Berkly Catton is another one of those prospects that us amateur draft viewers and people that care about hockey prospects, freak out about. We have seen this story play out so many times, but it is just as entertaining as ever.
Catton is a sub-6-foot forward coming out of the Western Hockey League who just so happened to also score a billion points in his draft year. Well, 116 points in just 68 games, to be exact. And while some people have criticized him for not being as physical or having some tools that don’t deserve a top-five selection, I’ll repeat it again, we have seen this story play out before.
Logan Stankoven is the most recent example — albeit he is much shorter than Catton — but yet Brayden Point is another WHL scorer who performed really well but didn’t get drafted until the third round because of his size (and skating). These are extreme examples of the player that Catton is. He is still projected by most scouts to be taken within the first 10 selections this June, so it’s not like he’s going to be a complete steal, but it’s not often that a player scored over 100 points in junior hockey and isn’t considered to be one of the best talents available.
It is a little baffling to read all the reports and watch some tape and come away with the conclusion that Catton shouldn’t be taken with one of the first five picks in the draft. He isn’t a poor skater like Point was during his junior days, and he isn’t as small as Stankoven was and still is. Plus, he’s a center that is good in the faceoff dot and kills penalties — so, what’s the deal?
Pre-Draft Rankings
No. 9 by The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)
No. 9 by Sportsnet
No. 10 by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
No. 7 by Elite Prospects
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Catton is just an extremely fun player to watch. The key to his entire game is magnetism. By all accounts, from scouting reports and video breakdowns of what Catton has been able to do with the Spokane Chiefs, with the puck on his stick, he draws almost all of the attention away from his teammates and sucks in any opposing defender who is within a certain number of yards of him.
He is as elusive as anyone in junior hockey and utilizes his sneaky, slyness to his ultimate advantage and that is the primary reason he has been able to score so much and so often — no team really has an answer for him. Whether it is on the rush or during a prolonged period of offensive pressure, Catton can capitalize and use his talents to his advantage to break down defenses.
Catton just makes any opposing player get completely turned inside out. He moves just so effortlessly off the rush, while potentially take a pass in the middle of his stride or with the puck on his stick, that it feels impossible to properly defend him through three full periods.
And the best part of all of this, is that Catton is just not a one-way dynamic player. As a center, he has been excellent in the faceoff dot, according to most scouts, and is one of the better penalty killers in the entire WHL.
Potentially, if everything pans out for him, he can be one of those underrated, smaller-but-sturdy, centers that any team would happily welcome into their top-six forward group. A more recent example could be the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi who just had a breakout rookie campaign, and one with more of a portfolio is one of the Tampa Bay Lightning examples of a Brayden Point or Anthony Cirelli. Just a sturdy player who can make endless plays in the offensive zone but cares just as much in the other two zones of the ice. What’s not to love?
What’s not to like?
Mainly, it’s just to see if his size is a detriment. The only way he can be one of those sturdy centers in the NHL is if he really gains some muscle and decides to get wider because he can’t get taller. It’s not often that a player who scores over 100 points in junior hockey in his draft year doesn’t become a contributor at the NHL level, but it will be up to him what his true ceiling can be.
If he gets regularly out-muscled when he turns professional, then teams might be wondering if they should have selected one of the more safe options down the middle — like a Konsta Helenius — instead of the red-hot scorer in Catton. The risk should be worth the reward in the long-term, but it is all up to what happens after his name gets called, because there’s nothing really not to like about his on-ice performance so far.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
Like a glove. The Philadelphia Flyers need centers badly. Without Sean Couturier, Morgan Frost of all people is really the top option in the NHL — a dude who the team would have easily traded if offered even just a second-round pick a year ago. We’re not saying that Catton will just step right in, but even in the prospect pool, there are virtually no centers even close to making the NHL in the next few years.
The last time the Flyers used a first-round pick on a true center was Jay O’Brien. And we all know how that panned out. Since then it has been fleshing out the wing and the blue line. Now with some solid talent coming, this is a position the Flyers should ultimately focus on and Catton can be the answer to taking the best player available as well as addressing a positional need. If everything pans out, he could be the best Flyers forward on the team not named Matvei Michkov.
Can the Flyers actually get him?
Probably not, unless teams fall out of love. Despite Catton’s physical profile usually not being preferred in the top-10, the scoring is undeniable and one team should at least take him there, if not higher. With the Flyers standing pat at 12th overall, there shouldn’t be a reason why Catton falls to them. If so, that feels like a miracle.
What scouts are saying
He’s dangerous whenever he’s on the puck and shines with his knifing, slippery game. Inside the offensive zone, the way he baits and shades, drawing players to him and then playmaking past them with a pass or a cut, is pretty impressive. Catton is a heady playmaker who uses spacing to his advantage and sees the ice at an advanced level, regularly executing quick plays through coverage or delaying into a pre-planned play. He’s got multi-dimensional skill, with an ability to play both with speed on the rush (he’s a smooth, fast and nimble high-end skater) and more slowly inside the offensive zone when the pace ramps down and he has to spin away from pressure (which he does so well). He’s got great instincts offensively. He tracks back consistently and will get up and under sticks to win his fair share of battles. He thrives in tight spaces and on cutbacks, he can play on the perimeter or take it to the net, and he’s got a dangerous and quick release while moving. He does such a good job losing defenders with his back to them to avoid getting pinned down because of how adjustable his skating is through stops and starts and tight turns. — Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
Catton is a quick-thinking skilled centre who has a brilliant feel for the game, pushing and pulling the puck into open lanes, changing directions and pace to create important space to work with all over the ice. I don’t see him being as much of a goal scorer as his 50 goals might indicate, but his playmaking ability is undeniable. He’s a player who makes everyone around him look better, and pairing him with finishers will help them put production on the board that they need. He is one of the most enjoyable players in the entire draft that may lack the physical presence many bigger players may have, but his tactical and surgical approach to the game is hard to ignore. He’s a smart defender, but play in his own end is an area of potential improvement. His sense of timing is strong, but he can be caught too still to be much of a factor, and his physical play is not a strong point. His benefits come as a forechecker and quarterback in offensive transitions. He’s efficient, clever, and is the kind of player I’d always be looking to add. — Will Scouch, scouching.ca
Catton is one of the most dynamic players in the draft, with a well-rounded and versatile offensive toolkit, evidenced by the fact that he was the highest-scoring draft-eligible in the entire CHL this season. Catton’s most projectable skills lie in his transition game where he can be both an individual transporter and an entry target. Catton opens up the neutral zone, taking creative puck routes that frequently lead him laterally through the zone, using his combination of balance, agility and speed to slip around defenders, as well as a deft puckhandle to create highlight-reel rush chances. Though Catton has an effective three-level shooting arsenal with a dangerous snapper, wrister and one-timer (not to mention the fourth-most goals in the CHL), his most impactful skill is his playmaking. — Luke Sweeney, DobberProspects
One player off the poll, another jumps onto it. Today we’re talking power forwards, which means we’re talking Michael Brandsegg-Nygard!
Brandsegg-Nygård comes in a bit later, but I could easily be swayed to look at him a bit earlier. A highly intelligent power forward that I believe is well tailored to the modern NHL, Brandsegg-Nygård is a careful and accurate passer, an annoying physical presence both on and off the puck, a tactical defender, and a very practical applicator of the skill level he possesses. He makes one move around a defender because that’s all that’s necessary to get a scoring chance. He pre-plans his puck protection down low and finds ways through pressure. He has some creative small area passing work at times. Since the World Juniors, he has scored 16 of the 22 points he’s scored all season in HockeyAllsvenskan, and has really found a level of confidence and resilience that I was hoping to see more of. There are a lot of positives to his game, and not a whole ton of negatives that really bother me. Is he a top line winger? Not unless he’s the complimentary physical piece, but a very useful forward up and down your lineup and on special teams is entirely possible.
Will Scouch, Scouching
