Kraken Take the Ice

By Bo Crouch ~ Axess Sports

Kraken Open a Four-Game Sprint of a Preseason Tonight at Climate Pledge

Hockey is back in Seattle, and this year there's barely time to blink.

The Kraken host the Vancouver Canucks tonight at Climate Pledge Arena in the first of just four exhibition games — puck drop is set for 6 p.m. on KONG, with the broadcast also carried on the Kraken Hockey Network. Seattle follows it up immediately with a trip to the Saddledome to face Calgary on Sept. 20, hosts the Flames again on Sept. 24, and closes the slate in Vancouver on Sept. 26.

That's it. Four games, eight days, and then the games count.

The math has changed

The NHL trimmed the preseason from six games to four to make room for an expanded 84-game regular season, and general manager Jason Botterill hasn't pretended that's a minor adjustment. "Everything's going to happen extremely fast this year," Botterill said — his point being that the Kraken have to settle on a roster almost immediately.

The new CBA compresses things further. The requirement that teams dress a minimum of eight veterans in preseason games is gone, and veterans are now capped at two exhibition appearances apiece. Translation: the guys you see tonight are mostly the guys fighting for jobs, and every shift is an audition.

Botterill has pointed to the prospect showcase in Abbotsford as the first real proving ground, noting that last fall's preseason was how Berkly Catton and Ryan Winterton played their way onto the NHL roster. There will be fewer of those stories to tell this September.

What Seattle is working with

The Kraken are coming off a 34-35-11 season that landed them sixth in the Pacific and 13th in the West, with 225 goals scored against 257 allowed — Lane Lambert's first year behind the bench, and a second straight spring watching the playoffs.

The offseason response was restrained. Botterill traded a first-round pick to Florida for Mackie Samoskevich, let Jamie Oleksiak, Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen walk, and signed 6-foot-9 forward Curtis Douglas in free agency. Oleksiak, who signed in Vancouver, is the only defensive departure; seven blueliners return, with Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson expected to keep leading the group in ice time after five seasons as a pair.

Samoskevich is the headline addition. The 23-year-old, taken 24th overall in 2021, put up 12 goals and 20 assists last season. Botterill has described him as bringing speed, skill and scoring ability, and with Tolvanen gone, he could slide up alongside Chandler Stephenson or reunite with former Michigan teammate Matty Beniers. Where he lines up tonight will tell you something.

Three things to watch

Shane Wright. The elephant in the room. Wright's agent, Kurt Overhardt, told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that Botterill had agreed to move the 22-year-old center this summer to a team in need of a top young pivot — and yet here he is, still in camp. Wright managed 27 points in 74 games last season after a 44-point campaign the year before. He's 22. There's still a player in there.

Jared McCann's health. When McCann is right, he's arguably the best forward on this roster. Injuries have chipped away at that over the past few seasons, and a step forward for Seattle probably requires a full season from him.

The kids. Jagger Firkus and Jani Nyman are the two wingers with the most to prove, while the projected top-nine wing group shapes up as Bobby McMann, McCann and Catton on the left with Jordan Eberle, Kaapo Kakko and Samoskevich on the right. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, 21, already has 13 NHL games under his belt and looked sharp in Abbotsford. Botterill has said publicly he doesn't want young players boxed out of the NHL roster — this preseason is where he backs that up or doesn't.

Then the real thing

Seattle opens the regular season Oct. 1 in Calgary before the home opener against the Flames on Oct. 4. November brings a first: the Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes head to Helsinki for two games at Veikkaus Arena as part of the Global Series.

But that's a month away. Tonight is about a young Canucks lineup, a young Kraken lineup, and a roster that has to sort itself out in a hurry.