Four games into the season, the Kraken are already juggling their blue line.
Ryan Lindgren was placed on injured reserve Thursday and is not expected back for 4-6 weeks after getting crushed into the side boards by Vegas’ Marc Gatcomb in the opening minute of Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to the Golden Knights. Gatcomb was penalized for boarding on the play.
Seattle is also without forward Jacob Melanson, who is on I.R. and considered week-to-week after suffering an upper body injury in the season-opener at Calgary on Oct. 1.
That leaves the Kraken searching for help on defense, and the opening has already been there for three different players. Through the first four games, Seattle has rotated its sixth defensive spot between Cale Fleury, Josh Mahura and Ville Ottavainen. Fleury has played two of those games, while Mahura and Ottavainen have each appeared once.
With Lindgren out, two of those three are expected to dress Friday when the Kraken visit the Red Wings in Detroit.
Ottavainen is the youngest of the group in NHL experience, but he’s earned a longer look. The 2021 fourth-round pick had played just one NHL game for Seattle before this season. The 24-year-old from Oulu, Finland has logged heavy minutes with AHL Coachella Valley, appearing in 191 regular-season games for the Firebirds over the last three seasons and another 36 in the playoffs.
“We liked Ville’s training camp,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said recently. “He’s a big body guy that uses his size and reach well.
He defends well, he gets in the way. From this year compared to last year, his foot speed has improved, his stick position has improved.
I think they’ve done a good job with him in Coachella Valley. He’s put himself in a position here to get a longer look.”
Mahura and Fleury are more familiar faces in Seattle. Both were with the club last season, though they were usually the extra defensemen and ended up as healthy scratches more often than not. Each played in 23 games.
Lambert said he understands how hard that can be on players trying to stay ready.
“Last year was tough for them. We kept eight D and didn’t have a lot of injuries, so there wasn’t a lot of playing time for them.
Fleury and Mahura spent months extra skating last year, and played well when they played. They were good soldiers.
They kept in shape every day. They were great teammates.
“They earned an opportunity to fight for that spot (replacing Jamie Oleksiak, who departed for Vancouver in free agency). Both guys have played hard, and we’ll see where they fit in.”
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Frederick Gaudreau gave the lineup a timely scoring punch, while Philipp Grubauer steadied things in net and gave Seattle a performance it could lean on early. In a season where every good sign matters, a convincing win, a first goal from Catton and a strong night in goal at least gave the Kraken something to feel good about before the real grind begins. [Read more 🡒]