Seattle Kraken netminder Joey Daccord stopped all 35 shots against the Vegas Golden Knights this past Tuesday. The Kraken defeated the Golden Knights 3-0 at T-Mobile Park in the NHL Winter Classic. In the shutout win, Daccord became the first NHL goalie to record a shutout in a Winter Classic game. Daccord played college hockey at Arizona State University and his recent accomplish speaks to his performance as a Sun Devil. In his junior season (which was his last season at ASU) Daccord posted a 23-13-1 record, a 2.35 GAA, and a .926 save percentage in the 2018-19 season with the Sun Devils. That same season, Arizona State made an appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament losing to Quinnipiac University, 2-1. The Massacusuetts native stopped 36 shots in the game. Daccord’s seven shutouts solidified his candidacy as a finalist for the Mike Richter Award that is given to the most outstanding goalie in NCAA Division 1. During the 2018-19 season, Daccord recorded a 45-save shutout taking down Princeton on the road, 4-0.
The 6’2” puck stopper was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Draft. On April 1, 2019, Daccord became the first Sun Devil to sign an NHL entry-level contract; signing with the Ottawa Senators. Now, the 27-year-old is in his third season with the Seattle Kraken after being selected by them in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. The past two seasons Daccord had short stints in the NHL, spending a majority of these seasons in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds; Seattle’s minor league affiliate. With starter Philipp Grubauer struggling in the early portion of the season and dealing with injury, Daccord has stepped up to the plate posting a 2.35 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He currently holds a record of 9-5-8 and has two shutouts on the season. The former Sun Devil has been victorious in has past four games in between the pipes. In one of those games, Daccord made 42 saves in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. After making the playoffs last season and taking down the previous Stanley Cup Champions in the first round, the Kraken are off to a 15-14-9 start to the season. Currently, Seattle finds themsevles out of a wildcard playoff spot by one point; behind the Arizona Coyotes. Regardless of where the Kraken end up at the end of the season, should Daccord be the starter in net moving forward?
Behind Daccord in games played are goalies Phillip Grubauer and Chris Driedger. Grubauer is 5-9-1 with a 3.25 GAA and .884 save percentage. Driedger has started one game in goal for Seattle in which he earned the win with 37 saves. Do the Kraken want to ride the hot hand in Daccord or rely on their veteran goalie in Grubauer? Head coach Dave Hakstol has a tough decision to be made.