It’s not a very happy morning for the Seattle Kraken, as the team places both Calle Jarnkrok and Chris Driedger on injured reserve. To take their roster spots, Kole Lind and Joey Daccord have been recalled from the Charlotte Checkers.
Driedger won two starts for the Kraken just recently, stopping 65 of 70 shots against the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres in their last two games. Losing him to injured reserve will put all the pressure once again on Philipp Grubauer, something that hasn’t been a very good plan this season. Grubauer has a save percentage of just .890 through 17 appearances, though that number has improved in his last few starts as well.
It’s not clear how long the goaltender will be out, but he must miss seven days with the injured reserve placement. It can be retroactive to his last game (Nov 29), but Driedger will have to recover from whatever is bothering him before he takes the net again.
Jarnkrok on the other hand has already been missing games, and this IR placement comes as little surprise. The former Nashville Predators forward has played just 14 games this season and has just two points, never really getting his footing under him before dealing with another minor injury. The 30-year-old will also have to miss seven days, but he last played a week ago already, meaning he’ll be eligible to return whenever he’s healthy enough to do so.
I’ve never seen an expansion club screw themselves so hard for no reason.