Choose your own lead sentence for this Seattle Kraken penalty killing story!
(1) It’s a good thing the Seattle Kraken didn’t take many penalties last year, because they were rotten at killing the ones they took.
(2) Here’s the list of teams with a worse statistical 2025-26 penalty kill than the Seattle Kraken: Vancouver Canucks. That’s it. That’s the list.
(3) The Seattle Kraken have never been good at killing penalties, but they were never as bad as they were last season.
Whichever one you chose, the takeaway is the same. As plain-speaking coach Lane Lambert put it, “Penalty killing was a problem all year.” If a low-scoring Seattle squad hopes to win more close games this season, they must clean up their shorthanded play.
Kraken PK Has Never Cracked 80%
The mystery of Seattle’s late-season swoon out of playoff contention gets less mysterious when you examine their shorthanded numbers. Over the final 10 games, Seattle disposed of 62.5% of opposition power plays, down even from their anemic full-season 72.2%.
In no game was that more painfully demonstrated than Apr. 6 in Winnipeg. The Jets, despite their nickname, were going nowhere fast last season. Even so, Winnipeg scored on all three of its power plays in a 6-2 victory. Afterward, coach Lambert decried a lack of commitment.
Kraken Need Short(handed) Answers
Identifying a problem is one thing; fixing it is another. Fortunately, most shorthanded to-do items aren’t rocket surgery: blocking shots, getting in shooting lanes, winning d-zone faceoffs, etc.
The Kraken are already good at one remedy, team discipline. They were shorthanded only 216 times last season, 9th fewest in the league. Another bright spot, according to The Hockey Writers, is that Seattle has the personnel to do better.
“Veterans like Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn have long been trusted defensive players, while Matty Beniers and Chandler Stephenson have shown they can be reliable in defensive situations.” Add to that list defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Freddy Gaudreau. They were brought aboard a year ago in part to improve the PK, and will need to contribute more in that area.
It’s long been a hockey truism that your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer. On the Kraken, coach Lambert believes that wasn’t necessarily so. “Penalty killing starts with your goaltender. I think our goalie save percentage was pretty low shorthanded. We’re certainly going to do a deep dive.”
When the team surfaces for training camp in September, we’ll learn how they plan to apply what they found out.
Earlier Kraken:
— Before Seattle, Beniers Had Wild Times With Wolverines
