesday: The Seattle Kraken have announced that they’ve recalled forward Kole Lind from their AHL affiliate on an emergency basis but did not go into detail as to the reason why. The Kraken lost several forwards to injury in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars last night but little is known about the circumstances surrounding Lind’s recall.
Lind is in his third season in the Kraken organization but has not dressed for them in an NHL game since the 2021-22 season. In 30 career NHL games split between the Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks, the 25-year-old has two goals and six assists and is -5.
The former second-round pick was the Kraken’s expansion pick from the Canucks in the 2021 expansion draft and has been a good offensive player for the team at the AHL level. This season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Lind has posted five goals and 16 assists in 23 games.
In last year’s Calder Cup playoffs, Lind had a coming out party in which he showed glimpses of the kind of player Seattle was hoping they were getting when they took him in the expansion draft. Lind had nine goals and 22 assists in 26 AHL playoff games as he helped the Firebirds to within a game of the Calder Cup championship. He provided some big moments for the team including a three-point night in game one of the Calder Cup finals.
Ty Nelson Added To Canada's World Junior Roster
Senators prospect Jorian Donovan was cut by Team Canada at their World Juniors selection camp earlier this month but Hockey Canada announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been added to their roster along with Kraken defense prospect Ty Nelson, another player originally cut from their selection camp.
As for Nelson, he was a third-round pick by the Kraken in 2022 and has been a prolific point producer with OHL North Bay. Last season, he finished third in the league for points by a defenseman with 76 in 67 regular season games while adding 25 more in 20 playoff contests. He’s producing at a similar rate this season with 31 points in his first 28 appearances.
Kraken Not Looking To Sell At Deadline
Currently sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference and three points back of the final Wild Card spot with three games less in hand, the Seattle Kraken are experiencing somewhat of a playoff hangover from their run to Game Seven of the Conference Semifinals last Spring. Nevertheless, even with a healthy amount of rental assets currently on the roster, the Kraken have no desire to sell at this year’s trade deadline, according to Elliotte Friedman.
Evidenced primarily from their recent acquisition of Tomas Tatar from the Colorado Avalanche, Seattle is still hoping to turn their season around in an attempt to compete for a playoff spot. However, with an ample amount of time before the trade deadline, Kraken could certainly look to move out expiring assets such as Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, and Alexander Wennberg.