SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the surface, the Kraken making the roster addition of forward John Hayden before Thursday night’s game against the Sharks might not seem like a statement move.
Hayden is, after all, a journeyman forward with just 17 goals in parts of seven NHL seasons and who’d spent all but five games this campaign with the team’s Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL affiliate. Adding Hayden with four weeks to play in the season says plenty about where the Kraken see themselves and want to be.
While Hayden is a hard-nosed player who creates traffic in front of the net, he can also drop his gloves and throw punches. And even though today’s NHL is nowhere near the brawl-filled league of 20 or 30 years ago, there’s a fine line tread between NHL teams playing a physical style and outright bullying their opponents. And that line tends to blur considerably come playoff time when fewer penalties are called and the intensity ratchets up. Games have already become more aggressive, with teams such as the Kraken trying to nail down a playoff bid and perfect the approach they’ll use when postseason begins.
Here’s a primer on how Hayden’s addition can help.
WHY BRING HIM UP NOW? The Kraken play a physically demanding style and have shown signs lately of being outmuscled at critical junctures. They’ve only beaten one team that upgraded at the trade deadline and that was nearly two weeks ago at Colorado.
Otherwise, they allowed themselves to get beaten on the inside repeatedly by Ottawa and Dallas in three consecutive losses. Opposing forwards found their way to the slot and the net front and scored decisive goals.
The Kraken were inconsistent at getting inside defenders to the net and generating offense. They were late doing so in the first Dallas loss and despite twice scoring at the net front in a second defeat to the Stars, the two goals were all they managed all game.
Looking at the schedule ahead, you’ve got an Edmonton team that bulked up defensively at the deadline, the same Dallas squad that just outmuscled the Kraken and a pair of road games against Nashville followed by a playoff-bound Minnesota team. So, the physical stuff isn’t getting easier.
At 6 foot 3, 223 pounds, Hayden is the biggest forward the Kraken have.
“He brings a physicality and a straight-line presence,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said right before Thursday’s game. “He brings an energy to our team every time he’s in the lineup.”
Right now, the Kraken are saying they need Hayden’s two-way physical game more than Daniel Sprong, who has one goal the past two months and has not provided the defensive element expected on the fourth line. Sprong was a healthy scratch along with Ryan Donato as Hayden played right wing on a line with Morgan Geekie and Brandin Tanev.
WHAT ABOUT FISTS? Hayden has a leaguewide fighter’s reputation. But funny thing is, he doesn’t actually fight that often. He had a pair against the Canucks in preseason but none in any of his five regular season games — though he scored a goal in his most recent Kraken contest.
He’s had four AHL bouts this season according to HockeyFights.com, which tracks such things. In speaking with Hayden for a training camp feature and again Thursday, you get the impression he fights when needed but prefers to be known more as a hockey player that likes a physical game.
He figures he’ll help most by “getting to the net and making it hard on their defensemen. Heavy on the forecheck and then being good defensively. Being aware out there.”
This isn’t Dave “The Hammer” Schultz of the 1970s “Broad Street Bullies” Philadelphia teams terrorizing opponents. Hayden isn’t even Kurtis MacDermid of the Colorado Avalanche — the league’s closest modern-day example of what former NHL heavyweight “enforcers” were like.
But you need to also play hockey nowadays. And Hayden gives the impression of taking that seriously.
“My whole career has sort of been about development and trying to add parts to my game,” Hayden said.
He added that being “a more complete player” is the big difference now from his NHL debut in 2016. “I’ve been able to add a few things to my game each year,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of great coaches. I’m more confident with the puck.”
Oh, and he added one last, very important thing: “I know how I’m effective.”
SO WHAT CAN HE CHANGE FOR THE KRAKEN? Hayden, as mentioned, knows how he’s effective and that’s a heavy two-way game. Going to the net hard and getting back to cover opponents even harder.
And dropping his gloves when needed. The Kraken can’t have Jaime Oleksiak keep doing all the fighting as losing a top defender for five minutes isn’t optimal.
The better fighters among the forwards are Tanev, Ryan Donato, Jared McCann and maybe Yanni Gourde. You absolutely don’t want McCann fighting as a 30-goal man. Gourde usually just hangs on for dear life because he ends up fighting guys much bigger than him as a result of being such a productive pest. But none of the forwards are exactly intimidators, even if Tanev plays bigger than his 6-foot, 189-pound frame.
You don’t want them taking on a real NHL heavyweight, which is why Oleksiak does the bulk of fighting. But Hayden brings someone else proficient in fisticuffs. And that can deter opponents from taking liberties with Matty Beniers, while also helping the forwards alongside Hayden play a bigger, more confident game.
“He’s a guy that’s played a lot of games in this league,” Hakstol said. “And he understands what his role is when he’s in the lineup.”
The “brings an energy to our team” comment by Hakstol means maybe Tanev gets more physical than he already is, knowing he’s got Hayden as backup. Perhaps Donato throws his weight around a bit more.
The playoff stretch is when teams usually bulk up. With Hayden, the Kraken hope to do that both in size and confidence.