Fast Thinking: O’Brien Fits Kraken Identity

The Kraken amateur scouting group has been in Seattle all week, putting the final touches on the team’s draft board with 300 names meticulously curated and ranked via January meetings and May meetings ahead of Friday’s first round of the 2025 NHL Draft. But the hard work ahead of selecting Ontario Hockey League center Jake O’Brien with the No. 8 pick overall started last August with prospect showcases and European pro leagues opening training camps and regular seasons.

“We get about three weeks off,” said Robert Kron, Seattle director of amateur scouting, inside the team’s draft room at Kraken Community Iceplex. “Things start up again in August [which requires July planning].”

Kron and long-time scout Chris McDonald were excited about the O’Brien selection. McDonald has been following O’Brien from his first game for the Brantford (ON) Bulldogs last season, when, as a 16-year-old, the Kraken first-rounder notched 13 goals and 51 assists for 64 points in 61 games. This past season, the numbers zoomed to 32 goals and 66 assists for 98 points in 66 games as a 17-year-old. O’Brien just turned 18 in mid-June.

“We just picked an extremely intelligent player with a high hockey IQ,” said Kron, referring to Seattle’s emphasis on IQ as it allows for playing fast. “He was there for us exactly where we thought he would be.”

Playing fast can be accomplished beyond just skating prowess, said Kron: “It's not always skating. It’s not always the speed. It's how fast you play by being in the right spot at the right time. Timing everything. Jake is so slippery in traffic, so skilled with his hands. He sees the ice extremely well.”

McDonald is a long-time coach and scout who has been evaluating OHL players since the mid-1990s. He has trusted sources throughout the league and heard nothing be acclaim for O’Brien. He and Kraken scouting advisor Tony McDonald (no relation) met with O’Brien early this past season and left impressed enough that Chris McDonald talked up the prospect in those mid- and late-season meetings.

One of the most important endorsements for O’Brien came from another first-rounder, Jay McKee, selected 14^th overall by Buffalo in 1995. McKee played 802 NHL games for the Sabres before turning to a coaching career in the OHL. He just signed a three-year contract extension as head coach with Brantford and interviewed this spring for the head coach position with the Philadelphia Flyers.

“Jay has been a wonderful resource,” said Chris McDonald in the draft room mid-first round Friday. “Jay's not one of those guys who ‘sells’ prospects. He gives you an honest evaluation, right? His reputation is on the line. He's well aware of that. When you hear Jay and his coaching staff talk about Jake’s hockey mind and how he sees things and his overall vision for the game, it means a lot. I think Jake doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his playmaking and even-strength play. He gets slotted in sometimes a guy that might be more of a power play guy, and he's exceptional on the power play. But Jake’s even-strength ability to make plays is high level.”

Tony McDonald, a long-time scouting supervisor for then-Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis, was talking with the Kraken's president of hockey operations after the Kraken made the pick official.

“Jay McKee endorsed Jake about as strongly as you endorse a player,” said Tony McDonald to Francis. “I respect his decision because he’s an excellent player who played the game at the NHL level. Jay knows what’s involved in making the NHL.”

All parties agreed inside the draft room that O’Brien’s 6-foot-2, 172-pound frame will fill out with work in the gym, and Chris McDonald and Kraken GM Jason Botterill were adamant O’Brien is willing and already doing the necessary work to build strength and the needed pounds. Twenty pounds over his current weight and maybe an inch or two in height would be ideal.

“Jake has been working with Gary Roberts [Kraken sports performance consultant who trains prospects and NHLers during offseasons], which is really good,” said Chris McDonald. “Gary's a big fan of his. In his words, Jake is more of a boy in a man's body right now. Jake has all the moves and athletic ability. He’s just got to get that lean muscle mass, like a lot of kids his age [and O’Brien is younger than the large majority of prospects to be picked this weekend].”

Not to be overlooked: Kraken center Shane Wright, who O’Brien admires from watching him play in the OHL, AHL and NHL, worked with Roberts last summer and arrived in training camp looking bigger, stronger and ready to take the next step in his own development. In fact, Roberts told Francis, a former NHL teammate, that he would see a different, more muscular Wright when training camp commenced.

In his post-round remarks with the media, Botterill reinforced that O’Brien’s intensely competitive mindset on and off the ice will pay dividends, maybe not in one or two seasons like an NFL draft choice, but with patience, a player who projects as a top-six forward. In fact, several scouts inside the draft room said elite players will be drawn to O’Brien’s playmaking skills and want to be his linemate, suggesting even first-line minutes and definitely power play time.

“We felt the draft had a lot of good centermen at the very top,” said Botterill. “But to get a player of Jake's makeup and hockey sense, who off the ice is a real competitive individual who understands [the need to build strength and lean muscle]. This is just the beginning. Jake understands the development process and how much work has to go into it.

“All these kids being drafted here this weekend need to get stronger. Jake is already digging into it. He has a work ethic to put the time in the weight room with a great opportunity for physical growth. But the pick is also about his vision on the ice, his interaction with his teammates, and being a leader. He’s serious. He's very humble. He is driven to be a really good player in the National Hockey League.”