Kraken's Inconsistency Could Be Reason Why They Fail To Make Playoffs This Year

The Seattle Kraken lost their second straight game Saturday, falling 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers. And in their past nine games, the Kraken have lost a whopping seven times to fall to 17-20-3 on the season.

Putting together long stretches of winning hockey has been an issue for Seattle all season long. They have one three-game win streak, and one four-game win streak -- but other than that, the Kraken haven't been ble to string together any winning stretch of more than two games this season.

You can chalk that up to a team still finding its identity, but the bottom line is that Seattle is now just one standings point ahead of the seventh-place-in-the-Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks -- and the Ducks have two games in hand on the Kraken. Things are getting worse before they look like they're about to get better for Seattle, and a playoff berth is fading fast for them.

Defense is the primary problem for the Kraken of late, as in their past seven losses, they've allowed four goals or more five times. And their offense has failed to bail them out, as in those seven losses, they've generated two goals or fewer six times. Nothing seems to be working out, and coach Dan Bylsma hasn't had the answer for what ails his team.

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The Kraken need to turn their season around soon, or they won't be playing meaningful hockey down the stretch. In their next five games, they've got four winnable games -- including showdowns against Columbus, Buffalo, Detroit and Pittsburgh -- and unless they come away with at least six points in that span, it might be time for the league to pronounce their season over.

Seattle is still a team trying to transition to a consistent winner, but they don't have the high-end talent depth to run-and-gun with the best of the NHL. This seems more and more like a team that's going to be a team with a high draft lottery pick, and in the macro picture, that's probably the best thing for the organization. The Kraken have to take it on the chin to get a top draft pick, and while that no doubt hurts their fan base to hear right now, in the long haul, short-term pain can lead to long-term gain.

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The Kraken have to figure things out soon. Because there's no more room for error, and there's teams all around them playing better than they are. The time for a wake-up call has passed long ago, and the bottom line is that Seattle just doesn't have what it takes to be a consistent winner at the moment. It's plain to see, and Kraken GM Ron Francis has to now move with the long-term in mind. Because the short-term looks like it will have many more losses than wins.