NHL analyst reveals projected Seattle Kraken lineup for season opener

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River Hawk
September 22, 2024 (2:44 PM)

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After the end of the first few days of training camp, Seattle Kraken analyst Darren Brown has shared his projections for their opening: night lineup.

After finishing the 2023-24 season 25th in the league, the Seattle Kraken are looking to take this season as a chance to build up a stronger team in the long term. Among these decisions was to replace Dave Hakstol with Dan Bylsma, who helped coach the Pittsburgh Penguins to their 2009 Stanley Cup win. With just the first couple days of training camp, the new hire shared that he is pushing these skaters to their limits early to test their grit and endurance during a post-session interview.

"It's hockey. In order to play this game, you've got to be able to skate. You've got to be able to skate up and down the rink, and that test we did today, I label it a �return to play' skate. It usually comes after an injury or when you're trying to return to play, but we're all trying to return to play at the start of training camp. So just a little, a great test to see A: they can do it, and B: a little bit of guts on the ice to, to finish it. and, everyone dug in for the most part. Everyone dug in, you got to see that, and it was, you know, they might not have liked it, but I love to see it."

Though it is still early, skating groups have already started to form, leading many to believe we are close to a finalized lineup for the Kraken's opening night lineup. Sound of Hockey contributor Darren Brown has pieced together these lines and has shared his projections for the first game of the season in a recent analysis. While there is no guarantee he is correct, there is a solid chance that he is not far off, as they do not have any questionable players in their depth positions. The Sound of Hockey has also released their projected lineup for their preseason opener against the Calgary Flames.

"Here's who we've seen skating together:

Jared McCann // Matty Beniers // Oliver Bjorkstrand
Jaden Schwartz // Chandler Stephenson // Andre Burakovsky
Tye Kartye // Shane Wright // Jordan Eberle
Eeli Tolvanen // Yanni Gourde // Brandon Tanev

Vince Dunn // Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak // Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans // Will Borgen

Of course, take that lineup with a huge grain of salt, but those are the 18 skaters we would all expect to be on the Opening Night roster, and they were taking rushes with players that make sense as linemates."

The Seattle Kraken start their regular season against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, October 8th. With a few weeks before this team makes its 2024-25 debut, there is still a chance for a change. Hopefully, whatever route they decide will be the right path towards their ascension in the league.

Source: Sound of Hockey
Kraken Notebook - Lineup already taking shape after two hard days of Kraken training camp