Simmer’s Kraken 9
It’s three weeks until the solstice and the official start of summer, but happy, sunny times are here. What better time to hit Kraken fans with some tantalizing tidbits.
1) On Sunday the club announced it had signed 2023 5th-round NHL Draft pick Kaden Hammell to an entry-level deal. It’s a two-way, meaning he’ll get paid different amounts whether he’s playing in the NHL or the minors. It’s not expected he’ll be cracking the big club’s line-up any time soon.
His name should be familiar to hard core local hockey fans. Hammell played the last two-and-a-half Western Hockey League seasons with the Everett Silvertips just up the road. The-20-year-old righty finished this past season with ten goals and 28 assists from the blueline.
2) The Kraken should be introducing their new head coach Lane Lambert at a press conference either this week or next.
3) The one similarity between the international women’s hockey programs and that of the sled hockey teams, is the fact the two sports continue to be dominated by the USA and Canada, and in the case of sled, “sledge”, or para-hockey — the latter is now the official name — it’s the Americans in particular showing dominance.
That case was proved again this past weekend when Team USA wrapped up another World Championship title. They beat the Canadians 6-1 in the Gold Medal game played in Buffalo, New York on Saturday. The Americans have won four of the last five, and seven of the last ten championships. The last team to win, aside from one of the North American squads, was Norway in 2004, twelve tournaments ago.
If you’re wondering about the time gap, that’s because the event hasn’t always been held annually. In fact, the schedule was pretty sporadic between 2004 and the Covid cancellation in 2020. The event has been held every year the last four.
Meanwhile, while women’s programs around the world continue to improve, the shear population sizes and participation levels in the US and Canada still gives those two countries a big advantage.
4) Speaking of the ladies: USA Hockey announced on Monday that the next “Rivalry Series” between the North American foes will take place in Cleveland and Buffalo in early November.
That’s all fine and dandy, but the one tournament that really matters, the Winter Olympics in Italy, unfolds next February.
Canada has appeared in all seven Gold Medal games since 1998, winning five of them. They’re the defending champs. The only time it wasn’t Team USA facing them in the final was in 2006 when Sweden played for Gold and lost.
5) I think it’s cute that the Kraken website will feature a self-produced interview with a player, coach, or executive and call it an “exclusive”. I guess. A better term would be “a given”.
A real exclusive would mean getting someone else you normally wouldn’t get, ahead of everyone else. Also, just how difficult are the questions in these “exclusives”. Ya’ll work for the team!
Kidding aside, it is good promotional terminology, and any hockey material that educates the local masses is good hockey material … to some extent, depending on who’s asking the questions and who’s writing/recording it.
6) Trivia Time: Who was the Kraken’s 1st-round NHL Draft pick in 2023? Bonus query: where has he been playing most recently?
7) Doubt you’d be aware of this, but despite being the senior NHL reporter in the Seattle market, by a long-shot, having been covering the game since 1981 and fulltime since 1997 on national and regional TV and radio networks in two countries, I’m not allowed as a guest on the radio shows or game broadcasts on radio or on anything having to do with the television presentations.
Have never been given a reason.
Seattle Hockey Insider has covered roughly 80 home games over the last three seasons, a couple handfuls of road games, and travelled for playoff coverage two seasons ago. We’ll keep up the good work as long as they let us.
8) The Stanley Cup Final begins Wednesday night in Edmonton as the Oilers host the Florida Panthers in Game-1. In case you were wondering where all the hockey went.
Yes, it’s rematch of last year’s Final, won by the Cats in seven games. Could very well go the distance again.
9) The Kraken have the 8th-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. They’d love it if big Seattle Thunderbirds D-man Radim Mrtka was available at that point. Although it’s not considered a very deep draft in terms of high end talent, there’s also some solid blueliners in Europe that are eligible to get plucked.
While centers and D-men should be their priority, the Kraken need help/depth everywhere moving forward. So they’re likely in the “take the best player available, regardless of position” state of mind.
That said, I’d for sure go D over a winger if given a choice.
As for the all-important center position, Seattle has a lot of depth there, just not star quality talent in the top spot. A game breaker will need to be acquired via free agency or a trade if they’re serious about taking care of that dilemma in the next season or two.
They took pivot Berkly Catton last year in the draft and have three centers in their current line-up that would be considered 2’s or 3’s, all with upside.
Trivia Answer: Eduard Sale was taken 20th-overall by the Kraken at the 2023 NHL Draft. He played this past season in Coachella Valley with the Firebirds of the AHL and posted six goals and 15 assists over 51 games. He just turned age-20 in March.
