First off a thank you to Sean, for letting me fill in during his absence. Congratulations and enjoy while you are away. So for kickoffs, let's just get to it here for something to ponder and chew on during the slow time of the year….

As the calendar flips to September fans begin to look forward to the finishing touches to their team rosters. The Kraken have locked up a few more minor depth players bound for Coachella in the past couple weeks. The attention will now start to turn towards who might challenge for a roster spot in camp battles, and look forward to the exhibition games and prospect games. For Seattle, it was a relatively quiet offseason as compared to the retooling of the team a year ago, with most of the roster returning. Coming into their third season, off a Cinderella run second season, it is fair to say expectations are high. Playoffs are expected, especially in the weak Pacific Division, however Seattle won’t be taking anyone by surprise this year. There isn’t a whole lot of intrigue surrounding the team either, especially after rumors of EK, and Nylander all fizzled right out. That said, there is one small area which raises an eyebrow while having some ramifications on the cap and roster, which is between the pipes. Of course, this is nothing new, and really goes all the way back to the expansion draft. The Kraken goaltending picture has always been a little bit fuzzy and questionable. After last season, now there are some questions going forward here.

Let’s start with a look back, and work forward to get the big picture. Ron Francis struck quick to sign pending UFA Chris Dreidger, which counted as the Kraken’s pick from Florida, where Dreidger had come off a 23 game 14-6-0-3 record with three shutouts and a 2.07GAA and .927 SV%. Francis then later in the draft added Joey Daccord, and Vitek Vanecek. With the Dreidger contract, three years at 3.5mil a season, with a modified 10 team NTC, it looked like the Kraken were going to roll the dice with him as the starter. Enter Philipp Grubauer. Francis seemed to pivot quickly adding the proven netminder to be the starter, and Vanecek was sent back to Washington for a 2nd round pick. Gru, and Dreidger would both struggle the first season. Injuries didn’t help, but Dreidger seemed to put it together playing for Canada post season. That is, before getting an acl injury that would have him out for seven to nine months recovery time. From seemingly starter apparent, to challenger for the role only because Gru struggled, to injured. Suddenly things changed, and Dreidger was ultimately out of the picture. Dreidger was cleared to play February 24th but did not see the NHL again this past season.

Francis would address things last offseason by bringing in Martin Jones. Jones appeared in 48 games, starting 42, and would run 27-13-0-3 with a 2.99 GAA and an .887 SV% with 3 shutouts. While not the best numbers, it was enough. Combined with Gru having a bounce back for the Kraken, they had a solid year backstopping the team to new franchise records, albeit that was rather easy to do given it was only year two. Still, the jump in improvement was huge and noticed league wide. While goaltending can be tricky to gauge, the Kraken seemed to fall into the Grant Fuhr model, just stop one more puck than the opposition, and a win is a win. Last season, Joey Daccord broke out as well, pushing himself into the mix for the crease. Daccord saw five games with the Kraken, starting four, going 2-1-0-1 with a 3.14 GAA and .900 SV%. He appeared in 38 games for Coachella of the AHL going 26-8-3-3 with a 2.38 GAA and .918 SV%, and was the goalie for the Firebirds enroute to the Calder Cup finals. Meanwhile, a recovered Dreidger only got into 14 games in the AHL going 9-4-0-1 with a 2.61 GAA and .908 SV%. Not bad numbers, but not the large turnaround to get yourself back into the NHL either.

Jones is gone this offseason, and the team has their starter in Grubauer. Stezka, and Kokko were also signed which now adds to the goaltending depth chart of the team. Dreidger, it has been reported, has been shopped about, but with most teams tight to the cap, a 3.5 million cap hit, and 10 teams ruled out, it seems like there is little ability to move him. At this point, Daccord seems to be set for a battle to take the backup job, and make that next step. Francis at least has only this year to navigate with Drediger’s contract, and Daccord has another year after. The question is, will Daccord move up, or will Dreidger be backing up Gru in an effort to showcase him early, and move that salary? It would go a long way to padding the current cap space of just $943,424 that the Kraken have if Francis can pull something off. Given the depth and numbers, it would seem like Dreidger’s time with the Kraken is indeed likely coming to a close. Francis may finally have settled in on his netminding after bouncing around, and being a bit of a head scratcher when you look at it overall. Will Dreidger find a new home? Will Daccord be Gru’s backup? Personally, I think Dreidger gets buried in the AHL once again until Francis can find him a new team. Daccord deserves his shot, and provided he shows up in camp, should be Gru’s partner. Time will tell.

Chris Bell

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