Making ‘Fast’ Work of His Summer Training

Ahead of his third full season with the Kraken, depth forward Tye Kartye spent the summer in Toronto working out at the facility of hockey performance training expert and former NHLer Gary Roberts. That work was augmented by an important cross-country trip to work in B.C. with Justin Rai, the Kraken’s newly appointed head of player strategy. Kartye has been keenly focused on achieving one overarching result in his summer training.

“I’m trying to get faster,” said Kartye by phone this week. “The game's super-fast. I am looking to improve my pace to help with different areas of my game, including on the penalty kill and continuing to be effective on the forecheck. Gaining a bit of speed is the goal.”

While accelerating up ice is what most fans consider speed for a hockey player, a key component of Kartye’s summer training has been achieving more “quickness off the start,” said Kraken general manager Jason Botterill.

“The NHL happens just that much faster,” said Botterill this week. “Tye knows this past season didn’t go as well as hoped. But when he faces a challenge, we know he doesn’t back down from it. He attacks it. He’s always worked hard in the workout room and paid close attention to his nutrition, taking care of his body. We wanted him to get faster on those first couple of strides [when starting or changing direction].”

Observing, Competing, Improving

Part of Kartye’s work with Roberts alongside a multitude of NHL players (including the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) comes as no surprise: “A lot of sprinting.” Plus Kartye, along with Seattle teammates and Toronto area residents Vince Dunn, Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton, took to the ice to complement and power-boost his pursuit of being faster on skates. The entire environment benefits the 24-year-old forward, who has already played 140 NHL regular-season games plus another 10 postseason contests despite being undrafted. “It's been great,” said Kartye about joining the Gary Roberts summer group for the first time. “Everyone is super knowledgeable. Obviously, there are some of the best players working out here. Surrounded by elite players, it only forces you to get better. It’s really helped me to be around some of these top guys to see how they work and skate. You see what they do every day to prepare for the season, plus I get to compete with them on the ice.” While Kartye carried over his physical brand of play from his rookie NHL season into Year 2 (he was second on the team in hits despite playing just 63 games), his 2024-25 scoring production and time on ice dipped.

“Obviously, last season was disappointing for everybody, and there are a lot of areas to improve,” said Kartye. “Along with speed, there are different areas within the game I want to be better at, such as being more consistent offensively, using my shot more and providing the team with that depth scoring. I also want to carve out a role on the penalty kill so I can make a difference there.”

‘Building Confidence’ For Season Ahead

Kartye’s visit out West to work with Rai was a planned part of his summer and, side benefit, afforded him to visit a friend who lives in the Vancouver area. Rai, who moves from a player development consultant role, spent a week with Kartye, running drills directly related to in-game situations. One area of emphasis: making reads when players are off the puck, whether it be to find open space in the offensive end or know where opponents are located when retrieving pucks in the defensive zone, as two instances.

“Justin is working with Tye and our other players on both puck skills and awareness on the ice,” said Botterill. “It leads to building up individual confidence during the season.”

Rai spent years (with the heaviest work during the pandemic) evaluating video clips of the world’s most elite players to determine such outcomes as how they get open for a shot, how their off-puck routes lead to scoring chances and how they make reads and decisions on where to position themselves. In collaboration with coach Lane Lambert and his staff, Rai will use that research to support his work on-ice with the likes of Kartye and more Seattle NHLers this coming season.

As one example, when doing reps on the ice with players to learn how to improve reads, Rai first explains the concepts and provides a relatable example: “You see players go for a puck retrieval and scan three times. Then they made a read that didn't really make sense ... in reality, the players scanned three times so fast that they just saw a bunch of blurriness. We talk about trying to gather relevant information to make an effective read. The whole point is that every time we scan, it's for a purpose.

“We discuss when to scan, when it is safe, do you have to actually focus on the puck? ... You don't need to know the color of your teammates’ eyes when passing you the puck. You just need to know if you’re passing to a lefty or righty and how open the teammate is. I’m really teaching players where to keep their eyes so their peripheral vision can track farther. You want to keep your eyes where you can maximize your peripheral vision and all of your other senses to be able to trust those senses to make better reads.”

For Kartye, such work with Rai supports the primary objective in place this summer: Rai’s approach allows teammates to play faster and more efficiently together.

“Justin’s way of teaching is coming up with drills that are very game-applicable,” said Kartye. “It is preparing you for the season throughout this summer. He puts guys in game situations in practice ... when those situations come up in a game, it doesn't feel so foreign. It feels natural to be prepared to make plays through guys or use better shoulder scans to know where guys are. It creates more on-ice awareness.”