Welcome back to the first annual Seattle Kraken Report Cards. Although the 2021-22 season did not go as hoped, there were many moments and players who stepped up during the campaign. Now, it is time to review the season that was and determine which letter grade each player deserves from the past season. To qualify for a grade, players must have played a minimum of 10 games and finished the season within the Seattle organization.
Just like the grading system in the U.S. and Canada, we will be using letter grades to determine how well each player did. For example, if a player gets an A grade, they were excellent all season, while if a player receives a C-, they have a lot to work on going into next season. This article will focus on Joonas Donskoi, Adam Larsson and Jaden Schwartz
Joonas Donskoi
Before coming to Seattle, Donskoi was a consistent 30-35 point per season player who would score double-digit goals every year. He was coming off a career-high 17 goals in 51 games with the Colorado Avalanche and was expected to play a big role as a net-front presence for the Kraken. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
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Donskoi ended up finishing the season with a career-low two goals and his 20 points were his lowest in a season since the 2016-17 campaign. He only managed 89 shots on goal and arguably had the worst offensive season of his career. Lastly, he had a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) rate of .01 indicating he was just barely better than a replacement-level player this season. It is safe to say he had a frustrating year in the offensive zone.
The saving grace of Donskoi’s season was his defensive play, as he posted a 50% Corsi at even strength and tied a career-high with 36 hits. He had a takeaway rate of plus-3 and blocked 31 shots. Entering his pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) campaign in 2022-23, the Kraken will need to decide if they want to keep him around or trade him at the deadline for additional assets. Hopefully, he can rediscover his form so that not only he can capitalize with a big free-agent deal, but Seattle can use him as a trade piece next season.
Player Grade: C
Adam Larsson
Mr. Reliable on the back end, Larsson was arguably the Kraken’s best player all season, as he was the only one to play all 82 games in 2021-22 and put up a career-high eight goals and 25 points. Whether it was at even strength or…
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