Via Sportslogos.net

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The 32-in-32 Series is an annual event here at DobberProspects! Every day in August, we will bring you a complete breakdown of a team’s draft and insights into their off-season movements thus far. Following this up in September, we will dive into every team’s prospect depth chart with fantasy insights and implications for the upcoming seasons. Check back often because we plan to fill your hockey withdrawal needs all off-season!

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By: Alex Wyatt

The Kraken came into the 2023-2024 season on a high after advancing to the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, losing in seven games to the second-seed Dallas Stars after knocking off the first-seed Colorado Avalanche. Unfortunately, when the regular season ended, they were on the outside looking in, having earned only 81 points on the season to their 100 a year prior. After a 46-win season where they scored 289 goals and allowed 256, they followed up that performance with 34 wins and only 217 goals scored, but encouragingly allowed 217- a 39-goal improvement.

Yes, the Kraken seemed to finally find some goaltending in 2023-2024 after having their tandem underperform the defensemen’s efforts. Joey Daccord took over the crease and played 50 games, going 19-18-11 with a solid 2.46 GAA and .916 save percentage- both top-ten statistics by goalies who appeared in at least 20 games.

So, what can we point at to understand some of the backsteps we saw last year? The 2023-2024 edition of the Kraken had many great things working for them, with several improvements over the year prior. They allowed 20 fewer goals overall, were shorthanded 15 fewer times, allowed eight fewer goals against the penalty kill, and scored two more power play goals despite one less power play opportunity than the year prior.

They took a step back in a few areas. They scored one less goal a game (3.52 goals per game in 2022-2023 to 2.65 in 2023-2024), took two fewer shots per game (30.5 to 28.6), and allowed two extra shots per game (27 to 29). Nearly all the scoring that dried up was at five-on-five, as Seattle saw 77 fewer goals at even strength than the year prior, falling from 235 to 158.

The Kraken added some fantastic pieces to their farm and made some splashes in Free Agency to propel the team forward next season, so let’s look at them in detail.

 

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NHL Draft Recap

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Round 1, 8th Overall – Berkly Catton, C

Catton was in a race with fellow Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus for the WHL scoring lead, finishing third in goals (54) just behind him and fourth in points with 116. Catton is an adept puck handler and playmaker and could be dishing assists like this to Jagger in short order.

However, before you rush to pencil Catton in as a playmaking center, note that since 2014-2015, only six players have scored 54 or more goals, as Zac Funk, Jagger Firkus, and Catton did last season. He doubled his point total from his D-1 season and will get another year in ‘The Dub’ (WHL) to hone and refine his skills in 2024-2025.

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Round 2, 40th Overall – Julius Miettinen, C

Miettinen projects as a defensively sound, bottom-six center, which, given Seattle’s top picks over the past two drafts, fits the organization well. The 6-3, 200-pound 18-year-old is still quite capable of piecing together a quality highlight reel.

His 44 points from January onward propelled him to a 67-point season in 66 WHL games. He will take another turn with the Everett Silvertips and work on further development.

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Round 2, 63rd Overall – Nathan Villeneuve, C

Fantasy managers are always looking to draft a player in the mold of a Tkachuk brother, and for those of you who agree, you’ll enjoy this quote from Nathan Villeneuve.

He’s an energetic pest who will likely find a home in the bottom six as a wrecking ball, but there’s an interesting angle to watch with Villeneuve. He was left out of Sudbury’s top six, and one can understand why, with league point leader David Goyette, Quentin Musty, and Dalibor Dvorsky ahead of him on the depth chart. Where you should keep an eye on is when those players graduate to their respective professional teams, some prime deployment will open up for Villeneuve, and his fantasy asset value could rise quite quickly.

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Round 3, 73rd Overall – Alexis Bernier, D

Fantasy managers are accustomed to gaudy point totals from the QMJHL, but Bernier doesn’t bring that to the table. The defensive-minded blueliner did manage to double his point total from rookie to sophomore season. He’s still relatively young and will take some time to develop, but a responsible right-shot defender will be worth waiting on for Seattle. Without an offensive angle to his game, the question remains if he will be someone we want to invest in on our fantasy squads.

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Round 3, 88th Overall – Kim Saarinen, G

Saarinen had a D-0 year to remember, playing at three different levels in Finland and posting beautiful numbers in each. He led each of the teams he suited up for in GAA and SV%, and in the U20 SM Sarja, where he saw the majority of his games played, he was second in save percentage and 10th in GAA.

Saarinen is listed at 6-4, having just turned 18 shortly after the draft, and likely capable of adding a bit of size to his already immense frame. He’s noted for his vision and ability to track the puck and will likely get the opportunity to hone his craft in the Liiga before we see him make his way to North America. Early results are promising, however, and Saarinen may make a shrewd stash in leagues where such types of moves are warranted.

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Round 4, 105th Overall – Oliver Josephson, C

Much of Josephson’s scouting report mentions his defensive prowess. While NHL teams covet the defensively responsible, 200-foot player, we, as fantasy managers, tend to find too much attention on a player’s defensive value as a kiss of fantasy asset death. With Josephson, all is not lost, as his 12 goals and 35 assists in 68 games placed him second in scoring on the Red Deer Rebels with 47 points. Josephson is one of only three players on the Rebels with an NHL team holding their rights, but among all WHL players, his point totals put him 21st overall in total points by a player under 18. These aren’t the types of offensive numbers that get a player drafted in the early rounds of your prospect drafts, but if his defensive floor is enough to earn him shifts in the NHL, adding him for free if he passes through your drafts, and hoping he can build on his offense as he matures could be smart investing on your part.

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Round 5, 141st Overall – Clarke Caswell, LW

Caswell is among many representatives of Seattle’s pipeline in the WHL’s scoring leaders list. Overall, Caswell sat 31st with 26 goals, 51 assists, and 77 points, but among U18s, he sat fifth, joined by Berkly Catton at number one and Julius Miettinen at nine. Read any scouting report on Caswell, and you’ll hear regular discussions about his passing ability. Pairing a set-up man with snipers in the pipeline like Jagger Firkus and Carson Rehkopf gives Kraken fans and fantasy managers something to look forward to in the not-so-distant future. Caswell finished the season with a 19-game point streak (which ended with five games left) where he scored 28 points and should move up the lineup as Connor Geekie and Josh Filmon are due to move up to their franchises’ AHL teams.

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Round 7, 202nd Overall – Jakub Fibigr, D

When you see a player come over from one of the European leagues, you tend to expect that as the player gets used to the new ice size, the new country, culture, and language, their performance arc dipping would not surprise you. We often see this with young players making the move, but that wasn’t what happened with Jakub Fibigr.

The 17-year-old joined the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL and put up seven goals and 36 assists for 43 points in 61 games. This was good enough for sixth on his team in points and second-best by a defenseman. Zooming out to measure league-wide, Fibigr sat 22nd in points by a defenseman and fourth by U18 defenders, behind just Zayne Parekh, Sam Dickinson, and Henry Mews. Those players will go off the board far sooner than Fibigr, but if our leagues allow, we may be wise to stash Fibigr as we see how he progresses as a sophomore.

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Off-Season Moves

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Incoming

Brandon Montour

Signed as UFA for seven years at $7,142,857 AAV

Montour is the crown jewel of the Kraken’s free agent treasure trove, having just hoisted the Stanley Cup a few weeks before July 1st. The 30-year-old defenseman returned to a more normal point pace last year, scoring at a 41-point rate (8-25-33 in 66 games) after a torrid 75-point pace in 2022-2023. He played 23 minutes a night and saw nearly three-quarters of the available power play time. It will be interesting to see what the Kraken does with Montour and Dunn, given that Dunn is entering the second year of his four-year, $7,350,000 contract, making him younger and more expensive than Montour. Dunn saw a slightly lower share of Seattle’s time with the man advantage, seeing 58% of the available power play time, but had a better scoring rate- 64-point pace- and Individual Points percentage (IPP) on the power play and at even strength. Though there’s a potential for either player to see a bit of a dip fantasy-wise, depending on who gets the second power play, having these two each head a powerplay is a lift of the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson

Signed as UFA for six years at $6,250,000 AAV

Chandler Stephenson was a model of consistency during his time with the Golden Knights. He hit his 200-game breakout threshold just about exactly when he was traded there from Washington, and since the 2020-2021 season, he has been a near lock for a 55-60-point pace while providing a decent enough level of peripherals. He saw time on both special team units, just over half of the available minutes with the man advantage and taking regular turns on the penalty kill. Stephenson’s arrival in Seattle will allow him to take some of the tougher matchups from Matty Beniers as he develops into a top-line center. Stephenson has slotted in on the wing, providing some flexibility in the top-six in the event of injuries.

Ben Meyers – Signed as UFA for one year at $775,000

Mitchell Stephens – Signed as UFA for one year at $775,000

Brandon Biro – Signed as UFA for one year at $775,000

Nikolas Brouillard – Signed as UFA for one year at $775,000

Maxime Lajoie – Signed as UFA for one year at $775,000

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Outgoing

Justin Schultz

Justin Schultz put in a very typical year for Seattle in 2023-2024, his points-per-60 were near identical to the previous season, his shots per game, his Corsi-for percentage, his power play IPP were all as well, but his minutes per game fell by a minute and a half year over year. Schultz played most of his minutes with Brian Dumoulin, who had also moved out and was a mentor to Ryker Evans. It’s not unlikely that Evans will take a good chunk of the available minutes while Brandon Montour takes his power play spot.

Seattle did not re-sign Schultz and is currently not signed as of writing.

Kailer Yamamoto

The Kraken took a shot at Yamamoto finding his game again with a low-risk, one-year deal last off-season. The diminutive forward saw his ice time fall five minutes per game from what it was the three seasons prior in Edmonton (12 minutes per night from over 16). Despite seeing over two minutes per game on the power play, he managed only eight goals and eight assists—two goals and four assists on the power play.

He was not re-signed as of writing.

Brian Dumoulin

Shortly after the signing of Montour, Dumoulin was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth-round pick in 2026. Moving Dumoulin saved the Kraken just over $3 million in salary, and with the arrival of Ryker Evans on top of the incoming Montour, Dumoulin’s dollars needed to be spent elsewhere. Dumoulin was a defensive presence on the Kraken. Still, despite almost tripling his career shooting percentage and sixty percent of his assists being secondary assists, his six goals and ten assists were his lowest output since 2017-2018.

Tomas Tatar

Tatar was acquired from Colorado in December for a 5th-round pick and scored 15 points in 43 games for Seattle. He didn’t cost the Kraken too much, nor did he provide a lift to the offense, and was not re-signed at the end of the season.

He signed a one-year deal with the New Jersey Devils.

Chris Driedger

Driedger spent most of his tenure in the Kraken organization in the AHL, where he provided respectable numbers, better than 2.61 GAA and .908 save percentage in two seasons. His NHL numbers, however, were much less attractive, with a sub .900 save percentage and near 3.00 GAA. He performed well in only two games last year and was usurped by Joey Daccord’s emergence.

He signed a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers, where he found fantastic success before being selected by Seattle.

Pierre-Édouard Bellemare

Seattle did not sign the 39-year-old veteran and could retire if not offered a depth role on another squad at this stage.

Kole Lind

Lind provided some solid offensive punch to the Coachella Valley Firebirds over the last two seasons but saw minimal time in the NHL, including just one game last season. He signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars.

Jimmy Schuldt

Cameron Hughes

Connor Carrick

Devin Shore

Andrew Poturalski

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Re-Signed

Matty Beniers

Just hours before run time, Matty Beniers and the Kraken decided to take their relationship to the next level. A massive seven-year deal worth $7,142,857. It is identical to the agreement Brandon Montour signed. The Kraken is taking more of a long-term, build-a-core-type approach than the frothing readjustments of their recent expansion counterpart, the Vegas Golden Knights. Beniers had a slight step back last season, which is fair. It was his sophomore season, if we don’t count the 10-game audition he had at the end of 2021-2022. His 39-point pace was a step down from the 58-point clip he produced as a rookie, but he saw more responsibility and a pullback in his puck luck year after year. Beniers will be in Seattle for the long haul, and he is progressing into the type of player you build a successful franchise around, already facing tough competition and succeeding as a 21-year-old.

Eeli Tolvanen

Tolvanen came over in a mid-season trade with Nashville in 2022-2023 and finished the year strong. In his first full campaign with the Kraken, Tolvanen set career highs in assists (25), points (41), shots (153) and hits (210). His 42-point pace makes him solid depth on most fantasy squads, and factoring in his 2.6 hits and 1.9 shots per game, his peripheral floor is fantastic. The acquisition window has likely slammed shut at this point, but if he gains more than the 15:39 time on ice from last season, his stock will continue to rise.

Ales Stezka

Stezka came to North America after putting up great numbers in Czechia and continued the trend for the Coachella Valley Firebirds. His 2.48 GAA and .914 save percentage put him in the top 20 for all goalies who played in at least 20 games. With Joey Daccord establishing himself and Philipp Grubauer still under contract for three more seasons, it’s unlikely Stezka will see much time in the blue ice for the Kraken soon, barring an injury, but the development is worth monitoring.

Luke Henman

John Hayden

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Development Camp/World Junior Summer Showcase

2024 Development Camp Recap | Seattle Kraken (nhl.com)

The Kraken’s development camp opened on July 2nd with a number of players who won’t be there long until they are mainstays on the big club’s roster.

https://twitter.com/SeattleKraken/status/1807943751790153954

Several Kraken prospects represented their countries in the World Junior Summer Showcase. In his blog, Curtis Isacke from Sound of Hockey summed up the Kraken contingent well.

Checking in on Seattle Kraken prospects at the 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase – Sound Of Hockey

Recent draft picks Julius Miettinen, Kim Saarinen, and goalie prospect Visa Vedenpaa represented Finland.

https://twitter.com/DeepSeaHockey/status/1818789261245923519

Their top pick in the 2024 draft- Berkly Catton and incumbents Carson Rehkopf and Caden Price- represented Canada.

https://twitter.com/Hockey_Robinson/status/1740098286567170484

Zeb Forsfjall represented Sweden.

https://twitter.com/SEllisHockey/status/1817661374400516265

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Final Thoughts

The Kraken didn’t repeat their incredible success in 2022-2023, but it’s easy to see them returning on the arc as we head into October. This team is still gelling as a team and a franchise, and the future looks incredibly bright when you look at the talent they have drafted over their tenure in the league. They’ve been able to land some of the more sought after free agents on July 1st, and they are starting to sign players to longer contracts now, showing that Francis and company have their framework for the roster, the prospect cupboard is filling up nicely, and the Firebirds are an AHL wagon. There’s plenty to be excited about at all levels of the franchise.

Keep an eye on Kraken prospect updates throughout the season on Dobber Prospects