No line rushes were held Sunday at Kraken morning skate– that’s because the coaching staff is still scrounging together enough healthy bodies for puck drop. Expect a top line including Tomáš Tatar, Jared McCann, and Jordan Eberle; for the rest of the lineup, expect the unexpected.
“Other than Jared’s line, you won’t see a familiar line,” head coach Dave Hakstol announced.
Injuries and a persistent locker room bug will likely deprive Seattle of a few more skaters in addition to Yanni Gourde, intending to serve the first of his two-game suspension, and Matty Beniers, moved to IR for an upper-body injury on Jan 15.
No updates were provided on Vince Dunn and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, the former suspected to be dealing with an undisclosed injury and the latter still working back from a leg injury, nearing his fifth week of what was projected to be a 4-6 week recovery. Both will assuredly be out as neither participated in drills, only rehab sessions prior to morning skate.
Head coach Dave Hakstol confirmed– although, not by name– that Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz, and Kailer Yamamoto missed practice on Saturday due to ailment. What kind, and their status for tonight, remains to be seen.
“A few guys stayed out of the rink yesterday trying to work towards full health,” Hakstol said. “We’ll have that in mind as we have a final lineup for tonight, working to get as much energy and healthy bodies into the lineup as we possibly can.”
Yamamoto spent at least 20 minutes after practice working with the other ‘healthy scratches’ in Chris Driedger and Gourde, indicating he’s likely to be sidelined once again after returning to the lineup for the last three games of the recently concluded road trip. Ultimately, however, that depends on whether a few questionable skaters play.
“We’ll have one or two game-time decisions tonight,” Hakstol told reporters.
As to who those game-time decisions are is a mystery. Eberle and Schwartz were full participants on Sunday, and both Tye Kartye and Oliver Bjorkstrand stuck around afterwards to continue working. Hakstol confirmed Kartye would be playing center, and announced the top line would be unaffected, ruling Kartye and Eberle out as options. Bjorkstrand and Schwartz could be considered uncertain for the lineup.
Is illness to be blamed? Probably. Since it was first mentioned Jan 13 following a 7-4 win on the road over the Columbus Blue Jackets, whatever bug is making its way around the Kraken locker room has stayed an unwelcome companion. Sounds like skaters have been playing under the weather, and will continue to.
“It’s a challenging sport to play when you don’t have a full tank,” Hakstol said. “For the guys that are a little bit under the weather again, it’s– I believe we’ve taken a positive step but for the guys that are playing at less than full mast you just have to go out and play within yourself, play intelligent.”
“There’s some days when that really simplifies your game, and you end up going out and playing really, really well and playing one of your better hockey games.”
Leave a tip to support our writers and staff!