While Detroit Red Wings and Seattle Kraken are undoubtedly at different ends of the scale in terms of NHL history, their future prospects are actually fairly similar.
The Red Wings were one of the Original Six teams of the league and have since gone on to win the Stanley Cup on 11 occasions.
By contrast, Kraken joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2021/22, but they have already made significant progress on and off the ice.
Having been regular play-off contenders for many years, the Red Wings have failed to qualify for the post-season since the 2015/16 campaign.
They were briefly in Wild Card contention in the Eastern Conference last term, but eventually fell out of the play-off picture.
Despite missing out on the post-season, the Red Wings can reflect on a year where they improved their metrics in several key areas.
While they are unlikely to be among the favourites in the online betting for next year’s Stanley Cup, former Red Wings star Brett Hull believes they could qualify for the play-offs.
“They’re coming – they’ve got some good young players,” he told Betway. “When you have to rebuild, it is a tedious process and drafting is so important.
“If you miss on a couple of draft picks, it can set you back a couple of years. It looks like they’ve picked well so now it just takes time for those guys to mature and then to fill the roster around them.
“You can get good really fast. So, they’re on their way up, I can see that.”
While the Red Wings have been slow-burners in terms of their recent progress, the same cannot be said about Kraken.
They finished well adrift at the bottom of the Pacific Division in their debut season, but showed massive improvement to reach the play-offs this year.
They knocked out much-fancied Colorado Avalanche in the first round, before losing out in Game 7 against the heavily-touted Dallas Stars in round two.
With ten picks in the upcoming NHL draft including two second round selections, Kraken are well-placed to continue their upward trajectory in 2023/24.
Hull is impressed by how quickly Seattle have got to grips with life in the NHL and believes they could be a force to be reckoned with next season.
“They have done a phenomenal job,” Hull added. “When you see what it takes to do that, you really have to tip your hat to their scouting staff to be able to go out and understand what type of players these guys are.
“Some were run-of-the-mill players on the franchises they were with, but Seattle knew if they got a chance, a little more playing time, playing with some better players, what kind of players they would become.
“They’ve obviously made some great choices, like Vegas did a few years ago. To do that, and find a good coach to put them together and be patient, it’s quite a feat.”
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