With the Seattle Kraken’s 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night – courtesy of a rather deflating performance – the club is now officially eliminated from postseason contention. With only seven matches left before the Kraken unpack their lockers, it’s safe to conclude that the campaign was a disappointment. Even so, every club has bright spots, and one player in particular stood out among the fray. In that spirit, we list the candidates as to who the club’s most valuable player was this season and make our pick.
Consider this article like the positive version of the team obituaries that fellow scribe Adam Forbes writes.
Related: Calgary Flames 2023-24 Team Obituary: Playoff Hopes Extinguished
Without further ado, let’s get to the candidates for the 2023-24 Kraken team MVP!
Joey Daccord’s Breakout Season
We wrote extensively about goaltender Joey Daccord back in early March when Seattle was still in serious contention for a playoff spot. At the time he had proven his worth toward the end of 2023 and the first couple of months of 2024 in light of Philipp Grubauer’s absence due to injury. His commendable performances have persisted since then.
As of Friday, April 5 and before the match versus the Anaheim Ducks, Daccord has started 47 contests, posted an 18-16-11 record, a 2.42 goals against average and a brilliant .918 save percentage (SV%.) Sometimes one has to call it how it is: Daccord is one of the best netminders in the NHL. He’s top five league-wide for both goals against per game and SV%. The number of times the Kraken have been involved in 0-0, 1-0, or 1-1 games heading into the final period thanks to his efforts is incredible.
Without meaning disrespect to Grubauer, few would argue against the idea that Daccord has been the better goalie this season. He costs less today, but that could easily change whenever negotiations happen down the line.
Brian Dumoulin and Vince Dunn Make a Rock-Solid Defence
It’s one thing for a goalie to sport enviable statistics, but the play of the defence in front factors into those numbers. As such, it would be disingenuous to list potential team MVPs without mention of at least one blue liner. After all, the Kraken give up the eighth-least number of total shots on target (2,206). That’s not bad for a club that will be watching the payoffs from the couch.
The obvious candidate, at least to the casual Kraken viewer, is Vince Dunn. To be fair, Dunn has put up excellent numbers. He’s third on the team in points (46), which is pretty incredible for a defender. On the flip side – and this is no fault of his own – Dunn missed significant play time during the campaign with an injury. And yes, Seattle started to trail off at the same time Dunn was nursing his ailment. It’s not as though Dunn isn’t a good candidate at all. Far from it.
However, teammate Brian Dumoulin logs in a good amount of ice time per contest (16:55), has only missed two games out of 75 and has a nice plus-minus of plus-4. He doesn’t rack up many points, only 14 thus far, but the former Pittsburgh Penguin never has. His best season was last year in with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he had 25 points in 82 games. The simple argument is that a defenseman’s purpose isn’t to score points but to prevent other teams from doing so.
To put his consistency into perspective, he played 14 games in March and finished with a negative plus/minus in only two. He was an excellent plus-8 in January, which is when the Kraken gave themselves their best shot at the playoffs. Considering the team itself has a negative-19 goals differential, any defensemen who has played most of the season and has a positive figure merits applause.
Jared McCann Leads the Kraken in Points
The standout candidate is, naturally, the one who tallies the most points on the roster. The objective is to win games and a club can’t do that if no one is scoring goals or providing helpers.
That distinction goes to left-winger Jared McCann. The 27-year-old Stratford, Ontario native has 60 points through 74 contests, courtesy of 28 goals and 32 assists. Conversely, he has a minus-9 rating. Nobody has scored nearly as many times as McCann (Oliver Bjorkstrand is second with 20 markers). On the flip side, McCann’s team-leading 28 goals put him in 40th place league-wide. It gives off a whiff of a big fish in a small pond. Or a big Kra… – you know what, we won’t even go there.
Again, someone has to be the go-getter, that figure who inspires others to do better and who can also make teammates better, results-wise. Perhaps that is where McCann’s candidacy takes a hit. Nearly everyone took a backward step this season.
The Kraken’s 2023-24 MVP is…
Joey Daccord. It’s quite something to come out of seemingly nowhere (he had fewer than 20-career NHL appearances prior to this season) and look like one of the best players on the roster. It would have been easy, forgivable even, to predict that Seattle’s campaign would crash and burn when Grubauer went out, but the opposite occurred. With Daccord playing sensationally, the Kraken fought back to give themselves a chance to make the playoffs, even though it didn’t pan out.
He hasn’t played yet in April, but throughout March he played in eight games and had a SV% below .900 only once. Seattle has lost matches down the stretch when his percentage was above .900, .920, and even .930! What else was this guy supposed to do?
We salute thee, Joey Daccord.
