The Daily Faceoff Show: Mike McKenna talks about Seattle’s struggles

The Seattle Kraken certainly haven’t followed in the Vegas Golden Knights’ footsteps.

They’re currently dead last in the Pacific Division with a 4-11-1 record and they’re in the midst of a season-high five-game losing streak.

While expecting the Kraken to run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season as Vegas did in 2017-18 was always a stretch, Seattle has certainly been a disappointment early on.

Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna talked about what’s going wrong for the Kraken in Thursday’s episode of The Daily Faceoff Show…

Seravalli: “You look at where the Kraken rank in terms of expansion records through the first 15, 18 games of a season, and they’re right in the historical norm of where those teams might fall.

Are you surprised where the Kraken are at? The work ethic has been there, they haven’t stopped in that department, but they don’t have the results and they certainly aren’t trending in the right direction. What are you seeing from the Kraken?”

McKenna: “I’m not surprised here at all. I think everybody looked at Seattle and thought about the Vegas Golden Knights and are looking at this expansion with rose-colored glasses thinking the Kraken could magically grab hold of something special and just run it right to the playoffs.

That’s just not the case. They’re missing the top-end talent that the rest of the teams have and I think it bites them at times. The number of turnovers that they’ve had at really tough moments has been tough to watch, especially when you get late into games.

No team in the league has given up more third-period goals than the Seattle Kraken. They’ve given up 24 goals against in the last five games, they’ve been porous defensively, and they’re just not getting goaltending. Philipp Grubauer hasn’t been strong for the Kraken and you can see the frustration mounting on the bench.

Dave Hakstol was mad last game. You could see it physically on his face against the Chicago Blackhawks and you see Yanni Gourde, heart-and-soul kind of guy, out there chucking knuckles with Alex DeBrincat, he’s trying to get the team going.”

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They’re just not playing smart defensively. Those turnovers are crushing them. Even those games they’re playing well, they’re finding ways to lose. They need better goaltending and they have to manage the puck better.

Seravalli: “We’re looking at Philipp Grubauer now, .877 save percentage.

Is it time for the Kraken to say to him, look, we know you were a Vezina finalist last year, we know that you’re a talented guy, we know that there’s been a lot of weight on your shoulders, and some porous play in front of you, but is this time now take a step back and say, why don’t you take the next week off? We’re going to have some other guys step up and carry the load and you can go and try to find your game.”

McKenna: “I’m not sure going fully off the board and letting him go to goalie school for a week or two weeks is the right play with somebody who has played at a high level recently. But he’s really got to look inwardly at his game right now.

He needs to retool his game. I look right now and Grubauer is at the bottom of the barrel in goals save above expected according to Money Puck. Last. Negative 14.

He’s facing 25 shots a game. That’s the least in the league. And he’s not facing that difficult of shots. He’s playing way too far out of his crease, he’s being far too aggressive, he’s getting eaten up laterally, and he’s getting lost in his net.

I think Grubauer is trying too hard to make up for the defensive deficiencies. He’s got to let the play come to him. Let his teammates take care of their own business.

He’s also got to play a little less. They’ve got to get Chris Driedger back in the net more often if they can, and, if not, they have to get Joey Daccord in there.

Usually, you try to let your No. 1 goalie play out of it, but that hasn’t worked so far for Philipp Grubauer.”

You can watch the whole episode here…