Seattle Kraken lose 2 key players to injured reserve
Jan 5, 2025, 6:47 PM
Joey Daccord of the Seattle Kraken celebrates with Yanni Gourde during a 2024 game. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seattle Kraken already faced an uphill battle based on where they sit in the NHL standings, and the hill they need to climb just got steeper.
On Sunday night, the Kraken announced that two key players have been placed on injured reserve: goaltender Joey Daccord and forward Yanni Gourde.
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Both players are original Kraken players, with Daccord taken by Seattle in its 2021 expansion draft from the Ottawa Senators and Gourde taken in the same draft from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Daccord’s placement on IR is retroactive to Dec. 22, while Gourde’s is dated Jan. 4. Stints on IR in the NHL must miss a minimum of seven games.
The Kraken also called up defensemen Cale Fleury and Gustav Olofsson from the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds on an emergency basis.
At 17-20-3 on the season, the Kraken are sixth in the eight-team Pacific Division at 37 points, which is ahead of only four other teams in the Western Conference.
Daccord, who has an upper-body injury, had a breakout 2023-24 campaign in which he emerged as Seattle’s top goalie with 50 games played and 46 starts. He posted a 2.46 goals against average and .916 save percentage. It was the first time in his career that he appeared in more than eight NHL games since he made his debut in 2018-19.
In 23 games this season, the 28-year-old Daccord has a 12-9-2 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average.
With Daccord out, the Kraken have Ales Stezka backing up Philipp Grubauer in goal.
Gourde, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with Tampa Bay and currently in his 10th NHL season. The feisty 33 year old played at least 74 games in each of his first three years with the Kraken. This season, he has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 35 games.
On injured reserve, Daccord and Gourde join Kraken captain Jordan Eberle, who has been on long-term IR since November with a pelvis injury. Additionally, key defenseman Adam Larsson is day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered in Saturday’s loss to Edmonton.
The Kraken will wrap up a four-game homestand at 7 p.m. Monday against the New Jersey Devils.
