Prospecting: Whole Lot of Scorin' Going On

The Kraken's 2021 and 2022 prospect classes continue to rack up goals and assists. Forward Jagger Firkus, an early second-round 2022 draft pick (35th overall), leads the way with a 19-game point streak. He has 16 goals and 19 assists in 24 games, averaging 1.46 points per game and leading his Western Hockey League Moose Jaw Warriors team in scoring.
Wednesday, in a road matchup against the Vancouver Giants, Moose Jaw scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation to tie the game, then won in overtime. Firkus assisted on Moose Jaws' third goal and scored the game-tying goal with less than a minute left, finishing his three-point night with an assist on the winning goal in OT.
The 5-foot-10, 158-pound right wing
notched two goals and two assists
in a 4-3 victory last Saturday. He scored the winning goal on a signature one-timer with 18 seconds left in regulation. His first goal of the game was in a similar faceoff circle location but in that case he held the puck an extra beat before he beat the goaltender. Moose Jaw is 16-9-0 and fourth in the 12-team Eastern Conference.

Making Their Points Too ...

Fellow 2022 second-rounder and forward David Goyette is leading scorer for the Ontario Hockey League's Sudbury Wolves, notching 14 goals and 13 assists in his first 20 games (scoring on 22 percent of his 63 shots on goal). Ty Nelson, defenseman and 2022 third-rounder, is providing more offense this season for the OHL North Bay Battalion. In fact, Nelson leads North Bay in scoring with eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 23 games. He leads the entire OHL in shots on goal with 125 or an average of 5 to 6 shots per game.
Nelson's teammate and 2022 Kraken seventh-round pick, Kyle Jackson, the Battalion's second-leading scorer with a team-high 14 goals plus 12 assists to date. Jackson scored twice in a mid-week win before North Bay dropped a couple of close contests last weekend. The squad is still first in the Central division and second overall in the OHL Eastern Conference. Just two spots behind North Bay in the conference standings are the Peterborough Petes and Kraken 2022 fourth-rounder and center Tucker Robertson, who has nine goals and 17 assists in 24 games.
With 2021 second-pick and defenseman Ryker Evans playing top-four minutes with American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley (he is top five on the squad with seven assists) and 2021 third-rounder Ryan Winterton out with an injury, Jacob Melanson is holding up the scoring contributions from Seattle first-ever draft class. He has recorded 17 goals and 12 assists in 18 games for Acadie-Bathurst of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He leads the squad in goals despite playing seven fewer games than most teammates.

Framing AHL Firebirds' Season So Far

AHL affiliate Coachella Valley is 9-4-1 with seven more road games to play before the inaugural season home opener Dec. 18 in Palm Desert, CA. The Firebirds are eighth overall in the 17-team Western Conference with two to four games in hand (fewer played) than all teams in front of them in the West. Five of those squads are divisional foes from the rugged Pacific.
Coachella Valley won two of three games this past and Kraken fans likely know Shane Wright, on a conditioning loan, scored four goals in those games-and only with five shots on goal. Two goals were on the power play and by all accounts Wright fit in on and off the ice (including a team trip to Target to buy gifts for youth in need during which the 2022 first-round draft choice was spotted looking at possible jewelry options for the kids).
Jesper Froden continues to impress, with nine goals in AHL play after a strong training camp and preseason with the Kraken. He leads the team in the category, followed the Kole Lind (seven goals), John Hayden (6) and Max McCormick (6).
Forward and alternate captain Andrew Poturalski is the leading scorer for the CV road warriors, among league leaders with five goals and 17 assists for 22 points in 15 games. Coachella Valley plays a two-game weekend series in Henderson, NV, which will mark the end of Wright's five-game, two-week conditioning stint.