Well, the Kraken have definitely been a .500 team lately.
Some of it from the unfortunate circumstance of playing teams with a little more juice than they have thanks to a heavy schedule, and some of it…from personnel decisions we don’t need to get into until I do a half-year round up. We don’t need to go there right now. There’s plenty of time for that later.
What we should instead look forward to, is the future, and the future for the Kraken is very bright! After all, it seems like a lot of the major powers at the World Junior Championships are bringing Seattle prospects to this year’s tournament, so it’s gotta be!
Team Canada, Team Sweden, Team Finland, and Team Czechia have all brought at least one Kraken prospect with them this year, with a record number of 7 guaranteed for the prospect pool, with a possible eighth if everything plays out the way that it should.
So let’s see which Kraken Prospects got to represent their country all the way out in sunny Ottawa!
Three for Team Canada
The Red and White (and sometimes Black) have the most Kraken players going with them to the tournament this year; bringing Carson Rehkopf, Berkly Catton, and Caden Price along. It’s not hard to see why Rehkopf and Catton were selected; Rehkopf is 9th overall in the OHL in scoring and 7th in points, meanwhile Berkly Catton is 5th overall in the WHL in points and tied for 3rd in assists. They’re both exceptional players at this level that are more than likely setting up for a nice long trip to the Memorial Cup this spring.
Price meanwhile has absolutely taken off like a (Kelowna) rocket; having 32 points in 26 games as a defender and as a capable leader in the interior BC town. I personally am quite impressed with his play so far, so I’m expecting he’ll make Canada just as capable as ever.
Two for the Czechs
Czechia selected Eduard Šalé and Jakub Fibigr to bring to the tourney; with the usual bent of their game being offense. Given how both Šalé and Fibigr have started, it’s only natural that they’d fit that mold; Šalé is 3rd among rookie scoring behind Jani Nyman (who is unfortunately too old for the Finns to bring to the tournament) and Jagger Firkus (who also aged out for Team Canada) for Coachella with 13 points in 22 games.
Fibigr meanwhile has been playing in the OHL with Brampton with Carson Rehkopf, and he’s got 15 points in 27 games. He’ll also get to hang out with his teammate Adam Zidlicky, who was also selected.
Two for the Finns
The Finnish roster is in some ways infamous for being a closely guarded list until the tournament is almost upon us, but part of why is that when they at long last make their list, they make sure it is nearly entirely trimmed ahead of time; this year they’ll only need to make one cut to be ready. The Finns will be bringing Julius Miettinen and Kim Saarinen from the Kraken prospect pool, and given their play it’s unlikely either of them will be that one cut.
Miettinen is a familiar face to our Everett fans as the massive, point-per-game player that’s a leading force on the Silvertips; with 34 points in 30 games; an easy selection if ever there was one.
The competition for Saarinen is fierce, meanwhile. Of the three goaltenders they’ve selected, Saarinen is the middle child with more wins and a better SV% than Noa Vali, but both will be competing hard for any games to be played if Petteri Rimpinen is going to be as good as he is with his .915 SV% at the Liiga level. I imagine that Saarinen will be the winner, but one cannot be too sure; the Finns take pride in their goaltending prowess, and the games that Saarinen will be playing (if he plays at all) will need him at their best. Primarily because he’ll probably be playing the teams that aren’t expected to win.
Still! The chance to have eight prospects is too enticing to pass up.
One for the Swedes
Tre Kronor is only bringing one Kraken Prospect with them this year, but given that the Kraken have a premium of swedish prospects (namely, 3), it’s understandable. They’ve decided to bring Zeb Forsfjäll to the tournament after a promising start with his hometown club of Skellefteå AIK. In 25 games, he has 6 points.
Not impressive on it’s face? This is where I am obligated to remind you that Skellefteå AIK is in the Top Swedish league; the SHL. That means this 19 year old Center is playing grown-ass men with bills, kids roughly around his age, and mortgages. Further, Forsfjäll is a 200-foot, defensive responsibility kind of forward, so an influence like that on Team Sweden, which prides itself on strong team play and defense, will do them well.
The World Juniors begin on the 26th, in which all prospects present will be playing on staggered starts; and we’ll have a primer coming up in the next week to get you fully up to speed on what’s going on!
Good luck to all Kraken prospects in the tournament this year, we hope at least half of you medal!