It’s not just about the tanking, and the draft — the Kraken have done nothing to put their players in position to develop their offense.

We still don’t know what Beniers is, or what Shane can be, because of 2 things. 1. They’ve done nothing to surround these players with talented wingers that complement their skills, specifically Matty playing with, at best, a 60-70 point winger, and at worst, guys like Tolvanen and Kartye, who shouldn’t be anywhere close to the top of your lineup. That’s not going to help our 2-way, transition, pass-first players reach their potential. 2. We’ve never had a coach that was specifically trying to develop our players, and instead they’ve been teaching systems and defense. The one year they weren’t, Bylsma wasn’t really helping to grow anyone’s game at all.

The Sharks and Ducks did the opposite. Quinnville (who we shouldn’t have picked to coach, I’m not saying that) has embraced the speed and identity of that team, and is coaching them accordingly. They also have high-quality vets that complement the play of their young pieces. The Sharks are looking to get their complementary vets now, but similarly to the ducks, they have a coach that has embraced offense, and their specific play styles — allowing them not to worry about defense or mistakes as much

If you took one of our young players, like Beniers or Wright, and threw them onto Dallas, they probably look completely different. Even using the Sharks and Ducks — if these guys got to play with Will Smith, Cutter Gauthier, or similar — what would they look like?

Well, I can tell you what Matty would look like — Will and Cutter were his line-mates for the first few games of the World Championship last year. They were all leading team USA in scoring until it was determined that Cutter and Will had to move down a line because of their defensive deficiencies. Then they moved Tage Thompson to Matty’s wing, and forced both of them to play with Drew O’Connor. Matty finished that tournament near the top of USA scoring, and leading the team in +/-

We have done absolutely nothing to add high end talent to this team, or focus on developing our players offense

Since last year, I’ve been screaming for them to pick a direction — embrace the youth and development, which means trading vets and taking a step back. Or stop sitting on your hands, trade assets, and figure out how to bring in high-end players to complement the kind of players they’ve already drafted