For Seattle fans, something will be missing when the Kraken open a three-game homestand Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
Namely, Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev.
The high-energy forwards, who were with the Kraken from the beginning after being selected in the 2021 NHL expansion draft, were among the players general manager Ron Francis dealt at last week’s trade deadline while the team was on the road.
Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, Seattle’s representative in the NHL All-Star Game this season, were sent to Tampa Bay last Wednesday, and Tanev went to Winnipeg on Friday.
“The things they did for this organization, on and off the ice, were tremendous,” Francis said. “We can’t thank them (enough). … They really represented the Kraken well. We wish them nothing but the best moving forward. It’s just unfortunately become part of the business.”
It wasn’t surprising that the Kraken, in seventh place in the Western Conference wild-card standings and a dozen points out of the last playoff spot, were sellers at the deadline.
They’ll spend the remainder of the season getting a look at some of their younger prospects.
“The strength of our team is the depth, the number of good players we have throughout our lineup,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “With the absence of those (traded) guys, bigger and more prominent roles will be asked of all the group.”
The Kraken will return home following a 1-2-0 trip that included a 4-2 loss Sunday at Eastern Conference-leading Washington. Shane Wright and Jordan Eberle scored for the Kraken, and Joey Daccord made 20 saves.
“It stings,” said Eberle, the Kraken captain. “I think we played well enough to at least come away with a point, get it to OT. I liked the compete. I liked the battle. I like that. But ultimately you play, that’s a good team, but you want to come out ahead.”
The Canadiens will play the second half of a back-to-back set after a 4-2 victory Tuesday in Vancouver in which Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and two assists and goaltender Sam Montembeault had 29 saves.
The Canadiens pulled within two points of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the race for the East’s second and final wild-card berth.
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield each had a goal and an assist as the Canadiens improved to 6-1-1 in their past eight games. Suzuki leads Montreal with 67 points (20 goals, 47 assists) this season, and Canfield has a team-high 32 goals.
Unlike the Kraken, the Canadiens stood pat at the trade deadline.
“The plan from the beginning of the season was that what we did at the trade deadline would be dictated by the team,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said. “Heading into the 4 Nations break, we were on a down, so we thought we’d probably do the same thing as in years past and trade away our players.
“Then, credit to the players and coaches, they won five in a row and turned things around.”
–Field Level Media
