Kraken forward Jordan Eberle has missed the last week due to what was originally ruled as a lower-body injury. It’s one that is going to keep him out of the lineup for a considerable amount of time, however, as the team announced (Twitter link) that he underwent successful surgery on his pelvis earlier today. The recovery time from the procedure is a minimum of three months.
The 34-year-old was named as the second captain in franchise history last month. Eberle is in his fourth season with the Kraken after being selected by them in the Expansion Draft in 2021 and has been a valuable secondary scorer for them since then. He reached at least 17 goals and 44 points in each of his first three campaigns with them while his 63-point effort in 2022-23 was the third-best point total of his career.
Eberle was off to a strong start this season, recording six goals and five assists in his first 17 games before suffering the injury which would have had him at a 29-goal, 53-point pace over 82 appearances, a number he clearly won’t be reaching now. A three-month (minimum) recovery timeline will likely keep Eberle out through the 4 Nations Cup in February, or at least the next 37 games. That’s a significant blow to a Seattle team that’s around the middle of the pack offensively.
Eberle will likely be transferred to LTIR at some point in the next little while. The Kraken have ample cap flexibility at the moment with defenseman Vince Dunn on there already so Eberle’s placement won’t happen right away. When Dunn is able to come back – and he will be with the team on their upcoming road trip per the team’s Scott Malone (Twitter link) – that will be the time when Eberle should land on there. That will largely eliminate any hope of banking cap space in the meantime, however.
Hard to bank much cap space when you’re $4k under to begin with