Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks.
Speaker 2: Here sits.
Speaker 1: Your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league. Block off hot a step hit on, staylock.
Here's your host, Jesse Sevier and Victor Newton you hope
Fantasy Hockey Live.
Speaker 2: Jesse Severe here, and on the other side of the glass,
it is Ryan Downey, not only the tidy Admiral, but
today speaking in his offices as a dobber prospect guy.
How you doing today, Ryan?
Speaker 3: I'm great? Wow, Jesse.
Speaker 1: I think this is the first time I've been here
for you starting the show. I feel like I've finally
arrived as like a co host of the show here.
So I'm just honored to be here while you're screaming
Fantasy Hockey Life at our.
Speaker 3: Greats is out there.
Speaker 2: You are in the booth, my friend, We're here together.
We're in this together.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: For those Victor is not here this week. Victor is
getting some off done. Ryan is so graciously stepping in
to make sure that I only make a fool out
of myself for fifty percent of the episode. And this
is going to be some good talk today.
Speaker 3: But Ran, how you've.
Speaker 2: Been doing man, I'm good man.
Speaker 3: I've been busy.
Speaker 1: I've taken on As some of you might recall, the
last time I was on the show, I mentioned that
I was taking on a role with Dauber updating the
prospect profiles the observations tab for the learned the fans
of Dabber prospects here. So yeah, when you go to
any of these prospects tabs or pages, I should say,
you'll see a little tab that says observations, and there's
going to be an update there. It's usually right now
it's March twenty twenty six, So all the updates I'm
writing are March twenty twenty six, looking at the seasons
that some of these prospects have had and trying to
make determinations of it. What's the most relevant information fee
fantasy hockey managers out there? And yeah, I think I've
done something like fifty five of those in the past
two weeks. And I'm very well versed on the topic
of today's program.
Speaker 2: I know I'm obsessive about reading those things when I'm
in ad in the season, so I appreciate the work
you're doing over there. Yeah, man, we're gonna have a
good topic for this episode. Right after this, we'll come
back ran. We have been doing this series Victor and I.
Victor has been writing this series on different prospect systems
from different teams in the NHL. We've been doing a
lot of these. We got our scouts Touts, which actually
is our internal scouting team that's doing stuff, and we
have our Dynasty Stock Watch and those types of episodes
where we're relying on some of Victor's analysis he's been
doing his systems. We're not going to make it to
all thirty two systems kids, not before we get to
the team previews. So today Ryan and I are going
to talk about eight of the systems that have not
been covered yet and will not get covered before the
team previous these guys, Obviously, we've talked a lot of
the guys that you hear about today, we've talked about before,
we'll talk about again. But Ryan and I are going
to go through eight more of the systems that are
out there in Ryan, I'll kick it off to you first.
It's loosely in the concept of a draft, but it's
hard because the draft pool is twelve teams and we're
picking eight of them, so it's hard to explain to
the point is we're covering eight systems, but Ryan, who
is the first you have in your item to discuss here?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jesse, you gave me first pick here for our
kind of quasi systems draft here, and I will say
I did let you pick one as well, at which
you'll get into. But I wanted to pick one that
I'm the most excited about. And this is the excitement
for the system for me. Grew when they replaced their
general manager last season. This is the New York Islanders.
They moved on from lou Lambarello and added Matthew darsh
to the managing team, and the prospects literally have never
been brighter for this team. It's been a while since
New York Islanders fans have had this level of player
to get excited about. And the idea, I should just
say for the listeners here, Jesse, the idea we were
basing this around is tidy scoring, and so what players
would do really well in the tiered dynasty league. And
one of the player archetypes that does exceptionally well in
the tier dynasty is the offensive defenseman who also plays defense.
And what better player to be an example of that
than Matthew Shaefer, who will still have some miners eligibility
in the Tidy next year, so he is eligible for
this conversation. Here, we don't need to spend a lot
of time arguing about whether Shaffer is good. He already
is with twenty goals as an eighteen year old rookie defenseman.
Only three times in history, Jesse has a rookie Blue
liner hit that mark Brian Leach, Barry beck and Dion Fineff.
He also broke Denny Pott fans At Islanders record for
goals by a rookie defenseman and is the overwhelming Calder
Trophy favorite in a field that includes great players like Beckett, Seneke,
and Ivon Demdov. What separates him from the conversation around
other elite offensive prospects at his position is he plays
both ends. He is one of the best defensive prospects
in this draft class full stop, not just offensively gifted,
but someone who makes play and competes on both sides
of the puck. That balance is what puts him in
a different category, and for Tidy, the profile is as
close to perfect as it gets at disposition, goals, assists, shots,
power play time, blocks.
Speaker 2: What more could you want, Jesse, what more could you want?
You can't do better than Matthew Schaeffer. This is absolutely
number one prospect. With bullet, you won't be a prospect
much longer. I have no arguments there. Ryan, New York
Islanders start out with a huge advantage for prospect system.
Speaker 3: Who you guy for? Next guy?
Speaker 1: Yeah? The next two guys are really just so exciting
to me. And then we're gonna be talking first about
Victor Eckland, who is in his D plus one season
here with jer Garden in the SHL forty three games,
played six goals, eighteen assists for twenty four points as
a nineteen year old in that league is pretty impressive.
He also had a very like an exceptional World Junior's
Tournament two goals, six assists and scoring the gold medal
winning goal as well. Victor Ecklund is immediately noticeable every
time he's on the ice, and not just because he's flashy,
because he is just relentless. He's an app puckhound. He
did save his best for the gold medal game, making
a huge effort play in the dying seconds of Sweden's
first goal since twenty twelve, which tells you something about
who he is as a competitor. He doesn't play at
maximum speed all the time. He varies his pace to
the read in front of him and uses his hockey
IQ to make simple plays. I find that he is
underrated physically for his size. He is great along the
boards and he hits, that's for sure, which makes him
a very valuable asset in leagues that value bash scoring.
He creates cold, controlled chaos around the pucket, is willing
to absorb pressure. Has real upside on both sides of
the ice. For me, I see a comp as a
Seth Jarvis kind of player, a high motor winger who
earns his ice time through compete and finds ways to
contribute in all situations.
Speaker 3: His playmaking and.
Speaker 1: Defensive work are ahead of where his raw production suggests.
I think the goal scoring will come at higher levels.
Speaker 2: Younger brother got to always be afraid of the younger brothers,
And yeah, I got a Victor Ecklin reference. Will be
making later, but definitely for sure. This is a no
doubt or here. But that wasn't the only pick that
wasn't even We've already talked about two picks from the
first round of the twenty twenty five draft. Here, Ryan,
but you're not done with them. Who's your other guy
from this team?
Speaker 1: No, and this is another guy. I think people were
a little more concerned about this pick at the time
that it was made. But Kashawn Ahison has had an
incredible year with Barry this year fifty four games played,
twenty eight goals, forty two assists for seventy points and
plus forty five, and he was actually the Ohl Defenseman
of the Month in January of twenty twenty six. I
think he's one of the most entertaining prospects in junior
hockey right now. He's an absolute throwback, a physically dominant
defenseman who hunts open ice, hits plays below the dots,
block shots at a high rate, and just happens to
score at a pace that would also be.
Speaker 3: Impressive from a forward.
Speaker 1: The scouting raad on him is that he's a powerful,
bullish defender who is hard to play against. The goal
scoring hasn't necessarily been a surprise, given he had twenty
six and sixty four games last year, but I do
think it's a little questionable how much of those offensive
talents can translate at the pro level. When more players
are as big and strong as he is. The skating
for him has been the knock since draft day and
remains a bit of a concern at the NHL level.
So the governor on his ceiling will be mobility and
whether he could translate some of those offensive skills to
the NHL. But for tidy managers, the profile projects beautifully regardless.
A physical defenseman who scores blocks and hits and brings
some penalty minutes and leagues that value that not ours, thankfully,
But I think this is like he could be a
Darnell Nurse but with more offensive upside is how I
see him as.
Speaker 3: Of right now.
Speaker 1: He's playing a mature two way defensive game. So that's
pretty good for the New York Islanders.
Speaker 2: Dang Darneld Nurse had some very fine years. Yeah, it's
always a challenge as we go through these systems as
they already have a superstar defenseman. But you know what,
sometimes there's room for more than one. Sometimes life works
its way out. But the crazy thing is I would
have been pretty happy with just the twenty twenty five
first round draft of the New York Islanders, But who
are some other guys on this team? That you think
fantasy manager should be paying attention to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just want to mention a couple of guys
here who are some of them are actually contributing right now.
One of those is a Callum Ritchie, who's twenty one
and is currently playing for the New York Islanders. He's
had a pretty good rookie season. He played a couple
of games in previous season, but this is his real
arrival point with fifty games and nineteen points, eight goals
eleven assists, playing largely in a third line role, but
recently just got upgraded into the top power play so
we'll talk about that a little bit here. Ritchie, for
those of you that don't remember, arrived from Colorado and
the brock Nelson deal, which was a significant return. That
tells you how the Islanders see his upside. He's been
reassigned and called up and moved all around the organization
earlier this season, but he has landed as of the
time of this writing alongside Horvett and Heineman on the
first line, so the coaching staff is certainly identifying his
playmaking as a genuine asset. He goes between there and
the third line. But one thing that has stayed consistent
pretty much all year, all of this calendar year. Jesse
is that he's on power Play one and actually Elon
and Brian and I own him in the Cup Dole
the Keeping Carlson Ultimate Patron Dynasty League, and he has
been like a key contributor to us in our playoff
matchup this week. The production is certainly modest, but the
context of a young player finding his footing at a
new organization makes that a little more understandable. The ceiling
I think here is a middle sixth center. It likely
doesn't surpass brock Nelson's career totals, but it's a useful
ceiling for him and certainly a good dynasty asset in
the league, like the tidy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a heck of a That's a heck of
a team that is going on.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 2: Any other thoughts on this system before we move to
the next one, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just a few here. People are probably surprised I haven't
mentioned Cole Iserman yet. He's he's taken a bit of
a step back. He's had a tough time finding ways
to contribute when the shot isn't falling, but he does
have potential still to be in the middle six there
in the New York Islanders system. Another guy, danil Perkorov,
a six to six power winger who is one of
the most physically dominant players in the VHL this season.
It's a black and white, straightforward game that pro Core
plays and he's very raw, but the size and goal
scoring instincts are real. So that's a long range hold there.
And then there's Danny Nelson, who came up a lot
in the around the trade deadline. It seemed like every
trade that the New York Islanders were potentially going to
make was we're gonna send you X and Danny Nelson
X and Danny Nelson, so he was gonna throw in
piece there. He's the Notre Dame co captain who has
actually decided to go back to college next season as
of the recording of this episode, to play with his brothers.
He's led the Big Ten in face offs of fifty
seven percent. It's definitely like a Jordan Stall two way
center type, but he certainly won't be it won't be
making the NHL next year. And then if you go
even further down the system, Jesse, just to knock it
out here, you got Jacob Kavasnika, who's a seventh round
pick who's top ten in WHL scoring right now committed
to Minnesota for next season. You got Isaiah George, who
has seen some time in the NHL, a six to
one defenseman who projects as a third pair ish guy.
And then even farther down the system, you have guys
like Camille Bednarik and Jesse Polkinen who are both playing
at bennark Is playing a limited role with bu polkin
In's on the ECHL team, but he has some upside
to be in NHLer as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what a dang crazy system there, Ryan, And we
didn't even mention my boy Quinn Finley, who is one
of the top scorers in the Wisconsin Badgers and pretty
much has the same scoring in the NCAA as Cole
Eiserman does this year. But to pass World Juniors champion
Quin Finley. And let's move on to the next team,
my first one of these teams and less people call
me a homer. People. We've talked about the Washington capital
system and it is just a pretty good one. I know,
I'm opening myself up to this. I did this to
myself talking about Washington first, but they deserve it right.
Victor has said this too on the episodes is, and
I've been saying it for a while. Is considering where
they've drafted, pound for pound, they've been getting pretty good
value out of their picks and have found some undervalued
picks that have come big. Nobody more so than a
certain second round pick that they took back in twenty
twenty four. Cole Hudson, arguably the most heralded defenseman not
yet in the NHL, is what I would have told
you before this week when he became a guy who
is in the NHL and scored an empty net goal
in his first game on the ice for the Caps.
Who knows by the time you're listening to this, he's
probably played a couple more games. But I have to
love the deployment he's been getting already. Hudson is basically
he's an offensive savant. Obviously, he's the younger brother to
Lane Hudson, who we've seen his work up in Montreal.
He faces the immediate challenge coming into Washington, like I
was talking about with Hison coming in on New York.
He's got the problem of finding a role next to
Jacob Chickeran, who I think is Or was recently the
leading goal scorer among defensemen in the NHL, so there
is a power play mainstay. But then again, John Carlson
and Jacob Chickering co existed on this team. Now, mind you,
unlike Carlson, both Chickerin and Hudson are lefty, so that
is a rich person problem. But for right now, Lane
Hudson R. Cole Hudson is getting the power play two minutes.
He's growing into the role. He's just transitioning from Boston
University in the NCAA, where he was great this year.
Of course, the famously at the World Juniors was the
ald captain, but got injured didn't play the whole tournament.
That definitely did not help the United States. Cole Hudson
is not a giant by any means. He's not one
of those massive defensemen that sometimes the GM's drool over,
but he's plenty big at five to eleven to hold
down the role. Any thoughts on Cole Hudson before I
keep moving any argument. He's not Matthew Shaeffer, but he's
probably the next best thing.
Speaker 1: He's pretty darn close Jesse like already, I would say,
even just looking at the skating If you're a person
out there who is a nerd about prospects, and of
course you are because you're listening to this podcast, I
would strongly recommend taking the time out of your day
to watch Cole Hudson's first game with the Washington Capitals
earlier this week.
Speaker 3: It was a.
Speaker 1: Masterclass of how to step into the lineup in the
middle of a season. He's been playing his college season
full pace, full bore, and he gets right to the
game with.
Speaker 3: The Washington Capitals.
Speaker 1: There was one play in particular where he was on
his left side taking the puck backward backwards skating and
he curves around on his edges and then enters right
back into the offensive zone with speed and gets in
and creates a huge scoring chance. And so I would
recommend even just to watch, like you don't see a
player like that make their debut in the NHL often.
I would strongly recommend going to watch that game because
it was awesome to watch.
Speaker 2: The second player on the Caps I'm going to talk
about Eliot protas we know again Ilier potas younger brother
of Alex and that's all younger brothers on the Capitols.
They wait for the first one to get picked and
then take the second one. He is giant, not quite
as giant as his brother. He's sixty five and he
has made the transition. Remember last year he was tearing
it up in the OHL, so in a three or trajectory,
tore it up for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the
USHL last year, one hundred and twenty four points and
sixty one games in the OHL, more than two points
per game in the regular season, more than two points
per game in the playoffs. You're like, now he's moving
to the AHL. We're going to move him up to
another level. It's going to be challenging. He's had fifty
points in fifty nine games. Now, look, are you not
impressed with that? Are you thinking, Ah, there's a lot
of guys who get about that a little bit under
a point per game, or they're in the AHL, they
can be tweeners. It's not going to be much. What
if I told you that In the history of the AHL,
with stat's going back to the forties, Protas is fifteenth
in points per goal for players in nineteen or under
who had at least fifty games played. Protas the season
is actually historic when you consider his age. Now, are
there other guy he's tied with Patrick Eliosh in terms
of his points to date? Now are Lucas Reichel and
Alex Holtz ahead of him on that list? Who knows.
There's really no way of finding out if that is
the case. But the point is there's nothing that Protas
is doing that indicates he's slowing down as he approaches
the NHL. He is moving like a mac truck, and
I think we'll be playing with his brother sooner than later,
and playing potentially very well. A lot of these capitals
forwards lately have not necessarily thrived when they've moved through
the system and then hit the NHL. Hopefully Protas is
a little bit of an exception to that, but there
have been actually some of them have hit the wall.
We'll mention a couple of them in a little bit,
but before I get there, any thoughts on the Protash there?
Speaker 1: Yeah, do you know what the difference the key difference here,
Jesse is between Ilia Protas, Lucas Raichel, and Alex Holtz.
It's that Protas is gigantic and he's fast, so he's
able to do all of this at pace and that's
something that's projectable to the NHL, right like he like,
we have a great analog in his older brother, who's
not nearly as offensively talented as him. And I think
the Caps would have been perfectly happy if they had
Ilia Protests, the second coming of Alexi Protests, who's been
a very reliable two way winger on that team. They're
going to get the plused up version of Alexi Protest.
So how could the Caps be anything but happy with
the profile that Ilia Protess has shown them thus far.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's some good stuff. Let's move on to
the next player in this the Ryan Leonard. I will
not give This is the one guy who's come up,
who's been decent, who's maybe not broken through as any
kind of a star he has. He has done better
in thirty five points to sixty one game. So those
who thought this guy's gonna jump right in, he's maybe
going to go to the second line of the top
line and be a superstar with the Capitals. That hasn't
quite worked out. Since he was the center or the
captain for the for the the World Juniors winning US
team little over just a year ago, but he has
done a lot of great things. So far in the
NHL this year, he is only skating fourteen twenty three
per game. They're not over using him, I guess, I
would say at this point. So his scoring rate is
points per sixty even though he's thirty five and sixty one.
He's actually fourth on the team in points per sixty,
which is which is pretty good for that team, for
a team with your Tom Wilson's and you're Alex Ovechkin
and so forth. One point five hits per game does
not adequately demonstrate his floor, as he's gotten some time
in the last recent games. In the last five game
before recording this episode, he's been actually three hits a game,
almost just a touch short of three hits per game.
He gets power play time on ice regularly, but they
haven't really found the line to put him on. But
all told, Leonard is a big boy. He is consistently
very physical. He's a good score and I think as
he is able to find that niche with the capitals
and find that role get his legs under him. His
kid's still only twenty one years old. He's going to
be at least an adequate fantasy regularly through many years
to come. This is a guy who's going to go
in your drafts, fantasy drafts for many years. I think
whether it's in the first five rounds very much to
be seen. But if you told me that I would
be drafting Ryan Leonard in the tenth round of a
ten team of a twelve teamer for the next fifteen years,
I probably wouldn't blink an eye with maybe a peak
above that. So Ryan Leonard doing extremely well for himself
in the pros. Before I get to some of the
runner ups here, any thoughts on what you've seen from Ryan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I've been on the record that I
don't think he's like the top line winger, and so
I agree with your assessment that he might be the
kind of guy that you draft in the tenth eleventh round.
I think just look at the analog that's on his team.
Speaker 3: Tom Wilson.
Speaker 1: There were definitely points in Tom Wilson's career earlier on,
in his under twenty five years where he looked a
lot like Ryan Leonard does right now.
Speaker 3: Maybe with Ryan.
Speaker 1: Leonard's not punching guys or making questionable hit choices, but
from an offensive standpoint, Tom Wilson wasn't the Tom Wilson
we know today ten years ago even, and he's got
a lot of other guys on that team that he
that he can base his game or little elements of
his game off of. I look at Justin Swordiff and
some of what Swordif does, and I think, okay, that
Ryan Leonard could take that and put.
Speaker 3: In his back too.
Speaker 1: He's got a lot of great analogs to look up
to on the team, and I think it's only up
here from Ryan Leonard, but I could definitely see him
settling as a middle six winger long.
Speaker 2: Term and going down the system. Andrew Christal is very
highly touted by many. Has made his way to the
HL for the first time this year and has thrived
there done very well for his first year in NBAHL
Lyndon Leikovich, Justed Terry Parasak, who's actually the leading scorer
in the minor leagues overall for the Capitals right now.
Is Parasak up, and I believe he's up in the
dub The Dubs down a little bit this year, we think,
but with Prince George Cougar's seventy eight points sixty games,
and then I'm going to shout Justin's man people don't
respect Justin sort of people thought that the Capitals were
crazy for trading him in the offseason. Has been excellent
for the Capitals this year, and I think is going
to be one of these guys, these Carter ra hags
who maybe not quite with that scoring upside, but one
of these guys who don't make an impact with another team,
they catch on in the right fit and are able
to build themselves a few year career out of what
they're able to do. So I like. And there's plenty
more the Mauritia Shenkos who are not quite working out
the way we hope, the Enrich Slapierre's, even the Conor
McMichaels who's established himself now but hasn't quite turned into
what I was hoping maybe he would be with this team.
But not everybody's gonna be a superstar here. Any last
thoughts on the Capitols and then you can move on there, Ryan, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's a lot of intriguing pieces in
the bottom of the system here, and I think the
strength of the bottom of the system here is probably why.
Obviously Cole Hudson and Ryan Leonard, those are strong players,
but the strength here really booies the system as a whole,
and not everyone, like you said, is going to be
a superstar, but everyone can contribute. I think the concerns
with players like Parasak and Andrew Christaal is whether their
offensive talents will translate to the NHL, and especially I
think for some of those guys like the feet as
well the skating might there might be some knocks there,
especially as smaller players. To impact the game, you have
to be quick. And then a guy you didn't mention
who I love in the system, Lindon Lakovich. He's a
guy who's he's big. He doesn't play a physical game,
but he plays with pace and he holds onto the puck.
I think that's a guy who could be a very
useful player for them down the road. But some development
cases as you mentioned, for sure, and we'll just have
to wait and see. And other guys who I'm concerned
about whether they will translate fully at the NHL come
in the next system I want to talk about here,
and that's the Calgary Flames. And we're starting right at
the top of the system with the two right handed
scoring defensemen in the system, Zane Parik and Hunter Bruce Deevitch,
and these two are a package deal right now in Calgary,
and that's really how the conversation has to go when
dissecting these two guys. The Flames are currently rotating Perek
and Bruce Deevitch in and out of the same sheltered
third pair role, and the organizational hope is clearly that
both eventually grow into top four contributors, paired alongside defensive
stalwarts who can cover their inadequacies defensively. But I think
it's telling that they moved out to Rasmuss Anderson and
Mackenzie Wiger so they could get these guys some playing time,
but they are still sheltering them Jesse at even strength.
Certainly on Perek, the offensive ceiling is certainly real. And
I've been on this podcast, this very podcast, with my
doubts on Zaye Perrek and whether he can contribute on
the defensive side of the pucket enough to keep for
an NHL coach to keep him in the lineup. The
concern for his rush, defense, gap control, dezonned positioning are
certainly concerns that will determine the upside of his career,
and that matters a lot for dynasty value. I've seen
a lot of comparisons out there to Shane Gosts Bear,
which is a reminder that these offensive defensemen who can't
be trusted defensively often end up in a narrower deployment
role than their point totals would suggest. You remember, I'm
sure you remember Jes talking about Shane Gossisbear when he
was with the Philadelphia Flyers and the way people talked
about him about how he was so exciting offensively, but
he would give up as much as he let in,
and now he's bounced around several teams, right, So I
could definitely see that happening with Perek as well. If
I'm building a Dynasty roster from scratch, I think if
I'm looking in that draft, I might prefer a Carter
Yakubchuk or a Sam Dickinson. But certainly Perek's offensive ceiling
is elite and the path to getting their runs directly
through his defensive improvement. And if he does that, then
we could be looking at a sixty to seventy point
defender who qbs his team's top power play for a decade.
But if not, maybe he finds his way out of
town and into a less prioritized role like Barry or
Shane Gosdaspear, and I'll just mention Brucetevitch here too. Obviously
has a lot less upside than Zaye Perrek, but he
certainly earned his call up to the NHL from the Wranglers.
He's logging real NHL minutes fourteen minutes per night, and
the organization clearly sees him on the same level as
Zaane Perek, at least organizationally. His AHL stint during the
Olympic break left a lot to be desired, and I'm
sure the organization noticed. But his ceiling is a forty
to fifty point defenseman with some powerplay looks. He's a
light version of Perek, and a lot about his deployment
will depend on what Perek can do above him. What
do you think about these two guys, suggessee? They both
are flash points in the discussion for the Calgary Flames.
Speaker 2: Both guys who frustrated me for fantasy purposes because I've
been waiting for them. I would adore a sane Gosa
Spear like career, especially from Bristiva guy. Maybe still all
the hope that he's a little bit more regular, the
Gospel Spear. When Gospel Spear was good Man, Gospel Spear
was a guy you really wanted on your team because
he would get your power play points and you would
be a fantasy stuff. But that's only happened a couple
Lightning has only struck a couple times for that guy
throughout his NHL career. But again, when he's thriving, he's
a better player in fantasy than he probably is in
real life. Yeah, but PreK, I just tell that hope
for him. I really hope he breaks through. I feel
like you got a rough start with Calgary this year,
but like you say, had some good times in the
World Juniors. So let's see one of these Calgary guys coming.
There's a big hole waiting for Calgary.
Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 1: You look at their defense car right now, and it's
all these kind of twenty four to twenty eight year old, big,
slow defensive defenseman. They need some dynamic skill on that
blue line for sure, and hopefully one of these guys
can provide it and stay in the lineup. Someone else, though,
who has been staying in the lineup, a young player,
a nineteen year old who's been the pleasant surprise of
this entire rebuild. Matt Vey Gridin, who is in his
rookie season now with the Calgary Flames. He's had a
great impact on the team so far. The HL numbers
that he put up this year thirty points in thirty
seven games as a nineteen year old, put him in
a cloud player that belies his late first round draft stock.
He has certainly earned his NHL call ups and has
been producing on the second line alongside Morgan Frost and
Matt Coronado. This is a guy who's shooting two shots
per game at the NHL level, generating on the power play,
and has shorthanded goal upside on a team that will
increasingly use him in all situations. In the Tidy, Gridin's
profile is as close to ideal as you can get.
A goal scoring right wing who gets to the right areas,
generate shot at pace, and now has proven he can
do it against NHL competition. And he still has plenty
of minors eligibility left, which means you can shuttle him
between your NHL and miners roster to bank extra games played.
That kind of flexibility is genuinely useful in formats like
TIDY that reward roster activity with two years left on
an affordable entry level contract short of Zane Perrek. To me,
this is the dynasty piece that has the highest probability
of delivering fantasy value in the near term for the
Calgary Flames.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like it. I like it. A goal scoring
right winger, one of my favorite things to have Will Else.
We've gotten a system kind of system there, Ryan.
Speaker 1: I'm going to head to college to talk about three
guys here for Calgary, and they're pretty happy with what
they're seeing coming out of the NC Double A for them,
and I'm going to start with my favorite. I'm a
bit biased, but I like Colin Potter a lot. I
know we're gonna also talk about Cole Reshnie and Ethan Wittenbach,
who is a Hobie Baker candidate. But to me, Culin
Potter would be in that conversation for the Hoby Baker
this season were it not for his season ending early
in January because of where he was in the lineup
when it happened. Potter hadn't just been producing for Arizona State.
He had won the top line center role as an
eighteen year old at five ten and one hundred and
seventy two pounds In twenty four games played, he scored
twelve goals and fourteen assists. And because of the freak
injury that he sustained and the shoulder surgery, that is
now a real setback for his timeline. He's going to
be missing some time. He'll miss the first part of
next season, but none of that changes the profile that
was on display when he was healthy. I think, obviously
the argument against Potter is size and speed. In the
NHL level, small forwards needs something extra to compensate without
elite foot speed. But what he does have this tenacity,
pace and a compete level that keeps pushing him up
the death chart on every team he's played for. So
for me, this is a by situation for anyone who
doesn't own him. The tidy value lives in goals and
on the power play, and he's shown he can generate both.
And then if you look to another undersized player, Nicole Reshni,
he's the complete player version of Colin Potter, probably one
of the more complete players in Calgary's forward pipeline and
certainly the one with the highest floor. I could see
him playing in the NHL within two to three years
in a bottom six role for sure. He led all
NCCHC freshmen in points this season at North Dakota, and
his World Junior's appearance only strengthens his case. He was
a go to on the power play by the medal
round and projects as a featured player on next year's
Team Canada. His profile is that of a cerebral two
way center who links zones, wins battles below the dolls,
and creates offense through positioning and patients rather than speed.
And so another player here, a smaller player that lacks speed.
Certainly multiple evaluators a flag that his top end foot
speed is average, so he'll have to beat NHL players
with his mind rather than his legs at the next level.
I think an Anton Lundell comparison is fair stylistically, and
Lundell has certainly carved out a real NHL role, although
he does have more of a physical presence than Reshnty
currently projects in tidy. The assist heavy production discounts slightly
versus Potter's goal rate, but the two way upside and
face off projection make him the safer long term hold
of the.
Speaker 3: Two and Jesse.
Speaker 1: Before you jump into talk about those guys, the Calgary
Flames fans are probably yelling at their podcast app right
now because I haven't mentioned Ethan Wittenbach is. The accolades
are huge for this guy. The ECAC first All Star Team,
All Rookie Team, the first winner of the usahl's Gudreau
Award for the player that best exemplifies the characteristics of
Johnny and Matthew Gudreau, and yes, a Hobie Baker candidate.
He's currently leading all of college hockey and scoring, is
a fifth round pick and for the Calgary Flames, and
so that's not something you can wave away. But I'll
push back a little bit on the narrative with Wittenbach.
I've watched him quite a bit. I think the production
and the player aren't necessarily telling the same story. He's
a bit of a cherry picker. He goes to open
space and he's very good at finding it. But at
Quinnipiac where he plays, he is the go to goalscoring guy,
and the role that he plays doesn't necessarily exist in
the NHL. When you look at the skating again, five
ten player, one hundred and eighty five pounds, it's below
average skating for him and his offensive zone decision making
is questionable. When he actually has the puck, he's more
the finisher than the puck carrier. Generally, what he's doing
is impressive in context, but the concern is that the
context is doing a lot of work. Certainly and tidy.
The goal rate is appealing, but I'd want to see
him produce in a harder environment before buying in. So
I would say this might be a cell opportunity for
Ethan Wittenbach if you have him, but be cautious about
what you have there. Anything come to mind for you,
Jesse about this trio of undersized wingers playing in the
college ranks.
Speaker 2: No, I think there's admirable depth here, a lot of
players who could at least come up and have a
role with this team in the future. Calgary, we don't
hate you. Don't yell at your don't yell at your
podcast player.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: We don't want that. We're not trying to create that.
Any last thoughts on Calgary before we move on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the system is super deep, as you would expect
from a team that's been going a quasi rebuild for
a couple of years. I'll just mention a couple of
names here without going too deep into them. Sam Hansick
is a guy who would have been playing for Calgary
this year were it not for an injury. He also
would have been playing for Slovakia at the Olympics. But
he's still got a middle six power forward projection, and
that's that's something that Calgary is certainly excited to get.
Luke Misa, brother of Michael, this year stepped into first
line center duties at Penn State and is looking pretty
good on Gavin McKenna's wing. I'm interested to see how
he can contribute to in professional hockey and then other
death names, guys like Adam Klapka who are making their
bones right now in the NHL's.
Speaker 3: At bottom six. You're doing exactly what's asked of him.
Speaker 1: Brendan Aufman recently traded to the team change of scenery move.
Be interesting to see what he has going. Henry Muse
a depth defenseman and the system there, who also had
an early season exit because of an injury. But I
think also the story here is goaltending. But there's Kuril
Zarubin and Diegor Yagorov, both players Russian goalies playing over
in the Russian leagues on the NHL and the VHL.
Both players are long rage stash with realistic NHL timelines
of four to five seasons. But I could see them
playing with Dustin Wolf as part of a tandem for sure.
Speaker 2: Moving to the Columbus Blue Jackets, it's an interesting team.
We say they're all interesting, but some of them are.
Sergei Ivanap, what do you do? How do you know
who's going to be a particularly good goalie when they're
in the minors. We don't. That's why we stand on
the roof of our building and deploy the cat signal
up on the moon and try to get her once
a year to come and explain all these people to us.
But there's a whole lot of things about Sergey Ivana
to love. I know Victor has spoke him up a
number of times. This guy's had one hundred and eight
KHL starts with a nine to twenty three, say percentage
over there, and he's twenty one years old. That's pretty
good people. That is not a thing that is supposed
to happen in the KHL. This is front with Beryl
KHL stats, but still it's very solid. Here. We all
talk about Jet Greeves and his talents and the fact
that maybe he'll get a stranglehold on that Columbus net
and certainly Columbus has risen in the rankings as this
year has gone along and done very well. But Grieves
better grab a hold of that job, real, real strong
before evanav shows up, because Ivanna certainly has shown the
ability to play net at a high level, even though,
like most goalies who turn out to be successful, he
was drafted in the fifth round because who the heck knows? Yvana,
I like, why didn't I do the next couple and
then let you react to the bunch what you have
to say about them. Jackson Smith a forgotten guy to
me because he has He was one of those mid
first round picks last year that I felt didn't get
as much of attention and was I remember the thought
at the time. He's only eighteen, it's going to take
a long time before he's relevant, you know what. He's
been teammates with Gavin McKenna at Penn State and Luke
Misa and some of the other guys that we mentioned
more coming up that we'll mention in this episode. He's
the top scoring defenseman on the team at eighteen already
in the top ten scoring seasons in PSU history for
a defenseman. Remember this is a big fella. He's six'.
Four the question was how long it would take him
to mature at that kind of. Height but he's got
some big time offensive. Fireworks he might have some of
the low percentage hero ball type tendency coached out of
him at the next. Level some of that stuff is
not going to play when he gets to THE nhl
or even THE. Ahl but this is an incredibly exciting
development to me That Jackson smith has really hit the
ground running and become very successful in a very short
amount of time At Penn state in THE ncaa at
that level of a developmental. League and Then Olin. Griffin
there are other guys That i'll mention in a bit
that you could very easily argue are much more prominent
prospects Than Ellen, griffin but shouts to. Him he's the
leading scorer for The Blue jackets in their minor league
system this. Year he's up in THE ohl playing for
The Oshawa, Generals whereason. Captain at a point per, game
he is on the worst team in THE. Ohl, okay
it's him and how She wong just sending it out
there every, night fighting for dear life out In. Oshawa
but here's the thing THAT i find. INTERESTING i read
about him as a defensive two hundred foot. Type but
on the other, hand he's the leading scorer in both
his team and in the Entire Columbus minor. Leaguers he
has a point on over one third Of oshawa's goals this.
Year All, right he's that dominant of the scorer for that.
Team junk stats on a reeling. Team, okay, maybe but
remember last year on the same team when they Had,
Beckett seneca and Cal, ritchie he had well over point
per game in a playoff run to THE Ohl. Finals
so it's not like he hasn't had the ability to
do good things with a team around. Him SO i
just want to put this guy on people's. RADARS i
want to learn more about him and get more takes on.
Him But, Owen, yeah he's a little bit, undersized but
a lot THAT i seem to like about. Him we've
Got Ivanov Smith, griffin any thoughts, There, Ryan.
Speaker 1: Yeah you've given me a sampler pack here from forward
d to goalie And i'll go in that order here
With Owen GRIFFIN i think it's one of the, Reasons,
jesse why we don't look entirely at the point production
when evaluating junior age. PLAYERS i, think like you, mentioned
there's like the team is bereft of, talent and as you,
mentioned he's wearing THE a the alternate captain for The Aushawa.
GENERALS i think this is one of those situations where
it's my understanding in junior hockey that coaches and players
who vote on the captains reward the players that play
the game the right way with the captain, cs and
So owen clearly is playing a defensively responsible two hundred
foot type, game as you've. Said BUT i think if
you put players into situations where they'll, score they generally will,
score especially when they are better than their. Peers and
SO i think this is one of those situations Where
griffin is overperforming compared to what he eventually will become
a pro in a pro. League but CERTAINLY i think
he will play, pro so keep an eye on, that
even if he just tops out In. Cleveland Owen griffin
is definitely someone who is going to be one of
the top players in the, world because that's how it
works when.
Speaker 3: You play in THE.
Speaker 1: Ahl Jackson, SMITH i completely agree with you on this.
PROFILE i wonder personally if we just tie it back
To Kashawan agison back in The islanders. SECTION i wonder
If Kashawan ahison was playing For penn S, date if
he'd have similar numbers To Jackson, smith and if he'd
have similar concerns As Jackson smith has had playing at that.
LEVEL i do Think Jackson smith is going to be
AN nhl, defender probably in the top, four if he
can put it all, together similar to WHAT i think
About Kashawan. Ahison BUT i just wonder if the story
would be a little different For kashan or For Jackson
smith If smith was playing in THE chl as. Well so,
Definitely Jackson smith is someone you can look forward to
being on the. Team and then when it comes To,
ivanov he's another one of Those russian goaltenders and The
russian goaltending pipeline is undefeated in THE nhl right, now
and he reminds me a lot more advanced version of
the GUYS i talked about For calgary And jaegorov And.
ZAVIRIGAN i think IF i Were, Columbus i'd be very
happy With, ivanov and certainly they also have that other
goaltender his NAME i forget right, Now Pyotr, andrianov who's
also going to be coming up from the khl overin
the next five six. Years and SO i wouldn't be
surprised if we're looking at AN nhl that is full
Of russian Goaltenders jesse and the for good, Reason.
Speaker 2: Yeah and then a few other depth players. Here Dem.
Mittaichuk he might be a post type sleeper at this.
Point he's in THE. Nhl he's played all, Year he's
got half a point per. Game there's nothing wrong with.
That it's his second year really in the. Pros is
he going to be dominant in terms of fantasy of tidy.
Production he might be in that range of the defenseman
that you, stream which is not necessarily what you're hoping
for in, tidy but still a SOLID anhl player. Pure
andrianov is another guy did want to. Mention a goalie
in the. System Caden lindstrom is out. There if you're
wondering how he's. Doing he's in a really depth role
At Michigan. State, again we've talked about several players From Michigan.
State he's playing there With Jackson, smith he's not scoring a.
Ton he's. Worried he's starting to worry me about whether
he's going to turn into something There Oiva. Keskanad there's
a couple of old, players Older finns who are coming
up through the system who've done reasonably, well but they
ari a little. Bit he's thirty seven and forty nine
games over In, liga but again at an advanced, age
and good Old luk Of Delba Baloose's he's seeming like
a tweiner to, me but he does have over point
per game in THE. Ahl maybe he'll get to do
some MORE nhl things at some, point but again THE
i think the upside is capped. There any last thoughts
on This columbus system just too.
Speaker 1: Here i'm not super high On Caden. LINDSTROM i think
he's missed too much development time for his, frame AND
i think you're probably looking at a depth contributor at,
best which is unfortunate For columbus from the fourth overall
pick that they used on. Him nobody's fault. Here he
just had a bad back issues that have really impacted his.
Development And i'm higher On Denton mitachuck than MOST i.
CAN i can definitely see a future very soon Where
Denton mitaichuck And Jackson smith are that second pairing for
The Columbus Blue. Jackets mittachuck When wrensky has been out
this season for injury or illness, Purposes mitaichuck usually gets
twenty five to thirty, minutes and you don't see that
very often from a player who's only twenty. One he's
really coming into his own as a twenty one year
old defenseman in THE.
Speaker 2: Nhl that's gonna do it for The Columbus Blue. Jackets
think a quick, break come back with a couple more,
systems don't what are you going to?
Speaker 1: Do a selfish that's, right, selfish break it, down.
Speaker 2: Skate the, fuck don't got head's still gonna be there
when you've got jump on kaking coast to.
Speaker 1: Coast dunking four angles are still shot it.
Speaker 3: Bad, bounced that's a good.
Speaker 2: BREAKAWAY i get the bounced boys that the third four
season talks like.
Speaker 1: YEAH i was surprised That victor hadn't covered this earlier
in the season because prospect where you're talking about prospects
of player, development The Carolina hurricanes always seem to come.
Up they're one of the more methodical development programs in the,
league and the returns they continue to arrive on a.
Speaker 3: Cycle it seems.
Speaker 1: Like carolina is always putting young players into the lineup
and the depth, role and they produce FUNCTIONAL nhl rate
players at a rate that should give dynasty managers real
confidence about the prospects that are currently in their. System
and this is a system that is buoyed at the,
top certainly by a player who is already playing in THE.
Nhl Alexander, nikkeishan WHO i don't think we need to
talk about too much because he's AN nhl. Defender he's
going to be AN nhl defender for the next fifteen.
Years but similar To Matthew schaeffer in The New York
islanders discussion, earlier this is a player that still has
some minors eligibility and has done everything That carolina and
fantasy managers could have asked. For in his first FULL nhl,
season sixty five games, played twenty five, points, score and
he is getting.
Speaker 3: Powerplay one time.
Speaker 1: Occasionally he's getting all situations, deployment and you should be
very happy.
Speaker 3: If you Own Alexander.
Speaker 1: Nakishin BUT i actually want to talk More jesse about
what is in THE ahl coming towards them, shortly because
these are the guys WHO i think you're going to
start seeing on the roster for The Carolina hurricanes within
the next year or. So And i'm going to start
by talking about two of their best wingers at THAT ahl,
level and that Is Bradley nado And felix Unger. Soorum With,
nadou you And victor have talked about this guy a
lot over the. Years twenty five goals and fifty one
points in forty six games at a plus seventeen with
two goals in his EIGHT nhl appearances this, Season he's
had production at every level he's played. In he definitely
profiles as more of a secondary scorer rather than a
top line, driver WHICH i would probably say about Any
Carolina hurricane at this point given the ice time That
brinda bor deploys them. At but he certainly fits The
carolina mold in the path to a roster spot feels
like a question of timing more than. Talent With Felix,
hungersorum he's had excellent step this season after a quiet
FIRST ahl season last year eleven goals and forty eight
points and fifty six, games a significant leap for him
from five goals and twenty one points in year one
and thirty seven. Assists tells you something real about how
his playmaking has settled in at the pro.
Speaker 3: Level this.
Speaker 1: Season he did add ten points in Seven World junior
games For sweden And, january and at twenty years old
with a SECOND ahl, season that looks more like a
confirmation than an. Outlier Unger sorem is building the foundation
of a REAL nhl, career, again likely as a, secondary
scoring middle six kind of. Winger did either of those
guys jump out to, You, Jesse, yeah for.
Speaker 2: Sure these guys are two extremely high performing minor leaguers
at this. Point you just look What carolina does over the.
Years you talked about what a strong system these guys.
Have this is the same people who brought Up Seth
jarvis And Jackson blake and Even Martin. Nachas further back,
there they Have Morgan geeky they. Drafted now he's not
with the team, anymore but look what that guy's. Done
andrea SVECHNIKOFK i have a record of taking these guys
and developing him into not just, good but very. GOOD nhl,
Players SO i believe, it AND i think we're getting
closer and closer to. Scene nidou also showed up on
one of those lists of the highest scoring very. YOUNG
i think it was THE ahl players in history WHEN
i was looking up The. ILIOPROTAS i don't remember what
number he was. Before but there definitely is a lot
of help coming For, carolina which is bad news for The.
Speaker 3: Metro, yeah and.
Speaker 1: It's not just at the forward, Position. Jesse they have
some quality on defense as. Well And i'm going to
mention two players here who probably have very DIFFERENT nhl,
likelihoods BUT i think they're both worth talking about. Here
the first Is Dominic, badinka who is in his age twenty.
Season he's six foot, three one hundred and eighty three,
pounds was a second round pick For carolina in the
twenty twenty four Entry. Draft fifty two games played this,
year eleven points about a plus four playing in his
first FULL ahl. Season he won't generate much fantasy for
you right now or maybe, ever but brings the size
and mobility That carolina values on the back. End he
came over from THE shl and he's logging real minutes
now and is doing the foundation work expected of a
second round defender at this. STAGE i think he's a
long term hold in dynasty. Leagues the offensive ceiling is
a little, unclear but there's enough reason here to stay.
Patient in the league like The, tidy where defensive metrics are,
VALUED i wouldn't be surprised to See Dominic padenka playing
the kind of role we've Seen Jalen chatfield Or Joel
nistrom play this, season and another player coming, up certainly
in the kind of depth. Categories Dominic fensore playing FOR
Hl chicago right now thirty one. Points he's leading The
carolina younger defensive prospects IN nhl. Readiness he's actually had
some time with The Carolina, hurricanes but HIS elc definitely
expires this summer and so the contract process will define
his future with the. Club but, yeah so quality on
defense there with The adinka And, fensore there.
Speaker 2: Is a whole lot of. Depth and LIKE i always
joke on this, show If carolina picks a guy d
we always kind of love. Him usually the nerds on On,
hockey On Draft Hockey twitter tend to like what's going
on deep and for good. Reason With. Carolina but should
we move on to The Chicago, blackhawks which is my
next team to, discuss And chicago also has a bit
of a embarrassment of riches going on in their. System
anton Front dell is the first guy on this. List,
NOW i feel LIKE i remember last year the Narrative
anton Front dell rising really late in the. Draft maybe
he's gonna be that real solid. Centerman he's gonna he's
gonna be maybe a little more, boring maybe real. Life
maybe it's Because Anton frondell reminds me of the name with,
that because The carolina, Centerman why CAN'T i Think Anton,
Lundell anton Fron, Dell Anton, Lundell they must be the same.
Guy here's the thing With anton Front. Dell he's having
a really good offensive season as the year has gone.
On now he's in THE. Shl after scoring eight points
in seven games In sweden's Undefeated World junior. Run he's
gone back and played very well AT Jr. Gardens he's
over there with your, Boy Victor. Eckland he's With Vigo,
buorke one of the top picks in this year and
Another World junior's big guy and Former Washington capital's Legend
Joe snivey is one of the top, scorers and that
it shouts that if you ever Saw Joe snivelly playing
and get to hear Craig by And locker on the,
call he's been actually playing on a wing over there right,
now Opposite eckland and With Marcus. Krueger he's got a
little Extra Chicago blackhawks support With Marcus krueger between. Them
for your. Gardens if you think of him just as
a two way, center maybe without offensive, creativity that's not.
True it's the offense that's popping over, there according to
people who are watching the, game and the offensive. Talent
so it's on the. Way Anton frandell is on the,
way and he might be able to impact The blackhawks
in a way that maybe wasn't exactly WHAT i anticipated at,
least but maybe that's just my. Problem i'll bring Up
roman concerav next off of, course highly talented score an offensive.
Player he's wearing an a over there at twenty one
years old From Metal Magneti gorsk in THE khl sixty
four points and sixty three games this. Year we've talked
about him. Before that is a pretty good. Profile that
is is not what it used to. Be but his
main issue is he's on the smaller side five to.
NINE i KNOW i traded him To victor in a
big deadline deal in our four sport, league AND i
had to pay pretty heavily to get the stuff.
Speaker 3: THAT i got From.
Speaker 2: Victor but he was interested in cancer. Off but there's, risk,
Right an incredibly high scoring guy over in THE khl
doesn't always translate when he comes. Here although his weight
is dense for the height five nine and one hundred
and seventy six, pounds come, on, man that's. Meaty that's
a solid young man all, right and can. Serap and
then the third One i'll pick there And i'm going
to cover it's not also rans on this. Team. People
there are guys, here several who are very ESTABLISHED nhl
players at this. Point But i'll just mention another. Guy
since we're talking about prospectees that we're waiting on and
we're checking in. On Drew camesso has not been terrible
in SOME monychl. Appearances given the context he's been, in
he's going to be stuck Behind Spencer night for a.
While he hasn't necessarily. Thrived rockford is also a dumpster
fire this. Year they're low in THE ahl. Standings they
brought In Laurent, brosois as we've, heard to shine up
a little. Bit maybe they'll trade him in the off
season or something i'ven't seen. Of his contract goes past this,
year But comesso came up a couple of weeks ago
beat The mammoth in. Overtime that's pretty. Good the mammothur
are pretty awesome this. Year it's a slow, burn but
a twenty three year old goal it could still very easily.
Happen he's got some prospect, pedigree so Is Drew kamesso
the number three prospecting. System maybe, not BUT i think
he's one worth shouting about and one worth thinking about
because he's starting to get his feet wet with SOME minhl.
Time what do you think of these initial guys, There, Ryan.
Speaker 1: YEAH i Think i'll start With camesso If i'm not.
MISTAKEN i Think brosois was traded To San jose AND
i think he made a start for them and it
did not look so. Good SO i don't Think bressois
is going to be featured to this conversation much more.
Speaker 3: Here But Drew.
Speaker 1: CAMESO i could definitely see.
Speaker 2: HIM i was just ahead of. It was such a
good idea that The blackhawks did it several weeks. Ago that's, Yes, Ryan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah for, Sure. CAMESO i think i'd like to see.
Him i'd like to see what happens when that decor
gets maybe a year or two, older and what they
look like in front Of knight and Soder blomb if
he's still around And, cameso BECAUSE i don't think his
current play in THE nhl really is an accurate descriptor
of what's actually going. On he had a good, game
he had a bad. Game tough to. Tell when he's
as young as he. Is still twenty three to make
YOUR nhl debut is still pretty.
Speaker 3: Young and, YEAH i Love. Frondell i'm a Big frondell.
Speaker 1: GUY i Think frondell is a huge player for them to,
be adding the perfect foil To Connor. Bedard JUST i
think he will play on the wing at THE nhl.
LEVEL i don't think he'll play at. Center if he
does play at, CENTER i think it'll be more of
a THREE c kind of depth. Role BUT i think
that his offensive skills are just too high end and
the four checking game and the board. GAME i think
all of that is just too high end for him
not to be featured on the wing with one Of
badard Or, nazar especially with some of the players that
are playing like The Tyler bertuzzi is a good ANALOG
i think for a Fron Deel FRONDEL i think has
a bit more. Upside but To, frondell, definitely if he
makes it to THE nhl within the next year or,
TWO i won't be. Surprised and to see him on
a wing with kind Of, BODARD i would also not
be surprised there.
Speaker 2: Either happy times and again the guys also in the,
System I'm frank Nazer, Ar Tim, Lobschunhoff Oliver more counting
them great times there, obviously all establishing themselves to different
degrees already in THE. Nhl And Love schuennoff definitely is
going to get a whole lot of opportunity. There nick,
Lardis Kevin, Korchinski we've talked about him so many, times
it seems like it might not be happening at this.
Point korchinsky's not quite. There Mason west won his football
championship in high. School he's in The ushl not necessarily
burning it, up but he's getting his chances now and
next year he'll be up On Michigan. State maybe he'll
be there with Kid lenstrom And Jackson, smith some of
those other guys if in fact they do not go,
pro and other guys deeper in the, System Jack, Pridham Merrik,
Vanniker Nathan. Bame there are really a lot of guys
in The chicago, system as there should, be because they've
been rebuilding hard for several years and they're still not
really anywhere. Close but as Connor bidard matures and some
of these other guys maybe chill around, him who knows
what could happen any. More thoughts on the depth of
the system, There ryan just on the.
Speaker 1: Two defensemen, There Kevin korchinsky and art Team. LEVSCHINOV i
Think chicago has done these guys a real disservice by
rushing them to THE. Nhl the gaps that are present
in the game for both of these guys are apparent
to anyone who's watching. Closely it's defensive zone, awareness it's
front of the, net it's rush, defense it's gap. Control
that's a huge gap for.
Speaker 3: Both of these.
Speaker 1: Guys both of these players have seen significant to back
and forth ahl, time AND i think they probably should
have either stayed where they were in college or in
junior before coming to PRO i think that would have
been much better for them to just develop some of
the foundational skills that they.
Speaker 3: Still needed to.
Speaker 1: Develop but we're looking at two high picks For chicago
that are likely going to grade out as depth, contributors
and that's a real unfortunate thing for A chicago team
that desperately need some quality on the blue. Line and
then we're going to, yeah my last. System, yeah we'll
move to my last system, here AND i want to
talk about The Winnipeg. Jets and you might be, thinking,
really The Winnipeg. Jets you want to talk about The Winnipeg?
JETS i, do Because winnipeg has a lot of interesting,
prospects more interesting than they tend to get credit. For
but the important asterisk here is the actual, team The Winnipeg.
Jets the, question as it has been for years and
years in this, organization is whether The jets will actually
use the talent that is in their. System prospects in
this system have historically waited longer than they, should and
when they do get deployed in THE, nhl they get
deployed in rules that don't suit, them slough alongside the
wrong line, mates are given just enough rope struggle before
being sent back down To. Manitoba several of the players
THAT i want to talk would today would be further
along in their careers on a different. Team so keep
that in mind that the ceiling of this system is,
aspirational but the floor depends heavily on how much Willing
winnipeg is willing to change the habits that define their
development program for the better part of a, decade or
whether they trade these, guys WHICH i think would be
better for pretty much everyone involved at this, point and
the poster child for this conversation Is Brad.
Speaker 3: Lambert.
Speaker 1: FINISH i Know Brad. Lambert we've talked. About he is,
finished aged twenty, two six, one one hundred and seventy three.
Pounds he Was winnipeg's thirtieth overall pick in the twenty
twenty two. Draft thirty four games played With manitoba this,
season six goals and seven assists is not much to
write home, About BUT i think it's really the skill
and the talent that stand out about this, player and
the underlying issue for me is. Deployment winnipeg has been
slotting him alongside death pieces Like Cole, Kepke Parker, Ford
Morgan baron and not giving him players that can take
advantage of his particular skill set and a structure that
would bring out his best performance, attributes which include elite,
acceleration top end, speed, edgework and. Agility the arrival Of
Eazac rosane gives The jets an interesting option to build
a sheltered scoring, unit And lambert's recent power play time
of the second unit in THE nhl is certainly an encouraging.
SIGN i would be all over him as a dynasty.
Manager i'm probably one of the Bigger Brad lambert fans out, There,
jesse BUT i think lots of teams out there in
THE nhl need a to see who can skate and
who have. SKILL i could See Brad lambert fitting in
on A MONTREAL i could even see him fitting In,
toronto and, GOD i would love to see that as
A toronto Maple leaves. Fans anything to share on your
end About Brad, Lambert.
Speaker 2: He's not, Finished he's just getting, Started, Ryan Brad. Lambert,
yeah we've forgotten about. Him he's been a slow. Burn
he had his, opportunity but he could very well be.
Back and, yeah he could be a second chance. Candidate
who else you got?
Speaker 1: Here, Yeah i'll Mention roseanne here. Quickly he was just
To winnipeg From buffalo and it's a move that arrives
at just the right time For rosine's continued. Development he
looks to be heading right into THE. Nhl hopefully he
doesn't get demoted in the same way that some of
these prospects get demoted In, winnipeg because he is a
trade asset that they need to make look. Good after
moving on From Logan stanley And britt And Luke, Schen
buffalo simply had too much competition for a player of his.
Profile this move rhymes For buffalo with The Matt savoy
For ryan McCloud deal they did With edmonton in terms
of The savers converting their surplus wingers to something they.
Needed and he has certainly earned an opportunity in THE,
nhl posting twenty five goals and forty three points in
thirty seven games With rochester this, year including AN Ahl
player of The month nod In. NOVEMBER i think he
has a genuine chance to crack a bottom nine that
The jets have historically underinvested. In his quick play style
AND nhl caliber really should set him apart from a
depth group that includes those guys Like kepke and barn
that has struggled to generate anything outside of their top.
Line HIS rfa status this summer will tell you everything About.
Winnipeg How winnipeg values. HIM i think he's a bye
in dynasty leagues while the opportunity window is still.
Speaker 2: Open, yeah it, rhymes that's my. Favorite That's i'm going
to remember that. One, yeah so Cal. Winnipeg, yeah it
certainly has some top level tone that they've acquired in
trades and should be underestimated at your. Peril who else
they got in this? System, yeah a couple more guys.
Here we were talking about EVEN i think two years
ago that this system is pretty shallow at the top
end Of one of the players that we keep coming
back to Is Braden, yeager who has typically been the
headliner of the season of the, SYSTEM i should, say
since he was traded from The Pittsburgh penguins For rucker
McGroarty his first professional season is a reasonable starting point.
Here with twenty four points and fifty FIVE ahl games
and under.
Speaker 1: STATES i think what he actually brings To, manitoba which
is two way details and playmaking instincts that made him
a lottery pick in the first. Place he has been
used in a top line role with power play. TIME
i think the path for here For yaeger is straightforward
to earn a call up and get some real minutes
and to not get. Buried Whether winnipeg lets that happen
is the defining question for dynasty managers holding on To Braden.
Jyeger ultimately he probably slots into the middle. Six BUT
i think the real exciting things For winnipeg's start on defense.
Here and we're going to talk about a couple of
guys here And i'll get your thoughts on. Them Jesse
Elias salamonsen has made the jump to THE nhl this
year and appears to be. Sticking he is twenty, one six,
foot one hundred and seventy two pounds and offers a
profile that made them comfortable ENOUGH i think to move
on From Logan. Stanley he's a left handed version Of
Logan stanley If i'm being honest, Here his steady increase
a nice.
Speaker 3: Time this season has seen.
Speaker 1: Him averaging around twenty minutes per, game which is a
meaningful vote of confidence for the coaching. Staff they are
using him on both the secondary power play and penalty kill,
unit so they're actively trying to find out what he
can give them in a full time. Role if his
ice time continues to, grow we might be looking at
a top four all situations right handed, defender and those
are hard to find at any level of quality in THE.
Nhl someone else who should slot into that top four
in the near future Is Alphonse, frey who's rounding into
form at the exact right. Time with six goals and
eleven points some forty TWO shl. Games that's a strong
return for a young defenseman in a league that is
rapidly becoming the best development circle outside Of North, america
and he has only grown stronger as the season has.
Progressed frey turned heads at The World juniors with seven
assists and seven, games drowing strong reviews from The Athletic Scott,
wheeler who noted his offensive contributions at five on five
and on the power, play aggressive, skating puck wanting, instincts
and disciplined defensive. Play his game is built on elite,
playmaking defensive spacing and stickwork rather than raw point, totals
and those qualities are translating at a level that should
Have winnipeg. Excited but when he makes the move To North,
america he's locked in as a long term. Jets pi's
one of the few players who's on AN elc For
winnipeg and a bye And dynasty. Leagues if he is still.
Available if you want the light version of that, player
you're looking At Sashaboo medim, defender age nineteen For Boston.
University his point totals aren't much to write home, about
but he did win the gold medal Alongside frey With
sweden at The World junior's first round pick last. Summer
with elite skating and transitionability the son of FORMER nhl
Or Joseph boomidian and THE bu numbers are, modest certainly
across two college seasons AS i, mentioned but his defensive
intelligence and acceleration at nineteen playing against grown men in
THE ncaa or the foundation of what projects as a
legitimate top four. Defenseman he's put on a bit of
weight this year, too going from one hundred and seventy
five to one hundred and ninety pounds on a six
to two, frame which will only make him stickier at
the pro level. Eventually so he got some options In
frey And boomidian to populate the depth scoring from the
defense and The Sala, monson here's a guy WHO i
think will be in EVERYDAY nhl are for a long.
Time anything interest you about that to crop of, defenders Sug, Jesse.
Speaker 2: I'm interested in how deep it is For pete's. SAKE
i think Of winnipeg as being pretty shllyng in their prospect.
System they had the huge depth of prospect system a
few years. Ago then they got very shallow and they
got very. Good but for a team that won The
President's trophy last, year my, goodness this is pretty. Cool
they really have filled back.
Speaker 1: Up, Yeah AND i JUST i want to highlight one
thing that maybe not be won't be top of mind for,
people Since Connor hellibuck is still the kind of reigning
leader of the goaltending system here For, winnipeg but the
two names worth knowing for the future Of manitoba's crease
Are Thomas millich And donic de vincentis who if you
look at their numbers right now they are deadlocked in
a battle FOR ahl. Time their games played are virtually
identical and their. Numbers milic definitely has the edge out
of two forty goals against average versus and at nine
thirteen safe percentage Versus donic De vincentis is two ninety
and nine oh. One but through through the bulk of
THE ahl season, here both of these guys have become
a genuine tandem and are both competing to become the
backup To Connor hellibuck long term and eventually maybe one
of them takes over For hellibuck when he moves on,
eventually but to no immediate path for.
Speaker 3: Either but both of these.
Speaker 1: Guys are worth speculative ads in dynasty.
Speaker 2: Formats love. It let's move to our last system for.
Today that's going to be The Anaheim. Ducks that would
be The Pacific division Leading Anaheim, ducks despite the fact
that their goal differential would not seem to support, that
but still. Scoreboard that's what's happening. Here beck At seneca
is he would be A calder candidate if it weren't
For shaefer this, YEAR i would, say because he's having
a heck of a rookie. Season fifty one points in
sixty seven games for a team that was supposed to
be not so. Good that is a heck of a
jump from The Oshawa, generals as we noted, earlier where
he was a contributor to a finalist team last year
and was well over point per, game closer to two
points per game than. One and he's the third leading
scorer On anaheim at this time at press. Time the
defense is still coming. Along definitely not the strong point Of,
seneca but as it would not be for a lot
of twenty year olds who were breaking in from THE
ohl to THE. Nhl but probably not what he's going
to be known for in the long term. Anyway but
six to, three he's, big he can play two. Way
maybe he will find that potential fulfilled for right, now
a solid second liner substantial power play time throws that
big body around from more than a hit a game
with two shots per. Game So senica is definitely one
of the biggest rookie contributors in this and finally one
of the big. Ads have been a couple of little
disappointments for those top picks With anaheim or ones that
have not quite lived up to their POTENTIAL i Hear
victor Yelling mason McTavish into his radio wherever he is right.
Now roger McQueen is the second one to talk about.
Here he was the tenth overall pick last, year and
of course famously the problem with him is his back.
Problem and we just heard About Katien leinster back, problems
screw you. Up back problems at eighteen years old are bad.
News while McQueen is nineteen. Now he is At providence
in THE ncaa and all he did this week was
being Named Hockey East's rookie of THE u. Year so
he is blowing it up For providence right, now nearly
a point per. Game part of ME i was trying to,
research is there any chance that McQueen could come for
the playoffs For anaheim or late in the. Season providence
is making The frozen. Four he's going to be playing
for a while, Still he's not going to be. Ready
he's going to be playing at least a couple more
weekends or at least a weekend past when you're listening to,
this he's going to be ice dancing out. There the
physicality is going to help with the floor for this.
Guy remember at six to. Six he's a beast if
he can really work, Out and if it weren't for that,
injury he would have been drafted probably much higher in
This and that, physicality AS i, say is going to
help with the floor, here making up a possibility because
when you have, physicality you can start out on a
lower line and work your way. Up you're not like
one of these five to nine scorer only guys where
if we don't get you at least on the second,
line it's almost not worth calling you up sometimes if
you're just. OFFENSE i think McQueen could establish, himself could
work his way up and could be a force This
Anaheim ducks.
Speaker 3: Team and then the.
Speaker 2: Third player THAT i want to have a little bit more,
About Maxim. Massey maybe this is not the guy that
people would say for The. Ducks all The ducks system
is a little bit shallower as we go down. Here
but this guy is in the queue for toquto me
and he's got ninety nine points of sixty one. Games, okay, fine, Yeah.
Jesse you talk about some Q qmjhller all the time
who is just. Scoring so he's probably another one of
these stupid not, stupid but he's five eight wingers who
is just putting up points skating in open space and
what are they even doing up? There oh, no that's
if you're not familiar with his. Game that's not what
Mass a. Is he is a six', three winger a
heavy shooting, power forward sniper who is Able to he
is able to crowd. The net we make fun, of custats,
But look nathan McKinnon And nikido kucharrov came out of,
the queue so it's it's not like it can't. Be
done he's leading the league in points on, the team
second in the league and. Standings points his team is
second in the league in, standings points up There, with
monkton and first in the league and Goals for this
is a high flying offense in mess is a big part.
Of it so what Is he he's, a great big.
Power forward that is Something that anaheim. Could use that
is something that will fit the personality of. The team
the gms trying. To build one SCOUTING report i read
talked about his defense being, pretty good but is his
offense looking? That great he's the freaking leading scorer in.
THE league i think his OFFENSE and i know you're
going to, tell me these points don't. Necessarily project he's
doing things in open space that he might not be
able to do at, higher levels but. Still scoreboard he's.
Speaker 3: Doing.
Speaker 2: It now let's see what he's able to do even
if he was a sixty point scorer IN the nhl
instead of being on pace to be one hundred and
forty points scorer IN. The qmjhl i'd take that from
a heavy power winger who's going to get me. Some
hits that's pretty valuable, in tidy Especially if anaheim is
an ascendant team at. THAT point i have used a
lot of Oxygen On. Maxim masse i'm going To make
victor talk about him, point Too but i'd love to
hear your Take on massay on McQueen And.
Speaker 1: Or, seneca yeah you can only play the games that
are in front, of, You, right like it's not like
it's his fault that he's not playing in college or
that he's not playing IN the ahl, or whatever and
he's actually currently not old enough to play in professional
hockey at least for. This season you can only play
the games in front. Of you ONE thing i want to,
Mention here jesse is while we have historically had a
thought THAT the que is a lower level of quality
even than THE other. CHL leagues i think that conversation
is going to change because you just think of the
reorganization of the development period pyramid now Here In, north
america WITH the ncaa ALLOWING these cchl players to come
over a. Bit sooner i've, seen personally and this is,
just anecdotal but there's a lot of players coming who
would have been skilled players IN, the ushl and they
especially In the massachusetts kind of Region of america where
there's a lot of great. Hockey talent they're coming up
to play in the. Queue now so these are players
that would have been lighting it up IN the ushl
and are now playing in a league LIKE the qmghl
where they can get a little but bit, of money
have a, better development play more games and than they
would IN. The ushl it's a Reason why i'm not
so high on Like A mason west you, mentioned earlier
because the competition in that league has severely declined and
will continue to severely decline as they all go To
The CHL's maxim mussey, Here like i'm pretty excited to
see what. He becomes maybe he's more of a middle
six depth contributor on the. Offensive SIDE but i could
definitely see the development case as you mentioned, it here
and then when it comes to McQueen. And seneke not
much to Say About seneke's HE'S an nhl. Superstar already
And when anaheim was facing a lot of injuries earlier,
this Season With leo carlson and players like that out of,
The lineup Mason ofc tavish, not contributing as, You mentioned
seneke stepped up and became the primary offensive driver for.
That team not worried. ABOUT him i think he's going
to be excellent AT the. NHL level i do have
some Concern about. Roger, McQueen again missed some development time
because of. The injury hard to say how he'll grade
out that draft LAST year i like to call THE
three s draft because a lot of three seas future
three seeds. WERE drafted i think that might be where he.
Ends up whether he comes up in a couple of
weeks to finish off the Season, with anaheim, who Knows
but roger McQueen definitely has a bit of. My concern
despite his very strong performance this Year In, hockey east.
Speaker 2: All right and a couple more, depth GUYS like, i
said it's not quite as strong as you get deeper,
In Here stean Solberg And. Terrence smith and then a couple,
Of Goalies damian Clara And kelly klang are playing for
the opportunity to Be Behind lucas dostall for. A while
we've talked about these two over, the Years and clara
played played big For the, italian team got peppered with shots.
ON goal i wonder if he Led The world junior's
tournament in, most SAVES because i should look.
Speaker 3: THAT up i.
Speaker 2: Should look that UP before i do a podcast on.
This topic but if, he didn't he should have certainly
in point of shots against. Per game what do you
think anything catch your attention deep in, This, System, Ryan Yeah, STAN.
Speaker 1: Solberg i think he's going to play ON the nhl
team as soon as. Next season i'm just pulling Up
a pipedia depth chart right Now. For ANAHEIM but i
do believe there are some departing veterans on. That, team
yeah if, not departing certainly taking taking. Lesser roles who
Knows If john carlson stays with that team long term
after being Acquired. By Anaheim jacob truba is in the
last year of a seven. Year deal you Also Have
radco gouddis whose deal. Is ending They've Got, ian Moore
who i'm not sure if that they will, re sign
with Guys like solberg, coming up and they Also Have
tristan lunau on. The system lots of great defensive Prospects,
for anaheim and certainly with Guys like Zelweger and minchikov
not exactly working out on the, left, SIDE there i
could see a guy Like Science, stean seldberg who has
versatility and offers something. Very Different If, I'm anaheim i'm
not going to overpay to Bring Back jacob truba And Rad.
Co Gouddis if I've Got stean soelberg coming in on
an entry, Level contract i've just just doesn't make any sense.
To me these guys will have to either decide if
they want to be a part of it and take
league minimum or close to league minimum deals to Stay
Because stean selberg is coming right up, behind them and
he can offer as much as some of, these big
strong guys who have made their BONES as.
Speaker 2: Nhl, veterans, yes sir that's going to. Do it for, These,
systems ryan any last thoughts before we get out of.
Speaker 1: Here, today yeah just thanks for, Having. Me jesse this
was a lot of fun to go deep on a
couple of. THESE systems i want listeners to check out the,
program notes the show notes here for. Today's program we
did a lot of prep work to get ready, for
THIS and i FEEL like i only scratched the surface
on a lot OF what. I prepared so if you're
someone who is undertaking a system evaluation for your, own
purposes maybe for your fantasy drafts, next year if you're
looking for good options to target in your, minor leagues
and maybe as if you're trading over the summer you're
looking to add a guy Like A stean soldberg who
can maybe contribute for you, NEXT season i think those
program notes will be very helpful.
Speaker 3: To you as you look to make some of. Those.
Speaker 2: Decisions yeah put in, Another way ryan was a freaking.
Animal man he's got a lot of notes here and
you definitely should check. It out this is some high.
Caliber stuff thank you so much for, Coming, on ryan
and be. Right back wait wait, a minute and people
check out your Work at. Dauber, right yeah if.
Speaker 1: You're Looking at i'll tell you a bit Of what i've.
Been doing i've Been updating i've been taking on for
this project here With, the Rangers The, carolina Hurricanes The,
winnipeg jets And The. CALGARY flames i updated all the
depth player profiles for. Those teams I've, Updated Ottawa san
Jose and toronto for an. Upcoming episode i'll Be Hosting
dynasty stockwatch in, Your stead jesse in a couple, of
weeks and so updated. Those players so if you're looking
at players for those teams On The dauber, prospects website
you will likely see my work there updating the listeners
And The dabber prospects readers on.
Speaker 3: Some of these depth options in. The. System.
Speaker 2: Outstanding everybody check that out and thanks for coming, On,
today ryan be. Right back shows brought to you by Fantracks.
Dot com reminder you can play your leagues. On fantracks
you can move your leagues over to. Fan tracks you
could start. New leagues nine different sports. Going on they've
got the. Most options we're, scoring, salaries contracts, rookie eligibilities,
slow drafts. Rookie drafts anything you can, think of you
can probably. Do It There FAN tracks hq has lots
of fantasy content articles on fantasy hockey all the other.
Fantasy sports FHL's a team and we THANK our. Fhl, Crew, Tim,
ryan Simoon and craft are the commission team WITH The.
Tidi leagues Tony and patrick are. Elite scouts brandon helps with,
the website prospect ranks. And visualizations if you've got some
skills you'd like to lend to, the Show hit victor
up in the discord email or On x we're also
brought to You By dauber Hockey And, Dauber prospects victors.
And editor there he writes the column Of, the JOURNEY
and i do a solo Show Called Dynasty sports LIFE
where i talk about all The different. Dynasty sports follow
us on. Social media you Can get victor At do
You At victor nino twelve or you could get Me
At Fan hockey life over on Or On, Blue Sky
jesse severe and The One Victor, Rate Review, Apple, pod spotify.
Five stars, kind words thanks for a, listening everybody and until,
next time keep living that bantasy hockey life