Analysis: Three Things That Must Happen for Kraken to Make Playoffs in 2026-27
The Seattle Kraken have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last three seasons and four of their five seasons as a franchise. If they want to end that drought in 2026-27, they cannot simply hope that things break their way. They need tangible improvements in the areas that have held them back year after year.
Nothing is guaranteed, but if the Kraken can check these three boxes, they could give themselves a legitimate chance to return to the postseason in year No. 2 under the watch of coach Lane Lambert:
Two 30-Plus Goal Scorers
Nothing like saying the Kraken need something that has never happened in franchise history before. The Kraken have only had one 30-goal scorer ever with Jared McCann’s 40-goal performance in 2022-23. His 29 goals that following season is the second most in franchise history.
Three of the four Conference Championship participants last season had multiple 30-goal scorers. Seattle consistently is towards the bottom of the goals scored list year after year. If they are going to get back to the playoffs, they need to buck that trend in a major way with at least two players who consistently find the back of the net.
Jordan Eberle led the team last season with 26. It’s been over a decade since he has reached the 30-goal threshold. Matty Beniers scored 20 goals in each of the last two seasons. He appears to be the needle-mover in Seattle. If he can get to 30, the team should begin to click behind him. Bobby McMann was on a 45-goal pace after his late-season trade to the Kraken from Toronto. With a full year under Lane Lambert in Seattle, can he get there? It’s hard to make the playoffs if you don’t score goals.
Pre-Olympic Break Version of Goalies All Season Long
Before the league break for the Winter Olympics last year, the Kraken had arguably one of the best goalie tandems in the NHL in Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer. They combined for a 27-18-8 record before the break. Afterwards, they fell to a combined 6-14-2 while allowing over half of a goal more per game.
Grubauer is on the last year of his lengthy deal in Seattle. Daccord has four seasons left on his deal, counting this one. He is the main netminder on the squad for the present and future. But he needs to return to his previous form. He burst onto the scene in 2023-24, touting a .916 save percentage and allowing just 2.46 goals per game. In the two seasons since, he is at .901 and 2.88 respectively. He needs to recapture the previous magic that saw him rip the starting job from his now backup in Grubauer for the Kraken to be the best version of themselves.
Pound on Canucks and Flames
It’s the old adage of “beat the teams you should beat.” Frankly, there are not many teams the NHL media views as worse than the Kraken. However, luckily for Seattle, two of those teams reside in their own Pacific Division. MoneyPuck.com gives Seattle a 19.1% chance at making the playoffs. If you think that’s low, they have the Flames and Canucks at 10.4% and 8.7% respectively. While the Kraken have their own limitations, one way they can stay afloat in the playoff race is not give away games to lesser competition.
Seattle will play eight total games against Calgary and Vancouver. Their record needs to be sparkling against those two squads. They cannot afford to let games slip away against teams less talented than they. Seattle certainly needs to punch above its weight class to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But what they can’t do is allow lighter-weights to come up and steal games from them.
