Sunday evening, the Kraken host the Calgary Flames, two teams trying to find their way back into the Western Conference playoffs. Seattle missed out last year after surprising the NHL with 100 regular season points in 2022-’23 and a playoff exit one victory short of the conference final.
The Flames last made it to the postseason in 2021-’22 when they actually led the Pacific Division with 111 points. It’s made the last two seasons feel like a bit of a mystery. Darryl Sutter, the head coach of that team has since been fired and the General Manager at the time, Brad Treliving, now runs the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In a weird way, following a bit of a self-imposed roster exodus, it feels like a rebuild of sorts for the team in south Alberta under new GM Craig Conroy.
Winger Matt Coronato, the club’s 1st-round pick in 2021 (13th-overall), is one to watch. (For future reference for Flames fans, he’ll be wearing a mic on the ice tonight for some Flames “insider content”.) Jakob Pelletier is expected to take the next step. The left winger has 37 NHL games under his belt and big things are expected from the 2019 1st-rounder.
For the Kraken, this summer’s 1st-round pick Berkly Catton has shown early promise. He wants to crack the big club’s roster. He’ll play, as will fellow center prospect Shane Wright. Wright should make the team this year; it’s just a matter of determining where he’ll play in the line-up.
Seattle is loaded with center prospects, but not yet loaded up the middle. For now it’s up to Matty Beniers and newcomer Chandler Stephenson to man the top two center spots when the season starts. Beniers will be in the line-up Sunday night.
Recent Kraken:
— Kraken GM: Coach Will Pick The New Captain
