The Everett Silvertips faithful were out in full force at Kraken Community Iceplex on Friday, July 5, as the Stucky Cup scrimmage (coincidentally named for former Silvertips equipment manager James Stucky) concluded Seattle Kraken Development Camp.
They showed off their support for not just the local NHL squad, but also two players of their own in Kaden Hammell and Julius Miettinen that they’ve seen develop through the years at Angel of the Winds Arena.
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) July 6, 2024
Hammell said he was thrilled when Miettinen was taken by the Kraken in the second round of this summer’s NHL Draft, and explained what some of the added benefits were of having an embedded connection like theirs.
“There’s always going to be that connection that you have when you’re battling nine months with a guy.” Hammell said. “It’s pretty awesome that we both get to go through the same experiences and we can connect on certain things that maybe other prospects in different organizations can’t.”
This process isn’t anything new for Hammell, however. Having been through his first full season as a prospect in the organization, the 19-year-old defenseman from Langley, B.C., evaluated the strides he’s taken since being selected in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft, as well as what steps he still needs in order to reach the next level.
Kaden Hammell’s experience in Everett and Seattle
It’s not always an easy process being traded in the middle of the season, but Hammell felt such a change of scenery could help further along his career. That it has.
Hammell was originally acquired by Everett via trade from Kamloops in January, 2023, as part of the same deal that sent Olen Zellweger to the Blazers, as well as landing the Silvertips the first overall pick in this past WHL Draft.
In 83 regular-season games since joining the Silvertips, he’s tallied eight goals and 43 points, consistently maintaining a half-point-per-game benchmark he’s been at for most of his WHL career. He also has had a few bruised knuckles along the way.
There’s more to Hammell’s game that he feels he’s unlocked, however, since arriving in Everett. He’s elevated from a stay-at-home, shut-down defensive role, to becoming more of a versatile and fluid player on both ends of the ice.
The Kraken selected Hammell in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft, and since the selection, he’s said that the Kraken development staff helped him to gain more confidence in his two-way game, with them telling him to “really own” his skillsets everywhere he goes on the ice.
“Having that versatility is the most important thing for my career right now,” Hammell said. “I’m making sure that I’m good in both zones, and creating as much as I can offensively.”
He showed flashes of offensive prowess down the stretch of last season, where he garnered eight points in his last 10 games. And while Everett fell in the second round of the playoffs to Portland, Hammell’s offensive involvement grew throughout the postseason, tallying three goals in nine games, with two of those coming on the power play.
Being 18 years old at the beginning of last season, former head coach Dennis Williams bestowed Hammell with an assistant captaincy position, a role he felt helped him grow closer to being a professional.
“I learned a lot throughout the year about what it means to be a leader,” Hammell said. “Especially going into the playoffs, I feel like that was a time where leadership was a super key thing to have.”
Despite getting an amateur tryout with the Coachella Valley Firebirds after the Silvertips season concluded, Hammell still has some distance to cover before making an impact at the professional level.
He will likely spend one more season in Everett, which isn’t the worst thing in the world considering the talent that’s brimming at the defensive position. And as one of the elder statesmen in the room, a full-time captaincy position could be in the cards for him.
Leading a loaded defensive group
The Silvertips’ back end might be one of the more talented groups in the league this season, and for some good reasons.
Before Hammell shared the ice with Miettinen at Kraken Development Camp in 2024, 2023 main training camp saw another Silvertips teammate of his in Eric Jamieson receive a camp invite.
Jamieson made the most of the opportunity and his offensive production jumped up last season to 10 goals and 32 points, leading to a sixth-round draft selection by the Calgary Flames.
Another one of Hammell’s defensive partners, Tarin Smith, was drafted in third round by the Anaheim Ducks after a breakout season with 44 points in 67 games.
“It’s an unbelievable spot. It’s a pro organization and they run things like no other place,” Smith said. “They treat us like pros and they expect us to act like pros. I feel like it’s one of the [best] spots for development in [the CHL].”
The group Hammell’s about to lead would be impressive by itself with him and the two additional NHL Draft choices set to return to Everett for the 2024-25 season, not to mention the expected added impacts from Niko Tsakumis and Cameron Sytsma.
But if and when they finally add their blue chip, exceptional-status phenom in Landon DuPont, Everett’s blue line all of a sudden could turn into one of the better units in recent WHL history.
“All hope is that [DuPont] comes,” Hammell said. “The whole team’s super excited to play with him and I know the organization is going to be thrilled to have him.”
Even with DuPont and management staff still not having put pen to paper just yet, it is expected to happen soon, and it’s safe to say this upcoming Silvertips season could be one of the more anticipated in the club’s history.
“I have full belief that they’re going to make the right decisions with the coaching and management staff,” Hammell said. “There’s nothing to worry about there. We’re gonna be an amazing team and we got a lot of firepower to work off of from last year.”
On Sunday, the Seattle Kraken announced the signing of 2024 third-round draft pick Kim Saarinen to an entry-level contract. That deal brought the team’s total number of NHL contracts to 50.
If this number rings a bell for you, it’s probably because you’ve heard mention of the “50-Contract Rule,” which limits how many players a team can have signed at any one time.
What is this rule, and what does it mean that Seattle now has 50 NHL contracts? Even the most dedicated fan would be forgiven for not knowing the nuances of this rule.
This is because discussion of the 50-Contract Rule typically lacks important context. Head over to the Seattle Kraken page on Puckpedia, for example, and you’ll see a simple note that Seattle has now used all 50 contract slots for the 2024-25 season. Is this true? Not really. What does it mean that Seattle has 50 NHL contracts? Puckpedia and other public resources don’t provide that answer. (To be fair, CapFriendly did not provide useful context either before it shuttered earlier this month.)
To make matters worse, even if the industrious fan sought out the source rule in the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”), the fan would likely come away with an incorrect understanding of how the 50-Contract Rule operates in practice. NHL teams actually follow a shadow rule—or, at least, a strained interpretation of the words in the CBA. Of course, this contributes to the flawed public discourse.
So, let’s dive into this sometimes-mentioned, rarely-explained 50-Contract Rule and consider what it means for the Kraken roster-building options moving forward.
The Kraken have 50 NHL contracts
Following Seattle’s initial wave of free agent signings at the beginning of the month, the team had 47 NHL contracts on the books for the 2024-25 season. Then, on July 5, the Kraken signed restricted free agent Eeli Tolvanen and 2024 first-round pick Berkly Catton to NHL deals, and, on July 14, the team signed Saarinen. This brought Seattle’s NHL contract total to 50.
Are the Kraken now hamstrung from signing any more NHL contracts this offseason? If so, does this mean that the team will have to trade (or terminate) a contract simply to sign a deal with unsigned restricted free agent Matty Beniers?
The answer is no, but let’s find out why.
The 50-Contract Rule explained
Under the CBA, an NHL team may have a maximum of 90 players on its “Reserve List” at any time. A team’s Reserve List includes all players signed to standard NHL player contracts (“SPC”) as well as all unsigned NHL Draft choices during the time period the team retains exclusive NHL negotiating rights with the player.
Below the 90-player overall limit, the CBA provides that a team is allowed “not more than 50 players signed to an SPC.” This is the “50-Contract Rule.”
Unsigned players or players who have signed a contract directly with an AHL or ECHL affiliate do not count toward this 50-contract limit. As of the posting of this article, Beniers has not agreed to a contract for the 2024-25 season, so he does not count under the 50-Contract Rule. Likewise, recent Kraken Development Camp invitee Landon McCallum does not count because he signed an AHL contract directly with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
With respect to existing NHL contracts, though, the 50-Contract Rule is subject to only one exception: “Age 18 and age 19 players who were returned to Juniors, and who have not played 11 NHL Games in one season, shall be exempt from inclusion in the 50 Player limit” (the “Juniors Exemption”). Separately, the CBA defines the word “Juniors” to mean the major junior leagues in the Canadian Hockey League.
Based on this black-and-white CBA language, one might reasonably conclude that an 18- or 19-year-old player becomes exempt from the 50-Contract Rule only after the player is returned to a CHL team to play the season. If the player has not yet been returned or the player is returned to play in some other non-CHL league, he is not exempt.
In reality, it doesn’t work that way.
Here is how the Juniors Exemption actually works: Signed 18- or 19 year-old players are, from the moment their contracts go into effect, exempt from the 50-Contract Rule unless and until the player is placed on an active professional (i.e., NHL, AHL, or ECHL) roster. This would typically happen coming out of NHL training camp. If the player is not added to a professional roster and instead returns to play with any other club team, the player continues to be exempt from the 50-Contract Rule.
If an 18- or 19-year-old player remains on the NHL roster to begin a year, the player counts against the limit, but could regain the exemption if returned to the player’s other club before playing 11 NHL games. For example, Shane Wright counted against Seattle’s 50-contract limit to begin the 2022-23 season, but became exempt again when he was assigned back to the CHL after having played only eight NHL games.
Finally, the Juniors Exemption applies to all 18- or 19-year-old players who have been or could be returned to other leagues, not just the CHL. For example, Oscar Fisker-Molgaard’s contract is exempt during the 2024 offseason even though he would be returned to the 2024-25 season in the SHL, the top-level professional league in Sweden.
The Kraken have room to sign Beniers or other NHL contracts
The Kraken have seven 18- or 19-year-old players who fall within the Juniors Exemption to the 50-Contract Rule:
Carson Rehkopf (Kitchener Rangers, OHL)
Eduard Sale (Kitchener Rangers, OHL)
Lukas Dragicevic (Tri-City Americans, WHL)
Caden Price (Kelowna Rockets, WHL)
Berkly Catton (Spokane Chiefs, WHL)
Oscar Fisker Molgaard (HV71, SHL)
Kim Saarinen (HPK, Liiga)
Accordingly, contrary to what one would reasonably surmise from PuckPedia, it is fairer to say the Kraken are currently at 43 of 50 non-exempt NHL contracts under the 50-Contract Rule.
There is an outside possibility that Rehkopf or Catton could earn an extended look on the Kraken roster this fall after training camp—which would, at least temporarily, end their exemptions. But the most likely outcome is that all these exemptions will persist into the 2024-25 season.
The team will want to leave itself flexibility for in-season additions if the NHL roster is struck by injuries or performance declines. But with spots open for seven more NHL contracts, the team has more than enough room to sign Beniers and add a minimum-salary veteran free-agent scorer before the season, should it desire to do so.
It is good to have that option open to add another NHL contract rather than being hemmed against the limit. An NHL contract is always going to be more appealing to a free agent than an AHL offer or an invite to camp on a professional tryout agreement, for example.
Kraken contracts corner
We put out a call on Twitter for contract or CBA minutiae you’d like to see addressed in future posts. The 50-Contract Rule analysis was inspired by one such question. Continue to send questions our way on Twitter or in the comments below. In the meantime, here are a few more Kraken contract quick hits:
1. Future contracts and the 50-Contract Rule
One other important point of clarification when counting contracts under the 50-Contract Rule: A contract signed for a future season only counts against the limit during the league year when the contract actually begins, not at the time it is signed. For example, Lleyton Roed signed an entry-level contract with the Kraken on March 29, 2024, which began with the 2024-25 season. Thus, his contract counted against the limit only as of July 1, 2024, the first day of the 2024-25 league year, not earlier.
2. Draft picks and the Reserve List
The time period of exclusive control over a drafted but unsigned player varies depending on where the player was drafted from. To date, Seattle has lost exclusive negotiating rights to only one drafted player, Kyle Jackson. The signing deadlines for Seattle’s other drafted prospects are as follows:
3. Saarinen signing breaks new ground
Returning to where we began, the Saarinen signing is intriguing even in isolation. The team got a close look at the 6-foot-4 Finnish goaltender earlier this month at Kraken Development Camp. And, after that viewing, the Kraken decided to make Saarinen the first Seattle draft pick selected outside the first round to sign an NHL contract during the summer of his draft year. Saarinen also hops over two earlier-drafted goalies, countryman Visa Vedenpaa and Russian Semyon Vyazovoi, in earning a contract. Fair or not, this puts added focus on him for this coming season.
4. Qualifying offers and the timeline to sign Beniers
On June 30, the Seattle Kraken extended Matty Beniers a “qualifying offer.” Based on the formula in the CBA, the offer was a one-year, one-way deal worth $874,125. That process was merely a formality, though. Beniers was never going to accept that deal. The Kraken offered it because they were required to do so in order to retain Beniers’ restricted free agent rights.
The keen observer will note that Beniers’ qualifying offer may have expired at 2:00 pm PT yesterday, July 15. That is the default deadline for expiry of qualifying offers in the CBA (though a team can theoretically extend the deadline).
What does it mean if Beniers’ qualifying offer expired? Nothing really. The team and the player continue to negotiate directly on a contract. Since Beneirs does not have enough professional experience (four seasons) to qualify for salary arbitration under the CBA, the rarely-used “offer sheet” from another team is the only alternative available to the player.
I’ve seen questions about the timeline for resolution on Beniers’ contract. Typically, the salary arbitration procedure creates deadlines throughout the offseason that spur restricted free agent deals. But, as mentioned, Beniers does not yet have arbitration rights, so the sides cannot rely on that framework. Instead, they are left to negotiate without any specific offseason deadlines.
I’d imagine the team will do everything it can to get Beniers’ contract resolved before training camp—particularly since Beniers remains the face of the young organization. And it could be much sooner. Quentin Byfield, a player in a similar situation to Beniers, just signed a deal with the Los Angeles Kings on July 15. Last year, the Kraken signed (arbitration-eligible) Vince Dunn on July 21.
5. AHL eligibility under the CHL Transfer Agreement
Another question I often see on Twitter asks which Kraken prospects from the CHL are eligible to play in the AHL this coming year. For background, see this earlier post on the CHL Transfer Agreement when looking at Shane Wright’s situation.
In short, a player drafted from the CHL must be 20 years old by Dec. 31, 2024, in order to be eligible to be assigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the 2024-25 season. If the player is younger than that, he must be offered back to his Junior team if he does not make the NHL roster out of training camp. The following signed prospects are eligible for an AHL assignment this year:
David Goyette (DOB: March 27, 2004)
Ty Nelson (DOB: March 30, 2004)
Jagger Firkus (DOB: April 29, 2004)
Additionally, Eduard Sale (DOB: March 10, 2005) is eligible because, technically, he was playing in the Czech Elite League when he was drafted, so the CHL Transfer Agreement does not apply to him. Sale has been playing in the CHL’s Ontario Hockey League since Seattle selected him in the 2023 NHL Draft. Andrei Loshko (DOB: Oct. 7, 2005) would also be eligible to play in the AHL if he signs a contract, but he is currently unsigned. Tyson Jugnauth (DOB: April 17, 2004) is also age-eligible, though the CHL Transfer Agreement doesn’t apply because he was drafted out of the BCHL.
Conversely, the following CHL players, though signed to NHL contracts, are ineligible for an AHL assignment absent an extraordinary exception or one-off agreement:
Carson Rehkopf (DOB: Jan. 7, 2005)
Lukas Dragicevic (DOB: Apr. 25, 2005)
Caden Price (DOB: Aug. 24, 2005)
Berkly Catton (DOB: Jan. 14, 2006)
6. AHL signings bring clarity to the depth chart
On July 12, the Coachella Valley Firebirds reportedly agreed to terms with four players.
Hearing the Coachella Valley @Firebirds have re-signed several depth pieces from last season's squad to AHL deals for 2024-25, including:
Kraken GM Ron Francis had indicated previously that he believed LaFontaine would return. These players join 20-year-old forward Landon McCallum as players reportedly signing AHL contracts with the Firebirds for the 2024-25 season. All of these additions qualify as “developmental” players (or are otherwise exempt) under the “Veteran Rule” at the AHL level.
I currently have the following players projected to compete for AHL roster spots:
Looking at the depth chart, there may be room to add one more piece on the blue line, perhaps even a high-end “veteran” piece. But, otherwise, the depth chart is looking fairly set.
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.
Phew! Those last couple of weeks in the hockey world were nutso, and now that the Seattle Kraken Development Camp has wrapped up, it feels like we can finally take a big collective breath.
The NHL crammed a lot into a short period, with teams having just a few days between the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL Draft, which happened last weekend in Las Vegas. The draft always segues straight into Dev Camps for many teams, but wedged in-between was the opening of unrestricted free agency, adding its own chaos. Toss in a couple of coaching announcements from the Kraken, and you have a whirlwind of hockey coverage.
This schedule was even more packed than usual due to the extended season, with the Stanley Cup Final featuring extra off days between games. For the Kraken, who missed the playoffs, there was a long period of inactivity (excluding the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ Calder Cup run), followed by a sudden rush of activity. Now, it seems we’re headed back into a quieter news period.
So, we thought this would be a good time to slow down, take stock of everything that happened over the last week, and consider where the organization stands.
Development Camp takeaways
Dev Camp always turns out to be an enjoyable event and somehow manages to exceed expectations every year. It’s exciting to see young players who are just joining the organization hitting the ice in Kraken garb for the first time, and it’s equally intriguing to witness the progress of prospects we’re already familiar with.
We did not get to see prospects like Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, Jani Nyman, and Ville Ottavainen, who all played significant roles for the Firebirds this season. However, those who did not have a prominent AHL role, such as Jagger Firkus, Ty Nelson, Carson Rehkopf, Eduard Sale, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, and Tucker Robertson, all attended and all showed improvement compared to last summer.
Rehkopf, especially, was outstanding in 3-on-3 scrimmages on Wednesday, when we watched him score three goals and an assist for his team in a 7-3 win. He’s a player with a bright future, and we continue to wonder if the Kraken will give him a nine-game look out of Training Camp.
Remember, Rehkopf is in that same boat as Wright from two seasons ago, when his only options were to play in the NHL or return to the OHL because of his age. There is a loophole where a player can stay with the NHL club for up to nine games before burning a year of his entry-level contract. Will Seattle do this with Rehkopf?
Eyes on Berkly Catton
Perhaps most notably, we got our first look at Berkly Catton, the No. 8 overall pick and Spokane Chiefs superstar, as a member of the Kraken organization. While we were already aware of his dominance in the WHL, it was fascinating to watch him maneuver against his peers, particularly during those 3-on-3 games. He stood out as one of the best players on the ice in that setting, but during Friday’s 5-on-5 Stucky Cup game, Catton was less prominent. He did still display flashes of brilliance and narrowly missed setting up a few sure goals for his teammates.
Other players raved about Catton’s abilities, with Tyson Jugnauth, who we spoke to on the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast, calling Catton the best player he faced this season while playing with Portland. Jugnauth joked about team meetings focusing almost exclusively on Catton before games against the Chiefs.
Like Wright two summers ago, Catton signed his entry-level contract on the ice alongside general manager Ron Francis on Friday, drawing loud cheers from the hundreds of fans in attendance and setting a positive tone for the Stucky Cup.
Other impressive prospects
Before wrapping up Development Camp and never speaking of it again (just kidding, we will certainly speak of it again), we want to highlight a few more players who caught our attention. Goyette, as mentioned earlier, performed well against his fellow Kraken prospects. We’ve maintained since last year’s Training Camp that he has a future in the NHL, and that was reaffirmed this week.
We were also impressed by Lleyton Roed, signed by the Kraken as an undrafted free agent from Bemidji State University in March. After making appearances in five regular-season games and five playoff games with the Firebirds, Roed stood out this week as one of the fastest skaters on the ice. His scoring touch was also on display Friday when he dangled and scored bar-down off a partial breakaway.
Eeli Tolvanen signs, Matty Beniers still pending
Francis drew an even bigger cheer from the crowd when he announced a two-year extension had been signed by winger Eeli Tolvanen. The deal, averaging a $3.475 million cap hit per year, aligns well with projections and seems fair to both sides.
This leaves Matty Beniers as the remaining major contractual question mark. Before CapFriendly ceased operations (sleep well, sweet prince), we ran one last Armchair GM simulation for Seattle, and this is what we came up with for its roster:
You’ll see we signed Beniers to a hypothetical $6 million cap hit and assumed Ryan Winterton and John Hayden would make the team as the 13th and 14th forwards. We also assumed Josh Mahura would stick with the team as a seventh defenseman. Making these very reasonable decisions left us $456K over the cap.
There are plenty of levers an NHL team can pull to make itself cap compliant, so being slightly over isn’t a big concern. But, it does demonstrate that the Kraken have effectively filled their roster and will need to get Beniers under contract at the right dollar amount.
Are the Kraken done cooking?
Looking at the CapFriendly image above (R.I.P.), it appears the Kraken have answered most of their questions at this point, and they will still have healthy competition in Training Camp. Their cap situation suggests they may be done with major offseason moves, a sentiment echoed by Ron Francis earlier this week after signing Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson to significant seven-year deals. 24 hours after Francis said that, though, he then traded Brian Dumoulin to clear dollars off the books.
Could they be done? Possibly, but we still think Francis will be looking for opportunities to add offense and/or improve Seattle’s cap situation.
Coaching updates
Seattle made massive headlines by promoting Jess Campbell to the NHL, making her the league’s first full-time female assistant coach. While this announcement brought significant media attention and even a congratulatory message from the legendary Billie Jean King, the Kraken continued to focus the narrative on Campbell’s abilities as a coach. We’re excited to see what she can do to help the Kraken offense next season.
Congratulations to Jessica Campbell who has made #NHL history as the league's first full-time woman hired as an Assistant Coach for the @SeattleKraken! https://t.co/W11Q41G3kB
Simultaneously, the team hired Bob Woods to backfill for Jay Leach and later announced Derek Laxdal as the new head coach for Coachella Valley.
Laxdal, 58, has decades of experience at all levels of hockey from the WHL, where he won the Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014, to the NHL, where he spent three seasons as an assistant for the Dallas Stars. Laxdal (which comically rhymes with Hakstol, but that’s neither here nor there) most recently served as head coach and assistant general manager of the Oshawa Generals of the OHL.
We wondered what this meant for Firebirds assistant coach Stu Bickel, who we know was being considered for a promotion of his own, and it sounds like he will remain in his same role for next season under Laxdal.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The on-ice portion of the Seattle Kraken’s Development Camp kicks off Tuesday as drafted, signed, or undrafted invitees take the ice at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Many of these players are unlikely to ever play for the Seattle Kraken, and those who do could be years away from making their debuts. However, it is always enjoyable to get these early in-person viewings of these players. For the newbies, it is an opportunity to get a baseline view of their skills, and for the players we have seen over the years, it is a chance to observe their progression.
Here are four players I am particularly excited to watch:
Berkly Catton
The obvious prospect to check out is the Kraken’s latest first-round selection, Berkly Catton. Many Pacific Northwest WHL fans in the area will have seen Catton play before, being that he plays for the Spokane Chiefs. Catton had 54 goals and 62 assists over 68 games for the Chiefs in the 2023-24 season. He is fast, creative, and has great hands to become a high-level NHLer. There should be plenty of space out there during camp to really showcase his skills.
Tyson Jugnauth
We have discussed Tyson Jugnauth’s interesting developmental journey in several forums. The defenseman, taken by the Kraken in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft, started the 2023-24 season at Wisconsin. However, halfway through the college season, he left NCAA hockey to play with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. This change enabled Jugnauth to offensively shine. In his 13 games with Wisconsin, Jugnauth averaged 0.15 points per game, compared to being a full point-per-game player during the regular season with the Winterhawks. He is a dynamic offensive defenseman and helped create a lot of offense playing in the WHL.
Jugnauth remains unsigned by the Seattle Kraken and would be eligible to play for the Coachella Valley Firebirds should the Kraken sign him. This will be his third Development Camp with the Kraken, and it will be interesting to see how he currently stacks up against other prospects.
Carson Rehkopf
We have been enthusiastic about Carson Rehkopf ever since his first Development Camp, which happened last summer. He was one of the Kraken’s second-round selections from the 2023 NHL Draft and had a monster season for the Kitchener Rangers. He was second in the OHL in goals scored with 52, despite missing a good chunk of time when he was away from the team to represent Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Rehkopf is known for his shot and can score from anywhere on the ice. There is an outside chance that Rehkopf will stick with the Kraken when the regular season starts in the fall.
Lleyton Roed
The Kraken signed undrafted free agent Lleyton Roed in March after an impressive college season with Bemidji State, where he led the Beavers with 30 points in 38 games. He ended up playing five regular-season games and five postseason games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In those brief viewings, he looked very comfortable and noticeably quick for playing his first professional hockey games. Roed might be a few seasons away from contending for a Kraken roster spot, but we like what we see so far.
Camp details
Development Camp is not the most intense hockey you will see, but it is an excellent opportunity to observe the skill of these prospects and can give you an idea of who projects to play in the NHL one day. Camp will go from Tuesday through Friday, with an off day for the Fourth of July.
Tuesday, July 2: Doors open at 9:30 a.m.; group training sessions start at approximately 9:45 a.m.
Wednesday, July 3: Private viewing for Season Ticket Members only (advanced registration/ticketing required).
Friday, July 5: Doors open at 9:30 a.m. with scrimmages starting at approximately 10:00 a.m., followed by a hosted barbecue at 12:15 p.m. for the first 400 fans.
Here is the complete roster of who will be attending development camp:
If you are lucky enough to attend, let us know who catches your eye or your favorite moment.
Sound Of Hockey Prospect Week continues with today’s venture, a 2023-24 update on our truly reckless project from last offseason, ranking every NHL-affiliated skater prospect (both drafted and signed players) that meet two criteria entering the 2023-24 season. These players must (1) be younger than 25 years old, and (2) have played fewer than 50 NHL games. In addition, we’ll layer in some organization-level comparisons to investigate how the 32 NHL teams stack up.
As described yesterday when we looked at Seattle’s prospects through a similar lens, our “data-only” ranking is built on Thibaud Chatel’s NHL equivalency research and uses only quantifiable measures: prospect points per game and strength of the player’s current league, with adjustments made by me for prospect age and positional value. If you want more detail on methods, we went into it here, and feel free to drop questions in the comments below or on X (formerly known as Twitter).
For current purposes, it is likely sufficient to reiterate that there were no adjustments for subjective preferences or the “eye test” here. In that sense, this exercise is meant to complement traditional scouting assessments, not to be a replacement for that important work.
A data-only prospect ranking
Alright, without further preamble, you can find the full ranking of all 946 NHL-affiliated prospects meeting our criteria, with a lot of additional data on each prospect HERE.
Important note on using the data-only ranking: If you want to filter the data by various categories, highlight row 2, then select “Data,” “Filter Views,” and “Create New Temporary Filter View.” This will allow you to manipulate the data in a way visible only to you.
Here is summary information on the top 50:
How do the organizations stack up against each other? Let’s dig into that now.
Which organizations have the most young scoring talent coming?
The Seattle Kraken have more prospects in the top 50 of the overall (four) than any other NHL team.
In case you’re wondering whether we chose this initial threshold to cast the Kraken’s system in an artificially good light, it’s worth noting that Seattle Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus is prospect No. 51 in the ranking.
Of course, it’s much more valuable to have the No. 1 overall prospect in hockey than the number 50 prospect, so here’s a look at the aggregate 2023-24 season-adjusted NHLe for the same snapshot of prospects, by organization:
Drawing back a bit, here is how the top 100 prospects in this data-only ranking fall by organization. The logos closest to the Y Axis represent the highest-ranked prospects.
And, finally, here is a breakdown of how many top-200 prospects are in each organization:
Seattle’s prospects again measure up favorably, though its group is still not quite as deep as the very best prospect pools in the league, the Montreal Canadiens and the San Jose Sharks.
Finally, here is the aggregate 2023-24 season adjusted NHLe for the top-200 prospects, by organization:
Which organizations have the most young talent overall?
While we have learned a lot about which teams have the most young talent yet to play regularly at the NHL level, this doesn’t quite answer the question of which teams have the most young talent overall. After all, some of the very best young players–Connor Bedard, for example–never spend a moment playing junior or minor-league hockey after they are drafted.
To get an answer to the question of which organizations have the most (or least) young talent for the future, I compiled 2023-24 scoring data for all under-25 players on NHL rosters. Here are the results displayed graphically. The X Axis measures total scoring by the NHL team’s under-25 players. The Y axis measures the total adjusted NHLe by the system’s prospects ranking within the top 100.
Organizations in the top right quadrant have above-average young scoring talent in the NHL and outside it. Conversely, the cupboard is bare for the organizations in the bottom left, as they lack young scorers at any level.
The Kraken land in the top-left quadrant, among teams that don’t have much young talent yet established at the NHL level but have a lot coming. It makes sense that Seattle would be in this spot given that its draft classes are just now starting to mature outside of the very top draft picks that can make the jump to the NHL more quickly.
Elsewhere, the Sharks, Canadiens, Devils, Flyers, and Sabres appear well situated moving forward with young talent already on their NHL rosters and more coming. At the other extreme, the Lightning, Panthers, Oilers, and Islanders can’t bank on a pipeline of young scoring moving forward.
Which organizations are best positioned moving forward?
Of course, winning isn’t just about having young scorers. So, one last thing to look at is which organizations are both winning now and have highly ranked prospects coming. Again, top-right is where you want to be. Bottom-left is less than ideal.
Carolina and Winnipeg appear well situated with prospects coming to sustain their current success into the future. On the other end of the spectrum, even with Connor Bedard on hand, the Blackhawks need to add more talent to the organization. Drafting Ivan Demidov second overall would certainly help.
The Islanders and Oilers better win soon because the cupboard looks pretty bare for the future. On the other hand, the Sharks, Canadiens, and Kraken have reason to think things should improve going forward–though San Jose has a long road ahead to reach a competitive level.
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What stands out to you? Anything else you’d like to know? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter/X at @deepseahockey and @sound_hockey.
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.
I assure you, there will be extensive analysis of the Seattle Kraken’s performance throughout the 2023-24 season in the coming days, weeks, and months. We’ll delve deeper into what went wrong and speculate on offseason plans starting this week.
My mind is filled with topics to investigate and evaluate. Each investigation takes me down a different rabbit hole, and these don’t always yield findings worth sharing, so it will take me time to get through these. In the meantime, I thought I would wrap up the season with a final ‘Monday Musings.’
Injuries
Injuries were mentioned a couple of times during the season-ending press availabilities, and they truly took a toll on Seattle’s performance throughout the year. While maladies were a constant presence, we may not have fully grasped the extent of the challenge they presented this season for the Kraken.
Injuries are a part of the game, and the team faced a few last season as well. It’s hard to compare how this season’s man-games lost relates with last season or with other teams because of players on LTIR (Chris Driedger was included in Seattle’s man-games lost in 2022-23 but was replaced by Martin Jones).
Regardless, the above chart gives a good feel for just how much hockey was missed by key players. Due to turnover on the goal-scoring fourth line, the margin for error became much narrower this season. So in a season where goal-scoring was a challenge, the extended absences of Andre Burakovsky, Jaden Schwartz, and Vince Dunn had a significantly greater impact compared to the 2022-23 season.
Watching the playoffs though a Kraken lens
During Saturday night’s playoff game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, I sent out a tongue-in-cheek tweet suggesting Mitch Marner could be traded to Seattle. While a Marner trade would be a long shot, these are the types of scenarios that general manager Ron Francis could be considering during the offseason. Players entering the last year of their contract, with several quality years left in their career, may become targets—especially those unlikely to re-sign with their current team or in situations where the current club is seeking change. Marner is just one example of the type of player Francis could be exploring.
As I watch every second of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I also find myself keeping an eye on pending free agents who might fit into the Kraken’s lineup next season. In my opinion, signing the top free agents with lengthy contracts isn’t ideal, as they often don’t age well. Instead, the team needs a reliable goal scorer who can commit to a shorter contract of two or three years while the prospect pool matures. Among the players I’ve observed in the playoffs who fit this criteria are Tyler Toffoli, Anthony Duclair, and Jake DeBrusk. All three of them possess goal-scoring abilities and would be valuable additions to help address the team’s pressing need for scoring.
Thoughts on the new TV deal
The feedback and thoughts about the new Kraken TV partnership with TEGNA (KING 5/KONG) and Amazon Prime Video have been overwhelmingly positive. This partnership will remove significant financial barriers for fans to enjoy Kraken games. I’ve received numerous texts from Kraken fans expressing excitement about finally being able to watch locally broadcasted games.
However, a couple of fans raised legitimate questions. For instance, how will people in Idaho and Montana watch the games? The Kraken’s press release specifically mentioned availability in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, suggesting that Idaho and Montana may not have local broadcast access via over-the-air or Amazon Prime Video.
We asked about this and were told that viewers in those states can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch games as “out of market” fans.
Another question is whether Amazon Prime Video will offer the capability to start games on a delay. Not everyone can make it home for a 4 pm start for games on the East Coast and might prefer a ‘start from the beginning’ option. While this feature is standard for many streaming services, Amazon’s first-time regional game broadcast could see some evolution in capabilities.
Regarding replays, will they be available on Amazon Prime Video immediately or will fans need to wait 48 hours as with ESPN+? NFL game replays on Prime Video are typically available right away, but it’s uncertain whether the same will apply to these games.
We have also asked about the ‘DVR’ functionality and will pass along what we hear back.
Fans have also asked about pre- and post-game shows. How will these be presented, and will Piper Shaw be joining the team? Imagine a world without #TheExperience!
This transition in distribution is a significant undertaking, and I anticipate there may be some initial challenges. Let’s all practice patience as the Kraken work to develop this new solution.
Other Musings
In case you missed it, the Kraken signed Carson Rehkopf, one of their second-round selections from last year’s draft, after his Kitchener Rangers squad was eliminated from the OHL playoffs. He will be joining the Coachella Valley Firebirds for their playoff run.
With the signing of Rehkopf, Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard remains as the last unsigned second-round pick from last year’s draft. Expect him to join the Denmark national team at the IIHF World Championship in Czechia.
The Kraken will have strong representation at the upcoming World Championship, starting May 10, as announced by Ron Francis in his postseason press availability. Players such as Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev, Jamie Oleksiak, Andre Burakovsky, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Philipp Grubauer, and Tomas Tatar will be playing for their respective countries.
Although it feels like ages ago, I was deeply moved watching the final Arizona Coyotes game at Mullett Arena. When I started NHLtoSeattle some 14 years ago, the possibility of the Coyotes relocating to Seattle was often discussed. I vividly recall texting with the prospective ownership group on the night of the Glendale vote in 2013. It wasn’t something I was rooting for, but I was certainly keeping a close eye on it. There were incredibly dedicated fans there, and I hope the NHL returns to Arizona soon.
The Coyotes have made the playoffs only once since the NHL-owned team reached the Western Conference Final in 2012.
Here’s an interesting tidbit I came across recently: During the 2023-24 season, the Kraken had 15 fighting majors. Interestingly, seven out of the nine teams with fewer fighting majors than the Kraken are currently in the playoffs.
Get Off My Lawn
With the significant news of the Seattle Kraken moving on from ROOT Sports, I began researching streaming options. The top two choices for my needs are YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, with Hulu + Live TV being the favorite due to its bundle options with ESPN+. However, a major drawback with either option is the inability to add the NHL Network.
For passionate hockey fans like myself, the NHL Network offers 24/7 hockey content and serves as the home for events like the U18’s, Women’s Worlds, Men’s World Juniors, and Rivalry Series games. The only alternative streaming option would be Sling, but adding the NHL Network requires subscribing to the Orange package (~$40) and then purchasing the ‘Sports Extra’ add-on for an additional $10, totaling an extra $50 per month. That’s a bit steep for just adding the NHL Network, so I’ll pass on that option.
NHL Network distribution options, get off my lawn.
Down on the Farm
The Coachella Valley Firebirds earned a first-round bye in the Calder Cup Playoffs, and their second-round matchup is now set against the Calgary Wranglers. The series will follow a five-game format with the first two games scheduled in Calgary and the next three in Coachella Valley. This two-three format is often used to reduce travel costs when teams are geographically distant. Similarly, Abbotsford and Ontario are adopting a similar format for their series. I don’t love it for the Firebirds’ sake, since it feels like a disadvantage to open the series on the road.
Here is the schedule:
In case you missed it, early last week the Kraken and Firebirds announced that prospects Carson Rehkopf, David Goyette, Caden Price, Kaden Hammell, Andrei Loshko, and Eduard Šalé would be joining the Firebirds. Most of these guys will not get into any playoff games and are just around to absorb the pro atmosphere. But don’t be surprised if a couple of them get into a few games. Last season, Goyette ended up playing seven AHL playoff games after his junior season ended. Jagger Firkus and Jacob Melanson also got into one AHL playoff game each last season.
Speaking of Firkus, he will not be joining the Firebirds, since his Moose Jaw Warriors are still going and are knotted up at one game apiece against the Saskatoon Blades in Round 3 of the WHL Playoffs. On the other side of the WHL playoff bracket, Tyson Jugnauth and the Portland Winterhawks are tied 1-1 in their series with Prince George. Meanwhile, Ty Nelson of the North Bay Battalion is the only Kraken prospect still playing in the OHL playoffs.
You Don’t See That Every Day
This happened a while ago, but any time you see a goalie goal, you share it.
This is just a friendly reminder that the Kraken still have more playoff wins in the last three seasons than Vancouver.
Thank you all for reading and engaging with the Musings this season. It has been a rewarding routine that sparked discussions about the highlights and challenges of the Kraken’s season. Your thoughtful interactions in the comments section have been enriching and sometimes challenging, expanding my perspective and prompting me to reconsider my assumptions. Once again, thank you!
I have a substantial backlog of areas to investigate, but if you have any thoughts or ideas, please share them in the comments section.
