Seattle Kraken select C Berkly Catton with 8th overall pick in 2024 NHL Draft

The Seattle Kraken have welcomed a bouncing baby prospect into the fold: center Berkley Catton of the WHL Spokane Chiefs, selected with the 8th overall pick in today’s 1st round of the 2024 NHL Draft.

He scored more goals, 54, than any other player in the draft. This new addition comes in at 5-foot-11, 183 pounds, and 18 years of age. (They grow up so fast, don’t they!) Five of the seven teams choosing ahead of Seattle picked forwards, many more than most mock drafts had predicted. That gave Kraken general manager Ron Francis a wealth of defensive choices, and instead he went with a center. Perhaps someday he’ll form a dynamic middle with Shane Wright and Matty Beniers, who was called to the microphone at Sphere in Las Vegas to make the actual pick.

Here’s what they’re saying about Berkley Catton:

• Sky on Air, DJLR: “While his skating is impressive, Catton’s point-getting skills should come with a glass case and a pair of white gloves to behold. Catton just finds space; whether through those maneuvers from the acceleration he can get, or by use of his impressive hand-eye coordination with his stick when under pressure. “He’s not gonna blow anybody away on sheer footspeed, but rather let the opponent do half the work for him, and make him pay for it in the worst possible way by stickhandling through them, and then getting a real good shot off that’s quick and accurate; allowing him to turn extremely tight angles into dangerous parts of the ice; especially when traffic starts to converge on him.”
• Ryan Kennedy, THN: “Catton compensates for his lack of size and average skating with a superior mind, which makes him an effective two-way player.”
• Brock Otten, McKeen’s Hockey: “He is the kind of play driver who can elevate the first two lines in the future. He’s skilled, but he has that high-end work ethic.”
• Adam Kimelman, NHL.com: “Catton checks all the boxes. The 18-year-old has pull-away speed with a top-end offensive skill set.”
• Mike G. Morreale, NHL.com: “Catton plays a hard-driving game, is relentless in puck pursuit and has a compete level too good to ignore. Catton was fourth in the WHL with 116 points (54 goals, 62 assists) in 68 games; he’s the third NHL draft-eligible WHL player since 2000 with at least 115 points in a season. Catton also won 53.4 percent of his face-offs, led the WHL with seven short-handed goals and was third for Spokane with 30 power-play points (13 goals, 17 assists).”
• Jason Bukala, Sportsnet: “More than just offence. Has shown commitment defensively. Has the hockey sense to be used in all situations. Elite element is his offensive upside. Creative. Equal parts shooter and distributor. Works off the cycle. Escapes checks along the wall. Always thinking one play ahead with a give and go in neutral zone or finding open space in high danger scoring areas. Top line scoring NHL forward is possible.”
• Sam Cosentino, Sportsnet: “Processes that game at a high level, dynamism.”
• Bob McKenzie, TSN: “All Catton does is produce. He was Canada’s best player — “by a country mile,” one scout said — at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last August, scoring eight goals and 10 points in five games. On a middling Spokane Chief team, he put up extraordinary goal and point totals, the most impressive of any player in the Class of 2024″

Barring a trade back into the 1st round, Seattle is now done for the day. Their draft activity resumes tomorrow with rounds 2-7.

Again, barring trades, here’s the positioning of Seattle’s picks:

• Round 2, pick 40
• Round 2, pick 63 (From NYR in Alex Wennberg trade) ⁽¹⁾
• Round 3, pick 73
• Round 3, pick 88 (From Toronto in 2022 Mark Giordano/Colin Blackwell trade) ⁽²⁾
• Round 4, pick 105
• Round 5: No pick ⁽³⁾
• Round 6, pick 169
• Round 7, pick 201
• Round 7, pick 202 (From Calgary in 2022 Calle Jarnkrok trade) ⁽⁴⁾

^{(1)The Kraken also received a 2025 4th round pick. (2) The Kraken received two other draft picks, which they used to select goalie Niklas Kokko (2nd round, 2022) and defenseman Lucas Dragicevic (2nd round, 2023). (3) The Kraken traded this year’s 5th round pick to Colorado in December for forward Tomas Tatar, who is unlikely to return to the team. (4) The Kraken received two other draft picks; one was used to select forward David Goyette (2nd round, 2022). The second was part of a package to acquire forward Oliver Bjorkstrand from Columbus.}

Here on DJLR, we’ll have details and analysis of each Kraken pick in rounds 2-7 as they happen. Saturday’s NHL Draft doings can be seen starting at 8:30 am PT in the U.S. on NHL Network, and streaming on ESPN+.