NHL’s Latest Expansion Team Expected To Push For Playoffs

By Dave Vest

The Seattle Kraken are the new kids on the block in the National Hockey League in 2021-22. The league granted the “Emerald City” an expansion team a few years back, and now it’s playing its inaugural season after crafting a roster via the NHL Expansion Draft over the summer.

Seattle entered its first season at +5000 to win the Stanley Cup. Clearly, it is among the long shots. Nevertheless, many oddsmakers are expecting the first-year team to fare better than some of the established teams that also reside in the mediocre Pacific Division; only the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers were at +3000 or better to win the Stanley Cup before the season started.

Regarding Vegas, the Golden Knights wowed NHL insiders and fans when they notched 109 points and reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017-18. Do not expect the same dramatic debut from the Kraken, who passed on multiple top-notch players made available in the expansion draft for financial reasons. Seattle’s initial roster features mostly role players from other teams, and only a handful of players with household names within the NHL community.

For example, Seattle’s top line entering the season featured center Jaden Schwarz and wingers Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle. Frankly, that trio doesn’t strike much fear in opponents. Sure, they’re established NHL players, but none of them are first-liners on most other NHL teams.

Defense will play a key role for the Kraken in their rookie season, and captain Mark Giordano, a recent Norris Trophy winner, and goalie Phillipp Grubauer are key pieces to the puzzle.

The preseason projected point total for Seattle was in the 87-92 range, depending on the oddsmaker. That seems reasonable given a good chunk of the Kraken’s games will come against Pacific Division foes. Again, that division is not great, and it features several teams that are in rebuild mode, including the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames aren’t exactly world beaters either.

The best bet when it comes to Seattle appears to be on the Kraken reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs (-130). That’s because the NHL, after altering its playoff format to accommodate the pandemic in 2020-21, is returning to its normal playoff format that allows the top three teams from each division to qualify. Vegas and Edmonton are locks in the Pacific Division, but that third spot will be up for grabs all season and the Kraken should not be discounted from slipping into the field.

For the record, Vegas, the NHL’s most recent expansion team before Seattle, opened at +20000 to win the Stanley Cup in its expansion season and nearly pulled it off. The Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final that season but lost to the Washington Capitals, four games to one, much to the delight of nervous oddsmakers.

The Kraken won’t be nearly as successful as Vegas in 2021-22, but don’t be surprised to see them playing in the postseason come April.

Picture Credit: Google Creative Commons Licenses

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