Kraken’s Brandon Montour leaves game vs. Flames with upper-body injury

The Seattle Kraken announced on social media that defenseman Brandon Montour left Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames with an upper-body injury and would not return.

It wasn’t clear how Montour suffered the injury, but he did not join the team in the second period.

Montour has 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 55 games, leading the blue line in points. He joined the club in the offseason, signing a seven-year, $50 million contract after winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last June. He leads the team in ice time, averaging 23:33 per game.

Now in his ninth season, Montour, 30, has 76 goals and 203 assists for 279 points in 576 career regular-season games with the Kraken, Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres. He also played 82 Stanley Cup Playoff games, scoring 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points.

His most productive offensive season came in 2022-23 with the Panthers, scoring 16 goals and adding 57 assists for 73 points.

Going into Saturday’s game, the Kraken were 23-29-4 with 50 points, seventh in the Pacific Division. Seattle has lost three straight games and are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.

Forward Jared McCann leads the team in points with 42 (14 goals and 28 assists), while Jaden Schwartz has a team-leading 18 goals, and Chandler Stephenson has 29 assists, the most on the Kraken.

The Kraken will now take the next two weeks off for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Forward Kaapo Kakko, whom the team acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers last December for Will Borgen and draft picks, will represent Finland in the tournament.