As the Kraken and American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley have enjoyed successful starts to their seasons, Kraken prospects David Goyette and Kyle Jackson are following suit in the elite juniors Ontario Hockey League. Goyette has notched 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 26 games. Jackson has 23 goals and 20 assists for 43 points in 32 games and was named OHL Player of the Month for November.
Coming out of the OHL holiday break, Jackson and fellow North Bay Battalion teammate, Kraken 2022 third-rounder Ty Nelson, will be facing Goyette and the visiting Sudbury Wolves Wednesday. All three Kraken prospects are in the top 10 in scoring across the OHL: Jackson, Seattle’s seventh rounder last July, has tallied the fifth highest amount of OHL points. He is North Bay’s leading scorer He logged an eye-popping 11 goals and 11 assists in 11 games during November, including his first OHL hat trick in an early-month road 5-4 road win.
Goyette is one goal or assist behind the OHL’s sixth-highest point total at the winter holiday break. Nelson, a defenseman, has the ninth-highest points in slots, tied with three other players. Only two other OHL D-men have tallied more points to date.
Jackson, who turned 20 in October, is a feel-good story for North Bay fans who have watched the 6-foot-3, 201-pound center grow over three-plus seasons. He went undrafted after his first two full years with North Bay, but he is certainly making the Kraken amateur scouting staff look smart when they selected Jackson after a 30-goal season last year. He will age out of the OHL next season, making him eligible to play in the AHL if he doesn’t make the Kraken roster. His pro education started at Kraken development and training camps this past summer.
“Use my big body, get inside on people and let my skill go to work,” said Jackson when asked about Kraken camp takeaways during a recent interview. “Watching and talking to tons of pros helps a lot too.”
Jeff Tambellini, Kraken director of player development, said Jackson has impressed with his ability to take in information and quickly apply it to his game on the ice.
“I want to keep building my pro game, it’s not all about the points and stats,” said Jackson. “Playing the right way and just competing out there is going to be important for me. I’ve got tons of support from Jeff and his team. It’s so nice to belong to the team and know they’re here to help me in whatever way they can. I’ve just got to do my job.”
“It’s impressive how quickly he is implementing a handful of our suggestions into his game play,” said Tambellini. “He’s cerebral and smart.”
One example is player development coach Frans Nielsen recently worked with Jackson on faceoffs, leveraging the knowledge Nielsen gained playing 925 NHL games with the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings.
Jackson said he made it a point to watch videos of NHL centers who excel at faceoffs, plus “hammering the [Nielsen’s] tips and ideas, then it’s just repetition.” Jackson’s faceoff percentage has jumped significantly in the last two weeks after altering where Jackson starts in the faceoff circle, how to get lower and working on the best ways to hold his stick.
For his part, Goyette, 18, turned heads at both development and training camps with his speed and skating skills. His training started early when his father placed Goyette in speed skating classes in Quebec at a young age, then later Goyette’s parents moved the family to Ontario to enhance their teenage son’s potential hockey career.
Goyette gained 10 pounds since being drafted by the Kraken, with Tambellini calling it “a usable 10 pounds” that translates to a higher and stable playing weight than last season despite the grueling demands of travel and number of games played in the OHL. He was officially listed at 5-foot-11 and 174 pounds on prospect websites before the July draft.
Goyette said his takeaways from the Kraken camps have fueled his standout season with a young team that is poised to improve in the second half and be a top Western Conference contender in 2023-24.
“Going to dev camp and main camp gave me so many tools to succeed in the OHL,” said Goyette during the holiday break. “I have a lot more confidence and a different mentality. I came back with things that I saw I needed to work on. One thing is I’ve been working hard in my own zone to retrieve pucks quicker, our team gets more time to play in the offensive zone.”
Another example is Goyette’s improved ability to make plays along the defensive wall, something that is paramount for young players looking to stick on the NHL and/AHL roster when the time is right. Goyette is additionally learning more about himself since being appointed an alternate captain in only his second year of juniors.
“I’ve really been focusing on being a leader on this team,” said Goyette. “I always lead by example, whether it’s a practice, morning skate, stretch… I feel like I’ve really grown into that role this year.
Both Goyette and Jackson are intent on achieving team goals first.
“My goal for the team is obviously making the playoffs,” said Goyette. “I feel like we have a team that could go on a run. I want to keep contributing as much as I can on both sides of the puck to help my team become a contender.”
North Bay is second overall in the conference and looking at a strong second half to springboard the postseason effort.
“It was a very good first half,” said Jackson. “The team had lots of success. That’s always fun. We brought in some new guys. We’re playing with a lot of confidence. I just want to keep building chemistry with my line mates. We’re looking to make a deep run. “
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