Kraken 'pretty excited' to show off prospect depth at Rookie Faceoff

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Seattle Kraken quietly took another step forward at the 2024 Rookie Faceoff at Toyota Performance Center this week.

The Kraken, entering their fourth NHL season, competed in their first preseason rookie tournament, which was another franchise milestone, according to Kraken general manager Ron Francis.

“We just didn’t feel the first couple of years that we had enough prospects and it didn’t make sense for us,” Francis said. “Now, as you see with our lineup, everyone that we brought here is a draft pick or somebody we signed as a free agent. We don’t have any ATOs or PTOs in the tournament. We got to the point where it felt right for us to do that.”

The Kraken had invites from the organizers of the Rookie Faceoff, which features seven teams, as well as the four-team Vancouver Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, British Columbia.

As the seventh team in the tournament, Seattle played two games while every other team played three during the four-day tournament that ends Monday.

“We’re excited to be a part of it, and they’ve done a great job,” Francis said. “Happy to be on board.”

Seattle won its opener 5-1 against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and lost 5-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. The Kraken trailed 4-0 in that game before scoring three straight to make it a one-goal game.

“I thought it was good, lots of positives in it,” Francis said of the experience. “It’s the first game these kids have played together. You don’t really have systems or structure.”

There were some standout performances across the weekend for Seattle.

Jagger Firkus, the team’s second-round pick (No. 35) in the 2022 Draft, figured in all three goals Sunday. Nathan Villeneuve, the second-round pick (No. 63) in the 2024 NHL Draft, had a goal Sunday and an assist Saturday. Logan Morrison, an undrafted free agent signing last season, had a goal in the first game and started his campaign to make the Kraken with a bang.

“It's definitely exciting,” Francis said. “The challenge, if we are not playing in one of these tournaments, is we only play six exhibition games, so it’s really hard to get a look at your kids in preseason if you don’t do this.

“Having them come in a week early, run a couple of practices, get in a couple of games and seeing what they can do against competition gives us all a read on them. It’s very exciting for us that we are at the point now where we can field a team with our own prospects, and we are pretty excited with what we have in the pipeline.”

The pipeline is incredibly deep.

Coachella Valley, Seattle’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, has reached the Calder Cup Final in each of the past two seasons, losing to Hershey (Washington Capitals) each time.

Forward Shane Wright, the No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft, and forward Ryan Winterton, a third-round pick (No. 67) in 2021, were eligible to play in this tournament, but were left in Seattle, further illustrating the depth the Kraken is accumulating.

“[Defenseman Ryker] Evans, Wright and Winterton played the full season last year in CV, so for us we wanted them to be a part of rookie camp, so they came in,” Francis said. “We wanted them out there practicing, being the leaders with our young guys and showing them how they’ve progressed and sort of being a sounding board and a voice for them, but we also wanted to make sure we gave them the best opportunity to play for us and that starts [with main training camp] on Wednesday, so we didn’t want to take any chances with them down here.”

All of this breeds optimism for a franchise that many believed took a step back when they went 34-35-13 and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs by 17 points one season after qualifying for the playoffs and knocking off the defending Stanley Cup Avalanche in the first round.

Francis called the playoff season a slight overachievement possibly and said his team underachieved slightly last season but noted that the Kraken were besieged by injuries in 2023-24.

Dan Bylsma, who won the Stanley Cup as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, is the new coach of the Kraken, replacing Dave Hakstol on May 28, 2024.

The 53-year-old was at the helm of Coachella Valley for each of its runs to the Calder Cup Final and is familiar with many of the young prospects in the system.

The showing of those prospects this weekend as well as the development of many of the players at Coachella Valley who are now pushing for NHL jobs has Francis confident last season should be an aberration.

“We feel like we are a team capable of competing for the playoffs and that is the goal each and every year,” Francis said. “As we saw two years ago, all you have to do is get a ticket to the dance and you get an opportunity to continue to play and compete for the Cup. That’s our goal.

“We want to get back to playoffs and our guys are ready to come out here and accomplish that goal.”