Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here
Shit Cues, your source of information and analysis to help
you win your fantasy hockey league.
Speaker 2: Block off hot A, step hit on, Stay Lock.
Speaker 1: Here's your hosts, Jesse Severe and Victor Nuno.
Speaker 3: Mabasy Hockey Live. We're back. I'm Jesse Severe, Pain Tracks.
That is Victor Nuno of E P Rings side Victor.
How you doing.
Speaker 4: I'm doing awesome, Jesse. It's going to be back again together.
It hasn't happened as often as I would have liked
most recently, but it's going to be back. And yeah,
we got some really fun stuff to talk about today.
Looking forward to it. How are you doing, I'm doing good.
Speaker 3: I'm doing good. We're back in the bread and butter,
the meat and potatoes, the the Brussels sprouts and bacon,
of our of our content. Here. We're into Scouting reports,
into Scouts Tout. We got a lot of our favorite
Scouts listeners who are coming in and giving us the
straight skinny from watching a lot of film. That's something
you're not necessarily going to get just everywhere. But also
the Victor, the one Victor is going to be here
to give us takes on these players as well, Victor,
times are good. All people have to do to participate
in the good times the Roaring twenties is to join
our Fantasy Hockey Life discord, and they can do that
by hitting us up Fantasy Hockey Life at gmail dot com.
Fan Hockey Life for Me and Victor Newno. Twelve for
Victor on x Or on Blue Sky, Jesse Severe will
find Jim and the one Victor will find you. Victor.
That's with the number one always a number one somewhere
in the Victor social media handles, I find Victor. Are
you do you when you play hockey? Do you wear
number one? That's what I want to know.
Speaker 4: No, actually, I for a long time I were number twelve,
and then I decided to wear more of a number
like the position that I play, which is left handed
left B. And I decided that I would go with
Quinn Hughes forty three, mainly because I look like his
game how he reads it. Certainly nowhere near is good.
But I am a undersized left handed D with not
a very good point shot, so I figure the similarities
were good enough. There.
Speaker 3: Hey, you've got the best point shot in my book.
You got You're just gonna score all the points on
this episode. We if people want to score points with
us and also want to get something back because of it,
how can they get further into the action with Fantasy
ACAAI Victor.
Speaker 4: If you want to score points for yourself and get more,
get ahead in your leagues, and get all kinds of
great bonus content, you can go to patreon dot COM's
Last Fantasy Hockey Life and there you can find three
different tiers depending on what you want to do. At
the lowest tier, even you can get into our tier Dynasty,
which is a super fun league that we curate and
have multiple divisions, and it's super fun. We talk about
it on the show. And there's also bonus content in
terms of patron cast, in terms of access to the website,
in terms of the ranks, the list, the player cards,
it has, the hits, blocks and shots and all kinds
of cool stuff. In addition to that, you can get
extra help, one on one sessions and Patron Priority Channel,
so you can get all that through Patreon dot com
slash Fantasy Hockey Life.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you, people are obsessed about that tidy league.
There's so much excitement by the people who are in it.
It's amazing for a league that doesn't cost you a
entry fee aside obviously from being a patron. But when
you're dealing with one hundred humans people from time to
time there's a little bit of turnover. So for those
one or two folks where life might be getting in
the way, if you're really fired up about getting involved
this year in the Tidy, you probably have a reasonable
chance if you join up now and hit a or
we'll get you the Tidy crew and those guys get
you sorted right out. Victor. That's going to do it
for the intro. Let's take a break, come back, do
what we do and do the Scouts Scouts Touts today, Victor.
And we've got two sections of this episode, and we've
got a lot of guests content today. This is even
a we've done this before, but not probably to this degree.
And segment one is going to be a scouting reporter,
some Scout tout reports on some prospects who have already
been drafted. The first one is Nikita r. Tomanov, who
is a Carolina Hurricanes prospect. And we're going to actually
kicked to a little bit of audio that you did
with our scout. So right here, folks, listen to.
Speaker 4: Patrick and now here to talk. Nikita Artamanov is our
fel Scott scout. Patrick, Patrick, tell us how you would
describe Artamanov if you could have to do so in
just about ten words.
Speaker 5: I would say Artamanov is a player with the high
motor and a hockey IQ who will go to dangerous
places to score like that.
Speaker 4: Sometimes when you hear high motor, you might think low
end skill, but it's it's pretty special to have a
little bit of both. What do you think his best
attributes are.
Speaker 5: I think he's got a very hockey IQ. He's very smart,
and I think he reads and sees the play very well,
and that along with the high motor allows him to
just do so much that just is great to see.
It's fun to watch.
Speaker 4: Nice. What do you think he needs to work the
most on or what is his biggest concern.
Speaker 5: I do think that he might not be the most
dyna and he might not and he doesn't have the
highest end skill, so that's a little bit of a concern.
And maybe I didn't see a lot of shooting from distance.
He was all in close. That could be a bit
of a concern. But if you're going to live in
the paint and be able to be successful there, maybe
that's not too much of a concern.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, And his production this year putting some of
those concerns maybe to rest. But what do you think?
I know it's always hard, but what do you think
of a stylistic comparable for a Tamanov?
Speaker 5: So when I was looking at him, I think maybe
possibly Nick Schmaltz. I don't know if that's the best comparable,
but that's the best one that I came up with,
although I do think he's going to have better points
and more blocks and more shots than Schmaltz. Definitely, I
think he's gonna have more shots than Nick Schmaltz. But
I think with him not being overly dynamic and having
average or slightly above average skating, I guess that's where
some of the I thought the comparables come in nice okay?
Speaker 4: And what do you think the realistic outcome for our Tamanopiz?
Do you think he's destined to be like a top
liner top six, maybe middle six or heaven forbid, bottom six.
Speaker 5: I was just very impressed by how well he's playing
as an eighteen year old in the KHL, so I
think while he might not be good enough for line one,
he might get on power play one and be a
high end second liner. And I guess a final thought
is I put in there was that I think that
his play style, if he gets to the NHL somewhat
soon within the next couple of years, and they still
have the same place system that they have going in
place in Carolina, that he could definitely find himself, endear
himself pretty easily to rob randomore and have success.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's definitely a good point. It's always hard because
you don't know if the system is going to be
the same when he gets there, but it seems like
he's the kind of player that the coaches would like
even in other systems.
Speaker 5: Anythink I do think so, because I didn't mention this earlier,
but I mean, he definitely has that high end motor
and he's not just all offense. He does get back
on defense as well. That's definitely a strength that would
endear him.
Speaker 4: Awesome. That's good to hear. Thanks so much for sharing
your thoughts on our tomano of Patrick.
Speaker 5: You're welcome, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: Really cool Patrick coming on to give us the take Victor.
I gotta say, when did we start getting multiple teenagers
getting huge run in the KHL. I thought that was
not supposed to be a thing anymore, but it seems
to be happening from time to time. Now Torpedo is
not at the top of the standings, but Ar Tomanov
is at the top of the team scoring. I would
take a Nick Schmaltz on my team, which is a
guy Patrick is comparing him to. I don't know how
fired up i'd be about a Nick Schmaltz type on
the Hurricanes who could be crazy deep. But do you
see this kind of same combo of skating and smarts
from this guy? Is our scout is looking at.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I think that he's He's been really impressive.
He was impressive last year. Everyone at the draft was
calling our Tomanov or our Tomanov. I'm not sure how
to say it. And one of the steals of the draft.
I feel like people say that every year with Carolina,
and it often does work out, sometimes it doesn't, but
they definitely take high value guys and guys who can
they can take another step or have some good underlying numbers,
and yeah, Torpedo is one of those teams that doesn't
seem to punish their young kids as much as some
of the other ones. They seem to not be as
worried about some of those things about losing them. But yeah,
he's been taking a huge step this year, and I
do definitely think that he's all that that Patrick was
talking about. In fact, you know, I think a lot
of times, which is true with a lot of scouts,
when they spend a little bit more time watching these guys,
they tend to be a little bit conservative, which I
think is good. You never want to go too crazy
with your evaluation. But I think I'm more excited than
what I heard from Patrick about our Tomanov. And yeah,
I think that he certainly, he certainly could be that exciting.
So yeah, I'm pretty happy to see what he's done
so far.
Speaker 3: Victor. I got to gauge your excitement. I got to
push that excitement. What is the points in bash upside?
Where do you see this guy landing potentially in the NHL.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that he's really I have him ranked
on my and we just did this big update for
the twenty twenty five Prospect Cars and so I had
to really think about that, and I had our Tomanov
a little bit a little bit lower, and I mainly
increased his percent of reaching the seventieth percentile, which is
what I have him, which you could interpret as a
seventy ish point pace. I think there are the things
that go into that, and including what his bash could be,
which is pretty decent. He's got pretty good hits and
shots and blocks, and so overall he should be have
a pretty high floor and then also have pretty good
scoring ability. So I think he's probably in that sixty
to seventy ish point range, and then there may be
even upside for more. I try not to think about
the fact that he's on the Canes and maybe just
push down the lineup and not have a prominent role,
because as we've seen with a lot of other situations,
he could be moved to another team, and he's good
enough that he could instantly be a top three prospect
on a few other teams in the league that have
worse pools, so that that could happen, and the Canes
have been done to do that to get help now,
so I think that he definitely has that upside. I'm
not sure that he has quite the upside that he's
looking at in some of the analytical models where it
looks like he could be super star potential. But I
definitely think it's pretty high and it's all coming up
roses right now to see if he can continue his
toward pace. Twenty four point some thirty four k to
games is pretty outstanding.
Speaker 3: Let's look at the Mason Black NHL Rankking Pole. He
puts them out there for the people to get their say.
In Nikita here Ur Tomanov our Tomanov is up against
Jagar Furkus of the Seattle Kraken, longtime friend of the show,
or a guy that we're always seemed to be talking
about as one of those sleepers, and nikid Ar Tomanov
is coming out way ahead of Furcus sixty seven to
thirty three percent. Nobody likes the smaller Furcus always not
that much smaller actually, and he's about a year older,
but not with the same not with the same probabilities.
Like you say that, I think that some of these
models absolutely love a young guy going off in the KHL.
It's got to be it, because we already know that
some of the models love it when these guys put
up the stats and even the MHL. We've talked about
that before on the show. But he's coming out way
above what Fercus is able to do up in Canada. Yeah,
still in canneries in the EHL this year, I can't
quite tell. But anyway, let's let's think, what do you
think of this comparison, Victor, between Nikid art Tamanov and
Jegger Fercus.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that I would probably go with Artamanov,
and I think that I agree with you. I think
that most of the time you see the professional young kids,
young hockey players in the professional hockey leagues tend to
get a little bit of a boost, and I think
it's pretty warranted. I think that's reasonable. I think his
upside is more based on that he's playing professional hockey
at a younger age. He's beating professional players more consistently.
That doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be better than Fergus,
but I like that the trajectory is where it is
at this stage. And yeah, you're right, they are the
same height. Although our Tamanov is like thirty pounds heavier
than Fercus and only a year younger, there's a little
bit more girth there. He might be a little bit
harder to move off pucks and have a little bit
more staying power in the NHL because of that. But
I think that I'm more excited just because of the
strong production at a little bit of younger age. I
still like Fercus though, And if you are in a
league where you want someone who's ready to contribute, like
right away, because Fergus is playing for Coachella Valley right
now in the AHL, and so's he's doing well. Thirteen
points in twenty games. It's not blowing the doors down,
but it's really it's good. It's really good, and he's
continuing to progress and that we said that this is
an important step for him after just tearing apart at
the WHL last year, and I think that he's showing
that he can translate this to the AHL, at least
at a twenty game sample size. So we'll see if
that can continue. But if you want someone who you
know is really close and could step into your lineup
as early as this year, most likely next year, then
Fercus make it a little bit of a bump. Because
even though our Tomanov has been in the KHL for
two years, he's probably got two or three more years
until he's realistically ready to play the NHL in terms
of a role with the Canes are potentially getting a trade,
so that might factor into it for you. But in
terms of pure upside, I'm definitely liking our Tamanov more.
His trajectory is more linear upwards. Looking at some of
the comps here in the pnhle model with Mason Kyle
Connor is one that I think is probably reasonable. There's
an Getting Maulkin one. I don't think that one is
certainly not Stylistically Alexi Hipponiami that one didn't quite work out,
so he got a wide range there from Hall of
Famer to NHL Superstar too didn't work out at all,
which certainly is a range of where Tamanov falls in.
But that also isn't a very helpful range because it's
very wide. But as I mentioned earlier, I think he's
I don't think he's quite the one hundred point superstar
PNHL guy, at least that he's looking at right now.
I think he's probably closer to the seventy ish point
guy that I think that he can hit right now,
which is also quite a bit higher than what Fergus
says Fergus looks like he's taking a big hit this year,
but that's also because he's jumped to the AHL where
things are a lot harder. So his panchili went from
like eighty four down to fifty four, but it's probably
not that big of a dive. He certainly still has
sixty seventy ish point potential. I was looking at the
prospect cards that we just updated the brand and just updated,
and they look very different and cool. He added some
stuff in terms of like play driving, in terms of
tidy points, if that's something that you want to be
looking at, and really cool color bars that show you
how far above or below the standard deviation they are
for each category, and that's really cool to look at.
And so when you look at our Tamanov here, you
can see that he is scoring really well for the league,
and he's got good points. His shots are sixtieth percentile,
his hits are eightieth, and his blocks are our fiftieth,
so he's got some pretty good bash and he's getting
some pretty good power play time. And then looking at
his play driving, it's a little bit average. It could
be a little bit better, but overall he should be
pretty well above average. In terms of tidy fantasy points,
and so that's good to look at. And Fercus still
it's nice to see the updated card for his AHL
time because he was someone that was always a big shooter.
Interesting to see that as a smaller guy, he has
been hitting quite a lot in the AHL, so that's
nice to see. That helps his peripheral floor and his
shots still have been really good. So I still think
that things are positive for both of these guys, but
I think the upside for me is higher with Artamanov
if he wants someone ready sooner than Fergus is reasonable.
I don't think this is so disparate Jesse. It was
a little bit more one sided in terms of the
VAN votes, which I understand, but I think that it
probably should be a little bit closer than that victor.
Speaker 3: Next up, we're going to talk Montreal Canadians and Michael Hage. Tony,
one of our lead scouts is the scout of the
day on this one, and Hage is a Centerman. His
skating can be dynamic. He has speed and also want
to cut in to get a chance off the rush,
and handling well above average ability to find open teammates
and move puckside to get around defenders and get a
shot off. The shooting excellent, quick, accurate, lethal, says Tony.
Doesn't take long to get the shot away and he
usually finds the net. The IQ. Hage's vision and anticipation
is very good on the offensive side of the game.
Defensive side is a little bit lacking, though again the
poise is better in the offensive zone. Defensive zone was
sometimes an adventure for checking. Tony did witness some for checking,
but thinks it's still an area that Hage will need
to work on. Defense. Like most players at this stage,
defense is a secondary trait. There's more stick work and
not a lot of body checking or good positional play.
So the best asset the shot, says Tony, far and
away the best asset. It's hard, deceptive, and accurate. The
biggest concern a little shy about contact, the little lacking
in the defensive game. Probably not a lot of bash,
according to Tony, but the top tier could be a
tier one just because of that shot. The offense could
see a top six roll with number one power play,
and that's because of the shot the vision to get
to that top offensive game. His fiftieth percentile outcome Tier
three third or fourth liner spot duty on a second
power play. That would be where his shot gives him
a chance to make it to the second power play,
but without the bash and more work on the defensive side,
probably minimal ice time. Stylistic comparable, he reminds Tony of
Quintin Byfield and the Scouts final thoughts and additional Scout
additional stats. Hage could be a top tier player as
far as offense is concerned, but he's going to need
to work in his own zone to be an all
around player. Tony is not prone to hyperbole, Victor, and
he's somewhat close to the action when you're talking Michigan Wolverines,
because he's up there watching Michigan. I think from time
to time he drops the holy name of Buyfield in
his report, Victor, which I know is meaningful to you.
I wonder if Tony means the byfield we dream on
or the byfield that we've gotten so far in the NHL.
I don't know. But still, where do you see the
upside here?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think that he's certainly not as big as Buyfield.
He's only six to one and Byfield six ' five,
so that the frame is different and certainly the appeal
of what he could be at the same age with
Buyfield being a little bit raw but showing so much skill,
and I think that with the frame and the trajectory
there was so much to be excited about with Buyfield.
I think that it's a little bit different with age,
not that it's not that it's bad by any means,
but I'm not sure it's quite the same thing in
terms of the trajectory and projection. But he is really exciting.
He is. He was great in the USHL last year,
and people probably heard about the difficulty he had, not
only with draft season being difficult, but losing his father
the summer before that, and so there was a lot
of trauma that happened. But he was able to not
only survive that but actually thrive and look pretty stellar
doing it in this season, taking a huge step at
Michigan thirteen points in or sorry, seventeen points in thirteen games.
He looks fantastic, does Hage, And so I think that
the upside is there. I'm not so sure about the prototype,
but certainly a high scoring center is someone that he
certainly does look like. Maybe some of the concerns that
twenty pointed out it need to be rounded out, but
that's one thing the college game is really good for,
so I have confidence that he'll come around with that. Yeah,
He's been definitely one of the biggest movers and jumpers
in the draft plus one season, so Hages is certainly
someone to be excited about. So yeah, I'm definitely right there.
Speaker 3: Mason Black, the NHL Ranking put up the poll Hage
versus Calum Ritchie, who's already been all the way to
the National Hockey League Draft one year earlier, out of
the Oshawa Generals, and the people have spoken. In two
hundred votes, Michael Hage defeats Callum Richie once again. We
got a pretty lopsided result, sixty three to thirty seven
percent victor. Is that the way you would stack these
two up.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure that I would. It would be so
lopsided for me either. I certainly understand the excitement. As
I mentioned, Hage just looking really great this year. I
think a lot of times people are often a little
bit influenced by a recency bias, and he certainly has that.
He has been looking great. He had a game a
couple of weeks ago where I think he had multiple goals.
It was a multiple point night. He's had a couple
of those. It's been pretty exciting. There's been a lot
of a lot of headlines for that and Richie, I
think he hasn't maybe been as exciting in terms of
some of the things that he's been doing. But I
thought it was pretty impressive that he made the Avs.
And and sure the Avs were injured and had some
need for some bodies, and so maybe you could say
they're a little bit more desperate for different players, But
I think that he earned his way onto that team.
He looked not completely out of place at times. Sometimes
he did, and he certainly had some work to do,
and that's what he's done. He's gone back to Oshaua
and he has thirty four points in eighteen games. He
looks fantastic. So I'm not sure that there's really any
reason to be not excited about calam Ritchie. I think
this is a little bit closer here. Part of it
might come down to you positional. I think that Richie
can play the center of the ice. I think that
Age can as well, so that might matter if one
of them slides to the wing. Is a little bit
more availability to get a top line or top six
minutes and potential power play time. So I think that
I think they're actually pretty similar, and I think at
this point I would probably still go Richie just because
I like his I've liked his trajectory since his injury.
I get the excitement for Hage and he is a
little farther away. But I'm still gonna stick with Richie
because i like his trajectory a little bit more. But
I think these two are really close, and it might
depend a little bit more on what you want and
what the pipeline looks like as they get a little
bit closer. And because Richie is so closer and shown
that he can at least hang somewhat at the NHL level,
I'm probably gonna go there. In my ranks for these guys,
I have them at a six point seventy five for
Richie and a six point seven eight, So that's a
seventy eight percent chance of being a six out of ten.
So they're both a little bit on the lower side,
but they're really right next to each other essentially, So
there's some nuanced difference of who you might like, who
shoots more, who has maybe a little bit more bashed,
which for now certainly looks like that is Richie, and
so I like that floor a little bit more and
the trajectory looks better right now for Hage in terms
of the PNHL, But that took a big hit for
Richie because he was in the NHL and so he
was up a little bit higher before that. And the
hockey prospecting between the two is actually pretty similar. Even
though Hages having a great D plus one season, his
star potential actually win down just a little bit, just
because you need a bigger bump than that, and Richie's
is basically they're basically ties sixteen percent and nineteen percent,
sixteen for Richie and nineteen for Hahe. So they're really
close to one another. So yeah, that's why I think Jesse,
they're a little bit closer than that pole would suggest,
but I would lean Richie.
Speaker 3: Still moving on, we got Oliver Bonk, the Philadelphia Flyers defenseman.
Grant is the scout on the scene, and here's what
he has to say. Skating. Skating is not a strength
of Bonks. He has a fairly slow first few strides
and rarely gets up to top speed. Might be considered
average or just slightly below but overall a below average
skater per Grant in terms of passing, good hands with
the puck, can stick handle the puck out of trouble
like most players. He needs to work on taking passes
along the wall on his backhand a little more cleanly,
passes the pup ice very well, passes possessed the right
amount of pays for the situation more often than not.
It's a strength shooting. Most of the bunk shots are getting
from the blue line. It's got a nice quick snapshot
he can get on net. Does have a good risk
shot he can display on the power play in the
ohl at least the IQ. Excellent passing vision, but can
have a bit of tunnel vision without the puck. He
makes up for his skating with above average anticipation, tries
to put himself in spots where he won't be beaten.
That is good for the level he's at now in
terms of panic and poise, but he's gonna have to
speed his game up when he gets to the professional levels.
He rarely engages in board battles and for checking. He's
going to need to improve this area of his game
as he rises up the ranks. Defense he's better than
he thought at one on one. At first, Marsham beat
him in one of the games he watched, but Marsham
beats a lot of defenders. Has a lot of things
to improve on to succeed at the AHL level, and
then NHL needs to improve his pinches, give his defensive
partner better passing options in banks. Best asset has to
be his ability to pass up past the puck, up
the ice, find open teammates in all three zones. He
doesn't waste pass attempts that don't connect. The biggest concern
is the offense, and Grant's just not sure he's going
to generate the offense like he does in the OHL.
He did play on the power player, didn't play the
point on the power play with the London Knights, but
he plays the bumper actually parked in front of the net.
That might explain those twenty four goals that he had
last year. It's not going to get that opportunity at
higher levels and so the top tier outcome top four
second power play the justification he manages the puck well,
it's got the ability to distribute the puck. He could
be a steady defender with puck moving ability given time.
The median outcome seventh defender AHL top four. If he
doesn't produce points to the pro level he's going to
get to, he's going to have to be a lot
better defensively to make up for it. He's going to
get some opportunities as a first round pick, but he
might struggle to make that transition and the stylistic comparable
Justin Hole or Cody Cci. Overall, Grant his scouting has
actually diminished. Expectations season ceiling more like fifteen to twenty
five points, fifty hits, one hundred blocks. This guy's a
dilemma of Victor. I recall post draft we weren't all
that high on him, but by the end of the
D plus one those goals that Grant referred to got
him up the ranks and offensive circles. But boy, Grant
is sure not high on him here like I thought
we were starting to be. Do you agree with the
helium that Bonk was maybe getting a little bit last
year or Grant's cold water on the helium? Can you
douse helium with cold water? I don't know, Victor.
Speaker 4: You tell me one's a gas, one's a liquid. I'm
not sure it would work out exactly.
Speaker 3: I'm not a physicist, Victor, I'm not a physicist.
Speaker 4: Let's call Nail the grass Tyson and see what he thinks.
I'm sure he'll take our call. No, I definitely would
agree with Grant more. I definitely saw some of those concerns,
and I think part of this is he does have Bank,
does have some really positive attributes, good size. I know
the skating is a bit of a question, but it's
decent at least for this level. He's right handed, he
plays for London, they always get a lot of attention,
and he's certainly then the team is good and he
has looked good with them. But I definitely agree about
the what Grant pointed out with the power play, He's
not playing a typical role and it's a role that
he will not play at higher levels, and so that
that's almost a little bit of a disservice to him
long term. And they have Dickinson there in London, so
he's not so Bonk isn't getting those power play reps.
And Dickinson's been having a great season, certainly way out
shining Bonk in many capacities. And yeah, it's definitely it's
definitely a tricky evaluation with Bonk and I definitely have
some concerns in terms of his long term projection and
London is again a great team, but I'm not sure
that he is going to rise to the level of
what some people think that Oliver Bank can be.
Speaker 3: In that case, Victor what we'll look at him. He
seems to be a touchback of last year's pace in
his fourth year with the Memorial Cup runners up London Knights,
and yeah, I just don't know what where's the points
and Bash gonna look here for him eventually? Compared to Grant's.
Speaker 4: Assessment, yeah, I think that Grant is probably right on.
There's certainly upside for a little bit more points if
everything goes well, and if he does get a top
four role and plays a lot of minutes and gets
a little bit of that opportunity. I just don't think
he's someone who's really going to demand it, and so
I think that, yeah, there should be a little bit
more pessimism. He had that spike last year up to
a seventy five pnchily, but before that this season and
two seasons ago, he's been in the forties. And remember
that Mason's model gives defenseman a little bit bump for Pinchly,
and so he's probably that's realistically more like a thirty
ish point guy, and so that's probably who he is.
The bash does tend to be decent with Bonk, and
so you do get a little bit more of that
peripheral floor. And I think that if he does carve
out a role in the NHL, it's not going to
be it's going to be more of that physical clear
around in front of the net. In fact, I really
like those comps that Grant said, CC and Hull, who
certainly have some of that physicality. The other thing that
they both have is they tend to get they tend
to get turnstile, and they tend to get turned and
have some issue defending the rush. And I think that
might be true also for Bonk, and so that might
limit some of his opportunities. But if he can hang
and find his role and work on some of his
gap control, then and if he finds a role in
the NHL, then he certainly will provide those prefs to
make up for the lack of points.
Speaker 3: Of course, Victor, and let us never forget justin Hole
such an important player that he had to be protected
or wither Jared m Jared mccannon during the Toronto expansion
and draft to Seattle, we know how good Justin Hole
was just teasing Toronto fans. I'm pretty sure that's what happened.
I don't remember Mason Black put out the NHL ranking
poll Tanner Mullendike versus Oliver Bank. Mullendyke taken two slots
after Bank in the twenty twenty three draft. And what
did the NHL ranking get from the people in terms
of a poll vote Mullendyke over Bank fifty six to
forty four percent victory. Is that how your brack can stack?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think if you consider the pessimism around Bank,
then I think that it's reasonable. I frankly, when I
looked at this pole and I was thinking about this,
I think the best advice here is just to turn
away from both these guys. Quite frankly, I don't think
that either of them is going to be someone that
you're really gonna miss having on your team. Mullendyke is
someone who I certainly think has a better floor and
a better chance of being an NHLer. So if you
want someone who is at least be racking up points
at some point on your team, then I think that's
gonna be Mullendike. I don't think he's going to rack
up much because I don't think he's going to be
much of a scorer. But I think he can play
in the NHL. His skating is so good, and that's
something that he can leverage to at least be the
bottom pairing guy and even if he doesn't get better
in other ways. But Mullendyke, to me, strikes me as
someone in fantasy who's just out there all the time
but doesn't really do anything in terms of fantasy, but
it's good for your team, kind of like a Matt
Roy sort of guy, or maybe a very lesser version
of Jacob Slaven where he's out there a lot and
you imagine he could do more, but he just doesn't
for your team. But I think he's going to be
helpful to his NHL team, and so I think that
gives him a better chance of actually playing. And if
there's certainly leagues deep enough where just having guys play
is very helpful, and so in that case, I would
certainly lead lean Mullendyke. I think he has a much
better chance of playing, even though his bash won't be
very good I don't think, might be a little average,
and his scoring I think will be minimal, but at
least he'll be playing, and so I would lean mullen
Dyde for that reason absolutely.
Speaker 3: Moving on our next player, e J Emery is another
one that Tony scouted for as a defenseman for the
New York Rangers, and Tony says, good skater, agile, able
to stop offensive players by forcing them into bad shots.
Excellent passer gets offense started by getting the puck out
of the d zone quickly shooting. Not EJ's forte. He's
going to need to work on that. IQ. Great vision
sees ways to play good D against rushing players and
how to get the puck out of the d zone.
And Tony didn't see much for checking in the games
he watched. Is not a bash defenseman, more of a
passive defenseman, maybe a defensive defenseman, says Tony. So the
biggest asset skating and vision to see plays develop, But
the biggest concern is the shooting. Two might be the
upside for EJ. Probably a good assist man might not
probably be a good plus minus player, says Tony. Plus
minus enters the chat, and that's because the passing, skating,
and vision could get him at least up to Tier two.
But the fiftieth percentile role probably more of a bottom
pairing or seventh defenseman. If he doesn't add some bashing
goal scoring, that's the problem. Only Mata is the comp here,
and Tony says EJ's got to play to his strengths skating, passing,
vision and he should carve out a decent career. Only
Mata does not exactly victor get me ready to run
through a wall for Emery. That said, the Rangers defensive
core doesn't quite seem as impossible to crack as it
once did as of this week. That sits clearing up
down there in the defenseman for the Rangers, or at
least spouting cracks where you could see somebody getting in there.
I don't believe this number thirty pick from last year's
cracked even your top forty first year player draft ranks
this year. Obviously, a defenseman who doesn't do a lot
of scoring probably not going to rise up in our
fantasy hockey player drafts. Have you seen anything to change
your mind since then? With Emery?
Speaker 4: No, not really. He has one assist in seventeen games
at North Dakota after six assists in twenty seven games
at the usn TDP or sorry, that was the USHL scoring.
He's not someone who's gonna score EJ. Emory, That's not
really his job. Definitely, as you mentioned, defensive defenseman, he
is going to be again, I think a little bit
like Mullendyke, although I think Emory is a more well
rounded defenceman and he isn't just an awesome skater. Mullendyke
is a really awesome skater, but isn't as good at
some of his gap control and work in the corners.
But Emory more physical, He's got the size. He actually
just really reminds me a lot of a similar version
of KeAndre Miller, which is funny that the Rangers took him.
I wonder if that was part of it. Hey, we
like this guy who worked really well. Memory seems similar.
Let's get him too, maybe, but I think he's more
like that and Miller, as people know, probably if you
roster him, it's only in the deepest of leagues. He's
definitely a way better real life player than he is
in fantasy. And I think that's going to be true
for Emory. I don't think there's going to be much scoring,
but he's going to be He's going to be someone
who can play in the league. And so if you're
in a super deep league where just playing NHL minutes
is going to be good, then Emory is going to
be helpful. But other than that, I don't think that
you should expect really any scoring from him. And no,
I don't think what's happened in North Dakota so far
has changed my mind on that.
Speaker 3: So we're how far do you think that upside can
get as far as scoring in the NHL If he
develops the way we hope.
Speaker 4: Twenty points a year fifteen, it's like maybe he'll look
into a goal living now with that an accident and
get a few assists. Like that's pretty much what I imagine.
Speaker 3: Tell me about a player you won't have on fantasy
team without telling you telling me about a player you
want to be in the fantasy team. Mason Black with
the NHL rank, King Pol, Alphonse Prey of the Winnipeg Jets,
who was taken seven picks later than Emery in this
year's draft, and Frage Free Gunnet what Is this some
brady shade nonsense up in here? Is the Victor over
Emory sixty eight to thirty one percent? Is that how
you rank them?
Speaker 4: Victor? Yeah, I think so, And I'm pretty sure it's Frey,
And Yeah, I think that he has a little bit
more upside. If I was picking for my NHL team,
I would have gone with what they did at the draft.
I would take Emery for sure. I think he's going
to be a better real life defenseman, But for fantasy
I'm definitely taking Frey. I think he has a little
bit more upside. I definitely. You know, you look at
offensive defenseman last year and he was definitely down a
down ballot sort of candidate. But I think that he
has some pretty decent upside. He's got the tools to play.
He's got decent sized, good skating, he's got some pretty
good offensive instincts. He's represent in Sweden, He's got some
gotten some power play time there, so it's been good.
He is on loan in the Hockey El Svenskin, which
is probably a good league for him right now. He
was a little bit in the J twenty, which is
mainly where he played last year, and he did really well,
but he needed an extra challenge, and he's been doing
pretty well for IF yorkloven seven points in twenty two games,
So I think Fray he's gotten some goring pains right
now adjusting to professional hockey, but all in all, he's
been pretty solid and he's actually been producing some points.
He's been driving play really well in a more difficult league,
and so it's nice to see him get that play driving.
He hasn't really had much power play time, which is
which is reasonable because he's still a really young player.
He's actually not it, not even nineteen yet, and so
he has some room to grow and I would definitely
take him with low expectations that he grows into something major,
But in terms of upside it's way higher than it
is for Emory, So I would take Frey easily.
Speaker 3: Next up Victor, we got Igor Sorin of the Nashville Predators.
Craig is on the report. Craig wise a center winger
and his skating average to slightly above speedy guy uses
his edges to maintain speed around defenders, or in transition,
utilizes tight button hooks to evade defenders by time for
his linemates to catch up. Above average hands. He's going
to have fans out there in out of their seats,
and he's going to have those quick, smooth hands on
display uses quick little passes to create space. He's able
to find open lanes and create offense. Average shooting because
he doesn't shoot a whole lot right now, but he does.
When he does, it's a quick, powerful release. Because the
knack to shoot more, this could quickly develop into above
average IQ is probably shouldn't say IQ is below average,
but his vision, anticipation, panic poise. He usually chooses the
low percentage plays to point rather than the easy pass.
When carrying the puck into the offensive zone, he often
turned the puck over at the line rather than get
it in deep. Swarn was more successful in the MHL
games that he watched, so wonders if it's about getting
his timing down and figuring out what will and won't
work for Sewarn in the KHL. Hard to deny the talent,
but the number of mistakes need to be cleaned up
before any NHL coach will give him a shot. For checking,
average Sorn isn't afraid to be the first man in
on the fore check. He'll throw his body around defense.
Average uses his speed to press defenders, but sometimes can
be found cheating for offense. So the best asset the
puck handling. Potential to be proficient playmaker if everything breaks right,
but the concern the amount of turnovers could keep him
out of the NHL. He could potentially clean this up.
Top tier potential tier two seventy points average BASH. The
playmaking's there, the shots coming along, and if you can
find himself in the top six, then Craig likes his
chances of this ceiling the median outcome tier three fifty
points average BASH. He's going to have to sacrifice some
of that playmaking to improve his two way game to
get in a lineup. How much of it remains a question,
but the raw talent alone should help him succeed in
the stylistic comparable Mattias Mitchelli with a little more physicality
and a better shot victory for dabber prospects. I do
a little bit of work in the Nashville Preds. I'm
a little behind on that, actually, but I did do
some stuff on your surin this summer. I definitely looked
at where he was at with some of these rankings,
and I know he really impressed when he came over
to Nashville's prospect camp and really sizzled over there. He
is pretty good in my poll, but his is his upside.
Mattias MITCHELLI like for you the same way it is
for mister Craig.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Probably, I think he certainly has that upside. I
understand what he's saying about the turnovers. I think young players,
when they're trying to create, they that they might be
prone to that, and he certainly is doing his best.
He is having a limited role right now in the AKHL.
He killed it last year in the MHL, and he's
been trying to play a little bit more for the
Locomotive KHL team, and so he doesn't have as much production.
But oftentimes, when you're trying to create and you're trying
to contribute, sometimes that leads to more turnovers. And sometimes
that gets a little bit overblown, just in the sense
that you did players that have the most turnovers in
general are the best offensive creators that are trying things.
And if you don't have any turnovers, that doesn't necessarily
mean you're good. It just might mean you're not trying things.
And so he has to learn to find that balance,
and I think he's working on that. So far it
hasn't shown too much in terms of production. But he's
also not getting very much ice time. He's been getting
an average of nine minutes and fifteen seconds of time
on ice in the KHL, so that's just not really enough.
So you look at the five points in twenty five
games and you think, oh, it's terrible, but he's getting
pretty much no power play time and very limited roles.
If you look at his point for sixty, it's not terrible.
It's not terrible. So if you double his minutes, he
would probably more than double his scoring. So I still
like Saren a lot. I think he has a pretty
pretty great upside and yeah, certainly could be similar to Michelli,
hopefully with more bash because Michelli is really low for that,
but actually it might be similar.
Speaker 3: And in the NHL ranking poll he goes up against
fellow predator Zachary LaRue, who is now in the NHL,
And it was a fast riser after being somebody who
initially I know, we didn't have a lot of love for,
but the people have spoken. And in the NHL ranking poll,
Igor Swaring comes out ahead of lahru Is fifty three
to forty seven percent. Victor is Sown's potential still above LaRue's.
Further down the funnel actuality.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that his I think that Seren's potential
is higher than laru'z. But on the other hand, I
think that I've been really impressed with what LaRue has
been doing more recently, and so that's hard to balance.
I think if you just went based on pure upside,
I would lean Surin because of what he's been doing
at a young age and the Russian leagues. I think
I really like his potential to be an offensive score.
But on the other hand, Laru, Yeah, I was a
little sour at him. There was some that's funny you
mentioned IQ. There were some my key issues and some
questions of his decision making. He's always been a tough customer,
but there were questions about his off puck play and
his timing and picking his spots. But so far this
season he's played LaRue's played twenty three games, and I
detailed this at the end of last season with his
strong age OH play and going into the playoffs. But man,
he has really been impressive so far this year, and
the points haven't necessarily been there because he only has
six points in twenty three games for Nashville. Of course,
Nashville as a whole has been pretty awful and has
struggled this year. But LaRue, he comes in at sixty
three percentile for defense and fifty three for offense, pretty
well above average in a couple of those metrics over
at Evolving Hockey and overall looks like he's figuring it
out at the NHL level. And so I would definitely
lean LaRue just in terms of proximity to the NHL,
even if his upside might be lower. I would take
him because I don't think it's that massive of a gap,
and sir and still has a lot of questions to answer,
So I would definitely take I did take him, I
did acquire him in several leagues based on the end
of last season and his proximity to the NHL, which
is paying off in our tidy. He's certainly above average
in terms of his scoring, and he's flexing him up
and down is really helpful right now. And so I
really like that. And maybe if Nashville has starts waving
the white flag a little bit more, maybe they give
their kids even more of a role. So I like
that as well. It would be fun to seemendous picture.
Speaker 3: Let's take a break, come back and we've got a
few more guys to discuss.
Speaker 4: Easy, have some ref ranks only sad.
Speaker 3: Bier. Now it's time to talk the draft eligible guys
to people who are not yet with NHL teams, and
so a little. They're going to be talked about a
lot in twenty twenty five, Let's put it that way. Sasha,
our scout, talks about Porter Martone, a right winger who
may not be the fastest on the ice, but his
solid stride and strong foundation make him highly effective. While
his top speed is average, balance and strength allow him
to stay composed and sturdy under pressure, makes it hard
for opponents to knock him off the puck. Whatever he
lacks an agility, he makes up for an edgework passing
and handling remarkable ability to handle the puck in tight spaces,
especially around the boards for a bigger guy. Stick handling
allows him to control the puck effectively in traffic and
for shooting. Sasha likes his shot a lot. Not only
a nifty release for such a big guy, but it
comes with heaviness able to release on a resshot on
reception for a one timer, and elevation on a backhand.
Still passing is probably the stronger of his tools in IQ, vision, anticipation, panic, poise.
This is the area of Sasha sees the need for improvement,
and he's got to stay consistent in off puck reads
as well as his work rate. It all fits into there.
But the anticipation of vision are still good. It's some
of these other things he's got to work on solid
four checker outworks guys along the boards in the offensive
zone in order to set up his teammates and the defense.
Not the brightest from martone, but Sasha still thinks though
he looked a little lost in the defensive zone. He
needs to work on off puck movements. But the sheer
size is going to let him get away with things
in the junior leagues that he won't in the NHL
or other pro leagues. The best asset then passing ability
and the net front skill. For the feller, the biggest
concern is the pace and the skating. Top tier outcome
would be a top line winner. If you can put
together everything with consistency, he could be a top three
player out of his draft class. Improved skating stride mixed
in with offensive skill and vision would make him a
dominant force and the fiftieth outcome the median outcome here
top nine power forward winger with power playability. You always
like to hear about these guys who've got the size
and some physicality in terms of hopes of some floor
pace is a concern could cripple him in terms of
hitting his ceiling and the stylistic comparable. Have we not
banned Brady could Chuck as the stylistic comparable? Yet maybe
it's warranted. We're talking about a draft eligible we don't
know yet. This is really high praise from Martne. Is
this guy as high in the class for you as?
It sounds like he didn't really say where he could
come out, but a potential top line winner. That's something
that's going to be quite attractive in the draft. Is
that where he's coming out for you right now? Victor?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he probably is the top winger, the
guy who seems like he is for sure a winger
in this draft class. There are certainly some questions about
his full upside, but I think he has the frame
and he has a lot of the snarl, and he
has a lot of the aspects of his game that
this certainly makes you think he can be an elite
fantasy aspect and asset, and so that makes you pretty
excited about it. My player cards don't aren't fully updated
for the twenty twenty fives yet, but I'm just looking
at his bash and he's about three quarters of a
hit per game and not even a quarter of a
block per game. His shots are three a game, and overall,
his bash for someone who's big and could be physically imposing,
is a little bit, it seems right now underwhelming, and
so that's a little bit disappointing because you see the
potential there and maybe he'll get there, but they don't.
That doesn't always happen, and I think that there's certainly
room for excitement. I personally haven't seen enough to move
him of a couple other guys, but I do think
he's helped himself in just what he's done at the
U eighteens and so far this season at the top
Prospects game, and he's not ranked anywhere that I can
see lower than any lower than five, but most outlets
have him at two, and so that's where he's sitting
right now in terms of his consolidated rank at EP.
Speaker 3: And the pole is going to put him up against
James Hagens, So no big deal, just go against James
Hagens here and Hagen's according to the NHL ranking pole
comes out way ahead of portemer Tone sixty five to
two thirty five percent. Victor. Is that a accurate representation
of where these guys should be?
Speaker 4: Yeah, this is one where I actually agree with the
poll pretty consistently. This is the number one consolidated and
the number two consolidated player ranks going against each other
according to EP. Of course that doesn't mean that's what
their fantasy outlook will be. But Hagens, to me, is
still number one. And I think because he's playing in
the NCAA, it maybe hasn't gotten much fair fair from
the guys over in Canada and in the CHL. I
think that maybe he isn't celebrated quite enough. I think
his coming out party is going to be the World
Junior Championship, where he's going to be centering the top
line as a draft eligible alongside Ryan Leonard and Gay
Pro and it's going to go off even if the
Americans don't win. I think Hagen's going to have an
incredible tournament and he's going to cement himself back at
that top spot, which he is right now. No one
that I've seen has him ranked anywhere other than one.
Speaker 2: So far.
Speaker 4: There have been questions about whether some guys we'll talk
about later, Matthew Schaeffer and Porta Morton or other people
might take that top spot. For me, it's Hagans. There's
no question. He ninety nine percentile on Hockey Prospecting, where
Mortone is at sixty five. I think Hagan's is elite,
and I think he is going to be a Jack
Hughes esque fantasy asset with huge points up side and
certainty to play in the NHL and be a top
line player. So I don't think you can say those
things about Martina, although I think that's all very likely,
and I think his points upside is good. As a winger,
it might be a little bit easier, but I don't
know that the bash and the points upside is anywhere
near as high. So I'm taking Hagens all day.
Speaker 3: Top teams or bottom teams in the NHL. Is start
time to start begging it for Hagens. Next guy up
is going to be Roger McQueen, another lottery candidate. And
let's hear our FHL scout read it himself.
Speaker 4: Join now, but from our FHL scout Josh to hear
a little bit about Roger McQueen. So, Josh, tell me
a little bit about what you think the best quality
is for Roger McQueen.
Speaker 2: So, whenever you talk about well, Roger McQueen, the first
thing that stands out is that he is six foot
five and that's always a big, big number and a
big draw to a lot of teams. But he does
he isn't just a big body. He has a lot
of puck skills that he uses along with that big body.
He's able to play with the puck on his stick
really well and in tight spaces, and he has that
physical edge that you'd want out of a six foot
five player. So he's really a really skilled stick handler.
And but it is attached to a six foot five
body that can throw his weight around and really hold
his own in the defensive and offensive zone. Really unique
player to say the least in that regards.
Speaker 4: Yeah, in that big frame, that big body, obviously, that's
very appealing it's unfortunate that as we're recording this he's
missing the chl USNTTP Top Prospect game. I wonder if
that frame and his physicality might lead to more injuries.
Do you think that's something that you'd be a little
bit concerned about or does that maybe not so worrisome.
Speaker 2: Definitely early in his career, like he's we're still talking
about teenagers here, He's still growing into his body and
obviously can stand to add a bit more muscle and
strength onto his frame. I don't think it would be
a issue going forward. It's just something that conditioning and
growing into his body and growing up will definitely help
him in that regards. I don't see it as a
major issue going forward, hopefully.
Speaker 4: Nice What do you think some of the more concerning
qualities are room for improvement that this player has.
Speaker 2: If you hear six foot five, there's always the thought
he's not a great skater, and unfortunately it is true
with Roger McQueen. He isn't as bad as other big skaters,
big forwards that we've seen in recent years, thinking of
Daniel Boot or Quentin Musty, but he can stand to
skate faster and read the play a little bit faster.
He can be just about a half step behind sometimes
and that can be an issue obviously, and the foot
speed is a big one. He could also just shoot
a little bit more and develop his shot into a
bit more of a threat rather than a just purely
stickhandle set up guy. But that's the stuff that he
can work on. He's never going to be a great skater,
but for his size, he's already pretty decent. Not I
wouldn't say he's a great skater, but six foot five
you're not going to be a great skater, unfortunately. At
any time.
Speaker 4: It's pretty rare. Yeah, I would say, well, who do
you think is a good style as comparable for Roger McQueen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so when we're with big scoring forwards, you always
look at the big breakout Thompson on the Buffalo Sabers there.
That's definitely like the peak. I see a lot of
a draft pick from two years ago when Quentin Musty
for the San Jose Sharks, who went I think mid
first round. But he is quite a lot better of
a skater than Musty is and has that same kind
of toolboxy quick hands, really good stick handling, really good
puck skills. Obviously with a big power forward you're thinking
of Thompson. I think that's definitely the best case scenario.
But he's a unicorn in his size and puck skills.
It's really hard to kind of contrast him with anyone
else right now.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Thompson has a pretty great shot, so maybe that's
not maybe without that, Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's more about the size and offensive mix kind of thing.
They both like. Thompson's much more of a shooter where
McQueen is definitely way more of a stick handler. So
it's not perfect. But when you think of big forwards
that are offensive and big, you think of Thompson.
Speaker 4: Really Yeah, I also makes me think a little bit
about Jason Robertson with the not great skating.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I could see that as well. For sure. I
don't think he's got quite that high of a ceiling
that Robertson has reached in the past year or two,
but even he's had a little bit of struggles this
year I think as well.
Speaker 4: Nice, So what do you think his realistic upside is?
Do you think he's a top six player, top line player,
middle six If you had to guess, what do you
think Roger McQueen is most likely going to Land.
Speaker 2: I think it's really going to depend on his develop mint,
of his timing, of how fast he can move and
how fast he can read the game. Right now, I
don't think he quite has the top line potential. He's
not quite in the top five for me in this
draft class. I have other forwards and defenders ahead of him,
like Misa and Hagen's Schaeffer for sure, So I think
he can really solidly fit on a second line role.
He can put up a lot of points. He could
play physically, he could probably take up some time on
the penalty kill, play defensively in his own zone. So
I don't think he quite has top line potential, but
if everything works out, he could be a very good
second line player for sure.
Speaker 4: Love it. Yeah, He's definitely ranked as high as second
by lead prospects right now as recording this, and as
low as like nine, So he seems solidly like a
top but some people might even push him into that
top five. Seems like you'd have him a little bit
after that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's less on him and more of
quality of players above him. I just think that other
guys have higher upside and there's less question marks in
their game. It can definitely I could see a way
where he doesn't adapt to the speed of the NHL
and doesn't quite make a very good impact that way,
which I don't think that's the most likely case, but
it is a small possibility where other players there's not
really that risk. So I would put him between five
and ten Right now, I wouldn't see him in my
top five, but hopefully when he comes back from this injury,
there he can get on a bit of a tear
and show people what he can do.
Speaker 4: Awesome, Thanks so much for your insights, Josh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: Great stuff from Josh, And it sounds to me like
mister McQueen is near the very top of this class.
How does he rate out for you?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, he's definitely near the top of the class,
and especially in terms of just skill and potential, he
is way up there. He's consolidated number five. I think
he's definitely a top ten, probably a top five fantasy assets,
still a lot to go. One of the concerns with
him is that he has had dealt with some injuries,
and so is there going to be a problem staying healthy.
He's had a bunch of little things come up this year,
He's only played eight games. He had reduced games played
the last couple of seasons as well, so that's something
you tend to worry a little bit about. I don't
know that any of them are long term or like
potentially nagging, but as a bigger guy who does to
mix it up a little bit, I think that there's
some worry there that might be an issue. I think
in terms of just how much skill he has, he's
definitely in the top two or three in this class.
The question is just whether he will reach it. And
that's the question with McQueen. Yeah, McQueen, that makes you
a little bit worried, and he didn't get to show
it off at the at the Top Prospects game. But
I think that there's there's still a lot of potential there.
And I do think that he has a little bit
of advantage too, because he is really old for this
draft class. He's inn October second birthday, so he's just
a couple of weeks away from being eligible from this
past draft, the twenty twenty four draft, and so that
would have been a different situation. But he has the
ability to impose himself physically on smaller players, and so
he's still a bit raw, but man, he's got a
lot of potential.
Speaker 3: Victor. The NHL ranking pole is going to place our
guy here up against the Roger McQueen versus Kiden Lindstrom
of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and in the poll, it
looks like Lindstrom still comes out ahead of McQueen fifty
five to forty five percent. Is that how you rank him?
Speaker 4: I think so Lindstrom had these questions about the back injury,
and there were some concerns about whether he would continue
to have some issues with that, and I get that,
and I do think that he has the big body.
Both these guys are actually really big body and have
some of that physicality and imposing position. I think there's
a little bit more dynamic skill with McQueen. There's a
little bit more two way ability with Lindstrom, which gives
him a higher floor and maybe a little bit more
security to be in the NHL. But I think both
these guys are pretty exciting. I would lean Linstrom just
because he's doing really well. He's building on his draft
eligible season, and I think that there's a little bit
more security in terms of him being in NHL or
But I think that it is close, and if you
wanted to bet on just pure upside, then I think
I probably would take McQueen. But it is so less.
It depends on whether you're a risk averse or not,
whether you want to risk a little bit of less
security for more upside than I would take McQueen. If
you want a little bit more security with still some
pretty significant upside, Linstrom.
Speaker 3: I apologize if everybody has already made this joke, Victor,
but if the Tampa Bay Lightning did not trade up
high in the draft and draft him as Lightning McQueen,
I'm going to be very disappointed. Next up, we got
Matthew Schaeffer, and this is what Sasha has to say
about him. Might be the best skater in the class.
It's defined by agile movement, impeccable control. He's a dominant
presence on the ice, four way mobility, seamless transitions in
any direction, passing, amazing handler of the puck at full
stride or in tight spaces in all zones, shooting excellent
rist shot fits the modern day defensive, the NHL offensive,
d man and the IQ. In Sasha's opinion, the smartest
offensive defenseman in this draft class due to his high
level intelligence and transition vision points. Stoic I hardly ever,
panics and defense not as much, probably theoretically as weakest attributed. Honestly,
he's such an effective transition player it hardly spends any
time in his zone because of his high level IQ.
He anticipates four checkers well, understands where his outlets are,
and has the speed to get himself out of trouble.
So the best asset was that silky skating that Sasha
talked about. Biggest concern lack of physicality. Again, we're talking
about an offensive defenseman. So where Sasha places him the
top tier outcome, top two defenseman, top power play quarterback,
that's because he's the full package. He could do big minutes,
being a modern day power play quarterback that teams desperately
need the median outcome. Sasha still sees the top four
guy here first play, our first power play quarterback, even
if he can develop that physical game and only relies
on the offensive game to repel him. If he does that,
he's going to lose some minutes. But that's just nitpicking
and the stylistic comparable Rasmus Dollon, although Sasha also criticizes
his own ability to come up with comps. But boy,
that would be nice. Everybody loves a top defenseman with
offensive potential. Victor is shaper one who could break into
make a difference on your fantasy team.
Speaker 4: I am not so sure about that. It's really interesting
hearing Sasha frame him that way because I don't think
that I would agree with that about Schafer. I definitely
think that he is an awesome talent, and I think
he's an awesome defenceman. And it sounds very likely that
he is going to be on Team Canada's U twenty
World Junior Championship team, which is pretty impressive for a
seventeen year old, and he won't be eighteen until September fifth,
he's draft eligible. That rarely happens. But he is that good.
He is that good as an all around defenseman, and
I would bill him more that way. I think he
is a better all around defenseman. I think he's a
two way guy. I think he's someone who is going
to be a top four at least very likely top
pairing defenseman in the NHL. I think his offensive reduction
has been a little bit overblown so far. I think
that he's someone who can do that but doesn't necessarily
need that role to be effective for his team, and
I think that makes me a little less excited about
him in fantasy. I don't think that Dollin is the
comparable that I would use there, Maybe more like a
Owen Power if you want to stay on the same team,
someone who is a good all around defenseman but and
can produce offensively, but doesn't necessarily need that role and
might not necessarily be given that role, as we've seen
with Power. So I'm a little bit more lukewarm on
Schaeffer's offensive ability, but I do think that he is
incredible and he is a lock to play in the NHL,
and I think that he's a lock to put up
stats for your fantasy team. They just may not be
as high as some people may think.
Speaker 3: And the NHL ranking compares him to Archiem Lebschunoff, who
was a very high pick obviously in this year's draft,
and Shafer comes out way ahead of him sixty seven
to thirty three percent. Victor. Is that an accurate assessment?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's tough. I was never the biggest lift Shuenoff fan.
I think I thought that some of the things that
he did, I was worried how much they would translate
to the NHL. But I think he obviously had a
really impressive season at Michigan State, and I think it's
really good that Chicago is not putting him right in
the NHL because I think he needs some development time.
He is getting a lot of good offensive minutes in
the AHL. He's running their top power play. He's playing
twenty one almost twenty two minutes a night, so it's
good and I do think that he can continue to
build and as super high potential. I think these two
are probably pretty similar for me. I think that this
should be a lot closer. I think everyone's really excited
about Shaeffer right now with good reason. But again, I
really worry that he's going to be more of just
a two way guy and not so offensive. I think
lift Shuonoff leans more offensively than does Shaeffer, So that's
why I think this maybe should be a little bit closer.
But I think in terms of who's going to be
the better all around player for their team, it probably
is Shaffer, and so he's going to get more opportunity.
He'll have probably more time on ice and might get
to run the top power play. So I probably would
pick Schaeffer between these two, but I think it should
be closer, and I don't think that the offense is
going to be that much more incredible.
Speaker 3: All right, and next up, Victor, we've got Yvonne Reabkin
of not anybody yet. We're going to see who's going
to be part of Let's hear Patrick, our FHL scout
talk about him.
Speaker 4: So do you what you mean now to talk? Ivan?
Reapkin is our FHL scout, Patrick Patrick, If you had
to describe Rapkin in just ten words, how do you
think you would do that?
Speaker 5: I would say that Reabkin is a very skilled hockey
player who has a lot of question marks. Is Yeah,
that's the way I put.
Speaker 4: It, question marks. All right, we can dig into those
question marks. What do you think his best attributes his
most pressive skills are.
Speaker 5: I think his most impressive attribute is passing and his handling,
followed closely by his hockey IQ.
Speaker 4: All right, smart player with good passing. What do you
think he needs to work the most on?
Speaker 5: I would say that he worked the most on his shot.
I was not impressed by his shot, and he seemed
to have a lot of HEAs intendsy to shoot and
very often would pass it to off instead of taking
shots that seem like they were good opportunities. I don't
know if there's just some kind of uncertainty there or
an injury. That's something that I think is a huge
question mark to watch and hopefully check in on later
in the season.
Speaker 4: Gotcha, is he a defensive player? Does he backcheck pretty well?
Or is he more just an all offense kind of guy.
Speaker 5: No, I'd say that he's a pretty good defensive player.
He gets back and he helps with defensive plays, helping
his defenseman cover. Taking the puck off is the stick
of the other team, So I have no questions there.
Speaker 4: Nice that's always good to hear, if that may not
limit him so much. What do you think his best
comparable for him would be? I know it's always hard,
but who do you think would be a realistic comparable?
Speaker 5: I think it's tough for this one. I don't know
if I could think of a perfect comparable, but I
guess the first one that came to mind for me
was brand Lambert, with not as maybe not as good
of a shot and a little bit in Better Hockey
IQ and that I saw with the passing and the
handling and the ability to transport the pulk comparisons there.
So yeah, that's my best comparable that I was thinking of.
There might be other players, but as the first one
that came to mind.
Speaker 4: And definitely in Lambert's year there was a lot of
discrepancy and opinions about him. Do you think that will
be the case also with Rayabkin, I.
Speaker 5: Would say that there is going to be a certain
amount of discrepancy just because there's subtleties to his game
that like you can almost miss if you like, they
can go by you a little bit easily. But he does,
like said, he has those question marks, which I think
is comparable to Rayon Lambert's and maybe somebody like Edward Shawl,
where I do think that it's gonna possibly be a
year or two after his draft year before we have
some of the question marks.
Speaker 4: Answered, Yeah, that's fair. It's always easier after, right, Do
you see those things? Do you think this that he's
a bit of a boom bus player or where do
you think his realistic upside in first line, middle six,
top six? Where would you pay him.
Speaker 5: On my report, I put that I really think that
he could be a first liner power play one just
because of the level of this skill and the passing
and the handling and the pretty good hockey iq. That
shots what gives me pause, and the defense is there
and that's gonna definitely be a positive on his side
as well. That's where I think is he could definitely
have that line one power play one. Upside just might
be a situation where he doesn't end up having the
most points outside.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm peripherals fair. Thanks so much for giving us
your report, and reap Kin Patrick.
Speaker 5: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: Good talking there. And this guy has slipped into the
smog layer as far as I'm concerned. When these guys
get in the MHL and start getting jerked around with promotions,
sometimes we don't see stat lines as really hard to
figure out what's going on with him. I think we
should name this after Danilla You're off and call it
the yurgatory, the Russian yurgatory, where like a purgatory for
you're off, where you don't know what they're doing until
they come out of that. Is he going to be
a favorite prospect if and when he emerges from that area.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's really hard to say, right because
of the fact that they get jerked around like that.
As you said, he is definitely one of the best
prospects in Russia. I think that there's been some question
of how well that's all going. It's hard to say.
He hasn't gotten much KHL play or VHL play. He
was incredible last year in the MHL, which is part
of what has generated some of this hype, but so
far he's been a little bit it's been a little
bit subdued so far in the in Russia, mainly playing
in the NHL this past season. So I think that
there's maybe still some questions. We need to see a
longer a larger sample size, and it's really unfortunately we're
not going to see them, not going to see him internet,
and so it's going to be really hard to tell.
But he certainly has a ton of skill, and I
think Reap can maybe it's one of these cases where
he falls a little bit down the draft board and
then you get some really good value, because I do
still think that he has a ton of upside and
he's certainly the top Russian prospect and did well in
the NHL previously, But I think we need to see
a little bit more, and we need to see more
throughout the year and see him evolve and grow, hopefully
with his off puck game. But yeah, I think that
he might end up being someone who slides down the
first round or maybe even to the second round, and
then you get great value for your fantasy team, because
I definitely would still be interested if that happens.
Speaker 3: And let's put him up in the NHL rank king
Pole against Caleb d Noier and that is going to
be a whitewash for Caleb seventy to thirty percent victor.
Is that the way you rank them?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I probably would in this case. For sure. I
was super impressed with Danoyer at the Prospects game. He
was p and I talked about it on most recent podcast.
He was with Mysa and Martone, and for I would
say most of the time was more impressive to me
than either of those two. Either of those two had
their moments, but day Orne was more consistently the play driver.
And he certainly looks like a center. He certainly looks
like he's got NHL capability written all over him. So
that means he's going to get in the draft because
of that, probably maybe not higher than those two, but
just higher than maybe he would have if he was
a winger. And I think that he's got really great potential.
Will be interesting to see the rest of how the
rest of his year goes. That it's not a great
year for the queue overall, but he looks awesome and
I would definitely rather have him than Yvon Riapkin, who
have a lot more questions about, and not just the
Russian factor, but just his off puck game, his ability
to play in the NHL consistently and produce at a
pro level. I haven't seen enough of that yet.
Speaker 3: All right, Victor and Michael k up Poonit has this
to say. Skating elusive in the offensive zone, a force
and transitions, whether charging forward or backtracking, amazing acceleration and agility,
passing and handling a genuine power play. Special is capitalizing
on the extra time and space that comes with the
man advantage. Elite passer with exceptional vision, primary station on
the midwall or the goal line, shooting quick deceptive shot
allows him to score in multiple ways. Skillfully changes shooting
angles to navigate pucks through traffic, making him a threat
anywhere on the ice, not a primary weapon. Complements the
playmaking skills Advanced Hockey IQ understands the game, which distinguishes
him on the ice as he's able to make quick,
intelligent decisions for checking. He's got to show that same
intensity on five as he does on the man advantage
and become more physical. Doesn't contribute on the PK. All
the makings of an offensive powerhouse, but he's got to
become more of a well rounded player for the two
hundred foot game. So the best asset, savvy forward, outstanding skater,
real threat in the open ice, highly intelligent. The biggest
concern work on those fifty to fifty puck battles in
physicality and sense of urgency away from the play and
the outcome is Puniti is definitely a first line player
here as a potential with the skill and the pedigree
to do it. Fiftieth percentile, he could become a impactful
NHL top six forward. So that is comparable of Mitch
marner Oo, a Memorial Cup champ who's scoring has exploded
to two power play goals victor in the OHL. He
is slated for the low single digits in the draft,
it seems, is Michael Misa. Guy who's going to go
in a fantasy lottery this year. Those top six, those
top eight teams in your fantasy.
Speaker 4: Draft, I think so. One of the things I like
the most about Misa is that he is both safe
in terms of a super high floor, but also has
some dynamic skill and considerable points upside. And that isn't
those things that both those things aren't always true for players,
and you might be super safe but not have as
much other skill. But I really like him. He showed
that he can play a depth role on a championship
team last year with Saganaw He was asked to do
that and he did it phenomenally well. He almost didn't
notice him at times just because he was just doing
exactly what he needed to do. He made that team
so hard to play against. But yeah, he's fantastic. This year,
he's showing that he can absolutely bring the production in
terms of points when he is given more of a role,
and that's great to see. In many ways, he actually
reminds me of Shane Wright, who was an exceptional status
player and had some similar pressures from early on. And
one of the things we failed to see from Wright
was to really a big jump at times, or to
marry those two things, the attention to detail and two
hundred foot game with the dynamic skill, with the extra
in terms of the scoring. We're seeing a little bit
of that from Shane Wright now in the NHL, which
is great to see. And I still think he has
more to give there. But that's what Mesa reminds me of.
I just love the details of his game. He does
so many little things, but he still will try some
really crafty plays and has some more dynamic skill. Plus,
Michael Misa has elite popping Teddy bears back over the
boards better than anyone I've seen.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, picker that's what you need to be successful, Victor.
The NHL ranking poll puts Michael Misa up against Burley
Catton Berkeley Catton of the Seattle Kraken from last year.
It comes out to be a major Michael Misa win
seventy five to twenty five percent. Is that how you
see it?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think so. I like Cadden a lot. I
think he's been pretty phenomenal. The Kracken prospect, who plays
there in Washington for the Spokane Chiefs, is his production
has been still really good this year. He's with the
captain of that team forty seven points and twenty seven games.
I still think Cadden's upside is huge, but I do
like Misa just a little bit more. I like his upside,
I like his runway, I like his production, the steps
that he's taken. I don't know that you can go
super wrong with either of these guys, but I am.
I think you're splitting hairs here because I'd be happy
to have either of these guys on my team, which
hasn't been true for some of these polls. But I
definitely think that Mesa's upside is a little bit higher.
If you just look at his NHL E in the
Hockey Prospecting Model, it's a little bit higher for Mesa
at this same stage, even though they had in their
draft season, they both had sixty percent star potential, Cadden's
went down a little bit. If you look at the
pnchle it's higher for Lisa right now, but Cadden peaked
at the same level, so I think that there's some
similarities there. So I definitely like Mesa. I think that
he has a little bit more upside. I like his
comps too, Taylor Hall, Alexis Lafrenier. I think that there's
some rhymes there. Jason Spezza Cadden has some. Derek Bisard,
Sam Reinhardt those are some pretty nice one too, although
I think he's more of a center, maybe more of
the winger vibes. But yeah, I think both these guys
are great. But I would would lead mesa.
Speaker 3: All right, Victor, we will be right back then. To
close up the show, a reminder, our show is brought
to you by fan Tracks. You can move leagues over
to fan Tracks, start new leagues ten different sports you
could be playing. They got the most options for scoring, salaries, contracts,
rookie eligibility, everything you might want to have over at
your league. You can start up your leagues anytime. You
could probably still start one up now. Maybe you want
to wait till next year. Odds are if you're listening
to this yarlready plan there. Fan Tracks. HQ has lots
of articles fantasy content there, including fantasy hockey articles. FHL
has a whole crew, and we thank them now. Our
tidy leagues don't run themselves, folks. It's a lot of
work by crafts. Ryan Simone and Timmy our lead scouts
who you heard the fruits of on this episode. Getting
all our scouts together, organizing those reports. That's Jeremy v
and Tony Brandon helps with that website, Fantasyhockeylife dot com.
He's a scout from time to time. He helps with
the prospect ranks and the Fantasy Hockey Life cards. If
you've got skills you'd like to lend the show. Hit
Victor up discord email on x Or Blue Sky. We're
brought to you by Daber Hockey and Daber Prospects. Victor
is an editor there. Follow us work there as well
as his other podcast, Aaber Prospects Report with Peter Harling.
Check out Victor's articles at EP Ringside. He's part of
the fantasy team there with Cam Robinson and Mike Clifford.
I do a solo show. It's called Dynasty Sports Life.
I talk all the Dynasty Sports got a little special
end of year ish type edition. It's December. You got
your Spotify wrapped, why not have your Dynasty Sports Life
wrapped for the year. Follow us on x at Fan
Hockey Life, at Victor Nuno twelve Blue Sky, at Jesse
Severe at The One Victor, The One Victor I believe
this rate review is Apple Pods, Spotify, wherever else you
get pods. Thank you for listening. Until next time, Keep
living that fantasy hockey white