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Former Kraken Forward Dealing With Injury Ahead Of NHL Opener
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- Former Kraken Forward Dealing With Injury Ahead Of NHL Opener
A former Seattle Kraken is feeling some crackin' — but Colin Blackwell isn't expected to miss the Dallas Stars ' season opener.
The 33-year-old forward is currently dealing with a lower-body injury, but Blackwell is expected to be healthy enough to suit up when Dallas opens the 2026-27 regular season against the St. Louis Blues on Friday, Oct. 2, at American Airlines Center.
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For now, it's a minor bump in the road for a player who has carved out a respectable NHL career without ever being the guy expected to light up the scoresheet every night.
Blackwell spent part of the 2021-22 season with the Kraken, recording eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in 39 games. Seattle acquired him from the New York Rangers during the 2021 Expansion Draft before sending him to the Toronto Maple Leafs alongside Mark Giordano at the trade deadline in March 2022.
Since leaving Seattle, Blackwell has continued to make a living in the NHL by doing the things that don't always show up in the box score. He's a competitive, hard-working depth forward who has never needed a starring role to make an impact.
Dallas saw that firsthand during its 2025 playoff run.
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Blackwell scored the overtime winner in Game 2 of the Stars' first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche , jumping on a rebound to give Dallas a dramatic victory. The Stars eventually eliminated Colorado in seven games, with Blackwell's goal becoming one of the memorable moments from the series.
His path to the NHL was anything but conventional.
Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and raised in nearby North Andover, Blackwell developed his game playing youth hockey with the Valley Junior Warriors before becoming a standout at St. John's Prep. During his final high school season in 2010-11, he exploded for 66 points in 25 games and earned the Mr. Hockey Award from ESPN Boston.
That performance helped put him on the NHL Draft radar, although Blackwell had to wait until the seventh round before hearing his name called. The San Jose Sharks selected him 194th overall in 2011.
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More than a decade later, the seventh-round pick has turned himself into a veteran NHL forward, appearing in 368 regular-season games and recording 106 points along the way.
Now, Blackwell is simply trying to get through training camp healthy and ready to go. Despite the lower-body injury, he is expected to be available when the Stars welcome the Blues to Dallas on Oct. 2.
