Kraken captain Jordan Eberle to miss three months after successful pelvis surgery
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – After over a week of wondering about his status, fans of the Seattle Kraken now have an update regarding the health of their forward and team captain, Jordan Eberle. The Kraken announced this afternoon that Eberle had undergone successful surgery on his pelvis, with his recovery timeline for that injury set at three months. It’s a big blow for the Kraken to lose their team captain, just the second captain named ever in the history of their franchise, and one of their forwards that had performed so well offensively for them to begin the season when consistent scoring production hasn’t been something that Seattle has been able to accomplish quite yet. While the Kraken did win two of the three games on the homestand following the contest where Eberle got injured, Seattle surely will miss having their captain on the ice for a multitude of reasons over the course of these next three months as he works back to full health.
The Seattle Kraken named Jordan Eberle their second captain in franchise history just ahead of their opening game of the 2024-25 season, on October 8th, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena against the St. Louis Blues. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo)
How it happened
Early into the second period of the Kraken home win on November 14th over the Chicago Blackhawks, Eberle and Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy both raced for a puck that was racing towards the end boards in the Blackhawks zone. Eberle got his right leg tangled with Murphy’s left leg, and they both hit the ice, landing on their backsides before sliding swiftly into the end boards. The Seattle captain attempted to brace his crash into the boards with his right forearm, but it didn’t do much as Eberle’s lower back and midsection slammed violently into the boards. Jordan was able to skate off the ice on his own before needing help walking down the tunnel, as head athletic trainer Justin Rogers assisted him. The Kraken captain did not play the rest of the game after that and hasn’t been seen in practice or on the ice at all, with limited updates being provided to media when head coach Dan Bylsma has been asked about Eberle’s status. In an exclusive interview with Mike Benton of 93.3KJR, general manager Ron Francis said four days after the injury that “We’re still trying to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with here.” Considering what Francis said, the continued quotes from Bylsma saying that Eberle was continuing to have tests done, and the fact that Circling Seattle Sports saw the Kraken captain on crutches after the win over the New York Islanders, it was all but safe to assume that Jordan was going to be out for an extended period of time. Given the quotes from Francis and Bylsma, anybody could assume that Eberle wasn’t coming back quickly but when he was seen on crutches, that all but sealed it.
What the Kraken could do in the mean time
This is a tough blow for Seattle on multiple accounts, whether it’s Eberle being a leader for the team off the ice or the fact that he was off to his hottest start since his rookie season with six goals and two assists in the team’s first eight games, but the Kraken have been successful over the rest of the homestand in terms of the results. The trade for Daniel Sprong comes at a key time for Seattle, considering that they’ll be without an important scoring winger for three months now. Talented winger Andre Burakovsky has moved up to the top line for the Kraken, joining Jared McCann and Matty Beniers in Eberle’s spot, and he’s continued to rack up assists as he has throughout this season. Sprong has filled in for Burakovsky on the third Kraken line, but Bylsma has said the opportunity for Daniel to get some minutes on that top line if he performs well enough. With Ben Meyers called up from AHL affiliate Coachella Valley, young forward Shane Wright has been scratched as Bylsma has urged him to “get back to the game he can play” with the Seattle head coach saying his performances have been trending in “not the best direction.” If Bylsma wants to shake things up with the wingers, he could play Wright out on the wing, which wouldn’t be too surprising considering the lack of consistent offense the team has shown throughout the season.
What’s next?
Following the unfortunate news that the Kraken will be without their captain in Jordan Eberle for about three months, Seattle had back-to-back days of practice following their last game (a shutout win at home against the Nashville Predators) before they head out on a quick two-game road trip. That quick trip, and first of five consecutive games against divisional opponents, begins tomorrow, Saturday, November 23rd, 2024, when the Kraken battle the Los Angeles Kings for the first time this season. That game between the two Pacific Division opponents has a puck drop time of 1PM PST, being broadcast live on the Kraken Hockey Network, KONG, as well as ESPN+ for those who aren’t in the local market as it would be blacked out. On the radio side of things, -. Both the Kraken and Kings have been largely middling over their past ten games, as the Kraken have a 5-5-0 record over their past ten while the Kings hold a just slightly better mark of 5-4-1. Los Angeles has somewhat shuffled their roster this past offseason, but Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar continue to lead their team in terms of production and from an experience standpoint.
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