Seattle Kraken draft Berkly Catton at No. 8 in the 2024 NHL Draft – instant reaction

The Seattle Kraken selected forward Berkly Catton of the Spokane Chiefs with the No. 8 overall pick during the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft Friday. Catton joins Lukas Dragicevic (Tri-City; 2023 second-round pick) and Kaden Hammell (Everett; 2023 fifth-round pick) as in-state WHL players drafted by Seattle.

“[Catton] has got elite hockey sense, real good speed, [and] high compete level. He’s a very high-end offensive player,” Ron Francis said Friday after the team made the selection. “That was the guy we wanted, so we’re excited.”

Catton led all CHL first-time draft-eligible prospects in points and was fourth overall in the WHL in scoring during the 2023-24 season.

Quick thoughts on the pick

This pick is at once unexpected and not surprising. It’s unexpected because a few high-end blueliners were still on the board at No. 8. The vast majority of industry analysts had Seattle taking a defenseman, even if it meant dropping into what I’d consider the second tier of players at that position, such as Carter Yakemchuk.

On the other hand, Berkly Catton was ranked No. 6 on the final Sound Of Hockey Big Board. And if you only remember one stat about Berkly Catton, try this one: he is one of four first-time draft eligible CHL players since 2000 to post 115-plus points and 50-plus goals. The other three? Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, and Connor Bedard.

Furthermore, we should not discount the position value if Catton can stick at center. In my mind, I had been projecting Catton as a play-driving winger in the longer term, but many scouts disagree, and Ron Francis spoke about Catton as a center prospect after the pick.

Elite Prospects, which grades the individual skills of draft-eligible prospects, had Catton as the third-best puckhandler, fourth-best skater, fifth-best passer, and 10th-best shooter in the draft. They also deemed him to have the fourth-best “hockey sense” in the draft, which is a stand-in for on-ice intelligence and gameplay instincts. All told, Elite Prospects gave Catton the sixth-highest average skill grade among skaters in the draft, with only his physicality grading below average.

In my pre-draft piece, I wrote that “Berkly Catton [] is a deadly offensive package, combining skill, skating, and offensive instincts. If he stood 6-foot-2 instead of 5-foot-10.25 with the same skill level, he’d be considered as early as the second overall pick.”

Chris Peters compared Catton toTim Stutzle. Corey Pronman though Catton reminded him of 2022 No. 3 overall pick Logan Cooley. For Elite Prospects, Catton brings shades of Cooley or Troy Terry.

So, Catton is a not a “reach” or “off-the-board” pick at all. Particularly given that Seattle has shown a willingness to take shorter forwards and is still looking for high-end offensive firepower in the organization, the pick makes plenty of sense and good pay significant dividends into the future.

Berkly Catton player profile

Center/Left Wing | Spokane Chiefs | Age: 18 | Height: 5’10.25″ | Weight: 175 lbs | Left shot

Season	Team	Lge	Games	Goals	Assists	Pts	Plus-minus
2021-22	Spokane Chiefs	WHL	9	1	3	4	-7
2022-23	Spokane Chiefs	WHL	63	23	32	55	-36
2023-24	Spokane Chiefs	WHL	68	54	62	116	15

Source: HockeyDB

What does the Big Board say?

At the time the Kraken drafted, Catton was the second-highest ranked remaining player on the Sound Of Hockey Big Board at No. 6 overall. Only Zeev Buium was ranked higher at No. 5. (Buium ultimately fell to Minnesota at No. 12, so it seems the league did not agree with the Big Board on him.) I had Catton as the No. 10 overall player in the draft based on my data-only approach. Tony Ferrari of The Hockey News, Smaht Scouting, and Scouching all had Catton ranked as the No. 3 prospect in this class, his highest position on any public draft board we tracked.

How does he look on the ice?

What are scouts saying?

Strengths:

“Berkly Catton is one of the most fun players to watch in this draft. Give him time and space, and he’ll make you pay; try to take it away, and he’ll cut through your formation anyway like a hot knife through butter.

“It’s on the rush where he’s most effective. A series of crossovers allows him to build speed as he plans his attack, reading and reacting to what’s in front of him, using a series of weight shifts and handling moves to navigate the neutral zone as he drives play toward the opposition goal. With this ability comes cunning in the form of a sophisticated delay game that allows him to level up and attack with support or connect with trailing linemates as they enter the play.” – Elite Prospects

“Catton may be the best transition forward in the draft class, thanks to his combination of skating and intelligence. He can gash a defensive unit through the middle of the ice with ease. Catton identifies skating lanes and plays to his opponent’s weaknesses. He knows where to put the puck when attacking a defender 1-on-1, forcing them to defend in uncomfortable and compromising positions.

“Catton is arguably the smartest player in the NHL draft class, constantly looking to create small advantages, chain them together and eventually create a big advantage. Catton makes life easy on his teammates, allowing them to play to their strengths while he fills in their gaps. He is a playmaker at heart, but he showed this season he can make goalies pay if they don’t respect his shot, especially when he gets into the home plate area.” – Ferrari

“I value players who elevate others greatly. Players who can move the puck themselves, move the puck to others, find targets, hit them accurately, and finish chances they get from others. Catton checks every one of those boxes in my books. His tracked data is outstanding almost across the board… Brilliant with the puck with his pass lane creation skill and one of the few players I trust to run a line this year as he is, he’ll almost certainly be drafted too late and someone is going to be very happy.” – Scouching

Weaknesses:

“The Spokane center isn’t the biggest player, and he will need to bulk up, but he’s not some 5-foot-8, 150-pound forward who gets intimidated easily. Catton has the potential to stick at center long-term despite his size. He is the exception to the rule because of his mobility and smarts.” – Ferrari

“The only hangup is that he isn’t the most physical centre out there, but he’s so smart with his positioning and such a great support player that surrounding him with players that can fill that gap should give him the space to be [himself at the NHL level].” – Scouching

“Of course, there’s always a catch with any prospect, and this is true of Catton. In his case, it’s one of efficiency. He’s prone to throwing pucks away with hope passes and lacks that extra layer of patience that defines most top playmakers. One can wonder to what extent playing on a team with as little firepower as Spokane helped foster these bad habits, but they’re there all the same.

“There’s also the question of how well he will handle the rigors of the NHL game. His ability to take pucks off the wall and get inside was inconsistent across many of our viewings, and there’s a chance he struggles to generate offense when he’s not attacking in space or off the rush, which says nothing of whether he’ll stick at center or not.” – Elite Prospects

Expert reaction

“I’m a huge fan of Catton’s game. I thought he was one of the most dynamic players in the draft. Given how much Seattle needed a premier defense prospect, it’s a bit surprising that they went and took a forward, but if they were going to take one, Catton is more than reasonable at this slot. He has top-line forward potential and could be a star if he truly hits. Teams were worried by his size, but everything else about his game was a major positive.” – Corey Pronman, The Athletic

What’s next for Berkly Catton?

Catton will very likely return to the WHL next season and figures to compete for a WHL scoring title in a high-ice-time, first-line role for Spokane. After that, he will likely get a longer look with Seattle, but, as a January, 2006 birthdate, he’ll be in the position of returning to the WHL again for the 2025-26 season if he doesn’t make the NHL roster.

I’d still project him to slot on the wing eventually, particularly if Matty Beniers and Shane Wright remain in the fold, but he looks like a solid bet to produce 60-plus points annually as a top-six forward when he reaches his prime in about three years.

Final thoughts

While a team doesn’t go into the draft looking for a player at a “need” position in the first round like an NFL team might do, the organizational picture matters. So I can’t help but wonder whether the team might have more strongly considered taking a swing on a high-upside blueliner like Zeev Buium or Zayne Parekh if Eduard Sale were looking like the dynamic offensive player the team expected him to be when making him the 20th overall pick in 2023. I know Catton projects (for some) as a center, and Sale is a pure winger, but both are offense-first forwards.

On the other hand, the Kraken are a very analytically inclined organization, and macro studies of first-round pick success rates indicate that forwards hit at a better rate than defensemen. This likely factored into the team’s decision-making process too.

Kraken general manager Ron Francis has often said in the past the he looks to his scouts and analytics department to support each other before making a move. This looks like a pick where both sides of the front office were able to find common ground, even if it bucked the common wisdom that Seattle may look to add to their blue line.

The team figures to have opportunities to add a defenseman in the second round. Henry Mews, Spencer Gill, and Leon Muggli are three blueliners who could represent good value for Seattle at that point.