Kraken winger Jared McCann didn’t hesitate when asked whether he’d ever thought of passing Yanni Gourde the puck on a 2-on-1 break Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I’m a shooter,” McCann said. “So I figured, ‘Shoot it.’ ”
Gourde agreed, saying: “He’s a shooter.”
In fact, no NHL player with at least 100 shots this season has scored at a higher rate than McCann. Only two regulars — Andrei Kuzmenko of the Vancouver Canucks and Kirill Marchenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets — had scored on a slightly higher percentage of shots than the 23.4% by McCann in logging a team-leading 26 goals.
McCann scoring short side Thursday on Flyers goalie Carter Hart left him on pace for a 38-goal campaign. For a Kraken team supposedly lacking elite players, a winger flirting with a 40-goal season is reminiscent of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights riding a surprise 43 goals by upstart William Karlsson all the way to the Stanley Cup Final five years ago.
Karlsson rose more from obscurity than McCann, who had 27 goals last season. But just like this Kraken team, everyone thought those Golden Knights were a depth squad until Karlsson showed they indeed had a difference-maker in their midst.
And when these final two months of regular-season play are done, the Kraken hope to have sorted out who will carry them into the playoffs and how. Thursday’s victory left the Kraken seven points up on the final Western Conference playoff spot, and beating Detroit at home Saturday and San Jose on the road Monday would bring them closer to clinching.
But figuring out who’s doing the bulk of what job — most can agree McCann is the “shooter” — will be primary for his team before any postseason play. The Kraken have spent much of this season being carried offensively by their “bottom six” forwards — with the oft-used trio of Brandon Tanev, Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong being arguably the league’s most dangerous fourth-line scoring unit.
Offensive balance on all four lines looks great over an 82-game regular season, but things usually change come playoff time when everybody bashes and grinds, scoring levels drop and elite players tend to produce the goals. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol wasn’t necessarily looking that far ahead during Thursday night’s postgame, but he drew a clear differentiation between “shooters” and the “checkers” he needs his fourth line to be.
“Our fourth line’s got to do a job for us,” Hakstol said. “And the mentality has got to be right. We’ve talked a lot about our fourth-line scoring, but … we don’t need scoring out of our fourth line. I want a mentality of 200-foot hockey and not giving anything up defensively. I think we can do better there, to be honest with you.”
On the same night Hakstol made those comments, 15-goal fourth-liner Sprong had sat out his second consecutive game as a healthy scratch. Hakstol has been on Sprong about his two-way game since last season and occasionally engaged in long on-ice discussions with him in practice.
Like McCann, Sprong has a heavy shot. But he isn’t the team’s “shooter,” and nobody on that fourth line is expected to light the lamp as much as disrupt the opposition’s offensive flow and maintain puck possession.
Tanev is known for sacrificing his body all over the ice more so than for his 10 goals this season. The goals are a pleasant byproduct of the primary checking and grinding he does; down and dirty work that’s the same reason he’s often seen killing penalties.
And it works the other way, too.
Oliver Bjorkstrand has been lauded for his third-line defensive work, but the team didn’t pluck his contract from Columbus so he could be like Tanev. Especially now that Andre Burakovsky is out, the Kraken need Bjorkstrand producing more like the “top six” forward they traded for. Seeing him notch his second goal in the past four games Thursday to go with two assists during that span was welcomed.
As for Burakovsky, nobody ever confused him with Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron when it comes to two-way play. But the Kraken were willing to hold their nose on occasion at his defensive foibles because they pay him primarily to put the puck in the net.
And Philipp Grubauer wasn’t signed to be a backup goalie to Martin Jones just as the franchise’s first-ever playoff appearance was materializing. Now, after a season of Jones getting the bulk of work, it’s Grubauer at 4-2-2 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in his past eight outings just as a No. 1 playoff goalie becomes essential.
Grubauer was always the “starter” in net. McCann was always the “shooter,” and the fourth line was the “checkers” as the playoffs draw closer.
This isn’t a matter of Kraken players being unwilling to do their primary jobs. Earlier Thursday, Hakstol made clear to amused media onlookers that he feels the team’s “Give a [Bleep] Meter” is high and they all exhibit a team-first attitude and “play hard for one another.”
McCann being a “shooter” didn’t prevent him from doing some penalty killing Thursday and blocking a point shot that led to the odd-man rush resulting in his goal. All Kraken players are expected to play Hakstol’s “two-way hockey” at all times, though not at the expense of their primary skill set.
The “shooters” still must shoot and score routinely in addition to adding defensive value. The “checkers” likewise must ensure they contain opponents above all else, and if they happen to score some goals, more power to them.
Expect this subtle repositioning of a deep team to continue as the Kraken head down the stretch needing players to be more of what they’re supposed to be. And, as with a potential 40-goal man in their midst, perhaps surprise a bit along the way.