As the Seattle Kraken gear up for another preseason bout versus the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night – this time at home – the second week of training camp wraps up. It came with more drills, players getting cut, and an important member of the regular lineup missing in action. Let’s recap week 2.
Andre Burakovsky Absent from Practice
Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky was absent both on Wednesday and Thursday for practice. As per sources around the team in Seattle, head coach Dan Bylsma stated that both instances were “maintenance days” for the 29-year-old Austrian.
The 11-year veteran has had a rough go since joining the club via free agency in 2022. Not only was his 2022-23 cut short due to a groin injury that required surgery, but last season he could not suit up for a plethora of contests because of upper and lower body injuries. He concluded 2023-24 with only 49 games to his name, the exact same number as the season before.
Most likely due to inconsistent health, his statistics were nowhere at the same level last season, as he tallied 16 points via seven goals and 16 assists versus 39 points two seasons ago.
What might start to get frustrating is that the franchise is paying him an average of $5.5 million per season. This coming campaign will be the third of a five-year deal, yet he has been unable to stay on the ice. While that’s not his fault per se, from a business and tactical perspective, the situation incurs the risk of getting worrisome.
Berkly Catton and Young Guns Cut
As is always the case with every training camp, not everyone makes it all the way through. In some cases, it’s a matter of not performing up to par. In others, the coaching staff wants to see what they have in a prospect without ever anticipating that said player will be a serious part of the pro roster this season.
There was a pair of groups sent back down to minor teams and leagues this week. Some names did not raise eyebrows. Others might have been nice to keep around for another week to put through the grinder.
On Monday, Sept. 23, the likes of Caden Price, Lukas Dragicevic, and Jakub Fibigr were sent to their respective Kraken affiliates. Defenseman Dragicevic partook in the preseason curtain raiser last Sunday against the Calgary Flames and struggled. The team lost 6-1 and he was a minus-2. The others were not included in either of this week’s two potential lineups (Seattle played and fell to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.)
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Wednesday’s round of cuts were more notable as three players were sent back down: Berkly Catton, Nathan Villeneuve, and Carson Rehkopf. As most are aware, Catton is the exciting forward the Kraken drafted eighth overall in the most-recent draft. Villeneuve (drafted in the second round this summer) was the lone goal scorer versus Calgary on Sunday, and Rehkpof logged 11:04 on the ice Tuesday in Vancouver.
That Catton and Berkly have already been given their marching orders is perhaps a bit surprising. Granted, Bylsma and his staff need to start figuring out what their final roster is going to look like in a couple of weeks, but it might have been pertinent to see what they can do at the NHL level one more time, at least in practice. Seattle has four preseason games remaining, including Friday against the Canucks. There were opportunities to have them play a bit more.
Bylsma Figuring Out Lines
Lineups at practice this week took the shape a regular-season roster might take. Well, not exactly, but they’re getting there.
For instance, Group 1 on Thursday featured lines like Jared McCann, Shane Wright, and Jordan Eberle, a trio that mixes youthful energy (Wright), veteran savviness (Eberle) and proven offensive punch (McCann.)
Another intriguing line had Yanni Gourde at centre with Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton to his left and right, respectively. Gourde is a veteran of that trio, with Kartye entering his second full season with the Kraken and Winterton still vying for a spot after being featured in nine games during 2023-24.
We have further proof that we may have incorrectly guessed the defensive pairings in an article a few weeks ago as Brandon Montour was paired with Jamie Oleksiak, which meant Vince Dunn skated with Adam Larsson. The blue-line duos in Group 1 were capped off by Josh Mahura and little-used Cale Fleury (22 games with Seattle since 2021-22).
In many respects, those are lines that may, in fact, start a regular-season game at some point this season. Week 2 of camp is proving to be an astute exercise of juggling lines that may come in handy down the road.
Opening day on Oct. 8 looms. This weekend in particular (Friday, Sept. 28 to Monday, Sept 30) is huge. Between the time of writing and next Tuesday morning, the Kraken will have battled in three more games. They hop on a plane after Friday’s match versus the Canucks to play the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday evening. The shifts on the ice grow more important, and the decision-making by the coaches more judicious.
