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The Seattle Kraken was a surprise team last year.
The Kraken made it to the second round of the playoffs and eliminated the reigning champs in the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
Since they did that, many fans have called them dark horses for the upcoming seasons. Below are a few reasons for the fans optimism leading up to the NHL 2023/24.
3. Young team with playoff experience
Last season was massive for the Seattle Kraken as Seattle was a very young team that was able to get playoff experience and learn what it takes to win in the playoffs.
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Seattle is led by reigning Rookie of the Year Matty Beniers and they have 12 players on their NHL roster that are in their 20s. The Kraken are a very young team and it is expected the young core will only improve from last season and make them that much better.
2. Defensive core is solid
The saying is defense wins championships and the Seattle Kraken have built a very impressive defensive core.
Seattle is led by Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, and Vince Dunn to form a solid trio. But, in the off-season, the Kraken added Brian Dumoulin who can be in the top four and won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Seattle's offense may not look the best, but its defensive group is easily one of the best in the NHL. Here's what General Manager Ron Francis said on the acquisition of Dumoulin:
“I’m excited to get [Dumoulin]. It’s a small world; I started in player development once I retired in Carolina, and he was one of my projects back then. He went on to have a great career in Pittsburgh, a two-time Stanley Cup champ, so we add that to our locker room. [He’s a] terrific person and a real good player, so we think he helps us. Overall his game’s real solid.”
1. Goaltending
The way the NHL is going, more teams are employing goaltending tandems and are having two good goalies split the workload.
Seattle, meanwhile, has three solid goalies as the Kraken will be led by Philipp Grubauer who was a backup on the 2018 Stanely Cup winning Washington Capitals. Seattle also has Chris Dreidger and Joey Daccord under contract to also add to the solid goaltending unit.
Last season, Grubauer had a sub-3 GAA and if he can do that again, Seattle can have a ton of success and be a dark horse for the Stanley Cup.
