‘I love to be relied on’ – d-man Caden Price

Price hopes that’s the case in his fourth season of junior hockey.

“It is a good feeling that we are on the upswing of things,” Price told RocketFAN before heading to Seattle for the start of Kraken rookie camp. “This is one of the best teams since I have been here, so that is super exciting, and I hope we can put it together and get better and better as the year goes on.”

Coming off a career season with 13 goals and 55 points, which was 15 more than his 17-year-old campaign, the well-spoken teenager is 7th in Kelowna Rockets franchise history for points (116) generated from the blueline. Known as a puck mover more than a point-producer, Price should see his name on the scoresheet more times this season.

“I take pride on the d-zone first, that’s where it starts,” Price added about his focus before going to the attack in an effort to be a threat at the other end of the ice. “You can’t have good offense if you don’t have good defense. We have a lot of great players on this team. We have a lot of playmakers and a lot of scorers, so I think everyone is going to be able to chip in.”

Last season the Rockets scored 250 times, which was tied for 8th with the Calgary Hitmen. The last time the franchise led the league in goals scored was 2002-2003 when they found the back of the net 311 times.

“I don’t think you will see one or two lines scoring this season,” Price continued. “We have so many skilled and talented players that can chip in from everywhere, so I think as a whole, we should be able to share it around.”

Playing through a nagging injury a year ago, the Saskatoon product is now fully healthy, which is a far cry from his status when he attended his first NHL training camp after being chosen by the Kraken in the third-round in 2023.

To refresh you memory, Price missed the opening six games last season before debuting with a goal and an assist October 13th against the Prince George Cougars.

“It was big this summer to be on the ice,” he admitted. “Last summer I was injured pretty much the whole summer, just rehabbing and getting back into it. To be able to skate and workout with everybody and do the stuff I wanted on my own time; I wanted to work on my shot, and skating obviously, and just working out in the gym and getting stronger and getting more explosive.”

A second-round selection of the Rockets in the WHL Prospects Draft in 2020, 30th overall, the physically mature defender brings some leadership qualities into the dressing room that can’t be dismissed.

“Everyone can be a leader,” he said. “You can lead by example. Wearing the ‘C’ for an organization like this would be such a privilege and an honour. Whoever gets it, it should be. I think we have a great group of leaders this year to hold guys accountable. We want to be a close group this year, and I want to be a part of it.”

As the Rockets’ anchor on defense, Price logs huge minutes and needs to have the lung capacity of an elite cyclist or marathon runner is needed to play a regular shift, while seeing time both on the power play and penalty killing units.

“I love to be relied on,” he said without hesitation. “I put in a lot of work to log that type of ice time to have the conditioning to do so.”

Currently billeting with forward Owen Folstrom, Price knows that the rookie, and other fresh faces like him will need some guidance this season. The cagey veteran with a quiet swagger is willing to help out.

“Some [rookies] are more mature than others,” he said with a chuckle.

“There are a lot of new guys, and young guys this year.

“We’ve got a great mix of old and young [players], and solid all-around people, which is a big part of it too.”

by Regan Bartel

‘I love to be relied on’ – d-man Caden Price

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