The NHL playoffs have only just begun, but various leagues have already gotten well underway for their respective postseasons, and the Kraken’s prospect pool is deeply, deeply involved in many a team’s rush for championship silver.
So, why don’t we check in with Seattle’s youth movement, and see how they’re handling their respective series’!
Berkly Catton pulls Spokane ahead of Victoria!
Your easternmost Washington WHL team has certainly had an eventful start to their playoffs. After making short work of Vancouver, they’ve been locked in a fairly competitive brawl against the Victoria Royals; winning game one, and then struggling to keep Victoria’s scoring in check in time for Games 2 and 3. Facing the potential of an elimination game, the Chiefs exploded in a 9-6 series tying Game 4, which casually had Berkly Catton walking away with a goal and two assists, who then followed that up with a monster Game 5 on sunday: His second 3 point night in two nights.
Berkly is now tied for first in the WHL PLayoffs in points; with 25 in 10 games!
Next Game: Game 6, TONIGHT! in Spokane; 7:05pm Puck Drop
Miettinen & Hammell vs. Tyson Jugnauth goes the distance
Why must our wonderful hockey sons fight?
Defense prospects Kaden Hammell, Tyson Jugnauth, and forward prospect Julius Miettinen are locked in a Pacific Northwest battle for supremacy as Everett and Portland have locked horns for Round 2, and it’s been heated; both sides have been trading blows back and forth, three of the five games played have gone to overtime, and all but one have been decided by a single goal. Portland was poised to eliminate Everett, but frankly, this was a series that deserved to go seven. So Seven it goes!
Part of Everett’s problem has been Tyson Jugnauth, who’s been on a tear; he’s got 25 points in 13 games played. Hammell meanwhile, has 12 in 12 games played. Miettinen has 9 points in 11 games played. Miettinen and Hammell are 3rd and 4th on the Silvertips in scoring this playoffs.
Next Game: Game 7, TONIGHT! in Everett; 7:05pm Puck Drop
Caden Price and Lethbridge set to winner-take-all after teetering on the edge of elimination
The Lethbridge Hurricanes sure know how to keep people riveted. Pulling their hair out as well, but riveted!
After Lethbridge took the first two games, the Calgary Hitmen rattled off three straight wins of their own, and on Saturday had the Hurricanes and Defense prospect Caden Price on the brink of elimination. One 5-1 whalloping of the Hitmen later, and it’s all going to a Game 7 on Wednesday.
Price himself has had a respectable postseason, though he’s a defender, and thus he’s only got 3 points in 10 games.
Next Game: Game 7, Wednesday in Lethbridge, 6pm PT
All of these WHL games are available for free on the Victory+ streaming service. It’s a great little resource to see how these youngsters are handling postseason action!
In Sweden: Mølgaard survives relegation with HV71
The Swedish leagues are set up like soccer, in that there’s a pyramid, and indeed; Relegation and promotion. HV71 had a pretty mediocre year, and thus had to stave off a potential year’s long visit to the Allsvenskan against MODO, needing 6 games to beat the Örnsköldsvik-based club. Kraken Prospect Oskar Fisker Mølgaard helped HV71 survive the battle with an all-important goal in Game 6, and helped pour it on in the shutout win in Game 5.
With his season in Sweden over, Mølgaard has made his way to Coachella to help the team in their upcoming playoff run. I can only imagine what leaving Jönköping and heading to the Colorado Desert must feel like. It must feel like you warped to the surface of the sun.
Update: It appears Mølgaard has instead opted to head home for a bit to take up the Danish struggle in the IIHF World Championships this year. A lot of nations are looking for some kind of redemption this year for various indignities suffered in earlier tournaments, so all I can say to him is “good luck”.
Before we move on, a toast to the eliminated prospects of the Kraken
While the cream of the crop obviously have stayed locked in playoff combat, some players had to run headfirst into the all-consuming monsters of their playoffs this year; whether seeming teams of destiny or the cruelty of the ruleset. In the WHL, so far that’s looking like the Medicine Hat Tigers; who beat the Swift Current Broncos in 5 games; bringing forward Clarke Caswell’s postseason to a close in a 4 point in 5 game stint, and then absolutely whalloped the Prince Albert Raiders and swept them, sending Lukas Dragicevic home in a mere 4 games; ending a respectable 14 point in 11 game run for the defender.
Meanwhile, every OHL prospect the Kraken have has been eliminated. In anywhere from 4 to 6 games. That’s rough, and what’s worse is that they even had strong playoffs! Carson Rehkopf had 8 points in 6 games, Andrei Loshko had 6 points in 5 games, Nathan Villeneuve had 5 points in 4 games, and Jakub Fibigr had 2 in 6 games (though he’s a defender so we can cut him some slack there).
Caswell, Villeneuve, Loshko and Rehkopf have made their way to Coachella Valley to help the Firebirds as they prepare for the playoffs.
Coachella Valley draws an old foe in the Wranglers to open the playoffs.
It’s been a hot minute since we checked in on Coachella, and while they’re still quite a damn good squad, they’ve had tough competition at the top of the AHL Pacific Division, as Colorado, Abbotsford, and Ontario soared ahead of them on account of many of their better players being called up during the NHL regular season to spend time in Seattle. As such, they’re likely going to stay as 4th in the division, and will be set for a Best-of-3 first round with the Flames’ AHL Squad: The Calgary Wranglers.
The Firebirds and Wranglers know each other. They know each other very well.
The last two playoff series, Coachella and Calgary have locked horns at least once, each time ending in a hard-fought victory for the Firebirds which either went 4 or 5 games in a best-of-5 middle rounds for the AHL. That kind of thing foments resentment in a big way, especially if both squads end up facing each other even earlier, with higher stakes than ever before in the AHL’s first round, which is only Best of 3.
While the Kraken have sent the Firebirds a host of youth that are ready to make an impact, Coachella will have to be wary of the Wranglers; a new foe that commands respect awaits them in that Red-Yellow sweater.
Sam Morton and Rory Kerins.
While William Strömgren, Dryden Hunt, and Clark Bishop are understandable dangers from the Wranglers’ youth and Martin Frk remains a wily vet, Morton and Kerins have been absolutely lights out for the Wranglers over the season, and both already had a chance to go get their first points in the NHL in limited action; Kerins was nearly point a game in his 5 game stint in the show, and Morton scored in his first NHL game. Had Zayne Parekh made the decision to hop aboard as well, I’d be calling this series the most difficult they’ve faced since the Calder Cup Finals, but mercifully he’s opted to work on training rather than jump into the playoffs.
The Firebirds can’t take that for granted. This series will be short and brutal, and they need to meet Calgary’s fire head-to-head and douse it before it becomes a problem.
The series schedule goes like this:
- Game 1: Tonight! April 22nd at 7pm PT in Calgary
- Game 2: Saturday, April 26th at 6pm PT in Coachella Valley
- Game 3: Sunday, April 27th at 5pm PT in Coachella Valley (if needed)
AHL games are usually shown on FloHockey.
We at DJLR wish all the Kraken’s prospects a continued, long run throughout the playoffs!