Welcome to Down on the Farm, your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. You know the drill at this point. We’ll feature one Kraken prospect, provide notes on a few more, and then get you statistics for the week that was and the season to date after that. (Our prospect Q&A is coming soon, I promise. A lot of behind the scenes work on other Sound Of Hockey projects this week meant I didn’t get to watch the extra games necessary to address your questions. I will soon!) Let’s dive in.

Featured Kraken prospect: Clarke Caswell

Swift Current Broncos (WHL) | Forward | Age: 18 | 12 games played | 2 goals | 15 assists | 1.42 PPG

Since Clarke Caswell joined the Swift Current Broncos, he has passed every test on the ice. Last season, he led the Broncos with 77 points. This total was 10th-most among WHL players aged 18 or younger. Late in the 2023-24 season, Elite Prospects was highly complimentary of Caswell’s skill level and intelligence, particularly as a playmaker: “Once he gets the puck, he instantly finds the next play, whether he’s delaying for a lane to open, deceiving opponents, finding the trailer, or hitting the middle driver.” This play led to Caswell’s selection by the Kraken in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft.

With the draft in the rearview mirror and now established as a point-per-game junior player, the 2024-25 season brings two new challenges for the Brandon, Manitoba-born forward. The first is one of leadership after the Broncos named Caswell team captain. Caswell has never been a team captain at any level he has played and is soft-spoken (at least with the media), but he views the captaincy as an opportunity to develop this aspect of his hockey personality.

“One of my goals is to grow my voice a little bit more and take command of the room a little bit more,” Caswell told the Broncos This Week podcast. “My first goal is to lead by example on the ice and off the ice, do the little things right. We [have] a lot of younger guys coming into the room this year. So I want to do my best to welcome [them] to the league and make the best player out of them.”

He stepped into a difficult position right away, as the team was 0-2 when Caswell returned to the team from Seattle Kraken training camp. At the time, he admitted the Broncos were playing “a little bit sloppy,” but his hope was to “calm down” the club and get it back to the win column. If the on-ice results are a referendum on his leadership, Caswell passed, as the Broncos have taken eight of 12 games since his return.

The second challenge ahead is to improve his athleticism and physicality in order to bridge the gap to the next level of hockey competition. He learned a lot about the mentality necessary to succeed at NHL camp. In that same interview, Caswell said he especially looked to “guys like Yanni Gourde and [Brandon] Tanev–some smaller guys that I’d probably say that I’m closer to. It’s great to see their work ethic and how they got there and just their day-to-day lives. I mean, they’re there to do their job and that’s their full-time job. So they take no days off and that’s the biggest thing that I take away from it.”

Caswell has taken those lessons and incorporated them into his routine back in the WHL. When asked about the details that make the difference, Caswell said, “[t]he biggest thing for me is just take care of your body and those little things, being good on nutrition and going into the gym afterwards.” 

There is a long development road ahead for the talented Caswell–not dissimilar from the challenges faced by Jagger Firkus and David Goyette at a similar stage. But, in the early going, he has met the challenges in front of him by getting the Broncos back into the win column and averaging 1.42 points per game. This pace puts him among the league leaders, slightly ahead of good childhood friend Berkly Catton as of Nov. 1, 2024–a fact that would surely bring a smile to Caswell’s face.

Notes on three more Kraken prospects

Alexis Bernier

Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) | Defense | Age: 18 | 13 games played | 2 goals | 8 assists | 0.77 PPG

Alex Bernier, a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, had a stellar week. He posted two goals, two assists, and an eye-popping plus-seven across two junior hockey contests. Bernier is now ninth in on-ice plus-minus and tenth in points among all defensemen in the QMJHL. The former might be expected based on his scouting pedigree, but the latter stat is a welcome development given concerns about his offensive game during Seattle’s development and rookie camps.

Bernier’s strong performance earns him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week. (Admittedly, it’s a tough beat for forward Carson Rehkopf who had a goal and five assists in two OHL games for the Brampton Steelheads.)

Victor Östman

Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL) | Goalie | Age: 24 | 2 games played | 1.51 GAA | 0.923 save %

Victor Östman, who is splitting starts in goal for the ECHL Kansas City Mavericks with veteran Jack LaFontaine, made his second professional appearance this week, and it was a stellar one. He had a shutout at the Allen Americans last Friday on 16 shots against. (For his part, LaFontaine matched the feat on Saturday, posting a second consecutive shutout win for the Mavericks.)

Östman is now 2-0 as a pro with a strong .923 save percentage. He struggled in his senior year at the University of Maine, losing control of the net to Albin Boija late in the regular season. But, as a junior, he was one of the hottest undrafted prospect names in the entire NCAA, posting a .918 save percentage. It’s still early, but it’s possible Östman has recaptured some of that magic in Kansas City.

Barrett Hall

St. Cloud State Univ. (NCAA) | Forward | Age: 20 | 7 games played | 2 goals | 5 assists | 1 PPG

Similar to the previously profiled Justin Janicke, Barrett Hall is an unheralded late-round pick quietly performing in the NCAA ranks in the early going. Now a sophomore with the vaunted St. Cloud State Huskies, Hall is tied for the team lead in scoring with seven points over seven contests. This is nearly double his scoring pace from his freshman year. Hall (No. 15 in White) had a couple of assists since our last update in a game against Augustana University. Thanks in part to Hall’s contributions, the Huskies are 6-1 on the season and second in the NCHC, behind only reigning national champion Denver. Assuming no change to Hall’s NCAA status, the Kraken have his exclusive signing rights until August 2027.

Kraken prospect data

Julius Miettinen had three points in three games over the last seven days, but more notable than that was his play in sticking up for teammate Landon DuPont when Everett’s game against Edmonton got nasty at the end. Miettinen’s a big, hardnosed player who continues to look like a high-floor, complimentary power forward.

#WHL Absolutely cannot be having this…

Near the end of the game, Landon DuPont took a check from behind into the boards (looked like to the head) from EDM’s Marshall Finnie. Julius Miettinen stepped in to police.

Envision some supplementary discipline will be handed out. pic.twitter.com/WeB10OBtk7

— Cameron Riggers (@CameronRiggers) October 26, 2024

David Goyette’s growing pains continue as he transitions to the professional ranks. He was scratched from both of Coachella Valley’s games over the last week–even after Seattle recalled John Hayden. It’s possible he is dealing with an injury of some sort, but that’s conjecture. Either way, Goyette has ample skill to respond and not only earn a regular role but be a key contributor by the end of the year. These are the challenges young players face. It’s up to Goyette to battle back.

It was a light week for the goalies in the system, with only five starts total. Visa Vedenpää hasn’t played since Oct. 15, and he only played 20 minutes in that game. Again, perhaps he is likely dealing with an injury of some sort.

Overall, Rehkopf continues to pace the skaters in the Seattle Kraken system in both total points and points per game.

Semyon Vyazovoy continues to draw KHL starts and has been performing very well of late. Vyazovoy has consistently succeeded in the Russian ranks, which makes the 2021 sixth-round pick a name to monitor.

2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker

Alexis Bernier: 1

Clarke Caswell: 1

Berkly Catton: 1

Previewing the week ahead

Ben MacDonald’s Harvard Crimson join the hockey season when Harvard takes on Dartmouth Friday. With that, every team with a member of the Kraken reserve list is finally underway.

The Coachella Valley Firebirds are looking at four games in six days, after having only five games total over the course of 20 days to begin the season. With two back-to-backs, we may see two starts from top goalie prospect Niklas Kokko.

The week ahead in the WHL brings several matchups of Kraken prospects. On Friday, Lukas Dragicevic and the Prince Albert Raiders host Caswell and the Broncos, and Tyson Jugnauth and the Portland Winterhawks visit Catton and the Spokane Chiefs. (Jugnauth will then play in the Seattle area Saturday, with the Winterhawks playing the Thunderbirds in Kent.) Tuesday of next week, Catton and the Chiefs are visited by the Kelowna Rockets and Caden Price.

On the OHL side, Nathan Villeneuve and the Sudbury Wolves go to Niagara to take on Andrei Loshko and the IceDogs on Sunday.

Previous prospect updates

October 25, 2024: Kraken prospect Eduard Sale’s “tryout” in Coachella Valley is going well

October 18, 2024: Kraken prospect Andrei Loshko filling the stat sheet in the OHL