Future Arrives in Goyette

MONTREAL - When veteran forward Calle Jarnkrok joined the Calgary Flames at the 2022 NHL trade deadline, the Kraken received three draft picks in exchange: a second-round choice this past week at the NHL Draft, plus a third-rounder next summer and seventh-round pick in 2024.
New Kraken prospect David Goyette represents the first dividend for Seattle from the Jarnkrok deal, selected 61st overall in last Friday's second round (the pick was formerly Calgary's from a previous trade with the Florida Panthers).
There's multiple reasons for Kraken fans to feel acquiring Goyette alone for Jarnkrok (12 goals and 14 assists with Seattle in 49 games for the expansion franchise). For one, Goyette is coming off a season in which he scored 33 goals and added 40 assists in 66 games for the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. He lead all OHL "rookies" (he missed his 16-year-old season due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the season) in both goals and points.

Another point about the 18-year-old's potential return on investment per the Jarnkrok trade: He was ranked No. 15 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, arguably a lower-first round pick when factoring top European forwards and defensemen. It should be noted an overwhelming majority of scouting services and media evaluators rated.
Many other scouting services pegged Goyette as a high-second round pick and a few scout collectives went with a range of late-second round to early third. The Kraken scouting group was thrilled to find Goyette was still available lower round and didn't hesitate to pick him as the fourth of four second-round draft choices acquired by GM Ron Francis at the trade deadline.

At 5-foot-11 and 172 pounds, the hope is Goyette grows closer to dad Mike's 6-foot-3 stature (but no guarantees, says Dad, since his wife and David's mom is 5-foot-4. In any case, the Kraken player development staff will no doubt be looking to add size and strength to what by scouting accounts is "slick center who always seems to end up on the scoresheet" and an "agile skater" who "shows good recognition and awareness on the offensive rush."
One more impressive item about Goyette: With Sudbury, he was asked to replace the Wolves' top-line center in his first season, named successor to Quinton Byfield, who was the second overall choice in the 2020 NHL Draft who has logged 46 NHL appearances to date.
"I knew when [Byfield] left somebody had to step up and take his role," said Goyette in Montreal Friday in an exclusive conversation after he was drafted and interviewed by media "I filled it as best I could. Obviously, we had a young team. But I think I did a really good job at it.
"I was younger this past year. The organization trusted me, it put me in a good situation for me to succeed right away. Every time I'm on the ice, I try and lead by example, whether it's working as hard as I can or being a vocal guy adding dimension in the [locker] room. I try to be the guy players look up to."
As Goyette and his fellow 2022 Kraken draft class arrived in town Sunday to participate in this week's inaugural Kraken Development Camp (now that Seattle has 20-plus prospects, including last year's draft choices plus free-agent signees, to stage the camp), the younger centerman said he planned to work on his defensive skills among other pursuits this week.

"I think I'm going to be working on a lot of everything," said Goyette, "but especially in the defensive zone. I'm going to be paying attention to that, do a lot of video and work on that a lot to get ready to make the jump to the next level."
Goyette is a Quebec native whose parents made the move from their home province when David was 13 to afford all three of their sons (two younger brothers) an opportunity to learn English to pair with the French spoken at home.
His dad, Mike, allows part of the move was hockey-centric for his oldest son.
"Five years ago, we started realizing David had a shot [at the NHL dream]," said Mike Goyette.
"He started thinking of it as a challenge, that he wanted to train and take it seriously all year long."
A touching moment for draft choices and their parents comes when the player has returned to the designated "Family Room" from media conferences and league promotional stations. Katie Goyette, the second-rounder's mother, said upon seeing her son immediately thought, "It's finally done. He's always dreamed it."
The dream per the whole Goyette family and friends on hand wasn't dampened by the forward going 61st instead as projections and mock drafts suggested he might go as high as 20th overall. There were lots of hurrahs and noise when Goyette's name was called. His Quebec family members were surrounded by many new Ontario friends and teammates attending the festivities at Bell Centre.
"At the end of the day, it's a team that picks him that matters most," said Mike Goyette. "We're really, really pleased about the Kraken. It's an organization that really takes great care of the players. Lots of emotions for us. It's a dream come true for David. We're his support crew."