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, stay lot, fod gosh. Here's your hosts, Jesse
Sevier and Victor Nuno Fantasy Hockey Live that once again talking nothing but fantasy hockey.
I am Jesse, severa fan tracks and joining me as always as wonderfully
as he always does. It is Victor Nuno. Victor, how you do.
I'm wonderful. I think I could be no other way after that introduction,
how are you? I'm great, man, I'm great. We're ready
to talk fantasy hockey. We are. Yeah, we're all over it right
now. We're deep in the mud. Deep in it's not mud, it's
happy times. It's still times to be prepping for fantasy hockey and that we
love it as much as anything, especially Victor. When you score a big
guest like you did today, I gotta say, man, this is I
don't want to build him up too much because who knows, maybe he's even
listening to this part, but Scott Wheelers on the show today, this is
freaking awesome. Yeah, man, I'm so excited. I think people probably
know that I really like his takes and his opinions. In some ways,
this may be a bit of confirmation bias for me, because of all the
public scouts that I read and listen to, it definitely seem to agree with
him the most. So maybe that's why I'm even more excited to have him
on. But I do think that it's not all about agreement. I think
he has really smart insights, and he watches and goes to a ton of
hockey, so it's definitely someone who's in the working a lot and then in
the deep of it. So it's great to digest his information and we're happy
to have him on and hear his takes here. It's gonna be a lot
for people to digest. It's going to be things that they can enjoy.
And afterwards, Victor, we're gonna have We're gonna have continual after party conversation
and it's a twenty four seventh sixty five business that we do over at our
discord. It's free to come into our discord and participate in the chatting that's
going on there. All people have to do is hit us up at fan
Hockey Life on X. For me at Victor Newno. Twelve for Victor on
x and also email us Fantasy Hockey Life at gmail dot com. Victor,
I would say that I would say that there are also other things that people
could do if they want to participate further in the types of things we have
going on here. What are they tell people what we have going on out
there? Yeah, we got a lot of great stuff with the Patreon that's
a good thing that you can get involved with if you like to show if
you want to support it even a little bit, just by job, buy
us a cup of coffee for all the work we're doing. That would be
great. You also get a bunch of perks like patron casts. You get
access to the show notes. Depending on what tier you get, you can
also have access to the prospect ranking sheet. Part of that is we're doing
an average draft position projects, so you can participate in sharing your drafts with
us and we'll call it them put them together. You can also access that
on our website Fantasy Hockeylife dot com and you can have access to that that's
only for patrons. Oh, if you want to look at the ADP.
And there's also some other cool stuff there like the tier dynasty and we are
officially full. We have ninety six spots full. So if you want to
get on the waiting list, sometimes people drop or whatever, you can be
first in line to take over a team or depending on what kind of expansion
we decide on for next year, then you can get in there. So
lots of great stuff, yes, sir, definitely Patreon dot com slash where
do you say, Victor Fantasy Hockeylife patre dot com slash Fantasy Hockey Life,
Yes, sir, all right, and so let's take a break right now.
We're gonna come back, and what we do, it'll be Scott Wheeler
with us. We are very pleased to be joined today by Scott Wheeler of
the Athletic, one of the main prospects guy over there for hockey prospects.
Scott, how you doing today? I'm not doing well. Just winding down
from the World Junior Summer Showcase in the Holy Koogretzky Cup, which were the
most recent events on my calendar, and preparing for the Buffalo Prospect Tournament,
which is a couple of weeks away, surprisingly, and then we'll be right
into a sort of the season and the World Juniors and all of that,
but that's where my aim, that's where my head's at these days. We're
going on a whirlwind today, Scott, because you're not You're thinking about these
guys who were coming up for future drafts. But we want to get your
takes on the twenty three's and on some of the guys even from prior years,
because a lot of folks have a lot of questions and would love to
get your takes on this draft. We're gonna start out today with some of
the guys from the twenty twenty three some of the guys who were picked a
little bit later on in some potential draft gems, and get your takes on
those. And let's start, Scott with Andrew Crystal of the Colonna Rockets.
He was picked by the watched the Capital's number forty overall. Victor liked in
number twelve from a fantasy perspective out of this draft, and certainly a guy
who slipped a little bit below where I might have expected. But what's your
take on Andrew Cristal as a prospect? Yeah, Christall is an interesting one.
Was one of the most polarizing players in last year's draft class. Is
a player who had some believers, myself included. I've spoken at length with
people around him, his agent, that people he skates with in the offseason,
the staff with the Cologna Rockets, just to try to have mind through
what's true and what isn't in terms of some of the faults in his game.
The big thing that had a lot of teams hung up was you've got
a small winger whose skating has been in the past a major issue, and
now he believes that after a summer of hard work this summer with barbiadelbaumb that
it's going to be much improved and that he's going to shock some people this
fall when they see what his skating looks like in his return to the WHL.
But it was a barrier for a lot of teams, and teams just
prepared. Most teams just weren't prepared to take him in the first round.
As a result, the skating is going to determine I think what he becomes
at the next level. The talent, the skill level, obviously, the
statistical profile in terms of his production that all gets very high marks. Andrew
did things last year that are typical of top ten selections in terms of his
point per game pace, relative to his teammates, his sort of primary production
in the WHL. All of that so, a very impressive statistical track record,
a very impressive game on the power play and inside the offensive zone.
It's the other areas that NHL teams were maybe a little bit concerned about.
But I think he's got a real chance to lead the WHL in scoring this
year now that Connor mddard will obviously not be returning to the league, and
from there he should have an opportunity to become an NHL player a lot like
Jordan Dumay of the Columbus Bluejackets has now positioned himself to have. Jordan was
another kid, sort of small winger who wasn't a great skater, who fell
in the draft, then led the QMJHL in scoring last ye, got an
entry level contract with the Blue Jackets, and now his position himself well to
become a productive NHL player someday. So I think Christall has to look at
Jordan Dooman and use that as his sort of path, if you will.
Yeah, for sure, And Kristall going definitely top twenty in fantasy drafts,
so he's definitely someone that we're all aware of from that perspective, that's great
insight on him. Let's talk about the next guy you highlighted, and that's
Etienne Moran and he was a forty eighth overall pick by Calgary. I had
him twenty first on my list for fantasy perspectives and he was with Monkedin last
year seventy two points and sixty seven games, so well over a point per
game for a defenseman his draft year. Pretty nice. So what can you
tell us about him? Yeah, Moraine is an interesting one. He has
emerged out of the qum JHL as the premium player at his position. It
wasn't a great draft class out of the km JHL last year, so the
guys who did rise to the crop got some tension and some buzz. He
was absolutely tremendous for Monkedin in their playoff run, really emerged as a dominant
defenseman at that level in their playoff run, both at both ends of the
rink. Frankly, he then was just okay. He arrived late out of
that playoff run to join Hockey Canada for the UA Team Worlds in Switzerland and
was just okay there. And I think that as a result of HEMNY scouts
cover that tournament and how many eyeballs were on him just led to him being
more of a second round pick than a late first round pick in terms of
the NHL's purposes. But from a fantasy perspective, certainly a player who has
been extremely productive across levels, a player who runs the power play well and
will probably if he makes it to the NHL, be a power play guy
in the NHL. I think he's more likely to be a kind of PP
two guy than a PP one guy, if you will. He doesn't have
that true sort of star quality offensively, but a very talented defenseman who has
the size piece, has the skating component. I think he could get a
little bit quicker, but it's not an issue for him. Has a lot
of the tules that you'd expect out of a sort of second pairing defenseman in
the NHL. So I think that's what he's reaching and striving for over the
next few years, is to become a second pairing guy at even strength and
maybe a power play two guy. Another guy who's dealta between where he was
drafted in where he's perceived in fantasy value. Riley height taken by the Minnesota
while the number sixty four overall from the Prince George Cougars. He's a forward.
Victor had him number thirteen. But what is your take on Riley Hights
game and how he will translate to the NHL. Yeah, Height's an interesting
one. He's a player who's been on the radar for a long time.
Was a star or borderline superstar level player in minor hockey, was a top
pick into the WHL draft. Has been extremely productive in the WHL, especially
stewing more towards assists than goals. He's a sort of natural playmaker and passer.
I do think he's got more to offer in terms of getting to the
middle of the ice and shooting and scoring more. I think you're going to
see that next season from him with Prince George, as he takes command of
that team and becomes the guy there. But he's a very talented player.
Not the biggest kid, not the strongest kid, not the fastest kid.
And I think that's the sort of reason that he lingered and wasn't a first
round pick. But plays hard. He's physical. If you play in a
league that counts things like hits, he's engaged that way. They'll finish all
of this checksis can be actually a bit of a pest at times when he's
feeling comfortable. Never going to be Tom Wilson or Brad Marshaan type in terms
of really stirring it up, but an engaged player all over the ice who
has plenty of skill and playmaking touch and feel for the game offensively, and
another player who will be a power play guy if he makes it to the
NHL. And all of these kids were talking about kids who aren't the locks.
If you're talking about quote unquote gems or late round steals, these are
kids who have some work to do and pieces of the puzzle to put together.
And Riley's no different that way. But I like him to give it
a real go and to make it hard on the Minnesota Wild and to get
an entry level contract and of that that gives that should give him an opportunity.
He's got enough talent and sence on the ice offensively to make it work
and put it all together. Yeah, another potential late gem Grayson Sauchen ticking
sixty third overall by Florida. I know I was at the draft and we
were a lot of us were wondering, like the wind is satching gonna get
taken. He was falling pretty late and he did really well point per game
for Seattle, playing a little bit down the lineup on that really stacked team.
What is your take on him and what he can be in the NHL.
Yeah, Grayson's an extremely talented player with the puck on his stick,
has some of the quickest hands from last year's draft. They will really grab
you with his ability to stick handle in traffics, the candles in that cliche
of stick handling in a phone booth. That's his bread and butter. He's
quick twitch in terms of putting pucks through feet, putting pucks around sticks,
the sort of curl and drag shot that he uses. All of that.
I expect him to pop in the WHL this year in a more prominent role
now that now that they're moving into a different chapter in Seattle and they're moving
out of that sort of Memorial Cup contention window, I expect him to take
on a big role there to be a top sort of extremely productive player.
He's a kid who went to the national development route originally with USA Hockey,
and then made the decision to leave and to go play in the WHL.
In his draft year. There's something there. He's another player who's very engaged.
He gets after it, He'll get in on a pucks, he'll for
check. That's the reason he was successful playing oftentimes, as you hinted at,
in a bottom six role on that Seattle team. Now you're this year,
You're going to get to see what he's made of and what that looks
like offensively, and I think you'll see some really high skill plays. He's
going to find the highlight reel in the WHL fairly consistently, and he's going
to be one of those players who I expect to take a big step and
to reshape the conversation around him, just because of the opportunity that's going to
be in front of him in the WHL, and that opportunity may not even
be in Seattle. They may well trade him if they enter into sort of
a full rebuild. He'd fit as a candidate to get traded to a contending
team and play it at the top of the lineup with another team potentially if
he wanted to watch. Regardless of how things go for him in Seattle this
year, Nick Lardis was a third round pick for Speaking of rebuilding, teams.
The Chicago Blackhawks plays for the brand for Bulldogs, right winger number sixty
seven overall. As I said, Victor had him a bit higher thirty six
as a fantasy player. But tell us about Nick Lardis and your take on
him. Yeah, Lardis is the sort of speed is the name of his
game. That's all about his speed and his shot. He was traded mid
year from Peterborough to Hamilton. He was traded obviously away from an OHL championship
team in Peterborough who went on to win the title, which is I'm sure
it was at the time disappointing for him that he was dealt out in a
package to acquire an Arty drafted player. He was a young player on that
team. He was playing predominantly a depth role on that team. He then
got to move to Hamilton, which was a team that was on the upswing.
He played on their first line and he exploded. He was really one
of the stories of the second half of last season. In the twenty twenty
three draft class. He was electric for Hamilton in terms of just using that
speed, creating breakaways for himself, pounding his one timer and his shot on
the power play. He's a very dangerous shooter on the power play. Not
the most cerebral player, not the most spatially aware player in terms of using
his linemates. He's not going to fill the assist column necessarily, but looks
like a player who's speed and sort of ability to score and finishing touch could
carry him to the NHL, likely in a top nine role if he gets
there. A lot to like about Nick. He's a bit on the smaller
end, kind of five foot ten, five foot eleven a little bit,
but a natural athlete who performed really well that both the HL Combine at the
Top Prospects Game in January and then also at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo
this spring, and then obviously the second half really exploded as one of the
top scorers in the second half of the season in the OHL. A lot
to like there about the way that he skates and attacks. Yeah, definitely.
And the next guy we're gonna talk about, Noah Darron Nielsen. He
was selected by Detroit's seventy third overall. He got just a few games in
the SHL. Mostly he was in the j twenty last season, fifty four
points in thirty seven games. It was really nice, especially since he's the
late birthday so he was pretty much seventeen most of this season, and he
did look really good at the UA teens at the very end for Sweden.
So tell us a little bit about Noah Darron Nielsen. Yeah, Darren Nielsen's
an interesting one. He's a kid whose game is all about sort of finesse
and his skill on the puck. I've spoken with the staff that coached him
last year at that J twenty level and they talked about talked about him as
a sort of Elias Petterson level, All Star level talent at that level last
year. Obviously there's a big difference between JA twenty and playing professionally in the
shlight in the second tier hockey al Spenskin, But in terms of playing against
his peers, he was scoring beautiful goals regularly. There was a I'm in
the middle of last season where he was three, four or five points a
night for a good stretch of for a good chunk of the season, just
getting whatever he wanted offensively and with the puck on his stick, showing a
lot of dynamic traits. Now that hasn't always displayed itself internationally with Sweden.
The staff with Sweden have will offer more mixed reviews about Noah dollar Nielsen and
sort of his play for them over the years, but his finesse and his
skill has still shown in spurts with the national team. I expect not this
year he'll be our member of the World Junior team, but the following year
he should play for the Swedish World Junior team as a nineteen year old.
He's a kid who with the puck on his stick, there's length there,
there's still there, there's finesse there, there's touch and feel in terms of
knowing how to make plays and when to attack. And if he does make
it, it's there's a bit of a boomer bus projection for him. I
think. I think there's an outcome where he doesn't become an NHL player,
But if he does make it in the NHL, it's going to be as
an offensive player, it's going to be as a power play guy. It's
going to be a sort of hit for the Detroit Red Wings. So I
think that's what the Red Wings are counting on, that if we give him
proper time in the SHL, if we played a long game with this kid,
there's some real skill there out. In the BCHL last year, Idar
Sunyev of the Bendicton VS really ran up the score for him in that league.
Left winger was drafted by Calgary in the third round at number eighty overall.
And what do you think of this guy? Is he going to be
able to make a transition? It sounds like maybe BCHL again next year at
least, and then you masked the year after. That's what elite prospects seems
to think. But what's the what's the trajectory and what's the ceiling for this
guy? Yeah, Adar was a sort of talked about player in terms of
the private sphere scouting world last year for both good and bad reasons. The
bad was that he had to leave Saint Andrew's College and go to the BCHL
because of visa issues stemming his father. His father is Russian and his father
works. My understanding is that his father works fairly high up in this sort
of Russian government, and as a result, it was on no fly lists.
And because his father was on no fly lists, he couldn't play his
Adar couldn't play games in the United States. So all of that contributed to
a lot of chatter about, Okay, here's this kid who's committed to going
to college hockey route and can't gain entry into the United States. My understanding
now is that has been resolved that he will be attending UMass. He had
to change his commitment from Harvard to UMass because he couldn't at the time,
Harvard believed that he wasn't going to be able to get a visa and wouldn't
approve him to come. As a results, it's been a bit of a
weird path for him, but the talent is clear. He's a kid,
and obviously what his father does for a living should have no bearing on our
opinions of the kid. But he as a player is a really strong kid,
an incredible shot in terms of not just power, but also how quickly
he can get it off, the variety of stances he can get it off,
from the variety of ways he can get it off, whether that's one
time or the curlin drag, a catch and release, a standard sort of
rister in motion, all of those things get high grades. Really strong kid
built. If you run into him, you quickly realize that he's an athlete,
not the greatest skater in the world. That would be the one sort
of hiccup in his profile. But he looks like he looks like to me,
he looks like more than a third rounder in terms of the NHL draft,
and I think was largely available in the third rounder just because of a
little uncertainty around his status and where he's going to be playing and these issues
that he's went into over the last couple of years. But otherwise a legit
NHL prospect for sure. Nice all right. So the next guy, Cohen
Ziemer, another guy who went much later than maybe his fantasy upside is.
He went seventy eighth overall to LA. He was eighteenth on my list for
fantasy reasons. He was with Prince George of the WHL last season and had
eighty nine points in sixty eight games after a pretty strong D minus one year
too. So tell us a little bit bit about Cohen Ziemer Scott. Yeah,
Ziemer obviously played with Riley Hype, who we touched on off the top.
There were teammates they've played together for a couple of years now. Really,
Ziemer's a little bit on the older side. Ziemer was a two thousand
and four and then predominantly two thousand and five draft. Ziemer is a really
big kid. That concerned that NHL teams had about him was about fitness levels
and his body mass index and sort of just the fact that, if I'm
being blunt, he carries around a little bit. He's six feet tall,
that carries around a little bit more weight than most sort of high level athletes
do. So there were just concerns about sort of him getting into him needing
to get into better shape and get a little bit quicker. Other than the
foot speed and his fitness though that, you won't find a scout who has
anything bad to say about Cohen Ziemer. He's heavy on pocks, he can
shoot the puck, He's got fabulous hands. He scored some gorgeous individual goals
in the who over the last three seasons. He's played three seasons. Because
of his older birthday, obviously, he'll finish his checks. He'll play the
heavy style, he'll play the skill game. He can shoot it. He
scored forty goals last year. All of that, you don't often get forty
goal scorers out of the WHL outside of the first round, so I think
there could be some real nice value there for the LA Kings. And I
believe in a kid's ability to get into better shape. He's a teenager.
There's lots of time for him to figure out the gym side of the gym
and eating and sleeping side of his career. And otherwise he's got He certainly
looks like he's got the tools of an NHL player. Jadan Parrn is going
to be making the transition from the Chicago steel up to the University of North
Dakota forward drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes all the way near the end of the
third round at number ninety four. Victor likes him quite a bit, has
him up at twenty fourth on his fantasy draft list. Tell us about Jan
Barraun and his prospects for future in the NHL. Yeah, the name of
Jaden's game is that sort of cliched term of hockey. IQ was one of
the smart the very smartest players in last year's draft. Just a sort of
brilliant operator of the puck when he's on the ice inside the offensive zone in
particular, I would argue really all over the ice in terms of the way
he manages the puck and escapes trouble and problem solves. He's just a tremendous
sort of thinker out there in terms of the way he reads the game offensively,
very high end, and there is a belief amongst staff with the Chicago
Steel that I've spoken with that's going to make him a top six NHL winger
just on that basis alone of how smart he is. They've seen a lot
of those players come through the Chicago Steele. Sean Farrell is another one who's
about to graduate and become an NHL player, potentially with the Montreal Canadians,
who was also drafted fairly low as a sort of five foot nine, five
foot ten player who relied up smarts to get picked. Jaden similar like.
He's just a crafty, crafty, inventive kind of player out there, and
that increasingly, I think is carrying some kids further than maybe they get credit.
I have high expectations for Jaden to become a very productive two three year
player in college and then to turn pro and give it a go and get
signed and all of that. He's not the biggest kid, he's not the
fastest kid, but he's a good athlete. He's been a top player at
every level he's ever played at, going right back to his minor hockey days
when he was a true star prospect in sort of Western Canada and ultimately could
have gone extremely high in the WHL draft, but elected to go to college
travel instead to give him in his sort of smaller frame, a little bit
more time. So I'm not I'm fascinated by by Jaden Braun and what he
might become. Yeah, for sure, really excited to watch that. Another
guy that's really interesting is Luca Panelli. He went one hundred and fourteenth overall
to Columbus and he was with the ohl Ottama sixty seven's last year. He
also has a brother, Francesco Panelli, who I'm curious to hear if he
has some similarities to his game. Of course, Francesco's element was derailed a
little bit by the COVID shutdown in the HL, and so he's back now
doing pretty well. But to tell us a little bit about Luca's game and
whether he hasn't he similarities to his brothers. Yeah, Luca is, I
would say, relative to Francesco, a little bit busier on the ice.
Lucas a player who works and moves constantly. He's got skill, and he's
got quick hands, and he can shoot the puck and score with his wrister,
and he'll work hard to get involve his linemates and to be a sort
of complete, well rounded player. But he's also a kid who just stays
involved. He stays on pucks, he gets at he's a little bit smaller,
but he's stronger than he looks, and he gets after it, and
he wins battles, and he keeps his feet moving and he gets up and
under sticks, and he's just a sort of winning hockey player, if you
will, at least my version of one. I'm a big fan of Luca.
I liked Francesco and his draft here before the Kings took him as well,
But I think Luca has a little bit more pro quality, if he
will, in terms of just style of play. He plays the game the
way that coaches like it to be played, maybe a little bit better than
than Francesco does. But both of them are B plus NHL prospects who have
an opportunity to make it. And there's probably also an opportunity or an outcome
for both of them where they just become good HL guys who are called up
options. A variety of outcomes for both Luca and Francesco, but are like
both kids as solid NHL prospects. Alex Chernick a Slovak plane up in Sweden
last year for a couple of teams in the Hockey El Svenskin as well as
for the Slovakia national team at the World Juniors. He was drafted by the
Philadelphia Flyers number one twenty overall. Victor likes him a little bit better at
number eighty. But Alex Charonick tell us about this guy's game, and now
we're getting pretty deep into the draft. But is this a guy who could
significantly outperform that draft status. Yeah, Chernick's a kid who I had ranked
early second round on my list, so obviously I feel that one he was
a little low. He was a kid who was in the thirties on my
list throughout the year, thirties and forties on my list throughout the year.
He's a player who was an older kid in last year's draft class. Two
another two thousand and four late two thousand and four in a draft class that
was made up mostly of two thousand and five's, but wasn't a re entry
player. Had excelled internationally for Slovakia, playing at cross levels Helenka Gretzky Cup
Use seventeen levels, the U eighteen Worlds. Obviously, he has now also
played at the World Juniors. He will play again at the World Juniors in
Gothenburg this December, after having already played in Halifax. There's a track record
there. Internationally, there's a track wreck there. Domestically in Sweden. He's
a Slovak kid, but he's played in Sweden over the last few years,
made that move successfully, has played at the Hockey Al Spenskin second tier level
and been fairly productive there for a teenage player in a decent pro league,
and just plays the game with sort of a knifing skill. He's a darting
player. He cuts through holes and rights offense in bursts. He's a talented
player with the puck on his stick, creating attacking on angles and creating off
the wall inside the offensive zone or off off of the rush. Just a
very tactile offensive player, talented winger who can create offense in a variety of
ways. I'm looking forward to seeing what Alex does with his career. He's
got a real opportunity, i think, to progress up pro levels to become
an HL scorer and then to potentially some day become an NHL scorer as well.
He's a kid who at one twenty, I don't think you can do
do much better than that, all right. In the next phase of types
of players who wanted to ask you about, it's some risers from last year,
already drafted prospects, some guys who you know really popped off last year.
And the first one, the first name you gave us as one of
my absolute favorites, and that's Jeri Kulick. He was taken by Buffalo twenty
eighth overall in twenty twenty two and he's played primarily in Chechia in his draft
season, came over to the HL as you can do that without the CHL
agreement for European players, and he had one of the best HL seasons by
a teenager ever, forty six points in sixty two games, including earlier point
per game in the playoffs. Took a break to go play for Czech Ye
at the U twenties and had nine points and seven games there. So just
an absolutely fabulous season for Cool. It seems like he's maybe even close to
making the Sabers roster with that kind of performance. So tell us a little
bit about what you liked from him this past. Yeah cool, which is
a kid who really burst onto the scene, not that he wasn't already on
the scene, but really solidified himself as a first round pick at last year's
U eighteen Worlds in Germany. He especially on the power play, was just
an absolute force there. His one timer was consistently beating goalies. He was
looking strong and like he had presence over the puck. He's not the tallest
kid. I believe he's only sort of five ft eleven six feet, but
when you run into him in real life, you quickly realize that he's a
very strong, physically mature, well built kid. And then on top of
that, just plays the game to score, plays the game to make plays.
He can play the wall on the power play, he can play the
point on the power play. He can be a quick release guy in the
slot or on the bumper on the power play. He can do it all
in terms of creating an offense at even strength. Just a really likable hockey
player who can create offense in a variety of ways. I'm a big fan
of Kola Chiese, a kid who would go certainly go higher than where he
was picked in a do over today, and he was already a first round
pick, which speaks to just how impressive he was in the HL last year.
And he's a kid that I'm absolutely so the kids we just talked about
him in terms of some twenty twenty three gems or all kids that I'd be
unsure about becoming NHL players cool, which is at this point a kid that
I don't have any reservations about. He's going to be a very good NHL
player, So I would have zero hesitation taking him fairly high in a fantasy
draft. Oh nice. Next up, Ryan Green Boston University. He was
drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in twenty twenty two as centerman, drafted number fifty
seven overall. I guess he must have risen up above that status. Tell
us about Ryan Green and what makes him different from the way he was perceived
at the draft. Yeah, at the draft, he was perceived as this
sort of utility guy who could skate and potentially penalty kill and he could play
center, and at the next level he was probably going to make a sort
of decent, low event, bottom six player. And I think part of
what has changed is his skating I think is even better than people realized,
and it was already viewed as an asset. He's an excellent skater, and
there was just more offense. I think he's just scored and produced as a
freshman in college, maybe more than NHL scouts were expecting him too, and
that has shifted the dynamic. He also had a point in every single game
he played in at the World Junior selection camp, which I attended in Monkedin
before Team Canada selected their team. He was ultimately the last cut at forward
for that team, but was a player who did everything he could have possibly
done in that selection camp to make the team, and I know he was
a little bit disappointed that he felt he couldn't have played any better than he
did and he still didn't make it. But Green's a kid who now if
he was looking like a potential sort of low event, bottom six guy a
year ago, I think now there's a real opportunity for him to become a
solid, productive third line center at the NHL level. I'm still not sure
he's going to be a sort of top six type, but with the way
he skates, the well roundedness of his game offensively, there's a real opportunity
in front of him now to become a part of the black Hawks future.
And they've got a lot of coming down the middle, and certainly a lot
of players who can skate. We talked about Nick Lardis and his skating,
all of our more, Frank, Nasar Connor Bdards go down the list of
their prospects, they're all kids who play fast, and they're in each of
those cases they're all natural centers. So there's going to be some competition for
center jobs long term with the Blackhawks. Obviously Bedard is sewn up, but
even behind him, whether it's Nasar Green all over more Nick Clardis, you
go down the list, it's Paul wood Winsky's another one at tremendous skater that
they took it in the draft two years ago, who projects as a bottom
six sort of energy type guy. There's some jobs to be won there,
but also at a healthy competition, and I expect now that Green's going to
be a big part of that competition. Yeah, good stuff there. Let's
move on to a defenseman. The only defenseman on this part of the list,
that's Lane Hudson, and he was certainly a subject of many conversations last
year because he was so small, taking sixty second overall by the Montreal Canadians,
and I believe he was like five heat going into that draft, and
he showed some evidence of why he thought he would grow, and from what
I can tell, he has. I think right now he's listed at five
to eleven, but I've heard people say he's closer to our sorry, five
ten. I think people have said he's closer to five to eleven now.
So he's definitely grown a bit. And he had a pretty fantastic season for
Boston University forty eight points and thirty nine games, along with playing some pretty
nice roles for the U twenty eight World Junior team him and the men's World
Championships. So he's been all over. I know he was at the World
Junior Showcase if I remember correctly. So yeah, who are playing out lots
of levels and impressing pretty much everywhere. I know there's still some concerns maybe
about his skating and physicality, but he can do pretty incredible things with the
puck from what I understand. So tell us what you thought of Willane Hudson's
year. Yeah, it was a special year, a historic year. One
of the best seasons in recent college hockey history by a freshman defenseman, especially
a teenage freshman defenseman. He's a special player. He looks like he's got
a chance to be a real star in the league. Offensively and from fantasy
perspective, we know that offenses came, there's going to be huge value in
terms of your purposes and the fantasy side of this sport that we all watch.
In Lane Hudson, he's going to be a powerplay one guy in the
NHL. He's going to quite likely put up huge counting stats in terms of
assists and shots on goal and primary assists, even if your league's count that.
He just has this playmate ability in his knack for creating with the puck
on his stick that is pretty rare. He can break ankles, he can
see through layers of coverage. He can walk the line, he can walk
off the line, he can join the rush, he can find his way
out of trouble. You mentioned the skating being a bit of an issue.
I would say it's more the pivots than the skating. He can struggle defending
the rush with his pivots and his footwork turning back to go get pucks.
Obviously, he's never going to be the biggest player. He's never going to
be the best player in terms of penalty minutes or hits, or he's not
going to be a penalty killer even at least I'd be pretty surprised if he's
a penalty killer in the NHL. But he's going to create offense and get
offensive zone starts and make plays to talented players and do everything in college that
he do everything in the NHL. But he did in college, and that
he's done at the twenty level and at the eight team level with the national
development program, and like he's just he's special. He's going to be one
of the more when he makes it, and I truly believe he's going to
make it. He's going to be one of the more entertaining defenseman in the
NHL. Music to My Ears Okay Cruz Lucius University of Wisconsin, Madison.
He followed up being drafted number one, twenty four overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.
The right winger did buy nothing but a point per game freshman season for
the Wisconsin Badgers, and now he's going into a sophomore season and rising up
the charts a little bit tell us about Cruz Lucius. Yeah, that Wisconsin
team. We know that they've got excellent facilities, that they've been a giant
in terms at a powerhouse in terms of recruiting over the years, but they've
fallen into a little bit of disarray over the last few seasons. They've really
struggled as a program. There's been a lot of inconsistency among the top prospects
that have gone there, even Alex Turcott and KeAndre Miller and Cole Coffield,
the stars, some of the and Dylan Halloway, some of the stars that
they've had come through there have even had some of their own sort of reel
ups and downs in that program. And one of the consistent, one of
the only things that was consistent that team last year was Cruz and his play
and just his ability to create offense, his ability to make plays on the
power play. He's a kid who, like his brother Chaz, a first
round pick in the Winnipeg Jets, as they both dealt with some pretty serious
injury troubles that have hampered their development earlier in their career. So it was
just nice to see CRUs get back healthy last year. Play of the most
of a full season in his freshman year at Wisconsin and really look like a
productive player. I'm not sure whether he's going to make as a nineteen year
old in his last shot at making the World Junior team. I'm not sure
whether he is going to make it this year. He feels to me like
a bit of a bubble guy on a very what will be a very deep
team at forward. But I think in any other year he would probably make
that American team at the World Juniors, would be a sort of solid top
nine winger for them. And I think he's now reset what the expectations are
for him in his career, and he doesn't look like a player who was
taking in the middle of the draft. He looks more like a player who
should have been maybe not a first round pick, but a second round pick
for in the NHL draft. Cruz has he has some talent. He's a
lot like Chazz, not the fastest player. Neither of them would call their
skating their greatest assets. But he handles the puck really smartly, has some
real skill and also has some of some sneaky ability to score, which at
the program he was viewed more as a passer, and his brother, Chazz,
who was a year ahead of him, was viewed as the pure scorer.
And I think Cruz actually has a little bit more to offer as a
shooter than he was maybe able to show at the national program. So I'm
looking forward to him continuing to develop that piece of this game as well.
All Right, And the last guy that we have in this section is Jimmy
Snuggerud, who was taken twenty third overall by Saint Louis, And he was
at the USNTDP last year and he was good. He was one of the
top players on the program. But I guess I did not expect to see
this freshman season at University of Minnesota happened, where he had fifty points in
forty games. He was really one of the most excellent freshman in recent memories.
And he also was fantastic at the World Juniors for US thirteen points in
seven games. I don't want to say this came out of nowhere, but
I was a fantastic progression I would say for him. For snug Rud and
his D plus one seasons can tell us a little bit more about what you
saw from him. Yeah, you're banging on for sure. Jimmy had arguably
the best season in terms of relative to where he was picked by anybody in
last year's draft. Certainly Lane Hudson, Erie Coolwich I would include in that
conversation as well. But Jimmy was tremendous. He played on one of the
best lines in college hockey. There were nights where he was the best player
on one of the best lines in college hockey. And that was a line
obviously that included Rogan Cooley and Matthew Kneys, And it was a great year
for him. It was just one of those seasons where everything went his way
and he was finishing on his chances, and he was getting good looks for
himself, and he was using his line mates, and he was good on
the cycle, and he was good on the rush, and he was good
on the power play, and he just looked good in every facet of the
game offensively, and he was a kid who played Cutter got in Logan Cooley
on the top line at the national program. But I think during his draft
year there was this belief that Logan was the driver of that line and that
Cutter was this great story who'd established himself as this sort of big, strong
shooting, scoring player, and that Jimmy was third fiddle, And I think
now what has happened is that those gaps have leveled. I certainly still think
that Logan Coolly and Cutter go Tie are better prospects than Jimmy Snuggrood, but
he looks closer to them than I think people realized, or then people gave
it, or at least then people gave him credit for in his draft year.
So just an excellent year and a player who I fully expect will be
a top six winger for the Blues, and maybe as early as this spring,
because I expect that he's going to have another really strong year in college
and that he'll be a two and done player who plays in the NHL for
the last few games of the regular season next spring. Just to fall up
on that, Scott, there was a bit of surprise, obviously, with
Cooley saying he was coming back and then deciding to go to the NHL.
Do you think that snuggrowed is and to be able to be as effective without
Coolie, because as you mentioned, he proved it a little bit on his
own, but he still had some pretty excellent teammates in the last two seasons
to be able to get do what he did. Do you think he can
do it on his own? Yeah, he's going to be a year older,
He's going to have another summer of training, and I think it's almost
better for him that Logan's not coming back, because it's an opportunity for him
to do it himself and to showcase himself and to take charge of that team.
And I expect that he'll probably wear a letter with that team this year,
and all of that's going to be a bigger piece. They've graduated a
lot of players. They're probably losing Devon Michigan are probably losing the most in
terms of what their rosters looked like last year for what they're going to be
looking like this year. Virtually the an entire defense, or at least four
out of the six main pieces of that defense at Minnesota are gone. Obviously,
Matt Knys and Logan COOLi are gone upfront, among others. So this
is going to be his team this year. They've still got another good freshman
class coming in, led by Oliver Moore, who was a first round pick
of the Chicago Black Cows and could be this sort of center replacement, could
be his center to replace Logan Cooley. And if that's the case, I
fully expected Oliver More and Jimmy Snuggery will function great together. I think this
is still going to be a really big year for him. I expect him
to be a point for game player and college hockey and as I mentioned,
to turn pro at the end of his sophomore season. Very good. We'll
be right back and talk a little bit more of a Scott Wheeler, all
right. It's got a couple of questions from our patrons. The first one
from Dan, is there a standout prospect goalie in the twenty twenty four draft.
The simple answer is no, not. At this stage. There isn't
a Sebastian Coast, a Spencer Knight of the Yeroslawastarov, a Yesper Walstet.
There isn't a kid who's in that first round conversation. Even this time last
year, we were starting to get a sense that Jacob Fowler and Michael Harrable
and Tray certainly Trey Augustine, We're going to be the top goalie prospects in
the twenty twenty three draft. At this stage in the prospect in the process
for twenty twenty four We're not there yet. There is one goal tender out
of Sweden who was an honorable mention on my preseason list, which actually dropped
today at the Athletic. His name's Eric Olsen. Olson's solid sort of B
plus great goalie prospect. But isn't it doesn't look like he'll be in the
first round conversation, at least, there isn't to answer that question. There
isn't a natural, sort of true top goalie prospect in this upcoming draft.
That's fair. Denique wants to know if you have a sense you've been covering
the draft for a long time and scouting and talking to organizations, are there
teams that do particularly well at both scouting and developing players and maybe some that
struggle a little bit. Yeah, it's a good question there. Some would
argue that the Los Angeles Kings, despite having drafted extremely well over the last
decade, haven't actually developed all that well. I think sometimes that has less
to do with how the team is developing prospects and more to do with just
how many prospects they do have. I think the Kings in particular ran into
a situation where they had too many guys and they didn't sell high on a
lot of those guys, and then as a result, when there's too many
guys and there's not enough openings, players begin to lose value because they're not
making a jump. I think there's a little bit of it happens sometimes.
I think having too much can often work against you, or at least against
your prospects in terms of giving them the opportunities that they need to continue to
take steps. But I don't think there's any teams that draft or develop particularly
poorly relative to the field. I do think there are teams that do it
well. I think the Carolina Hurricanes do things really well. I think that
Toronto make the least develop better than they draft, and have shown a track
record to bringing guys along and getting the most out of guys. I think
the Vegas Golden Knights have drafted quite well but done very little with those picks
in terms of they've traded a lot of their success stories away so that they
can upgrade their NHL roster, which has obviously worked in helping to get them
to a Stanley Cup. I don't know, it's an interesting question. There
are I always point to the Carolina Hurricanes. Is the team that's most in
line with the way that I would do things in terms of how they've drafted
and how they've tried to put like minded players together within that organization, and
they clearly have an identity that I think works and fits with the way that
hockey's being played today. But outside of the Hurricanes, I don't think there's
any team that sort of really comes to mind for me that way. Perfect
that's fair. I want to ask you to pull out your crystal ball here,
because one thing we're always interested in is who's going to be the power
play quarterback of the future. And there's a couple of teams that have some
really stacked defensive prospects, and obviously you don't know, but I'm just wondering
what you think. So the first one would be the Ducks. Obviously they
have Zellwegger, that they have Drysdale, There's even some other depth guys there.
But do you think one of those rises to be the clear power play
quarterback in the future, Say, I don't know, three or four years
from now, something like that. If I had to place a bet on
Zellwegger, Meantukov and Drysdale in terms of who's running PP. One three years
from now, my answer would be Zellwegger. I just think he has a
little bit more quality and dynamism to the way that he plays the game.
From the point, I think he offers a little bit more variety at the
top of the point, he's now added a shot element to his game that
maybe wasn't there. Drysdale has never had a major shot element to his game,
So zell Legger has got a leg up there, as does mean to
Yukov. They're both better shooters than Drysdale is from the top of his own
but on top of that, just his footwork, the way that distinguishes itself
from his peers, the way he can attack and create opportunities with his feet
and create lanes with his feet. But he's a pretty unique player. So
I think Zellwegger has the leg up, and then honestly, I might go
to him into Yukov second before I go to Drysdale. Drysdale just feels to
me like a player at this point who's going to be a productive five on
five PP two guy, and I think there is an opportunity where all three
of those guys end up on the power play. Whether that's Zellweger, running
PP one by himself and mint Ukavin Drysdale both being on PP two or some
combination of two on one unit one on the other. But Zellweger, I
think from a pure power play perspective, has the most upside. Yeah,
that's fair. I really appreciate that answer. And then let's go to New
Jersey for the next one, because they obviously have a lot of great prospects
too. There's Luke Hughes who probably coming to the league as early as this
year. Then we have Simo Nemics who was great in the HL, even
Shamus Casey who was great, and Dougie Hamilton is there. Do you have
a take there on those that crowded blue line. I think Hughes offers more
than Nemics, at least in terms of true power play quality. I know
that the Devil's actually have speaking with a couple of people within the Devil's organization
last year, but they were actually a little bit surprised at Nemis's game on
the power we're playing, a little bit disappointed and how he looked on the
power play and stretches last year. Nemich is still an extremely productive player.
He's going to be a productive NHL defenseman he's going to be. He should
be a player who gets taken very high in fantasy drafts and is held on
to he's an excellent defenseman. But in terms of just the power play conversation,
I think Hughes has a leg up there. And then Hamilton, we
already know he's an elite power play guy, so I don't think as long
as he's in the prime of his career and healthy, I don't think that's
going to change. It'll be interesting to see what happens there. I don't
think Hamilton's going anywhere in terms of PP one, and that probably means that
at least right now, that Luke Hughes is your PP two guy there.
Yeah, that makes sense for sure. And then let's look at the Jackets.
The Jackets obviously David Jerrycheck looks pretty great and got some time already in
the NHL, Dentimtaychuck, and Zach Warenski obviously coming off the injury, but
he should still be there for a long term because one of those guys rise
and take over for Wrensky at some point, I think of eventually, maybe,
I think it's Lorenski's for now, Obviously, Metai Chuck's not turning into
the into an NHL player this year. Jack might become the full time NHL
player this year. Relative to each other, I think Archeck has a little
bit more dimension just because of his shot relative to Metai Chuck. Yearcheck has
a bomb from the point and could score. I could see him scoring ten
goals as act ten to fifteen goals. It's a defenseman in the NHL,
which obviously only a few guys do every year. I don't think Metai Check
is going to be a ten to fifteen goal scorers a defenseman, but both
are capable power play guys. Both are potential PP one guys if they really
figure it out and put all the pieces together. I would just give year
Check the slight edge because he offers a shot threat that sort of changes the
dynamic on the power play a little bit. Yeah, that's fantastic. One
more team and that's Detroit. Obviously most Cider was great and potentially bounce back
from him. They have someone Evanson who's about to arrive. They have other
guys too, like Albert Johanssen. They also have Jake Walman who's already there,
Shane Gosta, spar They have a bunch of guys both there and on
the way, so it seems like there's a lot of options there. But
do you see a clear winner maybe taking it away from Cider or Gosasparitt at
some point. No, I don't. You didn't mention William Wallander there,
but I would add him to that list in terms of the prospects that are
coming for that group. Obviously they've now added Axel Sandy and Pelica as well.
Who if there is one who's going to take it from Cider in the
long term, it might be Axel, Sandy and Pelica, who was arguably
the most talented pure offensive defenseman in last year's draft, But sending Pelica is
two three years away, so that's not an imminent thing. I don't think
Edvnson because he lacks a shot from the point and has never been a particularly
proficient shooter from the point. That could limit him in terms of power play
up side. I think it's Ciders for the short, medium and long term.
I think Cider is going to be that PP one guy for them,
and then I would expect if there is anybody who going to challenge him,
but the most likely one is Axel, Sandy and Pellato. Yeah, of
course, how could I forget those two suites? Thank you for that.
I just wanted to run a couple more guys by you. I know you're
running short on time, but there's a couple of power play prospect defenseman that
I'm just wondering. Our patients are wondering if they're going to command top power
play time. And this doesn't necessarily revolve around each team, but a couple
of guys a little bit later in their development and some of there early and
those would be Kill and Addison, Scott Prunovich, Rasmus Sandy and Kevin Korczynski
and Nikishan and obviously the last two are really young. But I'm wondering if
any of those guys, do they all have the potential to be that top
power play quarterback or are their significant barriers in their way where they are not
so likely to get that. I think Addison and Perunovitch have been in them.
Certainly, I believe in Scott Prunovich. I think Scott Prunovich is going
to become a bit of a revelation in short order here in the NHL.
I think he's going to have a breakout year. At some point in the
next couple of years, isn't really established himself as one of the better offensive
defenseman in the NHL. Addison, I think is a sort of natural just
the way he plays and manages the puck. I think is a natural power
play guy. Sanden has always felt to me like a PP two guy more
than a PP one guy. I think if you're a contending team, you
quite likely will have someone on your blue line who's more talented and a better
fit for PP one than Rasmus Sandeen. So I think his ceiling is always
going to be a little bit limited relative to at least these other names.
Korchynsky, for sure, I think has a real opportunity to be the power
play quarterback of the future with the Chicago Blackhawks. I think in talking to
people within the Blackhawks organization, that's something that they expect as well. They
expect him and have penciled him in as that and believe that he's capable of
living up to those expectations. And then Alexander Nikischen is a tricky one,
just because we know that in Carolina they have Brent Burns. We know that
they're always a team that's in the market to add offensive defenseman. They were
reportedly in on Eric Carlson before he was traded to Pittsburgh. So there may
always be people blocking nkission in terms of the true PP one opportunities. But
could I see Alexander Nicissien leaving the KHL and coming over to the NHL and
being a power play quarterback. Absolutely, whether that's a PP one or PP
two guy. But I think of those five that Perinovich and Kortchynsky are probably
the two that I would really circle. Those guys I expect to be that
this is fantastic. Scott, really appreciate your time. If some people haven't
read your work or don't know who are, please let us let them all
know where they can follow you and how to check out your great work.
Yeah, at Scott's Wheeler on Twitter or x as I suppose it's called now
and the same name Scott Wheeler at the Athletic. And we're obviously a paid
subscription platform, so I know it's always a bit of a leap of faith
for people to spend their money on our coverage, but I truly believe that
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Athletic Shot on a one year subscription, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Oh, I definitely agree with that. Longtime subscriber, Jesse and I
both are and thank you so much again stat for coming on. Thanks.
A couple of things to mention before we get out of here today is you
should play your leagues on fantracks dot com. They got all kinds of different
sports in there. They've got Fantasy f one you like that, Fantasy football
bet you've heard of that, all sorts of different things there, and Fantasy
hockey of course is in full swing and ready to go for the upcoming sea.
Fantrak's HQ is the place to check out all the fantasy content that they
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roster over on the right hand column to see articles by our authors at Fantrak's
HQ. I'm even thinking about putting together a couple of articles here in the
near future myself. In addition to Fantrak's HQ, and we're part of the
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Nuno is an editor and Victor also over at Dauber Prospects does another podcast it's
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