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Kraken Thoughts Through 4 - Regression Is A Thing |
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Remember last season when it didn't seem to matter what the Kraken did, the puck would go in the net?
Good times.
The Kraken had a ridiculous run of luck through last season with their shooting percentages. Most players on that team were running career high numbers. Right now we are seeing the opposite end of that. The good news is numbers will always regress back to the mean. The bad news is the Kraken have gone 0-3-1 to start the season.
Let's start with the powerplay. The Kraken have started the season 1/11 on the man advantage. The good news is they have gone 13/13 on the PK. Last season, even though the 5 on 5 offense was clicking at a fantastic rate, the powerplay also struggled. We are continuing to see those same issues with their man advantage now. While the 5 on 5 scoring will improve, we don't have any evidence yet to suggest the powerplay is going to dramatically rise in success.
Here is an idea... if players shoot the puck there is a higher chance that the puck will go in the net. Jared McCann leads the team in shots so for with 14 in 4 games, scoring one of the three goals the Kraken have produced this season.
The next most shots? Adam Larsson with 11 followed by Burakovsky with 9 then Gourde, Borgen, Kartyre, Dunn and Bjorkstrand with 8. I try to avoid talking about the Oilers but just to compare their top shooters right now are as followed:
Draisaitl- 14
McDavid - 12
Bouchard - 11
RNH - 9
Hyman/Holloway - 7
Similar numbers except for the fact that the Kraken have played one more game.
Props to Kartye for posting 8 shots despite averaging about 9.5 minutes a game. The more concerning one for me right now? Beniers with 6 shots in 4 games. Not nearly good enough as the top line centre on this team.
The other good news for now, Grubauer has looked really strong in net but it's hard to get your team the win when they are scoring at less than a goal per game clip. Daccord also looked very strong in his one appearance. Ironically the weakest area the Kraken had last season is the only position that's giving the team a chance to win.
The Kraken continue their three game homestand against a very strong possession team in the Hurricanes and a strong offense with elite goaltending in the Rangers on Saturday. There aren't any easy games for Seattle in the near future. The team is going to need to shake things up, grip their sticks a little looser and find a way to push through.
Seattle Kraken Blogger • 
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