The Seattle Kraken are getting closer to the return of Vince Dunn, and boy howdy could they use him.
Dunn, who has missed the last 19 games with what Dan Bylsma described as a “mid-body injury.” Coach Bylsma also said that Dunn was being held out due to “precautionary reasons,” so who knows how much information is actually getting through the fog of war. The Kraken’s official reason for Dunn’s injury? “Unspecified.”
Well, whatever the unspecified reason was for him missing all that time, he is now off long-term injured reserve and is back on the active roster, per the NHL site. This does mean that Dunn’s $7.35 million salary counts against the team’s salary cap again. If everyone else were healthy, this would force a move by the Kraken who would be over the cap. However, with Jordan Eberle and his $4.75 million salary on LTIR for the next three months, they can kick the can down the road for a while longer.
Dunn is a huge driver of the offense and when he’s not there, the Kraken look significantly worse. Dunn’s ability to get the puck out of the zone and up the ice with stretch passes is sorely missed.
Having that salary cap space from the Eberle injury does mean the Kraken have, at least for the time being, the ability to have a full 23-player roster instead of going with 21 as the Kraken had been doing to start the season. The Kraken called up forward Mitchell Stephens from Coachella Valley. He has 5 goals in 95 career NHL games and has 3 goals and 1 assist in 11 games with Coachella Valley this year. So he’s not exactly being brought in for an offensive spark and is likely just a depth piece.