The Seattle Kraken Must Treat the Global Series as a Business Trip

The NHL Global Series has arrived. This edition, from Helsinki, Finland, will feature the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes and the Seattle Kraken.

The Seattle Kraken head to Helsinki with a record of 9-6-1, good for ninth in the Western Conference. With a record of 5-4-1 in their last ten games, Kraken fans have seen both continued positive signs and plenty of room for improvement from their team as of late.

A Surprise Leader in Points? 

Perhaps the biggest reason for celebration among Kraken fans has been the play of Berkly Catton. Catton leads the Kraken in points with fourteen, in the form of five goals and nine assists. His last eight games have been quite productive. During this time, Catton has been responsible for ten points.

Per Darren Brown of Sound of Hockey, Berkly would tell you that the improvement in his game comes from training with the NHL’s elite.

Brown said of Catton: “Along with roommates Mackie Samoskevich and Matty Beniers, Catton skated and competed with players like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Charlie McAvoy, Noah Hanifin, Zach Benson, Logan Stankoven, and several others.”

This serves as an example of a young player like Catton being serious about their craft and exploring multiple avenues for improvement. This sort of dedication toward improvement and Catton’s attitude are a big reason why he finds himself atop the Kraken in points.

Trouble in Net? 

There are opportunities for improvement for the Kraken, too. Perhaps the biggest example of this is in goaltending. 

Seattle enters the NHL Global Series 28th in the NHL in GA/G, averaging 3.56. The Kraken’s SV% of .886 has them in the middle of the pack league-wide.

The potential issues in net were on full display in Seattle’s 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Goaltender Joey Daccord was pulled from the game after giving up three goals in the first fourteen minutes of the contest.

By the time the puck drops for the first game of the Global Series, five days will have passed since the game against the Rangers.

This can be used as a time for Daccord to reset. It’s an opportunity for Daccord to put some distance between himself and the game against the Rangers, both literally and figuratively, which might just be what the netminder needs to get back on track.

A Business Trip? 

The NHL Global Series is, of course, an opportunity for the NHL to showcase its product worldwide. But this also means it’s an opportunity for the competing teams to showcase their product, too.

It will be important for the Kraken to treat their two Global Series games as regular hockey games, even with the added emphasis that will come with them.

That is to say, it could be easy for a team to get caught up in the travel and the extra attention. The Kraken would do well to remember what they’re in Finland for and do what they need to do to keep pace in a Pacific Division full of heavy hitters. The Kraken sit eight games off the lead in the Pacific, and coming home from Finland with no points doesn’t set the right tone for November.

From a strictly competitive perspective, the Kraken will have their work cut out for them. Seattle will spend the Global Series playing the best team in the NHL.

The Carolina Hurricanes’ thirty points have them atop the league, and they sit as the only team with over twelve wins. The Hurricanes have won two in a row and are 7-2-1 in their last ten.

The reasons for Carolina’s success are many. With the puck, they’ve been outstanding, tied for the lead in the NHL in GF/G with 4.11. They’ve been outstanding on the other side of the puck, too, fourth in the NHL in GA/G with 2.32.

Carolina is about as complete a team as the NHL has right now. They would be a tough opponent on any night, but playing them twice in a week, some 4,700 or so miles from home, means the Kraken have a truly difficult task ahead of them.

The Kraken need to treat the Global Series as a business trip. Ideally, the team would make the most of their opportunity to display their craft in another country, but also focus on why they’re there to begin with.

Leaving Finland without any points in the Global Series is going to make it all the more difficult to keep things on the right track after a solid first month.

Upon their return to the States, Seattle will play the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars twice each in a two-week span.

Now isn’t the time for the Kraken to stop and smell the kielo in Finland.