Did Berkly Catton and other homegrown forwards meet Kraken’s expectations this season? | Analysis
The Kraken haven’t been able to lure a star to Seattle in free agency, and their first-round draft picks carry some of those expectations for now. Matty Beniers (2021), Shane Wright (2022) and Berkly Catton (2024) all spent the full 2025-26 season in Seattle.
As the Kraken parted ways for the summer, coach Lane Lambert touted his young forwards’ development and successes as two-way players. That’s valid, but their offensive numbers stood relatively still, dipped and underwhelmed, respectively, and the Kraken need scoring.
Entering training camp at just 19, eighth-overall pick Berkly Catton was too young to play with Seattle’s American Hockey League affiliate. His options were either to dominate his fellow teenagers for the Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League, or to navigate the big, bad NHL. He ultimately stuck with the Kraken and glided past the 10-game mark, when his entry-level contract kicked in.
“Coming in, just trying to make the team … I think I’d be proud of myself to find out I stayed the whole year,” Catton said Friday during exit interviews. “So in that sense, it was good.”
Catton didn’t score until Jan. 6, 28 games into his NHL career. Suddenly he’d scored four goals in four games. He looked to be off to the races, then the pace slowed again. He scored roughly once a month the rest of the way and landed at seven goals and 10 assists in 66 games.
He was never going to approach his WHL numbers – 116 and 109 points, respectively, in his last two seasons with the Chiefs. But 17 is probably lower than most expected. He did miss time with two separate injuries.
Catton found himself in a prime scoring location seemingly every other game, but struggled to bury his chances.
“I know what I have to do, and it’s gonna be a big offseason for me,” Catton said.
Publicly, his confidence and positive attitude never wavered. If Catton had acted dejected, or he’d stopped getting those chances that refused to go, maybe there would have been a stronger case for sending him back down to Spokane (WHL) even after he hit the 10-game mark. Also, the Kraken were in a playoff spot until March, and didn’t want to mess with a winning formula.
Lambert, among others, insisted there was nothing left for Catton to learn in the WHL, and the rookie season was a success “from a development standpoint” even if the numbers weren’t there.
“This coming September, when training camp opens up, he’s going to be in a lot better position than he would have been had he gone back to juniors, in my opinion,” Lambert said before drawing a comparison to former 12th-overall pick Noah Dobson of the New York Islanders.
“Obviously, 19 years old. Obviously, the best league in the world, and certainly some growing pains along with that. But what impressed me most about him was his ability to maintain his confidence, even when maybe things weren’t going.
“The future is great for Berkly Catton.”
Second-year NHLer Shane Wright, 22, saw his numbers dip from a 19-goal, 44-point rookie campaign. He had 12 goals and 15 assists through 74 games in the same, mostly third-line role. Catton and Wright even played together for a while, but didn’t spark each other offensively.
“Everybody’s going to look at Shane Wright’s season and go, ‘Oh, gee, he had this many points, and he had that many points last year.’ Ask Shane if he felt like he’s better, if he feels like he’s a better player now than he was at the beginning of the year, and the answer would be yes, he does,” Lambert said.
It was too late in the day to ask Wright for confirmation, so Lambert will have to speak for him for now.
“Sometimes the points can fool you a little bit. I thought Shane got stronger defensively,” the coach continued. “I thought he got stronger on faceoffs, and I thought he improved his 200-foot game.”
Wright had a pair of two-goal outings shortly before the Olympic break, but was perhaps best known this season for being dangled in the trade market, according to multiple reports. By all accounts, the Kraken are still shopping, and once a name is out there in trade discussions, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle.
Wright was once a projected as the top-overall pick and then became Seattle’s buzziest prospect, but his pro career hasn’t taken off immediately. A lot has played into that. His average ice time is among the team’s lowest in a bottom-six role with no established, top-tier talent around him. He hasn’t forced his way into a better role, if that upward mobility within the Kraken roster even reasonably exists, with Beniers and Chandler Stephenson settled into their spots at No. 1 and 2 center. Potentially relevant – Wright was close with Dan Bylsma, who was fired at the end of last season, and perhaps needed time to adjust to Lambert’s style.
“Everybody’s going to play the game the right way, and our structure is going to be our structure,” Lambert said. “And in doing that, there’s certain sacrifices that have to be made at times, but they’re for the greater good.
“With Shane, I’m very, very impressed with how he bought into that, and from my standpoint, it’s going to be excellent for his future.”
Though he’s only 23, Beniers has played just over four seasons in the NHL and is on the cusp of being considered an old timer. Asked whether he identifies as a veteran or a young guy, he quickly responded, “I don’t do that.”
“You’ve got to have respect for (veterans), but at the same time, I truly believe that we all got here for our own personal abilities, and everyone’s voice is as equal as another,” Beniers said. “I really don’t care how old you are … if you think it’s going to help the team, say it.”
The alternate captain has worked on being a better leader. He improved his skating, under the watchful eye of assistant coach Jessica Campbell. His faceoff numbers are steadily rising, and he’s trying to be more offensive-minded.
“If you look at a lot of the top goal scorers in the league, they might not have great shooting percentages, but they have a lot of shots on goal or shot attempts, in the 250s, 300s, 350s,” Beniers said. “You can’t score if you don’t shoot.”
He registered two more shots on goal than he did last season, and 321 shot attempts according to Moneypuck. That number also stayed consistent – it was 322 last season.
Beniers had a great January, putting up 10 goals and 16 points in 17 games, then cooled off along with the rest of the roster. For the second straight year, he appeared in all 82 game and scored exactly 20 goals. His assists crept up, giving him a 50-point season, but he hasn’t yet matched his 2022-23 season production of 24 goals and 33 assists, which earned him NHL rookie of the year honors and sent expectations soaring.
He plays what he calls “an honest game,” trusted in many scenarios and eating minutes, but his aren’t traditional top-line-center scoring numbers. Perhaps someday, at this rate, he’ll fall back on the depth chart and be in a role that’s more suited to his style. But right now, he’s the Kraken’s best option and he’s trying to meet the moment.
Seattle averaged 2.73 goals per game this season, fifth-worst in the NHL, and missed the playoffs. Hopefully help is on the way. On the wish list, this summer and always, are size, snarl and gifted hands. A potential bonus is public speaking ability.
“We’ve got a quiet locker room, and from that standpoint, a little more personality, potentially,” Lambert said. “But at the same time, you know you got to be very, very careful where you go with that.”