Top takeaways from the Seattle Kraken home preseason loss to the Calgary Flames, September 22nd, 2024
By Silvia Leija-Rosas, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – You’ve seen the tweets: preseason games don’t count if your favorite team loses. A blessing for the Seattle Kraken who fell at home to the Calgary Flames by a score of 1-6 in the first game of the 2024-25 preseason,. The Kraken got off to a pretty bad start and stayed that way through the entire 60 minutes, with the first goal coming off a Calgary face-off win in the first two minutes. The lack of any real defensive fortitude from the Kraken and former Everett Silvertips goalie, Dustin Wolf, between the Calgary’s pipes was the perfect recipe for the goal gap.
The Good: It’s only the preseason
Keep repeating this because we still have another five games to go. Seattle’s fourth season is all about new beginnings: new coaches, new players and new broadcasting, and the preseason is the perfect time to tweak the tweakable. Everyone wants a spot on that final roster and the mix of prospects and veterans in Seattle makes for some fun hockey despite the loss.
Nathan Villeneuve is one of the many beginnings we get this season. The 18-year-old who scored the lone goal Sunday night was selected 63rd overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. He created several chances for himself early on in the game, all thwarted by Wolf, before his one-timer found the back of the net in the third period. It will be a while before we get to see the full scope of the Kraken’s young talents truly be put to work outside of the franchise’s development system, so make sure to take it all in now and be excited for what we can expect.
Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans (#41) and forward Oliver Bjorkstrand (#22) during the third quarter of the teams preseason loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena.
It’s not just the prospects who made statements on the ice. Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is on year four of a five-year contract with the Kraken, had a strong offensive showing tonight. The winger opened the game with three shots on goal early in the first period and served the cross-ice pass to Villeneuve that allowed the Kraken to avoid being shutout.
And of course, there is always Shane Wright. The center the Kraken picked fourth overall in 2022 hasn’t lost any of what drew the Kraken to him in the first place. During the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs with the AHL affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds against the Hershey Bears, Wright scored 13 points in 12 games (4G-9A) despite missing the first four games of the series. In tonight’s preseason game, he was all over the middle of the ice, showing off his speed and poking holes in Calgary’s lines. Wright’s hockey IQ is like a breath of fresh air for this team.
Seattle Kraken center Shane Wright during the teams preseason loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Reid Alexander)
Too much disconnect.
Okay, so obviously a 1-6 loss isn’t fun for anyone, especially the kids who are trying to put their name out there. Unfortunate turnovers from the rookies really kept the game tilted in Calgary’s favor. With such a diverse line up of NHLers, AHLers and even junior pros, it’s tough to get a real judge of this years Kraken team or even the entirety of Seattle’s prospect system considering the mashup lineup in a preseason game. But five goal deficits don’t happen by themselves and after the third mistake finds the back of your team’s net all you can really do is wince.
Despite outshooting 14-10 in the opening period and 13-9 in the second period the Kraken found themselves down 0-4. The first goal came right off a defensive-zone face-off after eighth overall selection in this past years draft, Berkly Catton, lost his assignment who drove straight to the crease and scored. Later, 2024 OHL leading scorer David Goyette turned the puck over on the blue line after NHL veteran defenseman Josh Mahura struggled to even keep it for the pass to Goyette in the first place.
Even veteran goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who is tagged with four goals against struggled in his own net and spent a good chunk of the first period on his back before he cemented himself a little more in the second frame. Ales Stezka who jumped in to finish the final frame of the game let two of his own in and the Kraken lost the little momentum they’d been trying to keep.
The Kraken were obviously troubleshooting in real time, but this is the perfect time for that. The mistakes offer the perfect opportunity for young players who are getting their first taste of the NHL to make adjustments, and for veterans to get their feet under them after a long offseason.
Despite this being a preseason contest, the two Pacific Division rivals were quite physical as our Seattle Kraken hosted the Calgary Flames on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Reid Alexander)
Preseason or not, there was plenty of fighting
Look, the Kraken may have lost, but at least hockey is back and boy was it back in full force. It’s not even the regular season and we already had several fights on the Climate Pledge Arena ice between two Pacific Division rivals. After Seattle’s Tucker Robertson caught Calgary’s William Stromgren with a knee-on-knee hit, he was immediately challenged by Artem Grushnikov. The fight was cheered on (loudly) by a Climate Pledge Arena that was most likely counting down until the offseason was over. Scuffles continued to break out throughout the game and Villeneuve even tried picking his own fight after his goal. Defenseman Ryker Evans dragged two Flames out of a pile after Seattle took exception to a Calgary skater whacking at Philipp Grubauer as he was in snowman position, as Jared McCann and Matty Beniers both took on a different flame in the same instance.
Again, players are really looking to make a statement these next few weeks. Expect for some roster changes to come out as the preseason continues, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, as Bylsma and his staff lock down the team that’ll take us into the regular season.
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Check out our previous Seattle Kraken articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Silvia Leija-Rosas here, and follow her on Twitter here.
Cover photo and photos in this article by Reid Alexander. Check out Reid’s portfolio by clicking here!
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