Welcome back to Year 2 of “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. If you’re interested in Kraken prospects, we’ve had a lot of content on Sound Of Hockey for you recently, including our Sound Of Hockey Kraken prospects ranking, our NHL-affiliated prospects ranking, weekly Film Room breakdowns on individual players, and a Coachella Valley Firebirds roster preview.

But, here’s the thing. There is new on-ice stuff to talk about, finally. Kraken prospects playing in European professional leagues are playing actual regular-season games. And we’ve gotten a close look at most of Seattle’s North American prospects at Kraken rookie camp.

How have the players looked? Who is hurt already? And where can you follow the next week of games? We have all of that and more to talk about—starting with Sound Of Hockey‘s interview with Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus after the first day of Kraken training camp.

As always, if you have a prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey. Let’s dive in. (We’re so back.)

Firkus is taking it one day at a time at Kraken training camp

Jagger Firkus is coming off a solid rookie season in the AHL, scoring 15 goals and adding 21 assists in 69 regular-season games, before contributing three assists in six more playoff contests. The production is more impressive when considering that he played only 14:23 per game as tracked by InStat—an expected but stark decrease from his featured role in the WHL where often played 25-plus minutes per game.

Where did he see progress in his game in the AHL? “The biggest [step I took last year] would be my wall play. I think that’s something that [Coach] Laxdal [emphasized]. If you want to make that jump to the NHL, your wall work is something the next level looks at. You need it as a winger, and you need to get trusted by your coach.”

Firkus admitted that while his work along the boards has come a long way, it still needs development and remained a focus for him over the summer. In his exit meetings, the coaches gave him “stuff they wanted to see me work on, and wall play was one of them” along with “getting stronger and bigger and faster.”

He says his summer workouts in Irma, Alberta—where he trained with former Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy, among others—were productive and he thinks he is better prepared for the professional game this year. Last year he weighed in at 153 pounds to begin camp. This year, he says he weighed in at 170 pounds on the day we talked (Thursday, Sept. 18). He thinks that could help even more in those battle scenarios, and he credited Brandon Wickett and the strength and conditioning staff at Coachella Valley for staying on him.

Even at 170 pounds, he is noticeably one of the smaller players at rookie camp, not to mention training camp. Does he ever get tired of being labelled as a talented-but-undersized player? “Not really, to be honest. I know people think that sometimes, but it’s about your instincts, your mind. I think hockey IQ is such an important thing in the game given how quick the game is [at the professional level] and I think that’s what I can rely on.”

Firkus was part of the most dynamic line at Kraken rookie camp when he was paired up with Jani Nyman and Berkly Catton at practice last Friday and then again at the game in Everett on Saturday, Sept. 13. Few reps passed in practice without the puck finding the back of the net, and the group was instrumental to Seattle’s 5-3 comeback win against the Canucks prospects on Saturday.

“Rookie camp, it’s pretty quick. You just have a couple skates, and then you’re into the game. So, a lot of it is just relying on your instincts and your linemates, and when you play with guys like ‘Burky’ [Catton] and ‘Nemo’ [Nyman], you obviously know their strengths and the scenarios you want to put them in—putting the puck on [Nyman’s] stick so he can shoot, and for [Catton] find[ing] him in space.”

We talked after Day 1 of training camp where Firkus noticeably took a few hits that dropped him to the ice in battle drills, including at least one from the heaviest player in the NHL, defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. “It was a very tough skate. It was quick, up and down, [and] a lot of battle drills. It’s kind of what you expect, especially with all the older and bigger defensemen. Oleksiak or anyone like that, their role in the NHL is to put guys through the wall, and they want to show the staff they can still do that.”

When asked about his goals for the rest of camp, Firkus said he’s taking it “day by day.” Of course, “you want to make the team, make impressions on the staff. But [staying focused on the] day to day is the way to go about it.” He wants to take the coaching, make adjustments, and improve everyday. If he can keep doing that, the future is bright for the young forward.

On a lighter note, we asked Firkus about Firebirds Coach Derek Laxdal referring to him as “Yagger” (pronounced liked NHL Hall-of-Famer Jaromir Jagr’s surname) in Laxdal’s press conference earlier this week. Firkus admitted that he gets that a lot around the rink, given Jaromir Jagr’s prominence, and he doesn’t even really hear it anymore. That said, he’s pretty sure Coach Laxdal knows his name is actually pronounced like Mick Jagger’s surname.

I also had a chance to ask him about his starring appearance on the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ “Hot Ones” spoof, and he admitted that spicy food, particularly on camera, is not his thing. He was relieved that at least he didn’t get hot sauce in his eyes like teammate Jacob Melanson did.

For more from rookie camp, check out Darren Brown’s recap from earlier this week where he broke down what he saw in the practices and games.

Notes on four Kraken prospects

Nathan Villeneuve | F | Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

Villeneuve impressed throughout rookie camp and in the Everett game with his aggressiveness hunting the puck on the forecheck and tenacity in puck-battle situations. His relentless effort scoring a goal against the Canucks on perhaps a third- or fourth-effort play was one of the highlights of the entire rookie phase of camp. He continues to show a strong base of professional habits for a bottom-size professional career. In this regard, it was disappointing to hear that he left the first day of training camp with a lower-body injury that requires “further evaluation.”

Julius Miettinen | F | Everett Silvertips (WHL)

Miettinen was a non-participant for much of Kraken rookie camp following an upper-body injury suffered in an Everett Silvertips preseason game. We noted he was on the ice skating separately in a red no-contact jersey after the last day of rookie camp and that continued on the first day of training camp Thursday. He seemed to be in a good spirits and released shots well. It’s not clear yet if his timing will allow him to get on the ice with the main group at training camp, but it’s good news that the injury doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue.

Lleyton Roed | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)

Speaking of injuries, the Kraken announced that Lleyton Roed is expected to miss two months with an upper-body injury. While I didn’t see the play where it happened, I did note that he left the bench midway through the Kraken’s second exhibition contest against the Canucks at Kraken Community Iceplex on Sunday, Sept. 14. His absence from the lineup will be felt in Coachella Valley, though it likely clears a path for regular playing time for recent trade acquisition Jon-Randall Avon.

Alexis Bernier | D | Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)

Finally, the team also announced that defense prospect Alexis Bernier had offseason ACL surgery. While the timing of the surgery was not disclosed, it is notable that the 2024 third-round pick did not participate in Kraken development camp earlier this summer either. It is possible Bernier returns toward the end of the 2025-26 season, but his focus may be on getting back to 100 percent for the 2026-27 season when he could earn a professional contract.

Kraken prospects data update

Moving on from the disappointing Kraken injury news, we can note that, on the positive side, Zeb Forsfjall returned to the lineup for his SHL club after missing the preseason and first few regular season contests with an injury. He only played about four minutes, so hopefully that is reflective of a ramp-up process.

In other news, Karl Annborn was active, but did not play, for HV71 this past week. He seems to be on the verge of his SHL debut. Over in Russia, Maxim Agafonov is looking like a capable professional while playing in the VHL, the second-tier professional league. And stick taps for Loke Krantz, who scored the first regular-season goal of the 2025-26 season among Kraken organization players.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week

Goalie prospect Kim Saarinen began the Liiga season hot, posting a .938 save percentage across his first two games. He’s your first 2025-26 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.

Berkly Catton “won” the 2024-25 season-long contest with three prospect-of-the-week designations. Perhaps we’ll have to get him a trophy.

Previewing the week ahead

With NCAA seasons not yet started and all other North American players still in camp, the schedule remains pretty light in the early going, but there are games to watch in the week ahead. This year, we’re including streaming video links with the schedule, which we will provide in two versions—one organized by date and one organized by player.