Kraken lose Jared McCann for 10 weeks

The timeline is the part that hurts. 10 weeks means Seattle goes through the holidays without one of its top-6 forwards.

Spittin' Chiclets

@spittinchiclets

Seattle is expected to be without Jared McCann for the next 10 weeks after suffering a lower-body injury.

It happened fast. McCann logged 16:42 in Thursday's win over the Utah Mammoth, then missed Friday's practice to get the injury evaluated. By Saturday the Kraken had placed him on IR with a return date somewhere around the start of January.

He was playing well before it happened. McCann had 3 goals and 5 assists through 11 games and had settled back in as the main playmaker on the second line. That was good for 6th on the team in scoring, behind Kaapo Kakko at the top. Seattle is 7-4-1 and has been one of the better offensive teams in the league early on, with 45 goals, 8th in the NHL. Taking out a guy who drives the second line makes that pace a lot harder to keep.

Mike Benton

@Benton_Mike

The injury rash in the NHL just hit the #SeaKraken top six. Tough blow after starting the year with 8 points in 11 games.

Seattle Kraken PR

@SeattleKrakenPR

#SeaKraken forward Jared McCann will be out 10 weeks with a lower-body injury and has been placed on injured reserve.

The worst part is that this has happened before. McCann missed 30 games last season with recurring lower-body problems and still put up 40 points in 52 games. Nobody has said whether this injury is connected to those, but for a perennial scorer it is the second straight year his body has cost him a big chunk of the season, and Kraken fans have every reason to be nervous about what that means long term.

Now it's the young guys' turn. Seattle called up 22-year-old Jani Nyman, who had 11 points in 9 AHL games. Berkly Catton, 20, already has 9 points in 12 games and should get more minutes, and Shane Wright (4 points in 11 games) could move up the lineup too. If the kids can keep the goals coming until January, the Kraken stay afloat. If they can't, this is the point where a promising start begins to slip away.