There was a moment in the first preseason game for the Seattle Kraken on Sunday when forward Tye Kartye looked like a switch had flipped in his brain. The Kraken were down in the game, but Kartye was going to make sure his presence was known for the rest of the way. He could be seen slashing and crosschecking Calgary Flames players after the whistle, throwing his body around, and even diving headlong into a post-whistle hog pile in the goal crease.
These days, the first thing that stands out about Kartye’s game when you watch him play is his physicality. And while that feisty side jumps off the page, you wouldn’t know from talking to him that this is how he plays. Always mild-mannered and polite, it’s fascinating to watch him get under an opponent’s skin during a game.
The 5-foot-11, 202-pound Kartye isn’t afraid to go after players of any size in the heat of battle, whether it’s to separate a player from the puck, seek vengeance on behalf of a teammate, or create a spark for his team.
Though Dan Bylsma is new to the head coaching role with the Kraken this season, he is very familiar with Kartye’s physical game, having coached him throughout the 2022-23 season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
“You know, just last year, what [Kartye] established as his game was even greater than it was in Coachella,” Bylsma said. “In terms of being a physical presence, a checking presence, and taking the body at every chance he possibly gets. And he’s a little bit of a wrecking ball in that regard.”
Ready for a bigger role?
Fans who paid attention to Kartye’s performance with the Firebirds know there’s more to his game than just the physical side. Before being recalled for Seattle’s NHL playoff run, he lit up the AHL with 28 goals and 29 assists in 72 games, earning the Red Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding rookie.
Tye Kartye skates for the Coachella Valley Firebirds during the 2022-23 season. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
After his impressive NHL postseason debut, where he scored in his first game and added two more goals and two assists in 10 playoff games, fans were optimistic he could produce offensively as a full-time NHLer in 2023-24.
However, Kartye was largely confined to a fourth-line role last season, where scoring goals was not the emphasis. In 77 games for the Kraken, the Kingston, Ontario native notched 11 goals and nine assists, leaving room for growth this season.
The checking role and limited minutes last season didn’t bother Kartye, who said he would continue doing whatever he can to help the team, even if he finds himself in that role again this season.
“Everyone out there has an important role to play,” Kartye said. “Not everyone’s going to be the guy to get 100 points and score all the goals. You’ve got to have guys that are going to play roles and embrace roles if you want to be a successful team. And, you know, if I’m put in that role, I’ll just try to embrace it and be the best fourth-line player I can be for the team.”
But watching Kartye in camp this past week, he appears poised to take a big step forward in his career. He looks bigger, faster, and more like a veteran NHL player. Bylsma and his staff seem to have noticed, as they have him skating on a line with Shane Wright and Jordan Eberle, a trio that—if kept together—would surely be counted on to deliver offense.
“If that’s what they choose to do with me, to put me in a role where they expect me to score more, obviously I think I can bring that,” Kartye said. “I feel like I had a good summer, so I feel like I can definitely bring a little more offense and maybe some more goals.”
Continuing to improve
The 23-year-old winger said he took full advantage of the long summer break that comes with missing the playoffs. He focused heavily on his puck handling, edge work, and making plays with his head up—all skills that will help the offensive side of his game.
“I think he can continue to grow and add some of the things that we saw in the playoffs two years ago at the end of the year, where he came in and was able to show his shot off and score some goals for us,” Bylsma said.
Keeping the physical edge
While Kartye may have opportunities to showcase his big shot and produce more offensively this season, both he and Bylsma seem to agree that the feisty forward should continue to play with an edge.
“We have to continue to see the physicality,” Bylsma said. “But I’d like to see his game grow and for him to be a factor with his shot.”
That edginess does not come naturally to Kartye. Instead, it’s a skill he says he’s honed since his time in the OHL, where he first caught the eye of Kraken brass as a member of the Soo Greyhounds.
“I definitely don’t think it’s natural, because I didn’t have it until I got to junior,” Kartye recalled. “I realized that it’s something I’m going to have to develop if I want to progress in hockey. So yeah, being hard to play against is something I pride myself on. It’s kind of, when you get out there, you change your mindset and become really hard to play against, and that’s not fun for anybody.”
While he had older players and coaches influencing him in the OHL, Kartye said he taught himself how to be pesky toward opponents through trial and error.
“No one taught me. I feel like you start to realize the kind of hardness that guys don’t want to play against,” Kartye said. “And if you can do that repeatedly throughout a game and throughout a season, obviously it’s going to work for you. So I think [it was] just trial by fire in junior, just going out there and working as hard as I could and learning how to incorporate that into my game. And obviously I feel like that helped.”
Has Kartye shown enough of a blend of physicality and offensive prowess to earn an elevated role in the lineup when Seattle breaks camp?
“Potentially,” Bylsma said. “That’s up to him and what he earns. But he’s got that capability.”
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 battle for the final few roster spots is heating up in Seattle Kraken training camp. As I’ve mentioned a few times, Seattle already has a full lineup of players presumably etched into the Opening Night roster, and the team would be right up against the salary cap with a full complement of healthy skaters.
The cap crunch doesn’t account for any extra players, so we still don’t exactly know how the club would fit them in. But NHL teams always carry extras to create ongoing competition and to fill in for last-second injuries or illnesses. If Seattle can find a way to fit an extra player or two (or three?) under the cap, who will make it out of Kraken training camp with the big club?
Well, it depends on how many players the Kraken want to keep around. The maximum regular-season active roster size is 23 players, which means 18 skaters and two goalies in the lineup and up to three healthy scratches. For teams that keep the max 23, they typically go with two extra forwards and one spare defenseman.
Josh Mahura, Cale Fleury, and Gustav Olofsson are the most obvious options to remain with the otherwise set-in-stone defense corps. My gut says Mahura, the offseason free agent signee, would be the guy with the inside track. He did have a glaring mishap in the game Sunday against Calgary that ended up in Seattle’s net, though, so he has more to prove. We’ll continue to keep an eye out for signs of which depth defenseman seems to be rising to the top of the heap.
As for the forwards, that contest is quite intriguing. I’ve always thought Ryan Winterton had a good chance of sticking with the Kraken, and I still do. But John Hayden and Ben Meyers are also making strong claims for remaining in the NHL, and as the days go by, I’m growing more confident that the final decisions will come down to these three players.
John Hayden shows off physical element
Hayden’s time with the Kraken organization has been interesting. Since signing with the team prior to the 2022-23 season, he seems to be riding the NHL bubble but still has not been able to re-solidify himself as a full-time NHLer despite his 249 games of NHL experience.
I thought coming into last season’s camp that a roster spot was his to lose, but he got banged up and didn’t put his best foot forward. I asked Hayden about this today, and he said, “It’s a good point. I think that was pulling me back maybe a little bit, so it’s nice coming in this year feeling fresh and healthy.”
In this camp, he’s happy with what he’s shown to this point.
“I’ve felt pretty good so far, just trying to grow a little bit every year,” Hayden said. “I’ve definitely learned a lot from the staff over the last couple of years. That’s the thing about hockey is you can never perfect it, so there’s always something to work on and a North Star to chase, but so far, I’ve thought the compete’s been solid. But I think I have more to give as well.”
“I’m familiar with John’s game and what he brings to the table from having him [in Coachella Valley] the last two years,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “He’s been up in Seattle for a handful of games the past couple of years. But we even talked with John last year in the [AHL] playoffs, ‘Just let your game speak for itself.’ In the playoffs last year, he was a big, dominant power forward, physical, and added some scoring in the playoffs.”
Bylsma added that Hayden is showing a different side to his game in camp compared with what he demonstrated in the Calder Cup Playoffs. This version of Hayden seems to be working quite well in terms of making sure his presence is known.
“I just compete,” Hayden said. “I try and be a Swiss Army knife, whatever role I’m put in, and bring energy.”
Ben Meyers is also in the mix
I also thought it was interesting that Meyers was the one tagged to slot in for Chandler Stephenson between Jaden Schwartz and Andre Burakovsky Tuesday. Meyers did not disappoint, scoring Seattle’s lone goal and nearly tying the game with six minutes left.
“Ben’s a little bit different [than Hayden],” Bylsma said. “I talked about Ben [Tuesday]… I’ve played against him three times [in Coachella Valley], and they were fearful times. We were worried about Ben coming into… the Colorado lineup in the playoffs, because of his speed, because of his playmaking ability… It’s what he brought last night. He got an opportunity to do it with Schwartzy and Burky up on that top line, and he did an outstanding job with it. You see his speed on the goal, and he finishes it off there, and he’s got to keep it going.”
With Hayden and Meyers making strong (but very different) cases for belonging in the NHL, now Winterton will look for a chance to leave a lasting impression. Worth noting, with Burakovsky taking a maintenance day Wednesday, Winterton joined the forward line with Schwartz and Meyers.
The plot thickens.
Catton, Rehkopf, and Villeneuve returned to junior teams
As we were assembled and waiting for Bylsma to appear at the podium after practice Wednesday, we noticed No. 8 overall draft pick Berkly Catton walking through the Kraken dressing room carrying his fully packed Spokane Chiefs equipment bag and a couple of his sticks. This raised our antenna that perhaps the second round of cuts from training camp could be happening in that very moment.
Lo and behold, when Bylsma did appear, he confirmed that Catton, along with Nathan Villeneuve and Carson Rehkopf, would be returning to their respective junior clubs. The coach sounded pleased with what he saw from the youngsters during their time in Seattle.
“Awesome, awesome,” Bylsma said when asked specifically about Catton. “I think [there was] a lot of anticipation as to what kind of player he is and what he can do on the ice. I thought he showed great with this training camp, a high degree of skill and compete, great hockey sense, offensive mind for the game, and that showed up… And so I think the 10 days, 12 days went really well for him.”
As for the others, Bylsma sees an opportunity for them to return to the CHL and act as leaders on their teams.
“I think [getting] the opportunity here in camp to do it with our guys, see the pace, the speed, see how our guys work… Now it’s their job to take that to be leaders with their own careers,” Bylsma said. “When they’re going back to their junior teams, take leadership of where they’re at and what they are as a player.”
One thing we noticed about Catton is how he seemed to improve before our eyes during rookie camp and the main Kraken training camp. Heck, even in the lone preseason game he played against the Calgary Flames, he had a mistake early that led (in part) to Calgary’s first goal, but as that game went on, he looked more and more confident and started to show why he was a top pick in the draft. We saw flashes of his speed and offensive prowess, which led to a couple of scoring chances in the game, and even in practices, his motor seemed to be operating a faster rate at the end of his stint compared to the beginning of camp.
Villeneuve, meanwhile, did a lot to boost his brand during his time in Kraken training camp. He scored in that same Flames game and ruffled a lot of feathers along the way, earning his unexpectedly extended stay in Seattle. We will certainly be keeping tabs on him this season.
The cuts mean that Eduard Sale is the only player left who could potentially return to junior. The wrinkle with him is that—while other major junior players his age can only play in the NHL or CHL—Sale is an import, which makes him eligible to play in the AHL this season. Could the Kraken place him in Coachella Valley to really get their developmental hooks into him?
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 second group of Seattle Kraken players to skate in a preseason game performed much better than the first group, which was destroyed 6-1 by an unimposing Calgary Flames roster on Sunday. Still, that second group of Kraken came out on the losing end to the Canucks, though this contest had a more palatable 3-1 final score.
It was the second very feisty game Seattle has played, suggesting that coach Dan Bylsma’s emphasis on physical play could differ from that of former coach Dave Hakstol.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-1 Kraken preseason loss to the Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Fisticuffs and shenanigans
There were plenty of extracurricular activities in this game, including two fights and several skirmishes of varying intensity. Bylsma said after Sunday’s game that he wanted his team to be the aggressors when it came to physicality, rather than reacting later in the game, as the Kraken did against the Flames. Well, it seems he can just throw John Hayden into the lineup, and he’ll get his wish.
Hayden demonstrated why he’s valuable to the Kraken on Tuesday and made a strong case for being kept around as a depth forward.
After Logan Morrison was blindsided by a hit from 6-foot-6 Vilmer Alriksson, Hayden quickly jumped over the boards and wasted no time going after the much bigger forward. It was a spirited fight that lasted nearly a minute.
Fisticuffs! 🥊
6-foot-6 Viktor Alriksson crushes Logan Morrison with a blindside hit (replay of that at the end of the video), and John Hayden challenges Alriksson. Good bout. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/EZEboaHbNY
Later in the game, when fellow giant Tyler Myers—whom Hayden fought in last year’s preseason after Myers injured Matty Beniers the season before—went after new prized defenseman Brandon Montour, Hayden again came to the rescue. He quickly intervened, wrestling Myers away from Montour.
Then, as Brandon Tanev fought Mark Friedman after several earlier attempts, who was at the center of the commotion? You guessed it, Hayden.
Now, is fighting the most important part of hockey these days? Certainly not. But how many times last season did we see bad hits go unpunished by Seattle? How often did opposing teams come into Climate Pledge Arena and push the Kraken around? If nothing else, this team is sending early signals that it won’t back down from a physical game, and Hayden’s willingness to constantly be in the middle of the action can only help his chances of staying on the NHL roster.
Takeaway #2: Ben Meyers impresses
Another player competing for one of those elusive final roster spots is newcomer Ben Meyers, who—like Hayden—fits the mold of a potential 12th, 13th, or even 14th forward. The 25-year-old, 5-foot-11 forward has 67 career NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks, and 62 AHL games with the Colorado Eagles.
Chandler Stephenson had been centering the line between Andre Burakovsky and Jaden Schwartz during training camp, but Meyers was surprisingly slotted into that line Tuesday while Stephenson stayed home. Bylsma indicated Tuesday morning that the switch had more to do with Stephenson than getting a look at Meyers, explaining, “Each one of us is in different stages of camp and bumps and bruises, and it’s just a quick adjustment.”
Bylsma also had glowing things to say about Meyers, though, whom he had faced several times previously at the AHL level.
“I have seen Ben play in two, three American League games,” Bylsma said. “I feared him playing in a few more against CV, because he brings speed, brings intelligence, he brings a lot of—in his own way—compete. And so I don’t have to fear it anymore, I can expect it.”
All that talk made me wonder if the team did want to get a good, hard look at what Meyers could do. Sure, he was filling in for Stephenson, but Meyers was placed in a position to succeed between two veteran players.
Meyers made good on his opportunity, scoring Seattle’s lone goal off a 2-on-1 rush with Schwartz just 10 seconds into the third period. He nearly tied the game with six minutes left after another partial break with Schwartz.
I’m not ready to say Meyers is pushing for a spot on the team, but it’s encouraging to see players get a chance and make the most of it. If he doesn’t end up making it, he showed Tuesday he could be relied upon in a pinch.
Takeaway #3: Andre Burakovsky looks awesome
I’ve been keeping a close eye on Andre Burakovsky in camp because… well… he’s hard to miss out there. He has been flying around, looking stronger and faster than we’ve ever seen him in Kraken colors.
The oft-injured forward confirmed that he had a productive offseason, where he was able to focus on training rather than rehabbing injuries, as he did the two previous summers.
I wondered how his practices would translate into game action, and he did not disappoint on Tuesday. Burakovsky was everywhere, and when he had the puck, he looked dynamic, making it seem like the Canucks had no chance of taking it off him.
Aside from creating the above chances, Burakovsky led the Kraken with three shots on goal and came within inches of tying the game with three minutes left, only to be thwarted by a sprawling Arturs Silovs save.
I’ve loved what I’ve seen from Brandon Montour so far. He’s slick on his skates and makes a lot of smart decisions with the puck. He was a big addition for this club.
The summer heat may still be lingering, but the start of training camp brings with it a renewed sense of excitement for Seattle Kraken fans. Among the most anticipated prospects is Shane Wright, the fourth-overall pick in the 2022 draft. While a full-time roster spot isn’t guaranteed, Wright’s performance in training camp suggests he’s on the verge of making a significant impact. A strong showing is crucial to convince the coaching staff and front office that he’s ready for the NHL.
A unique development path
Comparisons between Wright and Matty Beniers are inevitable, given their similar draft positions. Granted exceptional status, Wright joined the OHL at 15, a rare feat achieved by only nine players in CHL history. The most recent example is Landon DuPont, who recently debuted for the Everett Silvertips. However, the pandemic disrupted Wright’s development, because the OHL canceled the 2020-21 season.
This meant Wright entered the NHL entry draft with two junior seasons compared to Beniers’ three years of experience (USHL, NTDP, NCAA). At 18, Wright had effectively outgrown the OHL but was not eligible for the AHL, and with only two years of junior hockey, the NHL was just out of reach. Due to the lost year and coming up just shy of the requirement to be eligible anyway, Wright was granted an exception during the 2023-24 season to play in the AHL and has now completed four years of developmental hockey (OHL, AHL) – aligning with Beniers’ trajectory.
Rookie camp
Despite not technically being a rookie, Wright embraced the “veteran” role in rookie camp last week, exhibiting strong leadership qualities and outshining his peers.
“I’m trying to be a mentor and leader for the younger guys coming in and help them out through the process,” Wright said, demonstrating a maturity beyond his years. His dedication was evident, not only in his on-ice performance but also in his willingness to assist teammates in acclimating to the professional environment. Recognizing his exceptional skills and experience, the Kraken decided to keep Wright in Seattle for additional training rather than sending him to the LA Rookie Faceoff.
ShaneWright (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Training camp
Wright has been frequently centering a line with wingers Tye Kartye and Jordan Eberle in training camp. This trio has shown promising chemistry, building upon the connection Wright established with Eberle during his eight-game stint with the Kraken at the end of last season. The line has consistently looked impressive in camp, showcasing Wright’s ability to keep pace with and contribute offensively alongside established NHL players. This is a positive indicator of his readiness for the upcoming season.
Leading by example
Despite his young age, Wright’s leadership qualities are undeniable. Whether it’s arriving early for practice, assisting teammates with drills, or cleaning up after practice, Wright consistently goes above and beyond. His dedication to the “little things” sets him apart from his peers. When asked about his early arrival, Wright shrugged it off, stating, “I like being early and don’t like being late. I take advantage of the free ice to shoot around and warm up.” His work ethic is evident in every aspect of his game, from his on-ice performance to his commitment to team culture.
While the final score of the preseason game against the Flames was a disappointment, there were several positive takeaways, including the standout performance of the Kartye-Wright-Eberle line. The line generated a team-high 11 shots on goal, showcasing their offensive potential. Their ability to cycle the puck and create high-danger scoring chances bodes well for the upcoming season. Kartye’s high-energy play provided a spark, allowing Eberle and Wright to cycle the puck effectively and generate offensive pressure.
Coachella Valley Firebirds
Wright spent the majority of last season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In 59 regular-season games, he tallied 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists). His production surged in the playoffs, averaging over a point per game with 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) in 12 games. This impressive performance made him the AHL’s leading scorer among 19-year-olds.
The Firebirds, a two-time Calder Cup finalist, provided Wright with valuable playoff experience. He appeared in 36 playoff games over the past two seasons, gaining firsthand knowledge of the intensity and grind of postseason hockey. Although the Firebirds fell short of winning the Calder Cup, Wright’s experience in these high-stakes games will undoubtedly benefit him at the NHL level.
Head coach Dan Bylsma
The centerman’s 103-game experience (regular season and playoffs) under the guidance of current Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma is a significant advantage. Bylsma praised Wright’s development, saying, “How he improved, how he grew and how he plays is an advantage for him. Having had that experience, I know that I believe in and trust him as a player.” Bylsma’s familiarity with Wright’s tendencies and strengths allows him to deploy him optimally. The fact that Kartye also played under Bylsma could be a contributing factor to their line placement in camp.
Dan Bylsma (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Looking the part
Based on his performance last season and his start to training camp, Wright appears NHL-ready. He seamlessly skates alongside NHL players, demonstrating a level of skill and maturity that sets him apart from other prospects. Wright’s elite skillset, coupled with his unwavering work ethic and emerging leadership qualities, position him to make a significant impact at the NHL level. As training camp progresses, Wright’s trajectory remains positive, and he’s poised to earn a permanent spot on the Kraken roster come Oct. 8.
If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below. You can find me on the X at @blaizg.
Hey, it’s the preseason. We can’t get too wound up about a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of an uninspiring Calgary Flames roster when we’re just four days into training camp. But we can dissect the Seattle Kraken’s first foray into game action and see what interesting nuggets we can dig up.
There were some nice flashes, including Nathan Villeneuve sending a one-time rocket past Dustin Wolf to get Seattle on the board. However, Matthew Coronato (who could be a stud player that Seattle will have to deal with for a long time) and the Flames took advantage of the Kraken’s many mistakes and cruised to an easy win.
Wow! Nathan Villeneuve with a rocket one-timer! 🚀
Bjorkstrand sets him up, and the youngster gets a pretty goal and a nice little “sheath the sword” celly. 🗡️ #SeaKraken
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 6-1 Kraken loss to open the preseason.
Takeaway #1: Many mistakes
Preseason is such a strange animal. You’re mixing NHL players with AHL players and even major junior players, several of whom are stepping onto NHL ice for the first time. In the case of Sunday night’s game, you’re doing it after just four days of practice and zero game competition.
Still, head coach Dan Bylsma was not particularly pleased with what he saw. “I think there was a concerted effort to do some of the things we’re talking about,” a very hoarse Bylsma said. “It just wasn’t on the same page. We weren’t at all connected, we weren’t doing it together, and the play was a lot like my voice as a result.”
It was one of those games where every mistake seemed to end up in the back of the Kraken’s net, something we’ve seen many times over the team’s first three seasons. On the first goal, right off a defensive-zone face-off, Berkly Catton lost his guy, Clark Bishop, who went straight to the crease and scored.
On the second goal, Josh Mahura got hit, lost the puck, regained it, and then sent a pass to David Goyette at the half-wall. However, the pass handcuffed the young forward, leading to a turnover at the blue line. A slapshot off the end wall caromed out in front, got batted around, and was eventually cleaned up by Coronato.
On the fourth goal, the Kraken got bottled up for a bit and seemed to have things mostly guarded. But then, suddenly, there was a glorious passing lane right through the middle of the ice. Coronato found it with a tasty backhand sauce pass right into Jeremie Poirier’s wheelhouse.
4-0 Flames.
Kraken get caught puck watching and leave a nice little seam open for Matt Coronato to find Jeremie Poirier. Pretty sick backhand pass all the way across. pic.twitter.com/GxUGwqnxix
Meanwhile, Philipp Grubauer looked like he was swimming around in his crease in the first period (he seemed more comfortable in the second period), but he also got hung out to dry a couple of times.
The good news about these mistakes is that they offer learning opportunities for the young players who are just getting a taste of life in the NHL. And thankfully, these mistakes came in a game that meant nothing, other than perhaps delivering a small blow to the ego.
“The correction doesn’t come today,” Bylsma said. “If they’re coming off the ice every time and hearing my voice saying, ‘you made a mistake,’ or ‘you messed up here or there,’ it’s just putting them in the wrong mindset. Did Berkly Catton make a mistake on the face-off, lose his guy? He did. But he didn’t hear it from me after that. We put him back out there and just kept playing.”
Takeaway #2: Some nice flashes too
When we saw the lineups, we hoped the two full lines of NHL players that the Kraken dressed would carry the play. Indeed, there were some good stretches of play from the Jared McCann/Matty Beniers/Oliver Bjorkstrand line and the Tye Kartye/Shane Wright/Jordan Eberle line. We thought Wright had a solid game, a positive sign for a young player we expect the Kraken to lean on this season.
There were also good moments from some of the younger players. While Catton had the early face-off miscue, he also had a couple of nice rushes that led to scoring chances, including a partial breakaway in the third period. That play should have at least resulted in a penalty on Adam Klapka, and perhaps even a penalty shot. Instead, the Flames went the other way, and Klapka ended up scoring his second goal of the game to make it 5-1.
Berkly Catton gets dragged down on a breakaway by Adam Klapka.
Flames go back the other way and who scores? Klapka. 🤦♂️
The highlight of the game for the home team was definitely Villeneuve’s one-time blast off Bjorkstrand’s cross-slot pass.
Villeneuve is an intriguing player. He brings a ton of grit, which was on display in this game, and now we’ve seen that he also has a scoring touch.
“Obviously, I like to play the physical part of the game, but I mean, a lot of people don’t see my offensive side,” Villeneuve said. “They only see my Matthew Tkachuk-type style of play. And obviously, I love scoring goals, but my main part is just to play my role.”
Aside from the goal, Villeneuve could be seen jawing at the Flames bench after nearly goading Dryden Hunt into a fight. He seemed intent on making his presence known throughout the game.
“We’re down a couple goals there,” Villeneuve said. “The goal [that I scored] kind of changed the momentum a little bit, but I thought I might be able to mix it up physically, maybe throw in a fight and try to get the momentum going more for our side.”
Takeaway #3: A feisty preseason opener
Speaking of physicality, there was an actual fight in this game after Tucker Robertson caught William Stromgren with a knee-on-knee hit and was immediately challenged by Artem Grushnikov.
Fisticuffs! 🥊
Tucker Robertson caught William Stromgren with close to a knee-on-knee hit.
But aside from that altercation, there were constant scuffles throughout.
“It’s the NHL, and it’s competitive,” Tye Kartye said. “Everyone wants to be here, and everyone on Calgary wants to be there… Nobody should have been surprised [by the physicality].”
Bylsma was also unsurprised by the feistiness of the preseason opener, but he wants his team to engage in the physical side of the game in a different way than what they showed Sunday.
“The thing that I didn’t like about it is it’s reactionary, and we don’t want to be reactionary,” Bylsma said. “We want to be ins— I can’t say that word. We want to be the aggressor, both in how we play and in physicality.”
The word Bylsma started to say before cutting himself off was “instigators.”
By the way, Bylsma is going to be an absolute treat to cover. Even on a night when his team got smoked and was reminded on home ice that there is a long way to go before the Kraken will be ready for the season, he brought honesty and bluntness, while still managing to mix in a little humor.
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.
If the first two days of Seattle Kraken training camp were any indication of what we can expect from a Dan Bylsma-coached team, then the players are going to be… well, tired. Bylsma and his staff worked the players very hard over their first two on-ice sessions, including a fitness test bag skate on Friday that had players doubled over before they moved from Rink 2 to Rink 1 and continued with battle drills and 3-on-2’s.
After the second of three groups finished its practice on Friday, there was a lengthy delay before Andre Burakovsky, who we were waiting to hear from in the Kraken dressing room, emerged to chat with media. “Sorry for [the wait],” Burakovsky said. “I had to get some treatment on my legs. They’re a little sore after that practice.”
Burakovsky elaborated on the pace of the practice. “We go hard. It’s good to be back. It’s been two really hard practices with ups and downs, a lot of battle drills, and it’s good to be back in action.”
Bylsma gave a simple explanation for pushing the players so hard in their first two days of Kraken training camp. “It’s hockey. In order to play this game, you’ve got to be able to skate up and down the rink, and that test we did today, I label it a ‘return to play’ skate. It usually comes after an injury or when you’re trying to return to play, but we’re all trying to return to play at the start of training camp.”
The new coach is setting a standard for the players to be well-conditioned and prepared to play at a high pace, night in and night out. “The pace with which we want to play and the speed we want to play the game at, you need to put yourself under duress to play that way,” Bylsma said. “And that’s what’s expected of them, so you’ve got to get the work in to be able to do it.”
Hints of a Kraken lineup
While there are still three groups of players in Kraken training camp, with the veterans sprinkled throughout, we’ve already been piecing together what Bylsma might envision as his first lineup if everyone makes it through camp healthy.
Here’s who we’ve seen skating together:
Jared McCann // Matty Beniers // Oliver Bjorkstrand Jaden Schwartz // Chandler Stephenson // Andre Burakovsky Tye Kartye // Shane Wright // Jordan Eberle Eeli Tolvanen // Yanni Gourde // Brandon Tanev
Vince Dunn // Adam Larsson Jamie Oleksiak // Brandon Montour Ryker Evans // Will Borgen
Of course, take that lineup with a huge grain of salt, but those are the 18 skaters we would all expect to be on the Opening Night roster, and they were taking rushes with players that make sense as linemates.
Regardless of whether the team ever plays a game with that lineup—or even something similar—you can immediately see that the group, if it stays relatively healthy, is deeper than last season. There are no bottom-line fill-ins here, and to have Tolvanen, Gourde, and Tanev on a de facto “fourth line” makes for some difficult matchups for opposing teams.
HOWEVER…
The resolution of Seattle’s cap crunch still remains to be seen. Will all 18 of these players still be with the organization when camp breaks in two weeks? Or will the front office be able to do enough cap gymnastics to keep them all around?
Chip on the shoulder
We’ve been doing a series of player interviews this week, which you’ll hear on upcoming episodes of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. One thing we’ve consistently heard in those interviews from returning players is that there is a bit of a “chip on the shoulder” mentality after such a disappointing result in 2023-24.
One player (we don’t want to spoil who it was before the interview comes out) told us the group wants to “prove” that it’s a good team. They want to show that last season was not representative of how they’re capable of playing.
Matty Beniers and Adam Larsson shared similar sentiments last week when they addressed the media about the contract extensions they signed this summer.
We asked Bylsma if he senses motivation from the returning players to be better than last season. “Yes, I do,” he said. “Even talking to the guys this summer… there’s a lot of sense of disappointment in the results last year. There’s disappointment for me. I don’t like the way we played at the end, I don’t like the results of last season, from my own standpoint. We think there’s a… I don’t want to call it a ‘chip on the shoulder,’ but I think there’s a lot of motivation, a lot of energy going into turning the script and putting that disappointment behind us and getting to the point where we think we can go like two years ago.”
Hearing this consistent message from so many players and now even the new coach is interesting. It reminds us very much of how the players were talking entering camp for the team’s second season. They were embarrassed at how the inaugural year went and wanted to do everything in their power to be a competitive team in 2022-23. That season, they racked up 100 standings points and came one goal shy of a berth in the Western Conference Finals.
The Kraken are back on the ice Saturday morning and will have their first intra-squad scrimmage. Their first preseason game against the Flames is on Sunday.
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.
