While the Kansas City Chiefs were electrifying the world with their Super Bowl win on Sunday night, we were thinking about a different kind of “Chiefs” team, specifically a key player on the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. Berkly Catton, a player who has the speed and agility of Patrick Mahomes and the ability to always find open space like Travis Kelce, is making a case to hear his name called early at the 2024 NHL Draft.
A native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Catton spends most of his summers just like any other Canadian kid with NHL aspirations: shooting pucks. The 18-year-old said he takes pride in the amount that goes into working on his shot and how he’s been able to translate that to the WHL.
“I spend a lot of my summers just shooting pucks, learning that it’s not easy to score goals in this league,” Catton said. “I think by doing that I’ve taken my shot to the next level.”
The forward leads the Chiefs with 38 goals on the season, good for fourth in the league. “I’m getting to scoring areas a lot better with the maturity and confidence I have in myself. It’s about growing my game, and it’s been growing quite a lot lately.”
Catton appears on the highlight reel almost every night for the Chiefs and got them on the board twice last Friday against the Tri-City Americans. His first goal was a display of his spatial recognition and passing instincts. It was a goal he said he had “blind confidence” on in his celebration, as no one knew initially the puck was in the net. The goal was confirmed minutes later.
Catton tries to emulate some of the most skilled NHLers to separate himself from other prospects and create open ice. “[I watched] players growing up that had a similar style game I strive to play.” Catton used Jack Hughes as an example of a player he looks up to. “Seeing how they do it, and then implementing that into my game. I think I’m a player that can see those opportunities unfold on the ice, then execute very quickly and quite well.”
While he is on the shorter end for a forward at 5-foot-11, Catton more than makes up for it with his hands and his hockey sense and his explosiveness that allows him to create odd-man opportunities for himself.
He showed off this explosiveness with another highlight on Friday evening with his second goal of the contest. Bolting to support linemate Connor Roulette on a 2-on-1 rush, Roulette found Catton open once he caught up. Catton made a dazzling move down low on Americans goalie Lukas Matecha, a shorthanded goal that extended the Chiefs lead to 4-1.
“I pride myself on my ability to accelerate,” Catton said about how his speed would translate professionally. “Lots goes into having elite-caliber speed, but ultimately it’s about that want and drive to score that a lot of the top-level players have, and I think I have that.”
Catton’s knack to find the open ice, then make smart adjustments on the fly will entice teams with a need for more dynamic offensive players.
Chiefs head coach Ryan Smith had high praise for Catton as well. “He’s simply electric,” Smith said. “One of the best there is in this league, if not the best. His edge work is great, he gets around guys and really controls the puck well.”
For a younger, 2006-born player, it was surprising to hear the list of players Catton rattled off when reminiscing about some of his childhood favorites.
“There’s so many options, but I probably liked watching Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Federov the best growing up,” Catton recalled. “Those two were some of the best at creating space and making the most insane plays. Sidney Crosby too, with me being a smaller guy like him, and seeing how well he protects the puck. I have been trying to emulate them as best I can for a long time.”
A budding leader
Another asset of Catton’s game would be his leadership abilities. Of course, he leads the Chiefs statistically in goals, assists, and points (38-44=84), but he is also one of Spokane’s alternate captains and was a captain at this year’s Kubota CHL Top Prospects game in Moncton, New Brunswick.
He has the qualities of making his linemates better while making himself better along the way. “He wants to be the guy to make the plays when he has the puck,” Smith said. “He’s got that confidence about him where he knows that the sky’s the limit, and he’s just going to continue getting better and better.”
Now the main question. Where could Catton end up landing? Most draft rankings have him getting selected in or around the top 10, with the biggest knock on his game being his size. Columbus, Buffalo, Montreal or Minnesota are a few teams bound for a top-10 pick that could use the help to diversify their offensive attack in the ways that Catton can provide.
We do also wonder if the Seattle Kraken might grab Catton, should he be available when they select. The super-skilled forward does fit an organizational need for Seattle, which has shown a penchant for drafting locally, with three prospects playing in the U.S. Division this season. Having that high-end prospect developing in your backyard could be beneficial for both the organization and the player.
While size and physicality features on Catton don’t strike many as appealing, his strong work ethic, offense generation, and elite, game-wrecking instincts may be too good to pass up. Whichever team has the opportunity of drafting him will be getting a developed hockey mind.
Header photo by Larry Brunt, courtesy of the Spokane Chiefs.
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