Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here'sh QUES,
your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league. Block off, hop a, step hit on,
stay lock. Here's your hosts, Jesse Severe and Victor Nuno.
Speaker 2: Fantasy Hockey Live. We're back once again. I am Jesse
Severe fan Tracks that there is Victor Nuno of EP Ringside. Victor,
how you doing.
Speaker 3: I'm doing awesome, Jesse, finally feeling better after that flew
that that cold that kept on giving throughout the holiday season.
But yeah, new year and doing great. How you doing,
my friend doing good?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's moving along. The year is into January.
The World Juniors are over. I think we even commented
on it last week, but dog on it. It's never
over for us, and it's never over for the people
who follow us in the discord, which you can join
for free by just hitting us up for the link
Fantasyhockeylife at gmail dot com, or reach out to Victor
myself on social media. Victor, there's more than just the discord,
even though that's free and that's cool, and there's hundreds
of people just chitting and chatting all the time. We
got other things. What are they?
Speaker 3: Yeah, tons of great extra stuff. One of the biggest
things our tier, dynasty, our tidy we talk often about.
There's actually a couple spots available. So if you want
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So a bunch of great bonus content over at patron
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Speaker 2: The place you want to be a butt for. Right now,
we're gonna take a break, We're gonna come back. We've
got a very special guest coming on this episode. We
are very pleased to welcome today a guy who is
over at Elite Prospects. We talk about his work all
the time.
Speaker 4: Here.
Speaker 2: It's Mitch Brown. How you doing today, Mitch.
Speaker 4: Oh, I am doing great. I'm still coming down from
the World Juniors high and trying to find motivation to
walk to boring on eventful club play and I still
haven't quite found it yet. But thankfully all the CHL
trade deadlines have passed and there were some crazy moves
and some interesting ones, so hopefully that'll give you some
more life going into this weekend.
Speaker 2: We are here to talk World Juniors and all things
World Juniors. But we had a group of players that
we sent you a list of and we're gonna go
through those and get your takes on them. And I
believe Victor you are starting. We're going to start with
Canada naturally, and Victor, I think you have our first
item up for a discussion.
Speaker 3: I do so the first guy we're going to talk about,
and a lot of these came from our fantasy ASIC
life patron. So if you want to be able to
ask people like Mitch exactly who you want to hear about,
be a patron at pay So. Sam Dickinson drafted eleventh
overall by the Sharks just this past season Place for London,
had a really good draft season, increased has increased his
point total so far, but of course he was part
of that a little bit disappointing, really disappointing showing for
Canada in general and for him in particular. I was
a little disappointed. And when I saw on him, they
didn't give him the reins right away, but when he did,
even when they did as the top powerplay quarterback and
top defenseman with Schaeffer was down. I didn't love everything
I saw, But I'm curious what you think you thought
about his tournament and if that if your perception has
changed on Dickinson long term.
Speaker 4: Mitch, Yeah, So this is a great example of why
you don't with your stars. Because Sam Dickinson comes into
this tournament, he has a million points halfway through the season.
How does he get all of his points? He gets
them through activating into the play. He's not doing the
Zane Perrek east west lateral movement shot pass thing. No,
he's joining the play. He's fine open teammates, He's shooting
off the rush. That's how he scores. So what does
Canada do? They bring him and immediately they decide, actually
they don't like him. So he had to fight his
way up the lineup just to be inside the top
six at this tournament. And then when he's in he's
not playing his game. His game is activation, and here
the defense wasn't jumping up very much, so he's forced
to be more of a shutdown, breakout sky. Neither of
those are his strength. He ends up turning the puck
over a bunch, and then when Canada is finally pressing
and they need to score goals desperately, they get Sam
Dickinson on the ice, they start jumping the defense up,
but as a team, they're not used to making those
types of plays in this situation with each other, so
the turn are piling up and it all culminates in
that awful performance in the quarterfinals, where you know he
had some really costly mistakes, but he also had ones
that he doesn't normally make, like jumping up into the
play leading to that three to one goal. That's a
that's not a mystery that he normally has. Normally he
stays in the middle instead of going wide, but instead
he's trying to play it a little bit safer, so
he goes to the outside. That forces McKenna to give
him a bad puck. Then he gets trapped, turnover comes
back the other way three to one. Check You, I
would say, given the context, you can't put any way
into this at all. Everything was against Sam Dickinson from
the beginning, and yes he had a horrific tournament, but
I don't think it changes anything too much here, of course,
doesn't highlight that his defense and his transition game, his
retrievals in particular need a lot of work, absolutely, because
when you're that size and you have those tools, you
should be able to make more of an impact in
those elements of the game at the stage. But it's
also not going to be much of an opportunity for
him if you're not letting him use his number one strength.
Speaker 3: You just mentioned. It doesn't change too much long term.
Do you think he is number one D all situations,
power play, penalty kill. Do you think that's him for
the Sharks or do you think he might be more
of like a second or third defenseman with a little
bit different role.
Speaker 4: I think he's probably number two, number three offense focused guy.
He can be on the power play, but what you're
really going to have him out there for is to
be with your top forwards and to be jumping into space,
making reads under pressure in the offensive zone, helping them
orchestrate their offensive plays. And of course bringing a lot
of speed up top and killing some rushes from time
to time as well to be able to put his
team back on the attack. Glen London, it's a little
bit of a curious situation right now, like everything flows
through him and the top line in the insane amount
of mints minutes that he plays, So the production probably overstates,
like his raw value in terms of NHL point production.
But he's still going to be a highly impactful player,
someone who can probably get fifty points in his season,
rack up a ton of shots on goal play the
power play probably not going to get him to play
on the penalty killer shut opponents down.
Speaker 2: However, I guess we should, as you mentioned it, we
should talk about Zane Perek next. Oh wait, Perek was
not in the tournament instead, he was subtweeting Hockey Canada
throughout the tournaments, so maybe we won't need to deal
with him instead. Berkeley Catton, the captain of the WHL
Spokane Chiefs, has been burning up the WHL for the
past two years, but one point in five World Juniors
game was surely less impressive. That said, he did get
some decent reviews from tourney watchers that I read Seattle's
a lottery pick from last year. Definitely didn't lift his
team to victory, But what do you get out of
his performance in long term trajectory?
Speaker 4: Mitch, So, this was an interesting one because Berkeley Catton
is dynamic rush attacker. He don't see many cycle plays
for him. You don't see getting the puck off the
wall very often. There's a lot of questions about will
he be able to create in the trenches, so to
speak in the NHL, and here he was really good
off the cycle. He was really good at getting open,
spacing the offensive zone and playing off McKenna. He had
the second most scoring chances on the team. He was
even physical at times too, which was really strange. He's
normally Catten. It's he does work hard, of course, It's
just that he tends to avoid contact a little bit
too often. So this is one of those ones where, yeah,
he didn't get the points, but he had the chances.
He was heavily involved in positions that you don't normally
see him involved in. With a little bit more luck,
he probably has a few more points. Changes the narrative
for his team, and I think Canada probably should have
played him a lot more like he was playing thirteen
to fifteen a night he probably should have been playing
eighteen to twenty.
Speaker 2: And the third and final from Canada Bradley Nadou, a
rising Carolina Hurricane prospect, he dipped out of EHL action
to play for Team Canada this year. Potted goals in
both the USA and Checchio losses. At the end of
the tourney, the only points that he managed is time
on ice declined in those two games actually compared to
other games in the tournament, though he still played with
very talented line mates. Nearly all the Canadian players did
What did you see with Nado during this tournament and
how does it shape your thoughts on his future?
Speaker 4: So, first off, he shouldn't have been here if that's
how they were going to use him, he shouldn't have
been on the team. He was dead weight, although he
did lead the team with two goals, but this was
at five on five. He was a complete non factor.
He was just floating around waiting for pucks that never came,
taking sharp bangle shots, miscues, defensively throwing away the puck
along the wall, and transition with extremely favorable usage of teammates.
Not in terms of how the team actually played right.
This is a guy who he scores goals, and he
scores them all off one timers, and they're not getting
him any pucks off cross lot passes. They're not getting
setting him up from any chances. I mean, he was
taken one timers from like the corner of the offensive
zone in this tournament because he wasn't getting any other
off the pass looks. So, I mean, if you're not
going to play a style of game that allows you
to maximize this guy's strengths, why is he here? Why
are you playing? I mean, I think they probably realize
that a little bit too late in the tournament. But
that's really the story of Canada here is that the
coach refused to make any changes, refuse to go away
from his preconceived notions of his players, and they ended
up getting trapped here. But long term, I don't think
it's much of an issue. Again, like he was just
thrown into this fire. As a guy who's not going
to be a play driver, I would say that you're
looking at someone who could still be a middle six score,
big one timer threat. He does have some playmaking. He's
not going to be a dynamic player, but he can
get some secondary offense, and of course with the Carolina
Hurricanes in the way that they play, they do have
some transition offense, but a lot of it is about
cycling pucks and getting them to the middle of the rink.
They're going to somehow create more high danger chances for
him than Team canadat the World Juniors ever was able to.
Speaker 3: All right, let's move over to the team that eliminated Canada.
That's check Ya two straight years in a row. Sorry
to rub it in Canada, but I think some changes
are coming and next year, even if they screw up
the roster, I think they're going to be great. So
it's gonna be hard not to be. But let's give
some kudos to check youa and they had some A
lot of players are going to talk about. The first
one is Edward Schaley, and I have to admit, Mitch,
I have been skeptical about this guy since he was drafted,
not because he doesn't have talent, but because sometimes it
seems like he's just not always giving the effort and
his off play has been a little bit to be
desired in the past, and his time in the OHL
wasn't as impressive as I would have hoped, but he
has done really well in Coachella Valley this year thirteen
points in twenty three games, and he was awesome in
this tournament. He had some really big goals and some
big moments. But I would say even more than that
for me is I saw him backchecking and have some
good defensive awareness and some good all around play, and
so that changed my mind more than anything. I'm wondering
what you thought and whether his NHL projection shifted for you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he was a big winner in this tournament, for sure.
I remember there was a time where it wasn't certain
that he would even go to the World Juniors because
he was having so much scoring success, and then I
think he had something like one point in twelve games
and the lead up to the World Juniors, and so
that's how he ended up being available, and he looked
greatly improved. So, as you mentioned the defense, the backchecking,
but it was also a lot of the offense. He
was much more involved off Puck's skating hard to get
open for return passes and so on. He was much
more involved in the cycle. Of course, Checkie plays a
very counter attack focused game, and so you did get
to see a lot of his dynamic transition elements as
play making, his shooting, his ability to slice through the
defense at speed, and so on. But like I said,
there's more diversity in his game than ever before. It
would be really nice to see him continue that route,
because I think even this version of Shale probably isn't
an NHL player, But if he can find another gear,
you're looking at a potential top nine forward. And keep
in mind too, like this is he comes into the
World Juniors after making those improvements in the AHL as well,
But he's a prospect. After two years of being on
the fall, he's now back on the rise and starting
to look better than ever. I would say that if
he continues, if he keeps this up, if he returns
to Coachella Valley and has the same sort of pace
and energy to his game, there's a real chance he's
back in the top prospect discussion next season.
Speaker 2: Next on the Checchia roster, Jacob Steinschill, I guess that's
how you say it. Colowna Rocket, twenty twenty three fourth
round pick of the Saint Louis Blues, had a remarkable
seven goals and three assists for ten points. In the
World Juniors, one off the tournament point lead and topping
the charts in goals scored. He played first line minutes
throughout the attorney scored against the US, Canada and Sweden.
On paper, this seems like a breakout for the six
to three left winger. Is that what you saw? What's
the future for this guy?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: He was a big surprise at this tournament for me.
So I've seen him a bunch in Colonna at the
start this season, and he's scoring. He's been more of
someone who's scoring based on his minutes and based on
his linemates rather than his individual skill. And the interesting
part is that normally he's getting this bit of an
issue he looks a little bit behind the play in
the Whlby put him in the World Juniors, the pace
is higher, the average skill level is higher, and check
Ya plays a very direct north south game, a lot
of emphasis on speed and fast counter attacks, and it's
the best he's ever looked. The shot clearly NHL caliber,
The awareness and how to get open clearly NHL caliber.
The work rate, the anticipation of the game clearly NHL caliber.
So it would be nice to see more diamondism to
his game. In the WHL, it would be nice to
see him show more individual skill at times, but now
with Kloonna having that sell off, he's going to be
their go to offensive threat for the remaining part of
the season. I think we'll probably see him show that
world junior side of his game a little bit more,
and hopefully that can give him the push he needs
to step into the AHL next season. He's probably going
to end up in a bottom six role if he
makes the NHL, but someone who could bring a little
bit of value in all three zones.
Speaker 2: All right, and we've got Matt to mess Dalyerski. He
put up six points in the tournament, although maybe you
got to asters that as all three of his goals
came in a hat trick during the destruction of Kazakhstan. Still,
the winger played big minutes, went undrafted last year. He
is playing over in Chechya this year. Is NHL teams
going to have seen enough of him at this tournament
not to pass on him a second time?
Speaker 4: No, I don't think so. He's a talented player. I
like the way that he plays aggressive, north south, very direct,
very direct. Even for Chechia. He was a straight line player,
so I liked that side of his game, but I
think fading throughout the tournament against better competition, scoring chances
were down, shots were down throughout the tournament. An impressive worker,
but probably doesn't have quite enough to earn NHL interest now.
Of course, I'm saying this in January, and I don't
anticipate he's going to come back and be a big
score in the Czech top league. But it is going
to be a weird draft this year, so he never
want to say never, But for me, he's probably not
a guy who's going to get much NHL interest moving forward.
Speaker 2: And next up we have Adam Yeho of the Edmonton
Oil Kings normally but now Checchia. He broke many Canadian
hearts by scoring the goal with forty seconds left to
lift Chechia over Canada. He averaged a point a game
at this tourney, a touch better than his season to
date has been in the WHL. And like Stancil, this
big boy winger six ' five he is was a
mid round pick of the Blues. This guy in twenty
twenty four is Yeko, a guy who showed skills to
take him to the next level and can Prague in
Saint Louis just signed his sister's city agreement already because
apparently there's a pipeline.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Saint Louis has a good thing going on with
these players. They seem to really understand their strengths and
their weaknesses, and they also it's always the Blues guys
who step up internationally for for the Central European teams,
it seems. But yeah, Yeko is an interesting player. He's
been on the radar for forever. Thirteen fourteen years old.
People are already talking about him as a potential top
five pick. Obviously that didn't happen. A big part of
it is because he just didn't have enough. When you're
a big guy, oftentimes the expectations are going to be
a little bit different. You gotta be physical, you gotta
lean on guys, you gotta hit guys. He doesn't really
do that all. He doesn't really do any of those
all that much, or at least in last season. This year,
he's starting to show a little bit more diversity to
his game. He's more aggressive, he's more of a playmaker.
He's showing more creativity. I think he's a very interesting
project for the Saint Louis Blues. But he remains just
that this tournament though, and on top of that, his play,
especially in the last two months in December and in
the second half of November with the Oil Kings, has
suggested that he's really starting to put together the pieces
and show why he was so highly thought of. I
think if he hits, he could be a third line
player for the Blues and who brings something pretty unique.
Speaker 2: That's tremendous. Okay, that is the first couple of teams.
We're going to take a break, come back, and we've
got more teams to talk about. His longs, sweaty and
these weak hongs.
Speaker 4: And I had beat his vomit on his sweat at already.
Speaker 2: He's nervous, been on a service back and we have
come to the USA, Victor, you are up all right?
Speaker 3: Yeah. So if we're gonna start with, there's a couple
guys that are worth discussing, and the first one is
Danny Nelson, And I have to say I he really
opened my eyes a bit when he was drafted back
in twenty twenty three by the Islanders twenty ninth overall
out of the usn TDP. I really thought Okay, this
is a high floor, low ceiling kind of guy, defensively responsible,
might be able to make an impact as a bottom six.
Serves not not super interested in him, and he's done
okay at Notre Dame twenty three points in thirty games
last year, at thirteen and eighteen this year, and he
was on last year's winning a USA team as well.
But this year I just saw a little bit more
offense from him. I saw a little bit more dynamic skill,
not super dynamic, but a little bit more. He had
some I didn't have my big go card that he
was going to have more goals and assists. I thought
if he did have more points, it would be assists.
So I thought there was maybe a little bit more
offense there. But Mitch, you tell me, what did your
opinion of Danny Nelson change anymore? Is it just because
he was a little bit older and stronger.
Speaker 4: Oh, it's definitely time to be excited about Danny Nelson.
It is definitely time to be excited about him. He's
a power center. He drives the net, he gets off
the wall, he's physical, he has vision, and he can
lock down the opposition's best. He was what he was
the tournament's best fourth line center last year, and then
this year he was number two centered even better and
you see even more dynamic qualities in his game, even
more high end elements in his game. Now, I don't
think he's going to be a top six forward in
the NHL, but I think he's going to be your
star number three center, if that makes any sense. There
are these guys in the NHL who they play a role,
but everyone loves them for playing that role. And that's
what I see Danny Nelson as And honestly, I wouldn't
be surprised if he comes out of college at the
end of the season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I he was very impressive to me, You're right,
like the other teams just didn't have much when he
was out there. There was a it's a really good
guy to be able to roll out there, And I
think you're right, like in terms of they're not all
third line centers are really great their line centers, and
he would be a good one. Let's shift over to
the blue line and talk about Cole Hudson. Back to
back years where we have Hudson doing great things not
only at BEU but in the World juniors for the
USA and He was drafted a little bit earlier than
his brother, forty third overall by the Capitals in twenty
twenty four, and so far has done well. Ad bu
fourteen points in sixteen games. Maybe looks a little bit
less impressive than Lane, but he'll that doesn't have Maclin,
Celebrainian some of the talent around him, but he I
believe he was set a record for leading points eleven
and seven games as a defenseman. That was pretty impressive,
and I think for me also impressive thing was the
defensive game. It wasn't all offense. He was a little
better defensively than I had thought, even though he's Nozy William,
I think we can all agree. But what did you
think of Cole Hudson? Did he improve his stock at all?
And his projection? Did it shift at all?
Speaker 4: Absolutely? This is the best hockey I've ever seen him play,
by a huge margin. There's always something about international hockey
that brings up the best in him, but this was
the most dynamic, the most precise, the most explosive, and
the most engaged He's ever looked like offensively a lot
of the time. Like the big difference between him and
Lane has been that Cole just does some things and
then they don't really work, and then he moves on.
He doesn't really have the same sort of like game
breaking skill, Like he has the ideas, but it just
doesn't work out in the same way. But that was
really different here where he at the start of the
tournament was trying everything. It wasn't all working, but he
was trying a lot of different things, and then he
was getting points. And then throughout the tournament he was
starting to streamline his game. He was starting to be
more precise with his plays. His offensive impact was picking
up as a result, even though he didn't replicate that
five is this game, but he had so many important
big plays for the United States down the stretch, even
in the gold medal game. He was creating so so much.
And what's interesting too is that with it, I wouldn't
say a strong defender, but he certainly does have some
elements to his game that Lane Hudson didn't have at
the same age. He's a little bit more physical, for example,
he's better at engaging opponents off the rush than Lane
was at the same age. And so I'm not sure
if he's going to be the star that Lane is
on track to become. But I think he could be
your power play, secondary, five on five offensive guy, and
he's going to produce a plenty of highlights arolong the way.
And hey, if he brings this back to BEU, that
projection is going to get upgraded real fast.
Speaker 2: Nice. Rudy Zimmer, the Golden Gopher right winger, had a
great tournament for the USA team. His point per game
pace roughly matched what he's been doing in the NCAA.
He had an assist on the Teddy Steiga Turney golden
goal at the very end there in the overtime. He
was a Buffalo Saver third round pick last year. Is
Zimmer a candidate to move to Buffalo? And what's the
upside of this guy in the end?
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's a real menace. He's a real menace out there.
One of the tournament's best players, one of the tournament's
top scorers. He can do just about anything. We got
to see a shot A shot is that's something when
you see him pull that puck back and let it fly,
It's something that you only see among twenty five thirty
goal scorers in the NHL. He someone who could fill
the net a fair bit. He gets inside. He's a
bit of a playmaker too. He's very physical, very engaged defensively,
He's a leader. I would say that probably the biggest
flying his game is like the skating and the transition game.
He's not really going to beat guys one on one
unless they take themselves out of the play. He's not
going to be your luck transporter, to say, but he
will find a way to make an impact. And that's
been true at every level that he's played it over
the last few years. Brody Zemer's in the middle of
every play. Brody Zemer will find a way to score
and create offense and then to make a big play defensively.
I think he's going to be a top guy for
the next year, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's
a two to three year guy in college and then
straight into the NHL as a middle six score. Although
it's getting very crowded in Buffalo despite their lack of success.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's also lots of rumors about them moving guys out,
So maybe maybe these things work themselves out. We'll see
how it goes. Let's move on to Finland, the team
that made the somewhat supreme run, but maybe not surprise.
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised because Finland always needed this
run to the finals. Casper Haltonen is the one finished
prospect I have to ask you about today. Mitch six
to four winger playing for the London Nights in his
day job. He's now after a stint with San Jose's
AHL team at the beginning of the season. He was
picked by the Sharks in the beginning of the second
round of the twenty to twenty three draft and with
four points in the World Juniors, he's a bit on
the lower side of scoring for a team that very
nearly won that tournament. Is halton and showing signs of
a future NHLer and what did you see here? And
for the future.
Speaker 4: See the points can be crazy because he had what
one goal this tournament and it felt like every time
finn was on the power play, it was horrified. Every
time Finland went on the power play, it felt like
it was inevitable that this guy was going to score.
He was hammering post left and right. Every shot that
he took was terrible, fine, like you couldn't even see
it on the screen. He hit that thing so hard. Yeah,
he like just because of that he's gonna play in
the NHL just because he's an insane shooter on the
power play. He's gonna play in the NHL. Now, the
question is will he be more than powerplay specialist? And
I think the signs are pointing to he could be
more than just a specialist. He's showing more physicality and
he's particularly showing more playmaking ability. So if he can
continue to develop that side of his game, move the
pucker around a little bit, and move the puck around
not just to get it back, but to set up
chances for his teammates, move it with more of a purpose,
I think he could play in like kind of this
mid six or maybe bottom six role where he's creating offense,
very similar to what he did with the London Knights
last year in the playoffs, where he's playing third, fourth
line minutes. He's very effective in those minutes, and then
on the power play, he's just the he's just a nightmare.
Speaker 3: All right. There are certainly other guys we could ask
you about Finland, but we're gonna switch over to Sweden
and focus on the last two guys to discuss, and
the first one is Victor Eckland. Draft eligible Victor Eckland,
brother of William, and not a lot of draft eligibles
played super roles except for Abe, James Agen some other guys,
but Eckland was really interesting for the Swedes. He didn't
get a ton of ice, but he was very noticeable
when he was out there. He's playing for Drew Gardens
right now, a little bit better than half point per game.
And one of the things I noticed about Victor is
that he's got a lot more sandpaper to his game
than his brother. He's a little bit more feisty, more physically.
He's not really that much bigger or at all bigger
the same size, but there's a little bit more grit
to his game and still plenty of skill. So I
really seeing that. What did you think of Victor Eckland
do you think and maybe compare him a little bit
to his brother at the same age. What do you
think his trajectory is looking like?
Speaker 4: Oh? I think he's a top six forward. I think
he's a playoff hero. The motor is insane. He had
so many plays in this tournament where he was getting
beat down the corner and somehow still popped up with
possession and then immediately created a chance. He's one of
those guys who doesn't just win the puck, but he
knows the next play. As he's winning the puck, he
instantly finds teammates under pressure. He's great at reversing contact too.
He threw countless reverse hits in this tournament, just getting
guys to skate near him, hitting them, giving them a
little stiff arm or in cold shoulder, and then rolling
back away from them to set up someone he gets inside.
He's got great timing with and without the puck. Very
strong defensively. Now, maybe he doesn't have the prototypical size
of a power forward or whatever, but he could definitely
fill that role in the NHL. And I think there's
a lot of similarities between him and Seth the Jarvis
or Travis Konecney as these smaller, very physical guys who
then leverage that physicality into offensive impact. I think he's
a top six forward. I think it's probably in a
different way than his brother. His brother is a little
bit more of a deceptive playmaker type Victors, more of
a physical shooter who gets inside. But as a potential
top six forward, I think he's as close as you're
going to get in this draft outside the top five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely impressed with him, so we'll be curious to
see where he goes. As you said, twenty to twenty
five is going to be a little bit of a
weird one, so I can't wait to follow that. And
the last guy we want to ask you about is
Tom Vilander, and he is the twenty three eleventh overall
pick by the Vancouver Canucks. He's a six to one
right handed d and I remember thinking back to the
draft season and just thinking what a great all around
defender he is, but I wasn't sure how much offense
there would be, even though he did well in the
j twenty and then last year twenty five points in
thirty eight games at BU so far, nine points in
sixteen so far this season. But he's just an awesome
all around. I saw a little bit more offense from
him in this tournament, which has made me curious. And
in case anyone's wondering, he doesn't really run the top
power play at BU, but that's because it was either
Laine or kol Hudson doing that, so he hasn't really
had the opportunity. But he did run it for Sweden's
top unit and kind of had asp actual sending Pelico
over on the flank, but it seems that they liked
him in that role running it from the top, and
maybe he can do that moving forward out over Quinn Hughes.
But I saw a little bit more offense from him.
What did your opinion offensively change from him at all?
And I know he's just super strong all situations defensively.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So for me, he was Sweden's best defenseman at
this tournament. I know we didn't get the points, but
he was the shutdown guy. He was their best breakout guy.
Ice was so heavily tilted in Sweden's favor every time
Blander and his partner Theo Linstein came over the boards,
like they completely controlled the game. With Flander, the hands
are not super great. He does lose the puck. He
does put it in poor positions for himself, so like
he'll make a move, but he'll have it too far
in front of his body so he's got a reach
to get it and then he loses his play. But
in terms of ideas, in terms of space management, he's
quite good and he's getting better and better, Like he
has a great awareness of how players are moving towards
him and how they're going to shift the entire defensive
structure as he carries the puck up top, which then
allows him to find an open teammate, like with Sandy
and Pelica for the one timer. He can be deceptive
in moments, and he's a very high activity player as well.
He's someone who when you give him the puck, it
used to be he would just get rid of it,
but now he always moves and tries to make something
so even if it's still going to result in just
a point shot, he's still trying to create that advantage
with his touches. So he was one of the big
winners of this tournament for me. In my eyes, I
think he's I think he looks like a real strong,
potential top board defenseman. Guy who can play penalty kill, one,
power play two, hold down eighteen minutes a night if
need be, yet even strength, so someone who can play
up and down your lineup be highly effective. He's looking
like quite defined by the Vancouver Canucks.
Speaker 2: All right, Mitch, that's some great stuff. We have a
good talk about a number of these prospects. I'm glad
you've got to enjoy the World Juniors just like we did.
A lot of great hockey was played. Once you let
people know how they can keep up with all your
workout there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you can head to Elite Prospects dot com
and we got a new stories tab on the top
where you can see all of our written content, including
an article that breaks down seventy five NHL drafted prospects
that David Lassie and I wrote, And you can also
follow me at Mitchell Brown on Twitter dot com. I
have no idea what my blue sky is, but I'm
sure it's approximately in the same vein. And yeah, we
have lots of good stuff incoming over the next few weeks,
including our next draft ranking, so that'll drop somewhere between
the twenty first the twenty third, so keep your eyes
out for that.
Speaker 2: That's great. Yeah, it while I was watching the World
Junior's Elite Prospects new app was like every other commercial,
and I was pointing at the TV like the Leonardo
DiCaprio meme every time I saw it come up. I'm like, oh,
those guys Elite Prospects, man, they're the best. Thank you
so much for coming on, Mitch, and hope we get
to see some more of your great stuff.
Speaker 4: SOI thanks a lot, Jessy, having I can really appreciate.
Speaker 2: A couple of things you mentioned before I get out
of here today. One of them is our show's brought
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