That’s right. The Kraken’s 4th-line center du jour, Mitchell Stephens, won a Stanley Cup with Yanni Gourde and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020, and by virtue of playing 38 regular season games and seven playoff games that season, his name got etched on Lord Stanley’s chalice.
Who knew?
The folks in Coachella Valley were starting to get to know him. Stephens started this season with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate in California before being called up to the big club for the November 30th home game against the San Jose Sharks. He then played in all four games on the recent road trip that saw Seattle go 3-and-1.
“Mitchell is confident, he’s a smart player, he’s good defensively, he’s good in the face-off circle, and he knows how to play the game to have success,” Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma said after Sunday’s win against the Rangers. “Wherever he’s playing in the line-up, and that’s the PK (penalty kill) as well, he’s done a great job.”
Ben Meyers was given a three-game look, rookie Ryan Winterton six. Stephens is trying to grab the reins with his opportunity. With 100 NHL games under his belt, he’s the most experienced of those three bottom-six pivots.
The coach credits him and his line, with Brandon Tanev and Tye Kartye, with turning around the game at Madison Square Garden.
“Pucks to the net, we’re crashing there, win some pucks, being around the offensive zone, that’s an outstanding play,” Bylsma stated, in reference to the 2nd period goal that cut the Rangers lead to 3-2. “Their, and his style of hockey, getting the puck around the net, he’s made that play a couple of times in the last three games and this one lands on Turbo’s (Tanev’s) stick. It was a huge momentum swing in the game for us.”
The Kraken were off to the races and a 7-5 win.
Stephens, a 2nd-round NHL Draft pick of the Lightning out of the Ontario Hockey League in 2015, has played for the Bolts, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Montreal Canadiens before landing in the Kraken organization.
He’s one of eight Kraken players with their name on the Stanley Cup.
