Kraken Recall Ben Meyers, Reassign Ville Ottavainen
The Kraken announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled forward Ben Meyers from AHL Coachella Valley. The Kraken don’t have an active roster spot, so they’ve returned right-shot defenseman Ville Ottavainen to Coachella Valley to accommodate the addition of Meyers.
Ottavainen was a 2021 fourth-round pick and was just recalled from the AHL on Sunday amid news that Brandon Montour was taking a leave of absence and Ryan Lindgren had been banged up in the previous day’s win over the Maple Leafs. However, Lindgren was able to play last night against the Flyers, leaving Ottavainen in the press box.
Even then, most teams would opt to keep a seventh healthy defenseman on the roster (Montour’s personal leave had him placed on injured reserve) for insurance. Seattle doesn’t have that luxury. They’ve been operating with something of a self-imposed roster crunch due to their decision to carry three goaltenders, still carrying veterans Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray as Joey Daccord‘s backups. The Kraken were reluctant to expose Murray to waivers after a strong training camp, but he’s yet to play this season, while Grubauer has made one start and one relief appearance.
Seattle is now dealing with more pressing injury concerns up front. Jared McCann was scratched for Monday’s game with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day. They’re hoping his absence is under a week and thus haven’t placed him on IR, leaving only one press box spot for a healthy scratch in the skater department. As such, they’ve opted to swap out Ottavainen for Meyers to ensure they can still carry a traditional 12 forwards/six defensemen setup if another attacker needs to sit out.
Meyers, 27 in November, has played in parts of four NHL seasons between the Avalanche, Ducks, and Kraken. He saw semi-regular work in Colorado during the 2022-23 season but struggled to produce offensively and has seen his usage dwindle in the years since. He was waived by the Kraken during training camp for the second year in a row and headed to Coachella Valley without incident. He has two goals and a minus-four rating through his first three appearances of the season.
In eight games across multiple call-ups to Seattle last season, Meyers did not record a point and averaged a career-low 8:21 of ice time per game. He has a 6-2–8 scoring line in 75 career appearances, just 0.11 points per game. Since his debut in 2021-22, that’s fifth-worst among all forwards with at least 70 games played. For an undrafted free agent signing out of the University of Minnesota whose main calling card was two-way play, that’s not enough to keep him in the lineup consistently – especially considering he’s below water in both CF% and xGF% at even strength for his career.
With 19-year-old Berkly Catton recording a point in his NHL debut last night in place of McCann, it’s hard to see Meyers entering the lineup unless they want to switch up the fourth-line center position. John Hayden has held that down for the past couple of games after Frédérick Gaudreau landed on injured reserve.
Seattle Kraken Recall Ville Ottavainen
The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Ville Ottavainen from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Amidst the recent news that Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour is taking a temporary leave of absence from the Kraken to tend to a family matter, this recall gives Seattle an additional right-handed defensive option to work with while Montour is gone.
Ottavainen, 23, will not be able to offer the Kraken the kind of dynamic, aggressive offensive ability that Montour brings, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t have a solid résumé as a player. The 2021 fourth-round pick played three seasons for JYP in the Finnish Liiga before joining the Firebirds late in 2022-23.
He scored 34 points in 70 games in his first full season with the club, helping the Firebirds get to game six of the 2024 Calder Cup Final. While Ottavainen’s AHL production took a step back in 2024-25, the blueliner doesn’t just bring points, he also offers rare size and strength at the position, standing 6’5″, 225 pounds.
While he has just one NHL game to his name, Ottavainen has, as mentioned, an extensive amount of pro experience for a blueliner still in his early twenties. It’s entirely possible that with this recall, the Kraken give Ottavainen a look on the team’s second pairing alongside Ryan Lindgren in a spot occupied by Cale Fleury during last night’s overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kraken Recall Ville Ottavainen
The Seattle Kraken recalled defenseman Ville Ottavainen late Monday night. It is the first call-up of Ottavainen’s career. He will have a chance to make his NHL debut in Seattle’s final game of the season on Tuesday.
Seattle originally drafted Ottavainen in the fourth-round of the 2021 NHL Draft. His draft selection came after he left the OHL to make his professional debut in Finland’s Liiga and recorded three points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-15 in 22 rookie games. Ottavainen followed his draft selection with two more seasons in the Liiga, and grew to a career-best 16 points, 30 penalty minutes, and plus-two in 51 games played in the 2022-23 season. He moved to North America at the end of the year, and had a breakout performance as an AHL rookie last season. Ottavainen recorded 34 points, 30 penalty minutes, and a plus-27 in 70 games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in 2023-24 – good for third on the team’s blue-line in scoring.
Ottavainen’s hot start in the AHL hasn’t stuck this season, though. He’s still performing well – with 15 points, 41 penalty minutes, and a plus-eight in 66 games – but his role has become far more defense-oriented. That may be fitting for the six-foot-five, 225-pound Finnish defender, though. So long as he can stay on top of the goal differential, he should continue to find success in the Kraken pipeline. With one game left on the docket and little to gain, Seattle could use this as a chance to narrow down Ottavainen’s role ahead of a prove-it season next year.