Mark Giordano was scratched for a second straight game when the Kraken played the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
The Seattle captain said he understands why the Kraken are holding him out of the lineup even though he's healthy.
"You never know for sure that a trade is going to happen," the defenseman said. "But it's obviously leaning that way, and then after all is said and done, it will be a quick turnaround for my family, but I'm sure we'll have lots of help."
The 38-year-old, who can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, also sat out a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, when he was honored for playing his 1,000th NHL game, which occurred March 5 in a 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals.
"In my situation and having good conversation with (general manager) Ronnie [Francis] and the coaches, it's probably the right thing to do," he said.
The captain of the Kraken in their inaugural season scored 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in 55 games. Giordano was acquired by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on July 21, 2021, after playing 15 NHL seasons for the Calgary Flames.
Giordano said he's "living day to day, hour to hour, to be honest, now that it's getting so close to the deadline."
"It's weird, I've never been through this before, so it's different, yeah, pretty much living day to day," he said. "It's a tough situation, but we all understand what's going on."