Looking at the Kraken roster for this season, one can't help but to think that this is a team that is already locked in to be 10-12 in the West, missing the playoffs for a second straight season.

The big adds for the Kraken, Stephenson and Montour are decent complimentary pieces, the latter more than the former, but I would not call either player a true difference maker.

Stephenson was brought in as a veteran centre to take on the tougher assignments so that Beniers can focus more on his own game and production. The issue with that is Stephenson played 340 minutes at 5 on 5 with the Golden Knights last season, a team we should all agree is much better than the Kraken, and was outscored 10-11 in those minutes.

The wings, an area that was once considered one of the deepest in the NHL is now just "fine." Eberle remains a solid player but his production has dropped over the past few seasons. Players like Burakovsky and Schwartz who were expected to be 50-60 point players have dealt with injuries and simply not produced as expected. Jared McCann remains a positive bright spot but he is more of a 30 goal scorer than his 40 goal season back in 22/23.

The biggest concern I have with the Kraken is that their core players simply cannot compete with the elite groups around the NHL. Matty Beniers has been locked up and should be a really good player in the NHL, but is he a franchise top line centre? Beniers is entering his 3rd full NHL season and has yet to show he is a 60 point player, let alone a ppg player. Shane Wright remains a complete unknown and as of right now looks like he will start the season as a fourth line center as opposed to being set up for success with other high end skill.

The Kraken have some other great young talent and prospects but the moves from this summer are the moves that a competing playoff team makes to try and push them to the next level - I don't think the Kraken are at that level yet.

If Beniers maxes out as a 65 point player and Shane Wright struggles, and the other vets are simply fine; the Kraken could be a team stuck in limbo; just missing the playoffs year after year.

One good season in 22/23 that was full of unsustainable shooting percentages and career years seems to have distracted this ownership group from what this team actually is. I understand the pressure on the Kraken, with word that the NBA is returning to Seattle, fans will only be interested in a meh team for so long. The Kraken need to be good this season and they need to keep fans interested.

So much of this season rides on Matty Beniers which is a ton of pressure for a young kid that would be a pretty strong second line centre on almost any other team in the NHL. How he deals with that will be a huge story this season.

Thanks for reading.

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