Kraken select Barrett Hall with pick No. 164

With their 6th round pick, 164th overall, the Kraken took forward Barrett Hall from the North American Hockey League.

There’s not a lot of info out there on Hall, which isn’t uncommon as we get to these later rounds. He’s a Minnesota native playing in the NAHL — that’s USA Hockey’s Tier II league, a step below the tier I United States Hockey League. Prior to that, he put up 55 points in 25 games of high school hockey. And they take their high school hockey seriously out in Minnesota.

He’ll be heading to St. Cloud State to play his college hockey in the next couple of years, where we’ll get to see if his game translates to a higher-level league, as it did when he went from high school hockey to the NAHL. Here’s what his current coach Dave Boitz of the Minnesota Wilderness had to say about Hall:

“The biggest thing for him is how smart he is, his hockey sense, hockey IQ,” said Boitz. “There was hardly any adjustment period for him, which is really unusual for a kid coming out of high school. Some guys, you think they are going to be no-brainers (with adjusting) and it takes time for them to adjust because the game is coming at them faster and the brain has to react quicker. Barrett is so cerebral a player that he made that adjustment immediately,”

Welcome to the Kraken, Barrett!