Now in his first season with the Seattle Kraken, many Oilers fans are still cheering on former player Kailer Yamamoto. As a first round draft pick of the Oilers in just 2017, many had high hopes for Yamamoto, but he was just unable to produce much offensively for Edmonton in his final season. Now with the Kraken, Yamamoto's offensive struggles have continued with just 7 goals and 15 points this year, but the head coach is promoting him to top-six minutes.
Yamamoto wasn't offered a contract by the Oilers last offseason, and ended up signing a prove-it deal for one year, $1.5M in Seattle. This has left both Kraken and Oilers fans wondering what exactly head coach Dave Hakstol is doing. With better players like Gourde, Tolvanen, and Bjorkstrand lower down in the lineup, Yamamoto being this high feels questionable to many.
Now nine point behind Vegas for the final playoff spot in the west, the Kraken's playoffs hopes are waning quickly. Hakstol is likely now pulling out anything and everything he can to spark the team, but this just doesn't feel like a plausible solution. Clearly Seattle isn't having the same level of success immediately like Vegas has, and they may be forced into some tough decisions this offseason.
