This is “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. I’m very excited to be back for Year 3.

If you’re interested in Kraken prospects, we’ve had a lot of content for you on Sound Of Hockey recently, including our Sound Of Hockey Kraken prospects ranking, our NHL-affiliated prospects ranking, and weekly Film Room breakdowns on individual players over the summer.

But today, we’re kicking “Down on the Farm” into gear. There is new on-ice stuff to talk about, finally. Professional and junior leagues around the world are underway. Kraken prospects have been on the ice for four practices at Kraken Community Iceplex and two Prospect Challenge games in Abbotsford, Canada. And the Sound Of Hockey Podcast sat down with Kraken Assistant General Manager Ryan Jankowski to discuss the Kraken prospect pool.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in. 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.

Canadian junior leagues drop the puck on the 2026-27 season tonight

Friday, Sep. 18, marks the beginning of the regular season for many CHL teams. That said, it will be a lighter season than we are accustomed to for Kraken prospects playing junior hockey.

As always, it will start slowly. Canadian junior teams play (at least) their opening-weekend matchups without players participating in NHL training camps. Rylan Singh, Finn Kearns, and Will Reynolds will be reassigned to their junior teams eventually but figure to get in a few more practices, if not games, in Seattle first.

Moving forward, though, there will be fewer junior games to watch from a Kraken perspective. Emblematic is the fact that, for the first time, the Kraken will not have even a single prospect playing in the WHL. Some of this is natural ebb and flow, but players like Chase Reid, Casey Mutryn, Blake Fiddler, and perhaps even Jake O’Brien would be playing junior hockey this season but for a couple of significant rule changes.

The most significant change is the NCAA’s decision to now afford eligibility to junior hockey players. Since Division I college hockey is generally understood to be a step up in competition from the junior hockey level, there is now an additional step in the development ladder available to high-end young players like Reid, Mutryn, and Fiddler. Before this rule change, Reid almost certainly would have played another season for the Soo Greyhounds, Fiddler likely would have returned to the Edmonton Oil Kings, and Mutryn likely would have gone to the QMJHL.

The other change is an edit to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement that allows first-round draft picks from the CHL to be assigned to the AHL for their age-19 seasons. Previously, players had to wait until they were 20 to play in the AHL, creating a difficult NHL-or-junior-hockey decision for a player like Berkly Catton. This season O’Brien has a second-tier professional option available to him, and it seems like a foregone conclusion that’s where he’ll be.

Whether O’Brien would have been in contention for an NHL spot this training camp under the former rules is an interesting question to ponder. At this point, I’d lean “no,” which underscores the immense importance of this rule change for O’Brien’s development. He is already Brantford’s all-time points leader. He would get nothing from going back to the OHL.

Regardless, it’s hard not to be excited by the return of junior hockey. Here’s your first “week ahead” snapshot for Kraken prospects.

Notes for Kraken Rookie Camp and the Prospect Challenge games

Jake O’Brien | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)

I doubt O’Brien is truly 100 percent following the revelation that he was dealing with a knee injury over the offseason. At times, he seemed to be testing or flexing his leg between drills, and he seemed to be drifting or pushing three-quarters speed in some drills. Add in the fact that the Kraken held him out of the Prospect Challenge games for “precautionary reasons,” and I’m doubtful he’s at full speed right now. This is particularly disappointing because O’Brien taking a step with his skating and physicality was a big goal for the offseason. If it’s a lost summer in that regard due to the injury, he could have a harder time in the AHL.

In terms of his production at camp, O’Brien has been fairly quiet and seemingly hesitant in battle drills. There are still flashes of the high-end skill, though. His ability to deceive the defense and slip a pass to a teammate for a high-danger chance is a true NHL-caliber trait.

Will Reynolds | D | Newfoundland Regiment (QMJHL)

It has been an up-and-down week for the 6-foot-3 blueliner from New Brunswick, Canada. He took a seat while backward skating against the first rush of the Saturday game in Abbotsford and notably lost containment of his assignment on a couple of other occasions. On the other hand, his physicality has been noticeable, and he handled himself well in a one-on-one drill on Friday, Sept. 18, disrupting efforts by Chandler Stephenson and Bobby McMann back-to-back. The question with Reynolds is whether he can show enough skill to climb the ladder. He only just turned 19. There is runway left to show it. The goal this season may be to secure a favorable Division I commitment.

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)

As I mentioned in our Kraken Training Camp Roundtable, I thought Mølgaard looked physically bigger—which is not to say “big,” but he looked meaningfully sturdier. And this development came with no diminishment of his crisp skating or impressive handling skills. He routinely abused his competition in one-on-one drills at rookie camp. I’m increasingly wondering if he’s entering the category of “too good to demote,” even if only for a few weeks to begin the season. He could force some hard choices.

Finn Kearns | D | Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

Kearns hit everything he could catch in battle drills and during the Saturday Prospect Challenge game. (Oh yeah, he also added a fight and a goal in that game.) The issue for Kearns is that his skating is not particularly competitive at the NHL level right now. It’s a clear and obvious development need for this 2026-27 season.

Tyson Jugnauth | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)

Jugnauth’s ability to skate in transition and along the blue line stood out as an elite trait in the rookie phase of camp. He used those skills to dissect defensive structures and create chances all week. The challenge ahead of him is to continue to show those skills against NHL competition. If he can do that while also continuing to be somewhat competitive defensively—as he has been—he could make some decisions difficult.

Jankowski on scouting and developing the next Kraken players

Earlier this week, Kraken AGM Ryan Jankowksi sat for a wide-ranging interview with the Sound Of Hockey Podcast to discuss his hockey journey as well as his current role with the Seattle Kraken. Jankowski is a born and bred hockey scout; he went so far as to say it’s in his “genes,” coming down from his father Lou, who was also a scout. And his enthusiasm for his craft was infectious. Here are a few notable takeaways:

• On his role: “Every AGM here has a little bit of a different role, right? [M]ine is to oversee amateur scouting and player development. So basically everything from drafting the player up until they get here to Seattle. And that’s even working with the development a little bit in Coachella.”
  
  
• On Semyon Vyazovoi, the prospect “we’re not talking enough about”: After conceding he had no idea about Vyazovoi’s development before joining the Kraken, Jankowski was effusive. “This guy is really good… [W]e’re thrilled with the development that he took last year from, you know, not just being a starter, but was an all-star goalie.” He confirmed Vyazovoi’s contract runs through the end of this season and he has his fingers crossed the team will be able to talk Vyazovoi into coming stateside after that. “He’ll come when he’s ready, but we hope he’s ready at the end of this season. It’s all about cultivating that relationship.”
  
  
• On Kim Saarinen and his “good opportunity” in Finland this year: Finland’s top professional league, Liiga, is adopting a relegation format, so there will be a lot of pressure on teams to stay at the top level. This will include Saarinen’s team HPK, which has been a mid-to-bottom-table team. After this year, the plan is for Saarinen to come over, but it’s all about “figur[ing] out the goalie puzzle” at that point.
  
  
• On Casey Mutryn’s top attributes: “[W]e get excited about is his character, his leadership, the type of person that he is mixed in with the type of game that he plays.” Whether he plays one year or two years of college hockey before turning pro “it’ll sort itself out.”
  
  
• On what appealed to the Kraken about Viktor Fyodorov: “Victor’s very talented. He’s a little bit of he’s got an artist mentality on the ice, but he also takes care of business in his own zone. He’s very well-rounded, very smart, but we do like the skill set that he has… He’s a hockey kid. He’s a hockey player. He loves the game, has passion for it, and seems to be wanting to get better.”

Watch the full interview below. We covered many other topics, from player-specific conversations about Reid, Mølgaard, and Julius Miettinen, to Jankowski’s prospect non-negotiables, and how the NHL Draft actually works behind the scenes.

Kraken prospects data update

Speaking of Fyodorov, he had the Kraken organization’s first—and, as of now, only—goal of the 2026-27 season. I wouldn’t call it “artistry” from an aesthetic perspective, but he was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a favorable bounce. Along with sticking on his KHL team full-time to begin the season, it’s enough to earn Fyodorov Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week honors on a light schedule.

Saarinen and Vyazovoi both look like the clear starters on their respective teams to begin the 2026-27 season.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker

1 win: Semyon Vyazovoi, Victor Fyodorov*

Video from the vault

Check out our Film Room Room posts for recent gameplay video. We’ll dig back into last season’s unpublished archive for this video of Kim Saarinen from Nov. 6, 2025. He’s the goaltender wearing No. 1 in blue for Team Finland.

Tracking 2027 NHL Draft prospects: Landon Dupont

Former Everett Silvertip Landon Dupont enters the season as the consensus No. 1 overall prospect. A recent sub-six-foot measurement puts a bit of a dent in the blueliner’s profile, but the overall package of skills and production is very appealing. He’ll play his draft season at the University of Michigan.