It took him a while to notch his first NHL goal, but since then, Berkly Catton has been on a tear, showing anyone who doubted he belonged in the NHL with the Seattle Kraken wrong.
In Catton’s 28th career NHL game, he finally notched his first career goal. He threw the monkey off his back and scored his second career goal in the same game. Since his first tally, the 20-year-old (turning 20 years old today) has scored four goals in his last four games.
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Prior to scoring his first NHL goal, the belief was that Catton was doing a lot of things right on the ice, but it just wasn’t translating to production. His speed, skating, and creativity with the puck were evident every time he touched the ice, and the consensus was that a breakthrough was imminent.
We are now experiencing that breakthrough.
“Some of the other games, I thought I was even better than (I’ve been) in the games I’ve been scoring,” said Catton about his play as of late. “Sometimes that’s the way hockey works, and when they’re going in, they’re going in.”
Catton’s rookie totals now see him with four goals and nine points in 31 games. He’s played more so on the third line this year, averaging 12:58 of ice time. Catton’s strength is still something he needs to work on to become a high-end NHL player, but with the skillset he possesses, there’s no reason to believe that when that does come, he can be the Kraken’s top offensive threat.
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“100 percent,” Catton said when asked about whether he’s improved on battling for pucks in front of the net and in the corners. “When you come in and those first couple games and those first couple months, it’s kind of an eye opener how strong guys are. How hard you have to compete, especially as maybe not the biggest guy on the ice, having to use your skating ability and edges.”
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He’s been skating on a line with Shane Wright and Jared McCann recently, two offensievly gifted players but also two players with attentiveness to the defensive side of the game. They’ve helped Catton recently as much as he’s helped them.
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The key for Catton is to keep the momentum going. The more he plays, the more he’ll learn, and right now, that’s all they can ask out of their rookie.
Additionally, Berkly Catton has not only burned a year on his entry-level contract but also accrued a season towards unrestricted free agency, having been on the NHL active roster for 40 games.
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