Berkly Catton Making Most Out of Developmental Role With Kraken
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Seattle Kraken center Berkly Catton (27) looks on outside the locker room before the warmups before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. - Berkly Catton is not used to sitting for this long.
In the Seattle Kraken’s 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, the rookie forward sat for nearly seven minutes between two shifts in the second period, as a Devils power play broke up the line rotation. In the previous game, a 4-2 loss to Anaheim on Friday, Catton spent 8:56 on the bench between shifts in the second period.
Catton’s linemates, Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen, play roles on both sides of special teams, which leaves Catton on the bench in both situations and the following shifts at even strength while the other two recover.
It’s not an indictment on Catton’s play, but rather the nature of his role. Catton, who turned 20 two weeks ago, grew up as the best player on his team — if not the entire league — at every stop along the way to the Kraken, but as is the case with most young players who make the jump to the NHL, he’s had to adjust to a smaller workload.
“Honestly, this year, that’s been a new thing for me,” Catton told the Emerald City Spectrum on Saturday. “When you don’t play for a couple minutes — eight, nine minutes sometimes — and you got to get out there and have a good, positive shift.
“So I think just trying to stay with it, and be positive on the bench, and always just be ready. Almost pretend like I’m going out next shift no matter what.”
Catton acknowledges that, as a rookie breaking into the league, he has to earn the respect and trust of his coaches in order to get on the ice more. With fewer shifts, he has to make the most of each opportunity.
He nearly did just that in the third period against the Ducks on Friday, setting up Stephenson for a high-danger shot at the netfront with around 12 minutes left in regulation, but Stephenson couldn’t complete his move to get a shot off in time.
Catton teed up Tolvanen for a clean shot nearly nine minutes later, but Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal made the save. Under different circumstances, he could have had at least two assists in the period, but instead the Kraken couldn’t find the tying goal in time and ultimately lost 4-2.
For Catton, who toiled through 27 games without a goal to start his NHL career, that fruitless labor feels like the status quo so far this season.
“I feel like I’ve had lots of games like that where it’s been lots of good looks,” Catton said. “And then honestly when I was scoring (with four goals in four games from Jan. 6 to Jan. 12), those games were like, okay. So it’s just funny how that works, where points don’t always indicate exactly how you’re playing, but I think if I can try and keep projecting upwards, good things keep coming my way, and at the end of the day it is the best league in the world, so just trying to be the best I can.”
Even without the tangible production on Friday, coach Lane Lambert recognized Catton’s efforts.
“It was okay,” Lambert said on Saturday. “He made a great little tip play to Stephenson there, which we could have tied the game on. I thought Chandler’s move was a good move. He just lost the puck. … (Catton) drew a penalty. I thought he was moving his legs.”
When asked if Catton’s recent flashes of play-making warranted consideration for deployment on the power play, Lambert defended his current unit, which had a 29.4% success rate in 25 games from Dec. 6 to Jan. 23, but is now 2-for-16 (12.5%) over the past five games and has allowed a string of short-handed goals.
While he’ll have to wait for opportunities on special teams, Catton followed up his third-period effort against Anaheim by scoring the winning goal against the Devils on Sunday.
Just 18 seconds after Matty Beniers gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead at 7:04 of the third period, Catton scored on the following shift off a cross-crease pass from Stephenson. New Jersey cut it to 3-2 less than a minute later, but Seattle held on for a 4-2 win.
“The poise (Catton) has with the puck, I feel like that’s been improving every game,” Tolvanen told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s matchup against the Washington Capitals. “I think he’s more comfortable, and you can see he makes plays that– when he’s comfortable, he can make those 1-on-1 plays. (He) wins a lot of battles, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Sunday marked the first time Stephenson and Catton connected on a goal this season. After spending training camp in a hotel next to Kraken Community Iceplex in Northgate, Catton is living with the 31-year-old forward.
Following Friday’s loss to Anaheim, the two Saskatoon, Sask. natives sat at Stephenson’s table to break down some details of the game, and they managed to team up for a crucial goal the following game.
Those postgame discussions aren’t a daily occurrence, as Stephenson’s two small children understandably keep him busy around the house, but Catton values any spare time to chat.
“It was just kind of us hanging out down there,” Catton said about the scene after Friday’s loss to Anaheim. “It’s cool even just to pick his brain. He’s seen so much hockey and whatnot. So I think just trying to learn and keep building.”
If Catton reaches his potential in the NHL, his days of waiting upwards of eight minutes between shifts are numbered. Until then, he plans to treat every moment on the bench like he’ll be the next guy jumping over the boards.
