For the Seattle Kraken, a big season from Philipp Grubauer could be a gift - and a headache.
That’s the odd reality hanging over their goaltending picture. If Grubauer plays like he did down the stretch last season, Seattle stands a better chance of hanging around the playoff race. But the better he looks, the more it likely means Joey Daccord hasn’t bounced back the way the Kraken need him to.
Grubauer has shown before that he can handle a heavy load. He was at his best in a Kraken sweater during the 2022-23 playoffs, when he beat his former club, the defending champion Colorado Avalanche, in a seven-game series and then pushed Seattle to another Game 7 in the second round against the Dallas Stars. Over those 14 playoff games, he posted a .903 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average against two dangerous Western Conference attacks.
At the time, he said the workload didn’t wear him down. Quite the opposite. He thrived on the pace and the pressure of playing every other day.
That same pattern showed up last season when Daccord struggled and Grubauer reclaimed the No. 1 job. He finished with a 2.65 GAA and a .908 save percentage, well above the league marks of 2.88 and .896. For a goalie who had been viewed as a possible offseason buyout candidate, it was a major turnaround.
“It helped definitely getting more opportunities to play,” Grubauer said in April. “That’s what I was missing (the year before).
You get out there and you can help the team. It’s always hard if you come back from injury or if you sit on a bench for four weeks, your first game is always going to be rusty.
“So it definitely helps to get into the rhythm. The way our coaching staff communicated (starting assignments) was incredible. It kept both Joey and me, the right amount of rest and the right amount of ice time.”
That’s where the complication starts. Seattle would love a repeat of that production if it helps keep the team in the hunt. But a strong Grubauer season almost certainly comes with a sign that Daccord is not rebounding, and that’s not a clean outcome for a team trying to sort out its future in goal.
Grubauer is entering the final season of a six-year, $35 million contract. He turns 35 in November and is five years older than Daccord. It’s difficult to see the Kraken wanting to bring him back beyond that, and like Jaden Schwartz, he could also have his eye on another run with a contender.
Even if he wants to stay and keeps playing at a high level, the price tag would probably be higher than Seattle wants to pay. Daccord’s five-year, $25 million deal runs through 2029-30, and that is not backup money.
So the best-case scenario might be the one that feels the most awkward on paper: Grubauer keeps playing well, the Kraken get what they can from him, and if the season goes the right way, Seattle could look for a trade deadline partner willing to send back assets for an experienced goalie on an expiring deal.