One: Realigning the Forward Lines
NASHVILLE – The cap space opened up by Wednesday’s trade, plus the two future first-round picks acquired, are worth savoring for the possibilities of player acquisition in the summers ahead. What’s more, it will be exciting to see who fills what lineup spots before Seattle takes the ice here Thursday and as the final stretch of the schedule unfolds (check back on the Kraken app and website for updates). Tampa Bay center Michael EyssimontAY-see-mawnt], who has notched five goals and five assists this year while playing a highly physical game, will be joining the Seattle squad here in Nashville. He posted career-high numbers last season (11 goals, 15 assists for 26 points in 81 games), and that’s averaging about 11 minutes of time on ice per game over the pair of seasons. He’s appeared in 193 NHL regular-season games with Winnipeg, San Jose, and Tampa Bay, which traded for him at the 2022 trade deadline. He played in eight playoff games with the Lightning, notching a goal and an assist.
There is no denying the forward depth on the organizational roster, both veterans who have played NHL games this year, such as Ben Meyers (recalled from the AHL roster Wednesday) and Mitchell Stephens (who impressed all in xx games), plus there’s the promise in games/seasons ahead of Ryan Winterton (eight Kraken games this year, 17 total), Jacob Melanson (also recalled from Coachella Valley’ Wednesday, fully recovered from a broken leg earlier in the season), Tye Kartye (in AHL on conditioning assignment. scored two goals Tuesday in big win over Calgary), Logan Morrison (four NHL games) and, on the horizon, 2022 second-round pick Jani Nyman scored his 26th goal in Tuesday’s Firebirds win at Calgary to lead all AHL rookies in goals by a significant margin and ranks top three among all goal-scorers in the league.
Two: Bidding ‘Adieu’ to Gourde, Bjorkstrand
While Kraken players and fans just completed two months of games without their heartbeat-teammate, fan-favorite Yanni Gourde, starting Thursday, we all have to adjust to seeing the alternate captain in an alternate but familiar universe, back in uniform with Tampa Bay. There is Tuesday, Gourde’s return game to the lineup, left to savor: A scrappy assist on Brandon Montour’s goal that pulled Seattle within one goal of Minnesota; a scrap net-front earlier in the game when a Wild player took issue with Gourde, who rightfully whacked at a loose puck before opposing goaltender Filip Gustavsson, afterward mixing it up before skating away with that slightly flushed face grinning because he succeeded in annoying yet another foe); and, postgame, one last time listening to Gourde gushing about how much he loves to play hockey with a gleam in his eyes evident even on a MacBook screen during his first media Zoom call after being picked in the 2021 Expansion Draft. All classic “Pepper Pot,” as play-by-play man extraordinaire John Forslund made sure to call him at least once every game.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, effective for long stretches on the same line with Gourde (and Eeli Tolvanen), also heads to the Sunshine State to perhaps play alongside Gourde. “The Maestro” finishes his Kraken career with 56 goals (plus four more in the postseason) and 85 assists for 141 points in 194 games. He will always be part of Kraken lore for scoring the two clutch goals to fuel the 2-1 series-winning Game 7 over defending Cup champ Colorado in the 2023 playoffs.
Three: Know the Foe: Nashville Looking for Momentum
Predators GM and the franchise’s first-ever coach Barry Trotz signed a pair of big-name free agent forwards last July in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. But the pair haven’t panned out to date while Nashville languishes in the 30th spot in the overall NHL standings. Stamkos broke a career-long 13-game skid without a point by assisting on a tic-tac-goal by Ryan O’Reilly in the Preds’ Monday 6-3 road win over Boston. He then scored a goal for the first time since Jan. 23 in the middle period. The former Tampa Bay star joined center O’Reilly and young winger Luke Evangelista (the third component of the tic-tac-toe scoring sequence) on a newly formed first line that is likely to stay in place against the Kraken. Marchessault is currently lining up with NSH standout Filip Forsberg. As it turned out, both Marchessault and O’Reilly scored their goals by rout-end while Stamkos (17 G, 17 A) added a second assist. Thursday will determine whether the heat-up continues.
