Kraken Turmoil?
Turmoil might be strong terminology, but what a week for the Seattle Kraken. And not a good one.
Besides the four-game losing streak, the new head coach Dan Bylsma scratched the club’s lone NHL All-Star representative from last season, Oliver Bjorkstrand, for the game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
“Both from a team standpoint and an individual standpoint you’re assessing the expectations that are set and trying to set for the team and the group on how we want to play, and that goes for individuals as well,” Bylsma said after practice on Thursday. “We saw Oliver not play in Colorado, other guys had a chance to go in the line-up and do it, and Oliver is going to get a chance to do it tomorrow night against Vegas.”
Almost exclusively, a player gets sat for reasons of lack of effort, lack of a 200-foot game, as in defensive responsibilities, or a combination of both.
It’s not for shooting wide too often.
He might almost feel like a scapegoat, as the Kraken season thus far has been marked by underachievement across the board.
Oh yeah, and here comes Vegas tonight (Friday). This could be a telltale affair; a benchmark game on home ice for Seattle.
Effort and body language will tell the story.
Meanwhile, goalie Philipp Grubauer hurt himself at home and is unavailable. We’ll dive into this over the weekend.
Top D-man Vince Dunn is still out.
