Two for one: Spokane Chiefs captain Berkly Catton brings NHL camp experience into leadership role in WHL

Berkly Catton is two players in one.

For the Seattle Kraken, he’s the fresh-faced rookie trying to soak everything in at training camp while maybe still being a little in awe of some of his teammates.

But for the Spokane Chiefs, he’s the grizzled veteran ready to lead his mostly younger compatriots toward Western Hockey League playoff glory – and perhaps a chance for his organization to host the Memorial Cup in 2026.

It’s a lot for the 18-year-old face of the franchise.

“I take pride in being a leader,” Catton said at practice at the Arena earlier this week. “You know, coming into my WHL career, (Spokane) is where I wanted to be. Now I’m here, so now is the fun part – where I enjoy it and come here and work as hard as I possibly can.”

Over the summer, Catton was selected No. 8 overall by the Kraken in the NHL draft. Expected to be a top-10 pick, the 5-foot-11 center could have ended up with a rebuilding franchise. But Seattle, which by all accounts was looking for defensive help in the first round, couldn’t pass up Catton’s playmaking abilities when he was available to them.

Catton stood out during rookie camp with Seattle earlier this fall, then continued to open eyes during NHL camp before the Kraken reassigned him to the Chiefs last week.

Catton just wanted to be a sponge in his time with the big club.

“I learned, you know, how quick you have to be, and how on top of everything you have to be at the pro level,” he said. “I’m just trying to bring that back here.”

Chiefs coach Brad Lauer, in his first year with the team, has been impressed with Catton since getting a chance to work with him firsthand.

“I did my homework on him,” Lauer said. “You know, kids like that are driven, and that’s one thing with ‘Berks’ is that he’s very driven to improve every day. That’s a great quality to have. He’s always working on his game – not necessarily always on the ice, but in the weight room, doing the extra stuff. And other guys in your locker feed off that. It’s great for a coach to have have guys like that.”

Still, being “the new guy” and “THE guy” at different levels at the same time is a challenge, even for the hypercompetitive Catton.

“This transition is not easy,” Catton said. “You’re in two completely different roles. And you know, you do go up there and get humbled a little bit – you’re playing against the best players in the world. But I’m getting my step back here. It’s nice to have this week of practice and kind of get back into it. It’s super exciting.”

Catton looked toward his fellow Saskatchewan players in Kraken camp – specifically NHL veterans Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz and Chandler Stephenson – for guidance and grounding at NHL camp.

“I think as a ‘Sask’ guy, seeing a young kid coming up, they probably saw some of them themselves in me as a young guy – kind of clueless at a camp,” Catton said. “So they helped me out a lot.”

He also admitted to maybe being a little starstruck when he first stepped on the ice with some of them.

“All these guys, you see them on TV all the time. And then all of a sudden, they’re your linemate. That’s like – it’s weird,” he said. “So it’s been a lot lately, for sure, just taking everything in and trying to digest it the best as possible. But you know, I think now that it’s over I’m processing it and this year, in (WHL) games, I know what I need to work on to stick (in the NHL) in upcoming years.”

Despite his offensive success last season – 54 goals, including seven shorthanded markers, and 116 points – Catton knows there are aspects of his game he needs to work on for the WHL and NHL levels.

That starts in the face-off circle, and it flows to the defensive end of the ice.

“I think it’s just being solid everywhere on the ice,” he said. “Ultimately, the Kraken picked me to be an offensive threat,” he said. “So I think that’s kind of my thing. So I’m gonna obviously keep growing in that. But just the little things behind that, you know, that’s what I’m gonna work on here.”

One of those aspects he’s worked on in Spokane since he arrived here is his role in leadership. With his skill level, players naturally gravitate toward Catton. Friendly by nature, he’s grown into more of a vocal leader – letting his actions as well as his words speak for him.

The organization has noticed. Before the Chiefs’ home opener last Saturday, he was named team captain.

“In my opinion, when I look up to someone as a leader, they’re out doing the things that they’re preaching,” Catton said. “So, you know, if I’m saying to do something, I better be out there doing it the hardest of anyone.”

“He’s a special player. I mean, everyone likes to have a player like that on their team, for sure. And we’re very fortunate to have him.” Lauer said. “He brings a lot of offense to our team. And obviously, we named him captain. He’s got the leadership qualities that really represent our organization and how we want to be represented in the community. He’s one of those guys that carries himself very well. Obviously, on the ice, we know what he can do. We may not see everything he does off the ice, how he works in the community, does things for our organization. It just seemed fitting to name him captain.”

“I think I’m a guy that when I do talk, people do listen,” Catton said. “That’s kind of the way I want to be. You know, not useless words all the time, right? Preaching all the time. … That’s kind of the way I want to go about it.”

“I think leadership is different in all walks,” Lauer said. “It’s not just vocal – there’s different ways of being leaders nowadays. Especially with these young men – you know, they’re 16 to 20 years old. … But there’s a number of guys that we rely on to help him. So it’s not just the one guy, it’s going to be done by a group. We’re in the midst of working on all that stuff still, but it’s coming together, and it’s great to see.”

Catton said he and the other players understand there will be extra scrutiny on not only him, but the team and organization this year as the Chiefs go about building a resume for its 2026 Memorial Cup bid. He expects the organization to shine in that regard.

“All summer, I bragged to my friends about how good the fans are here,” he said. “You know, lots of them play in the (WHL), and they circle through here and they agree with me. So we’re very spoiled here, and we enjoy every night we have here, especially those Friday and Saturday games when the stands are full.”

Lauer agrees.

“I think when you talk about Spokane – I mean, I remember coming here as a visiting coach and there’s just the energy in the building,” he said.

“The excitement that the fans bring on a on a night-to-night basis. They’re always involved. They’re very emotional. It’s a loud building to play in for visiting teams, and it’s great that they’re on our side.”

Catton might have statistics in mind to hit this season, but he said he has one simple goal for this season.

“I want to improve to the point where they could see putting me in NHL lineup next year, to be honest with you,” he said.