Until recently, the Seattle Kraken have alternated between goaltenders Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord in net. Daccord’s name has been called three times between the Oct. 24 game against the Winnipeg Jets and the Oct. 30 away game against the Montreal Canadiens. Given his play and his recent contract extension, the Kraken should now consider him their clear-cut starter.
Joey Daccord’s Surprise Ascension
Mostly an unknown third wheel in the goalie pecking order with the Ottawa Senators and Seattle, everything changed when established starter Grubauer got injured in December 2023. From that point on, Daccord got 36 more starts for 50 total games last season. His 10 starts in December were more than his total games in any previous campaign. He was, in effect, the Kraken’s guy.
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It paid off for the most part. Despite the club’s lack of scoring, the 27-year-old kept his team in plenty of contests. He finished last season with honorable numbers: a 2.46 goals-against average (GAA) and a save percentage of .916 (SV%). At the time, he was operating under a contract that paid him $1.2 million per season. That was a bargain for Seattle, considering his stats. However, with only one year left on that deal, the Kraken front office, led by general manager Ron Francis, had some decisions to make. Is Daccord the club’s future in goal? Can he replicate last season’s performance?
Contract Extension for 5 Years in Seattle
On Oct. 8, the sixth-year pro was signed for an additional five seasons at $25 million total, which kicks in next season. He wasn’t suddenly the highest-paid goalie in the NHL, but it made for a significant raise. Ironically, it was the same day the Kraken opened their season at home against the St. Louis Blues, a game that Grubauer started. Seattle raced out to a 2-0 lead, only to fall 3-2.
Given that the Kraken had just signed Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson to pricy contracts – $6.25 million per season for Stephenson and $7.14 per season for Montour – there was only so much money remaining in the purse. To that point, as per Puck Pedia, Seattle is projected to have negative cap space by season’s end at -$1.41 million.
To be clear, the Kraken are far from the only team with that problem on the horizon. That said, it does facilitate –…
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