Simmer's Sunday 9 - Kraken Chances, Team USA's, Trade Talk

Kraken, Canucks, NHL, IIHF – Simmer’s 9

1) Ladies first. The final roster for Team USA was announced a couple days ago for the upcoming women’s world championships in Denmark. Games run from November 6th through the 16th with the Americans and Team Canada as the usual favorites.

There are no Washington natives on the squad but the Seattle Torrent of the PWHL are represented by forwards Alex Carpenter and Abbey Murphy. D-woman Caroline Harvey of the Vancouver Goldeneyes is also on the team.

2) Speaking of Team USA, on the men’s side, it seems USA Hockey is a common denominator for players demanding trades in the NHL. I’m not sure if hockey is slowly becoming baseball — a terrifying concept — with the inmates running the asylum, if players are simply more demanding or spoiled, or if money/greed is slowly ruining the game. Like it does everything else.

Longtime Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was an American gold medalist in Italy in 2026, as was Brady Tkachuk and goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Larkin is now sitting out while demanding a trade after playing in ten games this season. Some captain. And I was always a defender/fan of the guy.

Tkachuk wanted out of the Ottawa Senators organization and was traded to the Florida Panthers to play with his brother Matthew. Hellebuyck demanded a trade from the Winnipeg Jets and landed with the New Jersey Devils earlier this season. The Jets are since in a tailspin.

The latest? Not American, but Russian. Nikita Kucherov, last season’s Hart Trophy winner as league most valuable player, has said he won’t sign with the Lightning and wants to be traded. This after the Bolts apparent contract offer fell short.

3) Another Red Wings player, defenseman Simon Edvinsson, presently sitting out of action as a restricted free agent, has also demanded a trade. He’s Swedish by the way. I brought up the possibility of the Kraken attempting to acquire him a couple weeks ago and apparently that potential move has become a stronger possibility.

He’d also make a great piece for the Canucks blueline as part of their rebuild, if he has patience.

4) The Kraken have an opportunity to bank some points coming up in the month of November. Not that there’s ever an easy night necessarily in the NHL, but the schedule in the not-so-distant isn’t exactly murderer’s row.

In fact, the Seattle club will have the opportunity to truly bond on the road when it flies to Helsinki, Finland for two NHL Global Series games against the Carolina Hurricanes in the middle of the month. (Travel advice here for Kraken fans). Typically teams split games on those match-ups overseas, although against the defending champs, it won’t be easy.

Otherwise in November, the Kraken face the Flames yet again, the New York Rangers, the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks. To prove it’s a serious playoff contender, the Seattle team needs to win a majority of those games, particularly with four of them in the division.

Things ramp up at the very end of the month when Seattle plays the Edmonton Oilers on a back-to-back, home-and-home set on consecutive nights on the 27th and 28th.

5) With number-one goalie Igor Shesterkin injured, the Rangers brought in a popular, well travelled nice guy to be the back-up for young Dylan Garand. 38-year-old James Reimer signed with the Blueshirts back on October 25th, joining his ninth NHL franchise.

I covered him when he started his career with the Maple Leafs. He’s still viable, although his first appearance with New York was horrid, giving up three goals in twenty minutes. Reimer is a popular dressing room addition who put up decent numbers with the Ottawa Senators last season in 14 games played.

6) Trivia Time!!:

A) In their brief history, which two NHL teams have the Seattle Kraken defeated the most times?

B) Since their inception in 1970, the Vancouver Canucks have lost to which NHL team more than any other?

7) If you’ve never watched it, you should. It’s sledge hockey, officially para-hockey. It’s the guys ripping around using arm power on sleds. It’s remarkably physical, fast and entertaining.

Team Canada picked up a monumental win back on October 24th when they won the final of the 2026 International Para Hockey Cup over the United States 5-1. While North America definitely sports the world’s two top teams, the Americans have dominated the results in most recent World Championships and Paralympic games. Could this mean the ice is balancing out once again?

The next Worlds will be a must watch. We’ll keep you posted.

8) Two recent Kraken stories worth checking out if you missed them. Seattle head coach Lane Lambert’s disappointment and declaration after the club’s most recent loss and the ongoing problems with the penalty kill.

9) There are nine entries to the “Simmer’s” presentation in honor of the greatest player of all time, Gordie Howe. Aside from him being my hero, as he is for many people, like Wayne Gretzky, I had the privilege of interviewing, interacting, and talking hockey with “Mr. Hockey” on a number of occasions.

Somehow it became a tradition after our camera man Dave Falcone and I finished shooting our annual NHL All Star special for Leafs TV, that we’d wait around for a two-shot with Gordie to close the show. He was always willing, after staying at the game venue and signing every last autograph of every last fan who asked.

Here’s a little clip featuring, among other things, one of hockey’s all time greatest gentleman. (And the season ending outtakes just for fun)

Trivia Answers:

A) The Kraken have defeated both the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks eleven times, more than any other NHL franchises. They’ll have a chance to add to that total later this month.

B) The NHL club that has beaten the Vancouver Canucks more than any other is the Calgary Flames. They’ve defeated the Canucks 144 times in regular season action.