When Jagger Firkus took part in his first rookie camp with the Kraken before the 2022-23 season, he was just a kid in juniors with an organization that at the time had a rather small prospect pool.
It seems like Firkus has been on the Kraken radar forever, and in some ways he has. It’s easy to become a known name and someone fans are curious about when your nickname is “Firkus Circus.”
“It’s all been a learning process. I think every camp you obviously try to take something away from it, but, I mean, they’re all enjoyable,” Firkus said. “You’re here to learn. You’re here to see how good you have to get or what you can learn from.”
This year is his fourth preseason rookie camp with the Kraken after being drafted in 2022. There were different goals and tasks for the forward to accomplish in all those previous camps, whether it was just Firkus spending time around pros when he was younger to starting to pick up little nuances to the game as he got a little older and more experience.
This year’s camp is a continuation of that learning, albeit in a different context. He’s not a kid anymore. He’s 21. He’s coming off his first full season in the AHL with Coachella Valley and with the expectation that this is the season to start making some big strides in proving he can be part of the future for the Kraken.
“I think it’s a lot different, to be honest with you, coming in after a year of pro, especially knowing all the staff here … it’s way more comfortable coming here,” Firkus said. “You have friends. You have buddies you’ve played a season with now. It’s good to see them. It’s good to get back on the ice with a lot of the staff and just a lot more comfortable is the biggest thing.”
Firkus made pretty much everything on the ice look so easy playing in the Western Hockey League. He scored 126 points (61 goals, 65 assists) in his final seasons of juniors with Moose Jaw and earned seemingly every award available.
Last season was the transition for Firkus as he made the jump from juniors to the pros and spent the season with Coachella Valley. In 69 regular-season games, Firkus scored 15 goals and handed out 21 assists. They were good numbers, but not close to the stratosphere of skill and dominance he showed in juniors.
“Jagger’s taken some steps. He’s gotten stronger. He understands there’s a 200-foot game involved when he plays,” Coachella Valley coach Derek Laxdal said Friday. “I think that’s one of the biggest things you learn coming from juniors where you’re a 100-point scorer to getting in the pros, it’s more than scoring to be able to survive at the next level.”
So it means a lot of the little things that maybe weren’t priorities for Firkus when he was overwhelming the competition in the WHL. It means tracking back and not shirking defensive responsibilities. It means winning puck battles along the wall. It means getting in on the forecheck.
It means getting better at the aspects of the game that could heighten the chance of Firkus getting the call to Seattle if an opportunity presents itself.
“Seattle has its top six scorers, right? So what are you going to do as a player if you get called up during training camp for an exhibition, how are you going to survive through a game?” Laxdal said. “Well, you have to be able to track, reload pucks. You have to be able to forecheck. You have to have a good stick. Those are the areas Jagger really took a step in last year to give himself the opportunity to get those chances to play in exhibition games.”
The first chance Firkus gets at making an impression for this season is Saturday night when the Kraken prospects face the Vancouver Canucks prospects at Angel of Winds Arena in Everett. During practice Friday, Firkus was on the right wing of a line that included Berkly Catton at center and Jani Nyman on left wing. That’s a potent trio that any prospect team would be thrilled to roll out. It’s also a trio that is not outlandish to think someday could be on the same line for the Kraken.
“Obviously, playing with Jani last year, I know what to expect,” Firkus said. “But a guy like (Berkly), I’ve played against him for a while, but never with him. So to get on ice and make reads off him on the right side of the game, not against him, it’ll be a good feeling.”
Tim Booth: Tim Booth is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, where he covers the Kraken and the ongoing story surrounding possible NBA expansion and helps with coverage of the Seahawks and Mariners.