Montour Off To Strong Start In First Season As A Kraken Alternate Captain

Brandon Montour is off to a strong start for the Seattle Kraken, and he is carrying a lot more than a new letter on his jersey.

The defenceman has five points in seven games as an alternate captain. Seattle is 5-2-0 after beating the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a third straight win on a five-city road trip.

The backdrop is personal. Montour's older brother, Cameron, died of ALS nine days after watching him play the Kraken's first two home games last season, a 3-1 win over Anaheim and a 2-1 overtime win over Vegas. Montour had missed the entire preseason after minor surgery for ankle bursitis, but he made sure he was able to play. He had an assist on Mason Marchment's winner against the Ducks, then fought Ben Hutton against the Golden Knights.

"Cam chuckled about that one," Montour said. "He laughed. It was good to have him around."

The first anniversary of Cameron's death is Tuesday, Oct. 20. Montour now has a guitar tattoo on his back in his brother's memory, because Cameron was deeply into music.

Montour, 32, is in the third season of a seven-year, $50 million contract he signed in the summer of 2024. He is healthy this time, and he sees progress in a team that is still learning.

"I think it's been good so far," Montour said. "I mean, we're still learning. There are still parts of our game we need to clean up. But yeah, I think this year our guys have a better understanding of what can go wrong and what needs to change."