Seattle Kraken, Alexander Wennberg

Kraken NHL Daily: They’re Baa-aack; WJC Prospects

Anyone else tired of waiting for the next Seattle Kraken home game? They’re back, with game time scheduled for a little after 5 pm on Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets at Climate Pledge Arena.

In the meantime, Kraken practice happened Saturday morning at the Kraken Community Iceplex.

From our Kraken radio pals:

Eeli Tolvanen* – Alexander Wennberg – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Jared McCann – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle

Ryan Donato – Yanni Gourde – Andre Burakovsky
Brandeon Tanev – Morgan Geekie – Daniel Sprong

Adam Larsson – Vince Dunn
Jamie Oleksiak – Justin Schultz
Carson Soucy – Will Borgen

Extras: Gustav Olofsson – Cale Fleury

* Placeholder for Schwartz

Philipp Grubauer
Martin Jones

Jaden Schwartz sat out. Oleksiak, back from suspension and Schultz, apparently back from injury, both skated.

Hey, that gives me an idea …

Let’s Skate!

The United States and Canada released their official World Junior Championship rosters in the last couple of days and outside of 2022 4th-overall Draft Pick Shane Wright, the Seattle Kraken have no other representatives. This is completely understandable given a history of just two summers of NHL Drafts, while Wright’s presence is impressive in its own right.

Meanwhile, the Jets have University of Michigan forward Rutger McGroarty, selected in the first round this past summer, playing for Team USA. The winger is a point-a-game player in college hockey. Winnipeg also has 19-year-old Chad Lucius, a centre for the AHL Manitoba Moose, playing for the Americans.

The Kraken’s Pacific Division rival Anaheim Ducks are the big winners in terms of Team Canada. Two of their prospect defencemen are on the team. Tyson Hinds plays for the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Quebec Major Junior League and Olen Zellweger plays up the road in Everett for the WHL Silvertips. Hinds was a 3rd-round NHL Draft pick two summers ago while Zellweger went in the 2nd-round, also in 2021.

Remarkably, the Ducks have a third prospect on Team Canada, forward Nathan Gaucher. The right-shot centre playing for Quebec in the QMJHL was the club’s 1st-round, 22nd-overall pick this past summer.

It’s hard to imagine Anaheim’s NHL talent base getting any younger.

All of Ovie’s Goals

In case you missed it, this is crazy fun, if you have an extra fifteen minutes laying around. The Washington Capitals website put together a montage of all 800 Alex Ovechkin goals. The video is set to the theme music from an old TV show about a western hero called The Lone Ranger.

Remember that impossible goal he scored while spinning on his back against the Phoenix Coyotes? That was way back at goal number-32.

Enjoy the Hockey Action!!

Rob Simpson

Rob Simpson has covered the NHL in five different decades. He’s authored 4 books on hockey and is a veteran TV and radio play-by-play man and reporter.