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Kraken get crushing Yanni Gourde injury update amid trade buzz

Originally posted on NHL on ClutchPoints
By Michael Whitaker | Last updated Jan 31, 2025 6:25 PM ET

The Seattle Kraken have mostly struggled in the 2024-25 NHL season, and are on track to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time in their four-year history. With a record of 23-27-3, things aren’t looking promising for a return to the postseason.

And earlier on Friday, the Kraken announced unfortunate injury news to one of their top players. Yanni Gourde has undergone surgery for a sports hernia and is expected to be out of the lineup for at least the next five to seven weeks.

If they continue to be far out from a postseason spot when the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline rolls around, the Kraken could decide to part ways with multiple assets with an eye on the future; Gourde has been listed as a potential trade candidate because he’s in the final year of his current contract.

Gourde has been limited to 35 games this season and has scored six goals with 10 assists; he hasn’t played since January 2 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Yanni Gourde is playing in his fourth with the Kraken

Seattle Kraken center Yanni Gourde (37) shoots the puck against the Utah Hockey Club during the third period at Climate Pledge Arena Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Gourde was never drafted into the NHL; he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Syracuse Crunch, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014. He would later make his NHL debut with the Lightning in 2015-16.

His first full campaign in the NHL was the 2017-18 season, when he appeared in 80 games and scored 25 goals and 39 assists. Tampa Bay saw fit to reward him with a six-year, $31 million extension in 2018. After helping the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, Gourde was left unprotected in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and was taken by the Kraken.

In his first year with Seattle, he scored 21 goals and 27 assists in 81 games, and followed that up with 14 goals and a career-high 34 assists the following season as the Kraken qualified for the postseason.

In 580 career NHL games, Gourde has scored 132 goals with 200 assists with the Lightning and Kraken.

This article first appeared on NHL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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