Seattle Kraken rookie camp kicks off on Thursday at Kraken Community Ice. With four draft classes now in the organization’s pipeline, there will be plenty of competition to advance to the main training camp, which starts on Sept. 19. Notable and expected absences include any NCAA prospects and players playing in Europe for the coming season, as their seasons kick off next week (for instance, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and Visa Vedenpää will not attend). The rookie camp roster can be found here.
While there are some obvious players to keep an eye on, like Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton, Carson Rehkopf, Jagger Firkus, and Berkly Catton, here are four less obvious players we’ll be watching closely in this year’s rookie camp.
David Goyette
It might sound ridiculous to say that a player who led the OHL in points is flying under the radar, but we haven’t talked about him enough. David Goyette, a second-round draft pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, continues to take steps in his development and is expected to play his first professional season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Goyette scored 40 goals and 117 points in 68 games in the OHL while playing for the Sudbury Wolves last season. He is a great skater with a knack for driving offense. We expect him to advance to the main camp and really stand out in rookie camp.
Lleyton Roed
The Seattle Kraken signed undrafted Lleyton Roed in March after he finished his NCAA season at Bemidji State University. Roed led the Beavers in goals and points last season and is known as a great playmaker. After signing with the Kraken in the spring, he joined the Coachella Valley Firebirds and played in five regular-season games and five AHL playoff games.
In the games we watched, he kept up with the pace of play and looked like he fit in well in the AHL. At development camp earlier this summer, he looked very fast. While I’m not prepared to call Roed the next Tye Kartye, Kartye really stood out in his first rookie camp, and seeing how Roed performs might give us a good idea of the trajectory he’ll follow within the Kraken organization.
Ville Ottavainen
The big Finnish defenseman was part of the first Seattle Kraken draft back in 2021 when he was selected in the fourth round. He played the following two seasons in Liiga (Finland) before joining the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the entire 2023-24 season.
Despite being known as a shutdown defenseman with a physical presence, Ottavainen managed eight goals and 26 assists over 70 games with the Firebirds last season. The Kraken’s prospect pool is relatively light on defense, but Ottavainen is considered the closest to cracking the NHL roster. Barring any injuries, we don’t expect Ottavainen to start the season in Seattle, but he could get some NHL games this season.
Nathan Villeneuve
Nathan Villeneuve was selected 63rd overall in this most recent draft, and several pundits felt that was a bit early. Villeneuve is a strong two-way center known for his physical presence. His offensive statistics don’t jump off the page—23 goals and 27 assists over 56 games last season for the Sudbury Wolves—but he had a hat trick in his preseason game on Sunday against the Peterborough Petes. He is several years away from potentially making an NHL appearance, but his tenacity and compete level should be on full display and fun to watch.
Even if you can’t attend the rookie camp on-ice sessions, all the prospects should play in the 2024 Rookie Faceoff in El Segundo, Calif., over the weekend. Both Kraken prospect games will be streamed. The entire training camp schedule can be found here.
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