Jaden Schwartz to miss six weeks with upper body injury for Kraken
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 24: Jaden Schwartz #17 of the Seattle Kraken skates during the first period of a game against the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena on November 24, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Christopher Mast/NHLI vi
The Seattle Kraken announced Friday that forward Jaden Schwartz is expected to miss approximately six weeks with an undisclosed upper body injury sustained in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Schwartz is second on the team in goals with eight on the season. Five of those have come on the power play for Seattle.
It’s a big loss for a Kraken team that is still struggling to deliver victories just over a quarter of the way into the season. Brandon Tanev has missed the last two games for Seattle with a lower body injury and André Burakovsky has been sidelined since mid-October with an upper body injury of his own as well.
Tanev could return to the lineup shortly for the Kraken, but Burakovsky – who is skating with the team in a non-contact jersey – is still not ready to return to action.
Schwartz did not appear to take a significant hit during any of his final three shifts against Chicago. He did play the puck in front of the Seattle bench at the end of his final shift early in the third period on a play that could have caused the injury. He stopped the puck with his skate and made a pass, but appeared to favor his left side immediately afterward as he retreated to the bench.
The Kraken recalled forward Max McCormick from AHL Coachella Valley to help mitigate the loss of Schwartz. McCormick is Coachella Valley's leading scorer with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists in 16 games played for the Firebirds. McCormick appeared in 10 games for Seattle in the 2021-22 season with no points recorded. He has six career NHL goals and four assists in 71 total games played for the Kraken, Carolina Hurricanes, and Ottawa Senators.
Andrew Poturalski was optioned back to Coachella Valley after appearing in the last two games for Seattle.