It was a sad end to the Firebirds season. After holding a 2 goal lead in Game 7 with 40 minutes remaining and ultimately ended up losing in OT to a final score of 3-2. It was a tough way to see things go but for the Firebirds inaugural season fans should be nothing if not optimistic and excited for what the future has in store for many of these players.

24 year old Kole Lind lead all players in the post season with 31 points in 26 games. In fact that top five player leaders in points were all Firebirds. Lind, McCormick, Evans, Hughes, and True all paved the way for this team. Hughes, True, and McCormick are all set to be UFA's while Ryker and Lind remain controlled by the team. I hope Francis finds a way to bring back at least a couple of the UFA's as this team continues to develop and produce NHL calibre players.

For fans looking for news on Shane Wright; the good news is he is definitely a skilled hockey player, the bad news is he may not be a full time NHLer next season. Wright played much of this post-season for the Firebirds in a bottom six role. It was a shift for him but his coaches were quite happy with how he embraced the role and committed to a 200 foot game.

I like Wright and see him as a long term Kraken option but he is in a tough position now. Due to only technically playing two seasons of junior hockey he is not eligible for full time AHL play next season. That means his options are either being on the Kraken and in a position where he may not play every night or returning to the OHL where he will surely dominate but not do much for his overall development. This is a situation to keep an eye on.

He isn't ready for action just yet but I can see Ryker Evans being at the very least a callup option for the Kraken this season. The 21 year old who was drafted in the second round in 2021 had a phenomenal first pro season with 44 points in 71 games. Evans moves the puck extremely well and on a team with a number of defensive defenders, Evans was able to show he had the ability to generate on his own. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Also looking forward to seeing what Joey Daccord can bring to the Kraken. Daccord is now 26 and has gotten a few cups of coffee in the NHL both with the Senators and the Kraken. This season the netminder posted a strong 0.918 SV% in the regular season with the Firebirds and really bunkered down in the playoffs with a 0.926SV%. Still some uncertainty on the future of Chris Driedger with reports that the Kraken want to move him. I would like to see Daccord step in as the full time backup behind Grubauer.

The NHL Kraken roster had a season of resounding success and now we can easily say that their new AHL team has as well. The key to long term success is not only great depth in the NHL but having a strong prospect pool with new talent always ready to jump in. So far it's looking like that is definitely all happening in Seattle.

Thanks for reading.

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