“I think it's a lot to just how we think the game,” Catton said of their chemistry. “Obviously Andrew is really one of the smartest players around, so it’s just kind of getting to the spots with him and putting a stick on the ice and lots of time it ends up on it. That and I think we just have an ability to push the pace of the game. Through the course of a couple games, I think it really started settling in.”
The Kraken also have benefitted from seeing Catton playing alongside Cristall.
“I think the biggest thing we realized when Andrew Cristall got to Spokane is it unlocked Berk's ability to play a give and go game with a real elite passer and just showed you what his game can look like with his ability to work away from the puck and still get pucks back to him,” Kraken director of player development Jeff Tambellini said. “And it's just been amazing, the production they've had, some of the highlight-reel goals have been just amazing to watch. So, we’ve just been really, really pleased with that chemistry. It changes how we look at him going forward, of what he’ll need for a linemate to have that ultimate level of success.”
An increase in speed is also needed for Catton to have success.
“We got on him pretty early in the year,” Tambellini said. “Usually we're very patient with our development process of what we're pushing on the players, but with Berk, based on the timeline, we got into him very early of adding speed and lower-body training to his program early. We put him on [sports science and performance consultant] Gary Roberts’ program, I believe, in the middle of October, and just challenged him, if you want to be a guy that pushes the timeline it's going to come down to the strength and the speed aspect.
“And so, Berk’s been in on this from the middle of October, and we're seeing a big jump in just the pace and urgency and overall speed he's playing the game with so far. And we would expect a full summer of training as well just to keep compounding on top of that.”
Catton has fully bought in, knowing it’s needed to get him to his ultimate destination, which is a spot in Seattle next season.
“I think compared to the start of the season to now, I've taken a big step in that way,” he said. “I think just listening to what Seattle has to say and trying to build my game to the best of my ability so coming into [training] camp, I am someone they're looking forward to making the squad. That's obviously the goal for me, and that's what I'm aiming for. These last couple games, the [WHL] playoffs and obviously through the summer, that's how I'm going to approach things. So, yeah, definitely in the back of my mind it's something I'm really aiming for.”
