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The Seattle Kraken missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024. It was a disappointing outcome considering their run to the Western Conference second round the year prior. In fact, the Kraken were within a single game of making the 2023 Western Conference Finals.
In saying this, the outcome isn't entirely surprising in hindsight. Seattle lost a lot of the depth that helped them make the playoffs in free agency last summer. For instance, Daniel Sprong signed with the Detroit Red Wings and Morgan Geekie went to the Boston Bruins. The Kraken failed to adequately replace this depth last summer, as well.
As a result, the Kraken missed out on postseason hockey. However, that could certainly change in 2024-25. Seattle went big in NHL Free Agency this year, and they have quality veteran talent on the roster already. Speaking of, let's take a look at two Kraken veterans who could make a major impact on the team in the year ahead.
Joey Daccord could establish himself
One area the Kraken have struggled since their inception is goaltending. Seattle has added promising options through free agency, but each option failed to play up to snuff. However, that changed in a big way when Joey Daccord emerged this past season.
Daccord received more game time in 2023-24 than he did in all of his previous seasons combined. And he did extremely well with the time he received from Seattle's coaching staff. In 50 games, the 28-year-old Boston native had a record of 19-18-0 with a .916 save percentage.
Daccord's impact compares favorably to that of the elite goalies in the NHL. In fact, only Connor Hellebuyck had a higher Goals Above Replacement than the Seattle netminder, according to Evolving Hockey. Additionally, Daccord had the second-highest WAR (5.1) among goalies in the league, trailing Hellebuyck.
Goaltending in the NHL is extremely volatile. We have seen countless examples of goalies having promising seasons only to stumble later on. Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild is a good example of this. He played well below his 2022-23 form this past season.
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Still, it's hard to ignore these numbers, much as it was hard to do so with Gustavsson before the 2023-24 campaign. Daccord is likely the starting goalie in Seattle this upcoming season. And the impending free agent could certainly aid in their playoff push if he can continue coming up big.
Yanni Gourde could bounce back
Yanni Gourde came to Seattle as part of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. He came off his second-straight Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the time. Seattle hoped to receive a quality second-line center through his selection. It worked out for the most part, but this year saw the veteran center take a step back.
Gourde saw his production dip to just 11 goals and 32 points in 80 games. This is a notable drop from the back-to-back 48-point seasons he recorded in his first two years in Seattle. And the drop in production is not limited to the counting stats, either.
Gourde finished the season with a Goals For Percentage of 43.71%, according to Evolving Hockey. This is the fourth lowest GF% among Kraken forwards. Additionally, he recorded a Goals For Per 60 Minutes of 1.90, which is the sixth-lowest GF/60 among forwards on the team.
In saying this, there is hope he could bounce back in 2024-25. Gourde had an Individual Expected Goals tally of 21.89. Only Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann had a higher ixG than the two-time Stanley Cup Champion. His xGF% (50.86) was the eighth-highest and xGF/60 (2.59) was the fourth-highest among Kraken forwards, as well.
Gourde may not return to a nearly 50-point player. However, there is something here to suggest he could bounce back. He could certainly provide a ton of value for Seattle as they look to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025.
