It doesn’t take advanced metrics to figure out Seattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer has struggled this season.
His 3.83 goals-against average and .866 save percentage, career worsts in both categories, are last among the 54 NHL goalies to play at least 15 games this season.
The Kraken, who are scheduled to play host to San Jose on Thursday night, placed Grubauer on waivers Wednesday, with the intent of assigning him to Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League.
The move came after Grubauer allowed five goals on 22 shots in a 6-4 loss Tuesday against visiting Anaheim.
“We hung him out to dry. . . . Just too many pucks he didn’t have a chance on,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said after the game.
The 33-year-old Grubauer, who is 5-15-1, likely will go unclaimed on waivers as he’s in the fourth season of a six-year, $35.4 million contract ($5.9 million average annual value).
Tuesday’s start, in the second of back-to-back games for the Kraken, was Grubauer’s first since Jan. 12 in Detroit, where he was pulled 6:16 into the game after allowing three goals on four shots. He was 0-5-1 over six starts since Dec. 30.
“The disappointment of really the Detroit game, it’s not on him. He didn’t get pulled in that game because of bad goals, it was a message more to the team but one that he has to deal with,” Bylsma said before Tuesday’s game. “And just kind of reset the last two weeks a little bit. Get back to what you do well, what you had been doing well and get ready for the opportunities.”
Grubauer helped the Kraken reach the playoffs in 2022-23 and upset defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado in the opening round.
But Joey Daccord has gradually taken over the top spot in net over the past two seasons and signed a five-year, $25 million extension in October. Daccord is 17-12-2 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .917 save percentage this season.
When Bylsma was asked if defensive breakdowns occur more frequently when Grubauer is in net, his one-word answer was “no.”
“Obviously, they had a couple backdoor one-timers that it’s tough for (Grubauer) to see those,” defenseman Brandon Montour said after losing to Anaheim. “Just awareness, clean some stuff up. Every time we make a mistake, it seems like it’s in the back of the net, or our goalies have to make big-time saves. Anytime you let up five, six goals, it’s tough to win those games.”
The Sharks can attest to that. They allowed at least six goals in four consecutive games before snapping a six-game skid with a 2-1 victory against visiting Pittsburgh on Monday.
Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period. Celebrini now has four game-winning goals this season.
“We did a great job, I don’t think our confidence wavered,” Celebrini said. “I think we stuck with it. We knew what we needed to do.”
Mikael Granlund also scored for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askarov made 29 saves.
“The result is the big thing, but we did some really good things (Monday), things that we’ve talked about,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Some guys stepped up, which we needed.”
The Sharks won the first two games in the season series with Seattle, beating the Kraken 8-5 on Nov. 29 in San Jose and 4-2 the next day at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
–Field Level Media
