SEATTLE – With the Mariners still months from opening day and the Seahawks season nearing its end, Seattle-area fans in need of a winter sports fix might consider revisiting a still-newish team many overlooked a year ago.

The Kraken had plenty of hype when they launched their first NHL season in October 2021, but their poor play quickly sent casual fans scampering. Between COVID-19 restrictions inside Climate Pledge Arena and the Kraken sporting the league’s third-worst record, those familiarizing themselves with professional hockey didn’t always have the best experience.

But things have changed, as the Kraken came out of Thursday’s final game before the Christmas break sporting a surprising 18-10-4 record. That ’s good enough for third place in the Pacific Division and a playoff spot – if the postseason started today, that is.

That record, strong as it is, includes a recent stretch in which they lost five of six games. Early on, the Kraken were among the top teams in the NHL and at one point were given top odds by the Money Puck analytical website to win the Stanley Cup.

We’re still a long way from anybody playing for the championship. But whereas the team was all but eliminated from playoff contention at this point a year ago, it now has months of big games looming.

Here are reasons fans might reconsider the Kraken as the sports scene thins out a bit.

Better bang for your buck

When the Kraken made their debut, they did so with the NHL’s second-highest online resale ticket prices – trailing only the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the franchise’s home debut against Vancouver at Climate Pledge Arena, the cheapest seats started at $399 and topped off at $9,999 on Ticketmaster.

Season-ticket holders, locked in for a minimum of three years, clearly paid less than that. But casual fans aren’t the ones holding season tickets and usually buy seats on secondary-market online exchanges.

So those introductory prices quickly chased some fans away. But it wasn’t long before the team’s on-ice struggles caused ticket demand to plummet – taking those online prices downward. Suddenly, it became cheaper per game for fans to buy single-game tickets online than to own season tickets. In some cases, fans buying at the last minute found they could get seats that cost season-ticket holders $300 for $125 or less.

These aren’t developments the team likes discussing, but casual fans looking to get into the building now have it easier. The team’s improved play has caused demand to begin rising again, but tickets for any game can still be found online for less than $100.

And the game-day experience inside Climate Pledge has improved. The Kraken have a more polished pregame introduction, featuring video, graphic effects, a Kraken “tentacle” descending from the rafters and a music score composed by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer.

They also have an enhanced pregame and in-game music program that includes a marching band, an in-house organist and nightly performances by local artists. For younger fans, the new Kraken mascot, Buoy, appears to be a hit as well.

Pandemic-era restrictions have been fully lifted inside.

Overall, the entire arena experience appears more polished and professional than when workers last season scrambled to get the venue completed on time.

Kraken are playoff contenders

ESPN Stats and Information has NHL teams in playoff position at Thanksgiving making the postseason 77% of the time in the post-2005-06 salary-cap era.

The Kraken were there and still are. Barring a collapse, they’ll at least be in the mix the next few months.

It’s important to note that everything was going wildly well in November, when the Kraken dropped just one of 12 games in regulation and collected at least one standings point in the rest. They struggled to hold leads, but the offense compensated – with no better evidence than a 9-8 overtime circus in Los Angeles on Nov. 29. The teams matched the record for most combined tying goals in NHL history, and Seattle came out on top. It was all just wild enough to work.

Elsewhere and ahead of them, the Vegas Golden Knights slowed. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, preseason division favorites, held back.

But the Kraken’s pace was impossible to hold. This week the Kraken dropped two points behind the L.A. Kings but have four games in hand. The Flames and Oilers were within three points of the Kraken in third place entering Thursday.

“We’re in a really good spot,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said last week after losing five of six games.

“We had one run where everything went right, and you’ve got to take those. You’ve got to put those points in the bank. You’ve got to cut runs like this, where things aren’t going all that well – you’ve got to cut those off, cut them short and get back into the fight.”

All this to say – last season Seattle was almost immediately out of the playoff hunt. In their second year, the Kraken are contenders. Even if they run into stiff competition the next 50-odd games – and they should – the good start is historically an excellent sign. There are points in the bank, to borrow Hakstol’s words.

They’re rarely out of games

Nothing dampens the mood of a game more than knowing your team has no chance when falling behind. The Kraken struggled so badly to score last season that giving up an early goal or two often meant the game was over.

Not so this season. With a balanced scoring attack spread across four lines, the Kraken have shown they can rally. The most extreme example came in a November game at Calgary, when the Kraken yielded third-period goals to fall behind 4-2 – only to prevail 6-4.

At home last week against Winnipeg, the Kraken twice trailed the Jets but won in overtime. They trailed Washington 2-0 at home this month but rallied for an overtime win.

The wins over Washington and Calgary have already equaled the total number of victories posted by the Kraken last season after trailing by two goals. The Kraken also have eight comeback wins, more than half the 15 they had all of last season, and their schedule is only 38% complete.

Another indicator: Empty-net goals allowed when the goalie is pulled for an extra attacker in a bid to overcome a deficit.

That’s happened three times to the Kraken and at this pace would occur roughly eight times by season’s end.

Last season, the Kraken gave up 26 empty-net goals, tying Detroit for the league’s second most allowed. The Kraken aren’t yielding nearly as many such goals this season, usually because they aren’t trailing late.

They’ve averaged only about 18 minutes per game trailing their opponent. Last season, they trailed for nearly 26 minutes a game – third worst in the league.

The Kraken have led an average of nearly 23 minutes per game – ninth best – compared with a fourth-worst 14:32 last season.

Offense greatly improved

Another addition to the game-day experience is more reasons to stand and yell. The Kraken offense got off to a hot start.

Last season’s scoring leaders – Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde – don’t have to do it on their own. A 3.48 goals-per-game average is sixth best in the NHL. Last season’s 2.84 per game was tied for eighth worst.

The Kraken needed finishing touches and got them. Not with a perfect lineup, but a few more gifted scorers with the vision and hands to thread that pass, get to the back door, win faceoffs and score seven seconds into overtime. If that last example sounded overly specific, it was.

At 20 years old, 2021 first-round draft pick Matty Beniers is on the leadership track. He leads all NHL rookies in goals and points. He’s the one who scored seven seconds into overtime against the Capitals on Dec. 1.

Free-agent signing Andre Burakovsky leads the team in points, but the scoring has been spread across the lineup. Daniel Sprong has been productive no matter who he’s with on the fourth line. Ryan Donato has been chipping them in recently. Eberle can seemingly generate chemistry with anyone.

Seattle has been without forward Joonas Donskoi all season but relatively lucky with injuries. Brandon Tanev and Jaden Schwartz lost significant time due to injury last season but have missed only one game combined in 2022-23.