The Ottawa Senators made a big splash this week, acquiring goalie Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins for the 25th overall pick, Joonas Korpisalo, and depth center Mark Kastelic. The trade addresses a massive issue for the Senators, solidifying their unstable crease, but the work is far from done. The team is now down a tough, experienced center on their fourth line and still needs to add a top-pairing right-shot defenceman and figure out what is happening with their top six if Josh Norris can’t return to top form.
That leaves a lot of interesting options for Steve Staios and the Senators’ lone first-round pick. After the NHL Draft Combine, the team was connected to center Tij Iginla and defenceman Sam Dickinson, but it’s likely that both those prospects will be gone by the time Ottawa steps up to the podium. Given their rumoured interest in Iginla, the Senators could shift their focus slightly and target another Western Hockey League (WHL) forward who could drop outside of the top five – Berkly Catton.
Berkly Catton Scouting Report
Few players in the WHL were as good as Catton this season. In 68 games, he scored an incredible 116 points, the fourth-highest total and the most of any draft-eligible player in the league. In the last 24 years, only two players have hit 50 goals and 110 points in their 17-year-old season, with the other being Connor Bedard. An injury kept him out of the U18 World Championship in April, but he was electric at the Hlinka Gretzky Tournament in August, scoring eight goals and 10 points in five games to lead the tournament and help Canada claim a gold medal.
Bob McKenzie ranked Catton 12th overall in his final rankings, but quoted one scout who said, “His hockey sense and skills are better than any forward with the exception of Macklin Celebrini and Ivan Demidov.” That’s incredibly high praise for a player who didn’t rank higher than seventh in McKenzie’s poll of scouts and managers and is projected to be a number two center and a number one power play guy.
In his prospect profile, The Hockey Writers’ Logan Horn continued to heap on praise, writing, “Catton excels in all facets of the game, with no glaring weaknesses whatsoever besides his lack of size. He is excellent on his edges which more than makes up for his average top speed, allowing him to blow by opponents with clever routes and pure agility. Catton is so slippery in fact that he draws a ton of penalties at the junior level, which he can often capitalize on as the motor that runs his team’s top power play unit.”
Why Catton Makes Sense
Despite having a lot of young talent on their roster, the Senators struggled to score and defend consistently, leading to yet another season that was over before the All-Star Break. Part of that was due to injuries, but it didn’t help that when one of their top six went down, they didn’t have any good options to replace them with. They simply didn’t have enough high-end possession players.
However, possession is Catton’s game. On a weaker Spokane Chiefs team, he was the catalyst that made things happen. Not only could he shoot and pass better than anyone else, but his positioning, intelligence, anticipation, and patience enabled the rest of the team to thrive around him. His high-end speed and efficient skating helped him make zone entries quickly, then when he started to get pressed by the team’s defence (who would frequently collapse onto him), he used smart puck protection techniques, such as taking a very wide stance to ensure that those defenders couldn’t reach the puck. Then, after reading the situation, he’d either try a fancy move or rely on a simpler pass to an open teammate. Imagine that kind of player alongside Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Ridly Greig, or Shane Pinto.
But Catton isn’t all about offence. Because he plays such a smart game, he was also effective on defence, using an active stick to create turnovers and good positioning to cut off passing lanes for the attacking team. He’s always thinking about how to best support his team, making him an incredibly dynamic player. Given that he projects to be a high-end second-line center who can command a top power-play unit, he could be seen as a potential heir to Norris or Drake Batherson.
Why Catton Might Not Be the Right Choice
When talking about Catton, you can’t get very far into the conversation before mentioning his size. Listed at just under 5-foot-11 and 174 pounds, he’s not an intimidating presence. That might not work for the Senators, who have constructed their team to be gritty and in-your-face, largely influenced by their captain Tkachuk’s style. Young players like Tyler Kleven, Ridly Greig, and Zack Ostapchuk fit that mould well, bringing a blend of physicality and tenacity to every shift. Catton has the tenacity, but he’s not a physical player.
Related: Ottawa Senators’ First-Round Draft Targets – Tij Iginla
There’s also the prominent issue that, if the Senators take Catton, they’ll have to pass on several top defencemen who will still be available. Using McKenzie’s list as a guide, then Dickinson and Artyom Levshunov, arguably two of the best defensive prospects available, will be gone by the seventh pick, but Zayne Parekh and Zeev Buium will still be on the board. Parekh is a right-shot offensive defender who’s drawn some comparisons to Erik Karlsson, while Buium is a left-shooting, two-way defender who plays mainly on the right side and was instrumental in the University of Denver’s NCAA title. Both players fit a big need for Ottawa and would be tough to pass up, even if they don’t have as high of a potential as Catton.
There’s no question that Catton would greatly improve the Senators. He’s a highly talented forward who doesn’t make mistakes and helps out in every area, which is something Ottawa could use on their roster now. But, like with every draft pick, they aren’t for right now. Catton is still likely 2-3 years away from making his NHL debut, and by then, the Senators could be a vastly different team. So, as Staios has mentioned, it’s always best to focus on the best available player, regardless of position. That’s a calm, measured approach that I can get behind.
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