Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here sits.
Speaker 2: Your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league.
Speaker 3: Talk off hot, a step hit on, stay lock.
Speaker 4: Here's your hosts, Jesse Sevier and Victor Nuno Fantasy.
Speaker 1: Hockey Hive back once he's into talk fantasy hockey. You
know who we are. It just said so in the
song Jesse Severe from Fan Tracks, Victor Nuno of ep
rinks side Victor, how you doing today?
Speaker 5: I'm doing well, Jesse. We are recording several episodes today.
I'm a little tired, but I'm still ready to bring
the heat for this very interesting franchise, I guess is
one way of putting it. I'm excited to see what happens.
Are you excited for Utah Hockey?
Speaker 1: Utah Hockey why not? Yeah? Maybe that should be their motto,
Utah why not. We'll see how things go. But yeah,
this one is definitely up in the air and will
be an interesting thing to follow this year, or I'll
be doing it. I'm going to stop by the Fantasy
Hockey Life discord. That's where you can follow some Utah hockey.
I imagine, if not all the other Hockey's and you
can get in there for free by email in Fantasyhockeylife
at gmail dot com or hitting this up on x
at Fanhockeylife is my DM and you can slip into
it and ask me for that link. Or Victor Nuno's
v I C T R and U N one two.
In addition to that, Victor, what do we want to
tell people about today?
Speaker 5: Well, if you'd like to, if you like what you're hearing,
you want to support the show, you can do that
at Patreon dot com. You can get a lot of
bonus content there too, like ranks lists, prospect cards, find
that great hit and blocks, information that's really hard to find,
or guys that are really good at pims and those
kinds of things are available on our website, Fantasyhockeylife dot
com and you can have access to that all of
the access as an ultralifer if you go to pictureon
dot com slash Fantasy Hockey Life. There is other things
you can do, like you can be part of the
Tidy the Tier Dynasty, which we're doing our dispersal drafts
right now. After promotion, relegation, great stuff. There's still time
to get in there if you want to get in
and be part of the fun experience there. And the
other thing I want to mention is we are doing
the average Draft Position project, so collecting all draft information
from your dynasty leagues, a prospect draft the twenty twenty
four guys and collating them into some really good visuals
that Brandon, our amazing web and the visualization guy is doing,
and you can look at per team, how they ranked
compared to their draft position, how they're being drafted in fantasy,
and how they're being compared to everyone else, and so
really helpful for if you want to see what's going
on and if your drafts are upcoming and you can
potentially get some steals or wait on some guys and
good information to reflect on. You can look back at
twenty twenty threes and see where these guys went and
how they're doing now and maybe which guys are values
that kind of thing. So you can check all that
out at Fantasy Hockey Life dot com. If you want
to send me those drafts, just shoot me a DM
or email us.
Speaker 1: Right after this we'll be talking Utah Hockey. We'd like
to welcome back to the show a man formerly covered
for the Arizona Coyotes. Now he's got his own hockey substack,
but he is the man to talk to about Utah
hockey right now. It is Patrick Brown. How you doing, Patrick?
Speaker 4: I'm back? How could I be bad? I love it.
Speaker 3: I'm excited to talk a little bit. Thank you guys
for having me back. We've had some fun over the years,
and that's always an entertaining time sitting down and talking
some hockey with you guys.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely, and you were the man on the scene
to talk about this team. Boy, where do we even start?
There were years of drama that have presumably now wrapped
up as the franchise is getting a new start a
few hundred miles north. In all this two bolt, we
should probably remember there's an actual team that we're talking
about here. It's not just the drama. It's not just
the side story. From January twenty three until March one,
the Coyotes did not win a game. They were twelve
and two. The team flip Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba
at the deadline and retrenched for this coming year. That said,
there were also some good things that happened last year
on the ice. They were seventh in the NHL and
shooting on the sixth fewest shots. Whether or not a
new owner, budget, fan environment, combined with oodles of cap
space will change this team is yet to be determined,
and we'll talk about the individual players will be a
part of this team. But how do you think this
team is? Are they getting close maybe to returning to
the playoffs. Where do you see their trajectory right now?
Speaker 4: Patrick?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely think they're getting closed. I would stop
short of saying they're a playoff team this season.
Speaker 4: They certainly could be. I think, just like.
Speaker 3: Heading into last year when they were the Coyotes, they
were a sexy pick to surprise some people who make
the and they were right there up until that fourteen
game losing streak that you previously mentioned that was just
brutal in every way, shape or form. But I do
think they are approaching a point where they're going to
start playing in those types of games. They've got the
goaltending to at least get them into the playoffs. I
think they certainly have some offensive firepower coming up, and
their biggest weakness the blue line with China.
Speaker 4: We'll talk about in a little bit.
Speaker 3: Bill Armstrong has done some things to address the blue
line as well. They're an up and coming team, not
to mention a cupboard stocked full of promising young prospects.
I don't know if this is the year. It's going
to be an interesting season with all of the changes
they've gone through as an organization, playing in the Delta
Center for the first time in front of Utah fans,
and yet you've still got that brutal travel schedule because
you're still out West, and all the teams out West,
it's always really tough on them in terms of those
travel schedules.
Speaker 4: So all of those.
Speaker 3: Things combined, it's they're gonna be a fun team to watch.
You're gonna see flashes of what they can be, and
they are trending in the right direction. But we'll see
what happens in terms of the playoff picture.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you all out west kind of look into that.
Being so far apart from each other, we hear in
the Midwest. At least we got that going for us. Well, yeah,
let's talk about some of the players. Clayton Keller first up.
He continues to compete with Dylan Markin among others, as
the best player whose prime is being really obscured by
a rough team context. For the third straight year, he
circled that point per game mark. He was actually down
a minute and a half an average time on ice
this year, but remained the team's leading scorer by a
long ways. His peripherals are typically poor except for his
three shots per game. The rising tide of this team
maybe leads to something like a ninety point season this year.
Do you expect Keller to be status quo or even
regress a little bit from where he's been.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't expect any regression out of him. He went
from eighty six to what was eighty six to seventy
six points in a season. I wouldn't even count that
as regression. I think the Dylan Larkin comparison is fascinating
in fact, in terms of the players around him, because
the biggest inconsistency in Keller's game has been the center
on his line. They have gone through so many centers.
I don't for those who probably don't remember, and as
probably most people, what two three years ago Travis Boyd
was centering the top line between Clayton Keller and Nick
schmalt who, by the way, Schmaltz a true center. They
tried to put him back last season for a few
games that didn't pan out, and Barrett Hayden fell in line.
We'll talk about him in a little bit, but he
battled injuries and he's battled in consistencies, and so it's
been Alex Kerfoot I think ultimately found the best chemistry there.
But that has been Keller's biggest struggle is who he's
had on that line with him and not Schmaltz. Him
and Schmaltz have great chemistry, but there's never really been
that true top line center, and that I think has
keyed that inconsistent play or that, like you said, it's
getting lost in the shuffle. But I would not expect
any sort of regression out of Keller. I think he's
proven in his ability to both make plays, set up plays,
and finish plays, and he's certainly capable of the ninety
point in plateau. I think it just depends on whether
or not he can settle in with a true top
line center, and that's another question heading into the season
for the Utah Hockey Club.
Speaker 5: Yes, indeed, let's talk about maybe this is surprising for
some people, but we're going to go to Dylan Gunther next.
Over two seasons, we saw growth from fifteen points in
thirty three games to thirty five points and forty five games.
This season. He tripled his goals from six to eighteen,
albeit in twelve more games, but still nine power play goals,
one short handed goal, four game winning goals. That was
pretty fantastic stuff. Gunther finished his sophomore season strong, with
seventeen points in his last sixteen games, including a four
point nine on his twenty first birthday. He's a confident
shooter who can shoot in a lot of different ways,
all off balance, and he also knows when to pass
instead of shoot. And despite having a quick snapper and wristshot,
he doesn't always rely on shot velocity. He can get
the puck to the ned to beat goalies with placement
and timing. So Patrick, with a team continuing to give
him a key power play role, you think Gunther can
beat thirty goals this season? And what kind of point
pace do you think he can get.
Speaker 3: He's definitely capable of topping thirty goals just with that
shot alone. Thirty five points and forty five games last year,
he was supposed to have a cup of coffee and
when he was called up from the Tucson Roadrunners.
Speaker 4: He gave Bill Armstrong no choice.
Speaker 3: But to keep him up there, especially because and again
we'll talk about it a little bit, but the chemistry
that he has with Logan Cooley is just watching those
two players, I can't tell you there's probably nine or
ten times on X last year where I would post
Cooley to Gunther to Cooley. The chemistry that they have
established is only going to continue to grow. And then
you start throwing Josh done in the mix. So, Dylan Gunther,
you mentioned his shot, Victor unbelievable shot. The kid's the
real deal. And remember he was the pick that resulted
from the Oe L. Connor Garland trade to Vancouver. That
was ultimately the pick that they made with him ninth overall,
I believe it was, and looking more and more like
a steal points wise, I'm so bad at this game, guys,
should I'm so bad. I shouldn't admit that, But I
could very easily see him eclipsing fifty, maybe sixty points.
He's got the talent, the skill, and if he continues
to stay healthy and slide up like he's the real
deal and he's a budding star, he's gonna have a
lot of ability to make plays and have a huge
impact on this team moving forwards, of anybody on this
entire roster not named Logan Cooley, I would say I'm
extremely high on Dylan Gunther and I think his ceiling
might be the highest of any player on the team.
Speaker 1: You mentioned already how Nick Schmaltz plays well with Keller.
He was absolutely locked Keller all year, and like you
said that centerman varied a lot and it was tough
to get that locked in. Schwaltz was the second leading
scorer on the team and in terms of peripherals two
shots and only one hit every fifth game with a
forty one percent face off percentage. Not so much on
the other categories. His year, though, featured a red hot
march if you missed it, five goals sixteen assists for
twenty one points in fifteen games that got him up
to a career high sixty one points. He missed nineteen
games per year the prior to years, but this year
he got seventy nine in so much better situation of health.
Going into his age twenty eight year, do you expect
Schmaltz to maintain the same level he showed last year
or could he switch into another gear maybe with some centerman.
Speaker 3: Health certainly, again it comes down to your center, I
think in some regards, but to your point, he can
absolutely It comes down to health. Like you mentioned, he
managed to get into seventy nine games last season, which
was the first time since twenty nineteen twenty twenty that
he played seventy or more. It all comes down to
Schmaltz's health. He and Keller having credit chemistry, which we
already talked about. They're great friends off the ice, they golf,
they're amazing, They're very compatible as line mates. So it's
going to come down to health for Schmaltz. If he
can stay healthy, if he can get in the seventy
plus games again, he's going to.
Speaker 4: Be a big producer.
Speaker 3: He's got Keller to feed and then he's got Keller
to feed him, and those two together play very well.
Speaker 4: It's going to.
Speaker 3: Come down to health for Nick Schmaltz and if he
can stay healthy. He does get streaky at times. You
mentioned his march, but he's a little more consistent than
some of the lost and Kraus is a very streaky player.
Schmaltz is a little more consistent than that.
Speaker 4: He's got the potential.
Speaker 3: I think he's going to be able to maintain that
production so long as he stays healthy, which is has
been not his strong suit up until last year.
Speaker 5: Next is Matchias Mitchelli, and I've long been a big
fan of this guy. The past season he held steady
around sixty points with slightly more time on ice about
thirty seconds or so. And I wonder if there's still
a spot for Minchelli on power Play one with all
the grave fowards I have. Now you mentioned we talked
about Keller Small's gun through already coolly seems like he
might be ahead of him. So Patrick, what do you think.
Speaker 4: Michelli will be able to do?
Speaker 5: Will he be around a sixty point pace again, or
is there a room for more or potentially a backslide here?
Speaker 4: No, I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm saying this about everybody, and there
are going to people who there will be people who regress.
But what was impressive about mcchelly's game last season is
that he started shooting the puck more and he didn't
like you saw some progress. If you go back to
two seasons ago when he finished fourth and called her voting,
everybody knew he was going to pass the puck. He
just wasn't shooting the puck, and so you could see
is he at least started putting the puck on net
a little bit more. They had to at least respect
the shot, giving him a little more options. That's where
he is more lethal on the power play if he
can maintain time on either of those two units, because
he has the ability to have that vision and slide
it through the slot find the open man. Now that
other teams have to respect the shot, I would expect
him to maintain his pace. I don't think he would regress.
He's just got too much talent. He's underrated. I think
in the league he's got too much talent on to regress.
But I also don't see him going much further past
the sixty point pace that he's been.
Speaker 1: On on to Barrett Hayden, boy, it was the last
year for Hayden. He scored ten points in thirty three games.
He had a sixteen game streak to start the year.
Then he was out three months, seventeen games in last month.
He was out. Really unfortunate. After Hayton got through a
full healthy season for the first time the year before
that said, the team was better on offense and defense
when he was on the ice despite the low box
score total. What do you think we're going to see
from a full Hayden year next year? And I guess
will that year come next year?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: He just signed I think it was a two year
deal in the offseason, which was good for him. He's
not in a contract year, so there won't be much
pressure on him in that regard. The key to him
has been consistency.
Speaker 4: He started to.
Speaker 3: Find that towards the end of the twenty twenty two
to twenty three reseason. Expectations who are a little bit
higher heading into this past year, and he was unable
to stay healthy. One of the big parts of Barrett
Hayton's game is he's the best face off.
Speaker 4: Guy on the team.
Speaker 3: He is a near fifty percent career mark in the dot.
He's led the team the past two seasons in face
off percentage and that's where he's.
Speaker 4: True, truly effective.
Speaker 3: He goes in during those critical times, it doesn't matter
offensive zone, defensive zone. He's able to win those critical draws.
The only other two players that were close to him,
Nick Bukestad and Alex Kerfoot also dependable but Barrett Hayton
is the one you want in there taking those face offs,
and that's where he makes a big difference. So health
is going to be key, which you touched on, and
I do think that I'm optimistic he'll be able to
stay healthy. He's gone through so much adversity in a
young career. I think he's twenty five, and he still
has just a great attitude, great hat on his shoulders,
and he works hard. But he's also inconsistent with his
offensive production kind of always has been. I think being
healthy will help fix that. But he's out there mainly.
I'd say I shouldn't say it like that, but his
biggest asset is his face off ability and winning in
the dot.
Speaker 1: We're gonna do the old points, pick them that we
tend to do, throw a couple more of the forwards
etche from real life. These guys will probably have a
big impact from fantasy perspective. Probably not as much maybe,
But you tell me three of them, well, I'll give
to you here as the last fowards. Nick Bukestad, Alex Kerkfoot,
Logan Cooley. They've all come up Coolly of course, the
hot prospect Kerfoot and Bukestad, the grizzled veterans who have
produced a little bit over the years. Who do you
like in how do you look at these guys?
Speaker 3: Out of those three, I would take Cooley, I love
Bukestad and Kerfoot. Just talked about them obviously just a
couple of minutes ago. Great leadership, Alex Kerkfoot can do
whatever you ask him to do on the ice. He
can play up, he can play down, power play penalty, kill, wins, draws,
he can do whatever you want. He produces as well,
and as I mentioned, he actually found pretty good chemistry
with Keller and Schmaltz, so there's potential there. But with
Barrett Hayton back, I would guess Hayton would probably anchor
that top line at least heading into the season. But
Kerfoot is a wildcard there because he does have the
potential and he does have the talent being getting up
there in age and feel bad saying that as a
forty year old because he's much younger than I am,
but just with the way the league is structured. But again,
a dependable faceoff guy. Had an incredible season. I think
it was twenty two goals. I was so happy for him.
I would not necessarily expect to see that repeated this
upcoming season, but again, you never know. He's a great
veteran guy to have around the team. And you just
look at what Logan Cooley did to finish off the season.
There was so much hype coming into the year, and
I don't want to say there was disappointment because he
played well, but that second half, even the final third
of the season, especially when he started clicking with Dylan Gunther,
you saw what Logan Cooley is capable of doing and
why he was arguably the top pick in the twenty
twenty two NHL Draft by top pick, obviously the best overall.
He was taken third, but I've been very impressed with
what he has done, how he has matured.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 3: He needs to work on his faceoff game, for sure,
and he knows it, but his offensive numbers are good,
his talents is out of this world. And being on
a line with Dylan gun throw the two feet off
of each other out of the three, I hate this
game because I'm a people pleaser, but I would pick
Logan Cooley.
Speaker 1: I should say Logan Cooley had the by Ron numbers
second worst face off differential in the NHL last year
he was down one hundred and sixty five. But I
do believe the person who had the worst was Connor Bedard,
So I guess that doesn't roll out Logan Cooley for
the future.
Speaker 3: All Rookie team Logan Cooley too. He really made a
nice push there the second half of the season. Was
happy for him because you started seeing that hard work
paying off. People don't respect enough either the badards the
coolies coming in from, whether it's Major junior or whether
it's NCAA and you don't play a lick of HL
hockey and you just jump right into the NHL. I
don't feel like people respect that enough with just how
difficult it is, and it's why you don't see it done.
And the way both of them performed I think was
was truly impressive last season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but Arden Cooley noted bums at hockey. All right,
let's move on to the last fullward we're gonna talk about,
and that is Josh Don. I was definitely one of
the skeptical ones when Coyotes picked Don with a second
round pick. He really has done nothing to nothing but
flourish ever since that time, both in the NCAA and
in the AHL, his production just off the charts. You know,
definitely Kudo's on that pick after all they and this season,
the NHL debut for him went swimmingly. Nine points in
eleven games, a bunch of hits, a bunch of blocks too.
Looks like he might be a peripherals beast with considerable
points upside. Patrick, what kind of role do you think
Josh Done is going to get and what do you
think his points upside can be.
Speaker 3: Josh Done's going to be an interesting storyline to follow
at CAMP. I don't necessarily think he has earned a
full time roster spot. He'll probably be the first one
to tell you he hasn't earned that. It needs to
prove it. But what's really interesting is, like you mentioned,
what he did during his eleven games in the NHL
gave me, by far, the most memorable game I have
ever covered to this point in my career, which was
his NHL debut.
Speaker 4: Two goals at his NHL.
Speaker 3: Debut in front of his father, Shane Doone, who obviously
is an Arizona hockey icon.
Speaker 4: I'm getting goosebumps talking about it.
Speaker 3: It was probably the last good memory that anyone has
of hockey in Arizona before things changed. But what was
interesting was then he came back and he did it again.
It wasn't a two goal performance, but I think he
had a goal and a couple of assists his next game,
something like that. And I remember Greg Powers, the NCAA,
the Arizona State Sun Devil's head coach. Obviously the Coyotes
played at Maltarino, which for the Sun Devils played, and
I remember Greg Powers saying, he just keeps surprising, and
you know what he's gonna do. He's gonna do it again,
and then he's gonna do it again until people actually
start believing in him. He's got this US against me
against the world, not mentality, but almost stigma hanging over
his head because, like you said, Victor, everybody I think
was skeptical he was taking thirty seventh overall and he
thought that was a reach. But he's done it at
every single level. You go to Chicago Steel, the USAHL,
then obviously Arizona State, he excelled. He was an AHL
All Star with the Tucson Roadrunners, and then he in
his cup of coffee with the NHL nine points in
eleven games. I think he will continue to surprise people,
because that is what he does. One of the best
human beings you'll ever meet. No surprise there considering who
his father is. But I just think there is definitely
some development in his game that needs to continue. I
would not be surprised to see him start the year
in Tucson. There's gonna be a lot of competition with
healthy bodies, bear at hat and back.
Speaker 4: Things like that.
Speaker 3: It's going to be interesting to see where he falls
in the fold. But he could in the end creep
up and become one of your very dependable role players
bottom six players and become one of those key players
on championship teams that you look to as a role player.
So I don't know if this is the year. I
would certainly not be surprised to see things take a
step back, because it's tough for anybody to continue scoring
at that pace, let alone a second rounder. But you
gotta be happy for him in the story that he's
carved out for himself.
Speaker 5: Indeed, plus all those peripheral hits block shots are pretty
nice too. Let's move over to the defense now. Miguil
Sergachev is the first one we're going to talk about.
He was drafted by the Canadians, traded to the Lightning
in twenty seventeen, a deal that sent back Jonathan Drew
and won some cups there in Florida and even earned
an eight year extension with Tampa. However, he finds himself
traded again. That horn that blared at the sphere when
that trade went down was pretty startling, and then was
more startling is the actual trade was like Wow, Okay,
this is a big deal that's happening. Sergachev a young,
experienced defenseman, including lots of playoff time. I'm sure he
brings even though he's young, he brings some pretty good
veteran presence to this team. He's twenty six, and they
got some other Russian, good Russian prospects. In fact, some
would say they would they were only drafting Russians there
for a minute. But simaschev boot he certainly can play
a mentoring role for those guys. We have seen Sergichev
put up nearly thirty power play points when given top deployment,
but I'm not sure if that's gonna happen with Thursey around. So, Patrick,
what do you think we can expect from Sergachev this season?
In terms of roll points pace, Will he be the
go to power play guy or maybe split that with Jersey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a great question heading into the year that
I don't know the answer to because I've gone back
and forth to it. In my mind, if the first
thing was, oh man, did Jersey lose his kind of
quarter like quarterbacking type key element on the power play?
But I don't think so, because Jersey has proven his value,
which we'll talk about in a minute. Quick side note
when that Horn Blair it ruined a story I had
set to come out in five days on highlighting Connor
Geeky on the Utah Hockey team.
Speaker 4: That changed a lot in my world too.
Speaker 3: Very stunning trade, blockbuster trade, and it's what I alluded
to before, though definitely addressed the blue line, especially from
a points production standpoint. You've got championship caliber talent. Much
like a couple of other players we've talked about that
he's going to be health. He was not healthy last year.
He worked so hard to come back for the playoffs
for the Lightning, which was admirable. You see the hard
work he put in to be able to return before
the end of the season and prior to that, he
was maybe not an iron man, but very dependable player,
daily player, especially when you consider how deep Tampa went
into the playoffs time and time again. He's going to
be an important player on the Utah Hockey Clubs excuse me,
blue line. I do think he would have the first
right of refusal in those powerplay situations over Sean Jersey.
I think he's earned that. I think he has the
championship pedigree to prove that. But I do think him
and Jersey will split some time because Sean Dursey is
an incredibly talented defenseman who I think is still learning
a lot and you see him growing right before your eyes.
So Sergachev a great ad, really addresses a lot of
the issues that.
Speaker 4: The club had on the blue line.
Speaker 3: And the last point I'll make on that victor not
that it is terribly relevant, but you pointed it out.
It's a huge git for the purposes of getting Simyshev
and boot over from Russia. That is a huge git.
I don't know if that type of logic goes into
it when you acquire a player like that, because you
just know the talent that he has as well, So
I'm not sure if that goes into your thought process
as a GM. But whether or not it does, it's
a huge git for that reason as well, because they're.
Speaker 4: Going to be very eager to be able to come
over and play with him too.
Speaker 1: You said we were about to talk about him in
the future, is now because Shawn Dursey is our next
item up for discussion. Right after the draft, Utah re
upped him for four more years to the NHL. Took
a few years, and he had two years in LA
before last year he jumped to twenty two forty three
average time on ice, leading all Zona skaters in tom
on ice and average time on ice. He led the
defenseman in power play toime on ice. He provides reasonable
bash for us, so with the hits, the shots, the blocks.
He actually had a very good advanced metrics for the
team second and expected goals of of replacement behind Dylan Gunther.
You just talked about the other side of this with
Cergi Chef coming in, But what are you expecting on
the Jersey side of the equation. As he is in
his second year age twenty six with the Utah Hockey Club.
Speaker 4: He's going to continue to grow.
Speaker 3: He's shown amazing progress from year to year. And I
think he has a little bit of playoff experience too
with the Kings. It was very early in his career,
but he does have He does have that crunch time experience,
and like you mentioned, he's a proverbial minutes muncture right,
which coaches love to have. He can get out there.
He's not afraid to play any role. I'm afraid to
maybe get a little bit more defensive if he needs
to in a situation. A lot of times you see
these offensive minded defensemen, and not that he's afraid to shoot,
because he's not. He puts up good numbers, but he's
just going to continue to grow. There were a few
times last season I think that you could still tell
just how young he is and how much he continued
to develop. It was a great year for him personally.
I think he and Sergachev will learn a lot from
each other. I think they will have potentially that being
the top two defenseman on the team, develop a good
rapport and that'll be great for the team. But I
think the wild card is that Sergachev acquisition. It was
clearly Drzy and Moser before and now with Moser in
Tampa and Sergychev in the fold, there is a little
bit more debate on that power play time. There may
be a little bit of that time on ice sacrificed
that Jersey knew he was going to get, So it'll
be interesting to see how that unfolds. But he goes
about things the right way. He does everything coach Andrey
Tourni asked of him. He's not afraid to give up
his body, block shots, lay ahead if he needs to,
and he's a smart pick. He's a smart guy, So
all good things. It's just becoming a little bit more
crowded in the talent aspect, which the team hasn't sing
a little bit. It's when I'm the best team, when
I'm the best player on the softball team a that's
when we only win one game every year, and then
when we start getting better players on the softball team,
I'd have to get a little challenge for that cleanup spot.
Speaker 4: We'll see how it unfolds, but it'll be fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Awesome. Now the rest of the defensemen are going to
once again throw him in a bucket with the points
pick him. You got John Marino, the other big siren
causer at the draft. You've got Michael kessel Ring and
you got Uso Vallamachi, all three of them also playing
on the blue line, presumably be behind the two we've
already discussed. Who do you like most in terms of
their anticipated production for next year?
Speaker 3: Patrick, What's funny is when I was looking at the numbers. Initially,
before I looked at the numbers, I thought Marino hands down.
Just in my mind, I had Marino in my head.
And man if Michael kessel Ring didn't quietly have a
pretty darn solid year for the Coyotes last season. He's
a kid, he's still finding his way, and I always
thought of him as more of a defensively minded blue liner.
I'd never really thought too much of his offensive production.
But twenty one points in sixty five games actually outpaces
marinos twenty five in seventy five games, So I think
that's interesting. Now again, I would almost stick with my gut.
I think Marino will have a more prominent role than
he has in years past, as being in being acquired
in the offseason by Bill Armstrong. I think when given
the three, I would look at Marino, but kessel Ring
quietly had a really good year, and you so of
Vlamaki is just very consistent sorry, inconsistent.
Speaker 4: Excuse me.
Speaker 3: There were some times last year that he was held
out of the lineup, and I know he wasn't happy
about it. Who would be, But then he does everything
that's asked of him to get back on track. I
just think there's a little too inconsistency in Vallamache's game
to depend on him, So I would go John Marino,
but Michael Kesselring is right there. It's going to be
a big year for him to prove himself and show
that he can build upon what he said last season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's good stuff. So let's move on to the
goalies now, and the Arizona Coyotes were ranked twenty six
and expected goals against per sixty last season, but conceided
the twenty first actual goals against per sixty at five
y five. That math means that they did better than expected.
A big reason for this was clearly Connor Ingraham, who
had a fantastic breakout season. He won the Masterton Trophy,
which recognizes the player who best exempt flies of qualities
of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication. Anyone who listens to this
show knows I've been a huge fan of Ingram since
his Tampa days. I'm very happy to see this finally
work out for him. On the ice, Ingram clearly passed
fill Meca. In my eyes, he appeared in fifty to
the thirty eight games. Compared to Amelca, Ingram had a
fifteen point four to one goals I've expected. That's incredible,
and vill Melka had negative four point five to one.
Ingram has two more years at one point nine to five.
Oll Meca makes a little bit more at two point
seventy twenty five, but only as one more year. That
I don't think is much of a difference to dictate
stars for Vill Melka. But Patrick, tell us what you
think is going to go is going to happen next
season for the Utah Hockey Club goalies. Will it be
Ingram as the de facto starter or do you think
this will be a pretty clear one way, one B situation.
Speaker 3: It is hard to call that. I granted I'm a
horrible Beer League GM, but in my eyes, Ingram has
earned being the starter I think he had. I don't
even have to say I think everything that you read
off right there, Victor shows he had an incredible season.
Obviously won the Masterton two because he was inspirational and
how he was open with his OCD and mental health
struggles and how he addressed those and wanted to share
his story. But on the ice, he was lights out,
tied for the league lead with six shutouts. I think
with four other goalies it was jam packed up there,
but I think Ingram has earned the starter role. That said,
Andre Tourny and goalie coach Corey Schwab were very insistent,
especially when last season kicked off, that they were going
alternating no matter what happened.
Speaker 4: They were alternating.
Speaker 3: Goalies one A, one B and they stayed with that
logic for quite some time until Ingram gave them no choice,
and I think there was a lot of consecutive minutes
of shutout hockey there. Vimalca has proved to perform for
this team in the past, didn't have the best season
last year, but he did also show flashes. In my eyes,
Ingram's the starter. Vimalka is the backup. Vemalka is a
very dependable backup that you can call upon because he's
a borderline starter there, at least on this club. But
based on how Andre Torrini and goaltending Corey Schwab approached
last year, It would not be unthinkable to think of
it as another one A one B at least to
start the year, to see who separates themselves. But Ingram's
numbers for themselves last season he was incredible. The team
won so many games because of the way he played,
and he was a really good, feel good story on
top of that, which we all loved. We'll see how
it folds out, but I think personally Ingram's a starter.
But it wouldn't surprise me to see Turney at least
start the season one A one B.
Speaker 1: Tree Mendus Patrick, why don't you let people know how
they can keep up with all the work you got
going on?
Speaker 3: Sure, so obviously on X at Peter Brown Hockey, and
then as I mentioned, or as you mentioned to start
the show, I did start up my own substack. It's
just p Brown Hockey dot substack dot com right now
keeping up with everything Utah related, just because there's not
a ton of coverage out there for them, and I
still have obviously some connections within the organization, so I'm
enjoying putting that out there. There are plans to grow
that eventually and grow those aren't but you got to
start with what you know and where your connections lie.
Speaker 4: So that's what I'm doing.
Speaker 3: But on ex pe Brown Hockey on Instagram, Peter Brown
Hockey d's p Brown Hockey, substack, pe Brown Hockey does
substick dot com. There's a pattern there, fellas in great
you can't tell.
Speaker 1: That's right. I think even I could follow along with
that pattern. Thank you so much for coming on Patrick
and talking to Utah Hockey Club.
Speaker 4: Appreciate you guys having me on. It's always fun. Thank you.
That's good fired.
Speaker 5: Past, Oh my goodness, with a cat grab.
Speaker 1: Now it's your weekly goalie talk. But Kats Silverman, cats instincts.
Speaker 5: Time for cats instincts. With Cat Silverman ngole mag Utah.
We're talking Utah Hockey Kat who hockey in Utah?
Speaker 4: What a thing?
Speaker 5: So obviously this is he franchised to move from Arizona.
So they had a really interesting pick last year. We're
gonna talk first about Michael Krabble twenty twenty three, thirty
eighth overall pick. He was the second goalie taken after
Adam Guyan. I thought the Guyan pick was interesting. I
definitely would have gone guy Rabble or maybe one of
the other guys. But I think they did a good
job here with that pick. He was in the USHL
for his draft season, then he transitioned to UMass where
he did it really quite well, nine to twelve save
percentage in thirty games, one sixteen, lost twelve. He also
appeared for check yet the World Junior Championships. LA Ron
numbers didn't look so kind, but he looked pretty good
from what I remember from the eye test there. Looking
at his hockey prospecting, he's up to a forty four
percent chance of being in NHL are and just his
d plus one season. Funny that one of his main
comps here is Aiden Hill, who was also drafted by
the Arizona Coyotes and obviously now is a Stanley Cup champ.
So I guess Michael Rabble is going to be a
Stanley Cup champ. That's what I'm getting at here, Kat,
tell us what your instincts tell you about Michael Krabble.
Speaker 6: I think it's really interesting that Aiden Hill is a
comp for him, because the thing that both of them
have in their favor, their number one asset is how
tall they are.
Speaker 7: And I know that Aiden Hill.
Speaker 6: Was particularly funny because it seems like he kept growing
even after he got drafted. I feel like every season
when I had to do a scatting report on him,
I had to double check and see what height was
listed for him, and I thought he was eventually just
gonna head up to shack proportions there.
Speaker 7: But Michael Frabble is.
Speaker 6: Another goaltender who does a really good job of using
his height, not necessarily to take up the entirety of
the net, but to be able to use his lower
body and move a little bit more efficiently.
Speaker 7: He's a pretty decent.
Speaker 6: Skater, but he's much better when it comes to actually
sealing the ice, and then he uses the fact that
he is taller to close off as much of the
upper half of the net as he can while remaining
on his knees, and does a pretty decent job of tracking,
even though some of our taller goaltenders have a little
bit of trouble seeing well. It almost I think from
a depth perspective, does not remind me of Mike Smith's,
but something that we saw from Mike Smiths sometimes, even
though a little bit on the taller side, would drop
to his knees and be able to see through traffick
a little bit more efficiently. I don't think Utah is
finished figuring out what their final roster will be, so
I don't know if he is set to be number one.
He's still in college, but I don't know where they
have him in their long term plans. I do think
that he looks like a promising long term option for
an NHL team, whether it's them or someone else. I
would love to see if while he's a UMass, they
have any down years. I'd love to see what would
happen if he plays behind a poor defense, because I
do think that there's going to be a point where
he is playing behind some struggling defense in the Utah
slash Tucson systems. And I don't think that he looks
necessarily not unlike Aiden Hill. I think he looks like
he does need some seasoning at the miners level when
he does go pro, just because he does rely so
much on his size. I was looking at some overall
statistics for where he is allowing goals and where he's
making saves, and he does a really good job of
positioning himself and then seems to struggle a little bit
with his hands. So it'll be interesting to see when
he plays against more creative shooters. How that works for
him since he does like to play from his knees.
Speaker 7: But we'll see how that goes. And Aiden Hill is
a Stanley Cup chip so if he can pull that
off too, that would be wonderful.
Speaker 5: Yes, I think I would have fell out of my
chair if you told me that Aiden Hill was a
Stanley Cup champ three or four years ago.
Speaker 7: I think Aiden Hill would have fallen out of his chair.
Speaker 5: If you've toiled that, it could happen to anybody, and
good for him. Let's move on to the other guy
in this system, and that's Matt Vilalta six four, two
hundred and seventeen pounds. They're round pick by the King,
signed by the Coyotes.
Speaker 4: Last year.
Speaker 5: You talked about how he's the guy to keep your
eye on and how they needed a guy for their
AHL club and they got him play fifty one games
for two Sunrare runners of the AHL had really good
numbers two five four GA, ninety seventeen save percentage, three shutouts.
He even got into two NHL games, but we don't
want to talk about that because they did not go well.
But overall, his equivalency is low. It's covering in the
high teens low twenties. Tommy Salo is probably his best comp.
Speaker 7: That's a tough comp, no offense.
Speaker 6: I think he looks like a good tweiner to have
in your system, like a spent it to Martin type.
I wanted to see what would happen when he got
out of the King system, because he'd gotten trapped there
for a little bit. And and I wanted to see
if the Coyotes have or now Utah. But at the time,
the Coyotes had some really good goaltending developments when it
came to their coaching staff, and they had really consistent
coaching at the NHL and AHL level, and that seemed
like a good place for him to potentially see his
game rebound.
Speaker 1: A little bit.
Speaker 7: And I think he looked fine at the AHL level,
but he looked like from an overall decision making standpoint,
like he was just missing that last little bit. So
you could maybe use him on a stronger NHL team
at the NHL level a couple of times, almost like
a Richard Bachman, But I don't think that he looked
like someone who his poor NHL games were, Oh these
are let's just forget about these. He'll be much better
next time.
Speaker 6: He looked like someone who probably is going to carve
out a really good career for himself at.
Speaker 7: The minor league level and then maybe make his way
to the NHL for partial seasons.
Speaker 6: But didn't really look like someone at this point that
I necessarily saw being the top of their the top
of any team's deep start anytime soon. So no offense
to him. I think it's tough to be a really
good age all starter in all honesty, and I think
that's maybe where he is right now.
Speaker 5: You're too kind, Cat, I'll just tell everyone, don't have
mapl alta on your team. I'm sure you're a great guy,
good goalie, but I don't think it's going to happen
at the NHL level. Thanks for giving us your instincts
on the Utah Hockey Club goalies, Cat.
Speaker 2: Dig the dynasty dig big for the Utah Hockey Club
is you don't like them quite as much as other
people do.
Speaker 1: You have them right around the middle of your rankings
around sixty. A lot of other people have him higher.
They've had a lot of high picks. They've been paying
for some of those picks in the last couple of
years because they had a whole lot of them. Nonetheless, Victor,
we need to start out with your no brainer. Who
is it that's going to be?
Speaker 5: Dimitri Simaschev twenty twenty three, sixth overall pick, six foot five,
two hundred and three pounds, left handed d After eighteen
KHL games in his draft season and zero points, he
put up ten in his sixty three games this season,
so there you go, much better. He had one assist
in seventeen playoff games for locomotive. Scoring is not really
the big thing for him though, and that's a bit
of the worry. But you look at some of the
other things, and he is playing in a very difficult
league at a young age, so you have to give
him some props for that. And if you look at
his FHL player card, you can see that some of
the other priffs aren't necessarily there. His hits, blocks, and
shots per six year all pretty low. He looks like
he might be a perferal vacuum. So that's scary. It
might only be more of a points kind of option,
and I think there's maybe even some question marks about
how good the points are. He is someone who's a
very strong likelihood to make the NHL but I'm not
sure how much the points are going to be there.
He might end up being in that thirty five to
forty five point range, but he is a really strong
prospect in a lot of other areas. Jesse to hear
a little bit more about Dmitri Simychev and what makes
him tick. Let's hear from our FHL scout.
Speaker 1: Chill Scout Craig has this to say about Dmitri Simashev
above average skating. Rarely ever see him at top speed,
but when he decides to rush the push, he can
fly down the ice. For such a big guy, He's
also able to use his edges quite well, helping him
in transition as the play evolves. Passing and handling average.
When given the chance in the offensive zone, he did
show he was able to find the open man and
create scoring chances. However, playing limited minutes in the KHL,
we weren't able to see more of this side of
SIMASHEV shooting below average, very limited shots, and the chances
he did get were usually into the shin pads of
the defender. When given the choice of passer shot, he
will pass nine times out of ten IQ average. Craig's
going to give him the better for the doubt. From
the games, Craig saw he had a high panic meter,
many times holding under the puck too long. When under pressure,
he would either fumble the puck or turn it over.
Playing in the KHL as an eighteen year old, he
might just need a season or two to adjust to
the quicker pace of play. Something to watch next season, though,
for checking for such a big body, Craig would have
hoped he would have had some better bash. He closes
the gap so well that he often causes turnovers and
doesn't need to play the body defense above average. This
is where Simashev excels. He's an in your face type
of defender, not allowing the offense to gain any momentum.
He pinches in the offensive zone and those are top notch,
always reading the play and knowing when to pinch up
or pull back. So the best asset, it's the defense
that will be his ticket to the NHL. The biggest
concern lack of offense. While he's shown flashes of playmaking,
this side of his game is still unproven. In addition
to his limited bash, he may not be a fantasy
worthy option, so the top tier outcome let's go with
high tier two, a thirty five to forty five point
guy with average bash. That is, if he's able to
find an offensive game, that would be what it would
take to get to a forty point season. But the
median outcome a little bit lower than that, may be
closer to thirty points. And that's if he can't really
get his offensive game going. His defensive ability will still
give him the twenty two minutes a night to luck
into thirty points from assists per year. Stylistic comparable going
on a limb, Craig would say, maybe a TJ. Brody type.
All right, our friend Mason Black the NHL ranking put
out the poll, Dmitri Simyshev versus Philip Broberg, the post
hype sleeper up there in Edmonton. Dmitri Simyshev wins this one,
sixty one to thirty nine pretty decisively. Victor, Is that
how you see it?
Speaker 5: I don't know about that. Broberg has been someone who's
been much maligned ever since that draft. When I know
Oiler fans were screaming into the void that they wanted
Trevor Zegris, which who knows how Ziegers's career could have
been playing alongside McDavid in Drysidle. I think it could
have been pretty good so far, but they wanted the
big right hand, the big left handed d Big Mobile
had a lot of really good upside, but he had
a hard time hitting his potential until this year where
he finally seems like he broke in a little bit.
We'll hear a little bit more of that in our
Edmonton episode. But he looked awesome in the playoffs when
they finally went to him and they started giving him
more of an opportunity. He was a really important part
of that Stanley Cup final team. And I wrote an
article a couple months ago about Brobergarni b Ringside. I
definitely recommend you go checking that out because I do
think that there's some untapped upside here, and I would
actually take Broberg between these two because I think he's
on the up and up. I think he's done his
time in the AHL. I think he's ready for a
full time role, and I think there's some untapped offense
here and I am skeptical about the bee Tree Simashev's offense.
I think he's a really strong player in general, and
I think he's one of these guys who might just
play a lot of minutes but not score a ton
of points, and that is going to be frustrating in fantasy.
So I would take bro Berg, even though some of
his bash you know right now, maybe doesn't look too good,
but I think he has that chance to round out
some of that, and we have seen some of that
in his limited NHL action this year. Looking at the
hockey prospecting between these two, they're actually both pretty low
five and then three percent chance of being a star
for Simashev, Broberg graduated the model at four percent, about
up to fifty percent chance of being an NHL that's
obviously much higher now looking at some other comps for
Simashev as someone that might have been successful with his
low equivalencies he has, there's not a whole lot of
good options. Devin Taves is one of them, but I
think Caves has a lot more upside. Jake Walman is
someone who he might end up looking a little bit
like more like an average producer in terms of fantasy. Yeah,
maybe there's some potential there. The j Fresh card has
him at just one percent chance of being and a
start and thirty nine percent chance of being an NHL
are so pretty pessimistic there from Jfresh as we tend
to expect.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, Victor second up, who is your need to
know prospect?
Speaker 5: As they went in the draft last year, we're gonna
go Russian and we're gonna go Daniel Boot with our
need to know and he was the twenty twenty three
twelfth overall pick, the second of their first rounders last year.
Six two hundred and sixteen pound right shot left wing.
In his draft season, he played mostly in the NHL
did Boot with fifteen KHL games. This season, he played
all but three games in the KHL, so a lot more.
Twenty one points and fifty five KHL games was pretty good,
and another two and nineteen playoff games for Locomotive. Both
these guys play on the same team, which is maybe
that was part of they both got drafted by the
same team. It was easy to see the views on
the guys and overall, really strong season for a very
good KHL team. Looking at the FHL player card, there's
some pretty good proofs here in terms of the shots
eightieth percentile, block sixtieth percentile. The hits though are a
little bit low for Boot, and that's One of the
issues with him is that he has the big frame
and you just want him to use it more, but
he is a little reluctant to that. His hits are
just thirtieth percentile, but overall his bash looks like it'll
be a little bit, either a little bit or a
lot above average, but not elite at least not yet.
There's potential for that though. The goals and assists are
in the seventieth and sixtieth percentile overall, so overall looks
pretty good for being a young guy in such a
difficult league. Some of the transition and underlying metrics for
Boot are excellent. He looks like he's driving play really well,
great transition game, gets to the high danger areas and
does a lot of strong puck work. It maybe hasn't
resulted in as many goals as some points as some
would like, but overall looks really strong. But let's hear
a little bit more about Daniel Boot from our everytael
scout Jesse.
Speaker 1: Our scout Craig has this to say, skating above average.
Danil utilizes his long stride to create the separation but
also is able to win short puck races and how
quick his first few strides are helps him out a
lot For such a big body. He's able to utilize
his edges and maintain speed with quick little pivots while
trying to catch a pass or get around a defender.
Craig says the passing and handling his average. Nothing on
the passing set out, and Craig doesn't think Danil will
be known for playmaking abilities. As for the puck handling
average to above average, soft hands, able to beat defenders
one on one with nifty moves through his legs. He
shields the puck well with his big frame, winding corners.
Shooting below average. Danil is a powerful shot, however, very
limited shots and when he did usually missed the net
IQ average no panic on the boards. When clearing his
own zone, usually finds an open pass or takes a
few strides until he needs to move the puck. Able
to find open ice and create space between him and
defenders that will hopefully allow him to get a few
more shots off as he gets more minutes and better
line mates. Forward checking above average it turning pucks over,
using his big frame to win battles, and a quick
stick to catch defenders off guard. This was one of
the things that stood out the most to Craig. However,
when you hear above average at four checking and big frame,
you might think bash potential, but that's not the case,
Craig says. Danil does not use his big frame for
any sort of physicality, and he shies away from hits
defense average being a winger. There were no signs of
cheating along the boards, and he was able to cover
in front when the center was like coming back into
the play a few times. And the best asset Daniel's
for checking causing turnovers is the best. Biggest concern lack
of offense and limited bash. If Daniel isn't scoring, he
won't bring much else to the table fantasy wise. The
top tier outcome that Craig you can see here would
be a second line complimentary player. Maybe he gets to
sixty to seventy points at peak with below average bash.
He does have some level of puck possession In that
right situation, he might be able to find some offense,
but the lack of shots and hits hurts the bash.
Fiftieth percentile middle six guy fifty to sixty points, again
below average bash, and Craig does think Daniel should be
able to transition to the HL, but more so on
a shut down line where he can be trusted defensively
and maintain puck possession to kill the clock. Michael Rasmussen
is the stylistic comparable victor the NHL ranking Mason Black
put out the poll Daniel Boots versus Liam Ogrin, our
old buddy from the Minnesota Wild prospect system. Ogren wins
this one, fifty three to forty seven. You're an ogrend Man?
Is that your choice over Danil Boot?
Speaker 5: I am definitely an ogrend Man over a boot Man,
for sure. I like Ogrin a lot. He's Yeah, these
guys are a bit different, and I can still see
the appeal of Boot. He's massive, and if he learns
how to use his body more and if he really
fills his absolute top potential, I guess it could be higher.
He could be that big power forward with soft hands
around the net being a menace. But we haven't seen
too many signs of that yet. And I just think
Ogren is such an amazing all around player. He's just
he does everything you want in a player. He was
a captain of that U twenty team in Sweden that
went almost all the way if it weren't for those
silly pesky Americans who knocked them off in the final.
That was a great game though, and he was everything
for Sweden. He didn't maybe score a ton of points,
and that's maybe part of the rub against Liam Ogren
is that he isn't maybe going to be the biggest
score but he can just do anything the team needs.
But that's going to give him a ton of opportunity
in time on ice. And so you love that about
Ogren and his pinchilli is still seventy based on his
strong SHL performance. He had a really good bounce back season.
We talked about that on the Minnesota Show. Yeah, I
definitely like Ogren over Boot. Here the pnch le is
a little bit lower based on based on what they've done.
Actually it's a little bit better than Boots so far.
You like to see that. When you're looking at the
finacy hockey life or fantasy, sorry, the hockey prospecting between
these two, you can see that Bot has trended down
a little bit from thirteen to six percent chance of
being star. Ogren has bounced back from twenty five to
ten and not back up to twelve. Overall, it has
looked pretty a lot better for Ogren and a little
bit pessimistic for Boot. Looking at some other comps for Boot,
there's some that are not great. Not a lot of
great producers end up looking like him in the model.
So the one I picked out is tj Oshi, who
is a bit smaller than Boot but has some similar
production that's at least star potential. That looks could be
someone that Boot ends up being like. And Ocean ended
up being a fringe star in this model and has
certainly had some relevance in the fantasy realm, so that's
the hope. Maybe he can end up like that. Looking
out the j Fresh card, Boot ends up looking like
thirty percent chance of being a star and ninety seven
percent chance of being in NHLer, so that all looks
pretty good. He's actually the twenty second best in this
data set, so that's pretty high. And maybe there's a
little bit more room for optimism there about Daniel Boot, Jesse.
Speaker 1: Yes indeed, and Victor, who is to keep your eye
on prospect.
Speaker 5: We all need to keep our eye on Tach Againla
And how could you not want to because he's such
a fun player. Fun story twenty twenty four to sixth
overall by Utah. Just a great story and was great
to see him get drafted so high. Six foot er,
one hundred and ninety two pound left shot left wing,
really young for this draft class. He was seventeen this
entire season. In fact, as we're recording this, he is
still only seventeen. He turns on the first of August.
Had quite the insane increase from last season. His ascent
and long draft boards and everything has just been really crazy.
He went for eighteen points in forty eight games to
eighty four points in sixty four games, just an unreal
increase and from you to year in the WHL, and
of course that included a change of teams from Seattle
to Kelowna and a very different role on Kelowna. And
he was really an important part of that playoff push
for Klowna fifteen points in eleven games, one of their
best players, and that certainly was a huge part of
him rising up draft boards. And the other part was
his incredible twelve points in seven games leading Canada to
the gold medal in at the U eighteens. And maybe
he wasn't their best player, but he was one of
their most reliable players and he was the player that
seemed like help shift the momentum for them when they
really needed it. So he was awesome, really fun to watch,
and obviously I think there's a lot more upside here
being so young, in doing so well in his age
seventeen season, what are his age eighteen, nineteen, twenty twenty two,
twenty three season is going to look like. I think
the upside is really huge for tga Ginla. Potentially. You
look at his tracking data and you see the defensive
last year he was really good, but offensively in transition
he was pretty average, and then this year he flipped
that completely and everything went off the charts. Offense, transition,
defense was all outstanding. Expected goals, primary assists, his transition data,
his defense, his boards to the middle, his advantages created
all practically off the charts. He was just awesome for Colonna.
Looking at his FHL player card, his shots are really
high for sixty, but his hits and blocks are below average.
That might help his shots alone, though, might help his
bash be borderline elite just because the other ones are
close to average, and that could end up being really strong.
The rest of his underlying metrics look pretty good, as
we kind of already talked about in Mitch's data. But
let's hear a little bit more about tj Ginlet from
our FHL scout Jesse.
Speaker 1: It's FHL scout Jeremy who says this of Titchiginla. He
is a speedy skater but gets pushed off pucks easily.
This is something that's more noticeable for him than other
prospects because of his willingness to play the hard nose game.
If he puts on some muscle, this should be a
non issue. Passing and handling high end stick handling and
passing skills. He's shifty and could be defenders one on one,
and also knows how to find the open guy. Aginla
has an accurate shot from close in, but isn't a
huge one timer or long range threat. Given his other skills,
he'll have plenty of opportunities to use his close range
shot the IQ. Againla's vision and defensive anticipation are strong.
He knows the game well, is willing to show slow
the game down to create space for checking. Great at
creating turnovers via pressure, can often turn those into shots
on goal. Defense, Aginla has strong attention to detail. Defensively,
He's good at disrupting plays with his stick or by
applying pressure on the boards, so the best asset the
fore checking very highly disruptive. Additionally, he plays a very
mature NHL ready game. The biggest concern will lack of
a standout offensive skill. Jeremy could definitely see him getting
lost in the middle six of a strong team. He'll
be a good pro regardless, but doesn't have the same
sealing as other top prospects. The top tier outcome a
point per game all situations center. That's if he gets
the right line mates, he improves on the offense a bit.
He could be a team leader on both ends of
the ice. The median outcome though hard nosed middle sixer
with the ability to finish the classic guy the teams
add before a playoff run on reputation. As Jeremy mentioned above,
while the offensive talent is good, it's not standout, so
this median outcome is explained by the fact that he
could get outshined on the offensive end on a good team,
so he likely won't be guaranteed first line minutes. Stylistic comparable,
we're going with Dylan Larkin and the Mason Black NHL
ranking pole tag again. Love versus Shane Wright. Tell the
Mighty have fallen and Tiage make them fall even further.
Shane Wright defeated soundly, sixty one to thirty nine percent.
I suspect you're gonna tidge it up here, Victor, But
is that the case tigg over Shane Wright.
Speaker 4: I don't know. I Shane right here.
Speaker 5: I just mentioned how excited I am about Teach, and
that is not a lie I am. But I also
wonder if again La is gonna be just a really
excellent real life player and maybe not as exciting in fantasy.
I think he Obviously we've seen what his dad could
do and there was definitely some high end output, and
I think Teach can get there. I'm just not sure
about some of the things. I wouldn't necessarily want to
bet against the young man. But I think also the
people have really underestimated what Shane Wright has done, and
I think his production this year has been really outstanding
and Coachella and when he's gotten the opportunity at different
times for the Kraken, he has looked much different lately
and I think he could have a massive season this
upcoming season, and I think the points upside is still
really high with Shane right, you see a lot of
things he does, and he's got high end skill. So
I don't want to bet against either of these guys.
But I think right now, if I had to choose,
especially if I was a team getting ready to produce
sooner than I would take right if I had to
bet on the long term upside and I was willing
to be patient, I guess I might choose Againla, but
I think I'm going to lean right here. His hockey
prospecting looks a lot higher forty one percent now it
started at fifty seven, and Againla's just twenty one. Both
these guys look very likely to make the NHL. Looking
at some other comps for Againla, it certainly looks like
Nick Suzuki could be a similar comp. I'm not sure
that Againla is really a center. Sounds like they're going
to try him this year, but I think in terms
of production wise, I think that's pretty similar to what
we might expect from Againla, more like a six sixty
to seventy consistent guy with upside for more. I think
they're still upside for more from Suzuki, but that's the floor.
Looking at the j Fresh card fourteen percent chance of
being a star for AGAINLA sixty seven percent chance of
being an NHL are so some pretty good percentages there.
From Jay Fresh attends be a little bit more pessimistic overall.
I think this Utah system is really interesting and they
had some more interesting picks this year. I think Boudouin
is another one that is worth thinking about. But we
don't have time for all those guys. If you want
to listen to some of them, you can listen to
my top ten recap on Patreon. And if you're inesting
to do some skyning with us, you can shoot me
a damn on Twitter, Discord, or email us.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back to close up show. This show
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