The Seattle Kraken have a new head coach, Lane Lambert, and are looking for their second playoff appearance in franchise history. They had a quiet offseason, but did pick up Ryan Lindgren on a four-year contract. That put a lot of pressure on their younger players heading into the 2025-26 season. The Kraken got brutal injury news on Ryker Evans, one of those young defenseman, on Thursday.
“Ryker Evans is expected to be out 6-8 weeks for the Kraken because of an upper-body injury. The defenseman had 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 73 games with Seattle last season. The Kraken open the regular season against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 9,” NHL.com reported.
Evans was a second-round pick in 2021 and has played 109 games in the NHL over the past two seasons. He was fourth among Seattle defensemen with 25 points at just 23 years old in 2024-25. But now, his age-24 season is off to a rough start.
This is the second preseason injury for the Kraken, as Kaapo Kakko broke his hand during Saturday's preseason game. With Seattle struggling to make the postseason in the past, injuries to start the season are not going to help. The Western Conference is tough this year, and they will need to get off to a great start to make the postseason.
The Kraken open the season on October 9 with the Anaheim Ducks at home. Then, they host the Vegas Golden Knights before heading on an East Coast road trip. Five games in the Eastern time zone, with a sixth against Winnipeg, in nine days, is going to be harder without two of their key players.
The Kraken will need a great start from Lindgren and their other veteran defensemen on their roster. Evans could return by American Thanksgiving and give their blue line a big boost when he does.
