The Kraken select center Berkley Caton with the No. 8 pick in the NHL draft

Kraken draft pick Berkley Caton “Shooter Tutor” was tired of the training tarpaulin he used to drape over the net and practice shooting on summer days, so he literally took matters into his own hands.

Caton, 18, a centerman and the Kraken’s first-round pick, the No. 8 overall pick from the Spokane Chiefs in Friday’s NHL Entry Draft, spent three days last summer building a goalie out of wood, put some pads and a mask on it and stood up. Stayed. Between the pipes for a more realistic look. The impromptu practices paid off as Caton came off of a 54-goal, 62-assist season with the Chiefs and entered Friday as the draft’s top scorer before the Kraken took him.

“It’s not the biggest job,” Caton said of building his backyard at his family home in Saskatoon. “The middle part is wooden and then I put goalkeeper equipment on top and it holds up very well.”

Caton certainly left specific space between the goalie’s pads and under his armpits to practice shooting. That is, when the makeshift goaltender remained standing upright. At first, he would fall down whenever a puck was hit at him – forcing Caton to be even more creative.

“I had a pole attached to the crossbar so it could absorb shots and stuff a little more,” Caton said. “But I’m now thinking of hanging it over the top of my shooting area, so we’ll have to see.”

Catton’s natural intelligence on and off the ice is a big part of what led the Kraken to select him at No. 8, when many analysts believed he was going out of the top 10.

The San Jose Sharks introduced the NHL’s final “centralized” draft, involving personnel from all 32 teams – next year the plan is to have teams draft remotely – as widely expected, Boston University centerman By selecting Maclean Celebrini.

Chicago then selected the first of a series of highly coveted defensemen by selecting Belarus native Artyom Levshunov from Michigan State at the No. 2 pick. No. 3 Anaheim made the crowd of thousands at the Las Vegas Sphere gasp in surprise by taking winger Beckett of the Oshawa Generals. Seneca at number 3, a move that stunned even the player himself.

Day two of the draft begins Saturday at 8:30 a.m. PT with final rounds 2 through 7. The Kraken have seven more selections, four of which are in Rounds 2 and 3.

Several top defensemen, including NCAA champion University of Denver’s Zeev Buim and OHL products Zain Parekh and Sam Dickinson, were available Friday when the Kraken’s No. 8 overall pick arrived. But Kraken general manager Ron Francis used his early-round selection on a forward for the fourth time in the franchise’s first four drafts – and a center for the third time.

“We really liked his hockey IQ,” Francis said of Caton. “And obviously, his skill. His scoring and playmaking ability and he’s definitely got a high level of competitiveness. So, all these things go into it.”

And Francis, always a fan of centermen with strong hockey savvy like himself, thought the 5-11, 175-pounder was worth taking a little earlier than many expected. They used the No. 2 overall pick three years ago on center Matty Beniers — who announced Caton’s selection on stage with Francis — then the No. 20 overall pick on Shane Wright in 2022 before going with winger Edward Sale at No. 20. 4’s choice was used. the last summer.

Francis said he even considered making a trade this time to gain something in exchange for a slightly lower draft position, in which he could still take Caton.

But with Caton widely expected to finish in the top 10-15 spots, Francis felt it was not worth the gamble.

“As the draft progressed, we felt it was almost too risky to go down,” he said. “We were probably players out of our comfort zone. And with this guy sitting at No. 8, he was a guy we really liked a lot. So, we did not take any action and we had to go with him at No. 8.

Francis said the makeshift goalie created by Catton, whose parents are both teachers and encouraged him to work hard in school from an early age, is one of the many things that influenced him.

“I think when you watch him, his hockey IQ is really excellent,” Francis said. “So, the fact that he’s so interested in hockey and he took the time to study it and create his own equipment to help himself improve? “It’s impressive, especially for a young child.”

Kraken scouting director Robert Crone said Caton “put his entire (Spokane) team on his back” last season.

“He’s a very intelligent player with great skills,” Cron said.

Those skills include a specific level of skating ability and agility. He saw extensive power play and penalty kill usage and won an impressive 53.4% ​​of faceoffs.

Cron also said that Caton’s “playmaking ability” is at a very high level and he projects as an NHL centerman or winger on one of the top two lines.

Currently, he has two seasons of Western Hockey League eligibility remaining. And that means honing his left-handed shot more in his Saskatoon backyard in preparation for his third Chiefs campaign this summer.

“It’s almost like shooting at a real goalkeeper,” he said of his temporary substitute. “Even though it doesn’t move, it still has cracks under the pads and on top of the gloves and stuff. So, you can still do that and it feels more real.

This work helped him enjoy the second-highest scoring season in Chiefs history at 17, behind only Pat Falloon, who received Player of the Year honors for the Catons in the WHL’s US division.

Last August, he led Canada to a gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, leading the under-18 tournament with eight goals and 10 points in five games.

Many of Caton’s 54 goals this season came in the “five-hole” between the goalkeepers’ pads, particularly on one-time shots. He felt his device helped him become more accurate. He also studied ample video and found that goalkeepers appeared vulnerable between the pads when sliding side to side in front of a one-time shot.

He said that since his father, Chris, and his mother, Desiree, taught eighth and first grade, respectively, they definitely helped him study and learn things.

“Yes, I always did well in school,” he said. “And I think that translated a little bit to hockey and I probably got a chance to showcase that part of my game.”

Still, some family members aren’t entirely impressed by his ingenuity. His grandfather, John, was not impressed with their makeshift goalkeeper when he fell on every shot.

“He’s a great woodworker and I’m just a novice or novice at it, I guess,” Caton said. “So, he was just giving it to me a little bit when it wouldn’t stand up and take stuff. But finally, now he’s saying it’s not too bad.”