Oilers minor league defender confirmed to have injured star Kraken forward

The Oilers have begun to slim down their training camp roster as the regular season approaches, and Akey was involved in the first major round of cuts.

According to a new update from the Seattle Kraken, Kaako has suffered a broken hand and will miss at least 6 weeks to begin the season.

The play drew plenty of scrutiny from hockey fans online when the Oilers took on the Kraken 3 days ago. Akey was battling Kakko on the boards for a puck, and connected a hard slash to his hand while trying to rough him up.

Now 24 years old, Kakko was the second overall draft pick by the New York Rangers in 2019. He's amassed 379 career games played, but has never met the expectations of his draft position, and has only had a career best year of 44 points.

Traded to the Kraken in December of 2024, Kakko did take a major step forward in his first half season in Seattle. Fans had high hopes for him entering this year, which will now be tempered by this hand injury.

And of course, fans don't love to see high profile players injured by minor leaguers. Even Oilers fans thought the slash from Akey wasn't good.

Akey is also one of the Oilers top younger prospects heading into this season. Still estimated to be a few years away from the NHL, analysts have pegged him as one of the more likely trade candidates this year.

Hopefully Kakko heals up well, and can get back into the lineup and continue the success he had in Seattle last year.