Kraken prospects roundup: How first-rounders Wright, Sale and others are faring

One of the last players cut from Kraken training camp, Shane Wright has four goals and six points through his first seven games with Seattle’s top minor league affiliate, including goals in three straight. He scored 2 minutes, 18 seconds into overtime for a 5-4 Coachella Valley Firebirds win against the San Jose Barracuda on Oct. 29 in American Hockey League (AHL) play.

His three-game point streak (three goals, two assists) ended Saturday in the Firebirds’ 2-1 win against the Bakersfield Condors. Max McCormick and Andrew Poturalski scored, Chris Driedger made 18 saves and the Firebirds (5-2) won their fourth consecutive game.

Wright, 19, was the Kraken’s first pick (No. 4 overall) in the 2022 draft. Due to his age, he needed an exception in order to avoid being sent back to juniors this fall, part of a longstanding agreement between the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and NHL. The thought was Wright was too advanced to be playing against predominantly fellow teenagers in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), which is under the CHL umbrella. However, the time wasn’t right for him to join the Kraken — and those were seemingly the only two options without special consideration.

In addition to eight Kraken games scattered across three months, Wright had a brief stint with the Firebirds last season and had no trouble finding the net then, either. He scored four times in five games. His smaller role during Coachella Valley’s postseason run produced nine points in 24 playoff games. In between those two AHL stays, he returned to his junior team.

Ryan Winterton

Following a pair of OHL seasons carved up by injuries, 2021 draft pick Ryan Winterton made his pro debut with the Firebirds this fall. So far, so good.

Winterton has five points (three goals) in seven games alongside linemate and frequent collaborator Wright. Winterton tied that overtime game against the Barracuda in the third period. It was part of a three-game goal streak that mirrored Wright’s.

Eduard Sale

The Kraken’s first-round pick this summer, Eduard Sale, has enjoyed a productive start to his North American hockey career. The 18-year-old native of Czechia joined the Barrie Colts of the OHL after a stint in Seattle for rookie camp and training camp. He has three goals and 11 points through 13 games, good for third on the Colts.

Sale was drafted 29th overall by Barrie in the CHL import draft. His production dropped last season while playing against grown men in the top Czech men’s league, but the Kraken were impressed enough to take him 20th overall.

“I’ll play my style and have fun because last year was tough,” he told The Seattle Times in September. “I want to just enjoy this year and we’ll see what it brings.”

Tucker Robertson

Robertson, who memorably advanced to the Memorial Cup last season with the Peterborough Petes, didn’t crack the Firebirds lineup in the first six games and on Nov. 2 was assigned to the Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL, one rung down, presumably to get some playing time. He made his pro debut the next night and recorded an assist.

In Kansas City, he joins 2022 seventh-rounder Kyle Jackson, who has four goals and 12 points through eight games.

OHL leaders

Seattle 2022 pick Jagger Firkus, who has played parts of five seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League (WHL), is tied for the CHL scoring lead with 32 points in just 15 games. During one six-game stretch, he scored 12 times. In addition, 2023 second-round pick Carson Rehkopf is on track to blow his previous numbers out of the water with the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) and is averaging just shy of two points per game (17 goals, 11 assists, 28 games) for an OHL-best point total as of Sunday. He’s tied with Firkus for second in the CHL in goals and recorded at least one in seven straight games from Oct. 13-27. Four have been game-winners. He has five multi-goal games but just one hat trick.

In the NCAA

Kraken 2022 sixth-round pick Barrett Hall is off to a solid start in his first season at St. Cloud State, having recorded two goals and two assists through eight games. … Ben MacDonald, a 2022 third-rounder, has two assists in his first three games at Harvard. … Tyson Jugnauth and the 9-1 Wisconsin Badgers are shooting up the Division I rankings, having completed back-to-back sweeps of top-ranked Minnesota and No. 4 Michigan. The sophomore defenseman has two assists.

Etc.

Six games into his AHL career, Kraken 2021 fifth-round pick Jacob Melanson has recorded his first pro goal, but has more fights than points. He dropped the gloves twice in October, once to stick up for a Coachella Valley teammate and once as retribution for his own penalized hit. … After appearing in two playoff contests with the Firebirds, David Goyette returned to the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL, where he has four goals and 15 assists in 14 games. … Ty Nelson is back for a third season with the North Bay Battalion and the defenseman has 13 points in 15 games. He recorded his 100th career OHL assist on Oct. 29. … Defenseman Caden Price, a 2023 third-rounder, has 12 points in his first 10 games with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.

Calgary’s Mangiapane suspended for hit on McCann

Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane was suspended for one game for cross-checking the Kraken’s Jared McCann’s head into the ice while McCann was lying beneath him. Mangiapane was ejected from the game and McCann, who was bloodied and headed down the tunnel immediately, returned later in the first period.

The NHL Department of Player Safety’s video explaining the ruling noted Mangiapane’s lack of league discipline prior to this incident. 

“It is important to note that we accept Mangiapane’s contention that he does not intend to drive McCann’s head into the ice on this play,” the video explained, adding that the Calgary winger did not fully extend his arms or use his full weight to deliver the strike.