Two Kraken Goalies One Too Many For #2 Role

Above Photo: Seattle Kraken goalie Chris Driedger.

Picture a single chair at center ice. On it is a label which reads, "Seattle Kraken number two goaltender." When the music starts, Joey Daccord and Chris Driedger begin skating circles around that one chair.

When the music stops, will Daccord or Driedger be the netminder who plops his tush into that chair? (Martin Jones, who capably shared netminding duties with Philipp Grubauer last season, was not re-signed.)

A training camp game of musical chairs is certainly not how Kraken coaches will decide on Grubauer's backup. But there will likely be a competition, which didn't figure to be the case at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Back then, Driedger, who had signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract, was firmly ensconced as second chair.

That changed in June, 2022, while Driedger was playing for Canada in the World Championships. During the title game against Finland, he tore the ACL in his right knee. Surgery, then several months of recovery would follow.

In February, Seattle gauged interest in Driedger by exposing him to waivers. There were no takers. This allowed the Kraken to send him to the minors.

Driedger returned to action at the tail end of Coachella Valley's AHL regular season. In 14 appearances with the Firebirds, he went 9-4-0 with a 2.61 GAA and .908 save percentage.

But by that point in Coachella Valley, farmhand Daccord was well into his coming-out party. He finished 26-8-3 in the regular season, with a 2.38 GAA and .918 save percentage.

During the Firebirds' remarkable run to the Calder Cup Finals, Daccord was even better. He won four playoff series, and almost a fifth, with a 2.22 GAA/.926 SV% in 26 postseason starts.

In June, Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reported that the Kraken were exploring a trade of Driedger, to relieve themselves of his $3.5 million cap hit in the final year of his contract. Seattle might agree to retain some salary.

But even before his ACL tear, Driedger's one season between the pipes in Seattle - 2.96 GAA/.899 SV% - raised questions. With most every NHL team scraping the cap ceiling, there hasn't been great interest.

With the signing of RFA defenseman Vince Dunn, Seattle is nearing that ceiling, too. Earlier in the off-season, Seattle decided against exercising a buyout of Driedger. It would have cost $2 million against the cap over the next two seasons: $500k in '23-'24, and $1.5 million in '24-'25.

With that window closed, Chris Driedger either makes the Kraken, gets traded, or sent back to the AHL. The upside is he'd still be in the system; the downside is that playing in the minors would only save the Kraken a little over $1 million of cap space.

Editor's note: Tomorrow, we'll take a closer look at Joey Daccord's breakout season with the Firebirds.