LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 29: Julius Miettinen is selected by the Seattle Kraken with the 40th overall pick during the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Sphere on June 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
As is customary, the Seattle Kraken administered their first round of cuts on Monday morning, sending ten players back to their major junior teams shortly after a 6-1 preseason opening defeat to the Calgary Flames the night before at Climate Pledge Arena.
Ten players were reassigned to their major junior clubs across the Canadian Hockey League, including three with local ties, and all still unsigned. Defenseman Kaden Hammell and last summer’s second round pick Julius Miettinen, both healthy scratches in the preseason opener, were sent back to the Everett Silvertips. They are expected to play as heavy contributors for head coach Steve Hamilton.
Hammell, 19, whose draft rights expire if he is unsigned at the end of this season, had 25 points in 52 games for the Silvertips last year. He is eligible to turn pro and play in the minor leagues next season, when he will be 20 years old.
Miettinen, a 6-foot-3 behemoth at age 18, last year cracked 31 goals and 67 points in 66 games in Everett and his first season in North America.
Defenseman Tyson Jugnauth, a 20-year-old linchpin on the back end for the Portland Winterhawks and their run to last year’s WHL Championship Series, will head back to Portland for his second season, and his final in the league. League bylaws allow players no older than 20 years of age to participate in the league, from the start of the season.
Jugnauth, who left Wisconsin and college hockey in the middle of last season, had 41 points in 43 games along with 16 points in 18 playoff games after arriving to the major junior scene.
Two other high end draft picks on the blueline from the 2023 class will head back to regular season play, with contracts in hand. Second rounder Lukas Dragicevic, who had three hits, a blocked shot and was minus-1 in 12:17 of ice time in Sunday’s preseason loss, will head to Prince Albert of the WHL after he was shipped out of the Tri-City Americans program in a blockbuster July trade. He is already under contract with the Kraken on an entry level deal and can head to the minor leagues next season.
Dragicevic, 19, had 14 goals and 50 points across 66 games, leading Tri-City’s blueliners in scoring last season. He was drafted two summers ago.
Caden Price, drafted in the same class as Dragicevic, will return to the Kelowna Rockets for what likely will be his final WHL season. He didn’t play in Sunday’s preseason opener and had 55 points in 62 games last season for Kelowna, leading all Rockets defensemen in scoring.
Other WHL teams getting Kraken prospects back are Ollie Josephson of Red Deer, and Clarke Caswell of Swift Current. A pair of Ontario Hockey League prospects headed back include defenseman Jakub Fibigr of Brampton and forward Andrei Loshko of Niagara. Defenseman Alexis Bernier will head back to last year’s Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League runner up, Baie-Comeau.
The Kraken preseason roster, now at 50 players, next face a Tuesday preseason matchup against the host Vancouver Canucks, 7pm PT at Rogers Arena (950 KJR-AM).