Injuries in hockey are inevitable. It’s a high-speed, high-intensity, chaotic game in which a player can be doing everything right, and yet, in the blink of an eye, their whole season can be derailed.
For the Seattle Kraken, they may have enough talent to make the playoffs for just the second time in their short history—and the first time since the 2022-23 season. But there’s no doubt that for Seattle to even have a sniff of contention, the roster has to stay relatively healthy throughout the regular season.
During training camp and preseason—before the puck even officially drops—the last thing you want to hear about is key veteran players dealing with injuries.
And yet, here we are.
Chandler Stephenson leaves Tuesday’s game
Seattle’s lineup looked very different Tuesday in an uninspiring 4-1 loss at Calgary compared to the group that played Sunday in a 5-3 home win against Vancouver. In fact, the only two Kraken players to appear in both games were Berkly Catton and Ryker Evans.
One of the veterans making his preseason debut Tuesday was Chandler Stephenson, who Seattle hopes can emerge as a top distributor for newcomers like Mason Marchment, who also played his first game against the Flames.
Stephenson came up lame after this play in the closing moments of the second period and did not return for the third.
The Kraken only announced that Stephenson was being “evaluated” by the medical staff, and coach Lane Lambert echoed that message in his post-game availability on Tuesday. “I have not heard anything,” Lambert said. “What I’ve heard is that he’s going to be evaluated [Wednesday].”
Unsurprisingly, Stephenson was not on the ice for practice Wednesday.
Jared McCann not at 100 percent
The Kraken desperately need Jared McCann to return to goal-scoring prominence this season after producing at a relatively low clip by his standards (though he still led the team in scoring with 61 points and buried 22 goals) in 2024-25.
One thing that likely hindered McCann’s production last season was an injury he played through for much of the campaign. He confirmed at the end of the year that he would undergo a procedure, and earlier this week he told us that recovery from that procedure kept him off the ice for most of the summer.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time right now. I wasn’t able to skate, really, that much in the summer, unfortunately. But I’m feeling pretty good, and hopefully it keeps going well.”
That comment came Saturday. On Sunday, the team announced McCann was day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Asked about McCann’s status following the game against the Canucks, Lambert said, “He didn’t get a lot of chance to skate this summer. If you ask any one of those players in that room how training camp has been and how the first four days have been, they’re going to say, ‘Extremely difficult.’ And so, there’s a maintenance portion for him. It’s been a tough camp so far.”
That doesn’t sound like Lambert and the team expect McCann to miss significant time, but it is concerning that Seattle’s best scorer is trying to ramp up for the season, and his body isn’t responding the way he had hoped.
The good news is that when McCann has been on the ice, he’s looked mostly like his old self—aside from a few moments where he’s flexed his leg. He looks fast, and his shot is as wicked as ever.
Here’s hoping this issue doesn’t linger into the season. But like Stephenson, McCann was also absent from practice Wednesday.
Ryan Lindgren working his way back
We didn’t see it happen, but we heard that offseason acquisition Ryan Lindgren took a puck to the face during Sunday morning’s practice, forcing him to leave the ice. He has yet to appear in a preseason game.
There’s some good news, though. Lambert didn’t express much concern, indicating the team expects Lindgren to be fine. He skated on his own in a red non-contact jersey Tuesday and returned to skate with the non-game group Wednesday.
Ryan Lindgren is on the ice with the non-game group in a regular blue jersey at #SeaKraken camp. His left eye is still noticeably black. pic.twitter.com/TAEDGvXNAo
Through all of this, top defenseman Brandon Montour still hasn’t skated with the team in training camp. Montour had a bursa removed from his ankle on the eve of camp and has been seen around Kraken Community Iceplex on crutches, chatting and laughing with team staff.
He did participate in pre-camp captains’ practices, and we’ve heard he had been dealing with the issue for a while this offseason before deciding to have the procedure so it wouldn’t bother him all season.
The team initially announced he’d be out for two weeks, which would put his projected return around next Wednesday. We’ll see…
Kraken need good health
The injury bug bites every team, every season; it’s just a matter of when—and how hard—it bites. For the Kraken, though, they simply can’t afford for key players to miss significant time if they want to be playing meaningful games late in the season.
On the plus side, there are still two full weeks before the games start to count, giving these banged-up players some runway to recover. The question is: Will they all be ready in time for Seattle’s Opening Night matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 9? Or will Seattle already be testing its depth from the drop of the puck?
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UPDATE: Add Kaapo Kakko to the injured list. He left Seattle’s 4-1 win in Edmonton in the first period after taking a wicked two-handed slash on the left hand from Oilers defenseman Beau Akey.
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 Seattle Kraken got off to a strong start in the Lane Lambert Era on Sunday with a 5-3 preseason win over the Vancouver Canucks. Sure, it was a meaningless exhibition, and Seattle dressed a much more seasoned lineup than Vancouver, but the home team controlled long stretches of the game, giving fans—and their new head coach—plenty to like.
“I like the effort a lot,” Lambert said. “I thought we played hard. I thought we did things that we’ve been working on from a defensive standpoint, I thought we did a lot of good things offensively. In the first period, we controlled the game with a number of good-quality scoring chances. We took a four-minute penalty, but that was all part of it, in terms of just sticking up for your teammate. But I thought we did a lot of good things in a lot of different areas.
“What I really liked a lot was we were on pucks tonight. We were hounding pucks, creating turnovers, and then turning it into offense.”
Jani Nyman scored twice, while Eduard Sale, Jaden Schwartz, and John Hayden each added a goal. Vince Dunn had three assists, and Kaapo Kakko contributed two.
Here are our Three Takeaways from Seattle’s 5-3 preseason win over Vancouver.
Takeaway #1: Jani Nyman making his case
Li’l Jani has been firmly on the radar as a young player with a chance to crack the Opening Night roster, after putting up six points (3-3=6) in 12 NHL games last season and leading the Coachella Valley Firebirds in goals with 28.
He looked too good for rookie camp last week, but the lingering question has always been whether his skating had improved enough to make him a full-time NHLer this season and allow him to consistently get into scoring positions to unleash his deadly shot.
Nyman made a convincing case Sunday. Midway through the second period, on a rush with Matty Beniers and Kakko, he hustled to the far post and managed to get his stick on Kakko’s seam pass, even after it deflected en route. That goal gave Seattle a 2-1 lead.
HELLO, NYMAN! 🚨
Nice buildup off the rush, and Li’l Jani does well to get his stick on Kakko’s pass that got deflected.
“It’s good to get some games before the real ones,” Nyman said. “It’s been a long summer, so I feel I’m ready. And I did a huge job [training] this summer. Hopefully I can see that on the ice.”
Added Lambert: “The thing that excited me about that goal was that it started in the D-zone. We killed the play, and then it ended up in the back of their net. So from my perspective, that’s what we’re talking about when we’re talking about defense translating into offense.”
Nyman followed up with an even prettier tally four minutes later, again connecting with Kakko. This time, after the two Finns switched positions just inside the blue line, Nyman drifted into a soft spot at the top of the right circle. Kakko slid him a perfect pass, and Nyman—who had cleverly opened himself up for a one-timer—ripped it off the far post and in.
“We never talked about [that play in advance]. It just happened,” Kakko said. “I mean, [Nyman’s] got a good shot, and we all know that. I think we saw that last year already, so— nobody net front, it’s a pretty heavy shot. Hopefully me and Matty can find him a little more.”
If Nyman keeps producing through the preseason, it’ll be hard for the front office to justify sending him down.
Takeaway #2: Solid start
We can’t read too much into this—or any—preseason game, especially with Vancouver icing a roster that looked more like a prospect showcase squad than an NHL lineup.
Still, you want to see structure and flashes from individual players, and the Kraken delivered both. Kakko, Shane Wright, and Schwartz all looked sharp. Several young players also left their mark: Sale opened the scoring, Oscar Fisker Molgaard set up Hayden’s goal, and Nyman did what we covered in Takeaway #1.
Seattle’s last two first-round picks, Berkly Catton and Jake O’Brien, also had their moments. Both showed confidence, and neither looked out of place. Catton, despite not finding the scoresheet, was around the action all night and finished plus-two in 14:24 of ice time.
“I liked both of their games,” Lambert said. “O’Brien’s a real cerebral player, really solid defensively. Honestly, he just keeps getting better every day, and he’s had a good training camp. His progression has been very, very good.
“Cats, he’s got that dynamic ability, that dynamic speed. He showed it on a few occasions tonight.”
Catton still has work to do to secure a roster spot. He didn’t cement it Sunday, but he also did nothing to hurt his chances.
Takeaway #3: John Hayden is still in the penalty box
Another player fighting (literally and figuratively) for a roster spot is John Hayden, who has been in this bubble position for four straight Kraken training camps. On Sunday, he reminded management he’ll always stand up for teammates.
This particular instance came with a price.
At 17:34 of the first period, Joseph LaBate flattened Wright with a clean open-ice hit. Hayden immediately went after LaBate, cross-checking the 6-foot-5 forward before dropping the gloves and throwing punches.
The result: 19 minutes of penalties—two for cross-checking, two for instigating, five for fighting, and a 10-minute misconduct—leaving the Kraken to kill off four minutes shorthanded. They survived, but Schwartz’s subsequent high-sticking minor cost Seattle a goal against.
“You know what? I have all kinds of time in the world for that,” Lambert said of Hayden’s decision to engage LeBate. “He’s sticking up for his teammate, so outstanding job by him. We try and kill those off all day long when we feel like somebody is trying to stand up for one of his teammates.”
Hayden made the most of the extra rest and scored 3:07 into the third period to extend Seattle’s lead to 5-2, banging home a slick feed from Fisker Molgaard.
Hayden remains a candidate for the 13th forward role. If he starts the year in Coachella Valley, odds are he’ll be back in Seattle before long.
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.
Believe it or not, Sunday is game day for the Seattle Kraken… or at least for some semblance of the Kraken made up of players within the organization. And while their lineup Sunday against the “Vancouver Canucks” will look nothing like what we’ll see on Opening Night, icing a team in true game competition marks the next step in the long-awaited return to hockey after an offseason that felt like an eternity.
Earlier this week, I wrote about five storylines to watch at training camp. Already, we’ve seen movement and developments on some of them. So here’s an update on where things stand, plus a few new tidbits from the opening days of camp.
Let’s go!
Storyline updates
Berkly Catton’s NHL readiness
I’m not ready to proclaim that Berkly Catton is a full-time NHLer just yet, but he hasn’t done anything to suggest otherwise. After dominating rookie camp, he’s fit seamlessly on a line with veterans Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann.
One of my favorite camp moments so far came from that trio on Saturday. In a 3-on-2 rush drill, Catton swung wide to the left, hit another gear, and blew past defenders through the circle (I can’t recall exactly who they went against). He then zipped a cross-crease pass right onto Eberle’s tape, and Eberle one-timed it on net. Victor Ostman made a highlight-reel save on the initial shot, but the rebound popped out to McCann, who buried it into an open net. If that exact sequence were to play out in a game, it’s a goal 95 percent of the time.
“I think [the main training camp is] definitely heavier bodies in the corner [than in rookie camp],” Catton said Friday. “And the little details matter a lot more, but still, it’s just hockey. And it helps when I’m on a line with two really good players. They always make plays and stuff, and [they’re] even communicating with me where to be. So honestly, it’s been great playing with them. They’ve showed me a lot, even in two days.
“Obviously it’s pretty cool, playing on a line with Jordan Eberle and McCann, so just cherishing that. But I think they’re really smart hockey players, and I think I have the ability to make plays too. I think we have, honestly, even in two days, a little bit of chemistry, so it’s been fun.”
CHEMISTRY?! CATTON HAS CHEMISTRY WITH MCCANN AND EBERLE?!
McCann returned the praise Saturday, saying he and Eberle have been joking about “keeping up” with the 19-year-old.
“He’s just so skilled,” McCann said. “He controls the puck so well. I know he’s not a big guy, but he can fight you off in the corner.”
Last preseason, Catton showed flashes, but he mostly looked overmatched as an 18-year-old playing against pros. I can’t wait to see how he looks in actual game action this time around.
Early signs of line combinations
In my “Training camp storylines” article, I noted it would be worth tracking potential line combinations for hints at how new head coach Lane Lambert might be stacking his players. From what I’ve seen, there are currently five forward lines worth of roster hopefuls:
Mason Marchment // Chandler Stephenson // Eeli Tolvanen Jared McCann // Berkly Catton // Jordan Eberle Jani Nyman // Matty Beniers // Kaapo Kakko Jaden Schwartz // Shane Wright // Jagger Firkus Tye Kartye // Freddie Gaudreau // Jacob Melanson
There’s still a lot of time for changes, but if the season started today, I think the Kraken would be picking 13 or 14 forwards from this group of 15.
We expected Catton, Jani Nyman, and Jacob Melanson to be in the roster conversation. What stands out, though, is seeing Jagger Firkus alongside Jaden Schwartz and Shane Wright. Firkus also played on the top line in last Saturday’s prospect showcase game in Everett with Catton and Nyman. I still think he needs more AHL seasoning, but his spot in this role shows how much the organization values him as a near-future NHLer.
Could Matt Murray play a role?
Perhaps the most intriguing roster battle is in net, where the Kraken now employ three goaltenders with extensive NHL experience. Joey Daccord remains the clear No. 1, but the under-the-radar offseason signing of Matt Murray adds intrigue to the competition with Philipp Grubauer.
But wait… is there really only one backup spot available?
I asked general manager Jason Botterill how the club plans to handle the situation. Here’s what he said:
“We’ll continue to evaluate the situation. We have ideas on comparing three goalies. We also have ideas if there’s injury that we have to make an adjustment from that standpoint, but we’re ready, whatever materializes over the next couple of weeks.
“I think there’s competition [between Grubauer and Murray], for sure, and I think there’s different scenarios where we’ve looked at being able to carry three goalies… With how condensed some of the games are [because of the Olympic break], I think you’re going to need three goalies throughout the season.”
The plot thickens!
Health updates
One (hopefully minor) concern popped up when the Kraken announced Brandon Montour would miss two weeks after having a bursa removed from his ankle. Montour had been skating in captain’s practices, so the timing is a little odd. Still, this procedure shouldn’t keep him out of regular-season action or set him back too far.
“He’s coming in in great shape,” Botterill said, adding that Montour should be ready for Opening Night. “It’s disappointing he can’t be out there right away, because he is a driver of our intensity and our pace of practices. But we tried to get this procedure done now so he doesn’t have to deal with it during the season, and our whole mindset is he’ll be ready to go for Game 1.”
Montour has been around Kraken Community Iceplex on crutches, chatting and laughing it up with team staff.
I also asked McCann how he was feeling after the surgery he had planned following last season.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time right now,” McCann said. “I wasn’t able to skate, really, much this summer, unfortunately. But I’m feeling pretty good. Just kind of going to keep at it.”
McCann was spotted chatting with trainers and stretching his leg Friday, and by Sunday the team confirmed he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Fingers crossed he’s good to go by opening night and back to filling the net like he has in his first four seasons in Seattle.
Meanwhile, prospects Lleyton Roed and Nathan Villeneuve both went down with injuries in the last week. Roed left the second prospect showcase game Sunday and is expected to miss two months with an upper-body injury. We spotted him this week with a cast on his left hand.
Villeneuve’s injury is more of a mystery. The team has only said it’s a lower-body injury and out for the remainder of training camp.
It’s a tough break for two players who impressed last camp with outstanding performances in preseason games. Here’s wishing them both a speedy recovery.
Lambert pulling no punches
It must be said: In five years of covering the Kraken, this has been the most intense opening stretch of camp I’ve witnessed. Lambert has emphasized accountability and attention to detail, and so far he’s been extremely vocal—so much so that he lost his voice by Saturday’s media availability.
Lambert doesn’t call it yelling, though. He calls it “encouraging.”
What I appreciate is that he isn’t afraid to blow a drill dead to correct mistakes on the spot.
“If something’s not right, don’t let it go. Stop practice,” Lambert said. “It doesn’t matter who it is, doesn’t matter if you’re a 14-year veteran or a rookie or a junior player in training camp. Everybody wants to learn, everybody can learn. We’ll talk a little bit about development, but it’s not just development of younger players. You can still develop your older players with different concepts, different things you can give them and bring them and help enhance their game.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
As Kraken training camp gets into full swing, it’s a good time to also review the Coachella Valley Firebirds roster. Which new prospects are eligible to join, which veterans remain, and how will they impact the AHL’s veteran rule?
Veterans returning
The AHL is a development league, and teams are limited to five veteran players in a gameday lineup. Veterans are defined as those with more than 260 games of professional experience.
*Ian McKinnon was incorrectly included above, but has not played the required number of games to be classified with veteran status. At 27 years old, McKinnon has played 130 professional games prior to the start of the 2025-26 season.
Above are six players who fall into the veteran category and could see significant time in the AHL. However, one of these and possibly up to three players may start the season with the Kraken. Seattle currently has only 11 forwards locked into NHL roster spots, leaving one fourth-line role and as many as two healthy-scratch spots open. Most likely, either John Hayden or Mitchell Stephens makes the Kraken roster, with younger players like Jani Nyman or Berkly Catton filling the other openings.
If one veteran sticks in Seattle, the Firebirds would have five veterans to rotate while staying under the AHL limit. Ian McKinnon and Gustav Olofsson are on AHL-only contracts, so NHL time isn’t an option for them (unless Seattle wanted to elevate one of them, in which case the team could sign the player to an NHL contract).
McCormick played just 19 games last year before suffering an undisclosed injury and enters camp still on that designation. Fleury could see NHL minutes, but Seattle’s addition of Ryan Lindgren pushed him to eighth on the depth chart. NHL teams usually carry seven defensemen, although the Kraken have occasionally carried eight in past seasons. Being eighth likely means Fleury begins the season in Coachella Valley.
Prospects with AHL experience
As the Kraken enter their fifth season, their prospect pipeline continues to deepen. The Firebirds will have 11 development players with at least one full season of AHL experience:
Nyman could also join this list, but for now we’ll assume he starts the year in Seattle. Sound Of Hockey’s own Darren Brown wrote about prospects to watch, including Melanson, who may push for NHL minutes. Ottavainen is also close to NHL-ready, but Seattle’s offseason moves created a defensive logjam. Because of that, he projects as a call-up option.
Fresh faces
Adding the veteran players and experienced prospects gives Coachella Valley 11 forwards and four defensemen. That leaves one forward and two defense spots open on a typical gameday roster. The AHL has no hard roster limit, so more players can be carried over the NHL’s 23-man cap.
This year, eight new prospects could suit up in the AHL:
Tyson Jugnauth, Andrei Loshko Justin Janicke, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard are strong candidates to be in Coachella Valley—Jugnauth and Loshko have aged out of the WHL, Janicke has finished his college career, and Mølgaard has made the jump from the Swedish Elite League (SEL). The other five are 20-year-olds still eligible to return to the CHL, though all will push for AHL roles during training camp.
Given that only four defensemen are returning from last year’s team, it’s possible all four newcomers make the Firebirds roster, though it isn’t guaranteed. With Fleury and Ottavainen ready to step into a Kraken role if a need arises, the youngsters could fill any vacancies.
Among the forwards, Janicke is unique—he’s on an AHL-only deal and could be pushed to Kansas City in the ECHL if space runs out. Players on entry-level contracts (ELC) are also eligible to play in the ECHL, but overagers (20-year-olds) remain eligible for the CHL. Typically, those players would be returned to juniors for development rather than being assigned to the ECHL.
In short, performance at training camp will dictate outcomes, but with Seattle pulling some AHL veterans up, the odds are good that most, if not all, of these players land in Coachella Valley.
What about goalies?
The veteran rule does not apply to goaltenders. With journeyman Matt Murray joining the organization and Nikke Kokko ready for a bigger role, the Firebirds appear set in net. Victor Ostman is likely to get playing time in the ECHL to continue his development.
Wrapping up:
Training camp is just beginning, and nothing is finalized. Roster battles remain, and the picture will continue to evolve. While the big question is whether any of the 20-year-old prospects are returned to their junior teams, my view is that all eight will earn spots in Coachella Valley. That sets up a deep, competitive group ready to build on last season.
Key battles to watch in training camp include whether Nyman makes the Kraken, which would leave another forward spot in Coachella Valley, and who secures the right-wing role on the fourth line between Hayden and Melanson. If Berkly Catton makes the Kraken, that could also bump a top-nine forward into that mix. Watching Seattle’s young talent take on larger roles in Coachella Valley makes the future of Kraken hockey look even brighter.
Which Firebirds player are you most excited to watch take a step forward this season?
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
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.
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.
