Time flies when you’re having fun. With the Seattle Kraken’s 4-3 overtime loss against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, the team has concluded the October portion of the 2025-26 schedule as they do not play again until Nov. 1. Seattle currently owns a record of 5-2-3 through 10 games (13 points), and sits second in the Pacific Division by points percentage (PTS%).
The Kraken are playing at a 106-point pace, a far cry from the 76 points outlets like The Athletic projected for them before the season. The team is a tenth of the way into the campaign and has already banked valuable points in what should be another tight playoff race in the Western Conference. Two rookies who have played notable roles to this point in the campaign are Jani Nyman and Berkly Catton, a pair of promising forwards with bright futures in the NHL.
There is a third name that I’ve decided to include, despite not technically being a rookie: 22-year-old forward Ryan Winterton. Despite only having 31 career games to his name, Winterton is ineligible for the Calder Trophy as the requirements state that a player cannot have played in more than 25 games in a single NHL season, or in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in a major professional league. Winterton played in only 21 total NHL games before this season, but made more than six appearances in both the 2023-24 (nine) and 2024-25 (12) seasons, making him ineligible as per the second stipulation.
Winterton is included in this column as he has yet to play half of a full season’s worth of games. With that, let’s dive into the first Kraken rookie report of the season.
Jani Nyman, Forward
Nyman raised eyebrows after scoring 26 goals in 48 games in Finland’s SM-liiga as a 19-20-year-old during the 2023-24 campaign. The 2022 second-round pick also tallied 28 goals in 58 games in the American Hockey League (AHL) last season before earning a late NHL call-up to end the year, during which he produced three goals and six points in 12 games.
My preseason pick to be a finalist for the Calder Trophy, Nyman has scored three goals in 10 games to start the season and is tied for second on the Kraken in scoring. He’s converting on a blistering 33.3% of his shots thus far, so unless he ramps up his shot rate, his numbers may be due for a regression.
In fairness, Nyman has done so with under 11 minutes of ice time per game in all situations (13th among all Kraken forwards) and is second on the team in goals per-60-minutes, meaning he’s made the most of his opportunities.
Nyman is also leading the Kraken forward group in rush chances and penalties drawn per-60 at five-on-five despite not being the fastest player according to NHL Edge data.
The Kraken are the worst team in the league in terms of generating expected goals and high-danger chances at five-on-five, so injuries to key players aside, it wouldn’t hurt to elevate a player who has shown he is capable of creating off the rush and luring opponents into taking penalties.
Berkly Catton, Forward
Despite his draft pedigree (picked eighth overall in 2024), Catton’s inclusion on the NHL roster was a surprise, given that he had yet to even appear in a professional league. The 19-year-old compiled 92 goals and 225 points over his last 125 games in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and finished his junior career by scoring 11 goals and 42 points in 20 playoff games during his team’s run to the WHL Championship Final. Despite losing the series, Catton led the playoffs in scoring and demonstrated that he had very little left to prove in the junior ranks.
Arguably the crown jewel of Seattle’s prospect pool, Catton has made good on his opportunity since being tapped to make his NHL debut against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 20, the Kraken’s sixth game of the season. Catton has tallied three points in his first five NHL games (all assists) and rocketed to the first line in the wake of injuries to Jared McCann, Mason Marchment, and Kaapo Kakko (offseason surgery).
Catton sits behind only Nyman in minor penalties drawn and rush chances per-60 at five-on-five while also ranking third among the team’s forwards in shot rate. He’s small by NHL standards (5-foot-10, 179 pounds), but the competition hasn’t pushed him around and should be given more than the 13 minutes per game in all situations he’s seen so far.
Both Catton and Nyman find themselves at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to Seattle’s power play deployment, but head coach Lane Lambert might want to change that. The Kraken languish in the bottom half of the league with a 20% conversion rate, and it wouldn’t hurt to mix the talented freshmen into the rotation.
Ryan Winterton, Forward
Winterton has been limited to one assist in 10 games to start, and has seen bottom-six usage through October at just under 13 minutes a night in all situations.
The entire Kraken roster is struggling to control play as the team ranks in the bottom five in the league by their share of shots, expected goals, and high-danger chances at five-on-five, but Winterton’s numbers are among the worst. If he can avoid being pushed out of the lineup once Kakko and McCann return, getting better linemates in the process should help slot everyone back into place.
Winterton is sixth among Kraken forwards in shots per-60 at five-on-five, but has yet to find the net during his brief NHL career. There is some offensive talent hidden within (40 goals and 72 points over 114 AHL games), but it has yet to manifest at the NHL level and is currently being overshadowed by his gaudy defensive results.
Given Winterton only turned 22 last month, patience is needed. It’s unsurprising for a young forward to be caved in territorially before they fully adjust to the increase in pace and the lack of space in the offensive zone at the NHL level compared to the minor leagues.
Kraken Rookies Showing Promise
Overall, the Kraken’s rookies have shown they belong. Nyman and Catton, in particular, have flashed the offensive skillsets that made them the highest-ranked prospects in Seattle’s pool and injected some jump into what has often been a stale attack.
While Winterton’s defensive struggles have been the most noticeable, all three young players must make big strides in that department before they can be considered true impact players at the NHL level. The process could take anywhere from one month to one year or more, but it won’t happen overnight.
For now, the Kraken can take pride in both their development and the team’s results to start the year, considering the pessimism surrounding them in the preseason.
Data courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and the NHL.
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