With training camps starting this week, we’ll end up finding out where several unsigned players will showcase their talents on professional tryouts. Andy Eide of NHL.com shared the Seattle Kraken roster last night, a group which includes several interesting names. The tryout contract for Daniel Sprong was previously reported, and Matt Tennyson will be there after signing an AHL contract with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. But the Kraken also have Callum Booth, and Jimmy Schuldt listed under PTOs, after they became free agents this summer.
Booth, 25, qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency after failing to progress up the Boston Bruins’ depth chart. The fourth-round goaltender has spent more time in the ECHL than the AHL over the years, though he did play well for the Maine Mariners in 2021-22. There are often late-blooming goaltenders that take big development steps around Booth’s age, but it is hard to think anyone would sign him to an NHL contract this season. To be considered depth, he’ll have to first prove he can handle AHL duties first.
Schuldt meanwhile is already 27, and reached regular unrestricted free agency after spending last season under contract with the Buffalo Sabres. The undrafted defenseman was a hot commodity when he was coming out of St. Cloud State in 2019, and though he ultimately signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, he played only one game at the NHL level.
One wonders if things would have gone differently for him in another organization with more opportunities (and cap space) in the NHL, but he now sits as an AHL depth option after spending the last three full seasons in the minor leagues. In 61 games with Rochester last year, he recorded 17 points.