Not a bad idea. For a Kraken franchise that’s been on a perpetual (re)build since its inception, other than the blip that was an ‘everything-fell-into-place’ playoff season in 2023, it’s never a bad idea to start utilizing the club’s young talent.
In this case, it means Ryan Winterton, Jani Nyman (pronounced “newman”), and Berkly Catton, the club’s 8th-overall NHL Draft pick in 2024, have all made the club out of training camp. At least for now.
There’s a pretty good chance Catton could get up to nine NHL games before being sent back to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League for another season of Major Juniors. Should Catton play a 10th NHL game, the club would burn a year of his entry-level contract and he’d end up sticking around. It’ll all depend on his performance over the first three weeks.
The team will want to give him ice time early in the season, pretty much as an additional try-out. It could mean bumping winger Tye Kartye off the 4th-line for a spell.
Winterton was considered one of the club’s top-3 prospects two seasons ago by then Director of Player Development Jeff Tambellini, who’s since moved on to the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant GM. The other two on his list at the time: defenseman Ryker Evans, presently injured, but already an NHLer, and Nyman, who tallied three goals and three assists over 12 games with the big club last season.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken’s Melanson Takes His Grind To The AHL
