‘It’s Good He’s Here’: Why Kraken Kept Berkly Catton, Even as Scratch
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Seattle Kraken opened their season with a 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, with the Ducks’ lone goal coming from Beckett Sennecke, the 2024 third overall pick who made his NHL debut.
The Kraken’s top pick from 2024 was at Climate Pledge Arena as well, but not on the ice. Berkly Catton watched from the press box after practicing as the extra forward in the days leading up to opening night.
The 19-year-old forward once again slotted in as the extra skater on Friday, so barring a switch, Catton will have to wait beyond Saturday’s home matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights to make his NHL debut.
Kraken coach Lane Lambert preached patience when asked about the plan for Catton after Thursday’s game.
“We’ll continue to work with him,” Lambert said. “We’ll continue to work on his development. There’s a lot of different things that go into that, and we have [assistant coach] Jessica [Campbell] and [Head of Player Strategy] Justin Rai are doing a good job with helping him in that situation.
“He’ll get his opportunity at some point here. So he just has to be patient. Everyone just has to be patient.”
Catton made the Kraken roster after torching the WHL playing for the Spokane Chiefs last season, scoring 38 goals and 109 points in 57 games. He led the Chiefs to the WHL Championship, where they fell to the Medicine Hat Tigers in five games.
It marked Catton’s second consecutive 100-point season in the ‘Dub’ — he scored 116 points in 68 games the year prior — so he’s proven all he can at that level.
While most prospects progress to the AHL, in this case Seattle’s affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, players under the age of 20 are ineligible to play.
Those eligibility rules are set to shift as early as next season, but it doesn’t matter for Catton. Entering training camp, his only options were to stick in Seattle or go back to juniors. As the opening night roster cut deadline approached, Catton told the Emerald City Spectrum that he was at peace with whatever decision was made.
“I think the coaching staff and the management want what’s best for me,” Catton said on Sunday. “So whatever that may be, I’m going to put my nose to the grindstone and kind of continue to work. I don’t really care where I am, but obviously I would like to be here and showcase myself here to the best of my abilities.”
So far, the only showcasing is to the development staff at Kraken Community Iceplex. As Lambert said, Catton will receive an opportunity at some point down the stretch, but therein lies the conundrum of his situation and the best path for his development:
Is Catton better off playing regular minutes at a level he’s already mastered? Or losing out on game time to stay with the NHL club?
Obviously, the Kraken believe in the latter. Lambert detailed why on Friday:
“I think it’s important for him to see and understand and get the daily message,” Lambert said. “You can ask me about Catton every day; it’s good he’s here. He’s gaining knowledge, he’s in meetings. He’s understanding different sort of intricacies of playing in the National Hockey League, and playing at the National Hockey League level.
“These are invaluable lessons for him to see right now as opposed to being at a different level not seeing them. When he’s not playing, he’s training with our training staff. He’s getting stronger, and when he’s practicing, he’s practicing with our players. So, you know, every day is a good day for him, and every day is a day to get better. Not only for him, but for everybody else.”
Part of that development is building Catton’s defensive responsibility at the NHL level. Known more for his offensive abilities, Catton impressed with a couple of blocked shots in Seattle’s 2-1 preseason shootout loss to the Calgary Flames on Sept. 29.
He also took a couple reps on the penalty kill as recently as Wednesday’s practice, with Lambert putting importance on young players learning every side of the game.
“[Catton is] an elite player, he thinks [the game] really well,” Matty Beniers said on Sept. 29 after playing on the same line together. “He can skate really well, so it was fun. We were buzzing back and forth, playing off each other, getting in good spots for each other, and he did a good job of being responsible in the D-zone, winning battles.”
Whether that will translate from preseason to the real regular season action consistently remains to be seen. And it may take some time before it will be seen at all.
