SEATTLE — The Seahawks season is over. The Sounders, Mariners and OL Reign won't resume their seasons until late February and March. That leaves over a one-month gap for Seattle sports fans to fill their time in the evenings.
Enter the Seattle Kraken, the National Hockey League's (NHL) darling to date. With excitement brewing for the new team, the fledgling franchise ended its first season underperforming expectations and finishing as the league's third-worst team in points (60).
Expectations were measured entering its second season, while the Kraken continue to quietly bolster its young core.
The result has been a meteoric rise in just one season, seeing the Kraken total 56 points and 26 wins with three months to spare. Last season, the Kraken finished its season with 60 points and 27 wins.
Yes, Seattle can already match its entire last season's win total before the end of January. Prior to a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Monday, the Kraken had won eight consecutive games, including seven on the road. In undoing its opponents, the Kraken became the first team in NHL history to sweep a road trip of at least seven games.
It's the second time the Kraken has posted a winning streak of seven games or more this season. The team's last large winning streak spanned from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1.
Through shrewd management and the addition of a pair of top prospects in Matty Beniers and Shange Wright, the Kraken has built one of the NHL's best offenses. Seattle is scoring 3.7 goals per game this season, the third-highest mark in the league. That's up from its 2.6 goals per game in 2021-22, which was 28th out of 32 teams.
Seattle's blistering scoring pace is the biggest reason the team is tied for fourth in the Western Conference in points, making them a legitimate playoff team.
The Kraken's offensive contributions have been evenly spread out across the team, too. Thirteen Kraken players have totaled between 20 and 36 points this season. More than half of those players are under 30 years old, positioning Seattle as a team that can continue to grow in the second half of the season.
Seattle's offensive output doesn't even include 19-year-old Shane Wright, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Wright figures to be brought on slowly for his development, but he's very much a centerpiece for the Kraken's future plans.
And the Kraken already has a burgeoning star to carry the franchise into the next tier of contenders.
Twenty-year-old Matty Beniers, the second overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, has already thrived in his first full season in the league. He's tied for the team lead in points (36), with a near-even split in goals (17) and assists (19) to his name. He was also one of only two rookies named to the initial NHL All-Star lineups for 2023.
This Kraken team combines a high-octane offense, and a young and growing core, to make one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences in the entire league on a day-to-day basis.
With a month to spare before other Seattle sports teams begin their seasons, the Kraken absolutely deserves your time and attention.
From now and throughout the NHL playoffs (*knocks on wood*).