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Pre-Scout: Seattle Kraken return home, can the Oilers expose potential flat spot?
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Photo credit: © James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Michael Menzies
Oct 25, 2025, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 25, 2025, 11:31 EDT
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One of the more surprising starts to the NHL season, the Seattle Kraken capped off a six-game road trip with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Winnipeg Jets. 
Through eight games, the Kraken are right near the top of the Pacific Division, two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first, and one point better than the Edmonton Oilers. 
Ahead of their matchup with the Oilers, they get to catch their breath: they haven’t been home for two weeks. It can be a classic flat spot, can the Oilers take advantage? 
The Kraken have been without Jared McCann — two seasons removed from his 40-goal campaign — for three games, and Brandon Montour, in year two of his seven-year contract, who left the team a week ago to attend to a family matter. 
Offensively, it’s been divvied up between their top three lines. Jaden Schwartz leads the way with eight points. Captain Jordan Eberle isn’t far off with his six points, either. 
Organizationally, there is seemingly a pressure to improve. Since coming into the league in 2021-22, Seattle is already on coach number three, sacking Dan Byslma after one year, and hiring former Islanders bench boss Lane Lambert. 
Of course, in 2022-23, they improved by 19 wins (46-28-8) from their inaugural season to make the playoffs and subsequently upset defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. 
Were they victims of their own success? They’ve spent heavily in free agency (Chandler Stephenson, Brandon Montour, long extensions to Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson), but won just 34 and 35 games, respectively, the past two seasons. 
They weren’t really in the mix last year, finishing 12th in the West, despite an alright goal differential of -18, and scoring more goals than playoff bound Minnesota Wild, for instance. 

Kraked-Out Energy

Shane Wright might be figuring it out. The former fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft famously slid in the draft after he expected to go first overall, and out of the gates, there was some stumbling. 
Sticking with the big club last year, he produced a solid 19-25–44, averaging just over 14 minutes a game. With similar ice time so far, he’s got five points this year. 
Matty Beniers is the highest-paid forward on the team in year two of a 7-year, $50 million extension, and is looking for the “big leap” type of production season onlookers believed he was capable of. He finished fifth in team scoring with 43 points in 24-25, a far cry from the 24-33–57 he produced as a rookie. 
A couple of new names to know. 
Exciting youngster Berkly Catton is playing with the big club and collected his first NHL point in a 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on the road trip. The former Spokane Chief went eighth overall in 2024 and produced 116 and 109 points in his two years of junior. 
Jani Nyman earned a spot on the team after a terrific pre-season and hasn’t slowed down either, with three goals already. Nyman got the call-up from Coachella Valley at the tail end of last year’s campaign and didn’t disappoint with 3-3–6 in a dozen games. The Finnish product suited up with Wright and Schwartz on the third line and is worth paying attention to. 

Notes: 

  • Former Oiler Adam Larsson plays a lot for the Kraken. As their TOI leader, he played over 27 minutes on Wednesday. It’s a steady dose of Larsson and Vince Dunn as the team’s feature pair, particularly with Montour out. That’s meant Ryan Lindgren and Jamie Oleksiak are playing a whole lot more, with token shifts for Cale Fleury and Josh Mahura. 
  • The Kraken are overperforming their statistical output offensively. They are bottom five in the NHL in Expected Goals Percentage, Corsi Percentage, Goals For Per 60, and sixth-worst in Expected Goals For. They are routinely outchanced. Notice the number of games (four) Seattle has played that have gone past 60 minutes. 
  • Three goalies have played for them already. It’s Joey Daccord’s crease, but exiled Philip Grubauer and Matt Murray (previously exiled from Ottawa and Toronto) have seen action as well. 
  • Jaden Schwartz loves a game against the Oilers. He has 20 goals, 18 assists, and a plus-minus of +16 in 35 games versus EDM in his career. He scored a hat-trick as a member of the St. Louis Blues on March 19, 2019, in a forgettable 7-2 romp. 
  • The Oilers have dominated this matchup since the Kraken entered the league. EDM is 12-3 all-time vs SEA, winning seven of the last eight. 

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