Imagine yourself at 7 years old. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Now imagine your parents had picked up and moved halfway across the world to make that happen at 7 years old. And then imagine you just can’t make it stick despite everyone acknowledging your natural talent. What does that do to you?
Daniel Sprong
(📸) My usual disclaimer: these are primers, not biographies. They’re here to fit narratives, not every detail in. Please let me know if you’d like a specific source for something if I haven’t linked it directly, it might be in a source linked elsewhere in the primer. Okay! Let’s go!
Beginnings
Daniel Sprong was born March 17, 1997 in Amsterdam to Hannie and Sandra Sprong. He also has a sister.
Hannie had been a professional ice hockey player drawn to the sport due to the “Miracle on Ice” during the Olympics in Lake Placid. He was captivated throughout his life and passed that captivation down to his son.
He coached Daniel from practically his infancy, and because of the small size of the Dutch hockey community, Daniel was soon age 4 playing with boys upwards of 9 and 10 years old.
The way the family talks about it, it sounds nearly impossible to grow in talent. There was one rink in Amsterdam, leading to very little ice time. The rink also closed between March and September.
So Hannie began taking Daniel and other kids to Quebec to train during the summer.
When I say “kids,” I mean Daniel is five when this starts and the other kids are 9 or 10. He attracts the attention of trainers and organizers for the Toronto Marlies youth organization.
When he’s 7, a trainer suggests they move to Canada to develop his talent. Daniel has said that the suggestion was originally a “joke,” to move there for a year and see where it might go.
The family actually goes. They move from the Netherlands to Canada so their seven-year-old can play hockey. Hannie takes a job distributing frozen fruits and vegetables.
Okay. Pause. Let that sink in. Professional hockey player dad takes a job distributing frozen fruits and vegetables so seven-year-old Daniel can play hockey.
Pressure’s on.
Juniors in Canada
(📸) Daniel wants to be Canadian. He never receives an invitation to play with the Dutch national teams, even in IIHF tournaments, which can bring significant scout attention. He does this for a few reasons, one of which is that he wants to pursue Canadian citizenship and doesn’t want to jeopardize that. The other is about the talent pool. He wants to win.
He says of this decision, “I knew right away I didn't want to play for the Dutch team. […] if you have a chance to play against the best in the world, that's what you want to do. It's nothing against my home country, but if I had a chance to play for Canada I want to."
Sprong plays in the QMJHL, with the Charlottetown Islanders, and he’s widely known as one of the best, if not THE best player during his time in juniors. He’s included alongside the likes of Connor McDavid in juniors showcases (a fun fact for Kraken fans; Spronger also plays in a showcase team with Vince Dunn during this time).
Why is he so good? It’s his shot.
Daniel Sprong’s shot is absolutely insane. He can score from anywhere on ice, just this precise, lethal shot that allows him to put up huge numbers for his team. This has always been the case. He’s got this god given talent that he’s honed into near perfection.
But during this time, it’s noted from several scouts that his defense is lacking. That natural talent of his seen from just 4 years old is still there but it must be balanced if he is to achieve true success, they warn.
Still, his scouting report describes him as “absolutely electric.”
Meanwhile, the GM of his juniors team shares “I’d like for him to just be a kid a little bit. With Daniel, we’re constantly telling him to maybe just relax.”
But there’s no time to relax. He’s had one goal in mind since he was a child. And he’s still a child.
He submits his name for consideration in the NHL draft as soon as he’s eligible.
It’s a pretty competitive draft in 2015, a very deep and rich talent pool starting way up on the top. But Sprong is counted among the best prospects available.
Pittsburgh Penguins
(📸) Sprong is drafted in the second round, 46th overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pascal Dupuis, a much beloved Penguin who had just retired, trains with him in the summer and speaks highly of him, stating, “He has that big smile on his face. He’s one of those guys who wants to learn.”
So what happens?
Sprong makes the team right away after a fantastic training camp. However, his older teammates sour on him right away.
One anecdote to illustrate this: He doesn’t have a license, but no one will drive him. He has to take an Uber alone every single time he goes to the practice facility.
Coach Mike Sullivan also doesn’t trust him defensively, so he slots Daniel on the fourth line with grinders. Hitters and blockers and guys sent out there to just bide time for the Penguins’ superstars to be ready to take over.
But Sprong isn’t a grinder. He’s a shooter. It was not a good match.
He gets benched through entire periods. He gets healthy scratched again and again. He gets sent back to Juniors that rookie year, has shoulder surgery and sits out most of the next year, then spends major time in the AHL the third year.
He does seem to mellow out. He never lashes out publicly anyway.
There’s an edge to him, though. There’s always an edge.
When asked about why he would be consistently scratched, Daniel says this: “That’s my opinion. And I’ll keep that to myself.”
We don’t know much from that statement but we can gather that either a) he wasn’t told a real reason or b) if he was told a reason, he disagreed with it or was calling bullshit. On his coach.
Anyway. He’s traded shortly after that.
Anaheim Ducks
(📸)Daniel Sprong is traded across the country for Marcus Pettersson.
He’s still very young, despite all his professional seasons. He made the NHL so early that it’s easy to forget how young he is. He asks for time to develop, to be able to prove that he belongs on a team in the National Hockey League for the long haul. But there’s not a lot of time in this competitive of a league.
Sprong fails to make this team out of training camp. He’s placed on waivers like many others during this time for reassignment to San Diego.
Of this time, he says frankly that he was hoping another team would pick him up so he could enter the NHL.
(After all, did his father take a job distributing frozen foods for his son to end up anywhere else but the NHL?)
It doesn’t happen. So he’s sent down to San Diego. His coach sees Sprong just waiting for his first call-up; lazy play follows. But they have open and honest conversations.
At this point, Sprong says, “You kind of look at yourself in the mirror and say ‘You know what? This is not the right way you’re playing. You’re not helping yourself or the team.’ You kind of reflect.”
He shows more self-awareness. When asked about a wild spin-o-rama goal, Daniel states “I think it’s just the high-risk plays I make sometimes. There’s a time and place for it. And I think that sometimes bites me in the ass where you make that high-risk play and it doesn’t work.”
Familiar refrains begin to trickle out of the org. His coach on the San Diego Gulls, states that he wants Sprong to play “a more responsible game.” This was about the same as every story about him out of Pittsburgh, too.
But some things do seem to improve. He creates better relationships among his team. There’s a young core building there in San Diego and Anaheim, and he notes enjoying time with the group of five who live in a hotel rather than getting a lease.
And this time? One major thing is different. He jokes, “I’m the Uber.” He drives all his teammates to the rink and to games.
He also says this: “I know there’s a lot of rumors or things going on being said about me. But that’s out of my control. I know what’s going on behind the scenes and I’m just focused on right now.”
Let it never be said that Daniel Sprong doesn’t bring a flair for the dramatic.
Washington Capitals
(📸) Daniel is traded in February 2020 to the Washington Capitals after, frankly, failing to deliver what coaches wanted from him in Anaheim.
While they had tried desperately to get a more defensive game out of him, it always came at the expense of his offensive talent. He ended up looking like a player who didn’t belong.
He’s assigned to the Hershey Bears and then the world shuts down for the pandemic sorry lol.
BUT before that, here’s what Spencer Carbery says when they acquire him: “What my job and his job coming into this organization is: where are you at in your career, what’s keeping you out of the NHL, and how can we help get you there. It’s more ‘What do we need to do to help Daniel Sprong?’”
This is the central thesis always. Coaches look at Sprong and all seem to diagnose him the same way: They get excited by his talent, his shot clearly deserving to be in the NHL. But they all see the drawbacks.
And they all wonder if they can figure him out. Sometimes I wonder if Daniel Sprong is wondering the same thing. Who will be the one to understand how to help Daniel Sprong?
In early 2021, the Capitals have him up as their 13th forward quite often. When he’s able to draw in, he’s scoring. He’s also their youngest skater at 23.
(It has been 16 fast years since his family moved across the world so he could play on a hockey team that matched his talent.)
He does well with the Caps but still familiar complaints come calling.
When the 21-22 season comes rolling along, the Capitals in playoff position, they trade Sprong to reacquire Marcus Johansson, who Seattle had signed before their inaugural season and who the Caps missed.
Why? Because “MoJo” is trusted to slot into the top line in Washington, while Sprong keeps. Getting. Healthy. Scratched. He’s not trusted out there.
So Sprong is once again sent across the country. He says of this trade he didn’t expect it; the writing wasn’t written on the wall.
But it’s time to go.
Seattle Kraken
(📸) Sprong sticks around for the last few games of the abysmal inaugural season of the Seattle Kraken and then is invited on a professional try out the next summer.
Why? Because Ron Francis isn’t sold on him yet. By this point, Sprong’s reputation precedes his lethal shot.
But he’s just too good to pass up. So Sprong slots in.
The Kraken put him on the fourth line but it’s different this time. Remember back in Pittsburgh when he was slotted with physical grinders? This time, Sprong is with Ryan Donato and Morgan Geekie. He’s with two guys not known for grinding, but for electric efficiency.
The 22-23 Kraken are what Sprong was truly waiting for. This forwards’ roster was commonly called four second lines, not one particularly better or worse than the other.
Sprong makes close friends, too. They chirp him in the locker room and he chirps right back. He goes on an all-star break vacation with a bunch of the boys. He and Andre Burakovsky become so close that Sprong admits he skipped a practice to go visit Burky when he was injured, calling it "a bromance break."
And Sprong has the best season of his career. He’s so good.
Of course, the familiar talks surface. Coach Hakstol is open about being unimpressed with Sprong’s defensive play. This is nothing new.
He has forty point season.
Yes. Let me repeat that. A forty-point season as a fourth liner on a deal that started out on a PTO.
Crazy lol and he’s a restricted free agent. Seattle has first dibs.
But they don’t qualify him. They let him walk.
There’s still a lack of trust in Daniel Sprong.
Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks
(📸) Sprong is signed to the Red Wings for the 23-24 season, on a one-year contract.
(I should also say he is very randomly accused of beating up an IndyCar driver over the summer? It was so weird. But I’d feel weird not putting it in there so here lol)
But anyway. One year contract. That’s it. This is the story now. He puts up big numbers, pisses off some coach who can’t coach him past his natural offensive talent, and gets on a team that sees what they can do with him on an affordable contract.
His season with the Red Wings is a success, all things considered.
He goes on another All Star Break trip with Brandon Tanev, their friendship intact.
He’s still irresponsible defensively but he does well enough. He gives up his 88 when Kane signs on which is kinda funny.
They let him walk in free agency, though, mostly because they need cap space for their more solid players who are up for extensions.
Daniel then signs with the Vancouver Canucks for the 24-25 season. He notes a phone call with Tocchet seals the deal, since he knew him since Pittsburgh.
Tocchet says of the signing: “I don’t want him to think too much. […] He needs to understand who he is on that line.” He stresses the necessity of building trust with his linemates and not “wandering around” waiting to shoot the puck. He shares that Sprong is proactive with asking coaches for feedback which he appreciates. And then he—
Oh. Well. Okay, so this is a little different.
He lasts…a month with the Canucks.
Of the trade, Tocchet states that he feels Daniel is “a great kid” and he felt “it wasn’t fair to him” that he was playing 10 minutes a night on the fourth line. So they let him go.
He goes back to the Kraken for future considerations.
Some Future Considerations (hehe)
Right now, Sprong has an uncertain future with the Kraken, but we can check the facts.
He notes he “never really wanted to leave” Seattle in the first place and that he is very happy to be back with some of his closest friends.
The thing is — the Kraken know who Sprong is. He’s been scratched already, seen taking a stern talking to from Coach Jess Campbell during a game, too. He is who he is.
But he’s important to the fanbase, too.
Sprong is emblematic of the 22-23 Kraken, a team that many of us miss very dearly. He was a beloved character in the locker room, tough in a way that our fanbase really loved.
He’s a journeyman who loves scoring “fuck-you” goals against his previous teams, and a guy who’s been burning bridges his whole career.
But he hasn’t burned this one somehow. Sprong is not warmly welcomed back in many places, but he was welcomed back here.
And look, home seems to be tough for Sprong. He shares when talking about his tattoos that his family has been his "pack," a constant of people if not location.
I’m not sure what it feels like to leave your home at 7 and be asked to rise to the highest level imaginable to make that move worth it for yourself and your family. I’m not sure what it feels like to be praised for a talent and then told to do something completely different from that talent in order to be taken seriously. I’m not sure what it feels like to be kicked out, traded, and dismissed just as often as having bewildered praise heaped upon you.
But it’s gotta count for something to be loved somewhere enough to be wanted back. So that’s why we’re happy he’s back.
