Ex-Spokane Chief Kailer Yamamoto has struggled to find ice with Kraken and could be trade target

SEATTLE – Kailer Yamamoto’s historic Kraken season has lost some steam, but when Seattle’s NHL playoff hopes hung by a thread Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena, he gladly helped out.

The Kraken snagged their needed extra point from the Boston Bruins in a shootout, where they’ve struggled to find a winning recipe.

Through Thursday, Yamamoto was 3 for 4 on shootout attempts, by far the best success rate for the Kraken and the only player who’s scored more than once. His goal has decided a shootout twice – Monday against the Bruins and Nov. 16 against the New York Islanders, when he was instrumental in ending a stretch of six consecutive shootout losses. It took until the eighth round for him to get the nod against New York. He’s been in the first three shooters since.

The winning moves were nearly identical. He swung down the right wall before cutting to the middle, got the opposing goalie unsettled, slowed and sent the puck sailing in glove side.

Against Boston on Monday, he got some help from the goal post.

“I’m lucky it went in,” he said. It was the only one of six attempts that did.

Off the ice, Yamamoto has been having a great time as the first Washington-born player to play for the Kraken. He played for his hometown Spokane Chiefs (Western Hockey League) from 2014-18. His parents visited him in Edmonton, Alberta, roughly once a season while he played for the Oilers, so seldom because of a combination of distance and pandemic restrictions. Now he sees them more often.

But on the ice, his role with the Kraken has dwindled in the new year. He’s often a healthy scratch and has played about once a week since mid-January, staying out late after morning skates and working hard since there’s no game to rest up for.

“It’s definitely not ideal, but it is what it is, I guess,” Yamamoto said.

Yamamoto hasn’t stuck with any particular line long term, so he’s had to go where needed. That’s been limited to the fourth line, and that’s a questionable fit for the small, speedy forward.

In training camp, the final roster spot at forward came down to Tye Kartye and Yamamoto, with Yamamoto getting the edge on opening night. That debate is back as the regular season winds down.

“(We look at) how he’s playing, where he’s at physically. Where they’re at in terms of their energy levels. Some of it’s matchup,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We have confidence in each of them.”

The fourth-line center spot has been filled by committee since Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was injured in mid-December. Bellemare is more or less fully healthy, but Kartye and Yamamoto are still trading off that last remaining spot.

In place of the injury list on the fully healthy Kraken’s pregame notes, “N/A.” They have options and they’re using them.

Yamamoto is more comfortable at center, Hakstol pointed out. He hasn’t been there consistently at the NHL level, but he can draw on experience.

“His game is a little more offensive-minded. He’s a guy that distributes the puck pretty well. He also reads things down low pretty well,” Hakstol said.

“ ‘Karts’ is more of a straight-line player. He’s reliable. He’s a heavy guy and he competes really hard.”

And there the coach described why Kartye is more of a prototypical fourth-line guy, hitting several of the role’s desired qualities. Yamamoto might be better served on the top three lines but there’s no place for him there as things currently stand.

At just 25 years old and a 20-goal scorer just two seasons ago in Edmonton, Yamamoto’s name has been brought up as the trade deadline approaches at noon Friday. He signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Kraken in July, so he’d be a low-risk acquisition for a team that needs a scoring boost if the Kraken don’t have bigger or long-term plans for him.