Analysis: What’s Behind Longstanding Kraken’s Shootout Woes?
The Seattle Kraken have had an uneven start to their franchise history in their first four-plus seasons of existence. They made a run to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals in year two, but not only have they failed to make the playoffs every other year, they haven’t had more than 81 points in any other season.
There are several reasons why the Seattle Kraken are already on their third full-time head coach in five years. Things like a lack of year-to-year progress from some of the younger core and problems with special teams are some of the more well-discussed issues to dog the deep this decade, but one of the more underrated issues is the shootout.
Sure, shootouts only happen a handful of times each season. But for the Kraken, it seems to be a blatant disadvantage. Seattle is 0-4 in shootouts this season, losing the most recent one to the Canucks on Monday, Dec. 29. Diving deeper, over the last three-and-a-half seasons - dating back to the beginning of the 2022-2023 season - the Kraken are just 5-15 in shootouts. That is the third-worst winning percentage in the NHL over that span.
Why is Seattle one of the worst teams in the entire NHL at shootouts for going on four seasons? That has now spanned all three head coaches in Kraken history, so it’s not a singular coaching issue.
A better question might be, what do the top shootout-winning teams in the NHL have that the Kraken don’t? For the record, the top three teams in shootout winning percentage are the Predators, Senators, and Panthers. All three have made the playoffs in this time frame and, of course, the Panthers are coming off of back-to-back Stanley Cups.
It looks like there are two sides of this. That is: can your top goal-scorers thrive in one-on-one situations, and can your goaltender hold his own under the pressure of a shootout?
Last season, Florida’s Aleksander Barkov tied for the lead in shootout goals in the NHL with four. His teammate, Anton Lundell, scored three. They were the only team in the NHL with a combo scoring at that rate in a shootout.
Scoring depth is key, and that’s something that the Kraken have simply lacked the majority of their existence. Seattle is dead last in goals scored this season and ranked 16th last season and 29th the season before that. It’s been several seasons since the team has had a consistent, deep offensive attack. Go figure - the last time the Kraken ranked inside the top 15 in goals scored was the only season they made the playoffs, in 2022-2023, ranking fifth.
It’s hard to be good at shootouts if you are constantly relying on the same one or two players every time. The Kraken as a team are an abysmal 2-for-13 on making shootout goals this season. However, team captain Jordan Eberle is 0-for-4, and that’s part of the problem; you need your top players doing the job in shootouts and Seattle’s have not done that.
The other side, of course, is goaltending.
Since taking over as the full-time goalie two seasons ago, it’s been up-and-down but mostly solid for the Arizona State product Joey Daccord. His goals allowed percentage minus (GA%-) metric, which shows the percentage of goals allowed versus league average with 100 being average and lower being better, checks in at 96 this season. Last year, he was at 94. Serviceable, but not spectacular - on average of 5% better than the league as a whole.
However, the shootout appears to be something of an Achilles’ heel for Daccord. With a minimum of six shootout shots faced this year, Daccord’s save percentage in shootouts is the third-worst in the NHL. That rung true last season as well. He has been one of the worst three or four goalies in the NHL against shootouts in the last two seasons.
With Seattle having little scoring depth and a serviceable goalie with a major shootout Achilles’ heel, that will get you one of the worst shootout teams in the NHL.
How can the Kraken improve their shootout midseason? Perhaps changing up strategies on who takes the shots on offense could breathe some life into this department; maybe they could let some newer Kraken like Kappo Kakko and Berkly Catton have cracks at it. Neither Matty Beniers nor Shane Wright have taken shootout shots yet this season, and that’s another potential avenue of improvement.
Regarding goaltending, veteran Philipp Grubauer is showing signs of life this year, and he had a better save percentage during shootouts than Daccord last year. Perhaps Grubauer could step in as a shootout goalie specialist?
However it happens, the Kraken need to improve their shootout situation, otherwise a few missed points here and there from losing shootouts may cost them a playoff spot in the end.
