Seattle Kraken’s Brandon Tanev out with upper-body injury

Seattle Kraken winger Brandon Tanev will not be playing in Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators, as he’s out with an upper-body injury.

Tanev suffered the injury during Tuesday’s season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Mid-way through the third period, he had just received the puck in the middle of the ice when Golden Knights winger Brett Howden checked Tanev and made contact with his head. Howden received a two-game suspension for the incident, while Tanev did not return to the game after the hit. Tanev finished the game with no points, a shot, a penalty drawn and two blocked shots in 7:34 of ice time as the Kraken lost 4-1.

Tanev is coming off a career year with the Kraken in 2022-23. In 82 games, he had 16 goals, 19 assists and 35 points, with all three besting his previous career-highs from 2018-19. He also had a goal, three assists and four points in 14 playoff games before the Kraken were eliminated in the second round by the Dallas Stars.

Tye Kartye will reportedly take Tanev’s place both on the roster and in the lineup for the time being, slotting onto the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Kailer Yamamoto. Kartye didn’t play for the Kraken during the regular season last year, but he got into 10 playoff games for them, scoring in his playoff debut and finishing the run with three goals, two assists and five points. He also played 72 regular season games with the Kraken’s AHL team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, where he had 28 goals, 29 assists and 57 points in his first pro season, as well as six goals, two assists and eight points in 18 playoff games as the Firebirds lost in the Calder Cup Finals to the Hershey Bears.

Tanev was a college free agent signing by the Winnipeg Jets, playing for them, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Kraken over the course of his nine-season NHL career. He’s in the fifth year of a six-year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit that he signed with the Penguins in the 2019 offseason.