Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here's
shit Kiss, your source of information and analysis to help
you win your fantasy hockey league. Block off hot a
step hit on, stay lock block. Here's your hosts, Jesse
Severe and Victor Nuno Fantasy.
Speaker 2: Hockey Live once again. Jesse Severe, Victor Nuno, the Fantasy
Hockey Doctor, here to talk to you. How are you
doing today, Victor?
Speaker 3: I'm going awesome, Jesse. How are you doing good?
Speaker 2: Good? We're getting so close to the season. I can
taste it, Victor, I can just taste it. And we're
also nearing what I like to call the sports equinox,
because for those of us who like multiple sports, there
comes that little time when there potentially can be baseball, football, hockey,
and basketball going on at the same time, sometimes on
the same dog one day, Victor, my mind gets blown
when that happens. I understand why ancient societies organized their
whole universes around solar eclipses and such, because that's what
it feels like. That doesn't matter as much to you, though,
right unless the Giants and the forty nine ers are
cooking and the Giants are in the playoffs or something
like that. This doesn't mean anything to.
Speaker 3: You, right, I am a total fair weather fan. With
other sports, I really do not care at all. I
like watching them, I like watching good games. I like
watching in the playoffs. But I'm certainly not going to
follow any team closely unless it happens to be one
that's close to me that is doing well. If there's
a baseball, random baseball game on or last night I
was at a restaurant and the Giants were on, and
so yeah, I'll watch that, but I'm not gonna watch it,
watch any sport super seriously unless one of my local
teams is on or it's the playoffs, because that really
that ratchets it up the intensity and they're really fun
to watch. Other than that, I'll just oh admit prety
faraoweather fan when it comes to those other sports.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're like me, because I do show I
talk about at the end. People don't listen to the
last two minutes of this show. But I do a
show called Dynasty Sports Live where I talk about four
different sports, and that's the type of thing I should
do an entire Eclipse episode where it's all the stars
a line episode. But we do have a not hockey
room in our Fantasy Hockey Life discord. No, for real,
I know every episode I try to make up a
new room that doesn't really exist in the discord, and
I watch Vicker's eyebrows up like Barry Trotz's on the
sideline when he gets stressed. But this one actually exists
not hockey. If you want to talk about not hockey,
you can get in there. You can talk about things.
But other than that, you could talk about everything, including hockey.
As it turns out, in fact, that's the most popular
thing to talk about the Fantasy Hockey Life discord. All
you have to do to get into it is email
is Fantasy Hockeylife at gmail dot com, and you can
get in there. You can chat with people. You can
maybe it's the right time of year to be organized
in the league is just around the corner, and victor
to win those leagues, to do great in those leagues.
They could also get some stuff that you've got held
in the back. What do you got there?
Speaker 3: Yeah, all kinds of great bonus content Over at patreon
dot com slash Fantasy Hockey Life. You can get access
to patron cash. You can get access to bonus content
like things on the website, the ranks, the tiers, the
list of player cards, all kinds of great stuff over there,
in addition to getting one on one roster doctor help,
helps with drafts, things like that. So check all that
out over at patreon dot com slash Fantasy Hockey Life.
Speaker 2: Next up, it's going to be our special gut Welcome
to the show a new guest, Taylor Nubi of The
Hockey News. Ready to talk some Dallas stars. How you doing, Taylor,
I'm good, I'm good.
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2: Well, we're excited. We're excited to talk some stars into
all these individual players in a minute, but first we
just got to talk about the team in general. For
the rest of us. Dallas playoff hockey has been pretty
thrilling the last few years to watch. The Colorado and
Winnipeg series were just classics this year, Taylor and although
aside from Game one against Edmonton in the Conference final,
where the Stars came back with a five goal fifth period,
the rest of that series didn't go so great for
the Boys and Green. But overall, for the year, Dallas
scored the third most goals, sixth fewest against, penalty kill,
top five. Some of the best goaltending in the league.
Will get to the reason why a little bit later.
I don't know if Stars followers enjoyed the ride as
much as the general NHL public did, since it was
the third s great year that the Conference finals was
the end and everybody wants it to be the next thing.
But how do you process the Stars season tailor? And
is there a reason to think that they're going to
take another step this year?
Speaker 4: That's a good question. I think everyone's been wondering what
the answer is to like why they can't get over
that hump, And I think you have to look at
what they've done this offseason and wonder if having the
new coach coming in, if that is what they can
do it, or if that's what allows them to be
able to do it. But I think it's like one
of those things where everyone's happy that they've made it
this far, but it's just this one. We'll keep getting
knocked out in the same place. And so it's also
what can we do to make a change.
Speaker 3: Well, we're going to start with one of those big changes,
and that was Miko Rontinen. He had his fifth consecutive
point per game or better season. Despite the upheaval of
being moved traded twice. All of his per game numbers
were a bit down this season. His goals, assist shots,
power play points, hits, and blocks. He's never been big
at block shots and hits bash ranking. He was rank
three three point seventy one per game this season, ranking
him two hundred ninety second. But even though he's never
been that good at that, this was a pretty significant
step back for him. So I guess the question and
is do you think that will come back. Do you
think we'll start shooting more and can he get back
over to be one hundred plus playing player in Dallas
or do we just have to adjust our expectations for
Ronton and moving forward.
Speaker 4: I think that just depends on who they can put
him with that really gets him to where he was.
I think playing with Nathan McKinnon really helps anyone. But
the Stars. They do have Jason Robertson repe hints, and
I think they're going to have to tinker around with
the lines. You also have Wyatt Johnston who can get
in there and mix it up. I don't know that
he was with the right lines during the playoff run,
but they didn't have much time to try different things,
especially moving forward into the playoffs, you don't want to
mess with too much because then you're risking the time
that he's on ice. I think it starts to show,
especially after the all his hat tricks and the Colorado
City Series and then a little bit into the Winnipeg series.
I think it started to show that maybe he wasn't
the best line mates to set him up to be
one hundred prime player, But I think they do have
players that can compliment what he's best at.
Speaker 2: Normally, we take the players we're going to talk about
in order of points performance. I think somebody set these
up by salary today because Tyler Sagan is next, and
Tyler is a great veteran with this team, but he
missed a lot of time last year. I stayed mostly
on the ice early on. He had twenty one points
in those first twenty games up until December first, but
then a hip injury bit him and ended his regular
season pretty much. After a surgery, he was able to
come back in the playoffs, and I think he was
in the regular season finale Shenanigan's denied on this case,
and in the playoffs then he was good for eight
points in eighteen games, two years left of his nearly
ten million dollar contract. The hammer is about to drop
on some huge free agents we're going to talk about later.
So that's not great news. But still that's not Tyler
Sagan's fault. Tyler Sagan is still a really good player
and the injuries have taken a lot out of him.
The shots aren't what they are. What's left in the
tank for this guy? What do you expecting?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you have to look at what he's
been through. And then before the season when he was
with Matt Duchane and Mason Marchmant, they were one of
the best lines in hockey for about two seasons, and
it felt like he really got rejuvenated in his game
and it was like, Okay, there he is. Obviously, it
took him a couple of years after his hip surgery
and he had to relearn how to walk and all that,
but it felt like after this hip surgery he looked
almost to form, I think when he came back, but
that line just wasn't doing it anymore. Matt Duchane and
Mason Marchmant, Matt Justchine couldn't buy a goal, couldn't buy points.
All of the playoff run. So I think Tyler Sagan
can be what we've seen him last couple of years
if you can again find line mates to really put
him with. But now that Mason Marchman is gone, I
think looking a little thin in some places, but Tyger
can I think he can elevate his game if same
thing with Mikrandon. If you put him with who's going
to complement his game? But he's not a concern. I
don't think.
Speaker 2: I'm here to praise Matt Duchane as well, because even
though he didn't end well, I'm old enough to remember
Matt Duchane as a declining salary dump from the Predators,
which is to say that I am more than two
years old. Thirty four. Yeah, the thirty four year old
hit a point per game last year, and he thrived
in the regular season mostly next to that Mason Marchmont
you referenced, And these guys were really nice balance of
playmaking and shooting. Statistically, if you look at the evolving hockey,
they were right in the balance for the best on
the team in that cross section. And if you could
keep that up, this extension of four years, four and
a half per looks like it could be a steal
again like the first time they got Dushane. But aside
from the point in the regular season, the performance doesn't
entirely translate to the fantasy stats we crave under two
shots per game, not a whole lot of hits and blocks.
The advanced stats didn't love his defense at five on five.
It didn't look all that great as I tend to
think of him as a big two way player. What
do you think of Dushane's role on this team now
and the prospects of him to repeat this great scoring performance.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think they're going to rely on him a
lot to drive another line, especially since, like I said,
they lost the depth with Marchmen and Granland, so they're
going to have to reconfigure some line. So I think
he's going to step up more until second line rule
and have to drive a line, which I think he
can do just fine, But they're going to have to
figure out the combinations and then hopefully he can continue
playing really well. It's sometimes it didn't look like he
was as old as he is, and I know you
said that his defensive metrics weren't as good, but a
lot of us up in the press Box have talked
about his second season with the Stars versus the first.
He looked a lot better defensively. Hopefully he can keep
up his like two AA game and step up into
a role where he is driving the line and driving
the scoring for that line, depending on who's.
Speaker 3: With next guy. Jason Robertson his third freight season, playing
all to eighty two games, second straight eighty point season,
but his goals bounce back a bit over thirty this year.
So he had forty goal forty plus goal seasons back
to back, then back to back twenty nine and thirty
five goal seasons. I'm not sure if he can get
back to that forty plus mark. This is the final
year of his current deal, and maybe the next contract
will have something to say about that. His BASH was
at three point eight seven per game, ranking him two
hundred forty seventh. I think I have so many questions
about Robertson Taylor. I'm just gonna throw a bunch at you.
You can see how you want to go with it.
But I think the arrival of Ranton in is tricky
for Robertson. He might lose his spot with Hints, which
might be difficult for him. But maybe he stays there.
I don't know how they're going to rearrange them things.
I guess we're just wondering what are we going to
expect from him. Do you think he can get back
to being over that eighty point or is he going
to regress a little bit and take a secondary role.
What do you expect from Jay rob this season?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a question I've been wondering myself. I think
it goes back to losing Joe Pavelski for that line.
I feel like this past season they had a hard
time finding someone else to be with him and rope
hints that really made that their number one line. I
think it got covered up a little bit when they
had Duchane and sag and a Marchment able to act
as another first line, so it wasn't something they really
had to worry about. But I think you're right. I
think Miko Rannon does put him at risk for being
like on the first line. But I do think that
his spot is in jeopardy and he does. He's such
a small art shooter and he makes goals from angles
that you just cannot believe they went in. But I
think his game is one dimensional in the way that
it's hard to find him line mates, and I think,
you know, up until the Edmonton series, you could see
that they didn't know where to put him because it
just felt like he was dragging that line down wherever
he was. So I think that's one of those things
that they're really going to have to think about. And
you might see him on the second line with Matt
tew Sheen, but he needs someone who's going to be
quick and get the puck to him so he can
get in the right places. But I think their top
six is in such just up in the air because
they have so many moving parts that they haven't had
in several seasons.
Speaker 2: Well, another one of the stars on this team, I
don't know. He just baffles me is Rupe hints. His
expected goals against per sixty at five on five has
been declining a little bit, but he still gets selky boats.
He's doing some things that people really like. On defense.
His offensive total points a little down from those sizzling
point totals of his mid twenties. He's twenty eight now,
but he still charts. Is an elite power play, penalty
kill and expected goals per sixty guy in the Advanced
Stats doesn't get a ton of shots. He takes about
to a game, but he did seem to play well
with Miko Ranton in the stats that I saw, so
that's a good thing to have on this team. Is
he's going to be back with Ranton in this year?
Will it be part of the power play generally? What
do you expect out of Rupe Hanson the coming year?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think Rupe he does play well
with Miko. I think his numbers have declined a little bit,
but I think it goes without melding of the first
line and just trying to juggle who would fit with
him and Jason Robertson best. But I do think whole
season with Miko Randon probably elevates his numbers a little
bit more. But I think he stays on the first line.
I think he is one of the more pivotal players
for them, and I I think he'll continue to do
the penalty kill all of it as long as he
stays healthy, which is something that he struggles with. He
does tend to get injured here and there, but I
don't see his rule changing at all. So hopefully they
can put him with someone else who will help elevate
the whole first line.
Speaker 3: Next, guys, why at Johnston he has yet to miss
a single game in his NHL career. That's pretty remarkable.
His numbers have improved across the board every season. He's
come up goals, assists, time, and ice face off percent.
Last year he was at seventy one point pace. His
bash is pretty low at three point five to seven
per game, ranking him three and thirty fourth, But if
there's more points to come, then that could be very appealing. So, Taylor,
do you think he's going to improve on that seventy
one point pace or with the crowded top six that
we've been talking about, is he going to get pushed
down a little bit?
Speaker 4: No. I think he's so young. I think he's got
several steps higher than what he's doing, and every year
it seems like he just impresses more and more. And
then on top of that, he's mister clutch, right, Mister
game seven is what they like to call him. You know.
I think he definitely has a space in the top six.
I don't know exactly what that looks like, but I
think they're going to continue to rely on him more
and I think they're going to have to lean on
him this year because their depth won't be what it
has been.
Speaker 2: Jamie Ben, I have long been here for the beniscence.
Last year was down for it was down from those
one hundred and thirty eight points in one hundred and
sixty four games scoring to the prior two years. Perfect
attendance and a ton of points, but still eight or
forty nine points in eighty games was a strong, reliable
year for a thirty five year old. I love that
he still throws a lot of hits, although the shots
continue to decline slightly for him. Advanced stats showed him
pulling many line mades to the positive at five on
five offense, although generally was not a factor that improved
this that's of his linemates on defense at five on five.
The captain signed a bargain deal to stick with the
team for a million again this year. Seems fair. He's
already gotten one hundred and two million dollars from the
team over his career. He could probably afford to take
a mill this year. So what has been this year?
Is he a steady third liner? And what kind of
scoring would you expect from him? What's your take on
Jamie Bent Taylor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he had a completely different role this
past season than he did the season before, where they
had Wyatt him and of getting to Dawnov together and
that line was really good as well. This season, it
seemed like he did take a pretty hard decline, especially
in that like last third of the season. It felt
like his game hit a wall and he was just
a fourth liner essentially. But if he can stay anywhere
in the thirty forty point range, I think for a
million dollars and what he brings like on and off
the ice as a leader, I think the stars are
in the positive there for sure. I think, of course
they would like to see him put more points on
the board and stuff like that, but I think he
has a lot to offer, so it's just going to
depend on where he goes. They added a few more
fourth liners, so I think that is going to stick
him on the third line, but the bottom six is
a big question mark for me on how they put
it together.
Speaker 2: In Maverick Bork. His rookie year was not an offensive
breakout by any means, twenty five points in seventy three
games in really in depth minutes for the team, but
this was a highly anticipated prospect. It's unfair to make
him too highly anticipated because he was picked at the
end of the round, but he was so good after
being drafted at thirtieth overall that he's definitely risen over
the years. The depth chart is not friendly to the
rise of the somewhat short but plenty solid five, that's
solid man Bork. What do you see of his rookie
campaign and what kind of progress do you expect from
him this year?
Speaker 4: He actually wrote an article today about it because he
changed agents if you guys didn't know. But I think
he is one that they're hoping that really works out
for him the way Logan Stinkovin did. They lost him
in the micro Ranting trade. But yeah, Maverick Bork, he
won the trophy for the most points in the AHL,
so I think the expectation was he was going to
take off like Logan Stankovin. But I don't think they
set him up for success in a way either because
he was stuck playing on the fourth line and a
few games here or there they would move up depending
on agrees or just trying to shuffle up some lines.
But obviously that fourth line role does not play to
his skill. But I think he does have an opportunity
this season to move up in the lineup, and because
there's less depth in her has been and there's so
many combinations that they're going to have to try out.
I think he can earn his spot in a second
line or a third line position, but it's going to
be on him. But I think they're really relying on
him to be what they were hoping he was going
to be, and I think that's what that one year
deal was about. Show me what you've got because we've
got to make a decision. So I'm hoping that he
gets set up for a success in a way that
he didn't get last season just because of the depth
that they had, because he needs it. You just never
know how some of those prospects are now.
Speaker 3: Indeed, let's move over to the defense and talk about
one of my favorite players, Temus Harley. He had career
highs on offense. Goals, assists, shots were all up. It
came with a little bit of a decrease of his priffs,
hitting blocks were a little bit down, but he was
still at four point zero three bash per game, ranking
him two hundred and sixth. With that amount of scoring,
it's pretty nice his time when I went up more
than two minutes more per game. That coincided with Heiskinin's injury.
With Heiskin and back, I'm sure it'll have a little
bit of an impact on Harley's numbers. But I still
think that he's going to be the power play point man.
It seems like he's that's a better role for him.
But then, of course, between him and Heiskin and both
being on the Olympic teams for their countries, I imagine that's
going to impact them a little bit. So do you
think that Harley can do about the same as last season,
maybe increase his points And how do you think the
Olympic break's going to affect him?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think hopefully with this new coach
coming in, he does get that first power play role.
I think he everyone saw while he's skin was out
that he elevated his game that whole time he was gone,
But they got they gave him a chance to run
the power play and most of the time he was
running a minute and a half or most of it
as the game would allow. So I think that his
points stay up there. I think they might see him
hit a career high, and I think that he you
might see a little bit less time on ice, but
I'm imagining they're going to want to kind of restructure
Haskin's role and let him do the defensive things that
we all know he can do, and then have Thomas
Harley really leading everything. But I think that kind of
depends on the new coaches system and stuff like that.
And I think it's going to be really fun to
watch them all play in the Olympics. But Stars fans,
I think are just hoping that everyone comes back healthy
because they're the ones that are going to play such
like important players for the team.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about that other major defenseman on the team,
Merrol Hayskin, and he has been the minutes munching d
one for this team for a long time, but that
late January knee injury kept him sidelined well into the
second round of the playoffs. Pro rated stats were still
excellent last year, though his scoring pat pace was well
down from the prior two years twenty five points in
fifty games. He's twenty six years old, actually barely two
years older than Thomas Harley, which kind of blows my mind.
It seems like it should be a bigger gap than that,
but he should have many more years of All Star
and Nors votes like he got last year to accumulate
in the future because he's an excellent defenseman. But what
is the pecking order on this team now way and
what do you expect Hay's going to look like this
coming year, Taylor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a good question. I think we're wondering what
the new system is going to look like. I don't
think anyone takes away from him being the number one defenseman.
I do think that his role will be split a
little bit more as far as puck moving and the
power play, because we've all seen that Thomas Harley, i think,
stepped into that role and took it away in a
good way because they were getting good results from it.
So I'm hoping that he can take a backseat a
little bit on the Puck movie, which means he can
play more defense and be that role for them and
not have to do everything because sometimes he just tired
and you can tell and maybe he's a little bit
slop heer with a puck or whatever. And towards the
end of before he got hurt, and even when it
came back, they did try to put him back in
that first power point unit, and they weren't getting a result,
so they had to put Harley back. So I think
it's going to be a good thing in the sense
that he will get some rest and some breaks here
and there in carrying the whole game, both offense and defense.
Speaker 3: All right, And the next defense when we want to
talk about is Leon bixl thirty eight games for the rookies,
first taste of NHL action, nineteen point pace and limited action.
But clearly the thing that he seems to do really
well is be physical. He ranked twentieth in our entire
data set for block shots and hits, mostly because of
his hits. Because he was over for a game that's
pretty incredible value. All fantasy managers immediately noticed him. I
guess the question is he going to potentially increase his
time on ice, because of course we always want more.
If some is better, more is better, And if he
could increase his time on ice, then maybe that can
even go up more. So do you think he will
get a bigger role and do you think he'll ever
score more than like a twenty point pace.
Speaker 4: I do think he will get more time on ice.
I think what was his average like eight to ten
minutes a game.
Speaker 3: If that he was just under fifteen Okay, yeah.
Speaker 4: So I think he will play a little bit more
depending on what the new system looks like. I do
think that he proved himself in the playoffs that they
were scratching Matt Dumba and other shin sorry I just
lost his Yeah, they were scratching Matt Dumba and Ilia
Lubushkin to have him play because I think he proved
that he was reliable and he wasn't just this young
kid that could throw a ton of hits. So I
do think he will have a bigger role. I think
the defencemen are a little bit up in the air
as far as pairings with bringing Nils Lunquist back. He
was doing and then he got hurt, so that's going
to change things. I believe a twenty point pace is
probably what he will stay in. I don't see him
turning into this big puck mover point producer for how
but he is. He does move the puck pretty well.
The first time I saw him go north to south,
I was like, oh no, that's better than I thought
he would do. Yeah, I think twenty points pace is
probably pretty fair, and then I would imagine the hits
will just come the more he gets comfortable in the NHL.
Speaker 3: Can you also clear one thing up for me is
that how he says his name, is it Bixel, because
I've also heard Michelle Oh.
Speaker 4: Someone asked him, and I guess bixel is technically the
correct way to say it, but he said that he
prefers Bishel.
Speaker 3: Really yeah, sounds good. Let's move over to the goalies now.
Dallas was ranked seventeenth and inspected goals against per sixty,
but conceded the sixth ranked actual goals. I think a
lot of us probably know why, and a big part
of that was Jake Gonger, who had a really another,
really strong season. He saved nineteen, almost twenty goals above expected.
His delta Fenwick was stellar. He was in he had
thirty six wins. He's in the first year of an
eight million dollar contract, a point two five million dollar contract,
and overall he I know that some people may point
to some of his struggles in the playoffs, but during
the regular season he's been fantastic and certainly one of
the more steady goalies. And Casey de Smith has been
serviceable in the backup role. So what are you thinking
next season for the Stars goalies. I imagine Andre is
still going to get the majority of the starts and
maybe the Smith gets twenty to thirty again like he
did last season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would agree with that. I think before last season,
what did Jig play closer to the sixty sixty five games,
and I think closer to the fifty mark is probably
what's best for him. As far as like getting being
arrested for the playoffs, I think that he's only going
to improve and grow just in his age. But yeah,
I think he's the pillar for the Stars. And I
think Smith did pretty well outside of the first stretch
a few games. There were some games that he stole
for the Stars that well, that's all they needed out
of him was to just be reliable and give him
a game that they can try to win. So I
think he was a little bit better fit for them
than Scott Wedgewood had been in the past. So yeah,
hopefully whatever happened in the last game between him and
Pete de Bores didn't become some mental block and that
he can just move forward. And I know one of
his big goals is to make the Olympic team, so
hopefully he can do that as well and represent the
USA and the Stars.
Speaker 2: Tremendous, Taylor, this has been a great tour around the
old Dallas Stars. Why did you let people know how
they can keep up with your Stars coverage all year?
Speaker 4: Yeah? So I right for the Hockey News, so the
Hockey News Salastars page. I also put all my stuff
on Twitter at THHN Underscore Taylor and that's about it.
I'll be going to the games live, tweeting, writing articles,
jumping on any podcast opportunities I have.
Speaker 2: But yeah, awesome, thanks so much for coming on, Taylor,
and it's been a pleasure speaking with you.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1: Wilson.
Speaker 2: That's good Fire pantop O, my goodness.
Speaker 4: Long with a Cat We grab.
Speaker 2: Now it's your weekly goalie talk Silberman Kat's Instincts.
Speaker 3: Sign once again for Cat's Instincts with Kat' silverman a
Vin Bull mag We're talking Dallas Stars goalies and Remy
Poara is ever gonna start with twenty three years old,
sixty five pounds, drappted back in twenty twenty one hundred
and eighty fifth overall. He had his second full HL season,
did pore and improved his numbers, which is always nice
to see. His equivalency started around the low twenties and
then dipped to the teams and back up to twenty
three percent chance oft begin at NHLer in this past
AHL season which is now complete for the model, and
he's got not the best comps. Jason Lebarbara is one
who was a backup kind of guy, So Kat what
her instincts tell us about Para. Does he have upside
beyond an NHL backup?
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I wish I could say that he looked like there
was some magic there and right now, I think he
just looks like a really solid, consistent backup for them
in the future. He's got pretty good movement. I don't
love his tracking. There are a couple times where I
was watching some of his AHL games where he allowed
goals that were tricky shots but not tricky sight lines
for him, so that was a little concerning to see.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I think he looks like a piece of the puzzle
for them. He doesn't look like the answer overall, but
I don't know. He's They feel bad saying I don't
know for a kid who took a step forward last
year because that was nice to see.
Speaker 4: But he still looks like he.
Speaker 5: Almost gets in a little over his skates sometime. It
tries to do a little too much, and it seems
like he does that to compensate sometimes for little inconsistencies
in his tracking situation. So we'll see how that goes.
I don't necessarily think that he is the answer for
them long term, but maybe they see that all call.
Speaker 3: Jim, I'm the fun right now and get the answer,
so it should be.
Speaker 5: I don't think he knows the answer at this point.
Speaker 3: I think they're just happy with Donta right now and
the smith. Let's talk about the other guy. Maxim Mavarov
twenty one years old, six foot seven, two hundred and
fifty four pounds. Not to dwell on this point, but
I think he's the biggest coolie I've seen who's been
in the prospect system like this.
Speaker 4: He's huge.
Speaker 3: Drafted one hundred and forty seventh overall back in twenty
twenty two. He just had two KHL starts this season,
which went well for Locomotive. The rest of his games
when the MHL so I was a little bit harder
to tell with that looking at his Hockey prospecting equivalency.
He's been in the high thirties to low forties based
on his MHL numbers, and his comp would be like
a Michael Layton type backup. So, kay, what are your
interestingcts tell us about Mayarov? There we go. I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think he's a lot of fun.
Speaker 5: Like you said, I think he is one of the
biggest goaltend not just in the Dallas system. I think
he is one of the biggest goaltenders that is listed
in an NHL depth chart right now.
Speaker 4: Because he is a huge boy. It was really cool.
Speaker 5: He did get his KHL debut start this year and
recorded a shutout during that first game, which is really
nice to see. I had a lot of fun going
through and watching his movement because he is.
Speaker 4: Really big, but he still.
Speaker 5: Looks in control, and he looks like he has been
developing the tools needed to keep himself healthy as much
as possible, which is always once you get into those
really big goaltenders where we run into some trouble.
Speaker 3: Thanks for giving us your instincts on the Dallas Star, Victor,
there is something else we got to talk about.
Speaker 2: Don't we have something special to give to the listeners.
Speaker 3: That's right. Jesse Dauber Hockey has generous given us a
couple of free copies of their amazing Fantasy Hockey guide.
It's the Bible. It's the best fantasy hockey guide out there,
and we're gonna give it away to some of our listeners.
All you need to do is leave us a recent
from the time you hear this five star review on
apple Pad Podcasts or the podcast app of your choice,
and then send it to me, Victor, a screenshot with
your name or a way to identify you and your
most recent five star review, otherwise I don't have a
way to track who it was. And then we'll select
a couple of the winners from all those who enter
and get you your guide.
Speaker 2: We'll be back right after this Dig the Dynasty Dig
Dallas Stars Edition. The Dallas Stars have the number twenty
two system in the NHL, doesn't mean much. They always
seem to pull in guys late who rise up the ranks,
but in this case they're led off with the no brainer.
Who is it, Victor?
Speaker 3: Our no brainer is mL Heming. He was a twenty
twenty four first rounder. At the very end, twenty ninth
overall sixty two hundred ninety five pounds right winger. He
played in Liga in twenty three twenty four, and then
he moved to Barry of the OHL for twenty four
to twenty five, putting up eighteen goals forty eight points
in sixty games, which is nice. You would hope that
it would be more impressive production after coming from a
men's league to the OHL. Nonetheless, he did have nearly
a point per game in Barry's abbreviated playoff run, so
that was nice. And he was actually pretty good at
the U twenty World Junior Championship. Even though he only
had four points, including one goal in those seven games,
he was a threat on the power play and his
shot was a distraction and a weapon for the rest
of the power player and creativity for the Finns. So
he was certainly an important factor there and so that's
nice to see. And by the way, fun fact, his
younger brother is coming up in the twenty twenty six
draft rankings, so that'll be fun to preview and think
about as we get closer to that draft. But back
to emmel Hemming. Looking at his Fantasy Hockey Life player card,
I have him had a six point one five to
fifteen percent chance of being a six. A lot of
his numbers in the OHL were hit missed. Some of
the things were pretty good, some things were not. His
scoring overall in the OHL was in the eighty fifth percentile,
which is pretty good, but some of the other numbers
didn't paint as rosie a picture. Including his course he
was just nineteen percent Fenwick up at sixty percent and
the expected goals at thirty four percent. You'd like to
think that as a bigger physical guy, he'd have a
little bit better than a seventy percent loose puck recovery
and a sixty four percent puck battles one all in,
although not too bad there, some of his play driving
numbers were really good, like his breakout via care and
entry via carry, both in the ninety plus percentile. When
he dumps it in, which isn't very often, it's not
quite as good, and when he entries via pass also
mixed results there, So painting a mixed picture here of
Emil Hemming in the OHL. And as of now we
still don't know exactly where he's going to play next season.
Is he going to go back to Finland, is he
going to play again in the OHL, maybe go to
the NCAA route. We don't really know yet, but there
are some things we do know. And that's what our
FAHL scout thought about Emil Hemming Jesse.
Speaker 2: That's right, Victor in our FHL scout this time is Jeremy,
and he has this to say about Emil Heming. The
skating good but not elite. Doesn't have breakaway speed, but
as a good first step and quick reactions to often
be the first man moving on a change of possession,
passing and handling a deft touch on passes. Seems much
more poised than when Jeremy watched him last season. Good
at making plays from tight spaces and getting the puck
to a teammate with more shooting, Hemming has a strong
shot and a quick release. He's a good finisher in
tight and off the rush, iq good hockey sense on
both sides of the puck. Jeremy thinks he has the
makings of an NHL player because of that. For checking,
good at winning puck battles, but doesn't apply a ton
of pressure in the traditional for checking sense defense, Jeremy
was really impressed with Heming's defensive instincts. He backchecks hard,
helps out down low, and Jeremy thinks more or less
he's going to be a decent two way transitional guy
in the NHL. So the best asset was the shot
the biggest concern. Nothing really stood out for Jeremy, but
maybe it was just the fact that he doesn't have
a wow skill that will definitely keep him in the
top six. So the top tier outcome Jeremy could foresee
as a second line, first power play sniper sixty ish points.
That's because he doesn't see first liner point per game upside,
but he could settle into a secondary scoring role and
be used often on special teams. The meeting outcome more
of a bottom six two way guy thirty to forty points,
power play, two, penalty kill, et cetera. He's trending more
toward a nice, complimentary piece with potential for a long
NHL career and the stylistic comparable Yakub Silverberg. He's definitely
matured as a player, says Jeremy since he watched him
last year, but it hasn't popped in a scoring skills
since yet. And the NHL Ranking tidy champion Mason Black
put out the poll in mil Heming versus Black Club Nestrasil,
and Nestrasil wins this one fifty four to forty six
percent victor What say you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm definitely going Estrasill here. There may be a
little bit of recency bias here since Nestro Sil just
got selected and Heming by all accounts, had a little
bit of a down season, But overall, I do think
that there's a little bit more to like here. One
thing I did not mention about Emlheming is that his
bash is just okay. He hits about fifty six percent
tile blocks the fourth percentile, and his shots on goal
just eightieth percentile, which you'd like to see a lot
more from a top prospect in the OHL, and that
is something that Nestrocill does a little bit better. His
shots are similar based on his USHL rate numbers, but
it's hits some blocks are much better. So his bash
figures to be pretty great considering assuming he can get
enough of the time on ice to make it worthwhile,
and a lot of his more underlying numbers, especially his
transition game. For nestro Sil, we're a lot better and
he I would definitely say that he is a bit raw.
He's a bit of a late birthday. He's six six,
one hundred ninety pounds. He's huge, has a lot of
potential here to make a really big impact. And I
like that he's going the NCAA route next season. We
know where he's going. He went from the USHL to
he's going to be at UMass and I think that
trajectory should be really good for him. And I think
Chicago has a great one there. So I like nestrocill
I think his trajectory is a little bit better. Hemming
a little bit of a disappointing D plus one season,
but he can still turn himself around. I'm not out
on him by any means, but between these two, I
definitely would take Nestro Still. If you're looking at the
hockey prospecting between these two, they're pretty similar. Both had
just two percent chance of being a star in their
draft season, which was Nestor Sills this season and Hemming's
last season. Hemming increases star potential just up to four percent,
which is pretty minimal. Still, and some other comps for
Hemming where you're basically looking at guys that had an
awful equivalency in the first couple of years and then
turned out to be good, and one of those such
players would be unders Lee, who turned out pretty well.
But for the most part, and a lot of these
guys are bus or guys that weren't really very interesting
at all. Looking at his tock down hockey model with
j Fresh emal Hemming two percent chance of being a star,
fourteen percent chance of being an NHL er. So this
is one of those rare occasions where hockey prospecting and
the j Fresh card agree Jesse, it is going to
be a long shot for emal Hemming.
Speaker 2: Nice, nice, always nice when we all just get along. Victor,
who is your need to know prospect?
Speaker 3: That's going to be Lion bixl Actually we heard on
the show that it should be Bixel, but he pronounces
it Bichelle, So there you go. Lian Bischelle twenty two,
first round pick, eighteenth overall, six seven two and thirty
one pounds. We talked about a little bit on the
main show because he did get some main NHL action
this season thirty eight games. He also got twenty eight
games in the NHL, and it was a really good
first professional season he did. Also, it wasn't his first
he's played in the SHL and he played in the
AHL last season, but he was solely in North America
this season, playing professionally and looked really good at times
and certainly had some positives there. If you look at
his Fantasy Hockey Life player card, though, there's so much
red and burgundy on this card, meaning that things really
did not go well. A lot of his transition game,
his play driving pretty awful, his priffs, which he's known
to be really we all know his hits are amazing,
but the blocks and shots are pretty poor. So he's
basically just a hit monster, and I really worry about
whether he's going to be able to keep up with
the pace of play with some of these transition and
play driving numbers. I do think he reads the play
pretty well and I think that he can probably figure
it out, but there's going to be a learning curve
and it may be rough. So hopefully they insulate him
and give him a little bit of protection. Looking at
his evolving hockey numbers when he was in the NHL,
we're pretty reassuring. Actually, a lot of his expected goals
against and four and his even strength defense and offense
were positive, pretty significantly positive, So that tells me that
he probably is going to be able to figure it out.
But I want to hear what our lead, one of
our FHL scouts wants to say about Bischelle.
Speaker 2: Jesse Jeremy says this about Bischelle, smooth skater. Doesn't possess
blazing speed, but perfectly adequate for a big defenseman passing
and handling. Prefers to make the easy play, good at
doing so, can handle the puck find but doesn't force
his way into pressure, make smooth breakout passes instead of
forcing stretch ones. If anything, Jeremy prefer to see him
carry the puck a bit more instead of dumping it
in as soon as he reaches the blue line. Bixel
Jill doesn't have a dangerous or booming shot. Can flutter
them through traffic, but nothing that makes him think he'll
be a big shooting threat, and the IQ impressive poise
for someone of his size, comfortable taking the puck behind
his neck, net looking and hitting his man defense. Bischell
has massive reach in a big body. He's adept at
shepherding the puck carrier to a low danger area and
clearing out the net front for his goalies, and Jeremy
thinks this is going to be his biggest asset, so
the biggest asset defense in size, biggest concern, minimal offense.
The top tier outcome could be a top pairing d
lots of minutes and secondary assists because he's got all
the tools of a really good minute muncher. But Jeremy
doesn't really see him getting offensive deployment unless it's by
default because there are no other options. The media outcome
top four shutdown defenseman, but overall, Jeremy thinks he's definitely
going to be an NHL regular for a long time.
Could disappoint in fantasy, maybe a Jacob Slavin or a
cult in Peraco. The NHL ranking Mason Black put up
the poll. Liam Bishell versus Stean Stolberg and Bischel wins
this one handley, sixty four to thirty six percent.
Speaker 3: What should think, Victor, I think I just imagine the
Spider Man meme where they're all pointing at each other
because these guys are like the same. They're the same.
They're not, obviously, but they seem the same, and they
both bash a lot. Solberg had ninety first percentile for
hits in the AHL and Bischell had ninety fifth percentile,
so they're both incredible for hits, not so good for
the other metrics. When you look at the rest of
Solberg's metrics from the AHL, they pretty much look similar
to Bischell's. They both are bigger dudes that hit a
lot and don't actually have great transition or play driving numbers,
So it makes me a little worried for both. But
seeing what Shill did and his first taste of NHL
action makes me want to lean that way because there's
already a proof of concept. I actually have these guys
rated almost exactly the same. I think I have Solberg
one hundredth of a percent before, and that's mainly because
since we don't know how he's going to translate, maybe
he could still develop more offense orven though there's a
wider range of variety of potential there. But I think
these guys are pretty similar, and I would if I
had to choose, I would probably go with Michelle, just
because there is more proof of concept in the NHL.
When you look at the hockey prospect between the two,
Stolberg actually had up to eight percent chance of being
a star this year. He was at zero in his
draft season. Mainly because there wasn't an equivalency from what
he did in his draft season, and now he with
his SAHL numbers, it went up a little bit. Michelle
graduated at one percent chance of being a star with
his AHL numbers, so not that impressive. If you look
at other good comps for Michelle, they don't really exist
unless you're talking about guys who completely broke the model,
Guys like Neil Pianc who looked like absolute garbage and
then turned into a be a pretty decent actual NHLer.
So maybe Bischell can do that. Looking at his Hockey
prospecting or sorry, his top down hockey model, one percent
chance of being a star, seventy four percent chance of
being an NHL as Jesse, this is two in a
row where Hockey Prospecting and Jay Fresh agree. I don't
remember that ever happening before.
Speaker 2: Wow, we got them all agreed. We've got the spider
Man meme, which means that Mason did his job. Victor,
the pressure is on you. Can you give us the
right answer for who to keep your eye on?
Speaker 3: Prospect is I wrote the list, so yes, definitely I
can do that. That would be Arts and Martino twenty
twenty one, third round pick seventy third overall five eleven
hundred and sixty one pounds. This was his senior season
at Clarkson, and he nearly tripled his previous goal total
and doubled his previous points, finishing with fifty one points
in thirty nine games before joining Texas to close out
the season and get a little professional experience, which she
did for games. No points and nothing else much to
write home about, but his NCUBA numbers were pretty stellar.
As we mentioned, a lot of his great stats are
his playmaking, his accurate passes to the slot, preshot passes,
all that's really good, great playmaker. He also had a
lot of goals for NC DOUBLEA actions, so that was
good to see as well. He's someone whose bash is
probably going to be pretty awful, though he literally had
I don't think I've seen this before. I don't know
that this was a mistake, but he had zero hits
in the NC DOUBLEA. Maybe he just had the puck
all the time that makes it hard to hit other people.
But fourteen percentile for blocks, seventy percent there for shots,
meaning his bash is going to be just twenty first
percentile and a lot of his play driving numbers were mixed.
His fedomak is good, his corsi and net expecta goals
were pretty poor. A lot of his puck battles and
other metrics not so good. And he passed the puck
in and out with transition really well, but his carry
in was really poor. Mixed numbers there. But let's hear
a little bit more about Martinez. Our fachel scout.
Speaker 2: Our FHL scout. Jeremy has this to say about Martino
skating is very good skater, but possibly more importantly a
high motor feeder. Always move and bodes well for getting
NHL opportunities. The passing and handling are fine, but he
does have a habit of holding onto the puck a
bit too long. Shooting, Martine's got a good shot, as
evidenced by his twenty five goal breakout at Clarkson this year.
Jeremy'd like to see him shoot more, as he thinks
he's dangerous inside the circles the IQ. The vision with
the puck is good. Jeremy likes the way he gets
breakout passes the teammates instead of just dumping and out,
and he operates well in space behind the offensive net.
He does have a habit of getting lost on the
perimeters without the puck and going long stretches without impact
the fore checking definite strength, likes to close down time
and space, and will even throw hits just bounces off
his guys at his current size, though, and the bash
on the player card is so low that either was
unusual for him or he's not getting credit for those hits.
As you said, Victor Martino definitely has a habit of
flying the zone early. Doesn't think he's bad defensively, but
he's certainly an offense first guy, which might not work
in some systems. So the best asset that motor. Jeremy
thinks he'll be able to chip in through sheer willpower
even if the skills don't put him on a scoring line.
The biggest concern needs to put on some weight. Got
muscled dof pucks quite a bit in the NHL or
the AHL Games. Jeremy was looking at. So a middle
six score is the top outcome. Here got the shot
and the vision to put up points, but maybe not
ever lead the charge offensively for his team or line,
and the median outcome third line secondary score energy guy
because he brings some speed and pressure to the port
check that a lot of bottom six guys do, and
he has a better, better scoring touch than a traditional grinder.
The stylistic comparable he's got Logan Stankovin, although Martino's ceiling
is significantly lower. Nope, Martino is actually older than Stankovin
and probably won't reach the NHL this year unless there's
an inch and the NHL ranking puts Martin Martino against
Dylan Duke and Dylan Duke comes out ahead fifty two
to forty eight percent. What do you think?
Speaker 3: I think that I would probably go with Martino actually,
even though yeah, we had some strong NCUBA numbers for Duke.
For Duke at times, and he has played in the AHL,
but I think that right now there's more offensive upside
with Martino. We have to see if he can translate
that from the NCUBLEA to the AHL. But Duke's HL
numbers were good, but they weren't amazing. Forty points in
sixty two games, that's good. He's also a bit older
twenty two, so sometimes he's older guys. The more impressive
numbers don't get you that excited. Reality is both these
guys are probably depth options at best, and no one
to be super excited about in fantasy. But I think
if either one of them had had more hidden offense,
I think it's Martino. We just had to wait and see.
So that's who I would be picking. Unless you just
wanted someone who was closer to NHL action, then I
would just take Duke because he is closer. And looking
at the hockey prospecting between the two, Martino graduated this
year at seven percent chance of being a star fifty
eight percent chance of being in NHLer. Duke graduated last
year at one percent chance of being an NHL a
Star and fifteen percent chance of being an NHLer. And
Duke does have a little bit better periffs. His blocks
are really good, his hits are pretty good. His shots
are really low though, so maybe there's a little bit
more of a peripheral floor for Duke. Looking at some
other comps for Martino, there's some interesting ones here. Raffi
Torres is one who at least the scoring kind of matches,
and maybe he could do something similar to that, but
overall not too exciting in terms of the comps on
hockey prospecting. The j Fresh card a little bit more pessimistic.
There we go, now we're back in line with whether
we were used to Jesse just one percent to being
a star four percent chance of being an NHL. That's
a little bit more of what we're used to from Jayfresh.
And that's it for our Dallas Stars dig. If you're
a patron, you can listen to my top ten Patron
prospect recap on Patreon, which Jesse has promised to turn
into one large episode. And if you're in still doing
any scouting with us, shoot me a DM on Twitter, discord,
or email us.
Speaker 2: I promise to do that doesn't sound right, Victor.
Speaker 6: Anyway, we'll come back to close out the show. I
don't know if you're heard, but our show's brought to
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next time, people live in that fantasy hockey life