When the announcement comes from Kraken PR that a practice or morning skate has been made optional, it’s easy for those of us in the local media corps to also “take the option,” so to speak. But every now and then, an optional skate yields some juicy little nuggets of knowledge about what’s happening with the team. There’s something about the nature of those types of practices—with lower attendance from both players and media—that seems to bring out unique opportunities for learning and observation.

After Seattle rallied from a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Thursday, Kraken head coach Lane Lambert did, indeed, make practice optional on Friday. Yet something told me it would be beneficial to be there, so instead of pulling a U-turn and heading back home to “take the option,” I pressed on through the torrential rains and found a group of 11 skaters and all three goalies on the ice.

Participants included Freddy Gaudreau, who was skating full speed and appeared to be a practice or two away from returning (I’m predicting he’ll be back in the lineup Saturday against the San Jose Sharks), and Joey Daccord, who remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Optional #SeaKraken practice today.

On the ice:
Winterton, Oleksiak, Catton, Kartye, Mahura, Fleury, Nyman, Wright, Meyers, Gaudreau, Evans, Murray, Grubauer, Daccord.

Freddy Gaudreau and Joey Daccord are full participants. pic.twitter.com/4eyuewnzi8

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025

All that was positive to see, but what was most encouraging was Jared McCann appearing on the ice partway through the skate, going through drills at close to full tilt.

Since McCann disappeared from the lineup and was deemed “day-to-day” with a lower-body injury following Seattle’s 4-3 overtime win at the Toronto Maple Leafs way back on on Oct. 18, I personally had only seen him on the ice one time. In that instance, he was skating separate from the team with assistant coach Jessica Campbell and was clearly testing out his injured leg, flexing it and grimacing regularly. Soon after that, I heard through the grapevine that McCann had been seen walking around Climate Pledge Arena very gingerly, and I haven’t seen him on the ice since.

Oh, hello, Jared McCann! Fancy seeing you here… https://t.co/03xJE9qSC5 pic.twitter.com/HG9udmNVWm

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025

So, this was a very positive sign and the first real indication of progress for McCann. Although the Kraken managed five goals against the Jets, there’s no doubt they desperately need their top offensive player back in the lineup.

Also worth noting, Kaapo Kakko—who left the game Thursday with a lower-body injury on the next shift after scoring his first goal of the season—was spotted at Kraken Community Iceplex in street clothes. There wasn’t much to learn about his status just from seeing him, and Lambert didn’t address the media Friday, but Kaapo was at least around the team. So, perhaps that’s a positive sign, but we’ll learn more on Saturday.

Berkly Catton remains a full-time NHLer… for now

When Berkly Catton suited up for his 10th game of the season in Dallas on Sunday, he crossed an important threshold. That 10th game means he now burns the first year of his entry-level contract. For a 19-year-old CHL-eligible player, hitting that number is massive, because nine games is typically the cutoff for when NHL clubs send youngsters (who are not eligible for the AHL because of the NHL/CHL transfer agreement) back to junior hockey.

It is still possible that Catton ends up back in the WHL at some point this season, although using up a year of his ELC makes that scenario far less likely.

I chatted with Catton on Friday about what clearing that threshold means to him.

“Out of camp, the conversation was kind of like, ‘We don’t really know what’s going to happen, but at some point, you’ll get your chance,’” Catton recalled. “‘If we think you’ll develop better here, you’ll stick around. If not, we’ll send you back.’ So, I’m obviously doing something right in that sense. I’m just going to try to keep building on that. But it was pretty stressful. That 10th game was nice, and I think just kind of sticking in the lineup’s been good.”

Lambert does seem to be developing more and more trust in Catton, to the point that he recently moved him to third-line center between Shane Wright and Eeli Tolvanen. Catton said it doesn’t matter to him whether he skates at center or wing, but he did find value in playing wing because he learned what’s difficult for a winger to execute at the NHL level. So if he plays his more natural center position moving forward, that wing experience should still be beneficial.

“I don’t really care [whether I’m wing or center], to be honest,” Catton said. “I just want to be out on the ice, and I think a lot of it is just understanding the systems themselves, and I’ve really tried my best to do that and learn that way. And then when you get the puck on your stick, just make a play. That’s kind of my mindset.”

Lambert also had some nice commentary about Catton before the game on Saturday when he was asked by Piper Shaw about his comfort in moving the rookie into his current role.

“This player is a player who is dialed in,” Lambert said. “He’s a sponge, he’s absorbing everything, from what his responsibilities are off face-offs to what his defensive-zone responsibilities are to how he can create more in the offensive zone. We’ll just continue to watch him progress, I think. There’s been a lot of progression from him from that standpoint, and we’ll see where we go.”

By the way, now that Catton has burned through the first year of his ELC, he’s now moving in with Chandler Stephenson and his family for the foreseeable future. That’s a good indication that the Kraken expect him to stick for (at least most of) the rest of the season.

Checking in with Ryker Evans

Since I was away for a while, I wasn’t around when Ryker Evans returned from injury, so I chatted with him about the vibes of the team after the win over Winnipeg and how things feel different this season compared to last.

“Yeah, I mean, big comeback [last night],” Evans said. “I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure when we were down. The vibes were good on the bench. We believe we can come back, and we did. Around the room, it’s great, very positive.”

The defenseman also mentioned that winning breeds positivity in the room, and with an 8-4-5 record through 17 games, there have been a lot more good feelings floating around this season, compared to last.

“Obviously, it’s different when you’re winning, guys are a lot more happy. So I think, just in years past, we just weren’t winning as much, we weren’t finding success. So, around the room, it’s a bit tougher [in that scenario]. But I mean, since we’re winning, it’s happy, and everyone’s really clicking.”

Evans has had an interesting ride over the last couple seasons. He split 2023-24 between Coachella Valley and Seattle, playing under Dave Hakstol in the NHL and Dan Bylsma in the AHL. Then Hakstol was fired and replaced by Bylsma, who Evans, of course, knew well. Now, as a still-developing, 23-year-old defenseman, he missed the first 13 games of the season with an upper-body injury, while the rest of the team was getting to know the ways of the more structure- and detail-oriented Lambert.

Still, Evans said it hasn’t been that drastic of an adjustment.

“Last year’s coaching staff, I had them in Coachella for two years, so it’s a bit different. I knew them and what they expected,” Evans said. “This year, it’s kind of the same messages, just play how I play. And then, I mean, from a team standpoint, as you guys can see, we’re just playing hard, we’re playing fast. I think we’re just very structurally [sound] in the D-zone. They’re a very detailed coaching staff.”