The Seattle Kraken have had some ups and some downs early on in the 2024-25 NHL season, but the ups are certainly promising.
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While the Kraken have scored two goals or less in five of their 10 games entering Thursday, they’ve also had some offensive outbursts under new head coach Dan Bylsma, with three games of six goals or more including an 8-2 rout Tuesday on the road against the Montreal Canadiens. By comparison, last season it took the Kraken until Dec. 14 – 31 games in – before they scored six goals or more in three separate contests.
Bylsma joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Thursday, hours before another road game in Toronto, and he shared insight on what’s been behind the team’s improved offensive punch so far.
“Guys recognized really early on here that when we when we play together, when we play connected, when we play as five-man units, we (can rule) four lines over … and be a real dangerous team,” Bylsma said.
The theme for Bylsma in his first year with Seattle seems pretty easy to grasp. Play fast and hard, and get the puck in the offensive zone as much as possible.
“What we’re continually trying to improve and get is just playing our execution as fast and as quick and as ‘north’ as possible,” he said. “To be able to put teams in trouble with our speed, be able to put teams in trouble with our offensive zone presence. … I think that if you were able to see Game 1 (of the Kraken’s season), it was clearly evident how we want to play as a group, which would be fast and north, getting to the offensive zone and doing it repeatedly, and doing it as quick as we possibly can. Being a presence in the offensive zone, both on a forecheck but also with the puck on our stick.
“I’ll say have a 60-minute grind – grind another team down with our speed and with our quickness and our mentality of getting to the offensive zone as quickly as we can.”
you absolutely, positively 8-2 sea it. pic.twitter.com/M0hua8eUFC
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) October 30, 2024
‘C’ for Eberle’s Seattle Kraken sweater
A surprise was revealed to Kraken fans during introductions of their season opener on Oct. 8, as 15-year NHL veteran Jordan Eberle was announced as the team’s new captain when he took the ice at Climate Pledge Arena.
Eberle, 34, is a two-time All-Star, and as an original Kraken taken in the 2021 expansion draft, he is now in his fourth season with the team.
Bylsma, who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship in his first season on the bench in 2008-09 and comes to Seattle after two successful seasons with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate Coachella Valley, said that Eberle being named the second captain in franchise history was a no-brainer.
“I really think Jordan Eberle being the captain was in the works for quite a long time,” Bylsma said. “I think it was that way because of the kind of pro he is, the kind of person he is, how he leads by example and how the guys look up look to him. … I think it was obvious just by the type of person he is and the leader he is.”
Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Kraken coach Dan Bylsma in the final segment of the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.
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