The Seattle Kraken and New Jersey Devils surprised the NHL this season and aren't done yet. It can get even better from here, Adam Proteau writes.
The Seattle Kraken and New Jersey Devils are two vastly different teams, yet both entered the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs at levels few would’ve predicted they’d reach this season.
In their respective first-round series, the Devils and Kraken are showing great resolve. It might come to be that Seattle and New Jersey are eliminated in the opening round, but the promise of better days is at the heart of their particular situations right now.
The Kraken has surprised people virtually since the get-go of this season, rising to the top wild-card berth in the Western Conference. For that feat, they earned the right to go up against the defending Cup champion, the Colorado Avalanche – a series that few, if any, have given Seattle any chance at winning.
However, the Kraken stunned the Avs out of the gate, winning Game 1 by a 3-1 score. After Colorado won Games 3 and 4, Seattle beat the Avalanche in Game 4 Monday to even the series at two games apiece.
Now, the Kraken are facing a best-of-three against the Avs, and it’s no longer fair to presume they’re going to roll over and play dead.
Meanwhile, the Devils – who’ve suffered and missed the playoffs for the better part of the past decade – also entered the post-season in a fairly surprising spot, grabbing the second spot in the Metropolitan Division and setting up a showdown with the cross-state rival New York Rangers.
The Devils showed their inexperience as a group when the Rangers won Games 1 and 2 in New Jersey by a 5-1 difference each time. Still, they also showed they’re not about to be swept into the off-season, beating the Blueshirts in Game 3 and Game 4 while limiting the Rangers to only two goals in that span.
The Devils’ core of young players has a higher ceiling than the makeshift Kraken lineup, but essentially, Seattle and New Jersey have already accomplished more than most of us expected of them.
New Jersey clearly got a boost when they turned to rookie goalie Akira Schmid for Games 3 and 4, while the Kraken have stuck with No. 1 netminder Philipp Grubauer for all of their matches against Colorado and received better-than-average results.
They’ll need Schmid and Grubauer to be at least as effective if they’re going to extend each series to the sixth game or later. Still, the Devils and Kraken’s defense has helped them stay in the thick of it in the opening round. Few people would’ve believed them capable of cracking down the way they have in winning two of four games.
The Devils and Kraken also generate their offense differently.
New Jersey has been fuelled by young star center Jack Hughes, who has three of their seven total goals in the series. Seattle, on the other hand, has benefitted from goals from throughout their lineup, with 11 of their 18 skaters scoring against the Avs.
Given that the Kraken don’t have a comparable talent to Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon, that offense-by-committee approach is how Seattle must play to have a chance against Colorado. But they’re demonstrating they can play a smart, patient game that limits what the Avs can do on offense. Playoff games are always about minimizing mistakes, and the Kraken are proving they can win close games.
Let’s say New Jersey and Seattle are eliminated in the first round. Sure, it will be a letdown to their fans if they don’t enjoy a deeper playoff run, but the Kraken and Devils are building something that likely won’t be at its peak for another year or two. They’ve taken some lumps in Round 1, but they’ve also handed some out. That counts for something. In the bigger picture, it suggests both teams will be in a better position to do some serious damage in 2024 or 2025.