2024 Seattle Kraken Draft Class Introduction

2024 Seattle Kraken Draft Class Introduction

do you like centers who shoot from the left well then have I got the draft class for you what’s cracking everybody and welcome in as we welcome in a new set of Kraken prospects the 2024 draft class as I’m sure all of you or most of you at least are well aware by now the NHL draft happened this last Friday and Saturday in Vegas in the sphere and for the first time since the Kraken joined the league I did not stream for the draft and that’s because I was actually there in the sphere watching it happen live which as far as the experience of the sphere it was inred incredibly well done by the NHL which honestly was a bit surprising how good of a job the NHL did with this at least from a fan perspective live anyway I don’t know what it looked like on TV and I know some other aspects of it turned out to be a bit of a mess behind the scenes but either way it truly was an incredible one-of-a-kind experience especially considering it was also the first live or televised event from the sphere so for the NHL to be the first ones to do either of those things and then to pull it off as well as they did yeah it really was a great experience all around but enough of all that for now as far as the actual important part of the draft the drafting new players into the Kraken organization the Kraken end up selecting eight players over the course of the draft the first one eighth overall is they don’t end up moving their first pick they did actually make one draft a trade but it happened late in day two so the first pick the at the overall was one that they actually used as intended but not necessarily as expected especially considering that a number of the top defensive prospects fell to the Kraken and pretty much everyone is expecting the Kraken to take one of those top defensemen instead they they end up going with a forward Center Berkeley katton from the Spokane Chiefs with players like Z buam or Zan perck still available at that point Kat was definitely a bit of a surprise especially considering that the Kraken defensive prospect pool is pretty light especially with rer Evans having made the jump to the NHL still the Krakens seem to have gone with best player available regardless of organizational need which as it turns out may have been a bit of a theme over the course of the entire draft for the Kraken though even with that said Kat does it address another organizational need at least one at the NHL level anyway and that is offense and goal production as at least as far as perer offense is concerned Ken was easily one of the best available players in this draft and certainly the best available once the Kraken pick came around which certainly showed up in his point production with the Spokane Chiefs over this last season in the WHL where in 608 games he put up 116 points on 54 goals and 62 assists all of which not only made him the highest scoring CHL player in this draft but also was good enough for third and goals in the WHL fourth in points in the WHL and fifth in both of those categories in the entire CHL and since we’re on the subject one of the players ahead of him in both of those categories in the WHL was another Kraken Prospect in yoger ferus and two of the players in both of those CHL categories also Kraken prospects with jogger ferus Carson raycroft and David Goyette all being ahead of him in different categories all three of whom by the way are former second round picks for the Krakens so we’ll see what that means for for the potential future of this year’s second round pick but let’s get back to Katen for the time being just to put a little bit more perspective on how impressive those numbers are from Katen outside of the scope of just this last season well the 115 points and over 50 goals make him just the second WHL player in the 21st century to put up at least 50 goals and 110 points in the age 17 season and yes he is now 18 but he turned 18 between the end of the WHL season and the draft so he played the entire season at the age of 17 by the way the other player there is of course Conor Bard oh and by the way to throw the entire CHL into it well he becomes just the fourth player in the 21st century to in their draft eligible year put up at least 115 points and 50 goals joining again Conor Bedard as well as Sydney Crosby and Kyle Connor so yeah puts him in pretty good company now as for how K is able to do all this well he is a very good to even great skater he’s fast skates smooth is able to stop and accelerate faster than just about anybody else at least his age anyway and put all that together it makes him uniquely able to quickly attack down the ice through the neutral zone in transition and get the puck down to the offensive end where once again he’s often able to outmaneuver other players to get into good scoring positions or at the very least attract defense to then get a pass across to a wideopen teammate and when it comes to those passes what’s possibly better than his ability with his feet is that of his hands he has incredibly quick hands and also thinks the game unlike most players his age so even if he’s not able to beat an opponent just with his feet the quickness and Agility he’s more than likely going to be able to get the job done with his Elite set of hands an incredible hocky sense to find that open pass even if he’s not able to get around them with the puck still in his possession all of which again leads to a player that at age 17 put up the point totals that he did so then with all of this talent in a number of very important areas that should translate pretty well to the NHL as far as how he ends up falling all the way down to eight where the cracken can pick him up that is largely probably due to his size at 511 170 lbs he is definitely on the smaller end especially by NHL standards not that he’s going to play in the NHL this season likely still with his speed and great hands he’s been able to this point largely avoid the physical part of the game it’s not a huge part of his game and doesn’t need to be if he’s able to meet his and continue to have those skills translate to the pro level when the time comes but without another growth spurt which is still possible having just turned 18 it could be a hard transition to the pro level at the size he’s currently at I mean whether or not he gets taller he’s still going to put on more weight over the next few years as he gets older we’ve already seen Matty bers doing that still if he isn’t able to grow too much more he probably and this still could be the case if he does grow could end up moving out to more of a wing roll for the Kraken and being a playmaker for say Matty bers or Shane Wright especially I think Shane Wright showing that ability especially over this last season to find his way to get lost behind defense in the offensive end and then be wide open in front of the net you put a playmaker on the wing of that and set right up for those goals could be a pretty good recipe for success and some increased offense at the pro level still again Katen unlikely to play in the NHL or even AHL this next season more than likely he’ll be back in Spokane playing one more year with the Chiefs before for making that jump actually now that I’m thinking about it if he does meet somewhere near his potential then you put his offensive ability on the wing of bers with his defensive ability again another very good balanced line so another good spot for the bright future of the Kraken assuming things continue to go well at the lower levels anyway with all that having been said and again noting that this was a bit of a surprise that Kraken didn’t go defense especially with the Defenders that were left at the time the Kraken were picking and i’ love know your thoughts down in the comment section about the Kraken choice to go an elite potential offensive Talent here over one of those Defenders but I think it’s time we probably move on to day two here as we still have a few more picks to get through starting with the 40th overall pick and their first pick in the second round Julius mnan of the Everett silver tips another left shotted Center so once again going into day two if you’re anything like me you were probably thinking along the lines of all right the Kraken got the best available player they decided not to go defense which was surprising but they got a very good offensively talented player now here starting off day two this is where they’ll take the best available defenseman and address that organizational need of lacking defensive prospects but no like I just said once again the Kraken go with another left shoted Center once again probably just picking best available player at least as far as what the list that their Scouts had put together suggested at that time and again mnan is a very good player silver tips will know that having watched him over the course of this last season the Finish Center does have a lot of offensive tools just like Kat though not quite to the same degree he’s not as fast doesn’t have quite as good of hands but unlike Ken he is much better getting down towards the net and powering his way in front of there and creating chaos in that area that well let’s face it the Kraken were not very good at creating any chaos in front of this last season not that again mnan is going to be playing in the NHL over the next year maybe even two but still something that Aken could probably use more of and of course a large part of the reason he’s able to do that and produce in those different offensive ways than the ways Katen does is because unlike Katen while he still has plenty of tools just not quite to that same level he is a lot bigger than Katen already at 6’3 and over 200 lb so a lot more of a power forward type of player that again like I said can drive to the net create some chaos there and be ready for maybe some playmaking from the perimeter by a player like Katen for example and of course that bigger frame also means he’s a lot better suited than a player like Katen for example to the more physical parts of the game winning Puck battles pushing opponents off of Puck not only in the offensive end along the boards on the for check but also in the defensive end getting possession of the puck in the first place and making the offensive end a little bit more of a tough place for opponents to be so while his offensive talents are more just above average rather than pushing Elite potentially like Kens are and again still respectable Point per game in the WHL this last season with 67 points in the 66 games he played in the regular season on 31 goals and 36 assists he is still able to play more of a much more two-way Center game and whether or not he stays at Center or any of these centers that Kraken picked that’ll just we’ll have to wait and see which again with the number of centers that Kraken picked not only in this draft but have picked over their entire existence some of them maybe even most of them will end up moving out to the wing over time which is totally fine I mean a lot of these guys only play Center at the levels that they’re at right now because they’re the best players down there and often you put your best forwards in that Center role if it suits them in any way so as time goes on obviously we’re just going to have to wait and see as he moves up the levels eventually into the pro levels whether or not he stays at that Center roll and plays down the middle getting towards the net or maybe moves out to the wing and uses that heavy shot that he has out from the faceof dots and tries to get involved offensively that way and who knows if he ends up progressing in the way that a lot of the other C Ken second round picks have over the last few years he could end up being a very good player down the road with the ability he already has and the size that he already has moving on though to the second pick the Kraken had in the second round which they got from the New York Rangers for weberg at the deadline with the 63rd overall pick in the draft the Kraken select defenseman no not a defenseman once again they go with a left shoted Center and another small one at 5’11 this time it’s Nathan vne now although he does play the same position and shoots from the same side as both of the first two picks the Kraken made unlike both of those two players he did not play in the state of Washington this last season he played for the subber Wolves of the OHL and unlike katten even though he’s the same height at 5’11 he is a little bit more of a filled out 5’11 at just over 190 lbs and also likes to use that quite a bit more than Katon does part he because he’s not quite as much of an offensive threat as Ken he only scored the 50 points in 56 games with about half of those being goals which still is respectable for a player of his age but he is much more of the pesky aggressive agitating type of forward that you might think of like a Yanni Gordon for example he likes to throw his body around lay hits and is particularly good at taking the puck off of opponents whether that’s sneaking up behind them and lifting the stick and taking the puck that way or just laying ah hit and trying to push them off the puck in a more direct way he is pretty much your purpose build built perfectly exactly what you’d want from a third line Center or again maybe moves out to the wing I mean honestly I think his head shot from I think it was this last season says pretty much all you need to know moving on though to the third round this is where with their first pick in the third round the 73rd overall pick the Kraken finally select their first defenseman in right shot defenseman Alexis berer it’s actually pronounced Bernier or Bernier but said like someone who’s ever spoken French either way it’s hard to miss the fact that it looks spelling WI a lot like bers so I can’t help but find myself hoping that this kid does eventually make it up to the NHL and play with the Kraken if for no other reason then the Bernier to Ben’s connection which won’t be confusing at all for forsland or fitzu to end up calling anyway as far as the player himself is concerned Bernier did play almost the full season of the qmjhl 67 games so just one short of the full 68 at 62 he does have some pretty decent size on the blue line and of course like I said as a right shot defenseman which is always in high Dem and if it does end up working out he is pretty good in the defensive end by the sounds of it but a large part of that is because he doesn’t spend a lot of time in the defensive end as he is quite good at the breakout and getting the puck down the ice moving the puck finding the right pass at the right time and once in the offensive end again he’s able to find the open player to move things offensively and get the puck down towards the net and with that being the case it should come is no surprise that his stat line looks similar to what we’ve come to expect from Dunn with with a lot more assists than goals I mean you always tend to get that from a defenseman and he doesn’t score quite as much as done we’re not expecting him to turn into the next Vince dun but regardless in the 67 games he did play like I said earlier he did put up nearly a half Point per game with 31 points on four goals and the 27 assists then later on in the third round with their second pick in the third round 88th overall the Kraken selected the only goenda Kim sarin and with go Enders I mean you never really know what’s going to end up happening it usually takes them six seven eight years to even have a chance at making it to the NHL still he had a pretty good year over in Finland in his draft year he played most of it in the u20 Junior League below the LI of top pro league there where in 23 games he had some pretty decent stats a 2 41 goals against average and a 9177 save percentage and he did get into a couple of the top pro games in Liga which is impressive at his age and played pretty well in those two games plus that 6’4 he definitely has the frame at least to potentially be a pretty good goenda hone his game in the one place it does seem like he struggled a bit was in international play at the junior level so who knows what that means once he plays outside of the finished Junior leagues he’ll likely get a little bit more time in Leal we’ll see how that goes but again this is not a guy that we’re likely to see anywhere near the NHL level for at least a few more years for what it’s worth though the Kraken seem to like their finished goal tenders as he’s now the third in the Kraken system up next though as we move on to the fourth round with the 105th overall pick the Kraken get back to their roots in this draft and select another left shot Center and once again from the WHL though not the state of Washington from the Red Deer Rebels they pick Oliver Josephson now yes right away it’s worth pointing out that his statline as far as Point production is concerned is not terribly impressive with just 47 points in the full 68 games so it’s nice that he played the full 68 games in the WHL especially with just 12 of those 47 being goals 35 assists even with that being a pretty big improvement from the year before where he had just 19 points in 63 games still he is much more known for his tenacious defensive play as he’s a lock down forward in the defensive end much better down there where his hard work in physical play with his six fo one frame allows him to often find ways to take the puck away from opposing players as from that Center role he is not afraid to attack the puck in the defensive end aggressively and go through any opponent that might have the puck if necessary so barring some big surprise definitely not the type of player that’s likely to light up stat sheets especially at a pro level but even throughout his career as he does move on and gets older obviously over these next few years but he could still potentially end up being the type of guy that if everything works out well could fit in pretty well on a third or fourth line type of shutdown roll as he often does end up facing off against the top scores of an opposing team to try to slow them down moving on though the Kraken did not go into the draft with a fifth round pick but they do end up making a draft day trade as they trade their sixth and seventh round pick the two that belong to them to move up to the 141st pick into the fifth round where they end up selecting not a center this time but another left shot forward left shotted Winger from the Swift Current Broncos Clark Caswell he actually had a pretty decent season for the Broncos too especially for someone that went this late in the draft with 77 points so well over a point per game in 68 games with 26 goals and 51 assists and he definitely is a bit more of a playmaker as that stat line would suggest he does seem to have a little bit of the same play style that we already talked about with Vu a bit of a pesky forward that plays some of the physical game but or just trying to win body position over the opponent to try and take the puck or just pickpocket them from behind get it get it down the ice and then make the play to let somebody else do the scoring though at 5’11 and right around 170 lbs so the same size as Katen but without the same amount of elusiveness that katten does I wonder if his drop in the draft might have something to do with teams worrying about his ability to transition the game that he likes to play at his size to a pro level and I think that is probably Val concern if he doesn’t grow any more than he already is if he doesn’t grow bigger than he already is though even still with all that known going in he still came into the draft with a low second maybe more High third round draft grade expected to go somewhere in the 70s there was even one board that had him all the way up at 38 so it’s possible the Kraken got a bit of a steal here especially in the middle part of the fifth round obviously time will just have to tell though whether or not this is a guy that could turn out to be that steel and make it to the end of HL level and use that playmaking and good hockey sense which often is something that does translate from one level to the next or if maybe he ends up being an AHL and helps the Firebirds try to beat the Hershey Bears finally and then finally with their last pick in the draft it’s actually a similar story with the other pick the Kraken had in the seventh round the one they didn’t trade to move up to the fifth with the 20 second pick overall the Kraken select another defenseman this time a left shot defenseman in Jacob fibiger the 6′ tall 17-year-old Czech defenseman spent his first year in North America with the Miss Saga Steelheads of the WHL and had a pretty decent season 43 points on seven goals and 36 assists in 61 games it’s hard to see how he fell as far as he did especially considering he was expected to go somewhere in the 90s so yeah anywhere from late in the third round to early in the fourth round but to fall all the way to the seventh this could be another steal for the Kraken though it’s hard to say with anybody that gets drafted this late whether or not they end up getting anywhere close to the NHL most don’t but it’s definitely possible heck obviously we’ve already even seen an undrafted free agent make it through up to the NHL for the Kraken in ta Cartier not a defenseman but still the point stands as for his play style well according to Elite prospects which is an invaluable resource throughout this entire draft process especially considering to be honest I really didn’t know that much about anybody past the second round he plays very well in transition really both ways he’s pretty good with the Breakout heading down the ice like we already saw from Bernier the other defenseman the Kraken took and he’s pretty good coming back the other way and transition defensively as well not afraid to throw his body around and push opponents off the puck physically around his blue line and obviously in the defensive end if necessary of course though one more time as I’m sure we’re all pretty well aware you never really know with these draft picks especially the later you get into the draft whether or not they’ll even end up making it to the NHL level much less playing significant time there and making a difference sure guys taken more towards the top of the draft like especially Kat and eth overall with the talent that He has he’ll very likely play at least some games in the NHL and more likely than not significant time there now whether or not he ends up being a mainstate top six forward or maybe even Allstar in reaching his ceiling that is a little bit more unknown but I think the Kraken did pretty well in this draft even if it didn’t go the way we expected sure we were probably thinking a little bit more of defenseman being taken rather than say four left shot centers but it seems the Kraken went much more of the just pick the best player available and more often than not that is the best way to go you can often find yourself getting in a little bit more danger and picking players that don’t end up working out when you just force yourself to take a player based on positional need in your farm system after all you can always fix that problem via trade or you know just have your farm system take care of your forward end and then find defenseman via free agency or again trading plus there’s always next year they can find defenseman in the 2025 draft with all that having been said though I’d love to know your thoughts down the comment section below about any of these players or the draft in general for the Kraken if there’s anything you think I missed especially for say fans of the silver tips or chiefs that have gotten to watch Katen or mnon over this last season and for the rest of us if you have a chance to go watch a silver tips versus Chiefs game might not be a bad idea with that though if you have made to this point thank you very much for watching if you did like or enjoy the video Buton for that kind of stuff down below that help support the channel so I appreciate you them until next time which again I will try to have something about the experience of the draft out took some pictures and videos and all that so that video Until then stay safe out there be good to each other God bless and go Kraken actually next time will probably be free agency

Breaking down the 2024 NHL draft for the Seattle Kraken and introducing the 8 new members of the Kraken prospect pipeline.

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