SEATTLE — After taking forwards in the first rounds of their opening three NHL entry drafts, the Kraken on Friday didn’t change a thing by going with Spokane Chiefs centerman Berkly Catton with the No. 8 overall selection.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Saskatchewan native had a dynamic second Western Hockey League season, scoring 54 goals and adding 62 assists. It was the second-highest scoring season for a 17-year-old in Chiefs history, behind only Pat Falloon, landing Player of the Year honors for Catton in the U.S. Division.
Catton, 18, is a left-handed shot projecting as an eventual “top-six” center or winger in the NHL. Scouts have raved about his elite level skating and quickness, though he’d been given only a slight chance of becoming a top-10 pick.
Still, he produced the third-most goals and fourth-most points in the entire Western Hockey League, while excelling on both the power play and penalty kill. He also won 53.4% of faceoffs, a skill that’s been lacking among Kraken regulars.
Last August, he led Canada to gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, leading the Under-18 tournament with eight goals and tying for the lead with 10 points in five games.
It’s the second straight year the Kraken have used a high-end draft pick on a WHL player from this state, taking Tri-City Americans defender Lukas Dragicevic in the second round, 57th overall last summer. Dragecevic signed a three-year, entry level contract with the Kraken in late March and is expected to play with AHL Coachella Valley next season — appearing in three amateur tryout games for the Firebirds after his WHL season ended.
Boston University center Macklin Celibrini, of British Columbia, was taken first overall by the San Jose Sharks as expected when picking began at the Sphere venue in Las Vegas. That was followed by Chicago nabbing the first of several top defenders, Belarus native Artyom Levshunov from Michigan State.
Anaheim then caused a surprise by selecting Oshawa Generals winger Beckett Sennecke at No. 3.
The Kraken passed on several of the highly touted defensemen in going with their pick. Catton is the third center chosen by the Kraken in the opening round since 2021, when they nabbed Matty Beniers at No. 2 overall. That was followed a year later with Shane Wright being taken at No. 4 and then winger Eduard Sale being picked at No. 20 last summer.
Beniers was up on the Sphere’s stage to announce the Kraken’s pick alongside general manager Ron Francis, scouting director Robert Kron and local team owner David Wright.
