The Ottawa Senators made an enormous splash this week, buying goalie Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins for the twenty fifth total choose, Joonas Korpisalo, and depth middle Mark Kastelic. The commerce addresses an enormous subject for the Senators, solidifying their unstable crease, however the work is way from achieved. The crew is now down a tricky, skilled middle on their fourth line and nonetheless wants so as to add a top-pairing right-shot defenceman and work out what is occurring with their prime six if Josh Norris can’t return to prime type.
That leaves a number of attention-grabbing choices for Steve Staios and the Senators’ lone first-round choose. After the NHL Draft Mix, the crew was related to middle Tij Iginla and defenceman Sam Dickinson, however it’s doubtless that each these prospects will probably be gone by the point Ottawa steps as much as the rostrum. Given their rumoured curiosity in Iginla, the Senators may shift their focus barely and goal one other Western Hockey League (WHL) ahead who may drop exterior of the highest 5 – Berkly Catton.
Berkly Catton Scouting Report
Few gamers within the WHL had been pretty much as good as Catton this season. In 68 video games, he scored an unbelievable 116 factors, the fourth-highest complete and probably the most of any draft-eligible participant within the league. Within the final 24 years, solely two gamers have hit 50 targets and 110 factors of their 17-year-old season, with the opposite being Connor Bedard. An harm saved him out of the U18 World Championship in April, however he was electrical on the Hlinka Gretzky Match in August, scoring eight targets and 10 factors in 5 video games to steer the match and assist Canada declare a gold medal.
Bob McKenzie ranked Catton twelfth total in his closing rankings, however quoted one scout who mentioned, “His hockey sense and abilities are higher than any ahead excluding Macklin Celebrini and Ivan Demidov.” That’s extremely excessive reward for a participant who didn’t rank greater than seventh in McKenzie’s ballot of scouts and managers and is projected to be a quantity two middle and a primary energy play man.
In his prospect profile, The Hockey Writers’ Logan Horn continued to heap on reward, writing, “Catton excels in all aspects of the sport, with no obvious weaknesses in any respect moreover his lack of dimension. He’s glorious on his edges which greater than makes up for his common prime velocity, permitting him to blow by opponents with intelligent routes and pure agility. Catton is so slippery in reality that he attracts a ton of penalties on the junior stage, which he can typically capitalize on because the motor that runs his crew’s prime energy play unit.”
Why Catton Makes Sense
Regardless of having a number of younger expertise on their roster, the Senators struggled to attain and defend constantly, resulting in one more season that was over earlier than the All-Star Break. A part of that was as a result of accidents, however it didn’t assist that when one in every of their prime six went down, they didn’t have any good choices to switch them with. They merely didn’t have sufficient high-end possession gamers.
Nevertheless, possession is Catton’s sport. On a weaker Spokane Chiefs crew, he was the catalyst that made issues occur. Not solely may he shoot and move higher than anybody else, however his positioning, intelligence, anticipation, and persistence enabled the remainder of the crew to thrive round him. His high-end velocity and environment friendly skating helped him make zone entries shortly, then when he began to get pressed by the crew’s defence (who would often collapse onto him), he used good puck safety methods, akin to taking a really huge stance to make sure that these defenders couldn’t attain the puck. Then, after studying the scenario, he’d both strive a flowery transfer or depend on a less complicated move to an open teammate. Think about that type of participant alongside Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Ridly Greig, or Shane Pinto.
However Catton isn’t all about offence. As a result of he performs such a wise sport, he was additionally efficient on defence, utilizing an lively persist with create turnovers and good positioning to chop off passing lanes for the attacking crew. He’s at all times fascinated about tips on how to finest assist his crew, making him an extremely dynamic participant. On condition that he initiatives to be a high-end second-line middle who can command a prime power-play unit, he might be seen as a possible inheritor to Norris or Drake Batherson.
Why Catton May Not Be the Proper Alternative
When speaking about Catton, you’ll be able to’t get very far into the dialog earlier than mentioning his dimension. Listed at just below 5-foot-11 and 174 kilos, he’s not an intimidating presence. Which may not work for the Senators, who’ve constructed their crew to be gritty and in-your-face, largely influenced by their captain Tkachuk’s model. Younger gamers like Tyler Kleven, Ridly Greig, and Zack Ostapchuk match that mould properly, bringing a mix of physicality and tenacity to each shift. Catton has the tenacity, however he’s not a bodily participant.
Associated: Ottawa Senators’ First-Spherical Draft Targets – Tij Iginla
There’s additionally the outstanding subject that, if the Senators take Catton, they’ll should move on a number of prime defencemen who will nonetheless be accessible. Utilizing McKenzie’s record as a information, then Dickinson and Artyom Levshunov, arguably two of the perfect defensive prospects accessible, will probably be passed by the seventh choose, however Zayne Parekh and Zeev Buium will nonetheless be on the board. Parekh is a right-shot offensive defender who’s drawn some comparisons to Erik Karlsson, whereas Buium is a left-shooting, two-way defender who performs primarily on the correct aspect and was instrumental within the College of Denver’s NCAA title. Each gamers match an enormous want for Ottawa and can be robust to move up, even when they don’t have as excessive of a possible as Catton.
There’s no query that Catton would significantly enhance the Senators. He’s a extremely proficient ahead who doesn’t make errors and helps out in each space, which is one thing Ottawa may use on their roster now. However, like with each draft choose, they aren’t for proper now. Catton continues to be doubtless 2-3 years away from making his NHL debut, and by then, the Senators might be a vastly totally different crew. So, as Staios has talked about, it’s at all times finest to concentrate on the perfect accessible participant, no matter place. That’s a peaceful, measured strategy that I can get behind.
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