Canucks: How do they compare to the Seattle Kraken?
By Ryan Little
THE GOALIES
The Kraken duo:
Philipp Grubauer – Chris Driedger
The Canucks duo:
Thatcher Demko – Jaroslav Halak
We will start with the Kraken where Philipp Grubauer started in a career-high 39 games for the Colorado Avalanche the past three seasons and Chris Driedger who split the starts with Sergei Bobvrovsky, starting in 23 games.
Grubauer is the easy pick to be the starter for Seattle as the veteran netminder going in to the 21-22 season. He will be 30 in November and just came off a career season with 39 wins, seven shutouts, a 1.95 GAA, all career-highs, and also a .922 SV%.
Before Grubauer was signed, the Kraken picked Driedger in the expansion draft from the Florida Panthers. The expectation at the time, was that he would be the starter going forward, but of course they had other plans.
Driedger is an interesting case because he only played in his second NHL season where he actually started a game. Still, this was a breakout season for the 27 year-old who had 14 wins in 23 starts for the Panthers with a 2.07 GAA and .927 SV%, which surprisingly are not career-highs.
For the Canucks, they have their long-term solution in goal with Demko who was signed to a 5-year $5 million deal in March. To put it simply, he is their guy and barring any injuries he will be starting a majority of the games.
Thatcher Demko currently ranks 3rd in the NHL in Goals Saved Above Expected.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 31, 2021
As far as goalie contracts go, you could do a lot worse #Canucks https://t.co/7qJouySUk3
The 2nd round pick in 2014 will be 26 in December during his fourth season where he started in more than one game. The 20-21 season was somewhat of a breakout season for Thatcher Demko as he was able to prove that the previous summer playoffs were not a fluke. He provided stability in net for a struggling Vancouver team, even with the Vezina-calibre Jacob Markstrom departing in free-agency.
In 35 starts the Canucks netminder maintained a .915 SV%, 2.85 GAA for 16 wins, not the results the team wanted, but of course a goalie can only do so much. Just remember the possession numbers provided above for the team’s 20-21 defence.
New Canuck netminder Jaroslav Halak has enjoyed a quiet but successful career as a backup for five NHL teams. Last season, his third with the Boston Bruins organization, he started in 17 games, his lowest since 2012-13, with nine wins, 2.53 GAA and .905 SV%.
The drop in playing time and numbers could be a possible down season for Halak and he could bounce back for the Canucks, but he is also 36 years-old and was the backup for the cup-contending Boston Bruins. This could be the start of a regression for the two-time Jennings trophy winner.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Canucks have the top-end talent that the Kraken just don’t have yet, aside from the goaltending where the Canucks have Demko who is still improving and an aging backup in Halak.
The Kraken have an elite goalie in Grubauer and starter quality in Driedger, where the Kraken slightly edge the Canucks.
On defence, the Canucks again, have Hughes and potentially a re-energized Ekman-Larsson, but after that it’s average to below-average defending. This is where the Kraken really come out ahead because any one of their top-six defenceman could play in the Canucks top-four and compared to their previous seasons, there is potential for offensive growth. We likely won’t see that from the Canucks defence as a whole.
Next. Canucks: What to expect from Vasili Podkolzin’s rookie year. dark
The forward groups are again close, but with the lack of top-end talent on Seattle, the Canucks narrowly beat them out as long as their top-nine can stay relatively healthy.