Injury Updates: Kraken, Holloway, Hayes, Woo
The Kraken announced (Twitter links) that defenseman Brandon Montour is set to miss the next two weeks after undergoing a procedure to remove a bursa on his ankle. The 31-year-old fit in rather well in his first season with Seattle, notching a career-best 18 goals while his 41 points were the second-most he’d had in a single season. The timeline suggests that he still should be available to start the season but he might not get into any preseason action.
Meanwhile, the team also provided injury updates on several other players. Veteran forward Max McCormick is out indefinitely and won’t participate in training camp. He wasn’t up with the Kraken last season so there won’t be a prorated cap charge while he sits on season-opening IR. Also, winger Lleyton Roed is expected to miss the next two months with an upper-body injury while forward Nathan Villeneuve is out with a lower-body injury that is still pending evaluation. Villeneuve isn’t able to play full-time in the minors this season so he will likely be returned to OHL Sudbury when he’s cleared to return.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Blues winger Dylan Holloway underwent abdominal surgery after sustaining an early in early April that kept him out for the stretch run and playoffs. However, team reporter Chris Pinkert relays that the 23-year-old was a full participant at practice today while Holloway indicated that the injury wound up healing quicker than originally anticipated, allowing him to get a good summer of training in. It’s already a contract year for and after putting up 63 points in a breakout effort last season, Holloway appears to be in line for a significant raise on the $2.29MM he’ll be making this season.
- Penguins center Kevin Hayes left practice early today after taking a hit from Ryan Graves. Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relays (Twitter link) that head coach Dan Muse didn’t have an immediate update after practice and that he’s still being evaluated. The 33-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off a relatively quiet year last season where he scored just 13 goals and 10 assists in 64 games, his first year with Pittsburgh.
- Canucks defenseman Jett Woo underwent surgery to repair an upper-body injury this summer and is listed as out month-to-month, relays Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province. He played through the injury to help AHL Abbotsford win the Calder Cup back in the spring. The 25-year-old had 18 points in 67 games in the minors last season but will be waiting a while to make his 2025-26 debut.
Kraken Sign Nathan Villeneuve To Entry-Level Contract
The Seattle Kraken are formally bringing one of their higher-round selections from the 2024 NHL Draft to the organization. According to a team announcement, the Kraken have signed Nathan Villeneuve to a three-year entry-level contract.
Seattle selected Villeneuve with the 63rd overall pick of last summer’s draft. He had just concluded his sophomore campaign with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, scoring 23 goals and 27 assists in 50 games with a +10 rating.
This year has been a bit more of a mixed bag. He did improve his offensive output, scoring 34 goals and 70 points in 57 games, but he took far more penalties than at any point in his playing career. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with 120 PIMs, the third-highest of any player in the OHL.
Still, that primarily came from Villeneuve’s physicality and high pace of play. He’s an aggressive forechecker and was known as a pest by opponents during his major junior career. He’ll want to clean up many of those penalties should he have a future in the NHL, but he’s starting with an impressively high motor.
Villeneuve will likely finish the 2024-25 campaign playing on an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Firebirds have already clinched a position in the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs and will look to qualify for the Calder Cup Final for a third consecutive year.