Coach Dan Bylsma breaks down plans as Kraken open preseason against Calgary

Climate Pledge Arena will host hockey again Sunday night as the Kraken open their preseason slate on Day 4 of training camp. This game against the Calgary Flames, and the next few, are for the kids to show what they can do.

The Kraken scrimmaged for the first time Saturday. New coach Dan Bylsma would have preferred to have crammed in another one already. They did a skate test Friday and following that up with a scrimmage seemed ill-advised.

Group B, starring new additions Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour and anchored by goaltender Joey Daccord, scrimmaged Group C, which includes Brandon Tanev, Yanni Gourde and Niklas Kokko in net. Group B’s Gustav Olofsson, who’s played a combined four Kraken games the past two seasons as an injury recall, jammed a shot over Kokko’s shoulder. An empty-netter gave the B’s a 2-0 victory in the two-period, running-clock showcase at Kraken Community Iceplex.

Bylsma dropped a hint that Group A would factor heavily into Seattle’s preseason opener against the Flames. Prospects Shane Wright and Ryker Evans are in that group, along with last year’s top defensive pairing in Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn. There’s also last season’s top line, Matty Beniers, Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle, and opening night starting goalie Philipp Grubauer.

Wright has been among the first on the ice every day, at rookie camp and now in training camp. That’s less to prove something to Bylsma, who coached him last season in Coachella Valley, and more to do with being a quick dresser and opportunist.

“I just don’t like being late,” Wright explained with a laugh. “And I like taking advantage of a little bit of free ice to shoot around and warm up.”

Wright and Ryker Evans are both widely projected to make the team and could be full-time NHL regulars this year, following Bylsma from the AHL to the NHL.

“I believe in and trust how good he is as a player and what he can bring,” Bylsma said of 2022 fourth-overall pick Wright. “And that’s a good thing.”

Evans is also in Group A and rested for the preseason opener.

There have been no cuts yet. Bylsma dropped more breadcrumbs, indicating that he’s breaking the six-game preseason slate into thirds. The first phase, featuring games Sunday and Tuesday, will be a tuneup for a smattering of veterans. It won’t look like opening night on the Kraken bench.

“It is an opportunity for the younger players to get an exhibition game,” Bylsma said. “And I view nothing found three and four as the next step for the team, in terms of the 30 to 35 players that have a chance to progress and earn a spot.”

So camp could be halved by the middle of next week, many of the prospects returning to their respective junior teams and home countries, or joining new Firebirds coach Derek Laxdal in Coachella Valley. As the calendar turns to October, Bylsma wants his camp roster to be closer to 23 players, or the maximum number of players allowed on opening day. Salary cap space could play a factor in that final number, but a preseason trade seems likely and would ease those concerns.

By then, the hope is what they’re learning now at KCI will be second nature. Habits haven’t formed after just three days.

“But over the course of the three days, we’ve pretty well touched on just about everything now, from D zone coverage to how we want to break the puck out and how fast we want to play in transition,” Bylsma said.