Seattle Kraken training camp FINALLY gets underway Thursday with its first on-ice session. The early stages of camp are always borderline overwhelming, with more than 50 players spread across three groups. But over the next couple of weeks, things will quickly condense to two groups and then—eventually—one group that resembles Seattle’s Opening Night roster, plus a few bubble players battling for the final spots.

With so much noise and so many moving parts, we wanted to highlight a few key storylines to help you make sense of what you’re seeing.

Here’s what to watch for in Kraken training camp.

Storyline 1: Is Berkly Catton truly ready?

The Kraken front office has made no bones about its desire to save roster space for its “kids” rising through the ranks. Now that top prospect Berkly Catton has landed in that awkward in-between spot—too good for the WHL, too young for the AHL (by rule), and possibly still a bit green for the NHL—it will be fascinating to see how he fares against veteran Kraken players and in preseason games.

Catton has dominated every time he’s faced peers in his age category, including this past week at rookie camp. We still haven’t seen many instances of him competing against pros, though.

At last season’s training camp, he looked like he was in over his head. This time, the key question is: Does he look like he belongs? If you didn’t know he was a 19-year-old drafted No. 8 overall just a year ago, would you see him as an NHLer, or would his play still suggest he belongs in a lower league?

It’s worth repeating that Seattle may keep Catton around through the nine-game contract slide threshold, similar to what they did with Shane Wright two seasons ago—letting him practice and learn, get him some games here and there, and then eventually sending him to Team Canada for World Juniors before returning him to the WHL.

It would be fun, though, if Catton proves he’s fully NHL-ready and can make an impact for the Kraken this season. Keep a close eye on him.

Storyline 2: Which other rookies make the team?

Earlier this summer, I wrote about the three prospects—Catton, Jani Nyman, and Jacob Melanson—I believe have the best chance to crack the roster out of camp. While Catton seems likely to stick around at least for the start of the regular season, it’s less clear who else could seize an opportunity.

Nyman and Melanson both have cases to make, albeit for very different reasons. But don’t overlook Ryan Winterton and Logan Morrison, either, both of whom have gotten tastes of NHL competition. Did either of them take a step in development this offseason?

Predicting who snags the last roster spot or two is always part of the fun of training camp. With multiple young players knocking at the door, this year’s competition should be especially intriguing.

Storyline 3: Which non-NHLers stand out?

This is the last “young player” storyline that I’ll give, but it’s always a fun one. Every preseason, at least one newly drafted prospect forces us to take notice.

Two and three years ago, Carson Rehkopf and David Goyette raised eyebrows with strong performances. Last season, Nathan Villeneuve stole headlines with a preseason showing that suggested he might be ahead of schedule. (Villeneuve, by the way, looked outstanding again at rookie camp this week.)

So who will it be this year? Could Jake O’Brien or Blake Fiddler stick deep into camp and make us believe they’re on a fast track to Seattle? Or might someone from a previous draft—say Caden Price, Oscar Fisker Molgaard, Tyson Jugnauth, Lukas Dragicevic, Ty Nelson, Jagger Firkus, or somebody else—step forward and start banging on the NHL door?

Keep an eye out for flashes of brilliance; they often foreshadow bigger things.

Storyline 4: Early signs of line combinations

Another thing worth tracking is which veterans skate together in practices and preseason games. In the early practice sessions, the veterans will be sprinkled into the three different groups. But you’ll see trios of forwards and pairs of defensemen that could end up being regular-season line combos at some point. This will be even more obvious in the preseason games, as new head coach Lane Lambert looks for early sparks of chemistry between players.

Line combinations change constantly throughout the season, but early looks also give us clues about the roles Lambert envisions for his players. With Seattle adding Mason Marchment, Frederick Gaudreau, and Ryan Lindgren over the summer, it will be interesting to see how Lambert deploys them initially.

What do those acquisitions mean for returning players? Thinking about a potential depth chart, it’s easy to see a scenario where Tye Kartye gets pushed out of the regular lineup, barring injuries. It’s also possible Eeli Tolvanen gets bumped down to a fourth-line role, as Seattle seeks to recapture the magical depth that propelled its playoff run three seasons ago.

Storyline 5: Could Matt Murray play a role?

Alongside the trades for forwards and the free-agent signing on defense, the Kraken quietly added veteran goaltender Matt Murray this offseason on a one-year, $1 million deal.

The assumption was that Murray was destined for Coachella Valley, replacing Aleš Stezka in the AHL platoon with Nikke Kokko. But there’s also an element of insurance here—particularly if Philipp Grubauer doesn’t find a way to climb above a .900 save percentage for the first time in his Kraken tenure.

The backup job is Grubauer’s to lose, but if he stumbles in camp or gets off to another slow start, the leash may not be that long. In that case, Murray could end up being a factor this season.