Until recently, the Seattle Kraken have alternated between goaltenders Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord in net. Daccord’s name has been called three times between the Oct. 24 game against the Winnipeg Jets and the Oct. 30 away game against the Montreal Canadiens. Given his play and his recent contract extension, the Kraken should now consider him their clear-cut starter.
Joey Daccord’s Surprise Ascension
Mostly an unknown third wheel in the goalie pecking order with the Ottawa Senators and Seattle, everything changed when established starter Grubauer got injured in December 2023. From that point on, Daccord got 36 more starts for 50 total games last season. His 10 starts in December were more than his total games in any previous campaign. He was, in effect, the Kraken’s guy.
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It paid off for the most part. Despite the club’s lack of scoring, the 27-year-old kept his team in plenty of contests. He finished last season with honorable numbers: a 2.46 goals-against average (GAA) and a save percentage of .916 (SV%). At the time, he was operating under a contract that paid him $1.2 million per season. That was a bargain for Seattle, considering his stats. However, with only one year left on that deal, the Kraken front office, led by general manager Ron Francis, had some decisions to make. Is Daccord the club’s future in goal? Can he replicate last season’s performance?
Contract Extension for 5 Years in Seattle
On Oct. 8, the sixth-year pro was signed for an additional five seasons at $25 million total, which kicks in next season. He wasn’t suddenly the highest-paid goalie in the NHL, but it made for a significant raise. Ironically, it was the same day the Kraken opened their season at home against the St. Louis Blues, a game that Grubauer started. Seattle raced out to a 2-0 lead, only to fall 3-2.
Given that the Kraken had just signed Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson to pricy contracts – $6.25 million per season for Stephenson and $7.14 per season for Montour – there was only so much money remaining in the purse. To that point, as per Puck Pedia, Seattle is projected to have negative cap space by season’s end at -$1.41 million.
To be clear, the Kraken are far from the only team with that problem on the horizon. That said, it does facilitate – some would say force – the team to ensure they’ve made the correct decision by signing Daccord to a long-term deal. What does that mean? It means playing him. As in, playing him a lot. As in, playing him more than Grubauer.
Daccord Gets More Nods Than Grubauer
During the first few weeks of the season, it didn’t seem like that was what head coach Dan Bylsma had in mind. Daccord and Grubauer swapped starts. That strategy shifted after an Oct. 22 defeat at home to the Colorado Avalanche. The German got the call against an Avalanche side that had started its season in the doldrums and finished with a 3-2 loss. However, Grubauer had an SV%. of .893 – the third time in four starts his number was under .900.
That appeared to force Bylsma’s hand as Daccord started the next three games. Two were losses – Oct. 24 to the Winnipeg Jets and Oct. 26 to the Carolina Hurricanes – but overall, his play has steadied the ship. As of Oct. 31, before the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Daccord’s GAA is a good 2.80, and his SV% is .914. Compare that to Grubauer’s 3.10 GAA and .881 SV%.
But those are the easy stats to look up. According to Money Puck, the American netminder is 10th among NHL goalies in goals saved above expected with 2.9. His SV% on unblocked shots is .958, and although that puts him in 15th, six keepers above him have played fewer than his six games. Not all his numbers are great (his medium danger shot SV% is worse than Grubauer’s), but that comes with growing pains. Yes, he probably should have stopped Winnipeg’s OT winner from Nikolaj Ehlers. The gaff against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 20 that led to the opening goal was odd, too.
No one is saying that he is the perfect goalie. But as it stands – and to borrow an old expression – the proof is in the pudding. It is difficult to argue that Grubauer is playing at a level that warrants a 50-50 split for starts with his teammate. The funny thing is that even next season, when Daccord’s extension begins, Grubauer will be paid more ($5.9 million). That, however, is a function of decisions made in the past that must be reckoned with today. When his deal was signed, Seattle didn’t know how good Daccord would be, nor was having Montour or Stephenson in the lineup even a concept. Be that as it may, the Kraken would do well to give Daccord as many starts as sensibly possible to build toward their future.
