Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks, your source of information
and analysis to help you win your fantasy hockey league. Fuck off, that's
a step on stays. Here's your hosts, Jesse Suviere and Victor Nuno Fantasy
Hockey Live, back once again to talk about fantasy hockey as we do every
time. It is Jesse Severe here from fan Tracks and joining me as always
Victor Nuno of Dabber Prospects. Victor, how you doing today? I'm doing
great, Jesse, definitely excited, engaging in draft season and trying to keep
all my draft straight and generally unhappy with most of them. So I think
that's usually how it goes. It certainly does. That is exactly what happens
to us in draft season, Victor. Draft season is chaos for the likes
of you and me right now, because all the drafts happen at once and
everything is just flying every which way. And I have a feeling I'm going
to wake up, like in a week and find out who I drafted and
say, really, that is that the team I drafted? I don't remember
that team at all. But that's okay, Victor. We like talking about
fantasy hockey. We like talking about all kinds of different teams, and today
we've got a We've got a Canadian one to talk about a lot of Canadian
ones in this little stretch of our thirty two team preview series, and this
one happens to be on the Calgary Flames. I don't know, man,
that's up in Cowboy Country, right, you gotta go up to ride the
horse up to the Calgary Flames. Are you a big Are you big Calgary
Flames watcher? No? Not really. They were really difficult to watch last
year, but they had some interesting prospects. It was fun. It was
fun to see some Peltier, It was fun to see Coronado, and obviously
they have some They have Dustin Wolf on the way, Jorrier, they have
some interesting guys and they were just so bad undersutter. I am interesting to
watch them next year because I think are going to be much different. So
definitely excited for that. We're sure, Victor, if people want to talk
about the Calgary Flames on a regular and ongoing basis the place that they could
do it, or any of the other thirty one teams, or even just
about all the teams at once. It doesn't matter to me is you could
do it over on our discord, which is free. All you have to
do is hit us up Fantasy Hockey Life at gmail dot com to get a
link, or hit us up on x where you can get Victor at Victor
New Know twelve or myself at fan Hockey Life Victor. Also, people can
do things in our Patreon. Why don't you tell people what happens? There
so much good stuff happens at Patreon. We have patron cast, which actually
we're kind of one coming up here in a couple of days, and we
have our patron rankings for our sorry and our patre ranks, our Fantasy prospect
ranking so you can look at all the different prospects. Twenty twenty three ranks
are up there. We also integrate them into top forward, d and goalie
prospects and you can see their hits, block shots, and different tiers for
them. So that's good stuff. We also have scouting reports on the players
at like ones we read on the show, and a bunch of other goodness
too. We have show notes, we have top ten lists. There's a
lot there. So if you're interested in supporting the show, if you're like
what we're doing. We would appreciate it. And of course you can play
in the tidy that's one of the big benefits. The league is a whole
lot of fun and we are full right now. But you can get on
the list to join mid season or next year. Next available ability we have,
so check that out at patreon dot com slash Fantasy Hockey Life for sure,
Victor, it's time to talk Calgary Flames. We're gonna take a brief
break, come back and do us that. We are pleased to be joined
today by Randy Sportac of The Hockey News. Ready to talk a little bit
of Calgary Flames. How you doing, Randy, I'm doing well. It's
a lovely day. You've been following these Flames for an awful long time.
How far back do you go with this franchise? Just out of curiosity?
Wow, the young gun zero. It's funny players I covered, it's now
their kids are getting drafted playing in the league. Guys like Corey Stillman's kids
and Danny Goce's son got drafted this year. Yeah, I'm just starting to
feel my age. I got you. I'm with you there, man,
I'm with you there. I don't know this team may have aged you even
more last year because it wasn't the smoothest year for your Calgary Flames, and
it really didn't work out as well as I think many would have hoped,
or many would have reasonably expected. The last Flame season offseason was really about
losing Johnny Goodreaux, trading Sean Monahan and the great big elephant in the room
Matt Kachuck. Now the NHL superstar Darling advertised during the playoffs, it seems
to Jonathan Huberto McKenzie weaker trade in the overall picture, I think you could
say that the Flames laying it in the middle in the NHL, just short
of the playoffs, but the way they did it was strange. The second
most shot but the worst shooting in the NHL. That was not a great
combo, although contradictory combo, the third few of shots against, but a
bottom tense save percentage. They were thirtieth. If you like that old Pdo
stat where you add up the shooting percentage and say, maybe that is a
good sign for the future. Now they have a new coach, a new
GM and most of the coverage I read on the Flame seems to center around
how best to leverage, trading away maybe some of those other better players and
get themselves even better position for the future. But one piece of general narrative
around the team is they didn't give younger players as much of a chance under
the prior administration. Was it a lack of luck last year? A lack
of good vibes coming from this team, were a lack of horsepower that led
to the fall? And what do you think we should expect for the coming
season last year? I think it was a lack of everything. They just
the wheels seemed to fall off about a month in and they never really recovered,
and it really was an underperforming team. When you think of the talent
level, it wasn't. Yes, they did take a dip in talent,
losing good Droll and Kachuck, Don't get me wrong, that was a noticeable
thing. But it just everything just snowballed and it was a bizarre season,
Like how many times did they outshoot a team by ten shots and still lose?
Now, I think, and this is where shots and your core see
numbers and all this there's a bit of a misnomer because, let's be honest,
a flicked shot from the blue line where you hope there's traffic and you
hope there's a deflection that's not really a scoring chance. They were very high
in those low percentage shots, so that doesn't help. Then I know it.
Near the end of the year, I talked to Daryl Sutter just we
were chatting, and he said he was even couldn't quite grasp how when it
came to scoring chances, they're scoring chances against were extremely low. He said,
we're better than we were last year, but they would just give up
fire drill scoring chances where it was tappens, so they'd give up two or
three of those. They didn't get the saves that one great save, and
then they couldn't score. It was just it was a really strange year from
a team that things went off the rails. Then they really went off the
rails. Then he had players not liking the coach, and hey, I
was around Darryl Sutter's first iteration as coach. I get it. I could
understand how that would get on your nerves. So they everything just went sideways,
and there was it was just like watching a plane crash. Yeah,
I'm sorry that we're starting out depressing. That's fine. I was there.
I covered them in the Young Guns era. I was there, like Jerome
mcginlan. Nobody else was there. I get it. I've seen bad seasons.
This was actually almost an interesting season because you sat there and you went,
what's going on? Because yes, they're not. This was not the
Colorado Avalanche of talent or the Vegas Golden Knights of talent, but there's still
talent. And you watched Jonathan Huberto just he to his credit, I think
he actually was trying to play the way they wanted to play, but he's
not played that way. Nasim Codre up until the All Star Game was played
fantastic, and then his play just nosediving. They struggled getting offense from the
defense. Then when they start turning it around, Rasmus Anderson, who's I
think one of the more underrated defensemen in the NHL, is riding a scooter
in Detroit and gets hit by a car like that. There's an example of
just how wacky this season got. Mark Strom couldn't make a save. It
just the weirdest things went wrong. Victor and I thought that Elias Lindholm would
be about the fortieth best fantasy hockey forward, and it was actually the thirty
six. It was very respectable, but twenty two goals and forty assists in
eighty games sounds just reasonable middle classy. The assists were consistent from his prior
year, but the drop from forty two to twenty two goals was the big
difference. Shots were not going in for Elias astoundingly. That was with the
exact same ten power play goals and one shorthanded goal. It was the drop
from thirty one to eleven even strength goals that dropped his production line. Expected
even strength goal rate barely flinched and running the numbers per sixty. I ran
the numbers and really it did not change all that much in terms of the
expected goal rate when he was on the ice at least, but his individual
obviously dropped the results dropped. He's been in Calgary for five years now,
been in the top three on the team and scoring all five years, very
consistent. Nazim Khadri last year is actually the only player on the team currently
who has finished in the top three in scoring in Calgary during a year.
Like Elias, Lindholme is the consistent guy. Received Selkie votes four of his
five years on the team. What do you expect from his age twenty nine
season, Could he have a good progression from his goal scoring la to pop
back up or what do you think of Lindholme's here. I do think not
having Johnny Goodrow would that's a factor, right, like he is said,
And the funny thing is, I'll do a little segue here. People talk
about his Lindholme's falloff and all the falloff in Calgary. Look at Johnny Goodrow's
fall off. Right, You've got super an uber talented guy. But in
Columbus he didn't have the uber talented teammates. Patrick Lyney was constantly heard all
that other stuff, how Algy really talented guys, But Johnny Goodrow is just
one of those guys that will set you up for the tap in talies and
these great passes. So they lacked that. I think that is a big
factor with Lyndholm. First off, what's he doing from a contract perspective,
because I think he's I think a lot of players, if they stay here,
would have bounced back years because just just go back to the medium,
right the issue and there's a danger with this team if these guys all bounce
back years but don't resign long term and you're looking at some seriously talented players
who become UFAs. What do you do? And that's that, to me
is the biggest danger of this team. If they become a playoff team and
they know Lindholm's not going to resign, they know Hanaffin's not going to resign,
and the list goes on after that. You've got back lind You've got
Tanev Zatorov, Oliver Shillington. That's some very skilled guys. Do you just
say, you know what? I think they're best off to pull the rip
card and rebuilt, just tear it down. The problem is can you do
that with the ownership has been very reticent at the thought of that. So
I think anybody who's willing to make a deal for Elias Lindholm sign a long
term, they're going to get a very good player, probably I think another
underrated player from a perspective. He's a very smart hockey player. I don't
know if he's a hundred point player or eight five point player and ninety five
point player, but he is a seventy five to eighty point player who can
play in all scenarios and what do they say a coach's dream, right,
you put them out. You know what, You're gonna get a game after
game, and I expect a better season. I just don't know where it's
going to end in what city. Yeah, for sure, that could be
a definite swing for Lindholm. Next up, we will talk about Jonathan Hubertou
because there's not a problem with Jonathan Hubertou is sticking around. He's he has
signed for a very long time. I think I've six more years or eight
more years. At eight more years of kicks in this year. Yeah,
the extension kicks in for ten point five million per year, So there's not
gonna be a problem keeping Huberto around. Now his contract could impact some others,
and boy, this was rough this year. He was second in the
NHL in points as recently as twenty one twenty two with one hundred and fifteen
his first year in Calgary. The number dropped by more than fifty percent to
fifty five points. His shots per game dropped from nearly three to one point
five. Even his hits dropped from ninety nine to sixty five. Yes,
every player, by definition, has a career best year, so maybe you
just have to say twenty one twenty two was the career year for Huberto and
we can't expect him to do that every year. But the move could be
blamed for the production, but still it was so dramatic. What do you
think explains what happened with Jonathan Hubertou last year and how much is he going
to be able to turn it around in twenty three twenty four. I think
it was a bit multifaceted power. He wanted to play a different style than
he was used to, more structure, more discipline. He, let's be
honest, Florida didn't exactly play Sutter style hockey. He couldn't probably be further
from it, right, So I think that was a factory and to his
credit, I had to ask people about this and they said he is legitimately
trying to play within the system and figuring out how his game works in a
system. But he looked very lost. You've always seen a player where you
just know that there they start doing the wrong thing or it doesn't work out
and they don't know how to recover. And I saw a guy that would
he'd make a play, the guy wouldn't be where he figured he'd be,
or he'd do a pass that someone should be there is not there, and
You could just see his mind going what is going on? So then of
course he gets in the downroad spiral all those other things. Now, I
do think there's another element to it. He's not a fast skater, and
I asked a scout and they said, hey, a big factor is you
know, say what you want about Anthony Declare had the speed to push the
defense back and give him that little bit of space. That's the Johnny Goodrow
thing, right, he had that little He wasn't the fastest skater, but
he was quick, right, and you see the defenseman back off and that
buys him that little bit of time. Declaire would buy Hubert that little bit
of time where he could thread the pass because the lane wasn't whereas he didn't
have fast guys with him to clear that. Just to give that split second
of space for him to thread a pass that would have worked. So I
think it's multifacetating. He's a guy that really works better. He needs a
speed demon or at least somebody to push back the defense and that wasn't happening,
so that was closing lanes. And then again the spiral happens, right
the guy saw. It's like sports psychologists, this summer, he is trying
to figure out a way to make his game work. I know the team
is. They know what they've invested, so they've spent a lot of time
trying to help him come back with a better frame of mind. And I
think that's I think he's another real he's a candidate for a bounce back here
because he couldn't really have him a worse here. But I do think he's
legitimately trying to come with a better attitude and a better mindset and more sense
of the game. He did play fairly well down the stretch, but certainly
not to the level everyone expects. Now, hey, you're a ten point
five million dollar player, we won't get it. We can get into that
conversation. I always think that's stupid to invest if your best player as a
winger. It's just not a long term perspective, because I saw it here
better than anybody with Jerome mcginla. He's gonna come back, but they know
they've got to get him to come back ready to be a top tier player.
Yeah, it makes sense. No, let's talk about Nazam Kadri.
We've also we already mentioned him a little bit, and we knew that he
was going to regress from the hundred point season in Colorado. So many things
went right for him that year and it was such a fantastic team. But
I think he was pretty in line this past season from what he did previous
to that one hundred point season. He's been a mid fifty point player,
fifty to fifty five ish, and that's where he was, and he tends
to dish out a decent number of hit some blocks, and do some of
those things that we love in fantasy, and he did those things. He
had twenty four points, twenty four goals and thirty to assist for five d
six points, and he played all eighty two and had nineteen power play points,
so that's good. And we'd track block shots hits. He was thirty
four at that position, so that's pretty good. He got six years left
at seven million, and overall, I think he shot two percent under his
career norm, but had a pretty low individual points participation. I think that
there's some positive regression coming Cadre's way. I think the big question is does
he have enough talent around him to play on his line. I guess that's
my main question for him in terms of what he can do. But do
you think that there's some positive regression coming Cadre's way there? Randy Was he
actually had fantastic first half of the season, and I wish sometimes these guys
would be fully honest. I can't help but think his hand was still an
issue through the season, and the fatigue factor of going all the way in
the playoffs the year before. Then He's got gets signed, moves, all
these things, and it was almost I think it is a point he just
wore down and he, I believe, really did struggle playing with Sutter.
He was It was an interesting season. I don't know if he's as good
a player as he's getting paid to be. But that's the danger of signing
guys as a free agent, because then, hey, he had this season
and he was in this Colorado team. Could you have been in a better
situation as a second line center in Colorado two seasons ago? God, what
a dream? And look at the Avalanche. They're desperately trying to the praying
Matt duchane Is can replicate, right. I think he came with expectations things
happen, and I honestly think he just crashed. I don't think he played
particularly the final third of the season, even when they were really making their
push. So he just he didn't have it anymore. He's at an age
where you're going to question can he bounce back to very well, Like he's
just it's all at that point. And this is where this team has been
a weird situation. They've been tested in two veteran players who are thirties around
the situation, right, And if they lose all these other guys, they're
going to have these two guys on these long term deals and a whole bunch
of question marks. So Duchane in Dallas, I think you were confusing maybe
the two Nashville guys who left and Ryan Johansson being in Colorado. But I
think your point is very valid that Colorado is struggling to find a replacement for
Nasam Cadre, who was so good there, right, and they're not able
to really find the equivalent for what he did there, And I think there's
maybe some potential for his improvement, right, Yeah, yeah, that's I
think with Cadre he can have a better full season. I just don't know
what his capability is. And let's be honest, if they trade Alias Lentholme,
and Michael Backland is not a first line center. He's a very good
third line center. Nasam Cadre is going to have to be the first line
center, so he's gonna obviously then that would mean more opportunity. But I
just think he's We're going to see where he really is in historically where he
is he's I think that season in Colorado was such a fantastic season. I
think last season started out great. I don't think he's even going to I
don't think he'd replicate over a full season what he did the first sixty percent
of last season over the long term basis, maybe, but I don't see
it. I think it's just I always look at guys, they just come
back down to the watermark, right. Everyone's gonna have a great season.
Everyone's gonna have a really bad season, and where you find him is where
they generally end up. And that's where I see Nasam Kadri And hopefully he
has a better mindset and some rest of the full off season and plays a
little better game. Like you said, Michael Backland is not a star.
He's not a fantasy star. But tip of the hat to this guy and
the evolving hockey model of goals above replacement. He was actually second on the
team, behind only Tyler Tuffolio. Course is not back, but his best
stats in that category since twenty sixteen seventeen. He had fifty six points,
two hundred fifty nine shots, ninety seven hits, seven hundred and five face
off wins, all career best. The thirty four year old Swede wears the
letter on this team. Mind you, it's an A and has one year
left at a reasonable five point three five million dollars. I read in coverage
on this team that he called Daryl Sutter's coaching negative leadership last year, But
I'm a little skeptical that's apparently translated from Swedish. Who knows what the heck
that was in the original nuance? But can Backland follow up his pleasant surprise
of a year even in that depth role and could he stick? Is maybe
the captain of the team passed this year for that? I think the first
answer is he's not gonna be captain if he's not resigned. If he's If
he's why would you name him a captain if you're of his time here will
probably end at the trade deadline. Kenny, he really had a fantastic season.
And it wasn't a lucky season either. It was just a really good
season, and yes, some things went right, but it wasn't this ridiculous
twenty two percent shooting percentage type thing, right. I think I think he'll
regress to some degree from a points perspective. Again, though, if Elias
Linholm is traded for, traded away and they don't replace him, now Backlin
takes maybe a little even bigger role. I don't know whether he's going to
ever. It's not like thirty goals and all this other stuff, but I
do think you'll be a consistent guy and he'll probably go back to the mean
and being forty eight, forty fifty one points, forty nine points that kind
of a thing. But he does give you another solid player who is pretty
pretty easy maintenance from a coaching perspective, and to his credit, I think
this is really good because I watched Michael as a little as a young player
come into the league, and it's actually heartening to hear stories of Mackenzie week
are saying that Michael Backlan would be the one standing up to Daryl and giving
the old fu back to him. That's impressive that to me is leadership,
and that probably would be why he should be captain, because if none of
them else had the let's be honest, the courage to do it, you're
the leader. Players will go, you know, and I respect that a
guy will do that. And hey, I've heard some of the stories about
what Darryl will say to players, and I get it. I get why
players some players were power and I'm really impressed to hear that Michael's one of
the few who stood up and said no, that's wrong. And I heard
some stories about Joe mcgilla doing that. So that's me is what you have
to have. I think he's a captain if he stays, but if he's
not, he's you're not going to make him a captain. And when he's
just not going to be here, oh yeah, for sure. A couple
of more of than We've got a few little depth forwards, not little,
these aren't little men, but the few depth awards to cover. We'll do
him in a little bit more of a rapid style of points. Pick him.
Blake Coleman versus Adam Rasiska. Coleman had thirty eight points last year and
fifty eighty two games a full eighty two and thirty one years old. Rasisca
twenty goals and only forty four games and about twenty billion healthy scratches and he's
twenty three years old, So I think Sutter didn't let him play just every
night. But which one of these guys you think is going to be at
least the better scorer what you have to say about their seasons. Blake Coleman
is what he is right at this point. There's not that he's not going
to change at all what he is as a player. So I would just
I think he is what he is. Rasicht, I can't get a read
on him. I'd watch him and you'd see a guy who can he has
a lot of tools. But then I'd watch games and you're wondering, is
this guy even invested in the game. And I think that's the question mark
with him, that this is going to be a huge opportunity for him this
season because this is a team in flux. Even if they're not rebuilding,
retooling, whatever word you want to use, they are in flux. The
opportunity is there. They've got Matt Coronado waiting in the wings, and they've
got Jacob Pelchi is going to take a bigger role. They've got a couple
other young players that are just about ready to jump in. So he's one
of those guys where if you want to take it, it's there, so
take it. But if he doesn't take it, he might just become a
guy that meanders around in another couple of seasons in the NHL and goes back
to Europe. I see a lot of talent. I'm just not sure that
the engine is ready to fire all the time. So that's my question mark
on him and another fake either or here Walker Doer, Igor Sharon Govich.
Doer played twenty seven games, he's only twenty five eleven points and Sharon Govich
he cheaply signed return from New Jersey for the tyler to fully deal along with
the pick that became Idar Sunia. We talked about him on the show.
Thirty points in seventy five games in a crowded Jersey lineup or Sharon Gobach,
which one of those two you got next year? Oh, Sharon Golvich,
without a doubt, Walker Doer to me is a perfect fourth line winger.
Maybe plays on your third line, Sharon Golvich, Let's be honest. They
traded Tyler to fully for him, right, that's the return. They're going
to give him all the opportunity in the world to bounce back. It's the
a thirty goal scorer. I'm not sure, but they're going to give him
opportunity. And he says all the right things, like he did get pushed
down on a really talented New Jersey team. He was the odd man out
that got pushed further and further down. So he knows he's coming to a
place that wants to give him an opportunity. I just think I think he's
a bounce back from last season. I'm not sure hit the mark that he
had a couple of seasons ago. Maybe he doesn't, but I from a
perspective of who's going to be potentially on a second line, it's no doubt.
Sharon Golvich and I want to ask you a little bit about some of
the younger guys. You already mentioned them, and those are Kickab Peltier and
Matt Coronado. And Peltier is someone we've been waiting on for a while.
He's twenty two years old. He's been in the HL for a couple of
seasons and he's performed really well there. I know Flames fans have probably wanted
him maybe break in a little earlier than he did, but he got twenty
four games last season. I don't think he got the best deployment. But
for my eye, he looked pretty good when he was out there. And
Coronado, who's just done really well at Harvard and he's a pretty highly touted
prospect, and I think he played, he got a game, I think
it was just one game in and he looked really good. For my eye,
I was like, really impressed with what I saw. So what do
you think this season holds for these two? Like you said, more opportunities,
certainly there should we expect to seal a bit more of them. Oh,
I think so. But they're going to come into camp not necessarily a
job's not going to be handed to them, because you can't do that.
But I think both of them are at that point in their career where they're
able to take it. They'll be the ones. I think they know how
to take the chair right in the whole musical chairs. Coronado might need some
time in the minors. I think Peliche is more likely to be a full
time NHLer. I see the upside on Coronado though he has a fantastic release.
He really does to his credit. He came to the prospects camp and
he was a legitimate leader throughout the whole prospects camp. You could watch him.
He was the best player on the ice. He was guiding things,
he was driving things, and so I could see the upside on him.
I just I think Pelchas a little is older. He's just a little more
prepared, and he plays a very responsible game. That was the real shocker
to me on watching Jacob Pelicher as a rookie in the NHL who a lot
of points in junior all that stuff. He plays on the right side of
the puck, and that's going to a coach is always going to give a
guy that he and trust, isn't going to give up the ten bell scoring
chants the other way. Coronado one game is awfully hard to tell, but
I like the upside on both. I think they're penciled in to be in
the NHL all season, but let's be honest, the play has to dictate
that with them at a certain point, right. So I like the potential
of both of them, and they play opposite wings. I'm not sure you
really want to have two rookies on the same wing, but hey, why
the hell not. This team has to find some new injection of youth of
energy, and they are going to give these two both a really golden chance.
Now it's just going to be up to them to make the most of
it. For sure. Yeah, for sure, they both are going to
get opportunity, which is great. That's all you can ask for, and
then they have to take it. Let's move on to the D and we're
going to start, of course with Rasmus Anderson, who Jesse and I were
pretty split on last season. I saw more as a top tier guy and
Jesse has a third tier guy, and I thought of More as about being
about the forty fifth best defenceman. Jesse sixty eight. He ended up at
thirty five, So he got performed for both of us. And on the
surface, it looks like his stats were copy paste from the previous fifty point
season, but his fifty one points this season was fueled by a shooting percentage
three percent above his career average and nearly two more minutes of time on ice.
His IP and power play IP were both the highest of his career so
eleven goals thirty eight assists were how he got to his forty nine points in
those fifty one games with twenty one power play points, which was pretty similar
to what he did last season. And he does decent for hits, block
shots seventy first of his position, so not a ton. But I remember
when he signed his contract thinking like that's going to age pretty well, And
now four point five five million for your top d he's looking pretty good.
When you look around the league, there's a whole lot of teams that have
a lot more invested in their top defenceman. So what do you think about
Rasmus Anderson's fifty point pace? Is it here to stay or is he potentially
going to regress under that line this upcoming I actually think that's what he is
as a player. I think he is maybe not fifty every year, but
he's certainly to me a forty five to fifty five point guy. He's a
very good skater, He's a very strong skater. Another factor to think about
if they trade away they've got Noah Hannah Fan, Chris Tannev and Nikida Zadarov
are all pending ufhas, especially if Hannah Fan is traded away, Anderson most
likely, depending on what they bring back in a trade, is most likely
to get even more ice time. I think Anderson really is a very how
do I put it, I think he's I'm not sure he's legitimately a number
one defenseman. I don't even know if he's legitimately a number two, but
I think he's a very good number three papable of being a number two.
He's got a bomb of a slap shot. Like I from the point,
he has an unbelievably bomb slap shot. I think he's a fifty point guy,
and he potentially I don't know if he's going to get more ice time,
but with Hanaffin, he's going to get more opportunity that until that situation
is resolved, And let's be honest, I don't expect Noah Hanaffan to be
here much longer, certainly not by the end of the season. I think
he's going to get so Anderson therefore is likely to take a bigger role,
and he's going to take a bigger role with the team as well, because
just of the transition of players going out. Chris Tanev, like I said,
Tanev, if he's a UFA. I can't see sticking him sticking around
for a team that's potentially rebuilding because he's his play to me is the type
that's going to break down. He's just age and he plays such a hard,
physical game. Fantastic player, but at a certain point teams need to
be a little smarter about investing in players who are going to miss thirty games
a season at least. I actually also expect Mackenzie Weaker to have a better
season as well. He seemed to get his game going down the stretch and
admitted that it took him a while to really get his feet under him as
well. But to the answer, I think grass Anderson is a fifty point
guy. Let's talk about those other two in a little more death. Randy
Noah Hannapin is first and the number five overall pick. Finished his eighth campaign
very respectably, played eighty one games with half a point per game. I
count only twenty total miss games in this guy's career. Half of those were
in the COVID year too, So Hannapin incredibly durable. Played twenty two thirty
nine average time and ice last year, a career high by more than a
minute. Big jumping block shots from a block to a block and a half
a game, and as you said, expiring deal in obviously a lot of
the coverages about him moving. He does have an eight team no trade list,
which is always the most fun of who is the no trade list for
this guy? Who did he put on the list? And all strategic?
Was he all of Canada? Is that what? It is? Just Winnipeg.
I'm just being a bit snarky, but that's he doesn't want to play
in a lot of Canadian cities, which isn't and he wouldn't be alone.
Let's be honest, like, I bet you anybody who has a no trade
list, the most likely CDs are going to be Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary
and probably Ottawa. Let's like, let's be real, right for financial reasons
if nothing else, I give love to your cities. Rand Yeah, I
don't know. But anyway, So at Hannipen, you think he's gonna be
gone this year? You think while he's here he's going to be performing as
well as he did last year. He was the forty fourth overall fantasy defenseman.
That's about where Victor had him. I had less respect for him once
again, but what do you think of Hannipon for this year. I think
he's a really good player. I think he's a very constantly What he has
done in the past, I think is he's such a consistent player he'll stay
that he's personally. I think there's more offensive upside. But I also I
know when he came here they really tried to what's the phrase, quiet his
game, make him less running around. He's such a great skater. He's
a very good player. But I think he's at the point in his career
where you know what he's pretty much what he is and he's got he has
several more years of being that player. I the Flames would love to sign
him Analyn Holme long term. They would love to keep those guys because they
are legitimate, good, very good players that key players on a good team.
But it takes two to tango right. If they don't want to sign,
what do you do? And any team that gets Noah Hanaffin, in
my opinion, is getting a very good number two slash three defensemen that is
very good defensively now very just very consistent, and that's what he is.
I wouldn't expect the numbers to change a whole lot, because that's what he
is, and he's pretty good at it. I've already said. Victor pointed
out, I didn't have the proper respect Anderson coming into the season. I
didn't have the proper respect for Hannafin. That's because all of my respect was
concentrated on McKenzie Wieger. I think coming into the year, especially from a
fantasy perspective, I had him as my twelfth overall defenceman for this year.
He actually finished down at twenty sixth. Victor was a little closer at eighteenth
with him, but he did put up the points. He put up thirty
one points in eighty one games, two shots, one and a half blocks,
two and a half hits a game, So for us fantasy types,
he's just fine. Twenty one oh six was more than two minutes per game
down from that last year in Florida, And of course Wigger needs to be
more than just okay to justify the third largest contract on the team. He
signed an extension last preseason, also kicks in this year and last eight years
six point two five million per until he is thirty seven years old. What
do you make of Whigger's first year in Calgary and could he get a touch
more of the offensive juice back that he had in Florida's he pretty firmly buried
behind the Anderson's and so forth of the world. Now, I think it
would depend if Hanafin stays, then he things won't change a whole lot Hanafin
goes again. It's this is all going to be predicated on what happens from
trades, right. They know they're going to try to replace. I don't
think this team wants to tear it down, even though I truly believe that's
the best course of action. Right. But I think Weiger is a better
player on a hole over a course of season than he was last year.
He was a guy that he admitted it took him a while to get comfortable.
It took him a while to get acclimatized. Let's be honest. A
season in Calgary in a season in Florida, just from the weather perspective,
is a shock to the system. He did play better down the stretch.
He probably was. His best twenty games were probably the final twenty games.
And is it fair to say a good chunk of his points came down the
stretch. I think he's a better defenseman as a whole of the whole season,
and Willie had the same impact as he had in Florida. That's hard
to tell, because again, that season in Florida was a bit of a
not a misnomers the wrong word, but they were the top team in the
league. They put up a ton of goals, a lot at home,
but they played a style that you knew was going to struggle come playoff time,
and it did and they ran into a very good team. I think
Wager will go back somewhat to what he was the year before. I don't
think he's It's like huber Dough, It's not going to be the player he
was in that crazy, fantastic season in Florida. But I think somewhere in
the middle between that season and this past season in Calgary with both of them.
One more defense when I want to ask you about, and that is
Jeremy Poirier. And I know we can't really know who's gonna be blocking him
potentially in the lineup, but I just wanted him to get your read on
him because he's someone who you know when he was playing in junior and I
watched him play some games, it was such an adventure. There was not
a lot of defensive times really excellent offense, But then he seems like he
figured some things out, and this year in the HL he was excellent and
he seems like he's almost ready to take the next step. I would not
have guessed that a couple of years ago. So I'm wondering, from your
perspective, just what your thoughts on him. Does he seem as on track,
does the organization seem to value and like him as much? And will
he get an opportunity soon? I'm not sure if he's in an each other
this season, he's they have eight guys on one way deals. Now Braids
could change that in a hurry, right. I think he's better defensively than
he was, but he still has a bit of a way to go.
Let's he's not Sandis Ozolnch, where the coach is trying to figure out where
he is on the ice. But I watched the game with the Wranglers and
he was I'm watching, going wow, is this guy fantastic defense? Offensively?
And then I watched him in his zone zone and it was like,
oh, there's a bit of an issue. And then even some of his
offensive chances like he's standing in front of the NAD right in the offensive Zonely,
fortunately he's a decent enough skater to get back, but at a certain
point you're thinking that's just not gonna fly. You're not Scott Niedermeyer here,
kid. He I think they believe he took a big step forward, but
he needs to take another step forward and they're not going to rush him,
and they shouldn't rush him, right get Let him learn the game, let
him learn being a defenseman. And the good thing about Calgary is the farm
team's right here. So if you need him to pop up because of injuries,
that's easy to do. But I just don't see him being a full
time NHL or this season, or I'll be surprised we placed more than twenty
games in the NHL this season. If he does. I think there's been
some seriously mitigating factors. But I do believe they believe he's on track.
He just needs to learn to be a little more of a defensive player,
and he knows, he flat out knows that's what he actually has to concentrate.
I think the words he said to me in the prospects camp, which
he didn't go on the ice because he had had knee surgery, but he
said, I can play offensively, I need to be focus. My sole
focus is my biggest focus is learning to be defensive. Yeah, he reminds
me a little bit of Ryan Merkley back in the day, and I remember
there were some similarities there Merkley as someone who's basically played his way out of
the league. Right he's going over to play in the KHL, So I
think that's strong kudos for Poirier knows what he needs to do and he's working
on it. So you love to see that, right, that's all you
can ask for. But yeah, probably not this year, although he may
get some looks. You'd never know, but that's great to see. Let's
move over to the goalies, and the Flames gave up the eighth ranked expected
goals against per sixty according to Evolving Hockey, but conceded the fourteenth actual goals,
So they were much worse than they should have been based on their defense.
And we know it was a tough season for mark Strom. There had
been previous really good seasons and he was pretty negative in terms of his goals
save above expected negative six point seven six. He also had a negative Delta
Fenwick save percentage, which was not good. He had a sub nine hundred
save percentage overall and pretty high goals against average. Really a down year.
Six three years left on this six million dollars contract, and basically, anywhere
you cut it, he was pretty bad. Except I guess shorthanded he was
actually pretty good. But I don't know. It seems like there was a
lack of confidence by himself and and potentially and center of the team. There
were so many things that went wrong. I personally think there's going to be
a big bounce back here for Jacob Marksham. I'm not sure how you feel
about that, Renny, But what do you think we can expect from him
coming up? Don't? I don't think he could be any worse than he
was last season. He just was not good. I think you watch this
team and they gave up some horrific scoring chances, just ridiculous that you wonder
did these guys even have a sense of where their own net is at times?
But you got to make some of those saves he didn't make. He
basically didn't make any of those saves. But I think he'll be better.
How do I put this? Someone told me that him having an He became
a father late in the season and someone told me that was actually quite a
bit on his mind, and hey became a first time father. That was
I don't I said, was there issues with the pregnancy and they said,
oh no, he's just always just something that's on his mind. He played
better once the baby was born, and but that was it was just too
late. I think he'll bounce back. I don't think he's a Vezana goalie,
but I think he's a better goalie. He shouldn't be. He shouldn't
be where he was. And the fact of the matter is they didn't get
the great goal. They didn't even get excellent goaltending out of Dan Ladar as
the backup either, So they were it was that perfect storm. They weren't
very good defensively despite not giving up a lot of shots, and then they
weren't getting the big saves when they needed it most. Probably that's probably the
fairest way to put it. Yeah, I was gonna ask you a little
bit about Ladar, but I was gonna I also want to ask about the
Big Bad dust and Wolf because I love this kid. He's one of my
favorite prospect goalies and he's just been absolutely killing it at every level. He
fell in the draft because he's a little bit on the smaller side, but
all he's done is prove it pretty much at every step of the way,
including being just too good for the HL basically at this point, and he
really needs to take a step if you look at what the Flames have ahead
of him. Obviously, mark Strom is being paid to be the starter,
and Vlodard's has been good in the past, even though, like you said,
he wasn't that great, And two point two million isn't a nothing contract
for a backup, So I'm not sure there's a ton of room for a
wolf, but I would love to see him, and I'm eager to hear
what you think he has in terms of opportunity this year and kind of beyond.
The nice thing their situation is they don't have to make him in the
NHL goaltender. He's got another year without waivers, so it's easy to set.
You can send him down, you can tell him to dominate again in
the HL. It's going to be a different team for them this year too.
That was a very strong AHL team he was playing on. Now he
deservedly was the top goalie in the AHL. It pretty impressive, like he's
been named the top goalie is last four seasons, two in the WHL,
two in the HL. How many goals have done that, especially a seventh
round draft pick. We're not talking a guy that was taken first overall.
Here. They do not want to push him, and they don't have to
push him. If mark Strom has any form of a bounce back here and
it all goes well and he plays in the minors, it's not a lost
year because they're going to be an AHL team that needs him to be a
top goalie for them to be a playoff team and all those other elements.
But they know this is a last chance of that, and then he's got
to get bounced into the NHL. He's still I think he's a fantastic goalie.
I love watching him play too. I was a goalie, not a
very good one and even smaller than him, but he is the kind of
goalie that would generate momentum because he's a goalie. And let me put it
this, how do I say this? I remember talking to Jay Boys.
I know everyone thinks Jay Bomestre wouldn't speak. He was an interesting guy and
we were talking about Mika Kippersoft and he said, so many goalies in the
NHL are blockers. Mika's a goalie because he's so athletic. He moves,
Dustin Wolf plays. He's a goalie because he has to be. He can't
just sit there and let everything hit him. Fans will fall in love with
him, and he'll make those sprawling saves and all those things that will make
people generate momentum, and it's actually I believe will help the team because they
see this goalie making these saves and with this he's a fantastic athlete and it
just builds momentum. But I think another year in the HL is definitely not
going to kill him. It's definitely gonna be good for him. And if
you have injuries, he's right there. You can bring him up. You
can bring him down and send him down. It's so simple to do.
They're not going to force him. I believe they have been trying to trade
the blood dar to give him the opportunity. They're not. They don't need
to give danv La Dart away and throw in a draft pick to open the
slot because they don't have to open the slot. So I think that's one
that they're just going to let play out over the whole season. Premendous.
This is great insight on the Flames, Randy. Why don't you let people
know how they can follow your work out there, in which you may have
cooking right now. I guess seasons are vote to get going here. I've
been enjoying a bit of summertime, but yeah, we're gonna start building up
things and players are rolling into town pretty soon catching up. So with the
hockey news, I'll be trying to catch up guys, and I know where
they skate, so I'll probably head my way down there. And I think
what you're going to see as a lot of players coming in with a fresh
attitude, fresh atmosphere. New coach Ryan Huska's not Darryl Sutter as opposed to
the last time they replaced Darryl Sutter with Jim Playfair, who players were calling
Darryl Jr. Ryan's going to be a different guy. They've got a different
atmosphere with Craig Conroy as a GM. Not that Bradford Living was a dour
guy or anything, but I think there's gonna be a lot of fresh atmosphere
guys, refreshed, happy, looking forward to the season. The fact of
the matter is if they keep the gang together, I believe they're a playoff
team. Let's be honest. They did finish ahead of the Florida Panthers in
the overall standings. That's something that they just missed the playoffs really two points.
I'm not sure that's the best course of action. I think they really
need to reload, retool, rebuild, but they I think that's what you're
going to see is a lot of those guys we're gonna see. We never
talked about Oliver Shillington coming back after admittedly saying he had to deal with a
lot of mental issues before he came back. He won't go into him,
but there's another element that really was lacking from that team last season, and
so we're going to see that and follow a lot of stories about Willie sign
Willie be traded, and that's not going to end until the trade deadline.
Oh boy, don't envy reading and writing a lot of stories like that this
year. But we'll be looking forward to your coverage. Randy, thank you
so much for being on and again, what how do people people follow you
on the X or where they gonna follow you or well you still do that.
Oh yeah, I've even tried to get into the new stuff, but
I just can't. At Randy Sportak and on the Hockey News, teams go
to the Pacific Division Calgary Flames and we'll start ramping it up and getting ready
for a season of who knows, this could be one of those seasons where
every day is going to bring a new adventure. Wilson. Then well that's
good fired, passed off. Oh my goodness, got quick grab. Now
it's your weekly Goalie Talk with Cats Silverman Cat's instinct Time for another edition of
Cat's Instincts with Cat Silverman and gol mag Calgary Flames edition. And you know
what that means, Cat, That means one of our favorite goalies for sure,
to talk about the short king himself, Dustin Wolf. He was a
Flames twenty nineteen seventh round pick, six foot maybe one hundred and seventy four
pounds, the Gilroy, California native, which is the garlic capital of the
world for those of you who don't know. And definitely the goalie who grew
up closest to where I currently live. And so that's not the reason I
like him, but he has pretty much accomplished all you could hope for at
the junior and minor level. He go over to his lead prospects page and
just read all the accolades. I've been saying, top WHL goalie, top
CHL goalie, you twenty World Junior Champion, HL best goalie. It's ridiculous
what he's accomplished. Nothing really more to prove, I would say at any
level, but the NHL is Hockey prospecting chart is littered with really the top
equivalences. Connor Hillibuck is a guy. I think he looks a pretty fair
amount in this model, and he's feignch is taller and was drafted a couple
rounds earlier than him. But he's got some other good ones too. I
also liked the hell of Buck comp because he's American, and sometimes it's interesting
just to see those together. But Kat, what do your instincts tell you
about the big bad Dustin Wolf and his NHL potential. I think he's going
to be the best goaltender the NHL's ever seen. He's perfect. I'm just
kidding, no, I'm so excited to see just what he can do.
Though. I remember when he got drafted. I believe I had that draft,
and I was so nervous. Yeah, you got drafted in twenty nineteen,
And I was sincerely so nervous because I thought that he wasn't going to
get drafted, and I had hyped him up so aggressively leading into the draft.
I was like, this kid's going to be so good. This kid's
amazing. You should watch him. He plays, He's already confident that he
could go up against Lars. He's been playing at that point, he'd been
playing the WHL for two years and just had like absolutely unreal numbers, the
silver tips, and I was like, look at this kit, He's the
next big thing. And everyone was like, the next big thing is the
stretch word wise, but okay, and and then I believe he was if
I remember correctly, he was the last player to get drafted, and if
he wasn't, he was the second to last. And I need to look
it up and see, because I truly he was two fourteen and it went
to two seventeen, so he was truly like one of those last. He
was in the bottom five, and I think that was to Calgary's benefit.
All the other teams lost out there because, like you said, every level
he's been just shining. He's been exceeding expectations. And some of it is
because people assume that those smaller goaltenders have more exploitable weaknesses because they can't really
they and draw them out. They can goad them to go somewhere else and
then they open up other holes. But he's really hard to exploit like that,
just because he's got such a high hockey I Q. So I'm excited
to see where he goes. I think that Calgary desperately needs him. I
don't know if they're ready for him, but I do want to see what
he can do at the NHL level, just because he seems to read his
opponents so effectively, and he almost plays the game in a way that makes
them cater to his strengths instead of reacting to them. So he's the opposite
of some other goaltenders that we've gotten to talk about for other teams, who
play a game that just reacts to what's happening in front of them. He
controls what's going on by reading his opponents and almost drawing them into a more
advantageous spot for him. So we'll see just how good he gets but we
haven't really seen any dips in his performance yet, which is incredible that we
haven't really seen any subtle steps from him. And not to get really hyped,
but I think he's going to be absolutely phenomenal. Everyone has bet against
him pretty much to this point, and they've pretty much all been wrong.
So they've all been wrong. Do you want to keep betting against Dust and
Wolf? Do it? Do so at your own peril? It's interesting.
Obviously mark Strom had a really tough year and vladash Or Vladar has had some
decent play. I agree that doesn't seem like Calgary is ready for him,
but he's definitely ready for the Flames. So we'll have to see what happens
there with Dust and Wolf. But he can't play mostly in the h L
anymore. He's shown he's too good for that league. We'll see, all
right, let's move on to the next guy or yegoroff ten out of ten
name for sure, incredible. Bravo to the parents that decided to use basically
their last name to name him. Flames twenty twenty three, sixth round pick,
six foot, three hundred and eighty three pounds, so he was just
drafted he's in the Moskova system, played in the MHL this past season for
the MHK Dynamo Muskva, so he hasn't really actually played a lot. It
was interesting and I guess a little surprising that he was drafted. He's also
incredibly young. As we're recording this in early August, he's still seventeen,
so he has a long way to go the trajectory wise, which is good,
I guess considering if he has a good frame and some other mechanics he's
if he can be patient, maybe there's some Maybe there's some good upside there.
Kat, What do your instincts tell us about Igorov? Despite having an
incredible name, does he have a starter upside? It's always really hard to
tell with the Russian kids, just because you end up having that risk that
they're never going to come over to North America. I think that my favorite
part is that when I was looking up igor Igorov, trying to find some
highlights of info on him, because he is young and doesn't have a ton
of games played in a league that's essentially been advertised online. At the North
American with access to it, He's not the only Yegorov playing hockey right now.
And the other one isn't his dad, it's a thirty six year old
Belarusian player, So that is apparently a common name over there, and I
think that's absolutely incredible. I think it's fun getting a guy who at this
point, the Moscow system has a pretty good development upside. They have the
resources, They don't necessarily need someone who's going to be NHL ready immediately,
so they can take some of those gampbeles. They can take some bets on
guys who they like. You look at a team like like we've talked about
the Winnipeg Jets, who desperately need someone. Now we've talked about the Philadelphia
Flyers who desperately need someone. I think Calgary they have two good goaltenders right
now at the NHL level. They have Dust and Mold, who was perfect
in every way. They can start taking some bets on guys who have a
high risk but high reward. If they have a scout over in Russia who
was able to watch this kid play and saw some upside, you might as
well use a pick on it. I don't think. I think, if
anything, he's probably a ways out, especially if he was playing in the
MHL this last year. He wasn't in either the KHL or their minor league
system. He was still truly in their junior system. I think he'd be
a ways out from getting a look in North America, but you might as
well wait and see. And we've seen some other guys who over the years
have had some promising looks in Russia. Teams took him as a flyer in
a later round and they ended up being really good, like a Peoter cutch
at CoV In. Maybe Carolina, who had looked really good, wasn't necessarily
playing at the top tier level and wasn't looking to come to North America immediately,
and they took a flyer on him, and here we are. But
in reality, you don't need anything other than Dustin Wolf. So that's all
you need in life. Just move along. Thanks so much, KAF for
giving us your instincts on the Calgary Flame goalies. Will be back right after
this. The Dynasty dig the picture. We're here to talk about the Calgary
Flames, so let me set the situation, set the background a little bit
for the listeners out there. The Calgary Flames system is ranked fifteenth under your
rankings among the NHL squads, and they're going to start out talking about your
no brainer. He's already come up on this show. Who is it?
Yeah? The no brainer for the Calgary Flames is Matthew Coronado, twenty one
first round pick, thirteenth overall. He's played two seasons at Harvard since leaving
the Chicago steel In his draft season. In each season, he played thirty
four games and scored thirty six points. Beautiful. Thank you Matthew for making
that simple. The symmetry is gorgeous and didn't have to think too much about
the point pace or difference there because it was the same. And he did
have slightly more goals this year though than he did last year twenty goals,
so that's nice. He signed his entry level with Calgary, played one game
and that was pretty fun actually watching that game. He seemed definitely to fit
there. He's very fast, he's got a good shot. He had a
couple of good chances, but he did not score, but I remember seeing
him come pretty close to that, so that was really fun to see.
He also went to the World Men's Championships with USA, had three goals,
five assists and ten games. That was fantastic. To see him really fitting
in with those pros. He has two years left on his entry level deal
and basically looks like he's going to be competing for a role there. If
not in the Calgary Flames, will be in the HL So we'll look forward
to that. If you look at Mitch Brown's tracking data for the NCUBA,
he was basically the best in the NCUBA at expected goals for sixty and shots
for sixty. You love to see those metrics being so high volume shooter,
high goal chance generation. He was also in the top ninetieth percentile for expected
primary sis per sixties, so all that's good. His other some of his
other really good stuff are his primary expected point involvement, game score off,
puck assists, advantages created. All that looks very good. And even his
transition data is pretty good at seventy eight percentile. The one thing that's maybe
a little bit lower his defense at seventy third, but it's still pretty decent,
so I don't think that's going to be a major weakness for him.
So yeah, Coronado looks to be really too good for college at this point.
Let's hear a little bit more about what makes him. Take from our
FHL scout. Yes, Sir, our FHL scout in this case is Austin
Kelly, and here's what he has to say about Matthew corn skating. He's
a player always seems to have questions about his skating ability as a certain level,
but has always managed to adapt well enough to not have it be an
issue. The NHL will be a hole different beast. He's not a stronger
shifty skater, but has shown a passing quality that will be tested in the
NHL. In terms of passing, playmaking gets a bit overshadowed by the fact
he's a great shooter, but Cornado has been able to make a long series
of well crafted chances even better as his puck movie creation more so than passing.
Sean Farrell was the playmaker of the Harvard duo, but Cornado is no
slouch either, shooting always a high end goal scorer that may be his most
translatable asset. He has a strong rister that he can hit from every angle,
as well as a complimentary snapshot with good accuracy. Talented with the puck,
but it's his release that may be where his hands are best at IQ
not many would be surprised to learn that Cornado, a psychology major at Harvard,
is intelligent both on and off the ice. One of the smartest players
you'll find on the ice, constantly being able to read plays efficiency efficiently and
constantly making high IQ plays with and without the puck. Not in a lee
hockey mind, but he's shown the potential to hold a lot of maturity on
the ice as he ages into the pro game. His smarts should translate to
the NHL. For checking, it's all right, but since he's five ten,
you're not going to see him becomes some sort of bruiser. He times
his defensive battles, but not a sure thing. He'll be too menacing against
strong players at high levels. He's got the smarts and the compete. He's
missing the strength defense again because he's a smaller guy. He's not going to
be the most physical, but he does have the intensity to create pressure in
situational matchups, and the transition game is strong to bring the puck out of
danger. He wasn't afraid to match up against stronger players at Harvard. It's
possible he could do well enough as a defensive player in the NHL, but
that could take some time. So the best asset is how complete Coronado's game
looks, score, create chances, turn on intensity, have the smarts not
a player. He usually has a bad night, and when everything in his
toolbox is working, you're getting a machine of a player who's going to dominate
and really make problems for opposing teams. The concern skating as mentioned above,
He's got decent average skating, but that could be an issue in the NHL.
It may limit how high his ceiling gets to be the top tier outcome
if the skating improves a low end first liner to a high end second liner.
Realistically, second line is most likely at the best. Great eye for
goal and good stick handling not be shocked. Austin would not be if Coronado
manages to net a few thirty goal seasons sometime. The middle outcome high end
potential could see him as one of the league's better second liners, but even
his average role has a likelihood of being on the second line. Offensive potential
in IQ could see him to become a twenty goal scorer, say, if
he hits his middling outcome. Stylistic comparable maybe a smaller Victor Arvidson but not
as strong as a skater. Both are skilled goal scorers who play best when
they kick up the intensity, and Arvidson struggled with consistency and upside early in
his career before taking a big step this year. Maybe a player who takes
some time to hit his stride does as well. The NHL rank King Mason
Black rates him out in terms of p NHL E equivalency. Joel Farrabee is
the number one match here, followed by Sunny Milano and Jeoffrey Loophole, and
it's just above a second line type potential in terms of that translation and in
terms of the matchup. He puts Matthew Cornado out on the internet versus Luke
of Angelista of the Nashville Predators, and he was picked one year earlier and
one round later than Coronado. Was Coronado being of course number thirteen in twenty
twenty one Who would you rather have on your fantasy team? One hundred and
eighty seven votes, And it was an incredibly near old margin for Matthew Coronado
fifty one to forty nine over Luke of Angelista. You've sounded if I were
to guess your victor, I would guess it's going to be Coronado. By
a bit for you, But you tell me who's your favorite. Yeah,
I'm a huge Coronado fan. I definitely have liked him since back in the
draft I can't remember I had him was definitely inside the top ten. He
didn't go too far after that thirteenth, but I definitely liked him. His
strong play was on exhibit in the USAHL there, and he's done nothing to
dissuade that opinion, looking really good in college and at the World Championships.
So you love to see all that. He is a fantastic talent. I
guess the thing, though, is that you have Luke Evangelista doing this now
in the NHL, and he has transitioned pretty well. I mean, he
only played twenty four games, but fifty one point pace is pretty nice there
after being a pretty strong player in the AHL. I think that this is
a reasonable comp especially if you think about how translatable it's already been and the
fact that he If you want someone closer to NHL ready, Evangelista looks like
he's ready to pop off in the NHL this upcoming year. They have a
lot of opportunity there In Nashville. I was looking at some of his tracking
data with Corey Schneider, and he does some really good things with the puck
as a young player. Yet have to look at these these raid stats and
not just the overall numbers, although he was good at those two but didn't
get a ton of time on ice, so I think there's a good chance
that he could pop off. But I think that Coronado still has a higher
upside, so I would take him. I think the only reason it's close
is because Evangelist says a little bit more advanced in his trajectory, because I
think if they were at the same stage, I think Coronado would be a
little bit ahead, So I like him. I think it's yeah, forty
nine is closer than I would have it. I'd probably have it more like
sixty five percent Coronado or something like that, but I definitely like him.
You look at the prospecting between these two, and Coronado has trended down his
past couple of seasons, but that's mainly just because he had did so well
in his draft season. He's kept it up, and I know Byron looks
at improvement from the previous year, but he's basically kept his NHL E the
same, which is good. It's just hard to increase on such a strong
season at Harvard, so that's maybe a little bit of the issue with him.
Evangelista has stayed in the teens and his star potential, so they're actually
similar in that sense, and some other comps. For Coronado, there's some
guys he looks like. One of the main ones, at least statistically,
is Josh Bailey, who was more of an average producer, but certainly not
a stylistic comparable because Bailey is like allergic to shooting and Coronado is a volume
shooter, so very different there. But I definitely think the Cornado has much
more upside than that, more than being just an average NHLLER. You look
at the top down hockey model and he's just nine percent chance of being a
star, thirty two percent chance of being an NHLLER. I think there's a
lot more. There should be more optimism than this. Jesse that seems a
little that seems a little low for me, makes sense to me. Yeah,
that's the way that I felt as well on this one. Okay,
Victor, that is our first guy for these Calgary Flames. Now, who
is your need to no prospect? I need to no prospect is Samuel Hansk,
the big Slovak who was just taken by Calgary in the first round sixteenth
overall, six foot four, one hundred and ninety four pounds, twenty three
goals, thirty three assists and forty three games for Vancouver or the WHL.
He's very old for this draft. He was a November twelfth birthday, so
he's got maybe not as long of a runway to develop here. And he's
got at least another year of the WHL before he can be signed into the
HL or sorry, be playing the HL. So he's already signed his contract.
It's got one more year of junior at least, and then we'll see
after that. His tracking data is pretty good overall. He's got a ninety
three percent score from Mitch Brown's data ninety four. Offense, his expected goals
per sixty is really good. It's definitely in the top eighty five percentile.
And his shots he's pretty good as well, pretty high volume shooter, not
the biggest in terms of primary assists but per sixty, but his primary important
involvement is very high, as are some of his transition scores, which he's
also very good at. And his defense scores. He's someone who when I
was talking to a lot of the other scouts of the draft, they he's
just a very safe pick, like he's very projectable to the NHL, and
there's a lot of disagreement or unknown about what his upside is. Does he
have more upside for higher points or is it just middle six type of center
which is valuable to an NHL team but not as much to our fantasy team.
So let's hear a little bit more about Samuel Hansick from our FHL scout
and once again it's Austin coming to tell us about Hansick. He's got that
is Hansick good skating for a six four forward, which is a big plus
for his game. That skating ability and offense is like a factor that helped
to make him a lottery pick. Of course, his size means he'll never
be as flashy or as dominant as skater, but as of right now,
there isn't any question mark there. He could benefit from getting faster, but
there's a good foundation passing and handling. Hansi's playmaking was perhaps his most positive
improvement since coming over to North America. Playing within his own age group let
him develop his game at his own pace in comparison to the season prior where
he played in Slovakia. Shooting, He's put a lot of effort into playmaking.
Hans still possesses strong shooting skills. He has good accuracy and a quick
shot that already looked pro level in twenty twenty one twenty two while playing men's
hockey once again in Slovakia, and that strong shot has the potential to cause
a major goal boost for him next season in the dub Iq. The aforementioned
qualities of Hansi's game his decent skating and a dual threat scoring playmaking convo,
those are big reasons he found himself as a lottery pick and have continued to
get better. Because Hansick is constantly improving on his game, especially as he
adapted to North American ice, awareness level could come with more intensity, but
he is not someone who's given up many mistakes. Defensively, he seems to
prefer brain over braun, a fascinating choice for a player whose size would allow
to gravitate to the ladder, but he plays a mature game all throughout the
ice for checking, despite that size, not always the most physical player and
that he plays much softer than that six four frame would suggest, but it's
always been something for checking. That is that Hansick has excelled at defense somewhat
mute aggressiveness as noted in his for checking section, But perhaps it's a lot
to ask of a seventeen year old. Because of his size, his reaction
time to rush as could be better, but overall he uses his size well
when he does use it. So the best asset was the well roundedness of
the game and much of the game. Having improved throughout the year, he
continued to show that growth in multiple aspects. Biggest concern some much better scouts
than Austin Austin's being modest. Here have concerns over whether hans is going to
be a center at the NHL level if he's a winger, having played both
there. Having played both those positions at the DUB he is a good face
off taker and that ability could keep him at center. He needs to work
on his strength and skating to ensure so the top tier outcome for him.
The stylistic comparable that Austin's going to use as Pavel Zaka, so he's going
to say that is where he's going. The guy who's the presumptive first line
center for the Bruins, although based on a little bit of a vacuum in
that position, but hans could very well make a serviceable second liner and that
top outcome role either's a winger or center, potential for fifty to sixty points
and if the hits come as he becomes more confident improving that bash middle percentile
role is middle and that's where Austin thinks he's probably going to end up one
of the safer players in this draft. To make it all though, improvements
to his skating ability will dictate the difference between second or third line peak.
And again, Pavelzaka is his comp he Remember he Zaka did play as a
winger before he really moved into that center slot for good, and that could
be the same scenario Austin thinks for Hansick. Let's look at the NHL rank
kings equivalences, Dylan Cousins comes out as the number one. Of course,
Dylan Cousins at the same age was struggling. Yeah, but he did get
off that struggle bus and he did become a pretty good player after a couple
of years and a breakout, and the competition of number sixteen overall. Pick
Samuel Hanjick is number twenty overall, Pick Edwards Shale, And I know Victor's
probably not siding with the Shale because I don't think Victor likes the shale.
There's all kinds of there's all kinds of talent there. But then there's also
the compete questions with Shalla, and the people agree. Samuel Hansick wins this
competition fifty three to forty seven victory. I think I can read your mind,
but that's probably me being arrogant that I think I can read your mind.
Am I right that you would take Hansick in this comp Oh definitely,
I would be disappointed if you didn't know some of my tendencies by now.
We talk enough on the podcast. I think he's come up several times.
Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan. I think you nailed a lot of
the reasons there. Yeah, he's just a really instant Chalet is just a
really inconsistent player. It's so frustrating you watch him and sometimes you're just like,
oh ah, and sometimes that's all you remember about a player, or
the highlight reel. And if you watch Edward Charlie's highlight reel. You're just
thinking yourself, Damn, this guy's a point pre game player. He's fantastic.
But then you watch him more closely and you see all the things he
doesn't do, and you see all the times he's disengaged and how little he
actually participates, and you just know the coach is gonna just not be cool
with that. It's that's not gonna fly, and so he needs to figure
there are a lot of things out. I think the upside this is a
classic ceiling floor type of bet. If you want to bet on ceiling,
then yeah, I think Chalet's ceiling is higher in terms of fantasy, but
I think the floor is like nothing, whereas with Samuel Hansack you have a
really good floor. He reminds me of Michail Backland, the other Flames pivot
there that never gets enough respect. He's such a good player. He's not
really a first line player, but he could. He can play in that
role. And I think Hanzak is that guy, like he can play up
in the lineup, but he also is just a really good their line center,
probably for them, but maybe some more skill wins out and maybe he
actually develops more offense and maybe he becomes a really good fantasy ascid. But
I just think the floor is so much higher for Hansk and the ceiling is
still there too, It's not like it's not there. I would just definitely
rather have him on my fantasy pool because I know that I'll get something out
of him, whereas with Chalet, he just might drop him a couple of
years, he might just fade into a blue That depends the issue with Shali's
people are just taking him way earlier then I would feel comfortable, and so
that makes me less interested. If he was someone who was being taken in
the second or third round of my entry draft, then yeah, cool,
I'll take him there. But being posed with this question versus Hansak, no,
I'm gonna take Hanzak every time. And when you look at the hockey
prospect between these two, Hansak has higher production even in thirty two percent chance
of being a star already to the nine percent for Chali and sixty one percent
chance for Hansick of being an NHLA versus the forty seven for Chali. So
yeah, I'll take my Chalet vacation in the Swiss Alps, not in my
fantasy hockey pool, Jesse, that's where I'm going with that, And gosh,
just looking at some of the rest of the hockey prospecting here, I
think got some interesting comps for Hansk. There's guys like Max Domi is a
comp Eric Cole is another one. They're more average producers, and that's probably
where he rates out. There is upside for more and in the top down
Hockey model, nine percent chance of being a star for hansa fifty four percent
chance of being in each other. So yeah, there's a chance there.
I like him. He's someone who will probably play, but maybe he doesn't
have The biggest upside for is Samuel Hansick. And I did take Chalet number
twenty eight in the tidy. I thought at twenty eight he was a decent
value to see if he's able to bring it around, Like you say,
it's if it's low enough, he could be a value. But Victor,
we've already talked a little bit about you keep your eye on prospect. We've
got some opinions in the first part from Randy, But who is it and
what do you have to say about him? Jeremy Poirier is our keep your
eye on And yeah, he was a twenty twenty third round picked by Calgary
six one and ninety pound left handed d. Yeah, he was so interesting
to watch. I remember watching him with Saint John the Sea Dogs in the
queue and on his draft season. It was just it's he's a very fun
guy to watch because something happens every time he's out there. The puck either
goes in one way or another for his team or the tea or against him,
because he just he's all. He was all offense all the time,
and as we heard, he's really understands that he needs to work on the
defense. Sounds like he's working on it, sounds like it's gotten better.
And yeah, he didn't remind me a lot of Markley. I mentioned this
earlier as someone who wasn't sure he would ever figure it out good offensively,
but can he play average NHL defense? And that still remains to be seen.
For Parier, it has improved a ton and so after he won the
Memorial Cup with the Saint John Seadogs of the QMJHL last season, he graduated
and was in the HL and he made the All Rookie team for the Calgary
Wranglers in the HL forty one points in sixty nine games, and he was
point per game, just about a point per game player in the playoffs.
Fantastic two years left on his entry level deal. I, as we talked
about, not sure that he cracks the lineup out of camp, but depends
on if guys are moved out, then he might be last man standing there.
He might actually get a role if other guys move on or if they're
injuries. So I like his proximity to the NHL too. He looks like
he's pretty pretty close to get a look and it probably deserves another year in
the HL. Really refining that defense not doing crazy things like leading the rush
and standing in front of the goal. Probably needs to work on that a
little bit. But let's hear a little bit more about Jeremy Poary from our
FHL scout Jeremy for a Jeremy because our FHL scout Jeremy has the comments here.
Skating above average, not all world speed, but very good footwork,
passing and handling elite. One of the best skating handling combos Jeremy has seen
in a young defenseman. Shooting average, not a lethal shooter, but it's
a d He just needs to get pucks on net and create chaos. IQ
above average makes some beautiful passes on offense, but can panic a bit in
the defensive zone. Also can get drawn away from his NetFront during sustained pressure
defense rush and in zone. Probably below average here. The rush defense is
fine when he's not giving up two on once. He gaps up well and
has the footwork to handle the top line forwards. And maybe Jeremy's being over
critical here, given that he's a twenty year old in the AHL playing big
minute's good to acknowledge that. So the best asset was the puck handling of
the biggest concern was the defense. Sometimes he's just a bit too aggressive and
a bit over eager on the pinch. The top tier outcome for Poier a
smooth skating offensive D who's too good to keep off the ice. Think Eric
Carlson Light. I'd love to think that the middling outcome fifty percentile tweener or
a bust. Think the odds on outcome here is a guy who can't defend
well enough to stick. Maybe the offense is good enough to keep give him
a chances Allah Gosta Spear, or maybe it's not and he's a tweeter like
Dennis Chilowski, and so Jeremy also says this isn't something he can tell from
two a few viewings everything that other scouts are saying about him. Says the
attitude is top tier and that does matter. That's massive for a player who
needs to improve at the less flashy side of the game. So the outcome
range is huge here and we will see what happens. Stylist a comparable Mike
Green or a smaller dustin Bufflin, basically a fourth forward on your D line.
The NHL rank King Mason Black shows that Poier has taken a tick up
in the last year up to nearly first line potential in terms of his equivalency,
taking him up into the number one comp of Rasmus Anderson. We've heard
a little bit about him today too, or Ivan Proveroff nearby that as well.
And in terms of the comparison the poll, the babble out there,
Jeremy Poier versus Henry Thrun a Anaheim Ducks pick but a San Jose Shark.
Now Poier is winning over Thrun fifty five to forty five with one hundred and
fifty six votes. In the books, Victor I'm not quite sure where you're
going to go on this one. Tell me Potier or Thront. I think
I'm gonna go Quaria here. I like both of these guys. I like
what Thrun did in college, and he seems to be pretty close to NHL
already. I played some games, so you'd like to see that. But
I think paria Is upside is much higher. I think, as you just
heard there from Jeremy, I think Quaria could be could demand power play time.
I don't think Thron will. I think Thron is much more likely to
play in like a second or bottom pairing role. So if you want safety
of a guy who's just going to play and probably get decent banger stats,
then Thrun makes a lot of sense. But in terms of if you want
that bigger upside run the power play collect more points, I think it's got
to be Poirier here. A little bit of a little bit of dealer's choice
there, but also the floor being lower for Parrier. He's interesting because his
hockey prospecting is really trended down. It's in the last few seasons just four
percent chance of being a star now, and I think that's partly because he's
focused on some other things and not just scoring, which is fine because we
know he can score. And Thron has looked really good from the USHL to
his college days. He looks fantastic in terms of graduating twenty six percent chance
of being a star in the model and a sixty eight percent chance of being
an nhlor. So Thron definitely is an NHLer, I think, and maybe,
but the upside is higher. Whether you want floor or ceiling there there's
a bit of a choice. I think I would swing on upside and the
fact that he's pretty close to NHL already. You liked the opportunity in San
Jose though right he, like Thron, doesn't really have anyone ahead of him,
which is nice. Looking at some other comps for Poirier, there's a
couple of interesting ones. David Sieverson is one that looks pretty reasonable. Shane
Gosta Spare is another one, although his equivalence he was a bit higher,
so I'm not sure that one perfectly fits, but maybe this play style and
being a little weaker defensively fits there. The j Fresh card has Parer at
six percent chance of being an NHL or fifty six percent chance or sorry,
six percent chance of being a star, fifty six percent chance of being an
NHLA. Yeah, so a little bit of varying opinions there on Priory,
but I think he is someone that you definitely want to keep your eye on
because, depending on what happens in Calgary, like Randy said, some of
those defensemen might be gone. There might be a wide open opportunity there for
Priory and he could step into it and be maybe not amazing because the team
is probably gonna look worse if those guys are gone, but he should have
a great opportunity to put up some points. And Jesse, there are more
guys we could talk about, but there's no time here. If you're a
patron, you can listen to my top ten recap list on Patreon, and
if you're interesting doing some scouting with us, shoot me a DM on Twitter,
Discord, or email us. We will come right back. Blows out
the show. Hey, a couple of things to mention before we get out
of here today. Fantasy Key is best played on fantracks dot com. Fantracks
dot com plays tenderferent Dynasty Sports tenderfer Fantasy Sports. You can do all kinds
of different stuff you can customize your scoring settings. Pretty much anything that comes
to your league's play settings you can do differently if you would like. On
fantracks, it's the best place to play movie your leagues over there, theug
get y'all set up. You can also read all sorts of stuff about fantasy
hockey at Fantrak's HQ. Those are the articles you see over on the fantrak
site. They are gearing up. Let me tell you, there's a new
group of writers and they are coming in like a like a house on fire,
right in, a whole bunch of new stuff that's going to be coming
out over the next little while preparing you for your fantasy hockey season. So
if you're on the fantrak site, check out all the content and articles that
are being produced there. We are part of the fan Tracks podcast network and
proud to be so. There are other podcasts on fantracks, including the Prospect
Pod Full Count, and there are also some fantasy football podcast like two W
Fantasy Football. You should also be listening to Victor and our friend Peter Harling
talking on Dauber Prospect Report, part of the Dauber Network. We're also part
of the Dauber Podcast Network here and I do a second show. It's called
Dynasty Sports Life. It's a solo show. It's a little bit like the
production that I do here, except that it is also really about the other
fantasy Dynasty Sports. So this week you'll hear an episode where I'm talking to
Matt Cooper from Debby to Dynasty about some running backs coming into the season who
may change their Dynasty Fantasy value coming in. So if you like that sort
of thing, check out Dynasty Sports Life. On the other hand, maybe
you just play Dynasty Fantasy Hockey, and if so, you were in the
right place. You should follow Victor and myself on x at fan Hockey Life
is Me at Victor Nuno twelve is Victor. You can subscribe, rate,
review our podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, or wherever else you get
your podcasts. Leave us some kind words and some five stars so that more
people find this show coming into the Dynasty Fantasy and the regular fantasy hockey season.
Thanks once again for listening to everybody. This is Jesse Severe saying good
luck as you prepare for your drafts, as you listen to these thirty two
team previews that we bring to you to help you live this fantasy hockey like