Canucks at Kraken | 5:00 p.m. – NHL.com
{“@type”:”NewsArticle”,”headline”:”Canucks at Kraken | 5:00 p.m.”,”image”:[“https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/private/t_ratio16_9-size20/prd/r3wyrafmp2dyaxybicbj”,”https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/private/t_ratio4_3-size20/prd/r3wyrafmp2dyaxybicbj”,”https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/private/t_ratio1_1-size20/prd/r3wyrafmp2dyaxybicbj”],”articleBody”:”## One: Taking “center” stagennPlenty of focus this off-season has and will continue to be on the Kraken’s young centermen, but perhaps none more so than Spokane Chiefs star Berkly Catton. With the Kraken expected to play plenty of youngsters in this game, we should see Catton take his first shot at making the team out of training camp. Remember, just like Shane Wright three years ago, Catton, 19, is too young for the AHL and either must stick with the Kraken or be sent back to a major junior level he just spent the past two seasons dominating.nnHe’s a year older than Wright was in trying to make this leap. Wright back then got to play in five of six preseason games, and the Kraken will undoubtedly do something similar with Catton for as big a sample size as possible to gauge whether he can handle the speed and physical play at this level.nnOther centers likely to see action include Jake O’Brien, this summer’s first round draft pick. Unlike Catton, he has zero shot of making the NHL roster and is destined for more junior hockey this coming season so this is as good a time as any to get him in some limited action. As for NHL players, there’s a good chance the Kraken play Wright and Matty Beniers in front of the home fans as well. Much is expected of both players this coming campaign given the 20 goals by Beniers and 19 from Wright last season.nnThose four centermen were key to The Athletic recently ranking the Kraken as having the NHL’s second-best group of young players and prospects under age 23. If indeed they do all see the ice Sunday, it could be the only time this year in which the four appear in the same game.nn## Two: Will last season’s breakout duo find early symmetry?nnSpeaking of Beniers and his improvement last season, much of that was due to how he played after pairing up on a line with Kaapo Kakko. The former New York Rangers’ No. 2 overall pick from 2019 seemed to find his game in Seattle, scoring 10 of his 14 total goals and adding 20 of his 30 assists after a December trade — getting rewarded with a three-year, $13.575 million contract extension as a restricted free agent.nnPart of what made Kakko so attractive to the Kraken that they’d want to keep him around long-term was the impact he seemingly had on Beniers. The latter scored 16 of his 20 goals and notched 10 of his 23 assists after Kakko’s arrival.nnSo, look for the Kraken to explore whether that chemistry can continue. They have plenty of line combination options and don’t necessarily need to go this route. But it’s a given they’ll at least explore it early in preseason and see where it all leads.nn## Three: Know the foennThe Kraken and Vancouver Canucks don’t like each other very much and that fledgling regional rivalry has spilled over into preseason fisticuffs before. We know the Kraken now have Mason Marchment and Ryan Lindgren to handle some rough stuff, though they can’t play everybody in this game if getting a look at AHL guys and junior prospects as well.nnThis seems like a good situation to give forward John Hayden some early action. Hayden has been an AHL regular and Kraken part-timer and is battling for a fourth line role. They’ve also used him in prior preseason games against the Canucks to help police some of the action. Canucks behemoth defenseman Tyler Myers has gotten into it with Hayden the past two preseasons. Myers, though, is a longstanding veteran and likely won’t make the early preseason trip.nnLikewise, Vancouver made a surprising off-season addition of Evander Kane, taking on the left wing’s $5.125 million salary from the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth-round draft pick. Kane was coming off consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances with Edmonton, missing the entire 2024-25 regular season recovering from abdominal surgery. But he looked good in the playoffs, with 12 points in 21 games to make his hometown Vancouver team want to take a flyer on him.nnAs with Myers, though, veterans like Kane usually don’t travel this early in preseason. Expect a prospect-laden Canucks lineup with plenty of youngsters looking to send a message to their front office – not to mention the Kraken.nn## Projected Kraken lines/pairings (not official):nnNyman-Beniers-KakkonnSchwartz-Wright-FirkusnnSale-Catton-EberlennMolgaard-O’Brien-HaydennnDunn-LarssonnnEvans-OleksiaknnOlofsson-FiddlernnDaccordnnKokko”,”datePublished”:”2025-09-21T03:21:04.844Z”,”dateModified”:”2025-09-21T03:24:08.248Z”,”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Geoff Baker /”,”url”:”https://www.x.com/geoffbakernhl”},”@context”:”https://schema.org”}
Canucks at Kraken | 5:00 p.m.
By
Geoff Baker /
@geoffbakernhl
nhl.com/kraken
September 21, 2025
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One: Taking “center” stage
Plenty of focus this off-season has and will continue to be on the Kraken’s young centermen, but perhaps none more so than Spokane Chiefs star Berkly Catton. With the Kraken expected to play plenty of youngsters in this game, we should see Catton take his first shot at making the team out of training camp. Remember, just like Shane Wright three years ago, Catton, 19, is too young for the AHL and either must stick with the Kraken or be sent back to a major junior level he just spent the past two seasons dominating.
He’s a year older than Wright was in trying to make this leap. Wright back then got to play in five of six preseason games, and the Kraken will undoubtedly do something similar with Catton for as big a sample size as possible to gauge whether he can handle the speed and physical play at this level.
Other centers likely to see action include Jake O’Brien, this summer’s first round draft pick. Unlike Catton, he has zero shot of making the NHL roster and is destined for more junior hockey this coming season so this is as good
