The 2022-23 NHL season shifts into gear this week, officially marking the start of the Seattle Kraken‘s second year in existence. Before the start of last season, I highlighted several lessons that the Kraken could learn from previous expansion teams while drawing attention to the fact that new franchises were rarely successful in their first year. In fact, only two expansion teams since 1991 cracked 80 points in year one, and only the Vegas Golden Knights even qualified for the playoffs (Stanley Cup Finalists).
The struggles experienced by expansion clubs is well documented and not entirely surprising. However, less attention is paid to what those same clubs accomplished in year
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