The Seattle Kraken took to the ice on Thursday, Sept. 19, for the opening of training camp. With the regular season beginning on Oct. 4 and 5, via the latest edition of the NHL Global Series and Seattle hosting the Calgary Flames this Sunday night (Sept. 22) for preseason hockey, it’s back to regular business hours for the club and their 31 rivals. How did Day 1 go? Here’s a look.
Shane Wright First Player on the Ice
The team was split into a trio of forwards, defensemen, and a pair of goaltenders. Shane Wright, the 2022 first-round draft pick, was included in team A, and he was the first player from team A to step onto the ice. The 20-year-old did the same a week before when he participated in the Kraken’s rookie camp.
There are only so many different ways one can write that 2024-25 is a big year for the Ontario native. Hopes and expectations of what he might bring to the Kraken have simmered since the June 2022 NHL Draft. Since then, he has predominantly honed his craft with the team’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He’s played at the NHL level, but only 16 times in two campaigns.
One of the more telltale signs that this could be his breakout year is that the Kraken are now led by head coach Dan Bylsma, who was hired after leading the Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Final appearances (two defeats, alas). The two know each other well, and Wright is a skilled forward, while Seattle needs all the offensive punch it can get. They were the 29th-ranked attack in 2023-24, averaging 2.61 goals per match.
Chandler Stephenson’s First Impressions
One of two controversial free agency signings this summer, Chandler Stephenson is now a true member of the Kraken. Yes, players have been skating briskly for a few days already, but the first day of training camp has that special aura of officialdom.
Stephenson is coming off highly successful back-to-back stints with the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights, both with whom he hoisted Stanley Cups. The most popular arguments against his acquisition are that he is on the wrong side of 30 (he’ll be 31 next April), came at a high cost ($6.25 million average per season), and wasn’t as productive as usual in 2023-24 (51 points against more than 60 the two previous seasons).
Related: Previewing the Seattle Kraken’s 2024-25 Goalie Situation
Whether those misgivings are founded or not will be known in the coming weeks, months, and, for the club’s sake, years. Stephenson may not be an offensive juggernaut, but he’s still a good skater and came to Seattle with extraordinary playoff experience. How many players win a championship with one franchise and then a second with the same one they defeated to win the first? It’s not as if Stephenson is old, per se. If he’s healthy and there is chemistry with his teammates, who knows what can happen?
Speaking to the media after practice, Stephenson was direct about what he hopes to accomplish with the Kraken: “A Cup. That’s the goal.”
He also had some positive words for the Seattle region itself, which differs starkly from the District of Columbia and Nevada. “I didn’t expect it to be so many different areas. Bellevue, Kirkland…it seems like the more you keep going, the more there is. So you kind of get everything, which is really cool. You got the mountains, you got the ocean.”
Welcome aboard.
Matty Beniers’ Competitive Nature
Speaking of expensive contracts, Matty Beniers ($7.142 million average per season) is back in action. The franchise’s ambitions undeniably rest on the 2023 Calder Trophy winner’s shoulders. Everybody has a role to play, but when an organization dishes out over $7 million per year for a quartet of campaigns, they expect it to pay dividends in the form of wins and, one would think, a Cup.
Davy Jones’ Locker Room beat reporter Allyson Ballard commented on how Benier’s wrist shots were beating goalie Philipp Grubauer top shelf. Granted, it’s only practice but her eye test claimed that Beniers’ shots had a “particularly lethal speed to them.”
The 21-year-old brought that same intensity to his comments for the media afterward, if not necessarily in tone.
On the club’s expectations this season:
“To be in the playoffs. Anything below that is a disappointment for our group.”
On the attitude and atmosphere he enjoys at practice:
“I like when there’s a winner and a loser, and the loser has to skate.”
Oliver Bjorkstrand’s Good Health
Not long ago, there was mild concern about how ready Oliver Bjorkstrand would be for the start of camp. The Dane suffered an injury while playing for his national squad in the Olympic Qualifiers. At the time, general manager (GM) Ron Francis told the media that his status was not serious.
True enough, Bjorkstrand was present on Thursday, skating with his mates. In fact, he was reunited with his line partners for much of 2023-24: Beniers and the team’s leading points-getter Jared McCann. By all accounts, he looked good, which is a positive sign, considering he was the Kraken’s lone representative at last season’s NHL All-Star Weekend.
Dan Bylsma Takes Charge
Last but certainly not least, it was Bylsma’s first real day in charge of the group. Firebirds coach Derek Laxdal had rookie camp duties a week ago. Now it was time for Bylsma to get the band working together and figure out what each player’s role would be this season. The Stanley Cup-winning coach was all business. It was his 54th birthday, but that was the last thing on his mind with the regular season looming.
“We’re 19 days from opening night. That’s not a lot of time to get comfortable.”
That is true in more ways than one. Not only does the roster and linemates need to jell, but entering as a franchise’s new head coach and starting work in earnest with less than three weeks before the opening face-off is a challenge.
There is also the reality that the group has its work cut out for it.
“There’s a lot of sense of disappointment in the results last year. There’s a lot of motivation and energy to turn that script.”
With the first day of training camp in the books, the team will continue to work and prepare for Sunday’s contest versus the Flames. Things will move quickly over the coming days and weeks. The first match on Oct. 8 – when the Kraken host the St. Louis Blues – will be here before we know it.
