Exclusive: Berkly Catton Reflects on Training Camp as Kraken Roster Cutdown Approaches
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Seattle Kraken made three more cuts on Sunday, assigning forwards John Hayden and Oscar Fisker Molgaard as well as defenseman Ville Ottavainen to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds.
That leaves Berkly Catton as the team’s lone extra forward on the roster, based on the practice lines on Saturday and Sunday. With the NHL’s opening night rosters due at 2 PM PT on Monday, the 19-year-old forward has one more night, at most, before his fate is officially determined for the start of the season.
#Kraken Practice Lines 10/5
McCann-Beniers-Eberle/Catton
Schwartz-Wright-Tolvanen
Marchment-Stephenson/Molgaard-Winterton
Kartye-Gaudreau-Nyman
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Fleury
Mahura-Oleksiak
Ottavainen
Daccord
Grubauer
Murray
Catton and Molgaard the 2 extra skaters— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) October 5, 2025
How will he spend it? Catton told the Emerald City Spectrum that he will be eating a home-cooked meal with one of his teammates.
“Chandler [Stephenson] was nice enough to invite me over for dinner,” Catton told ECS on Sunday. “So that will be good.”
He didn’t know what was going to be served as of the end of practice on Sunday, but it didn’t matter. After spending the past several weeks at a hotel near the Kraken Community Iceplex, he’ll gladly eat any homemade dinner.
Catton said he also spent some time staying at Tyson Jugnauth’s apartment ahead of camp, while the 21-year-old defenseman was still in town earlier this summer before ultimately getting reassigned to Coachella Valley on Sept. 27.
Catton had the opportunity to explore the city that he hopes to call home sooner rather than later. After an up-and-down preseason, capped by taking three minor penalties in the final exhibition against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, he hopes he’s proven enough to stick around.
Throughout camp, the coaching staff has discussed the areas that Catton can directly translate from Spokane in the WHL and which areas still require more teaching.
“I think I have a good ability to handle the puck and make plays offensively,” Catton said. “Then, I think just on the defensive side, it’s about being responsible and kind of earning trust that way, to allow myself to get put on the ice.”
After Sunday afternoon’s cuts, the Kraken are at the maximum 23 roster spots. They don’t have to make any more moves if they don’t want to, but Catton’s development would certainly be better suited if he’s playing every night as opposed to watching from press level.
That said, the team could decide to keep him on the roster and rotate him in and out of the lineup, stretching the amount of time it would take for him to reach nine NHL games before the team commits to using the full year of his entry-level contract. All the while, he would get to practice with the rest of the NHLers and work on building his game.
Even if Catton isn’t in the picture to start the season, Lambert hinted that the Kraken will put him in the mix at some point, citing the need for depth in an 82-game season in which games will be condensed because of the Olympic break in February.
“You’re going to need players,” Lambert said on Sunday. “There’s a lot of games in a short period of time, and so anyone who’s here at this point in time, (it) bodes well for them, for sure.”
Ultimately, it’s up to general manager Jason Botterill and Lambert, among others in the organization, to decide the course of action. If Catton does remain on the roster, the penalties he committed against Edmonton on Wednesday won’t do him any favors when it comes to earning ice time.
“He’s finding his way in the league,” Lambert said after the 4-2 win on Wednesday. “It’s completely different than he’s ever played before, for the most part anyways. So we just keep working with him, and he’s not the only one who took stick penalties and hooking and this and that, so we just have to clean it up overall as a group.”
No matter where Catton starts the season — in the opening night lineup, an NHL healthy scratch or a return to Spokane, which is where he said he’ll “probably” wind up if not in Seattle — he’s putting his trust in the coaching staff and keeping his approach the same in every scenario.
“I think the coaching staff and the management want what’s best for me,” Catton said. “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.”
