Kraken’s Brandon Montour out four weeks after hand surgery
The Seattle Kraken will have to make due without one of their top defensemen for the next month.
The team announced Monday that Brandon Montour had successful hand surgery and has been placed on injured reserve. He is expected to miss the next four weeks while in recovery.
❌Brandon Montour (hand) is expected to be out for the next four weeks. #SEAKraken
An update on #SeaKraken defenseman Brandon Montour:
Montour, 31, has missed Seattle’s last two games after suffering his injury against the Colorado Avalanche on December 16th. Montour left that game following a post-whistle scuffle with Colorado’s Brent Burns.
Brandon Montour taken out after a scuffle with Brent Burns. The hit was nasty, unclear how bad the injury is. #NHLNews #BrandonMontour #BrentBurns
The Brantford, Ontario native is second on the team in average ice time, behind fellow defenseman Vince Dunn, with just under 22 minutes per game. He is also sixth on the team in scoring, with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 27 games.
Montour is in the second season of a seven-year, $50 million deal with Seattle. Last season, he put up 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points.
The Anaheim Ducks selected Montour out of the USHL in the second round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He spent the first two-plus years of his career in Anaheim, and was then dealt ahead of 2019 trade deadline to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Brendan Guhle and a first-round pick.
After 112 total games over parts of three seasons in Buffalo, Montour was traded to the Florida Panthers for a third-round pick during the shortened 2021 season.
Montour flourished over three-plus seasons in Florida. In 2022-23, he put up 16 goals and 57 assists for 73 points in 80 games, and finished tied for 12th in voting for the Norris Trophy. He then won the 2024 Stanley Cup with the Panthers before signing with the Kraken.
Seattle will play the Ducks on Monday before finishing a four-game road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.