Seattle Kraken lose star winger Jared McCann with long-term injury

The Seattle Kraken are off to the best start in franchise history, but as they look to keep their run of strong play going, they’ll be without the best player in team history.

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Veteran left wing Jared McCann was placed on injured reserve Sunday with a lower-body injury, a day after sitting out Seattle’s 5-1 loss at home to the Minnesota Wild. The Kraken announced McCann will be out 10 weeks.

The 30-year-old McCann has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 11 games this season for the 7-4-1 Kraken. He joins right wing Jacob Melanson and defenseman Ryan Lindgren on Seattle’s injured reserve.

McCann, who is in his 12th NHL season, is an original Kraken, having joined the team as an expansion draft pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of Seattle’s inaugural 2021-22 season. He is the all-time franchise leader in goals (141), assists (180) and points (291), and he led the team in points in each of its first four seasons.

McCann played 74 games or more in each of his first four seasons with the Kraken, but was limited to 52 of Seattle’s 82 games last season due to lower-body injury woes.

A native of Ontario, McCann was the No. 24 overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. He debuted with Vancouver in 2015, then spent 2 1/2 seasons each with the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was traded from the Penguins to the Maple Leafs during the offseason in July 2021, but was selected by Seattle in its expansion draft just days later.

The Kraken return from a three-day break on Wednesday in a 7 p.m. home game against Toronto (7-4-2). Seattle is third in the Pacific Division with 15 points in the standings, just two short of Edmonton and Vegas, which are tied for first place with 17 points.

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