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Yanni Gourde Out With Lower-Body Injury, Joey Daccord Progressing

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Seattle Kraken center Yanni Gourde missed last night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers with an apparent lower-body injury (Twitter link). Gourde skipped practice on Friday, taking what was called a “Maintenance day” but did take the morning skate with the Kraken yesterday. The injury could be a bit of a concern, given that the 33-year-old did miss time in December with a lower-body injury. The two-time Stanley Cup Champion has been durable during his ten-year career, missing just a couple dozen games.

Gourde has been a reliable depth scorer throughout his NHL career, although he has never been able to recapture his offensive touch from his first full NHL season when he posted 25 goals and 39 assists in 82 games. This season, the Saint-Narcisse, Quebec native has registered six goals and 10 assists in 35 games.

Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord also missed last night’s game as he remains sidelined with an upper-body injury (as per Kraken producer Scott Malone). Like Gourde, Daccord took part in yesterday’s morning skate but isn’t quite ready to return. The 28-year-old hasn’t played since December 22nd and lost his last four appearances prior to going down to injury.

Despite recent struggles, Daccord has been good overall this season for Seattle, ranking 11th in the entire NHL with a goals saved above expected of 9.3 (as per Money Puck), and a record of 12-9-2.

Kraken Recall Ben Meyers

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Ben Meyers’ stint in the minors wound up being relatively short-lived.  After being sent down before the holiday break last month, he’s now back up with the Kraken as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled him from AHL Coachella Valley.

It’s the third recall of the season for the 26-year-old.  Meyers has played in four games so far this season with Seattle and has been held off the scoresheet while winning nearly 46% of his faceoffs.  He has been quite productive with the Firebirds, however, collecting 10 goals and 12 assists in 25 games with them.  The threshold for Meyers needing to clear waivers again is when he reaches either 10 NHL games or 30 days on the active roster so he’s six away on the games played front and is around halfway there on NHL days.

Meyers is on a one-year, $775K contract and can easily be fit within Seattle’s remaining LTIR pool for Vince Dunn.  He’s eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency once again this summer but if he gets into nine more NHL games this season, he’ll revert to RFA status with arbitration eligibility.

Seattle had an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made to elevate Meyers to the NHL roster.

Tyson Jugnauth To Play At MSU Next Season

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  • Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth will soon get a second stint in the NCAA. The defenseman revealed on his Instagram page that he has committed to Michigan State University for next season.  Jugnauth, a fourth-round pick in 2022, spent a year and a half at the University of Wisconsin before moving to WHL Portland in December 2023.  The 20-year-old has been quite productive this season, tallying six goals and 40 assists in just 33 games for the Winterhawks but he has decided that it’s not time to turn pro just yet.  Seattle has until August 15, 2026 to sign Jugnauth as his transfer to the WHL didn’t change his original signing timeline.

Seattle Kraken Reassign Gustav Olofsson

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Defenseman Gustav Olofsson’s time on an NHL roster is over for now. The Seattle Kraken announced they’ve reassigned Olofsson to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The roster move likely serves as a paper transaction given the Kraken don’t play again for a few more days. They’ll go down to six healthy defensemen on the roster but will likely want some available insurance with upcoming matchups against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and New Jersey Devils.

Despite spending nearly a week on the active roster, Olofsson hasn’t factored into any games for the Kraken this season. His only playing time has come in AHL Coachella Valley where he’s scored two goals and 11 points in 29 contests.

Seattle’s upper management may keep Olofsson in the AHL for some time. The Firebirds are pursuing their third-straight appearance in the Calder Cup Final but have struggled this season. They’ve managed a 14-11-1-4 record through 33 games this season and sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division.

There are a few more options in Coachella Valley they could choose from. Defensemen Maxime Lajoie and Cale Fleury have NHL experience and are available to recall although the former is on a one-way contract. Whatever the case may be, the Kraken are expected to call up one of the trio over the next few days.

Joey Daccord Not Travelling With Kraken, Burakovsky Day-To-Day

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Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times Sports is reporting that goaltender Joey Daccord isn’t travelling with the Seattle Kraken meaning that Philipp Grubauer will start in net tonight in Vancouver. Daccord reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury during last Sunday’s game against Colorado but managed to finish out the game.

The 28-year-old had a career year last season and is off to a great start this year as well, posting a 12-9-2 record with a .912 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average. On the surface, Daccord’s numbers look pretty pedestrian, however, his 9.2 goals saved above expected tells a more detailed story (as per Money Puck).

If Daccord is out for any length of time, Grubauer will likely see a lot more action. The former Stanley Cup Champion has struggled this season, posting a 3-10 record with an .877 save percentage and a 3.63 goals-against average.

Kate Shefte also reported that Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky is day-to-day with an illness. Like Daccord, Burakovsky also stayed back in Seattle and is not travelling with the team to Vancouver.

The 29-year-old Burakovsky has struggled to score this season, carrying over his lack of offensive production from last season. The Klagenfurt, Austria native is just three years removed from posting 61 points in 80 games with Colorado but has registered just 22 goals and 45 assists in 132 games since signing a massive five-year $27.5MM deal as a free agent in July 2022.

Kraken Recall Gustav Olofsson, Ales Stezka

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The Kraken resume their schedule tomorrow in a rivalry matchup against the Canucks. As such, they’ve added to their roster today, announcing they’ve recalled defenseman Gustav Olofsson and goaltender Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley, the latter on an emergency basis. Their active roster is now full.

Olofsson, 30, is coming off his first recall of the season. The minor-league mainstay was rostered for Seattle’s pre-break back-to-back last weekend but didn’t play, sitting in the press box on both occasions. He was returned to Coachella Valley on Monday to delay the expiration of his waiver clock and decrease his paycheck, but is back on the roster as a seventh defenseman with William Borgen out of the picture after being traded to the Rangers.

The 6’3″ left-shooting Swede is in the back half of a two-year, two-way extension he signed with Seattle in 2023. Now in his third season in the Kraken organization, he’s yet to see NHL ice this season and has made only four combined major league appearances since heading to the Pacific Northwest. A 2013 Minnesota second-round pick, he hasn’t been a full-time NHLer since his days with the Wild in the late 2010s.

Olofsson has been an alternate captain with Coachella Valley in all three seasons of their existence. This season, he ranks third among team defenders in scoring with 11 points (2 G, 9 A) in 27 games, nearly surpassing last season’s total. He has 29 points in 98 games as a Firebird since arriving there in 2022.

Stezka’s summons indicates that either one of Joey Daccord or Philipp Grubauer will be unavailable for tomorrow’s game. The 27-year-old is Seattle’s bonafide No. 3 option after they lost Chris Driedger to the Panthers in free agency, and while he dressed for a pair of games as the Kraken’s backup last month, he’s yet to make his NHL debut. An undrafted free agent signing out of Czechia in 2023, Stezka has a 2.94 GAA, .906 SV%, and a 6-9-6 record in 18 showings with Coachella Valley this season.

Kraken Reassign Ben Meyers, Gustav Olofsson

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Dec. 23: After being rostered for their back-to-back over the weekend, the Kraken returned Meyers and Olofsson to Coachella Valley this morning, per a team announcement. Olofsson didn’t play during his recall, while Meyers posted a -1 rating in 8:52 of ice time in last night’s loss.

Dec. 21: Seattle has added some reinforcements to its roster in advance of their game tonight against Vegas.  The team announced (Twitter link) that forward Ben Meyers and defenseman Gustav Olofsson have been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley.

This is the second recall of the season for Meyers who got into three games with the Kraken back in November but was held off the scoresheet while averaging just under eight minutes a night.  The 26-year-old has been productive with the Firebirds, collecting nine goals and ten assists in 22 games with them.  Signed to a one-year, one-way contract in unrestricted free agency this summer, Meyers could be heading back there next year unless he gets into ten more NHL games this season which would then make him a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

As for Olofsson, it’s his first time up with Seattle in 2024-25.  The 30-year-old has played in 27 games with Coachella Valley this season, picking up four goals and seven assists, putting him one point shy of his total from last year in barely half as many games.  Olofsson has 63 career NHL contests over parts of seven seasons, four of which have come with the Kraken over the past two years.

Seattle had two open roster spots following the recent demotion of Mitchell Stephens so no further moves were needed to bring Meyers and Olofsson onto the active roster.

Kraken Reassign Mitchell Stephens

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The Kraken returned center Mitchell Stephens to AHL Coachella Valley yesterday, according to a team announcement. He did not require waivers because he’d been on the active roster for fewer than 30 days since his Nov. 30 recall and played less than 10 games.

Stephens, 27, inked a two-year, two-way deal with the Kraken in July after reaching unrestricted free agency. The right-shot pivot cleared waivers during the preseason, setting him up for his ninth year of play in the minors. He had three goals and an assist in 11 games for Coachella Valley before Seattle announced captain Jordan Eberle would miss extended time following pelvic surgery, creating the need for a forward recall. Stephens played in nine straight contests for the Kraken, posting an assist and a -2 rating while averaging 9:45 per game and winning 55.4% of his draws.

A second-round pick of the Lightning back in 2015, Stephens is now with his fourth NHL organization. He climbed his way up the organizational ladder in Tampa and debuted with them in the 2019-20 season. He stayed in the Bay until the 2021 offseason when the Bolts traded him to the Red Wings for a sixth-round pick. Stephens spent one year in Detroit but was non-tendered after recording six assists in 27 games in 2021-22. He signed on with the Canadiens the following summer, where he spent the last two seasons before heading west to Seattle a few months back.

Stephens graded decently defensively in his recall, controlling 44.5% of shot attempts and 49.2% of expected goals at even strength despite starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone. If injuries strike again this season, he’ll likely be in line for another recall, but his path back to NHL minutes was muddied this week when the Kraken acquired Kaapo Kakko via trade from the Rangers.

The Kraken now have two open spots on the active roster and $4.075MM in current cap space, per PuckPedia.

Winterton Assigned To Coachella Valley

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  • The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they have re-assigned winger Ryan Winterton to AHL Coachella Valley. The 21-year-old has found himself on the transactions log quite a few times already this season but has gotten into eight games with Seattle, picking up an assist while logging 10:22 per night of playing time.  Winterton has been quite productive with the Firebirds though, tallying 15 points in 16 outings with them.

Kraken Acquire Kaapo Kakko

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The Kraken have added some extra depth up front, acquiring winger Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers.  In return, New York receives defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round selection.  Both teams have announced the swap.

Kakko was the second overall pick in 2019 but while he has shown flashes of being an impact player, he has also struggled to produce with consistency over his now-six-year career.  The 23-year-old has only reached the 40-point mark once thus far, that coming back in 2022-23 when he had 18 goals and 22 assists in 82 games.  His output dipped to just 19 points in 61 games last season, resulting in the two sides agreeing on a one-year, $2.4MM contract back in June, a move that didn’t do anything to slow the trade speculation surrounding him.

This move comes not long after Kakko voiced his frustration with being a healthy scratch over the weekend as the Rangers continued to try to shake up their lineup to snap their recent drought.  That frustration was justifiable as he is off to a reasonable start this year, picking up four goals and ten assists in 30 games despite spending a lot of time in the bottom six, averaging just 13:17 per contest.  Hovering around half a point per game in that role is certainly decent output, one that Seattle will welcome to add to an offensive group that sits in the middle of the pack.

As for Borgen, the soon-to-be 28-year-old has been a physical presence over his four-year tenure with Seattle who selected him from Buffalo in the expansion draft.  Last season, he posted career bests in assists (22), points (25), blocked shots (111), hits (195), and ATOI (17:35) and looked to be on his way toward a bigger role on the back end.  However, that hasn’t exactly been the case this season as he has been limited to just one goal and one assist in 33 games while his playing time has dropped to 15:12 per night, a career low.

Despite his struggles, NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports (Twitter link) that the Rangers had been coveting Borgen for a while.  With the departure of Jacob Trouba to Anaheim, they needed a bit more defensive depth and this move should allow Victor Mancini to return to AHL Hartford where he can have a bigger role.  Borgen is also in the final season of his contract, one that pays him $2.7MM so New York takes on a small amount of money with this swap.  Notably, he’s eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer while Kakko will have one more RFA year remaining.

Considering his draft stature, it seems like a fairly low price for Seattle to pay to acquire Kakko and they’ll hope that a change of scenery can help unlock the offensive potential that helped make him the number two pick.  Meanwhile, with New York seemingly unsure about committing a long-term deal to him, they’ve elected to make a move more geared toward the present rather than trying to maximize value in the form of higher draft or prospect compensation.  With the two selections they added, they now have seven for the upcoming draft.

Interestingly, the 2019 draft class has seen quite a few first-round picks moved already.  As Peter Baugh of The Athletic points out (Twitter link), eight of the top 19 selections from that year have already been traded, including three of the top four selections.  Among those who haven’t moved, a couple (Dylan Cozens and Trevor Zegras) have been in trade speculation themselves in recent months so the number of high picks on the move from that class could be growing even more soon enough.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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