The playoffs in major juniors in North America and among pro hockey clubs in Europe are elevating to later rounds with plenty of Kraken prospects in starring roles. Let’s skate a lap around the hockey globe:
Ontario: 2023 First-Rounder Sale Scores Twice in Clincher
The OHL Kitchener Rangers won a hard-fought six-game series over Erie in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, winning three games (including Games 5 and 6) in overtime. Kraken first-round draft choice Eduard Sale scored a pair of goals in Kitchener's Game 6 clincher and completed the first round with three goals and five assists for eight points, clearly rewarding the Kitchener front office that traded for Sale at the OHL trade deadline. Sale’s fellow Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf (2023 second-rounder) chipped in four goals and three assists in the series after notching 52 goals and 43 assists for 95 points during the regular season. The two prospects have found chemistry on the power play, scoring four man-advantage goals between them in the first round. Kitchener faces the storied London franchise next, starting with Game 1 on Thursday.
Finland: Goalie Prospect Kokko Raising His Profile
When 2022 second-rounder Niklas Kokko returned to his Karpat club from a solid performance representing his home country at the 2024 World Junior Championship, he discovered the Lliga franchise in Finland’s top pro league was loaning him to Pelicans, another Lliga club.
Undeterred, Kokko reported to Lahti, a town in the Lakeland region of Finland. He made the best of it – and then some. He posted a .926 save percentage in 13 regular season games and then finished with a .924 save percentage in net for Pelicans’ seven-game victorious series against IFK Helsinki.
“I've adjusted well here,” said Kokko about a month after moving to Lahti. “I'm grateful that people have helped me feel comfortable. I knew a couple of players and the coach before coming here, but it's great to meet new people.”
Local fans think it’s more than great to have the 6-foot-3, 20-year-old goaltender on their side. After a roller-coaster series with IFK in which Pelcians won the first three game, then lost three in a row (two in overtime) before advancing to the Lliga semifinals. Their opponent? None other than Karpat.
To date, Kokko and Pelicans are heading into a Friday Game 4 with a three-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series. But Pelicans no doubt have figured out that the fourth victory can be the hardest. Kokko has sparkled in the series, drawing all sorts of media attention, punctuated by a 1-0 shutout in Game 3. He has surrendered just four goals over the first three games and he has a 7-3 record in the Lliga postseason to date.
Canada: Top Scorers Trending Up
Kraken 2022 second-round draft choices David Goyette (Ontario Hockey League) and Jagger Firkus (Western Hockey League) both topped their respective major junior leagues in scoring and clearly have not slowed in the postseason. Goyette and his No. 5-seeded Sudbury Wolves teammates advanced to the second round by winning four of five games in the best-of-seven OHL Eastern Conference series against No. 4-seed Mississauga. Goyette notched a goal and three assists in the series clincher and finished the first round with nine points (four goals, five assists) to rank second in postseason OHL scoring headed in Round 2.
Firkus, who led all of the Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) in scoring with 126 regular-season points (61 G, 65 A), didn’t slow much in a four-game Moose Jaw sweep over the Brandon Wheat Kings. He notched two goals and five assists. Last spring, he scored ten goals and added 11 assists in 21 postseason games. No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, Moose Jaw advances to play best-of-seven against No. 2 Swift Current.
Western Canada: Price Helping to Fuel Kelowna Rockets
Kraken prospect Caden Price contributed mightily from the blue line to help Kelowna advance to the second round of the WHL playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. He scored a goal and added eight assists in a six-game series with first-year franchise Wenatchee. Price was selected in the third round of last summer’s NHL draft (84th overall) and has met the challenge of getting better each season in both production in the offensive zone and a more complete defensive effort. His regular season of 13 goals and 42 assists was 15 points than 2022-23, and his nine points to date in the playoffs dwarfs his work in last spring’s first-round ouster for Kelowna. He and his teammates will have to keep it going against Prince George in the second round starting Friday. Kelowna finished second to Prince George in the regular season but by some 30 standings points. But Price and 2024 draft-eligible Tij Iginla (yes, Hall of Famer Jarome’s son) are certainly hot at the right time.
Northern Ontario: Showdown of Future Teammates
About the aforementioned David Goyette’s second-round opponent in the OHL East: It’s good news-bad news for the Kraken player development group. On one hand, great that Goyette gets to go deeper into the OHL players – and the ultimate trip to the coveted Memorial Cup tournament, as done in 2022 by current Kraken linemates Logan Morrison and Ryan Winterton. Goyette was a standout and leader on last year’s squad, a bit on the young side to compete for the OHL championship last spring but fully loaded this April. The bad news or good-news/bad-news is the No. 5 Sudbury faces No. 2 North Bay, anchored by star defenseman Ty Nelson, who was drafted by Seattle early in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, at No. 68 overall compared to Goyette going No. 61 late in the second round that summer.
One of the two promising prospects will be exiting the Memorial Cup chase in the next couple of weeks. Nelson worked through some injury issues this season but was First Star of the Game in North Bay’s opening game in Round 1 with a goal and assist. Nelson played solid, disciplined defense to help North Bay secure a series win over Kingston in five games, finishing with a point-per-game average (3 G, 2A) on the offensive end. Nelson is a born leader for a Battalion squad that will be a tough out.
The series starts Thursday at North Bay between two northern Ontario that are long-time rivals in regular season play but haven’t faced each other in the postseason since ... wait for it, 1992. Known as the Highway 17 series for the road that connects the two towns, the crowds will be raucous and likely know the two squads each won four of eight games against each other this year, with North Bay winning the Central Division with 87 standings points and Sudbury placing third with 83 points. Just a note: Three of Sudbury’s wins over North Bay were in overtime or shootout, so North Bay is officially 4-1-2-1 against their rivals.
