First-round draft choices can be fans, too. When you ask Kraken prospect Berkly Catton what he remembers most from his NHL Combine week last June, he goes right to who’s who among the prospects vying against him for a first-round selection, plus the multitude of NHL front office types who have starred in the league.
“The cool thing was just seeing like all the top guys [prospects],” said Catton this week after a long day of training. “You read about them or watch a video on them, then you get to meet them. That was really cool. Another thing that’s cool is how everyone ate together. You might have just had a meeting with Steve Yzerman [Detroit GM and Hall of Fame player] or Ron Francis [Kraken president of hockey operations and Hall of Fame player second only to Wayne Gretzky in all-time assists]. Then all of a sudden, you're in the same dining hall with them too, getting food. The whole environment is just cool. A whole bunch of hockey people in the same spot. That was really fun.”
If you’re not smiling, thinking maybe “this kid reminds me of somebody,” such as every teenage hockey fan, male or female, we know, then give it another thought. Uh, Berkly, aren’t you one of those guys that other prospects have read about or watched your crazy-skilled goals on videos?
There is a pause: “Well, yeah, I guess so,” said Catton, sheepishly laughing a little bit.
As for the prospect/dreamer in Catton yearning to be an NHLer as early as this fall after a bona fide superstar season in the Western Hockey League, the combine’s message resonated far beyond the cool factor. He left motivated to get stronger, a goal he set last summer and one he has leveled up this summer in concert with the Kraken sports performance consultant and long-time NHLer, Gary Roberts, plus Seattle head coach for strength and conditioning, Nate Brookreson.
“At the end of the day, it might not seem to matter how much you can bench press, but I do really think getting stronger helps your hockey abilities,” said Catton, who, by the way, played for a U16 team coached by Dale Lambert (new Kraken coach Lane’s brother). “Going to the combine, seeing how strong some guys were. That really motivated me to take my fitness level to the next level. I learned a lot from that experience to become bigger and stronger. Hockey is number one, of course, if you can play, but strength is very important as well.”
Two Parts of Combine: Testing and Talking
Like all prospects hoping to make a draft-worthy impression on 32 NHL teams, Catton braced himself for a week, “divided into two parts in my mind,” consisting of fitness testing and interviewing. He admitted to being more equipped for one area than the other.
“I was pretty confident with my abilities in the talking department [no argument from the Kraken hockey operations group],” said Catton. “I kind of was coming off a hip injury and a little worried about that. I ended up not doing any of the lower-body testing.”
Skipping the lower-body testing was approved by NHL Central Scouting, which shares its evaluations and documentation with all franchises.
For the other tests he did perform, though the hip concern curtailed the Seattle prospect from the more intense training endured by other NHL prospects in preparation, Catton said he “got the adrenaline going and the scores weren’t too bad.”
Let’s Talk About It ...
As for the interviews segment, Catton didn’t have to estimate how many teams signed up to talk with him: “Twenty-two,” said Catton briskly when the question was posed, and the other 10 teams likely thought there was little to no chance the Spokane Chiefs whiz kid would drop to the lower half of the opening round at last summer’s NHL Draft.
“I was really surprised by how different teams approached the interviews,” said Catton, who had quite the sample size to survey tactics. “Some teams, you would go in there and you could feel that it was kind of light, upbeat, just talking. With other teams, it was very intense, kind of different that way ... I thought it'd be all kind of the same, a few questions and you move on to the next team. But that’s not the case. You quickly realize different teams handle it differently, and you have to be ready for anything.”
Catton said getting to know the other prospects, many past and potentially future opponents, helped during interview rounds: “There’s a networking part in that the people meet are now buddies willing to share information,” said the 19-year-old centerman who racked up 38 goals and 71 assists for 109 points in 57 games for Western Conference champion Spokane this past regular season and then a whopping 42 points (11 G, 31 A) in 20 playoff contests. “So you get to know, going into certain teams’ interviews, how the team does its interviews. But those first couple of interviews, I had no idea.”
Let’s back up ... some teams were “very intense?”
“There were teams that weren't afraid to tell you exactly what they had written in their book,” said Catton. “No sugarcoating involved, if they thought you were too small or didn't compete enough or whatever it may be, they would tell you. They did that straightaway. Other teams kept it light and just wanted to see your personality. But I think some teams wanted to see how you would react to negative criticism ... maybe they were preparing you for the bigger media markets. And, of course, there was the Montreal animal question.”
That would be Catton telling reporters at the 2024 Combine that the Canadiens quizzed him on what animal would best describe himself. It is apparently an annual move by the original six franchises.
“I picked a dolphin,” said Catton. “Something smart but slippery out there.”
For a Kraken organization and fanbase familiar with ‘Defending the Deep’ and all things oceanic, “smart and slippery” no doubt gets an “A” grade. Catton said another question most intrigued him last June.
“I thought my interview [with Seattle] was really good,” said Catton. “They watched me a lot with me being in Spokane. I think they had a better idea of my game ... The biggest thing I remember from that interview that went really well is someone asked, ‘You wanna tell our GM Ron Francis why we should pick you?’ It’s a pretty open-ended question, but you're looking at a legend of the game and having to tell him why he should pick you for his franchise? That was interesting.”
What did Catton say to Francis, who back in 1981 was the No. 4 overall pick? Some things are better left mysterious. But Catton selected and is now in the Kraken organization and training with the distinct purpose of training to get even stronger this summer is all we need to know.
