Camper Connections

When the 31 prospects at the first-ever Kraken Development Camp were scrimmaging a week ago Wednesday, Seattle GM Ron Francis had to miss it. He and assistant general managers Ricky Olczyk and Jason Botterill were working the phones on the first day of NHL Free Agency with shades drawn on the windows from which Francis usually watches Kraken practices.
"I'm disappointed I didn't get to watch it," said Francis later afternoon July 13, meeting the media to talk about signing forward Andre Burakovsky, defenseman Justin Schultz and goalie Martin Jones as free agents. "From the response I could hear from the crowd [a full house of fans at Kraken Community Iceplex], it sounded exciting.
"I will tell you this. I watched Day 1 [July 11]. Hak [Dave Hakstol] and the guys were running practice. I left [from a rink-side perch] feeling pretty good. There are some good hockey players on our depth chart and in our organization. That was exciting to see. It bodes well for us moving forward."

Francis did make time for stepping out to center ice at the completion of the July 13 scrimmage to hand an NHL entry-level contract to top 2022 draft pick Shane Wright to officially sign. Fans loved and applauded that touch and moments later fellow prospects doused the young center with the contents of their water and sports-drink bottles in a celebratory locker room. The signing made national news in Canada (Wright was the top Canadian chosen in the 2022 draft and is a household name up north).
Wright's stretch pass led to the winning goal in the round-robin scrimmage tournament. The Kraken's 2021 first-round pick Matty Beniers scored the opening goal of the scrimmage day and assisted on goals by 2022 third-round defenseman Ty Nelson and Coachella Valley Firebirds first-ever signee, Slovak forward Samuel Bucek, in the first 3-on-3 game.
Along with such stick-to-stick assists from top choices Wright and Beniers (nine points in his first 10 NHL games last season), many more connections were made at the development camp-which is the whole idea of bringing in the Kraken's most recent draft choices and all prospects in the system. The Kraken framed the week as much more about the prospects (draft choices, signed free agents and camp invitees on amateur tryouts) learning the organization's culture and best ways to prepare for training camp and their seasons ahead, rather than who could lift the most weight or register the highest score on an exercise cycle lung-capacity test.
The Kraken front office wanted the young players on hand to meet the coaching staffs for the NHL and AHL teams, the trainers, equipment managers and other staff while learning about optimal nutrition, sleep hygiene for high performance, social media do's and don'ts, even basic cooking and grocery shopping skills. Yes, there were skill drills on the ice too, yet the idea was prospects getting to know each other, the Kraken organization and the city.

Player Connections: Old 'Buds,' New Roomies, World Championships

• Seattle drafted five players from Ontario Hockey League at this month's NHL Draft, starting with Wright in the first round and finishing with 6-foot-2, 192-pound center Kyle Jackson (30 goals, 32 assists in 45 games) in the seventh and final round. Jackson and the aforementioned Ty Nelson (9 G, 42 A in 66 games) played together for the North Bay Battalion. They were smiling ear to ear in the Montreal hotel Saturday morning after the draft, heading to the team bus and charter jet to Chicago.
  Four of the OHLers (Wright, Nelson, second-rounder David Goyette and fourth-rounder Tucker Robertson) clearly knew each other quite well when visiting the Kraken suite in Bell Centre to celebrate with food and congrats talk. They have all played with or against each in the OHL and for years prior in youth hockey.
  As it turns out, Nelson and Wright have been teammates in spring hockey for years. Nelson's parents, Rick and Tracy, are good friends with Wrights' parents, Tanya and Simon, from years of watching their kids' games together. At Kraken Development Camp, Nelson was first up on Tuesday to meet with the media. He impressed the group with his comfort level at the microphone and didn't miss a beat or quip when Wright soon stood in the back of the media scrum waiting his turn at the mic.
  "Shane and I have played together and played against each other since we were five or six," said Nelson, taking time to smile, wave and say 'Hi, bud!' when he sees Wright in the back. "He's a great player. You never know if he's gonna make a pass back door. He's gonna dangle. He's gonna rip it off ... he's a fantastic two-way forward as well."

Nelson on the challenge of stopping Wright: "The main thing is probably just kind of you give [players that good] a little bit of space. You've got to respect that space. He can make you look like a fool. You just try to read what he does and try to play him off like that."
+ Nelson said he made a point to meet as many players as possible. The team asked him to hold the "mini mic" to interview fellow camp invitees about their experiences. On camera, Nelson asked, "What's your favorite part of camp" to 2021 seventh-round draft choice, Justin Janicke, the NCAA Notre Dame rising sophomore quickly hugged Nelson and said, "Having Nellie as my roommate."

• No doubt Nelson (Canada) and Janicke (USA) discussed being invited to the country's selection camps starting late this month with International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship scheduled for Aug. 9 to 20. Two more 2022 Kraken draft choices, both forwards, will join Nelson at Canada's camp: Second-rounder Jagger Firkus and fourth-rounder Tucker Robertson.
  + One more international link among 2022 draft choices: Second-round pick Jani Nyman tallied two goals and two assists in six games as part of his native Finland's bronze-medal finish at the 2022 U18 Junior Championships. Fellow second-rounder David Goyette scored a goal and added two assists in four games with Team Canada.

Love-Hate, Finnish Five, NHL Heritage, Bylsma Joy, Height Restrictions

• Last summer, Kraken 2022 fourth-round draft pick and defenseman Tyson Jugnauth was training with a renowned skating coach who has Stanley Cup-winning players among her summer clients. That instructor put Jugnauth through any number of drills that might be considered drudgery or demanding or both.
  Jugnauth commented to his skating coach about the difficulty of the drill. The skating coach? Yep, small world Tyson Jugnauth. It was Jessica Campbell, the newly appointed assistant coach for the American Hockey League's 32nd franchise and Kraken affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds.
  "I told Tyson last summer when he commented on the drill, 'Hate me now, love me later," said Campbell, laughing during a break for shopping for Kraken gear at the Iceplex store (always something new on the shelves, fans). "He came up to me after a drill this week and said, 'oh, now I get it. Thanks for teaching me the drill."
  Classic love-me now. Coaches and parents everywhere can relate.
  + In a busy summer for the Kraken hockey operations group, it's clear the investment in European scouts has paid dividends. Most notably, Seattle drafted forward Jani Nyman (18-19 for 35 points in 34 games with his second-tier pro team in Finland) and goaltender Niklas Kokko ("our ranked goalie [in this draft]," said Robert Kron, Seattle amateur scouting director). Both players were selected in the second round (Nyman 49th overall and Kokko 58th).
  The two Finns joined 2021 fourth-round draft choice and D-man Ville Ottavainen in camp (Ottavainen's puck-moving agility and use of his size on defense stood out all week), plus two more countrymen. The Kraken signed defenseman Peetro Seppala and forward Villa Petman to free agent contracts during May and June. All five Finns no doubt look forward to the fall training camp when NHLer and penalty killer extraordinaire Joonas Donskoi returns for his second Kraken season.
  Keeping the Euro theme, Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer was taking in the scrimmage last week. He's back from Germany to train and work with new goalie coach, Steve Briere, this summer.
  "I like the way this goalie plays, really good technique," said Grubauer, pointing to the ice and Kokko in goal.
  + The Kraken moved up in draft order (trading two lower picks to Boston) for the opportunity to select third-generational talent and center Ben MacDonald, who played high school hockey in Massachusetts last season, will move to the British Columbia Hockey League for his senior year and is committed to play for Harvard and Ted Donato (former NHLer and, yes, Ryan's dad) for the 2023-24 season.
  MacDonald's father, Lane, starred at Harvard, captaining the squad to a national championship in 1989. He won college hockey's prized Hobey Baker player of the year award that season and remains Harvard's all-time leading scorer.
  Grandfather Lowell started the family hockey history, appearing in 506 NHL games for Detroit, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, scoring 180 goals and adding 210 assists. He appeared in NHL Al-Star games in 1973 and 1974.
  + There was fun mixed into the work week for the Kraken prospects. One highlight was touring Climate Pledge Arena (many wide eyes checking out the locker room) and another was 60 stories upward to the Space Needle observation deck. Many of the players were thrilled and loved the walking across the glass floor, looking below.
  For Kraken 2021 fifth-rounder Jacob Melanson (coming off a 30-goal season) in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and 2022 second-rounder David Goyette (33 goals with OHL Sudbury)? Well, both impressed coaches, fans and fellow players on the ice. But the needle was no "high"-light, since the pair are skittish about heights. There were likely others but Goyette and Melanson admitted to it. "Not my thing," said Melanson, laughing. Guess here is Melanson much more enjoyed signing his three-year entry-level NHL contract later in what was a hugely successful and productive week for the Seattle franchise.