Seattle And Winnipeg:

NHL’s Two Surprising Western Performers

By: Michael A. Chase Jr.

12/15/2022

The top of the NHL’s Western Conference has an interesting pair of teams on a steady, productive pace so far this season. The Seattle Kraken and the Winnipeg Jets have both exceeded expectations this 2022-2023 campaign, while taking different routes to find this level of success and different offseason approaches to improve their respective clubs. Let’s peek behind the curtain to see what has aided the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets to climb to the top half of the NHL standings.

Winnipeg Jets:

Familiarity Breeds Results

For the Jets, the most interesting part of their offseason was the fact that they made no meaningful change to their main core. There was much talk during the offseason about Winnipeg breaking up their core and trading players like Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, among others. But that was not the case as they kept their core group together and so far, it has paid dividends. The Jets currently own a 18-9-1 record, good enough for 37 points, with a +19-goal differential. They have been led by the same core group they were once considering moving on from. Not only is defenseman Josh Morrissey leading them in scoring with 32 points, but they have seen strong starts to the season for forwards Mark Scheifele (18 goals), Kyle Connor (11 goals and 30 points), and Blake Wheeler (26 points) as well. Add in a strong bounce back beginning from last season trade deadline acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois (14 goals, 30 points) and the Jets core has so far rewarded the commitment of the front office. The Jets have also been strong both on the road and at home, posting a 10-5-0 home record and an 8-4-1 road record displaying the consistency in their game both home and away – a consistency that is spearheaded by their veteran leadership group. Overall, sticking with their primary core group has paid off with a strong start to the season. Now we wait to see if this may be the year this core finally breaks through, in a season many underestimated them.

Jets’ Defense Soaring Up The Ranks

The biggest tactical reason for the Jets strong season can be attributed to their elite defensive play that has them ranked among the best in terms of goal prevention. It obviously all starts with the return to dominance in net for star goalie Connor Hellebuyck. The Jets netminder has posted a record of 14-7-1 with 2.45 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. These numbers place him among some of the top goalies in the sport. His return to the elite level of play that got Winnipeg to the Western Conference Finals a few years ago has been a huge catalyst to the Jets defensive success. The other factor that has contributed to their strong defensive structure is new head coach Rick Bowness and solid additions to their defense core. Bowness you could say was the most significant offseason move, as he has brought a firm defensive structure the Jets players have taken to well. He has had success at other stops including helping the Stars be one of the better defensive groups the past three seasons. Now, he has implemented that same style and results once again are fruitful. In terms of their defenseman group the additions of Brendan Dillon (7 points, +3) and Nate Schmidt (3 goals, 6 points, +6) to their back end have had a great effect on their club, bringing sound decision-making and physicality to a group that had its issues last season. Their presence has allowed Josh Morrissey to ascend in his level of play, along with players like Logan Stanley and Neil Pionk further growing comfort in adjusted roles. All this has led to the Jets having allowed the 3rd fewest goals in the league at 75, while having the sport’s 5th best penalty kill at 83.6%. This has been a true renaissance for a Jets group on the edge of beginning a rebuild now looking set to battle near the top of the West as the season continues.

Seattle Kraken:

Seattle’s Productive Offseason

The Kraken have relied on a mixture of young players and offseason additions a majority of this season thus far, operating as a top half of the league offense and surprising a lot of people in their second season of existence. Seattle’s two main additions to their forward group were wingers Andre Burakovsky and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Burakovsky fresh off winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, is now the leading scorer for the Kraken having posted 10 goals and 27 points. Meanwhile Bjorkstrand has put up 3 goals and 14 points as a solid bottom six forward. They have also gotten terrific production from 2021 2nd overall pick Matty Beniers who is second on the team in goals with 11 and third in points with 23 points. With this injection of new speed and skill to their forward group, their offense has seen an uptick. They have also made key additions on defense and at goalie in Justin Schultz and Martin Jones. Schultz adds a very solid veteran presence on the backend that is also providing offensive production (3 goals, 13 assists, 7 power play points) especially on the power play. Jones has come in and provided solid play in net posting a 13-5-2 record, 2.95 goal against average and one shutout. He does need to improve his .888 save percentage but he is on an upward trend. All these additions have been instrumental in the rise of the Kraken to the top of the West standings. We will now see if they can continue to lead the charge in this surprising season.

Average But Effective

None of Seattle’s statistical numbers blow you away, but they have been good enough to vault the still new franchise toward the top of the Pacific Division. The Kraken rank 12th in goals scored with 98 and 14th in goals allowed at 91. Neither number blows you away, but both still sit within the top half of the NHL which usually means you’re a quality team. Their powerplay has been solid at 22.8% which ranks 15th in the league, but their penalty kill needs work operating at just 69.6%, ranked 29th. The one area they are elite in is shots on goal allowed per game, where they allow the third-fewest shots on goal a game at just 27.3 a night. Overall, in terms of team stats, nothing stands out but all the numbers are contributing to a winning formula. Now they will need to improve some of these numbers to sustain a chunk of their success, but they have been able to get by up to this point. In terms of individual player production, it is a balanced scoring attack that they rely upon to produce offense. They have 13 players who have scored 4 or more goals and 10 or more points which is surprisingly good. They do not have a true dominant scorer but instead rely on scoring by committee to get the job done. They may not be an elite offensive or defensive club, but they are a solid and hard-working group who – if teams are not up to the task – will outwork you on any given night. The Kraken still have more work to do, but so far in their second year of existence, they seem to be moving in the right direction sooner than many thought.