{"id":407773,"date":"2026-01-14T20:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/407773\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:07:13","slug":"kraken-news-rumors-stephenson-montour-olympic-representation-the-hockey-writers-seattle-kraken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/407773\/","title":{"rendered":"Kraken News & Rumors: Stephenson, Montour & Olympic Representation – The Hockey Writers – Seattle Kraken"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Seattle Kraken<\/a> are starting to turn the corner after their performance slide in December. The month of January is a big one for them, as they are scheduled to play 17 games in 31 days, which is their heaviest month of the season. So far, they have played seven games and have a current record of 5-1-1. With just about half of the month over, the Kraken will need to get ready for their next 10 games in the second half of the month.<\/p>\n

With all of that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at some of the news and rumors surrounding the Kraken for this week.<\/p>\n

Stephenson Returns to the Lineup<\/p>\n

Chandler Stephenson<\/a> was moved to a non-roster spot to begin the road trip, as he had to attend to a family matter. His wife was getting ready to\u00a0have their third child<\/a>, so he was likely back in Seattle to welcome the newborn into the world. He only missed two games, which means all signs point to a healthy delivery and a happy moment for the Stephenson family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: 3 Takeaways From the Kraken\u2019s 4-2 Win Over the Rangers <\/a><\/p>\n

With Stephenson back with the team and entering the lineup again, the Kraken will need to decide which forward to bench. Based on the\u00a0lines at Tuesday\u2019s practice<\/a>, it appears Jacob Melanson is coming out. This is surprising considering the impact he has had lately. Melanson has played 15 games this season and has recorded four points via his first NHL goal and three assists. Sure, it has been four games since he last recorded a point, but he has still been a threat on the ice, making plays, and is\u00a0third overall\u00a0<\/a>on the team in hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This seems like the prime opportunity to continue playing Melanson, while he has been successful, and bench a player who hasn\u2019t had the greatest success lately, such as Tye Kartye. He just recently entered the lineup again, on Jan.6, after he was a healthy scratch for five games. In his return, he recorded an assist, which was his first since Dec. 12. He hasn\u2019t been having the strongest on-ice impact, which is why he should sit on the bench instead of Melanson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montour Shows Sign of Life\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ahead of their Wednesday, Jan. 14, matchup against the New Jersey Devils, the Kraken held practice at New Jersey\u2019s practice facility. On Monday, ahead of their game against the New York Rangers, defenseman Brandon Montour<\/a> was out on the ice in a\u00a0red no-contact jersey<\/a>. Just a day later, Montour shed the no-contact and was\u00a0wearing a regular practice jersey.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"BrandonSeattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour celebrates with Seattle Kraken left wing Jaden Schwartz (Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Montour was placed on injured reserve (IR) back on Dec. 22, after the team announced he was\u00a0undergoing hand surgery.\u00a0<\/a>He was expected to miss four weeks, but if the regular jersey at practice is any indication, he\u2019ll be back in the lineup soon. He only missed three weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just like with Stephenson, Montour\u2019s potential return means the Kraken will have to decide which defenseman needs to sit out. It seems likely that Cale Fleury will take a seat while Montour will be paired with Ryan Lindgren again. Fleury has only played 14 games with the Kraken, and with his lack of game time, he doesn\u2019t seem to be making the impact Seattle desires. If Montour is back in the lineup, this might be their chance to send Fleury down to the Coachella Valley Fierbirds, the Kraken\u2019s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, so he is at least getting ice time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

4 Kraken Players Set to Take Part in the Olympics<\/p>\n

With January close to halfway over, all sights are set on the 2026 Olympics, which will take place in just under a month in Milan, Italy. The countries taking part in the ice hockey tournament have been announcing their rosters. Four different players signed to the Kraken organization are representing three different countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denmark \u2013 Oscar Fisker Molgaard<\/p>\n

Oscar Fisker Molgaard joins the ranks of Nikolaj Ehlers and Kraken alum Oliver Bjorkstrand as they represent their\u00a0home country of Denmark<\/a>\u00a0in the Olympics. Molgaard is signed to a\u00a0three-year, two-way contract.\u00a0<\/a>He has spent the majority of the season playing in the AHL with the Firebirds, where he has racked up 18 points in 30 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On top of this, he was called up twice to the Kraken and played in two games, recording one assist. He was just called up when Stephenson went back to Seattle to be with his wife, but Molgaard was a healthy scratch in this game. All eyes will be on the Olympics, so this is a great chance for Molgaard to prove to the Kraken that he deserves a spot on the NHL roster when a call-up is needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finland \u2013 Kaapo Kakko and Eeli Tolvanen<\/p>\n

Both Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko are heading to Milan to represent their home country of Finland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tolvanen has had an exceptional season thus far, playing in 43 games and recording 26 points. Earlier this season, he went on a six-game point streak, where he recorded 10 points, the longest of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kakko has had a slower start to the season, considering he spent a portion of it injured. He injured his hand in a preseason game, so he didn\u2019t get to start the NHL season until Nov. 1. Just six games later, he exited the lineup for two weeks with a lower-body injury. Knock on wood, he has been good to go so far and has recorded 15 points in 28 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Germany \u2013 Philipp Grubauer\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rounding out Team Germany\u2019s roster<\/a>\u00a0is Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer.<\/a> He has been a fantastic netminder for the team this season, with a current record of 9-3-2. He currently has a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.25 and a save percentage (SV%) of .924. After a rough start to last season, Grubauer is back to performing at a high level and will be a great addition to Germany\u2019s roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The last time NHL players participated in the Olympics was back in\u00a0Sochi, Russia, in 2014.<\/a>\u00a0After 12 years, it is a huge accomplishment for these players to be named to a country\u2019s Olympic roster, and they should be proud. Congratulations to Molgaard, Kakko, Tolvanen, and Grubauer on this incredible accomplishment!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kraken Continue on Their Final East Coast Road Trip of 2025-26\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Kraken will continue on their East Coast road trip, where they will take on the Devils on Wednesday, Jan. 14.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Seattle Kraken are starting to turn the corner after their performance slide in December. The month of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[2579,4461,4154,5,4188,4,2686,234,5318],"class_list":{"0":"post-407773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-kraken","8":"tag-brandon-montour","9":"tag-chandler-stephenson","10":"tag-eeli-tolvanen","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-kraken","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-seattle","15":"tag-seattle-kraken","16":"tag-seattlekraken"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115895261498013480","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}