Everett center Julius Miettinen heads seven Day Two draft picks for Seattle Kraken
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 29: Julius Miettinen poses for a portrait after being selected 40th overall by the Seattle Kraken during the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft Rounds 2-7 at Sphere on June 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Mark Blinch / NHLI / Getty Images)
Everett Silvertips center Julius Miettinen and Sudbury Wolves center Nathan Villeneuve were both selected in the second round of the NHL Draft by the Seattle Kraken on Saturday as part of seven total Day Two selections.
After taking Spokane Chiefs center Berkly Catton in the first round on Friday night, the Kraken stuck with prospects already playing in the state of Washington for their second pick in Miettinen. The 18-year-old native of Helsinki, Finland just completed his first season in the WHL with Everett, scoring 67 points in 66 games on 31 goals and 36 assists.
"Dream come true. It’s awesome," Miettinen said.
"It was hard, but it was a good decision to come here. Nice place and people are very nice here so it helped a lot."
While Catton is on the smaller side, Miettinen adds some size down the middle for the Kraken at 6-foot-3, 201 pounds. Miettinen was rated the 18th best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Fellow Everett teammate Kaden Hammell was a fifth-round pick of the Kraken last year.
And speaking of prospects with Kraken-drafted teammates, Villenueve plays with 2022 second-round pick David Goyette on the Sudbury Wolves in the Ontario Hockey League.
Villeneuve has spent the last two seasons with Sudbury, setting career-highs this season with 50 points in 56 games with 23 goals and 27 assists. An 18-year-old Ottawa native, Villeneuve was rated the 60th best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
"I’m relieved," Villeneuve said. "It was a little stressful time kind of not knowing where I’m going to go, but really honored to be selected by Seattle."
Villeneuve was suspended 15 games by the OHL, along with teammate Evan Konyen’s 10-game suspension, for their roles in what was termed a violation of the OHL’s social media policy. Per Jeff Marek of Sportsnet, the suspension stemmed from a supposed bounty placed on Barrie Colts defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson after a big hit Aitcheson delivered on Villeneuve in a game in January.
The Colts held Aitcheson out of their next two meetings with Sudbury and the OHL’s investigation led to the suspensions of Villeneuve and Konyen.
Scouting reports on Villeneuve speak to his physical play, which is reflected by having nearly 60 minutes in penalties in each of his two years in Sudbury.
"I’m a playoff player," he said. "I’m someone that will help the team in the playoffs a lot and during the regular season I’m someone that’s just very physical and competitive. I love scoring goals and I have a lot of offense to me too."
The Kraken shifted away from offense for their next two selections, taking right-handed defenseman Alexis Bernier of Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, and goaltender Kim Saarinen of HPG of Liiga in Finland with their two third-round picks.
Bernier – an 18-year-old Saint-Valérien, Quebec native – brings another right-shot defenseman into the Kraken system. Hammell, Tri-City’s Lucas Dragicevic, and Coachella Valley’s Ville Ottavainen are also right-handed defensemen drafted by Seattle through the first four years of the franchise.
The 62nd ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, Bernier had 31 points on four goals and 27 assists last season for Drakkar in 67 games played.
Saarinen is the third Finnish goaltender the Kraken have selected in four years of drafts. After taking Russian goalie Semyon Vyazovoy in their first class in 2021, Seattle drafted Niklas Kokko (2022) and Visa Vedenpää – both from the Karpat program – each of the last two years.
Now Saarinen joins the mix for Seattle as well.
Saarinen is the third-ranked European goaltender according to NHL Central Scouting. At 6-foot-4, the 17-year-old Saarinen is a big-frame netminder that has played well for HPK’s junior teams. In 23 games for the under-20 team last year, Saarinen had a .917 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average with a pair of shutouts.
The Kraken went back to the center pool to select Red Deer Rebels center Ollie Josephson in the fourth round.
A 17-year-old Victoria, British Columbia native, Josephson has spent three years with the Rebels and the last two years as a regular contributor. He finished last season with 47 points on 12 goals and 25 assists in 68 games, while adding two goals and three assists in nine playoff games.
Josephson was the 40th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. He’s considered by scouts to be a strong skater with a more defensively focused game.
The Kraken made a trade with the Florida Panthers to move up into the fifth round of the draft to select Swift Current Broncos left winger Clarke Caswell.
Seattle sent a sixth-round pick (No. 169) and a seventh-round pick (No. 201) to Florida in exchange for the 141st overall pick. It’s just the second time that Francis has made a deal to swap draft picks during the draft in four years. He also moved up in the 2022 draft by sending fourth- and fifth-round picks to the Boston Bruins to move into the third round to grab Ben McDonald, who now plays at Harvard University.
Caswell led Swift Current in points (77) and assists (51) this season with 26 goals, which ranked third on the team. He also had nine points in nine games in the playoffs with two goals and seven assists.
Mississauga Steelheads left-handed defenseman Jakub Fibigr was Seattle’s final pick of the draft class. A 17-year-old native of Czechia, Fibigr made his move to North America to play for Mississauga last season. In 61 games, Fibigr had 43 points on seven goals and 36 assists from the blueline.
Fibigr was the 67th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
Catton, Miettinen, Hammell, Dragicevic, Portland's Tyson Jugnauth, and Kelowna's Caden Price are all Kraken draft picks that will be playing in the Western Conference of the WHL next season.
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Seattle Kraken select Spokane center Berkly Catton with eighth pick in NHL Draft
The Seattle Kraken selected Spokane Chiefs center Berkly Catton with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday night, marking the fourth-straight year the Kraken have taken an offensive player in the first round.
Draft Picks:
Rd. 1: Berkly Catton, C, Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Rd. 2: Julius Miettinen, C, Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Rd. 2: Nathan Villeneuve, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Rd. 3: Alexis Bernier, RD, Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
Rd. 3: Kim Saarinen, G, HPK, (Finland)
Rd. 4: Ollie Josephson, C, Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
Rd. 5: Clarke Caswell, LW, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Rd. 7: Jakub Fibigr, LD, Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)