Kraken’s Jared McCann Expected To Miss 10 Weeks

The Seattle Kraken will be without one of their top forwards for the foreseeable future. Jared McCann has been moved to injured reserve with a lower-body injury that is expected to hold him out for 10 weeks, per a team announcement. McCann was unavailable for Saturday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild, prompting Seattle to recall Jani Nyman as an insurance option.

The specifics of McCann’s injury aren’t entirely clear. He played 16:42 of Seattle’s win over the Utah Mammoth on Thursday. The next morning, McCann missed practice while being evaluated for an injury. On the other side of Seattle’s testing, they’ll lose one of their top skaters for an extended period.

McCann sits sixth on the Kraken in scoring with eight points in 11 games. He is behind leading scorer Kaapo Kakko and a quartet of players with nine points. McCann has returned to his focal role in Seattle’s lineup this season, stepping up as the go-to playmaker on the team’s second-line. He scored 40 points, split evenly, in 52 appearances last season – but missed 30 games with multiple lower-body injuries. It’s not clear if those past injuries are connected to the one that will hold him out now.

McCann’s absence will represent a major opportunity for Berkly Catton. The 20 year old is on the cusp of a breakout year, one of four Kraken with nine points in 12 games. His performance a major improvement from the 17 points he racked up as a rookie – and much more in-line with expectations after he notched a pair of 100-point seasons through four years in the WHL. It was that scoring that earned the 5-foot-11 Catton the eighth-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Part of Catton’s boost in scoring is the result of his shift to the center position, while Shane Wright has moved to the wing. That could line Wright up for expanded minutes as well, on the back of four points in 11 games to start the year. Wright requested a trade from Seattle over the summer but rescinded it as no deals developed. Kraken head coach Lane Lambert could move Wright back to third-line center, and Catton into the top-six, in response to McCann’s absence. Even with that shift, it may only take a quiet stretch from Catton to shift Wright into premium minutes.

This news will also keep Nyman on the NHL roster for a while longer. The 22 year old ranks second on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in scoring with 11 points in nine games. He is off to his best start yet after a pair of productive AHL seasons over the last two years. That scoring hasn’t amounted to NHL production just yet, with Nyman boasting just 13 points in 40 games with Seattle. An opening on the Kraken’s wing could give Nyman another chance at an extended NHL opportunity.

Seattle will have plenty of time to sort through their options with McCann likely out through the holiday break. The Kraken rank eighth in the NHL with 45 goals scored – an offensive boom that’s led them to a 7-4-1 record to start the year. An injury to a perennial scorer will make that pace hard to maintain, though a rise in scoring from their young forwards could save the Kraken from a crash. They will lean heavier on Kakko, Catton, and Wright as they look to stick in the top-three of the Pacific Division.