ECH Seattle Kraken Prospect Rankings
Criteria to qualify for prospect rankings:
- Must be younger than 23 years old for skaters, 25 years old for goalies
- Cannot have played more than 9 NHL games
- Must be either under contract or drafted by the Kraken
(Last updated July 8th, 2022)
Recently removed: Matty Beniers (Games Played)
1. Shane Wright (C)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 1st round, #4 overall
Age: 18 (January 4th, 2004)
Most recent team: Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Shane Wright jumps straight to the top of our prospect rankings after being selected fourth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Wright had been the consensus number one prospect in his draft class for years before a shocking turn of events on draft day led to him falling to the Kraken at pick number four. Wright projects as a top-6 center who may be able to contribute at the NHL immediately. Between Wright and Matty Beniers, the Kraken are stacked up the middle for at least a decade.
2. Ryker Evans (D)
Acquired: 2021 Entry Draft, 2nd Round, #35 overall
Age: 20 (December 13th, 2001)
Most recent team: Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Previous Ranking: #1
7/8/22 – With Shane Wright being added to the rankings, Ryker Evans drops to #2. Evans will compete for an NHL roster spot in September’s training camp. If he can’t crack the roster right away, he’ll play for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
5/1/22 – With Matty Beniers exiting the rankings after playing his 10th NHL game, Ryker Evans moves into the top spot. Evans will join the Charlotte Checkers for their upcoming Calder Cup Playoff run.
3/1/22 – After an impressive training camp, Evans is having another point per game season in the WHL on a stacked Regina Pats team. Ron Francis highlighted Evans today as “having a terrific year” and said he expects Evans to come in and compete for an NHL roster spot next training camp. If he doesn’t crack the roster, he’ll head to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL to round out his game. Either way, we probably won’t have to wait too long to see Evans play for the Kraken.
10/18/2021 – Evans joined the Kraken for the team’s inaugural training camp in September and quickly became one of the stories of camp with his impressive play. He even caught the eye of Kraken coach Dave Hakstol who singled out Evans when asked what young players had stood out to him. While the 19-year-old defenseman was sent back to juniors for the upcoming season, he looks like a future top-4 defenseman and has a real shot at making the Kraken roster next year.
7/24/21 – Ryker Evans joins the Kraken’s prospect rankings after becoming the first defenseman the Kraken have ever selected in an NHL Entry Draft. The 2nd round pick was seen as a bit of a reach by some, but others pointed out Evans being ranked very highly by predictive models. This pick has Alexandra Mandrycky and the Kraken’s analytics team all over it. Evans projects as a slightly undersized puck-moving defenseman with playmaking ability.
3. Jagger Firkus (RW)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 2nd Round, #35 overall
Age: 18 (April 29th, 2004)
Most recent team: Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Jagger Firkus was given a top-30 grade by many scouts and media members, but ultimately fell to the second round over size concerns. The 5’10, 153lb. winger still needs to bulk up, but there’s no denying he has first round talent. With his exceptional shot and ability to unleash it from anywhere on the ice, Firkus seems poised to join the group of smaller players who have made it work before.
4. Ryan Winterton (C)
Acquired: 2021 Entry Draft, 3rd Round, #67 overall
Age: 18 (September 4th, 2003)
Most recent team: Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
Previous Ranking: #2
3/1/22 – While Winterton stays at #3 in our rankings, you could make a good case he deserves the #2 spot. After a long layoff caused by missing all of last season, a training camp injury, and COVID-19, Winterton finally returned to OHL hockey in January. He had five points in his first game back and has set the league ablaze since, scoring 28 points in only 18 games. While Winterton still needs to get more games in at the junior level, the top-6 NHL forward upside is clear to see.
7/24/21 – At 17 years old, Winterton became the youngest player in the Seattle Kraken system when the Kraken drafted him in the 3rd round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He lost the entire 2020-21 season due to the OHL shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He did, however, play for Canada at the U-18 Worlds in a fourth line role.
5. Ty Nelson (D)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 3rd Round, #68 overall
Age: 18 (March 30th, 2004)
Most recent team: North Bay Battalion (OHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Nelson was rated as a second round talent by many scouts, but the Kraken scooped him up at the top of the third. Nelson has serious offensive chops with 51 points in 66 games and plays a lot bigger than his 5’10-196lb. frame. Highlights from Nelson’s junior career so far include many big hits and breaking a puck in half on a shot. He’ll be an exciting prospect to follow.
6. David Goyette (C)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 2nd Round, #61 overall
Age: 18 (March 27th, 2004)
Most recent team: Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Goyette led a very bad Sudbury Wolves team in scoring this season with 73 points in 66 games. Those numbers are made even more impressive by the fact that Goyette was a full 23 points ahead of his team’s next highest scorer. Forward prospects who can consistently fill the net in the Canadian Hockey League have a strong track record of NHL success. Goyette will return to the OHL next year to try to build on an impressive season, hopefully with better results for his team.
7. Jani Nyman (RW)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 2nd Round, #49 overall
Age: 17 (July 30th, 2004)
Most recent team: Ilves Tampere (SM-Liiga)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Nyman is a big, defensively responsible winger who plays a mature game despite being one of the youngest players in his draft class. The 17-year-old will look to make a jump next year with some added responsibility in his country’s top league.
8. Ville Ottavainen (D)
Acquired: 2021 Entry Draft, 4th Round, #99 overall
Age: 19 (August 12th, 2002)
Most recent team: JyP HT Jyvaskyla (SM-liiga)
Previous Ranking: #3
3/1/22 – Ottavainen remains at #4 in our rankings, mostly because the players ahead of him have done so well. Ottavainen has progressed well in his second season in the Finnish SM-liiga, earning more playing time and tripling his point total. Ottavainen’s play was enough to earn him a spot on Finland’s World Junior Championship team. He played one game before the tournament was cancelled.
7/24/21 – Ottavainen fits in with the theme of Ron Francis selecting large blueliners for the Kraken early on. The Finnish defenseman is listed at 6’5 and 210lbs, making him the tallest and heaviest Kraken prospect. Ottavainen played for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers in 2019-20 and played 24 total games in two levels of Finnish hockey last season.
9. Ben MacDonald (C)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 3rd Round, #91 overall
Age: 18 (February 24th, 2004)
Most recent team: Noble & Greenough School (USHS-Prep)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – MacDonald is a two-way center who’s committed to Harvard for the 2023-24 season. He has good bloodlines, as his father won the Hobey Baker Award while playing for Harvard in 1989.
10. Niklas Kokko (G)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 2nd Round, #58 overall
Age: 18 (March 14th, 2004)
Most recent team: Karpat (SM-Liiga)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Kokko enters the rankings at #10 behind several players drafted lower than him in this year’s draft. That’s because Kokko was a pretty significant reach in the second round. He was the second goalie off the board but was ranked as the 9th European goalie by Central Scouting. That said, goaltending is so unpredictable that a reach for a goalie isn’t a very big deal.
11. Semyon Vyazovoi (G)
Acquired: 2021 Entry Draft, 6th Round, #163 overall
Age: 19 (February 26th, 2003)
Most recent team: Tolpar Ufa (MHL)
Previous Ranking: #4
3/1/22 – Vyazovoi jumps two spots in our rankings after another stellar season in the MHL, the Russian junior league. the future looks bright for the teenage goalie, whose next step will eventually be to play against men in the KHL.
7/24/21 – Vyazovoi, the first goalie ever drafted by Seattle, instantly becomes the Kraken’s top goalie prospect. He spent last season with Tolpar Ufa in the Russian junior league, the MHL. His 2.06 goals against average tied for 1st in the MHL among goalies of his age group.
12. Tyson Jugnauth (D)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 4th Round, #100 overall
Age: 18 (April 27th, 2004)
Most recent team: West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Jugnauth is an offensive defenseman who scored at a near point-per-game pace in the BCHL last season. He’s committed to the University of Wisconsin for the 2022-23 season.
13. Peetro Seppala (D)
Acquired: Signed as free agent May 7th, 2022
Age: 21 (August 17th, 2000)
Most recent team: KooKoo (SM-Liiga)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Seppala was signed as a free agent out of the Finnish Liiga in May. He put up impressive numbers as a 21-year-old playing against men and will likely start next season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
14. Tucker Robertson (C)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 4th Round, #123 overall
Age: 19 (June 22nd, 2003)
Most recent team: Peterborough Petes (OHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Robertson is an overage center who lost his entire draft age season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He responded in a big way in his D+1 year with 81 points in 68 games.
15. Jacob Melanson (RW)
Acquired: 2021 Entry Draft, 5th Round, #131 overall
Age: 19 (April 22nd, 2003)
Most recent team: Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)
Previous Ranking: #5
3/1/22 – Melanson stays at the 6th spot in our prospect rankings and has progressed normally this season. While his points pace is down, Melanson has more than doubled his career high in goals, with 19 in 31 games. As a 5th round pick, he still projects as a longer-term prospect.
7/24/21 – The Kraken’s 2021 5th round pick opens at 6th on our prospect rankings. Melanson scored 19 points in 18 games last season with the Titan in the QMJHL. He described himself as a two-way forward and said that his physical presence is the biggest part of his game.
16. Barrett Hall (C)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 6th Round, #164 overall
Age: 18 (December 29th, 2003)
Most recent team: Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Hall is the Kraken’s second 2022 pick from the high school ranks and will have a longer development track than most. He’s committed to St. Cloud State University for the 2024-25 season.
17. Ville Petman (C)
Acquired: Signed as free agent June 9th, 2022
Age: 22 (January 18th, 2000)
Most recent team: SaiPa (SM-Liiga)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Petman came out of nowhere last season to record 39 points in 59 games in Finland’s top league. He totaled just two points in 40 games the previous season. That offensive explosion was enough to earn him a contract with the Kraken, although he’ll almost certainly play in Coachella Valley next season.
18. Kyle Jackson (C)
Acquired: 2022 Entry Draft, 7th Round, #196 overall
Age: 19 (October 17th, 2002)
Most recent team: North Bay Battalion (OHL)
Previous Ranking: NR
7/8/22 – Jackson is an overage center who has spent three seasons with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion. As a 2002 birthday, Jackson is the oldest player in Seattle’s 2022 draft class and may look to join the Coachella Valley Firebirds after only one more junior season.
19. Tye Kartye (LW)
Acquired: Signed as free agent March 1st, 2022
Age: 20 (April, 30th, 2001)
Most recent team: Soo Greyhounds (OHL)
Previous Ranking: #6
3/1/22 – Kartye joins the prospect rankings after Ron Francis announced the team had signed him as an undrafted free agent today. Kartye joined the Kraken for the team’s inaugural training camp last September before going back to the Soo Greyhounds for his 3rd junior season. Kartye has established new career-high goal and point totals in the OHL this year and projects to join the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds next season.
20. Justin Janicke (LW)
Acquired: 2021 Entry Draft, 7th Round, #195 overall
Age: 19 (June 30th, 2003)
Most recent team: Notre Dame (NCAA)
Previous Ranking: #7
3/1/22 – Janicke had a slow start in his freshman season at Notre Dame but has settled in as a bottom-6 forward. Still only 18 years old, Janicke has a ways to go before being on the Kraken’s radar for a pro contract.
7/24/21 – Janicke was the Kraken’s final pick of the 2021 Entry Draft. He had 10 points in 18 games last season with the US National Team Development Program. Janicke projects as a 4th liner.
21. Luke Henman (C)
Acquired: Signed as free agent May 12th, 2021
Age: 21 (April, 29th, 2000)
Most recent team: Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Previous Ranking: #8
3/1/22 – Henman falls to the 9th and last spot in our prospect rankings after an underwhelming rookie season in the AHL that saw him sent down to the ECHL for a brief stint in December. With nine points in 33 games for the Charlotte Checkers, Henman’s scoring ability just hasn’t transferred to the AHL level yet. At almost 22 years old, time is running out for Henman’s chances of making the NHL.
7/24/21 – Henman falls from the top spot in our Kraken prospect rankings by virtue of no longer being Seattle’s only prospect. He’s further along in his development than some of the names above him but lacks the upside that the 18-year-olds have. Look for him to compete for a big AHL role this September.
5/12/21 – The Kraken made Henman their first player in franchise history when they signed him to a three year entry-level contract on May 12th, 2021. As the Kraken’s first player, Henman instantly moves into the top spot in our Kraken Prospect Rankings.