Kraken Notebook: No. 2 goalie job up for grabs between Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray

SEATTLE - The start of training camp for the Seattle Kraken on Thursday saw the echoing voice of new head coach Lane Lambert over seeing intense on-ice work from his new team.

Lambert becomes the third different head coach for the franchise in three years. Lambert replaces Dan Bylsma at the helm for the Kraken, who was let go after just one season. Bylsma had replaced Dave Hakstol – the initial head coach of the franchise – after he was dismissed following the team's third season.

"I would say that’s probably my style. Whether it tapers a little bit, it’s a day one kind of thing," Lambert said after practice. "But no, I’m involved. We want the players to bring energy. I think us coaches have to bring energy as well."

The Kraken have a few key questions to answer before the start of the regular season on October 7, but the state of the No. 2 goaltender is as big as any the team has. The Kraken HAVE to get more out of that spot this season if they want to see themselves contending into the spring.

While Joey Daccord excelled for most of the season as he ascended to the starting role, Philipp Grubauer became practically unplayable for most of the year. Grubauer posted a career-worst .875 save percentage for the season, which was second-worst in the NHL among qualified goaltenders. He fractionally bested Alexandar Georgiev of the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks, who finished at .0004 behind Grubauer.

The Kraken won just eight of the 26 games he started last year, resulting in a .327 points percentage in games he was in the net. He allowed three goals or more in 18 of the 26 games he played, and the Kraken somehow managed to win four of those games anyway, including a 7-5 win over the New York Rangers, and a 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Kraken signed nine-year NHL veteran goaltender Matt Murray for additional depth this offseason and Botterill said he's competing for an NHL job with Grubauer on Thursday.

"I think the opportunity, there's a competition there, for sure," Botterill said. " I think there's different scenarios where we've looked at being able to carry three goalies, and you just like we talked about before, how condensed some of the games are, I think you're going to need three goalies throughout the season."

The No. 2 goaltender doesn’t have to be a star for Seattle, but he has to be able to play. With 13 separate back-to-backs on the schedule as part of a condensed calendar in an Olympic year, the Kraken will have to rely on their second goalie to play a sizable chunk of the schedule. Daccord wore down at the end of last season and can’t play every night.

The reality is Grubauer hasn’t been great in any of the four seasons he’s been with the Kraken. He’s posted a sub-.900 save percentage in each of his four years in Seattle, and finished last year with a 3.49 goals against average. Even in the playoff season of 2022-23 when he was terrific in the postseason, it was Martin Jones that led the way with 27 wins during the regular season to Grubauer’s 17.

As Botterill noted, they could elect to keep all three goaltenders on the roster to deal with the condensed schedule. But even then, someone will be the first option to turn to behind Daccord.

"We'll continue to evaluate the situation," Botterill said. "We have ideas on carrying three goalies. We also have ideas if there's injuries that we have to make an adjustment from that standpoint, but we're ready for it, whatever materializes over the next couple weeks. 

Murray won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins when Botterill was part of the team's front office. 

Murray spent most of last season as the third goalie with the Toronto Maple Leafs, only appearing in two games at the NHL level. While Murray’s NHL numbers last year were unimpressive in the small sample size – an .879 save percentage and 3.54 goals against average in his two starts – he was quite good with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

Murray posted a 10-5-4 record with a .934 save percentage and a 1.72 goals against average with the Marlies.

"You know, I think Matt realizes this is a big opportunity for him, right?" Botterill said. And I think it's been talked about already, like he feels healthy, he feels ready to go. 

"He's obviously had to deal with some surgeries, which has been difficult. But you see a player who is, I think, hungry to win a spot, hungry to get back to the National Hockey League. His familiarity with myself is great, very helpful. He's familiar with Lane being a part of Toronto last year, his familiarity with Colin (Zulianello), just from Thunder Bay (Ontario) area, I think you know, bodes extremely well for him."

The Kraken could have bought out Grubauer’s contract in the summer and elected not to do so. However, it still feels obvious that this is Grubauer’s last chance with Seattle. Grubauer needs to play somewhere as he will be the goaltender for Germany at the Olympics in February, but stunting the development of Nikke Kokko or Victor Östman in the minors is also problematic.

If Murray shows the Kraken he’s the better option, Grubauer’s time in Seattle still might come to an end.

Notes:

– Botterill said they expect defenseman Brandon Montour to be ready for the start of the regular season despite recent surgery to address ankle bursitis.

"Not from our standpoint," Botterill said. "And it's why he went with the procedure right now, is to make sure.

"He's come in in great shape. It's disappointing he can't be out there right away, because he is a driver of our intensity and our pace of practices, but we tried to get this procedure done now so he doesn't have to deal with it throughout the season, and our whole mindset is he'll be ready to go for game one against Anaheim."

– Forward Jared McCann is fully healthy after having surgery for an upper body injury over the offseason.

"There was a few different players that we had that dealt with injuries from that standpoint. And you know, that's what excites us right now, is that guys are in great shape," Botterill said.

"You look at a guy like Jared, he's, you know, he plays the way we want to play, right? Plays with speed. He's one of, you know, one of our best shooters. We're going to be a team that needs to continue to look for goals. He's a guy that can provide us goals. He's a player that can play as both special teams for us if needed. So just that versatility of being able to play a lot of different spots in our lineup, the speed that he has, the shot he has, we're ecstatic to have him back, and looking forward to see what he can start off the year."

– The Kraken announced forward Lleyton Roed will be out two months with an upper body injury, and forward Nathan Villeneuve is awaiting further evaluation on a lower body injury.

While both players are expected to be a part of AHL Coachella Valley's roster, both players could feasibly get a look with the Kraken this season, if healthy. 

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