Brandon Montour Injured, Kraken Recall Ty Nelson

After leaving Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning with an injury, the Seattle Kraken have brought up insurance to help replace Brandon Montour, recalling Ty Nelson from the Coachella-Valley Firebirds on Monday morning.

Montour's last shift in Sunday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning came early in the second period. He fell awkwardly at the offensive blue line, leaving the ice under his own power, but never returned.

Seattle has not made any announcement's regarding Montour's health. Unfortunately, defenseman Ryan Lindgren was placed on injured reserve last week. The Kraken, minus those two veterans, currently have six healthy defensemen in Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, Ryker Evans, Josh Mahura, Ville Ottavainen, and Cale Fleury.

The latter three have rotated in-and-out of the lineup on the third pair. Fleury played the least of the three. He's played two games this season, Seattle's only two regulation losses of the season, and been scratched the last four games.

It's truthfully weird that Seattle recalled Nelson when they did not have to. The Kraken have one game remaining on their East Coast road trip, then return to the West Coast on Tuesday. Nelson is a top prospect with the Firebirds, and shouldn't be sitting regularly. If he's recalled, it's because he'll play.

Returning to the Kraken, Nelson will be asked to help replace Montour's offense. Montour has five assists through eight games. Nelson has four assists in five AHL games so far this season, after putting up 35 points in 63 games last season. Nelson was also impressive during preseason action, scoring two goals in two games.

The 22-year-old defenseman was Seattle's 68th overall pick in 2022. He will likely make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Florida Panthers. Assuming Fleury stays a healthy scratch, here's a pure guess at what the defensive pairs will look like:

Dunn-Larsson

Evans-Ottavainen

Mahura-Nelson