New faces take ice to open training camp for Seattle Kraken
SEATTLE - A new head coach, a new Stanley Cup champion, and a new free agent center all took to the ice with the Seattle Kraken for the start of training camp on Thursday as the team hopes to change its fortunes after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign.
Dan Bylsma isn't new to the Kraken organization, but he's the guy newly in charge of the NHL team after three years working for Seattle's AHL affiliates. Bylsma replaced Dave Hakstol as head coach of the Kraken after Hakstol's dismissal at the end of last season. He's coming off back-to-back Calder Cup Finals appearances with the Coachella Valley Firebirds and is looking to reignite a Kraken franchise that made it to the second round of the playoffs in the 2022-23 season.
Bylsma coached many of these players with the Firebirds the last two seasons and was a helping hand in prior training camps with the Kraken for Hakstol's staff. So while it is now his team to run, it didn't feel all that different for the veteran head coach on Thursday.
"It felt quite comfortable, but at the same time I still want to deliver that message with them," Bylsma said. "I got a lot of eyes on me from the players' standpoint. They're looking for my message. They're looking to see how I'm going to react and how I'm going to coach and I hope that happened today."
The way last season spiraled left a sour taste in the team's mouths. The offense struggled to score consistently all season long, but they still found themselves right in the playoff hunt into early March. However, an eight-game losing streak right after the trade deadline, which featured a blown lead and overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at home, served to tank the team's hopes.
"Talking to a lot of the guys, there's a lot of sense of disappointment in the results of last year," Bylsma said. "There's disappointment in it for me. I don't like the way we played at the end (with Coachella Valley). I don't like the results of last season from my own standpoint. I don't want to call it a chip on the shoulder, but I think there's a lot of motivation and energy going to turn the script and put that disappointment behind us and get going where we think we can go like two years ago and get into the playoffs."
Jaden Schwartz (No. 17), and Chandler Stephenson (No. 9) skate toward the net occupied by goaltender Niklas Kokko (No. 39) during the first practice of Seattle Kraken training camp on Sept. 19, 2024 at the Kraken Community Iceplex. (Curtis Crabtree / FOX 13 Seattle)
In addition to the coaching change, the Kraken signed standout defenseman Brandon Montour from the Florida Panthers to bolster their back end and bring more scoring potential from the blue line. Additionally, center Chandler Stephenson signed away from the Golden Knights to replace Alex Wennberg and add depth down the middle.
Montour will almost certainly head one of Seattle's power play units from the blue line along with Vince Dunn. Along with the addition of Florida teammate Josh Mahura as a likely seventh defenseman, the Kraken appear to have the deepest collection of defenders they've had throughout their four-year existence.
"The guys are excited," Montour said. "For a lot of them, it's tough not making the playoffs too and having a long time off it's a little different, so guys are excited to get out there. The pace was good. It definitely was a good first day."
Montour is coming off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final, falling to Stephenson's Golden Knights two years ago before beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in June. He a career-high 73 points in 2022-23 on 16 goals and 57 assists, but offseason surgery led to a late start to the season and a dip in production. He had 33 points on eight goals and 25 assists last year in Florida.
Stephenson should help take some of the workload off the shoulder of Matty Beniers as he looks to bounce back from a down season as well. Stephenson will likely center Seattle's top line, allowing Beniers to not need to take the toughest matchups each night against stars like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby, and more.
Seattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour speaks with reporters following the first practice of training camp at the Kraken Community Iceplex on Sept. 19, 2024. (Curtis Crabtree / FOX 13 Seattle)
Stephenson has a pair of Stanley Cups on his resume – one with Vegas, and one with the Washington Capitals in 2018. He wants to get a third with Seattle.
"That's the goal," he said. "Try to be myself as much as I can. That was something this summer that made the decision really easy. They just want me to be me and play my game and hopefully I can contribute everything that I can and be better than any season I've had and just grow by the year. Just excited to finally be here and get camp going and everything. It's an exciting time."
The Kraken do have a few answers to find in camp, though most come on the offensive end of the ice. How big of a role with Shane Wright play out of the gates? Who will earn the final spots on the fourth line? How much will the lines look different from a season ago? Will any rookies crack – beyond Wright – find their way onto the team to start the season?
Those questions will have to be answered relatively fast as preseason games start Sunday and the regular season opener is less than three weeks away.
"It's not a comfortable one to be honest with you," Bylsma said. "We're 20 days, 19 days away from opening night, and as a coach there's a lot of work to be done to instill in the guys both our work ethic, how we want to skate, how we want to play, the speed of which we want to play. If you say it's 19 days, and we got six exhibition games in those 19 days, that's not a lot of time to be comfortable that you're going to get that message across.
"And having said that, that means you got to do it right off the hop. You can't tiptoe into it. You can't ease your way into it. And I think, hopefully, the guys… I think it's a message that I think they want to have, but it's the message they got today. We're going to be skating, we're going to be up and down the sheet, we're going to play with pace and speed, and we're going to be uber and ultra competitive doing it."