Kraken Weekly: Welcome Matty

This week was very exciting as we saw the Seattle Kraken sign their first ever first round pick (number two overall in last year’s draft) Matty Beniers to an entry level contract and make his NHL debut on the road against the Calgary Flames and get his first career point with an assist as he set up Ryan Donato for a beauty of a goal. On Saturday we got to see the highly skilled youngster out of the University of Michigan score his first career goal on the power play against the New Jersey Devils at home. It was an exciting week indeed and let’s take a look at it and what’s ahead for the Kraken:

Burnt by Flames in 3rd period, lose 5-3 (4/12/22)

Shootout victory, Beniers gets 1st NHL goal (4/16/22)

How’s it Kraken? My thoughts on the week and what’s ahead

As I said earlier, this was a very exciting week for the Kraken. Getting Matty Beniers signed and in the lineup was a pretty big deal. The skilled youngster who was drafted number two overall in last year’s draft had a helluva sophomore season at the University of Michigan scoring twenty goals and adding twenty-three assists for a total of forty-theee points in thirty-seven games played. Beniers has the potential to be a number one or second line center in the NHL. He has plenty of skill that the Kraken need and have lacked in their inaugural season. Beniers made his debut on Tuesday night in Calgary against the Flames and got his first career point with a beautiful/skilled no look assist to Ryan Donato who buried a shot at the right face off circle for the goal. That played showcased his vision and playmaking abilities. He also scored his first NHL on Saturday night at home against the New Jersey Devils as he picked up the puck that was deflected off the post and put it into the back of the net. Another one of his strengths is being able to hunt for pucks and did a great job of instinctually finding the puck and putting it into the back of the net. Here are a couple clips of his impressive first week with the Kraken:

As far as the games, the Kraken played surprisingly well against the Calgary Flames. The only problem in that game was they had a 3-1 lead and couldn’t hold against a team that’s notorious for their scoring ability and has established themselves as a legit Stanley Cup contender. Would’ve been nice to hang on or add to the lead but that didn’t happen and wasn’t surprising to lose to a very good team. Playing against the New Jersey Devils was more their speed as both teams are in the basement of the league standings this season. While I didn’t like that the Kraken couldn’t add to the lead and keep the game from overtime and the shootout, I liked that the Kraken were able to hang on and get the victory this time. Next week may be a tough one for the Kraken with some tough opponents on deck. They play the Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avalanche, and have back to back games against the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars. I see potential wins against the Senators and Stars (who they beat recently) while losing the others against the very good Wild and Avalanche. We are in the final two weeks of the regular season as the inaugural season for the Kraken is coming to a close. Let’s see what happens with two weeks left…stay tuned Seattle!

Upcoming Seattle Kraken Games

4/18/22- Seattle Kraken vs Ottawa Senators

4/20/22- Seattle Kraken vs Colorado Avalanche

4/22/22- Seattle Kraken @ Minnesota Wild

4/23/22- Seattle Kraken @ Dallas Stars