The Kraken could make a roster shuffle once Vince Dunn returns
The Seattle Kraken have been playing shorthanded of late as defenseman Vince Dunn is currently on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with the mid-body injury. Dunn was placed on LTIR on Oct.17, and the Kraken have been in tough to find wins, losing their last three games, and currently sit with a 5-7-1 record on the season.
Dunn is eligible to come off LTIR on Nov.12 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and if he’s healthy enough to return to game action, the Kraken will need to shuffle their roster to make some room for their mobile defenseman. Dunn has recorded three points in four games so far this year, and is coming off a 46-point season in 2023-24.
On today’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed the Kraken’s upcoming roster decisions and explained how GM Ron Francis may have to navigate his roster once Dunn returns.
Yaremchuk: The Seattle Kraken could be welcoming Vince Dunn back to the lineup at some point and that could lead to a roster crunch which potentially effects their forwards. Smoke or fire on the Kraken potentially having to move out a forward?
Seravalli: That’s fire. I’d point to two players, they are in the bottom half of their lineup, Yanni Gourde with no goals so far for the Kraken, three assists, and Brandon Tanev. Both of them are pending unrestricted free agents.
Tanev, they love the speed and the forechecking and a necessary element that he brings to that lineup, but will he be with this team long term and into the future. My answer is probably not. Yanni Gourde, I think there’s been a number of teams that have called and to this point the Kraken have rebuffed all of those inquiries. But, Gourde is not producing, his ice-time is way down two and a half, almost three minutes per game where it was last season, and he’s not scoring.
The experience is great, but both of these guys have reached into their 30’s now, getting closer to their mid-30’s and I don’t really see a long-term fit. I don’t know that it’s necessarily a imminent, this is going to happen next week kind of thing, but I’d be kind of surprised if the Kraken are still in the same spot and we got to the other side of the trade deadline on March 7th and they were still in Seattle.
For more on potential trade candidates, Macklin Celebrini’s return to the lineup, and the latest buzz from around the NHL, watch the full episode here.