Ducks vs Kraken PREVIEW: A New Dawn Arises
The Anaheim Ducks are finally back into regular season action tonight, hosting the Seattle Kraken to begin their 2022-23 campaign. As always with opening night, there is the buzz and excitement of a brand new season with a clean slate in the standings, but the Ducks are in a more unique position than most teams in the NHL for one simple reason: we don’t really have any idea what to expect.
The Ducks underwent a lot of change at the trade deadline last season and continued that transformation throughout the offseason. New Ducks players that are veterans include John Klingberg, Frank Vatrano, and Ryan Strome, among other depth pieces. There will also be a couple of fresh young faces in the lineup, most notably Mason McTavish.
The expectations for the Ducks this season have ranged from being a team that is in full tank mode in the race for Connor Bedard before the puck has even dropped on Game 1 all the way to the expectation that the Ducks should be significantly more competitive this year than they were last season and should be battling for a playoff spot, if not claiming one of the playoff spots come spring. Both seem to be very feasible options because again, we really have no idea what to expect.
That, in itself, brings a different level of excitement to a new season. No longer are the days of the 2018-2021 Ducks where we entered the season knowing that there was no chance of a postseason berth and that the Ducks were all but guaranteed to be sellers at the trade deadline. That may still ring true this year when all is said and done, but it’s not a universal expectation anymore.
Taking a Look at the Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken had a disappointing inaugural season in the NHL if you’re comparing it to the next most recent inaugural season that the NHL saw with the Vegas Golden Knights reaching the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Kraken are now stockpiled with a future that looks to be a serious problem for every other Pacific Division team over the next 10+ years. Matty Beniers and Shane Wright have somehow ended up as teammates in Seattle and that establishes a core for the Kraken that will be fearsome for many years.
Seattle also had a couple of off-season acquisitions that should help them to score a few more goals, adding wingers Oliver Bjorkstrand and Andre Burakovsky. Their goaltending remains the biggest question mark, as it was the largest disappointment last season and they are sticking with Philipp Grubauer entering the 2022-23 regular season.
Seattle’s expectations for the year are a little more clear than Anaheim, with the Kraken embracing the fountain of youth and assets that they have acquired and they will be looking to get NHL experience for their new 1-2 punch at center while remaining in the running for the top pick in the draft next season.
Players to Watch
From the Anaheim Ducks, Trevor Zegras is the obvious answer and likely will be for the entire season because it’s just hard not to watch him every time he’s on the ice. However, this is more intended to be about who could have the most impactful performance to help the Ducks win. For me, that question mark lies with John Gibson. He is slated to start the season after having a rough past couple of seasons that has many wondering if he truly is the solution long-term for Anaheim in goal. He also exited the final preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings last Saturday after the first period with an upper-body injury but appears to be good to go for opening night. If he can return to peak form quickly, the Ducks could be significantly better than most have them projected to be.
From the Seattle Kraken, I’ll have my eye on Shane Wright for the night. He spent the entire last season as the easy, no-questions-asked, couldn’t-be-more-obvious first overall pick for the NHL Draft, and then the Montreal Canadiens took Juraf Slafkovsky instead. Wright ended up falling all the way to 4th overall before hearing his name called by the Kraken. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder already to prove people wrong and is undoubtedly extremely skilled. It will be his first NHL game so we’ll see if he has an Auston Matthews 4-goal debut performance or takes some time to get his feet under him.
Keys to a Ducks Victory
Score goals - lots of them
The Ducks’ addition of John Klingberg seems to embrace a full-speed-ahead approach that will likely feature lots of high offense and no defense games this season. They’ll need to be productive offensively more often than not to win since the Ducks’ defense and goaltending are now a question mark as well, but taking advantage of a Kraken defense/goaltending situation that seems to be questionable is a must
Goaltending
As mentioned above, John Gibson is a big question mark for the Ducks entering the year, and the same can be echoed for Grubauer on the Seattle side. If John can make fewer mistakes than Philipp does, then Anaheim should be in good shape.
Power Play
The Ducks’ offseason additions should lead to a significantly better power play, especially with Klingberg quarterbacking from the blue line. Zegras having another year of experience under his belt and adding Strome and Vatrano could see the Ducks having a massive boost on the man advantage and Seattle is a great team to get off on the right foot to in that department.
Final Prediction
I think the Ducks set the tone for the season in a very high-paced, high-event game that ends up in their favor, 5-3. Look for Mason McTavish to get on the scoresheet multiple times tonight.