Kraken players start returning to ice after Olympic break | Notebook
Every Seattle Kraken player and coach not selected for a 2026 Olympic squad got a needed break from the six-and-a-half-month NHL regular season last week. Winger Jared McCann and coach Lane Lambert, among others, used the time to head somewhere warm and golf.
McCann said he and several teammates headed for the Caribbean. Lambert went down to his offseason home in Arizona, where he watched golf and the Super Bowl.
He also caught Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer playing for Team Germany at the Milano Cortina Games. Grubauer was set to make back-to-back starts Tuesday and Wednesday, against France and Slovakia, respectively. Heading into the latter, quarterfinal game, Grubauer sported a 2-1 record, while allowing six goals on 91 shots for a .934 save percentage.
Lambert was able to watch forward Oscar Fisker Molgaard, 21, who saw his tournament end Tuesday. Molgaard’s Denmark team was eliminated after a 3-2 loss to Czechia. The Kraken prospect, who has appeared in three NHL games this season, finished with one goal and two assists. Molgaard scored his first-ever Olympic goal on Kraken teammate Grubauer.
“I know it’s exciting for them,” Lambert said. “It’s a good opportunity for us to share it with them — for lack of a better term — from a distance.”
McCann tuned in, but Lambert didn’t catch much preliminary-round action from Team Finland, which includes Kraken forwards Kaapo Kakko (two goals, two assists in three games) and Eeli Tolvanen (one goal, three games).
“I’m looking forward to the games starting (Wednesday), I guess,” Lambert said. “The ones where France is playing Canada. … I didn’t stay up for that one.
“11-0 or whatever is unfortunate.”
Back at home, Lambert is shifting his focus to warming up the rest of his players.
“In my mind, it’s an extremely important time, the practice time we have leading into that Dallas game” on Feb. 25, he said.
After the break, the Kraken (27-20-9) have just 26 of 82 games remaining. They sit third in the Pacific Division and occupy a playoff spot, but the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are right behind them.
Catton coming along
Rookie Berkly Catton joined the Kraken players not competing in the Winter Games on Tuesday wearing a red noncontact jersey. He missed Seattle’s last three games before the Olympic break because of an upper-body injury.
He has another week before games resume. Lambert didn’t speculate on a potential return date.
“With those guys that are coming off an injury, it’s Day 1 back here,” Lambert said. “So we’ll see how everybody progresses, how they feel after today’s practice.”
The 20-year-old Catton was injured during a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 29. While reaching for the puck at the offensive blue line, Catton’s head made contact with the hip area of incoming Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
It took him until Jan. 6 to score his first NHL goal, but the former Spokane Chiefs star now has five to go with six assists in 40 games this season. This is his second injury layoff of the season. He missed two weeks with an upper-body injury in December.
Winger and Kraken alternate captain Jaden Schwartz missed the last game before the break with a lower-body concern but was a full participant as practices resumed. So too was fourth-line center Ben Meyers, who went on injured reserve Jan. 23 with a lower-body injury.
“We certainly value those guys, and it’s great to have them back,” Lambert said. “It’s great to have the numbers that we have, too, for practice. You can accomplish a lot of things with four full lines and eight defensemen.
“It’s good to see them back and in a better place than they were before.”
Prospect suspended
A Kraken prospect playing in the minors was slapped with a suspension that will cost him most of the remaining regular-season schedule.
Forward David Goyette was suspended 20 games for violating the American Hockey League/Professional Hockey Players’ Association Performance Enhancing Substance Program. In a statement, Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said Kraken staff was informed Tuesday that Goyette tested positive for a performance enhancing substance.
“We fully support the Performance Enhancing Substance Program and hope this was a learning experience for David,” Botterill continued.
That was a more succinct statement than one offered for another suspended AHL player. A goaltender playing for the Rockford IceHogs, Stanislav Berezhnoy, earned a matching suspension at the same time for the same reason. The IceHogs are Chicago’s affiliate, and Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement that Berezhnoy didn’t ingest the prohibited substance “knowingly,” but theorized it had to do with a supplement he was taking.
According to an AHL release, Goyette, 21, will be eligible to return to the Firebirds for a game on April 10. The regular season ends April 19.
The St-Jérôme, Quebec, native was drafted 61st overall by Seattle in 2022. He went on to win the Eddie Powers Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League scoring leader with 117 points in 2023-24.
Goyette has three goals and seven assists through 47 games with the Firebirds this season. In 115 career games and two full seasons with the Firebirds, Goyette has notched nine goals and 22 assists. He hasn’t yet made his NHL debut.