Jared McCann Removed From COVID Protocol
The Seattle Kraken are getting a reinforcement, as Jared McCann has been activated from the COVID protocol and was back at practice today. To make room on the roster, Max McCormick has been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers.
McCann hasn’t played for the Kraken since October 28 but up to that point had been arguably the team’s best forward. With three goals and seven points in his first eight games, he was picking up right where he left off last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In 43 games, he had 14 goals and 32 points for Pittsburgh playing mostly the wing. He has seen more time at center in Seattle and likely will be back in the middle if Yanni Gourde, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury according to Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic, is out for long.
The Kraken haven’t been able to keep the puck out of their net this season, allowing a Pacific Division-leading 44 goals against through their first 13 games. Getting their entire lineup healthy would certainly help in that regard, but they’ll need to start getting better goaltending if they want to compete for the playoffs at all. Chris Driedger returned for his first start last night but struggled by allowing four goals on 23 shots. They now have a league-worst .868 save percentage through the first month of the season.
AHL Reveals Coachella Valley Firebirds
The Seattle Kraken will have a primary AHL affiliate next season and today the name, logo, and colors of that franchise have been revealed. In 2022-23 the Coachella Valley Firebirds will take flight, wearing uniforms of “flaming red and orange, with an ice blue accent.” Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Oak View Group, which will be part owners of the new AHL franchise, released this statement:
Over the last two years, and after listening to fans, our leadership, and partners, we’ve been heavily involved in identifying the best team name and brand to represent the nine cities of the Coachella Valley. As a proud resident of the valley, I think the Firebirds has a meaningful representation for the beauty and what people experience when they come to our great community.
The team will play out of a new arena in Riverside County that will house more than 11,000 seats and includes a brand new training facility for the minor league club. It is set to open in 2022, when the Firebirds will start play. The Kraken will at that point have an affiliate to drop prospects and oversee their development, instead of the current split agreement with the Charlotte Checkers.
Charlotte, which is an independent minor league club, are currently the affiliate of both the Kraken and the Florida Panthers. Seattle is providing just a handful of players to the AHL club (along with a coach) as they continue to build out their organizational depth. Next year, it’ll be the Firebirds they’re dealing with, not only closer geographically but also operated by the same organization.
Seattle Kraken Activate Chris Driedger
When the dust had settled on the Seattle Kraken roster for their inaugural season, many of the observations were the same. The team had a strong defense corps and were expected to have quite the tandem of goaltenders. After all, they had spent nearly $10MM in cap space on Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger, each coming off outstanding seasons.
The results haven’t exactly been as planned. Grubauer has been mediocre at best, posting an .896 save percentage in eight appearances, and Driedger has only seen 31 minutes of action before going down to injury. Even that performance came in relief, meaning he hasn’t started a single game yet this season. That could soon change, as Driedger no longer appears on the team’s injured reserve list and replacement Joey Daccord has been sent back to the Charlotte Checkers.
Driedger likely won’t be a savior for the Kraken, but his return is certainly promising. The 27-year-old netminder posted a .927 save percentage in 23 appearances for the Florida Panthers last season, winning 14 games and posting three shutouts. He has generally been excellent in the NHL in fact, and has a .929 over 39 appearances. It’s just 39 appearances though, so there are still doubts on whether Driedger can really hack it as a full-time starter.
Luckily, with Grubauer in town, it may not be necessary. His results haven’t been good enough through the season as a whole, but things have started to turn around for the 29-year-old. He’s allowed just four goals over his last three games (two wins) and now has his partner back to help him stay rested. If Driedger can get up to speed quickly and Grubauer finds some of the game that made him a Vezina finalist last season, those early observations of a strong tandem could come true after all.
Jared McCann And Paul MacFarland Enter COVID Protocol
The list of people in COVID protocol continues to grow as prior to their game against the Rangers tonight, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that center Jared McCann and assistant coach Paul MacFarland have both entered the protocol. McCann is off to a nice start to his season, leading Seattle in points with three goals and four assists through their first eight games while logging 16:24 per night, the highest ATOI of his career. It’s the second time he has been in COVID protocol this season having been part of the group that was in there just before the regular season got underway.
Injury Notes: Saad, Girard, Kraken, Johnson
St. Louis Blues forward Brandon Saad is skating Saturday after spending the past nine days on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list, per Blues reporter Chris Pinkert. Saad is expected to return to the lineup for their Wednesday game against the Los Angeles Kings. He’s ineligible to play in Saturday night’s game versus the Chicago Blackhawks. It appears to be a huge boost for the Blues, who are also without captain Ryan O’Reilly as he was placed on the COVID-19 protocol list on October 26. Saad had two points in three games before being placed in the protocol, but his absence has caused him to miss the last three (that number will be made four tonight). In his absence, younger forwards such as Klim Kostin and Jake Neighbours have gotten extended looks in the lineup.
Other injury notes from around the league on Saturday:
- Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater reports defenseman Samuel Girard will return to the lineup for tonight’s home game against the Minnesota Wild. Expected to play on a pairing with Erik Johnson, it’s another step closer to full health for a Colorado blueline that’s faced injuries to their best two left-shot defensemen early on this season. Girard missed Colorado’s last two games after suffering an injury on a hit from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos at the end of a game on October 23.
- Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol issued injury updates today on forward Mason Appleton and goaltender Chris Driedger. Appleton was placed on injured reserve today and is now out indefinitely, while Driedger is now labeled as day-to-day. Kraken reporter Bob Condor relays information that Driedger practiced today, and could potentially work his way into game action as the Kraken have a back-to-back this Sunday and Monday. Appleton was in the midst of a rough start to his Kraken tenure, posting just one assist in seven games and playing just 11:14 per game.
- The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope reports that Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson suffered an apparent arm or wrist injury during the team’s 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and is expected to miss Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, if not more time. Johnson was playing in a top-line role, flanking Kirby Dach along with Dominik Kubalik prior to the injury with Patrick Kane in COVID-19 protocol. Johnson’s scored one goal and two assists in eight games this season. Forward Dylan Strome could draw into the lineup tonight in his place.
AHL Shuffle: 10/30/21
With 20 teams in action on a busy Saturday around the NHL, there will likely be quite a bit of roster movement throughout the day. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
- The Bruins have re-assigned center Oskar Steen to Providence, per the AHL’s transactions page. The 23-year-old had an assist on Sunday, his only NHL appearance in 2021-22. Steen also has two points in three contests in the minors so far this season.
- Forward Zac Dalpe has been recalled from the Charlotte Checkers by the Florida Panthers, per a team tweet. The recall would put the team over the roster limit, likely meaning that Chase Priskie will be returned to Charlotte or Kevin Connauton could be placed on injured reserve. The 31-year-old veteran Dalpe has just one goal in four AHL contests with Charlotte this year, but got into 12 NHL games with Columbus last season.
Metropolitan Division
- The Red Wings announced that they have recalled center Joe Veleno from Grand Rapids of the AHL. The 2018 first-rounder got into five games with Detroit down the stretch last season and is off to a good start with the Griffins this year with three goals in five games at the minor league level. Veleno will take the spot of Tyler Bertuzzi on the roster with the winger being unable to be with the team for their upcoming games in Canada.
Central Division
Pacific Division
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned winger Vladimir Tkachev to Ontario of the AHL with center Lias Andersson being activated off season-opening IR to take his place. Tkachev came over from the KHL and has a pair of assists in four games this season but has only played once in the last week and a half so an appearance in the minors will keep him fresh. Andersson, meanwhile, had six points in 23 games with Los Angeles last season and suffered a groin injury late in the preseason.
- The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled center Max McCormick from Charlotte of the AHL while transferring Mason Appleton to injured reserve. McCormick has seen NHL action in five of the last six seasons, compiling 13 points in 83 games along the way. As for Appleton, he suffered a lower-body injury earlier this week against Montreal.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Minnesota Wild Place Jordan Greenway On Injured Reserve
The Minnesota Wild placed winger Jordan Greenway on injured reserve Friday afternoon, recalling Adam Beckman from the Iowa Wild in his place, per a team release.
Greenway suffered a lower-body injury during Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken after taking a hit from Kraken captain Mark Giordano.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo expands on the nature of a recent injury bug that’s hit the Wild, stating defenseman Alex Goligoski is out one to two weeks with an upper-body injury while Dmitry Kulikov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
If Beckman draws into the lineup, it will be his NHL debut. The 75th overall pick in 2019 has seen his stock rise sharply and now finds himself mentioned in a trio of skilled forward prospects in Minnesota’s system, along with Marco Rossi and Matthew Boldy. Beckman has three points in four AHL games this season.
Greenway’s had somewhat of a rough start to the season with just two assists in seven games. He was expected to be a major contributor in the team’s top-six forward group after scoring a career-high 32 points in 56 games last season.
Beckman could certainly get a look playing directly in Greenway’s spot with Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno, but head coach Dean Evason could also shuffle the team’s line combinations to put Beckman in less of a checking role.
Mason Appleton Will Miss Some Time
- Kraken winger Mason Appleton will “miss some time”, head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters including Marisa Ingemi of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). The 25-year-old left Tuesday’s victory over Montreal after two periods with an undisclosed injury. Appleton has an assist in seven games so far this season while his average ice time has dipped by more than three minutes a night compared to his usage with Winnipeg in 2020-21.
Colin Blackwell Resumes Light Skating
- Kraken center Colin Blackwell has resumed light skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury that kept him out of training camp, notes Marisa Ingemi of the Seattle Times. He’s hoping to avoid surgery but it appears he’s still a few weeks away from returning. Blackwell was selected back in expansion after picking up 12 goals and 10 assists in 47 games (all career highs) last season with the Rangers.
Seattle “On The Radar” For Outdoor Game
The Seattle Kraken haven’t even played a game at their home rink yet, but there may be plans forming for them to host a different kind of event. Chris Daniels of KING 5 reports that Gary Bettman said today Seattle is “on the radar” for an outdoor game. Bettman was speaking at the Climate Pledge Arena opening event, where the Kraken will host the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow night for the first home game in franchise history.
The Vegas Golden Knights, the most recent expansion team prior to the Kraken, had to wait a few years before gracing the outdoor circuit. They battled the Colorado Avalanche at the first “NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe” earlier this year, an event that didn’t go very smoothly once the sun came out and started making playing conditions dangerous.
Still, the overall neutral location idea was well received and there are likely more games like that in the works for the future. This year, the schedule currently has three outdoor games confirmed. January 1 in Minneapolis, when the Wild will host the Blues at the Winter Classic, February 26 in Nashville where the Predators will host the Lightning in the Stadium Series, and March 13 in Hamilton when the Sabres will “host” the Maple Leafs in the Heritage Classic.
While the shine of an outdoor game may have dulled for some fans, players, coaches and team staff routinely marvel at the experience and speak about how unforgettable it is. The events have also been successful financial hits for the league, both in-person and via broadcast. While Seattle is just getting their feet wet in the NHL, you can bet they’ll be on the outdoor lineup before long.