The Next Steps

Over the past two weeks at the Draft and development camp, Kraken faithful have had the opportunity to see the future of the organization up close. But as players return home to families and teams all over the world, how does their progress towards a potential NHL career happen?

Unlike what we're used to seeing in the NFL where a player can be picked in the Draft and be on the field with their new team the very next season, draft-eligible hockey players can come from a wide variety of hockey leagues and backgrounds. So, each player has their own unique path to the NHL that can sometimes take years.

That timeline depends on many factors including the evolution of their "survival skills," as Kraken director of player development, Jeff Tambellini calls them. These are the elements of a player's game that must be ready to translate to the next level of play as one moves towards the AHL and NHL.

"We focus a lot on that because those are some of the gaps in skill development that aren't taught," Tambellini said. "We expect players to be able to handle the puck, to be able to skate at a certain level. We really focus on that next level of the game: the thinking, the processing.

"A lot of players will get to the National Hockey League and they're going to have to change their game to be able to fit in. You look through our depth chart…they're all very good offensive players, they've scored a lot. At the NHL level, it can be very difficult to be a high producing player so it's about getting players to be able to have enough overall game. . .to survive and make the (NHL) team."

So how does a player evolve?

At development camp, fitness testing gives the Kraken a snapshot of where a player is, and it also provides the player an understanding of where they are versus the expectations of someone in the NHL.

From there, Tambellini has built a staff that covers a wide breadth of positional skill, hockey experience, and geographic coverage. That team's job it is to help work with all the players in the Kraken organization throughout the year on closing the gap between where a player might be in their game and being NHL-ready.

Justin Rai is in Vancouver, BC and focuses on skill development. Cory Murphy works out of Ottawa and, as a former NHL defender, understands the demands of that position as well as paths like his that included playing NCAA hockey, working up to the NHL, and then becoming a coach. Frans Nielsen brings almost 1000 games of NHL experience as a two-way center to the table. Based in Malmo, Sweden, he also has lived the demands of coming from Europe to North America, transitioning to the AHL and then the NHL.

Those three, along with Tambellini, are constantly checking in on every player - watching them play and seeing how they're doing.

But they aren't the only ones. Kraken scouts provide the development team with information on players once they are drafted. The development team is in communication with the coaching staffs at both Coachella (the Kraken's AHL affiliate) and in Seattle. And the Kraken front office, including general manager Ron Francis, and assistant general managers Alexandra Mandrycky, Rick Olczyk, and Jason Botterill share their insights from when they can watch a player either with their current team or at major events like World Juniors.

"It's a constant series of handoffs," Tambellini said. "This is where we really use the whole staff to work with these players to get them from draft day to the National Hockey League. It's a really big process. We're fortunate that we have got great information from our people. And we have people that are willing to sit down and listen to a base level of where the players are at and what they need to get better at, because our main goal is to put these players in the National Hockey League as fast as possible, and have them ready to help us."

And for players that are playing with teams outside the Kraken organization, there's another connection the development staff must maintain and that's with the skater's current club. As important as it is to get a player NHL ready, it's of equal importance to make sure that a player is bringing value to their current squad.

"The relationship between our staff and those teams has to be a good one because we want to all be sending the same message," Tambellini said. "One of our major goals is to try and align the messaging of what's important to the player for his club team and what's expected of him in the NHL in as straight of a line as possible. When there's seven different voices coming to a player and he's not sure which one is the right one…that's where problems can start."

But with all this evaluation and expectation setting, the connection Tambellini stresses most is that with each individual player. It's the one-on-one conversations between his team and each Kraken prospect that are most important. They have to be honest, and they have to be built on mutual trust.

A player can have all the skill in the world, but making sure they are doing alright "right now," as well as understanding when someone is ready to handle the mental and emotional demands of perhaps moving around the world or dealing with the unique pressures of a pro hockey job, or working through adversity is the most important evaluation of all.

"At the end of the day, if we don't get the person right and we don't help them through all the different situations they're going to go through, there's no chance they can have NHL success," Tambellini said. "I go back to the relationships and the people that we've hired. I believe that we have first class people that can understand, relate, and really get to the important, important conversation that needs to happen for all these young men."