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Kraken Want To Keep Gourde Long-Term

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes that the Nashville Predators aren’t looking to move any of their three 2025 first-round picks. The news comes in as the team’s general manager Barry Trotz is reportedly shopping for a center as well as a top-four defenseman with some term left on their contract.

The Predators have had a disappointing start to the season and are currently sitting in the second-last spot in the Western Conference with a 6-11-3 record. The team had high hopes coming into the season after several high-priced free-agent acquisitions. However, it’s easy to see why Trotz is apprehensive to move out any first-round picks to try and salvage this season.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • The Seattle Kraken reportedly want to keep forward Yanni Gourde in Seattle long-term (as per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet).  The 32-year-old has had a slow start to the season with just two goals and five assists in his first 20 games, but that hasn’t deterred the Kraken, who love the player. Gourde is in the final season of a six-year $31MM contract he signed back in November of 2018 while he was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and would likely have a hard time matching that kind of deal in free agency. However, if the Kraken wants to keep the two-time Stanley Cup Champion in Seattle, he should still score a lucrative deal once again.
  • Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord is receiving interest from two different countries for two different upcoming tournaments despite not being born in either country. Daccord was born in the United States but is reportedly receiving interest from Team Canada (as per Ken Campbell of The Hockey News) for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. Daccord’s father was born in Montreal, Canada, while his mother was born in Switzerland, and he is apparently receiving interest from the Swiss team for the upcoming Olympics (as per Friedman). Daccord came out of nowhere last season, dressing in 50 games for the Kraken in his age-27 season. He put up strong numbers last year and has been even better this season, starting out the year with a 9-3-1 record and a .923 save percentage.

Shane Wright To Serve As Healthy Scratch For Second Game In A Row

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Kraken center Shane Wright was a healthy scratch for the first time this season in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Rangers. Despite the lack of offense from Seattle in that game, don’t expect him back in the lineup tonight against the Predators. He was out late at morning skate today and is projected to sit in the press box for a second straight game, Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times reports.

This season, it’s been a tough go of things for the 2022 fourth overall pick. Wright had played in Seattle’s first 18 games of the season but had struggled to produce, posting just a goal and an assist with 12 shots and an even rating while averaging 12:25 per game. He’s struggled in the faceoff dot, winning 43.9% of his draws, and has been a drag on the Kraken’s possession play at even strength. They’re controlling 46.8% of shot attempts compared to 49.8% without him, and Wright also has a negative expected goal differential for the first time out of his three NHL trials.

Dan Bylsma Explains Benching Shane Wright

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  • Miller wasn’t the only notable benching last night with Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright also enjoying some time on the pine. According to Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times, head coach Dan Bylsma said, “As the games have gone along here, I think Shane’s game has been trending in not the best direction. Really the message is: Take a reset, watch the game tonight, which he did, and get back focused on playing the way you can play.” Wright has only scored two points in 18 games for the Kraken this season and the recent message from Bylsma isn’t exactly a vote of confidence for the former fourth-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft.

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Kraken Recall Ben Meyers

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With Jordan Eberle out for the weekend, the Kraken needed some extra forward depth up front.  That will be forward Ben Meyers, as the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley.

Meyers is in his first season with Seattle after signing a one-year, one-way contract worth $775K on the opening day of free agency this past summer.  The 26-year-old had a strong preseason showing, leading the Kraken in scoring with two goals and three assists in four games but it wasn’t good enough for him to break camp with the big club.  After clearing waivers, Meyers has played exclusively with the Firebirds so far and is off to a good start to his season, collecting two goals and six assists in 11 games.

Meyers is a veteran of 67 career NHL appearances between Colorado and Anaheim and has seen action at the top level in each of the last three seasons.  All told, he has six goals and two assists to his name while logging just shy of ten minutes per game.

While the Kraken got Meyers as an unrestricted free agent, they can actually gain his RFA rights if he plays in 13 games or more with them as that would take him off the Group Six UFA list back to Group Two RFA status.  Seattle had two open roster spots before calling Meyers up so no corresponding moves needed to be made to add him to the active roster.

Eberle Out At Least Two Games

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The Kraken will be without their captain for at least the next two games and possibly more as Tim Booth of The Seattle Times relays that Jordan Eberle won’t play this weekend due to a lower-body injury.  The 34-year-old was injured in a collision on Thursday against Chicago.  Head coach Dan Bylsma noted that while Eberle was feeling a little better on Friday, there still needs to be further testing and evaluation done; that will come early next week to determine how much longer he might be out for.  Eberle is off to a decent start to the season, notching six goals and five assists in 17 games so far while playing a little under 16 minutes a night.

Sprong Not With Kraken While Waiting For Visa

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  • Recently acquired winger Daniel Sprong has not yet reported to the Kraken as he works through visa issues, notes Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). While he counts against their salary cap while waiting to be cleared, he is not currently taking up an active roster spot.  Sprong has a goal and two assists in nine games this season, those coming with Vancouver before his trade last week.

Kraken Recall Ales Stezka On Emergency Basis

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  • Philipp Grubauer still isn’t ready for the Seattle Kraken meaning the team had to get a second goaltender on the roster. For the second time in less than a week, the team announced they had recalled netminder Ales Stezka from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, on an emergency basis. Stezka has a 2-5-0 record with the Firebirds this season with a .894 SV% but has yet to debut with the Kraken.

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Kraken Have Received Trade Interest In Yanni Gourde

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The Kraken went into the season extremely tight to the salary cap and have been using Vince Dunn’s LTIR placement to keep compliant since then and even allowing them to pick up Daniel Sprong from Vancouver.  While they’re okay cap-wise as long as Dunn is on LTIR (which should last another three weeks or so), they will need to do something to get back into compliance once he’s cleared to return.

To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported this week (video link) that teams have been calling Seattle about center Yanni Gourde.  To this point, however, it appears GM Ron Francis has been rebuffing those inquiries so far.

The 32-year-old has been a reliable middle-six center for several years now.  While his point total dropped to 33 last season (11 goals and 22 assists in 81 games), Gourde has still reached the 30-point mark in now seven straight years, his first seven full seasons in the NHL.

That streak might very well be in jeopardy though as this season has not gotten off to a good start for Gourde.  Through the first 15 games of this season, he has yet to score a goal and has been limited to just three assists.  After averaging nearly two shots on goal per game a year ago, he’s barely over one with his shot attempts down by a similar percentage.  His struggles have led to a relatively steep drop in playing time as well, going from 17:27 per game last season to just 14:56 so far in 2024-25.

Gourde is in the final season of a six-year, $31MM contract carrying a $5.16MM cap charge.  When he’s producing at his usual level, Gourde is generally worth that price tag after you factor in his strong defensive game.  But now, that’s looking somewhat on the high side, especially with Seattle having good center depth in front of him in Matthew Beniers, Chandler Stephenson, and Shane Wright.  With their cap situation, one that is slightly exacerbated with the addition of Sprong and his $975K price tag, can the Kraken afford to keep him?

It seems like other teams are wondering the same thing based on their reported interest.  That said, there aren’t many teams that can take that contract on outright; it stands to reason that they’d likely be looking to have the Kraken either retain a portion (they have all three retention slots available) or take a lower-priced contract back to help offset the cost.

For now, Seattle doesn’t have to do anything; they have a few weeks to work with until Dunn is cleared to return.  But if there aren’t any long-term injuries that could buy them a bit more time by the time Dunn gets back in the lineup, the Kraken will have to do something to get back into cap compliance.  It seems like moving Gourde could be one way to accomplish just that and evidently, there will be a market for his services despite his early-season struggles.

Vince Dunn To Miss Three More Weeks With Mid-Body Injury

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Star Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn may begin skating with the team this weekend but is still around three weeks away from returning from his mid-body injury, general manager Ron Francis told Alison Lukan of the Kraken Hockey Network.

Dunn originally sustained an upper-body injury in Seattle’s second game of the season on Oct. 12. He sat out the next game but returned for just two more, getting banged up again in the middle of an Oct. 17 contest against the Flyers. He hasn’t played since, and while he was initially listed as day-to-day, the team placed him on long-term injured reserve a few days later, ruling him out for the past few weeks.

The 28-year-old was theoretically eligible to come off LTIR ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jackets, but it’ll still be a while before he’s back on the ice. A three-week return timeline from yesterday keeps him out past Thanksgiving and puts his next game on Nov. 29 against the Sharks, meaning he’s still set to miss around nine contests.

Dunn has been a mainstay on Seattle’s top pairing since he was plucked from the Blues in the 2021 expansion draft, but injury troubles have now limited him to 63 combined appearances since the beginning of last season. In his four appearances in 2024-25, he has a goal and two assists while averaging 18:49 per game, dragged down by leaving multiple games prematurely.

With the Kraken off to a 6-8-1 start despite spending big on Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour in free agency, it’s an inauspicious sign for their chances of returning to the postseason. Dunn’s spot at left defense alongside Adam Larsson has been filled by sophomore Ryker Evans, who’s filling in admirably with eight points in 15 appearances while averaging over 20 minutes per game. But Seattle has controlled just 38.3% of expected goals with Evans and Larsson on the ice compared to 49.5% with Dunn and Larsson last year, per MoneyPuck, a key culprit in their defensive struggles. They’re allowing 3.20 goals per game, tied with the Blackhawks for 20th in the league.

Dunn is in the second season of the four-year, $29.4MM deal he signed in 2023 after becoming a restricted free agent.

Kraken Recall Ales Stezka On Emergency Basis

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Saturday: As expected, Seattle has returned Stezka to Coachella Valley.  He dressed as the backup last night but with the Kraken now off until Tuesday, there’s no need for them to be carrying three goaltenders.

Friday: Late last night, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they recalled goaltender Ales Stezka on an emergency basis from AHL Coachella Valley.  The roster move was officially registered earlier today.  They had three open roster spots so no corresponding move was necessary although it did push them into using LTIR for the time being.

The 27-year-old is in his second season with Seattle after signing with them as a free agent last year.  He was originally drafted by Minnesota back in 2015 but didn’t sign with them.

Stezka had a solid rookie year in the minors last season, posting a 2.48 GAA with a .914 SV% in 27 regular season games with the Firebirds.  He didn’t see any playoff action with them though as Chris Driedger played every minute in their run to the Calder Cup Final.  However, things haven’t gone as well for Stezka this year.  Through his first six appearances, he has put up a 3.61 GAA with a .881 SV%, only winning one of those outings.

This should be a short-lived recall for Stezka.  Goaltender Philipp Grubauer missed practice yesterday but took the morning skate today; he’s listed as day-to-day.  While it’s possible that Stezka will dress as the backup tonight, it’s likely that he’ll be sent back down after that, allowing them to exit LTIR and go back to banking cap space.

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