Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here
shit Qus, your source of information and analysis to help
you win your fantasy hockey league. Block off hot a
step hit on stay lock block. Here's your host, Jesse
Sovier and Victor Nuno.
Speaker 2: Fantasy Hockey Life back once again. Jesse sephear in the
place to be in across the aisle, my buddy, High
five Victor Nunio. How are you doing today?
Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Jessey. It's going to be back. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I had a little time off hanging out in Colorado, skiing,
doing outdoorsy things and attending a conference. I really enjoyed
the time you and Ryan had together. But it's going
to be back, my friend.
Speaker 3: How are you?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: No, Ryan and I had a good time. I wish
I had realized that Anton Frondell was a couple of
days from NBA games as I as I noted that
he played last night NBA. Yeah, no, he's playing in
the NBA now too. He's that good. He's that good.
The Bulls needed somebody because they suck. No, he's went
for the Blackhawks. But yeah, anti front dell Man. Yeah,
I'm making a waiver claim. As we speak Victor. We
got a lot of excitement going. Man, it's near the
end of the fantasy playoffs. I'm having an awful Fantasy playoffs.
I'm not gonna lie. It might be destroying my credibility
as a fantasy hockey host. But it's not been the
best year. It's been good year for basketball and baseball,
bad year for football and hockey unfortunately. How about you, man,
do you still have some survivors in your teams?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was not the best year for me either.
There was a couple of upsets and the semi finals.
In fact, one league, I was in the semi finals
and there was a stack correction a week into the
semi finals that knocked me out.
Speaker 3: I think that's ride us. How can you have a
stack correction a week later.
Speaker 4: I'm going to the last day thinking I'm playing for
a spot in the finals, and then it all got
pulled out from under me. But that was I was
upset about that. But I do have one finals that's
our common league that we've talked about before. I'm in
the final, surprisingly actually, because I've won that league a
few times. But this I didn't think was my year,
even though I finished second in the regular season. My
team is old and so injured after the finals after
the Olympics. Sorry, I had Crosby, Ronton and Fiala like
all those guys were out for a long time after
the Olympics, but I somehow still made it to the finals.
I'm probably gonna get spanked. I am getting spanked, but
at least I'm there, so I'll get a participation trophy. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I scrapped my way into the Experts League playoffs the FSGA,
and I think I might be able to win here
in the quarters, but we'll see. We'll see how that goes.
Still surviving, I'm still scratching. I got in the playoffs
about five points in a points match up the other night.
But yeah, no enough of us, Victor. People want to
hear about players. People want to hear about prospects, and
that's exactly what they're.
Speaker 1: Going to get.
Speaker 2: On the other side of this break, it's another edition
of the Dynasty Stockwatch. Victor is a big writer for
mckeans and he does things for different prospect systems. Last week,
Ryan and I tried to cover a few of them
that we don't expect we're gonna be able to make
it to before the summer preview series. But for right now,
we are covering two more systems. Today, we're covering the
Saint Louis Blues and the Philadelphia Flyers Victor. Before we
get into the individuals, any general takes on whether these
are among your more interesting prospect systems.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 4: Philly is interesting because they've gone through this phase where
I think they are. They went with Mitchkoff and specifically
with a few of their picks, they went kind of
in a direction that was more skill based. For a
long time, they had a type which was like the
big tough guy when they'd picked em Andre and Denver
Barkie and some guys that were a little bit smaller
and skilled, and then they I think corrected back to
their usual big tough guys. Even though Martone isn't the
tough skuy, he is big and hard to knock off
the puck. So I feel like they've leaned back into
what we expected of them. But also a lot of
their guys aren't super high upside that aren't in the NHL,
so that's why there's a couple of goalies on here,
which is interesting. And Saint Louis is they've retooled, which
I think has been brilliant, and I think a lot
of their guys are really interesting. So I think they're
one of the more interesting ones because they've got a
lot of guys who could be great or could just
be guys. And that's the difference between being a serious
contender and just being a tween er playoff team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, these are two teams that do have that reputation
for drafting the Bruisers. So let's get it started off
with the Saint Louis Blues and Dallibor divorcekey because remember
it's not just prospects kids, this is dynasty stockquatch, so
we do talk about some guys who are in the
NHL already. Dalibor is listed as a cell in your
mckeans and after Cam you in the NHL last year.
He's been up pretty much all season. The results are
mixed advanced that suggest the team has better results when
the third liner is off the ice then on, and
that goes for both offense and defense. The expected physicality
typical of these Blues prospects is there. With Devorski, he's
well over hit per game. His best scoring was in
the week's leading up to the Olympics, and then he
went on a point per game pace in Cortino, Milano,
second on his team in scoring. I'll take into account
of bet on Devorski is a bet on the come.
Will he be able to continue to mature and move
up that lineup, especially if the new Alex Stein administration
in Saint Louis coming up next year moves to where
rebuild trades players from the top of the lineup, Like
you say, maybe rebuild on the fly a little bit,
maybe create an opportunity for Divorski. And the comparison that
the NHL ranking Mason Black gives us this week is
Berkeley Catton of the Seattle Kraken versus Dallaboard of Orski
and Devorski out just barely ahead fifty two to forty
eight percent over Catten, And like Dvorski, nobody's really sick
of Catton yet because he was drafted roughly the same
spot a year later, and dead heat kind of seems
about on target for these two guys who were just
hoping can make big gains on their first maybe slow
start in the NHL. But what do you think of
this picture?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think this is interesting. Bet it's pretty close,
I would imagine, I think the biggest thing, and I've
mentioned this all along, which is one reason to really
another feather in the cap of paying for the FHL
player cards, because we've known all along that Berkeley Catten
is going to be a very light, priff kind of guy.
And I think that's what everyone has experienced in this year.
It is hard to roster that guy, even though he's
been in the NHL, Like, he just doesn't do anything
a lot of nights, barely shoots, doesn't really hit or
block very much. So if he can get you points, great,
And I do still think Cadden has the higher upside.
I think his points upside is huge, a bit like Carlson,
although Carlson has had more success to date in terms
of his NHL success. But I think that's the kind
of profile you're looking at someone who like a Dylan Strom.
Maybe you know that kind of profile man in my
finals in that league I was telling about Dylan Strom
is just causing me to tear whatever hair I have
about left. He's doing absolutely nothing. But that's the kind
of player. But we've also seen the feast part of
that famine, right, We've seen how he can get tons
of points, and if you're passing to an elite scorer,
which the Kraken don't have, it could be great. And
that's the issue with Cadden is that who he's a
great playmaker, but who is he setting up to cash
in on those goals. I don't know that the kra
can have that. I don't know that they will have that.
They certainly tried and it seems like they want to
go big fish hunting, but I don't know that they're
going to get there.
Speaker 3: So I still think.
Speaker 4: Kdden has more upside. But Devorski has been yeah bit
of a revelation. He had an awesome Olympics. I wrote
about that at Dauber as well, and he's been great
and in his time in the NHL it hasn't been
super amazing, but he is a very offensive guy. It's
interesting I pulled up the evolving hockey metrics for both
of these guys and they're in the NHL this year,
and they're just both awful. They're young in their NHL career.
They struggle defensively. Divorski actually a little better than Catten defensively,
similarly bad offensively. Overall, their ranks are tenth, eleventh and
tenth for Cadden and Divorski respectively, and their offensive ranks
are fourteenth and eighteenth respectively, defensively twenty second and thirty first.
So you're talking about guys that are really struggling to
translate to the NHL, even though we've seen some modest
success for both the hockey prospecting between the two has
Divorski actually much better, and part of that is because
of his more prominent success in the NHL this year.
I still think I like Caten better, but again I
think a lot of it comes down to the context.
Are they going to be able to surround him with
enough talent so he can show what he can do?
That I'm very skeptical of, so in that con in
that from that perspective, I like Divorski better because I
think there's a lot more talent in Saint Louis that
I think can around him and support him.
Speaker 3: I hate making.
Speaker 4: Decisions based on who's around you, because all it takes
his one trade or one contact situation. Maybe they land
a maybe, sayatle Land's a great goalscoring free agent. Unlikely,
but if they did, I would completely change a track
diectory for Catton. So I guess I agree with the
people here in terms of what I'm seeing in front
of me. But I still like Catten better as an
individual if he could just get better players to play around.
Speaker 3: But could you think Jesse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I said, way too early to give up
on a guy like Catton. So we'll just see. We'll
see which one of these guys is able to grow
more quickly and more effectively. Next we're going to go
to the blue line. Logan Mayu is listed as a
sell for you from the Blues. In some ways, it's
been a slow first season for Myu in Saint Louis,
but actually he's trending up recently. Maybe that makes me
sell hi ish if this is the peak. But he
has been rising in importance for the team in the
last month, switching from Cam Fowler to Philip Roberg as
a partner, getting power play two minutes. Basically he's been
the beneficiary of Justin Falks minutes. He'sn't filling in exactly
for Justin Fox, but it's making room for him in
the top four for Saint Louis. Yeah, he's been playing.
He's even been getting a little bit of power playtime,
but he certainly hasn't produced for the season. He's only
got smattering of points, and we're going to put him
in the NHL ranking poll up against Tom Willander of
the Vancouver Canucks. This and also this poll was taken
a couple of weeks ago, so it was before Mayu's
more recent streak. But then I'm not sure that the
kind of crowd who's sharp enough to be doing the
Mason Black King poles is necessarily swayed by two weeks
worth of data. Because will Lander wins this in a
route eighty eight to twelve percent comes out way better
than Mayu. There's obviously the sour memories of Mayu in
the minds of many, but is this a true indicator
of the difference in talent Yere Victor.
Speaker 3: Yeah, probably.
Speaker 4: I do think that I like Velander better as an
overall defender. Mayu has more offense upside. As you mentioned,
the trend has been in the right direction, but a
lot of his metrics still show some pretty putrid results,
which I'll mention in a minute. What's really interesting to
me is that the one thing I knew about Tom
Vlander was that he was going to be a good
all around defenseman. He was really mature defensively, A lot
of his habits and his own end were good, and
he jumps to the NHL and his defensive metrics are
just awful, like fourth percentile for offense. So everything I
knew is not correct about Tom Velander and his offense,
which I thought would be modest and limited and wasn't
that dynamic, and playing with the Hudsons there at BU
had him as the more defensive, reliable partner. And then
he jumps to the NHL and he's immediately fifty first
percentile for offense, better than average, better than an average
NHL defenseman offensively. I don't understand it. Everything is upside
down right now for Tom Velander. Maybe he's just getting
free willing a little bit more because the Canucks are
just looking for some excitement and something positive to hang
their hat on. I don't know, but I do think
that one thing that is clear to me is that
Tom Vlander will be more important to his NHL team
than Logan Mayu will be, and so that is going
to help with asset management. I think you'll be able
to leverage that if you have him, So I would
definitely prefer Lelander for that reason.
Speaker 3: May you maybe.
Speaker 4: Making himself into an NHL defender after all his last
few weeks. I don't know, but if you look at
his evolving hockey metrics, he's played over a thousand minutes
in the NHL this season, he is currently one percentile overall.
I don't think you can have zero, So he is
basically the bottom of the barrel for overall and for offense,
and defensively he's six percent tile. So he's basically statistically
one of the worst defensemen who's actually playing.
Speaker 3: In the league right now.
Speaker 4: So if he gets a little bit better, great, that's
still not a whole lot to write home about. So
he's to me, Logan Mayo is trending to be not
an NHL defender. Maybe he'll be like a Tony DiAngelo
at some point, but I don't think his offense is
anywhere near that good. So I had him listed as
a sell. I would definitely use this window of positive
narrative around him to get what you can for Logan
my U, because I don't think it's gonna get much better.
In terms of ton Velander. I think the offense might
dry up a little bit, especially with Ebulliam there and
maybe some other options they have, But I still think
he'll be a reasonable asset to hold on to in
terms of what But don't think, but don't think Vellander
is suddenly this offensive gift, because I don't think that's
actually true.
Speaker 2: Don't take that away from Canucks fans, Victor. They have
so little. Let's move on to another defenseman for these Blues.
Adam your check, I think you're a little more excited
about this Fela because you made him as a buy
in your McKean's article. He is on the first place
OHL team, the Branford Bulldogs. He's their defenseman one. He's
over a point per game as a defenseman, obviously, and
thriving in the OHL. He played in his third World
Junior's WGC twenties, that is this year. Presumably he will
be moving up from the CHL to at least the
AHL in the near future, with the mainstays on the
Blues blue line starting to transition out, perhaps justin Falk
being the canary in the coal mine, maybe again Alex Steen.
Maybe who knows what's going to happen to that pro roster.
So your check goes up against kayshaun Aitchison talked about
him last week, the one of the first round picks
of the New York Islanders this year, and Adam Irachek
does edge out Ahison fifty four to forty six percent.
It does not surprise me that ira Check comes out
a little head. These are two quality players. I almost
actually feel like ira Check should be farther ahead with
the season he's having. Maybe people discount the competition, Maybe
people think it was another guy with the same last name.
I don't know. Tell us about Eurcheck, tell us about
Huson Victor.
Speaker 4: You mentioned falk a couple times, and I know he's
not there anymore. But Falk is the only sorry Mayu
was the only person Falk wasn't worse than on the
Saint Louis Blue line, So he was pretty bad. I
think that pretty much anyone they replaced him with should
be able to be reasonable or better. Another curious decision
by Stevie wy There to acquire him. But anyway, So
about Adam Yirchik, guest definitely more excited about him as
we're recording this. He just got named CHL Defenseman of
the Month for the second month this year, So yeah,
he's definitely having a great season for the brand for Bulldogs.
Speaker 3: He had a great.
Speaker 4: World junior and yeah, a reminder that Adam Muirchek is
very young for this draft class, for his draft class, sorry,
and so he will actually turn twenty this summer. So
everything he's done has been a little bit earlier in
the funnel and he has a lot more development room
to grow, which I think is also really important to show.
And he's been awesome for Brandford this year. He probably
will spend some time in the HL. Maybe he breaks camp,
maybe breaks the team out of camp. We'll see, but
he'll certainly have an opportunity. But yeah, he's been awesome.
He definitely has less mobility issues than his older brother David,
who is really struggling to be an NHL defenceman with
some of his pivots and mobility. So Adam was always
a little bit better than smoother skater with that. He
is definitely on a juggernaut of an OHL team, so
maybe a lot of the offense isn't as good, but
I think he's definitely trending positively. And it's interesting what
we've said about Hison, who some people are talking about
what if you switch them or put them in different positions.
Hison has been great for Barry, and I think that
he has looked really good, showing a lot more offense.
But he's also the captain there and showing some really
positive numbers there. But I'm not sure that necessarily is.
Speaker 3: Going to continue.
Speaker 4: They are a great OHL team if you put him
on one of the bottom both both Barry and Branford
are tops of their division. But if you switched both
of these guys with a lower OHL team, I think
the narrative would be quite different. So I think that's
interesting to think about. I don't think Kishawn Ahison suddenly
discovered this amazing offensive side that he never had. I
think that's probably a false narrative. But his hockey prospecting
has trended up. He's up to thirty one chance of
being a star. I think the biggest thing for Chison
has always been and will continue to be his hits
and his physicality. And he's pretty good for Bash, although
year check overall is better for Bash. He hits more,
blocks more and shoots more. So you might be thinking, oh,
Achison probably for BASH leagues like him more. No, I'd
still like I'd still your check. I think he has
more upside for scoring and all around upside, so I
definitely would stick with year Check. But Chison is definitely
someone I would like. I think he'll probably settle into
that second or third pair role. Be more of a
matchup guy. Have some physicality, give you some bash and
maybe some secondary scoring. We know who's running the power
play in on Long Island for years to come, so
he's not going to get a sniff of that. I
don't even think he gets power puly too. Frankly, I
don't think that'll be his role at the next level
because ron Aitchison.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the opportunity has been open in Saint Louis really
since what since Patraangelo left? I don't know, since Tory
Krue was there. Anyway, let's move on. The next guy
is also a by Justin Carboneau, the first round Blues pick.
Carboneau is in year four of his QMJHL tenure with
the Blaineville bos Brown Armada. As per usual, he's around
one point or one and a third points per game,
and at last check, Justin Carboneau's fifty one goals were
tied for the lead league in the queue with maxim
Masse really impressive stuff. Justin Carboneau is is blowing it
up there. We put him up against Consta Helenius in
the NHL ranking poll, and old Consta had him pretty good.
It was seventy nine to twenty one percent result. People
rightly trust the positive early returns of a guy in
the NHL who's got a little bit of this, got
a little bit of prospect, prospect cred and was a
point per game in the AHL over somebody who's been
blowing up points in the queue. But still, this is
quite a blowout vector. Are we sleeping on Carboneau or
how does he compare to Hellnius?
Speaker 4: Yeah, this is one of those where I want both
for sure. I like Justin Carboneau. It is a bit
of a blowout. I think the strong production in the
AHL it isn't always so simple as oh great in
the AHL. But when you're a teenager, which Helenius has
been a teenager in the AHL the past two seasons,
and so when you look at that combined eighty three
points in one hundred and fifteen games as the teenager
in the AHL, he's not turning twenty till May eleventh.
That is some impressive stuff and definitely projects very well
to being a star at the next level, which is
why his hockey prospecting has maintained at forty percent chance
of being a star. I think that's very robust and
very accurate for what Helenius is doing. You can't blame
Carboneau for playing in the queue. I mean, that's where
he is and that's all he can do is what's
in front of him, and it's been great. I think
the Q has gotten a little bit stronger this year,
so some people look at his down production slightly from
last year and maybe look at it as a knock.
I think he's grown a lot in other ways. I
think his transition and defensive game have been much better,
and the quality of competition is better. I don't see
it as a huge knock for him. But Carboneau is
definitely just your score.
Speaker 3: Kind of guy.
Speaker 4: He's not the kind of guy you're going to put
out there for defensive reasons. Helenius is definitely more of
your all situations kind of guy. I think he could
probably be that long term two. See, they definitely want
to put him at center, even if he's a winger.
He's a pretty reasonable play driver, and you know, I
think he has still have some pretty decent scoring upsides.
So in terms of more valuable to the team, probably
Helenius would be. So I think when you're thinking about
asset management, that's something to think about. But Carboneau, the
question is can he be a top line winger or
is he more of a middle six? I think more
realistically he's middle six, but I still think he has
that upside to be a top liner, and in some
ways reminds me of that Kyle Connor type. Although he
hits some blocks a little bit more, but he's you
need to mention in terms of his offense and not
someone you're going to put out there necessarily to protect
the league. I'll lead, although his defense is getting better,
So I understand Helenius. Year. Between the two, I would
pick Hellennius, but I would want both in this poll.
Speaker 3: Why not?
Speaker 2: Figure?
Speaker 3: Why not both? I love it?
Speaker 2: Next up, Jimmy Snugs Jimmy Snugger Root another buye for
you on the Saint Louis Blues roster, and again another
guy who's establishing himself in the NHL in a shallow league.
I've been able to semi regularly stream him when the
Blues have a favorable schedule, which seems like something I'm
not going to be able to get away with much longer,
and I've been rewarded. Certainly, He's nowhere available to you
in a dynasty league because everybody has known about him
on his way up. He has averaged over two shots
and a hit for the season and up to thirty
six points in fifty seven games, twenty of those points
coming in the last eighteen games, so he's firing. He's
sizzling at over a point per game rate in the
last couple of months. Here, Snugger Root goes up against
Titchiginla Old tich Man. Tish is always getting brought up
in these segments. We drag him into the discussion, which
is actually a nice excuse to check in on his
dominating WHL season. Let us not forget if we were
wondering how Tish was going to do in his post
injury revenge tour. It is ninety points in forty eight games,
easily topping the league in points per game. This year,
he's got one point eight eight points per game, the
second best WHL mark one point five to nine. That
is one point eight eight one point five to nine.
What do you think Victor, Jimmy snug Rud Titch again,
Latij by the way I did, I don't think I
said it sixty seven to thirty three percent over snugger Rude.
Speaker 4: I don't know that it should be that high. That's
pretty dramatic for Againla and I get it, as you
mentioned it has had some injuries, so always good to
checking on him. He's he played five seasons the WHL
and he's still under one hundred and eighty five games
as we record this, which as after five seasons, should
probably be closer to three fifty or so, and so
he definitely has not played that many games, which is
always a bit of a concern that the sample size
isn't as robust.
Speaker 3: But he's doing all he.
Speaker 4: Can do, nearing that two point per game mark for Kolowna,
and he's just been awesome. So I think the upside
there is huge. But I think you can't ignore what
snug Rood is our already doing in the NHL right now.
Thirty seven points in fifty eight games, nothing to sneeze at.
He had a little bit of cameo last season which
looked pretty good. And the Saint Louis situation hasn't been.
Speaker 3: Great, right.
Speaker 4: They've dealt with a lot of turmoil and guys leaving
and potentially getting traded and not getting traded, So it's
been a lot for him to agnate and navigate. And
I think he's just been great this season in terms offensively.
You look at his evolving Hockey chart and Snuggrood is
pretty bad defensively, but offensively he's already in the sixty
second percentile and he isn't doing it all in the offense.
His offense, his even strength offense, has been great. His
goal saive above expected is one of the tops in
the league.
Speaker 3: That's pretty great.
Speaker 4: Ginla hopes to be that someday. I think Againla will
probably be better all around than snugarud It. He'll probably
be like your top six winger that you can put
out in different situations and help protect the lead and
different things like that. But I think all in all,
you're hoping Againla has a season like this in two
or three years.
Speaker 3: So it depends on your competitive window.
Speaker 4: If you're ready to compete now or soon, then I
don't know why you would take a Guinla over snugg
rud because he's already there. But if you're a little
bit patient and you think that maybe Againla has slightly
more upside than Snuggood, which is probably true. I think
they're really close, but maybe Againla has slightly more, then
sure you can take Againla. But I don't think this
poll should be I don't think Againla should be doubling
up on Snuggrood.
Speaker 3: Jesse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, take a break, Victor, come back and talk about
another prospect system. As you said, Victor, the second prospect
system for today the Philadelphia Flyers, and we're gonna start
out with the cell from that system. It is Denver Barki,
the high flying former captain of the London Knights, has
established himself in the NHL now the majority of his
games were played in Philly this year. Have been played
in Philly this year, compared to the AHL, where he's
also spent some time. I can't complain about the deployment
in Philadelphia does not have There's no McDavid dry side
of the lines up here, but Sean Katurier and Owen
Tippett for quite a while, more recently Matt Vean Mitchikoff.
These are not fourth line scrubs that Denver Barkie gets
to skate beside, and so as results, there's a typical
rookie third liner with a hit per game thirteen average
time on ice. I think the only place I roster
him is I looked across our leagues. Is our common
team that you and I managed together? And so, yeah,
Denver Barky a little bit slow as a start, but
obviously making a huge transition jumping right from the O
to the NHL. He is going up in the NHL
ranking poll, up against Culin Potter of the Calgary Flames.
He's done well two straight years that Arizona State has
Potter and he did not make the Arizona State did
not make the big skate dance? Is that what can
we call it? It's the big dance when the hockey
or when the basketball players do it, So can we
call it the skate dancing like they have at the
Olympics if they make the Frozen four. I'm going to
try to make that happen, but we'll see it might
be fetch. Is Colin Potter of the mediocre Arizona State
Arizona State to sun Devils this year really better than
Barkie or is he just further behind in the funnel
because he wins this poll fifty nine to forty one percent.
Speaker 4: I think that Potter probably has a little bit more upside.
It's really interesting. I'm glad Mason picked these two because
they're both kind of undersized, speedy, feisty type of players
in different systems, one a couple of years ahead of
the other, so I think that they are similar in
a lot of ways. We already, of course, are seeing
Barkie in the NHL. He's split some time between there
and the AHL, and he's feisty, he's competitive, he has
some value. Mostly it's been as a defensive forward. He's
actually Denver. Barkie has been great defensively for the Philadelphia
Flyers this year, seventy six percentile for defense, really reliable
in that situation. His offense hasn't been good, just fourteenth percent.
But at least he can be reliable on that end,
which you know is something that's hard for a lot
of young players. We just talked about some other players
earlier who were really struggling defensively, So at least he
can do that. Maybe some of that offense can come,
but a lot of it. I think Barkie is just
going to be an energy type forward. I'm not sure
he has that high end skill to be more and
so I do agree with this poll, and I think
that Potter is who I would take, not just because
he's lower in the funnel, but I do think he
has a little bit more upside. He has been great
for Arizona State for the last couple of seasons he's had.
This one was overpoint per game. Last season he left
the USNTDP and was twenty two points and thirty five games,
and this season he's down at twenty ninth for points
per game in the NCUBLEA. Not bad, especially playing for
not a powerhouse in the NCUBLEA, but as you mentioned,
their team didn't quite make it all the way, so
that's pretty good. And Potter is just really a fast,
excellent in transition and his that's one of the best
things about his Fantasy Hockey Life Skater card that you
can see, as his transition game is elite. He's pretty
good at puck battles and loose puck recovery. Some of
his play driving is good. Doesn't really bash that much though,
hit some blocks pretty low, so mostly you're looking for
offense and scoring threat, and I think he can be that.
I do have him rated higher than Barkie, and I
would definitely lean that way looking at the hockey, looking
at the hockey prospecting. Between the two, it definitely leans Barkie.
He graduated a thirteen percent chance of being a star,
and Potter increased his potential up to nine percent, but
still not that high either way.
Speaker 3: I'm still going Potter here, Jesse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, both of them smaller gentleman, the five eight, five
to nine, respectively, But I do like that the five
eight Barkie throws more than a hitting game at thirteen
minutes my style. That tells me he little, but he's tough.
Moving on, we got Jack Nesbit a cell that you're
listening for the Philadelphia Flyers. He was last year's first
round pick, the second first round pick last year. There's
a certain earlier first round pick. It might come up
later in the episode, but he continues to spit hot
fire up in windsor does Jack Nesbit. He's not one
of the very top scorers on the team, but he
does have a point per game for them. His scoring
has improved markedly in the last month he had a
hat trick in the last week. So Nebuit is on
the upward trajectory right now in the OHL and he
is a tall drink of water, Old Jack Nesbit, a
big fellow, and he's going up in this NHL ranking
poll against Lyndon Lakovich of the Washington Capitals. He's come
up a couple of times for US drafted actually fifteen
picks later in the first round last year, and the
people out there seemed to like Lackovich more seventy one
to twenty nine percent over Nesbit, which out west getting
more love than Nesbit back east. Is this supposed to
be this big of a margin, Nesbit losing seventy one
to twenty nine victor of what do you think?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Probably.
Speaker 4: I think there's no question what Philly was doing with
this pick. They were looking at the draft when they
were on the clock at twelve, and I said at
the time, and I maintained that there were way better
options on the board, but they wanted a center and
they wanted a big, beefy guy, and.
Speaker 3: That's exactly what they got.
Speaker 4: So they they got Nesbit and he's gonna continue to
be those things. Big, tall, physical is he going to
be skilled enough to translate a lot of this. I
don't know he does play for Windsor who's a good
team in the Western Conference of the AHL. Anyways, I
don't think his scoring has been that impressive. His hockey
prospecting had him at twelve percent chance of being a
star last year. This year it's ten percent. Lakovich has
had slightly stocked down, even though he is still doing
well for Moosjaw. I had some injuries this season, but
he went down from eighteen to fifteen percent chance of
a star. But I still think that Lakovic has way
more offensive upside, and between the two, which are both
big guys, Lakovich a little bit of a worse skater
and a little less physical. But I would still take
Lakovich over Nesbit any day. I think he has way
more upside than Nesbit. I think is probably a middle
sorry a bottom six center, and Lakovich at least has
the upside to be a middle six I off, not
top six wingers. So I definitely think there's a lot
more potential there for Lakovich, even though he turned down
a little bit this year.
Speaker 3: In fact, it might be a good by window for
Lennon Lakovich. That's bit.
Speaker 4: I would definitely use this opportunity to sell. If he's
a little bit stock up based on his OHL performance,
I would try to get what you can for him,
would be my advice.
Speaker 2: Sounds good. Moving on to another cell. Last year's mid
first round pick of the Flyers was Jet Luchenko. He
recently moved to Branford. He'd been the captain of Gwelph
for two years and now he's moved to Branford. As
aforementioned Branford. That is the steamroller up in the OHL
this year. That's winning a lot of things. He's already
been point per game there, which is a good sign.
Although he's obviously he just doesn't have the same role
with that team, but he is on the development. In
this case, he is up against Connor Geeky of the
Connor Geeky of the Lightning, who's actually had a few
NHL games drafted several years beforehand. And Connor Geeky is
winning this matchup eighty three to seventeen percent. And Victor,
do you think the voters thought we meant Morgan Geeky
instead of Connor Geeky.
Speaker 3: Probably not, but that is dential potential.
Speaker 2: It's a theory.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is an interesting one.
Speaker 4: I have mentioned. We've talked about Luchanko before, and I
do feel like they mismanaged him a little bit. He's
been kind of monkey around a little bit. He made
the NHL team last season, got a few games, went
back to the AHL, and then back down to the
O and he's been fine there.
Speaker 3: He was good for GWELF, then got traded to Brandford.
The thing is he didn't. I feel like that.
Speaker 4: Kind of messed with him last year and he wasn't
amazing for GWELF, and then this year he got He's
again made the team and then got sent down after
four games and then got traded after eleven games. So
it's been all over the place for Luchenko. And then
on Branford, he's definitely more of a depth player for
them because they're such a good team. So I'm not
sure any of that has done him any favors. But
the reality is that I never thought he was going
to be this big time scorer anyways. Like he's really fast,
he's really good, two way kind of guy. I think
he's has a chance to be in above average forward,
but I don't think it's much more than average. He's
really good in transition, and he's a guy who can
plug some holes and fill different roles on that team,
which I think is why Philly likes him. But I'm
not sure that's going to be great for your fantasy option.
You want the guy who is definitely going to be
top power play in top six, and I don't think
that's Luchenko. So I think that's part of the reason
why people are so stocked down on him, and I
definitely would sell. Hopefully he has a really strong playoffs
for Branford and they win. For Luchenko's stock purposes, Hopefully
Branford does a really well, wins the NHL Championship, maybe
more Cup, and then you can use that to sell
Luchenko for more than he's worth.
Speaker 3: Connor Gigi's interesting.
Speaker 4: I think that, and they're pro scouts because they don't
have a lot of draft picks and whatever. They do
really well with managing the players that they have and
the guys that they can acquire. And he was a
really strong piece that they got for Sergachev and he
hasn't played too many NHL games to date, but he
has been pretty effective and I think he's learning better
how to use his size and if he can slot
up at the top of the lineup there in Tampa,
obviously that's pretty exciting, which he hasn't done.
Speaker 3: A whole lot of.
Speaker 4: But I still prefer Connor Geeky, especially because you were
joking about it, but hey, proof of concept with his
older brother. When did Morgan Geeky figure it out? It
was years into his career. If Connor can even to
some extent, then that's great, And I think that I
think Connor was always a better prospect than his older
brother at the same stage. So if Connor can harvest
even a little bit of what Morgan has discovered this year,
which I think maybe some offseason little practices or discussions,
maybe we see a new Connor Geeky next year. So yeah,
for all of those reasons, I'm taking Connor Geeky, and
it's not particular literally close, Jesse.
Speaker 2: Fair enough, let's move on. We're, like you said, we're
in goalie territory now, Victor and I got questions on
this first one. Carson Bjarnesson is transitioning from the WHL
to the AHL. Now. He had a very good record
in the WHL. He even made the Canadian World Juniors team.
Didn't get in a game, but he was on that team.
Big honor. Not this year but the previous year. And
now he's transitioning to the AHL. Results have not been great.
So far this year he has an eight to seventy
eight save percentage. But still, he is a twenty year
old goalie, folks, and he was drafted in the second round.
You got to give this time, this guy plenty of
time to simmer. Twenty year old goalies are not supposed
to be good enough to be in the NHL at
that age. And he's going up against one of your buddies,
one of your faves, Victor Joel Blomquist of the Pittsburgh Penguins,
and unsurprisingly, blomb Quist wins this one in a blowout
seventy to thirty percent. How do we talk about these, Victor,
And is Barnsen that close to Blombquist. I'm guessing you
like blomb Quist too.
Speaker 3: I like Blumbquist.
Speaker 4: And yeah, it's so funny, the whole narrative about Jarry
and Pittsburgh and Edmonton, and it's just so obvious, I
think to some of us that kind of knew that
was going to happen, that he's going to get traded
there and not be good. And then you see Stuart Skinner,
who was so maligned, and yeah, he definitely had the
propensity to give up bad goals. But then he's been
great in Pittsburgh fourteen point oh eight goals save a
book of expected for Stuart Skinner, she loves for his money.
Has been a little better than I expected, which may
be a little bit of a problem for Blunkfist, But
I like Blunquist. As you mentioned, he's young playing in
that HL system, which I don't think is a very
conducive or great necessarily environment for him. But he's actually
been pretty good this season. His numbers are a little
bit down, but I still think he's had some positive
results in the AHL, so I like to see that. Actually,
he's twenty four, so yeah, he's got he's close to
being NH already, and he has some played some NHL
games which didn't go particularly well. But I think Blunkfist
is at least a one bee in the future, and
I think he's a guy who could challenge for starts,
So I'd love to see what they do there. They
definitely have some options, and then there's of course Sergram Miroshov,
who I think is a starter for years to come,
but I do Blumquist is the bottom line. Banniston is
interesting because he hasn't gone super well into the AHL.
But here's the thing. They don't really have any good
options in the NHL right now, do the Philadelphia Flyers.
So I think Bjarnison will probably get leap frogged by
the next guy that we're going to talk about eventually,
but he's closer to being nhlready.
Speaker 3: He's in the AHL.
Speaker 4: Maybe he gets an opportunity in a year or two,
and I think he could be at least someone who
holds down the fort for a bit and has some
reasonable value. So for that reason, I think you might
want to buy Carson Bjarnison, not because he's going to
be great, but because he is they and he's close
to being NHL ready, and we see a lot of
guys actually transition from the HL to the NHL and
be better, So I think Jiannison could be that guy.
With a little bit more structure. I think Philly Is
looks like they're improving their team, and hopefully we'll have
a little bit more structure and good defensive ability soon
and so that could really help him or whoever's in goal.
So I think it's a soft buy and Bjarnison not
because he's going to be great, but because they don't
really have a lot of great options, and he's the
closest one to being NHL ready, and I think he
has at least split starter upside. Bloomquist I definitely would
take in this poll though, And I think he's a
better goalie even though he's going to be a little
bit blocked I think for the for years to come
in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, very good.
Speaker 2: And the other goalie, the goalie you were cheasing just
a moment ago, who's going to be chasing Daniel Vladash
who's got a lock hold on it, Victor, I just
say so. But Igorza Vragen another Russian goalie, and you
have buy next to his name for the second straight year.
He's minding the net for a decent Scott Saint Pete franchise.
A nine to twelve save percentage is pretty reasonable over
in the KHL, especially for a twenty year old. Maybe
Philly fans and I are scarred by Ivon Fettov and
Alexey Kolosov coming over. In the last couple of years,
these Russian import goalies have not worked out necessarily particularly
well for the Flyers, but Canada Russian Belarussan KHL goalies
survived this transition. And then we put him up against
Levy Marilinen of the Ottawa Senators, and that is going
to be quite a matchup. Mari Linen has actually gotten
some pro games already, not really blown up in a
positive way, but he has at least gotten that far
and made it into North America and done those things
again as more hype, the people like it more seventy
to thirty percent worth of more in the NHL ranking poll. So, Victor,
what do you say about these two?
Speaker 4: Yeah, these are interesting because obviously Zovdrogen is younger and
hasn't really proved himself. He's looked great for Scott Saint Pete.
We've seen a lot of goalies look good in limited
action for Scott Saint Petersburg and then when they get
a full time roller, when they come over, they collapse.
And so that is possible. And I don't mean to
give Philly fans PTSD or anything, but this guy seems different.
He does seem like he's really good between the ears.
He's not the biggest guy, he doesn't overrely on his frame.
He's got a good combination of positioning and athleticism, and
he has been great at pretty much of a level
he's been at and so I definitely think he's a
star starter for years to come when and if he
comes over. So I definitely would want a piece of Zevdrogen.
I think he will be the answer when he comes over.
So I definitely like him. Marilyna is interesting because he's
one of these that I would also soft buy. I
think he had a disaster season in the NHL this
year after last year when he was good in the end,
they maybe over relied on him when the opportunity came
and he didn't. He did not respond well. He didn't
handle it well, that's clear, But I don't think that
means that he's a total bus and he is never
going to be a good goalie again. Sometimes that happens
in life. You fall down and it's how you pick
yourself back up. And he's been pretty good in the
AHL since then, and I still think that Marilna in
the right situation when he win and if he comes
back and maybe he needs to change an organization. I
don't know, but I think that he still could be
a reasonable goalie, and what happened this year I don't
think will completely define who he is or how his
NHL career goes. And so if you're looking to soft
buy on someone who could be decent, it may be
he may be a guy. I actually gave this advice
to cop people and I've taken it myself. Yes, he
was horrible this year. You could probably get him for
free or nothing, and this is the time of year
where he may just grab Marilina and see what happens.
He could turn into a competent one bee or backup
and give you some value in deep enough leagues. I'm
not saying he's going to be the starter and be great,
because that's clearly ol Mark. I think he's better than
what he showed this year, and he had a longer
track record of being good before he was terrible this year,
so I think you got to rely on that. But
in terms of Zebragen, yeah, I think he's going to
be great. I think he's gonna be awesome, and he's
going to be the next wave of great Russian imports
that you're going to want a piece of.
Speaker 2: All right, we do love them when they work out.
Let's see, the last Philadelphia Flyer is probably the most
prominent in the system, and that is Porter Marton. He
is a bye. He is the ground jewel of this
Flyer system. Had an excellent year at Michigan State University,
led the team with forty seven points in thirty three games,
and has Michigan State the third seed in the NCAA
tournament at press time. And of course the bad news
is we're recording this before the tournament games, so hopefully
he's not like eliminated or something by the time people listen.
There's just no way to know. The playmaking power forward
Marton shouldn't be too far from joining the pro ranks.
I don't know if it's been made of official, whether
he would come out to the Flyers for the rest
of the season, if after Michigan State's turney run, whatever
it is, but certainly he has absolutely done everything to
prove that he was worth that high of a pick
in the draft and in this NHL ranking. Police up
against Michael Hage, who's no slouch himself, who certainly has
been getting love himself. But Martone wins mightily in this matchup,
sixty five point five to thirty four point five. I'm
not surprised by that, but it doesn't surprise me. He's
getting more votes. But is this an accurate representation of
the divide and talent here Victor.
Speaker 4: No, Actually, I don't think so. I think this is
actually such a great juxtaposition from Mason. I think both
of these guys are guys that you want. One's a winger,
one's a center. So to the NHL teams, he's going
to be very different. There's a lot of hope that
Michael Hage is going to be the two C answer
in Montreal for years and years to come. And I
think he's made a strong case this year that is
going to be his manifestation and I think if he
can do that's amazing. We'll have to wait and see.
He has had a fantastic season.
Speaker 3: So has Marton.
Speaker 4: But I think Marton reaffirmed what a lot of people think,
and I think Hage really took a huge step forward
this year and open some eyes into what he can be.
I actually have these two neck and neck in my
ranks seven point seven to seven for Martone and seven
point seventy five for Hage. So that tells you a
little bit of how close they are. So I don't
think it should be sixty five to thirty five. I
think they're much closer than that. But in the end
it might depend on I know a lot of us
for fantasy often have more centers, and so wing eligibility
might be a benefit to Marton. But I'll also mention
that there are a lot of people who think that
Hage is not going to be a center and he
will be a winger. Of course, the Canadians want him
to be a center, but he might end up being
a winger, and so then you have two of the same.
But ultimately I think you want both these guys. The
hockey prospecting between the two, Martone has maintained a fifty
nine percent chance of being a star. Hage has also
maintained at twenty percent. I think there's more offensive upside
for Martone, which is probably why I would lead him.
He's also a winger eligible, and I think that there's
more space at the top of the lineup for Marton
in Philly. I don't think he's getting traded or any
of that's changing, so he's for sure going to be
a top line option in Philly, whereas Hage is most
likely in middlesex option and if he slides over to
the wing, maybe he gets on that top power play
in Montreal, but it's likely based on the personnel that
they have there. So all that leads me to lean Martone.
But really I want both of these guys, and if
I'm running an ANHL team, I probably would prefer Hage actually
based on what I've seen this year. But that's real
life versus fantasy, and we're dealing in fantasy, Jesse.
Speaker 2: We're dealing in fantasy, Victor. That is a summary of
everything that we have to say about this prospect systems
in these episodisodes. Anything else to tell the people about,
any teases to make before we get out of here today.
Speaker 4: We are getting close to the last few episodes of
the season of the regular season before we start our
team previews, So we're going to do a couple more
of these kinds of things, and actually we have a
couple more episodes planned with Ryan because you've got some
things going on, Jesse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got some things cooking. We'll get that out
to people here shortly. But yeah, there's a lot going
on there always is for Victor and I. But right
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