Jared McCann Trending Towards Return for Kraken After Long Injury Absence
SEATTLE, Wash. - Coming off a scoreless outing against the New York Islanders on Sunday, the Seattle Kraken appear likely to gain a boost to their offensive production against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday (7 PM PT; KHN/Prime, Victory+, KING 5, KONG, SN360).
Jared McCann was a full participant in Seattle’s practice on Tuesday after missing the past 18 games with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old forward skated on a line with Berkly Catton and Shane Wright, and took his spot on the top power-play unit.
#Kraken Practice Lines 11/25
Marchment-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Stephenson-Tolvanen
McCann-Catton-Wright
Kartye-Gaudreau-Winterton
Molgaard/Nyman
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Evans-Oleksiak
Mahura-Fleury
Daccord
Grubauer— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) November 25, 2025
As usual, Kraken coach Lane Lambert remained non-committal on McCann’s status for Wednesday, but based on McCann’s practice participation on Tuesday, it would be surprising if he did not return to the lineup.
“We’re still waiting on him, but (he’s) progressing,” Lambert said. “Obviously we had him in a position there where we’re hoping he’s going to be in the lineup here very shortly, so we’ll see.”
McCann remains on injured reserve, so he was not available to speak to the media on Tuesday. However, one of his projected linemates spoke about his impending return.
“It’s great seeing him back there,” Wright said. “Obviously he’s a huge piece on the team and a really talented offensive guy who can shoot the puck and put the puck in the net, so a guy who’s going to be nice to have back in the lineup for sure.”
McCann had a hot start to the season, scoring four points in the first three games, but was scoreless in his final two games before his absence. McCann last played in Seattle’s 4-3 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 18.
While it may take some time to shake off the rust, McCann’s return couldn’t come at a better time for a team in need of more offensive production. The Kraken are the fourth-lowest scoring team in the NHL (2.59 goals per game) as of Tuesday afternoon, and the shooting output and shot selection have been topics consistently addressed by Lambert.
“As a coaching staff, we’re trying to give them the best possible chance to have success as players,” Lambert said. “(...) They’ve taken the information we’ve given them and they’ve done a really good job of taking ownership of it, both defensively, you know, offensively, we’re working on it.
“I think that we do need to create more by having a little more shot volume. You know, sometimes it’s easy to say, ‘Shoot, shoot, shoot.’ When there isn’t a lane to shoot, it doesn’t make sense, so that part of it is, you got to be smart about that. It’s a little bit subjective, but I do think that we have opportunities to get pucks to the net a little bit more, and we’re trying to look for something better, and we’d like to change that narrative.”
Coming off a road trip with four games across a six-game span, the Kraken are entering a lighter period with just two games this week. Seattle will have two days between Wednesday’s matchup against the Stars and Saturday’s home contest against the Edmonton Oilers, which will lead directly into a four-day break before a road matchup in Edmonton on Dec. 4.
“It’s nice having a few days to rest and recover as well,” Wright said. “Had a bit of a busy stretch there with a lot of games in a short amount of time, and have this busy stretch coming up in December as well, so nice taking the days (off) for sure.”
