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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.

Kraken Acquire Daniel Sprong From Canucks

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It appears Daniel Sprong will be returning to a team he’s already familiar with.  The Canucks announced that they have dealt the winger to the Kraken in exchange for future considerations.

Sprong has been a productive player over the last couple of seasons but it hasn’t resulted in him getting much stability.  In 2022-23, he had a breakout year in Seattle, notching 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games.  Before that, his previous career-high in points was 23.  However, despite only being owed a qualifying offer of $787.5K, Seattle opted to non-tender him, getting out of a potential arbitration hearing in the process.

Still, the 27-year-old was able to do relatively well in free agency in 2023, landing a one-year, $2MM deal with Detroit.  He showed that his production the year before wasn’t a one-off, as he collected 18 goals and 25 assists in 76 games while only averaging 12 minutes a night of action.  But once again, he was non-tendered as the Red Wings opted to avoid the risk of arbitration as well.

Unfortunately for Sprong, the market wasn’t as strong this time around.  It took nearly three weeks into free agency before he found a contract when Vancouver signed him to a one-year, $975K contract, cutting his pay from the year before by more than half in the process.  It looked like a relatively shrewd pickup for a Canucks franchise that didn’t have much salary cap flexibility but wanted to add more offensive depth.

But things didn’t go as planned.  Sprong has been healthy scratched three times already this season and when he has played, he hasn’t been able to produce at the same level, tallying just one goal and two assists in nine games while averaging 11:39 per night.  Clearly, Vancouver had seen enough and decided the time was right to move on.

The Canucks are expected to welcome Dakota Joshua back to the lineup soon and it appears that this move will open up the roster spot to do so.  In the meantime, they’ve upped their cap space to over $1.9MM per PuckPedia, giving them much more in-season flexibility than they’ve had in recent years.  As for Seattle, they’re presently in LTIR and this move will push them a little deeper into it.  However, they’re still close enough to the $88MM cap that it shouldn’t be too difficult to get back under that amount when Vince Dunn is able to return.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the trade.

Kraken Reassign Cale Fleury, John Hayden, Ryan Winterton In Paper Transaction

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With another day off after losing to the Colorado Avalanche on November 5th, the Seattle Kraken have made a few transactions to shore up their cap space. The organization announced they reassigned Cale Fleury, John Hayden, and Ryan Winterton to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, although all three are expected to return tomorrow.

Each of the trio has played in limited action at this point in the regular season as Fleury leads the pack with only two games played. Considering how close the Kraken are to the salary cap limit it’s likely not the last team these three will be papered down to the AHL this year.

It’s not all bad news on the injury front for the Kraken as the team’s radio host Mike Benton shared that defenseman Vince Dunn is expected to begin skating soon. Dunn hasn’t played since October 17th after starting the year with one goal and three points in four games.

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Oliver Bjorkstrand Made A Healthy Scratch

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  • Joining Walman as a healthy scratch tonight is Pacific Division counterpart Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Seattle Kraken according to Emerald City Hockey. This healthy scratch designation is more of a public message to the group with head coach Dan Bylsma saying, “The message is not just to Oliver. It’s to the whole group.” Bjorkstrand has struggled out of the gates with three goals and five points in 13 games while the team has dropped six of their last seven contests.

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Kraken Recall Ryan Winterton

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The Kraken announced today that they’ve recalled forward Ryan Winterton from AHL Coachella Valley. Seattle has an open roster spot and ample cap space with Vince Dunn on long-term injured reserve, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.

Winterton, 21, continues to push himself up the organizational depth chart. A third-round pick (67th overall) from the Kraken’s inaugural 2021 draft class, the right-shot center was recalled twice last season and got into nine games, failing to record a point while posting 10 shots, four blocks and 10 hits. He averaged 9:20 per game and skated almost exclusively on the right wing.

The lack of offensive production on the scoresheet at the NHL isn’t surprising for his limited minutes. It’s also not at all indicative of what the Ontario native has been able to do in the minors since kicking off his professional career last season. A product of the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs and London Knights, Winterton tied for third on Coachella Valley last season with 22 goals in 58 games, adding 13 assists for 35 points with a +25 rating. He added seven goals and 12 points in 18 playoff games as Coachella Valley advanced to the Calder Cup Final and lost to Hershey for the second year in a row.

Winterton is off to a solid start in 2024-25, tying for second on Coachella Valley in scoring with five points (3 G, 2 A) through seven games. The 6’2″, 190-lb forward built up quite the postseason résumé while in the OHL, winning a championship with Hamilton in 2022 and leading the playoffs in scoring with the Knights in 2023 with 29 points in 21 games.

The Kraken already called up veteran John Hayden from Coachella Valley last week to serve as an extra forward with their added salary cap flexibility, but he’s been a healthy scratch in four straight since the summons. It does no good for the developing Winterton to sit in the press box, so expect him to bump someone out of the lineup and make his season debut tonight against the Avalanche. Seattle has iced the same 12 forwards for all 13 of their games this season, so it’ll be someone’s first healthy scratch. Intuition points to Tye Kartye, who has one goal and a -4 rating while averaging a team-low 10:32 per game.

Montour Returns After Birth Of Child, Will Play Tonight

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  • After missing Thursday’s game in Toronto for the birth of his second child, Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour has returned to the team and will play tonight versus Ottawa, notes team broadcaster Piper Shaw (Twitter link). The 30-year-old is in his first season with Seattle after signing a seven-year, $50MM contract on the opening day of free agency.  He has fared quite well with his new team so far, picking up four goals and five assists in his first ten games while recording a hat-trick on Tuesday against Montreal.  Since Montour was never removed from the active roster, no corresponding move is necessary for him to return.

Brandon Montour Out On Paternity Leave

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  • The Kraken will be without their top two offensive defenders against the Maple Leafs tonight. Vince Dunn is already on long-term injured reserve, and Brandon Montour will now be out as he heads home to be present for the birth of his daughter, Terry Koshan of The Toronto Sun reports. With Dunn missing most of the young campaign, Montour has taken the reins and is tied for second on the team in scoring with four goals and five assists in 10 games. He’s averaging 23:42 per game and had his first career hat trick in his most recent outing, an 8-2 win over the Canadiens on Tuesday. It’s been a strong start for the 30-year-old, who signed a seven-year, $50MM contract with the Kraken in free agency over the summer.

Kraken Recall John Hayden, Cale Fleury

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The Kraken announced today that they’ve summoned defenseman Cale Fleury and forward John Hayden from AHL Coachella Valley. With three open roster spots and ample cap space due to Vince Dunn’s long-term injured reserve placement, no corresponding transactions are necessary.

It’s no surprise to see Fleury’s name here. The 25-year-old has been recalled and reassigned twice in the last week as Seattle looks to keep him on the roster for game days as injury insurance while delaying the expiry of his temporary waiver exemption. However, it is Hayden’s first recall of the season after he cleared waivers near the end of training camp. The 29-year-old veteran of 249 NHL games is off to a good start for Coachella Valley, with three assists in his first four games of the campaign. Now in his third season with the Kraken organization, Hayden has spent most of his time under contract with Seattle in the minors. However, he has made nine combined appearances over the prior two years, scoring twice while averaging just 7:39 per game in a Kraken sweater.

The 6’3″, 223-lb agitator can play both center and right wing. The Kraken don’t have any apparent injury issues up front ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens, but due to cap constraints, they weren’t carrying any extra forwards on the active roster. With Dunn now sitting on LTIR, there’s some flexibility for them to have a 13th forward in case of game-day injuries or if head coach Dan Bylsma wants to make a lineup change.

The same goes for Fleury, who hasn’t played an NHL game yet this season despite his multiple recalls and Dunn’s injuries. Seattle was carrying Josh Mahura as an extra defender to begin the year, so he’s been getting third-pairing reps alongside William Borgen. At the same time, sophomore Ryker Evans has slid up to top-pairing duties on the left alongside Adam Larsson in Dunn’s absence. Even with the roster shuffling, Fleury has managed four appearances for Coachella Valley, tying for the team lead in scoring with four points (3 G, 1 A). He can still be on Seattle’s roster for a cumulative total of 27 days before he needs waivers again to head back to the AHL.

Kraken Reassign Cale Fleury

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Oct. 25: Seattle has returned Fleury to Coachella Valley today. Expect them to recall him again tomorrow ahead of their game against the Hurricanes.

Oct. 24: Fleury is back on the Kraken roster today as expected, per a team announcement. He was sent down only to accrue cap space and prolong his waiver exemption.

Oct. 23: The Kraken have sent defenseman Cale Fleury back to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, per a team announcement. He was just recalled Monday in a corresponding move that saw star defender Vince Dunn land on long-term injured reserve.

Fleury, 26 next month, has been ferried between the Kraken and their AHL affiliate almost constantly over the past few years. Initially acquired from the Canadiens in their 2021 expansion draft, Fleury was waived at the beginning of their inaugural season but did spend some time on the taxi squad and active roster later in the year. He spent all of 2022-23 on the NHL roster but barely played, spending all but 12 games as a healthy scratch. He then cleared waivers again to begin last season and was papered between leagues seemingly nonstop after the trade deadline, as he was recalled and reassigned eight times in six weeks to end the year.

Amid all those transactions, the right-shot defender has spent most of his time in the minors. He’s played in parts of four NHL seasons, three with Seattle and one with Montreal, but only has 63 games to his name at the game’s top level. Only one of them came last year, but he did rack up 36 points and a +29 rating in 65 games for the Firebirds. He’s been a fine possession player at the NHL level, logging a 50.9 CF% and a 49.3 xGF%, but he’s been limited to just a goal and an assist offensively while averaging 14:10 per game.

He led last year’s AHL playoffs in points by a defenseman with 14 in 18 appearances, and he’s carried that momentum into the early going of 2024-25. He’s got three goals in three games, leading the Firebirds in scoring as they look to make it three straight Calder Cup Final appearances to begin their existence.

Fleury has now burned two days toward his temporary waiver exemption. He can be on Seattle’s roster for 28 more days or play 10 NHL games before he needs waivers again to return to the minors.

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