Welcome to Down on the Farm, your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. In each post, we feature a player in the Kraken system, provide few additional notable updates, and then get you all of the statistics you can handle for the prospect pool’s past week and season to date.
One thing I have long promised to add to the series is a prospect question each week, but ongoing behind the scenes work (more on that soon?) has made my Kraken coverage life quite busy. That said, I just couldn’t let another week pass without addressing a question, so I “cheated” a bit. We’re featuring Jagger Firkus this week and, as part of that, I’ll focus on the first question posed to me after I sent out the call. Andrew S. asks: “How is Jagger Firkus adjusting to the increased size and physicality of the AHL?” Let’s get into it.
Featured Kraken prospect: Jagger Firkus
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | RW | Age: 20 | 8 games played | 2 goals | 3 assists | 0.63 PPG
Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus filled the stat sheet during his final junior season last year. He scored 61 goals and added 65 assists during the 2023-24 regular season, en route to winning the CHL scoring title and CHL Player of the Year award. His scoring drove success for his junior club too, as his Moose Jaw Warriors won the WHL and competed for the Memorial Cup.
We noted in our in-person junior hockey viewings that Firkus didn’t really “dominate” play but would instead pop up at just the right moment for a key shot or pass to put Moose Jaw over the top. Firkus views this play style as a feature rather than a bug. When asked by Judd Spicer of the Fire & Ice Podcast this week whether he would swap out for a 6-foot-3 frame if he could, Firkus answered: “I think the style of game I play, it doesn’t really suit a 6-foot-3 player… I’m kind of a guy that just tries to sneak away and get in the small areas and play with my hands in the small areas. And I don’t think it really works in a [bigger] body.”
All the same, Firkus is the first to recognize that his overall engagement and physicality would need to take a step forward to succeed in the professional ranks. “(Professional hockey) is a different animal,” Firkus said, as reported by Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times over the summer. “If I want to make the jump, I’ve got to make some movement in the gym.”
The Kraken development staff echoed those sentiments. “It’s gonna be a learning curve for him for sure,” Director of Amateur Scouting Robert Kron said after the draft. “Any time you have an undersized guy, who’s not 6-foot-2, they have to show that their speed and their strength can go against pros as well,” Director of Player Development Jeff Tambellini added.
From my vantage, he elevated his engagement level through the playoffs last season, playing some of his best hockey during the WHL Finals against Portland. (The video above is from that series and is probably the best all-around junior performance I ever saw from him. It’s worth a watch.)
The challenge was to carry that quality, detailed play over against professional competition. “[As] a first-year pro, you don’t really know what it takes… the first couple of games,” Firkus said on the same podcast this week. “You just try to get your feet wet and understand what it’s like to be a pro hockey player and the daily lifestyle that you live in… It’s been a blast. It’s been something that I feel like I can play in. So I just get my confidence better and better each game, I’m trying to grow each game.”
Asked about what he thinks he can bring to the Firebirds, Firkus said he’s “an offensive player that likes to have a puck” but more important is playing the right way as a team—”just buying in to being a team player. That’s kind of the biggest thing…. You can tell if a team is [bought in], that can get you the farthest.”
By that standard, Firkus’ acclimation to the AHL has gone about as well as it could have so far. The scoring touch and play-making skill are still there in flashes. But the details have been even more impressive.
In the clip below from Wednesday’s Firebirds game against the Colorado Eagles, Firkus takes a pass at the offensive blue line, senses approaching pressure, and gets the puck deep. When his teammate doesn’t cleanly retrieve it, he sprints across the ice to the spot where he anticipates the next challenge could happen. He checks an Eagle to the boards separating the puck and contesting possession. The Eagles briefly get possession, but Firkus wins it back with a nifty steal and helps get the puck back in the offensive zone with control. He then goes straight to the net front drawing coverage and opening space for his teammates. This is the type of hardworking forecheck that can take a skilled junior player and make him an NHLer.
Later in the first period of this game, Firkus took a loose puck at the defensive blue line and broke it up ice with enough strength to draw a penalty in transition. The tenacity and “want to” is there with Firkus, and he’s starting to play with enough power to win these kinds of advantages.
His high-level instincts really show up in the offensive zone. In the second period clip below, Firkus gains the zone on a controlled entry, passes to a teammate, and anticipates where he needs to get to (below the net) to take the return feed. He draws in pressure, circles the puck to space for his teammates, and immediately goes to the front of the net to draw coverage again. Due in no small part to Firkus’ detailed and instinctual play, the Firebirds got a high-quality look.
But nowhere was Firkus’ sixth sense for offense more evident than on a rush chance about five minutes later. He was in support alongside (Firkus’s Coachella Valley roommate) David Goyette and Brandon Biro. He constantly adjusted his angle so that if the puck made it to him he would have the best possible chance. When a rebound did squirt loose to him, he was in the perfect position to knock it home.
“We don’t expect [Firkus] to run anybody over, but he can dart in and dart out,” Coachella Valley head coach Derek Laxdal said following rookie camp this summer. “I think a great example for him is Brayden Point with Tampa. That should be a player that he models his game off of. [Firkus is] fearless. He goes to those hard areas.”
We saw all of those attributes in the clips above. The most important area for improvement in Laxdal’s eyes is on defense: “For these players to play in the National Hockey League, to get a chance to play, they have to be able to survive defensively in the game.” Laxdal noted that he has seen forward progress from Firkus in that regard, but there is certainly still work to be done.
For example, in Wednesday’s game both Firkus and Goyette flew the zone a little too early during a contested puck situation late in the second period in the Firebirds’ end. This is commonly called “cheating for offense,” and it’s risky because if the player’s team doesn’t get control and successfully outlet the puck, you’ve put the team in a shorthanded position in the defensive zone. This is precisely what happened in the Eagles game, leading to an extra Colorado shot attempt that may not have happened if Firkus (or Goyette) focused on defensive support first.
All told, though, I’m impressed by the small things Firkus has been able to do so far in the AHL—maximizing his speed and strength with tactical positioning and a fearless mentality. It’s very early, and he has a development road left to traverse, but he’s showing the attributes necessary to be an NHL contributor.
Notes on three more Kraken prospects
Carson Rehkopf
Brampton Steelheads (OHL) | F | Age: 19 | 14 games played | 8 goals | 20 assists | 2.0 PPG
Carson Rehkopf continues to rack up points playing alongside top draft prospect Porter Martone and another talented player in Luke Misa on the Brampton Steelheads’ top line. On Sunday he had two goals, including a late third-period game-tying goal in a game the Steelheads would ultimately win. Overall he had seven points in three games since our last update. For the second week in a row, though, his sterling effort is overshadowed by another for the Prospect of the Week award.
Some good news (which may interest you right now): Rehkopf did pick up another point, scoring the game-tying goal in an eventual Steelheads win.pic.twitter.com/Ib94Y6K7v8
— Deep Sea Hockey (@DeepSeaHockey) November 3, 2024
Lleyton Roed
Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) | F | Age: 22 | 8 games played | 2 goals | 2 assists | 0.5 PPG
Roed’s transition to the pro game is going very smoothly from my vantage. He has very good (almost elite) speed in a professional frame. And he combines that standout trait with a hard-charging mindset both on the forecheck and back-check. He’s always contesting possession and getting to the front of the net if the play calls for it. It’s getting harder and harder for me to envision a future where Roed doesn’t contribute as a checking player at the NHL level in future seasons.
Ben MacDonald
Harvard Univ. (NCAA) | F | Age: 20 | 1 game played | 1 goal | 0 assists | 1.0 PPG
Two-way forward Ben MacDonald welcomed Harvard to the hockey season by scoring the Crimson’s first (and, thus far, only) goal of the season last Friday. He’ll look to keep the scoring going in two games this weekend.
On the board 🫡
— Harvard Men's Hockey (@HarvardMHockey) November 2, 2024
📺https://t.co/Oh1XG9WVSi
🌎https://t.co/4jfSLADITH
📊https://t.co/pn1JqXFDOH#GoCrimson | #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/PkyLVt7WhK
Kraken prospect data update
As mentioned above, Rehkopf had seven points in three games this weekend. Berkly Catton topped that with eight points in three games. And, even still, neither will take home the coveted Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week award. That honor goes to Clarke Caswell, who piled up seven points in just two WHL contests. Last week’s featured player is driving play for the Swift Current Broncos right now.
Ryan Winterton had a four-point game for the Firebirds early in the week, which made him a clubhouse leader for Prospect of the Week, but his NHL recall threw a wrench into those plans. Back with the Firebirds now, I expect the trend line to continue upwards for Winterton.
Overall, Andrei Loshko continues to lead the organization in goal scoring with nine. Caden Price, Lukas Dragicevic, and Tyson Jugnauth all rank within the top-10 among WHL defensemen in points. And, for their part, college prospects Justin Janicke and Barrett Hall just keep scoring. If they can keep up the pace for another month or two, it’ll be time to start watching them much more closely.
Niklas Kokko had two starts and two wins for the Coachella Valley Firebirds over the last seven days, while posting a tidy .919 save percentage. He was in the running for Prospect of the Week.
Kim Saarinen had one Liiga start before departing to play for Team Finland at the U20 Five Nations Tournament—a World Juniors tune-up event. He started Finland’s first game, a 6-5 overtime loss to Switzerland.
Visa Vedenpaa still hasn’t played since mid-October.
Kokko is likely to draw the start Friday for the Coachella Valley Firebirds with Ales Stezka up in Seattle as a backup during Philipp Grubauer’s (hopefully brief) absence. If Grubauer’s situation is as minor as it seems to be, I would expect Stezka to be returned to Coachella Valley after the Kraken game and start Saturday’s Firebirds game.
Victor Ostman’s play has been solid overall for the ECHL Kansas City Mavericks. I’d expect him to start tonight (Friday) with Jack LaFonataine elevated to Coachella Valley as the backup.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Berkly Catton: 1
Previewing the week ahead
According to a report out of Sweden, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard may return to the lineup this week after missing all but one game of the season with an injury. Mølgaard’s team, HV71, takes the ice again next Thursday.
Zeb Forsfjall’s SHL club Skelleftea has one game on the schedule this week, but, like Saarinen, Forsfjall is with his national team at the Five Nations Tournament right now. He had a slick overtime game-winning goal at the tournament this week.
Beyond that, the week ahead has a couple WHL prospect matchups on tap. Caden Price and the Kelowna Rockets host Berkly Catton and the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday, while Julius Miettinen, Kaden Hammell, and the Everett Silvertips welcome Ollie Josephson and the Red Deer Rebels to Angel of the Winds Arena on Monday.
Previous prospect updates
November 1, 2024: ‘No days off’ approach for Kraken prospect Clarke Caswell
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
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.