Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here's
your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league.
Speaker 2: Bark Off Hot a step hit on Stay Lock.
Speaker 3: Here's your hosts, Jesse Severe and Victor Nuno.
Speaker 2: Fantasy Hockey Live looks again. Jesse Severe, Victor Nuno Ready
to talk fantasy hockey. Victor, how you doing?
Speaker 3: I'm doing awesome, Jesse. Definitely not as lucky as the
Islanders moving up to draft the number one overall pick,
but feeling feeling lucky enough and good enough. How are
you doing, my friend?
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, yeah, you gotta. There's some franchises that are
star crossed, so I don't feel I don't feel bad
that they want it, even if they are in the
out there in the metro. Gotta watch them a lot
every year. But the end of the Islanders, let's give
them some luck, let's give them a chance. And today
we're going to give them some shine because it's all
about the Islanders with our guests today. And if you,
for some reason after this episode feel like I want
to talk about some Islanders, you can go to our
Fantasy Hockey Life discord and do just that or something
else not the Islanders. There are many more topics that
are not the Islanders in the world than there are
topics that are the Islanders, so either one is available
to you. In the discord, just ask us for a
link to join FANTASYHOCKEYLFE at gmail dot com. There are
more things in heaven and Earth than just a discord
and Victor. Why don't you tell people about them?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we have lots of bonus content over on the Patreon,
so you can get access to patron casts, show notes,
one on one, help roster doctors. You can get access
to the website and all the cool stats and player cards.
You can also get into the Tidy, the Tier Dynasty
formulating or we're filling in those leagues, so now's a
good time to get in there and get your name
on the list. Make sure you get in as high
as you can with people potentially having to leave their team.
So it's a great fun league. Build, build your team,
work your way up. It's a good time, so check
all that out over at patreon dot com slash Fantasy
Hockey Life.
Speaker 2: Hey, folks, do not adjust your ears. This is Jesse
talking to you from the future. Still your past, but
the future of the conversation you've just heard. I am
going to interject right here to say that the interview
you're about to hear, and in fact, the rest of
this episode was all recorded before the NHL Draft. Not
only that it was also recorded, but then before the
no adopts in trade, which you might be saying, gosh,
that was a long time ago. The logistics of getting
all these episodes recorded and released around the draft episodes
made this happen. Please forgive us. It's not Stephan Rosner's fault.
As we talk with him. I think the analysis still
stays clear, and I think we all had a pretty
good idea idea that Matthew Shaffer was going to be
the pick, so that will be referred to. But please
don't be confused, and remember that at the end of
the season we do our Ketchup and Mustard episodes where
we catch up to the moves that happened after our
team previews, so we will hear about some more changes
that happened post Dobson trade at that time. Thank you,
and now back to your regularly scheduled program. All right,
and right after this we will talk some islands. Welcome
me back to the show. Stepan Rosner of NHL dot
Com ready to tell us about the New York Islanders.
How you doing today, Stepan.
Speaker 4: I'm doing fantastic. Thanks so much guys for having me
back on. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, love talking some Islanders with you. You know
this team very well. And we start with the overall
big picture look for the first time in years. My
snap impression of the Isles is changes could be coming.
Some could. Some would make a lot of the departure
of Lou Lamorello and his willingness to ice the older,
shall we say, underwhelmingly exciting teams. It's been seven seasons
since the Isles roster was not among the ten oldest
according to Hockey Reference in average age, so it's been
in experienced roster. In other words, those seven years were
exactly the Lou Lamarrello era. Still, you can make fun
of that all you want. The Isles punched way above
their weight through much of that era, with five playoff
appearances and run as far as two trips to the
Final four in the NHL Playoffs. This year, however, they
were twenty seventh in goals for scored the fewest power
play goals on the second worst power play execution percentage
and had the second worst penalty kill percentage. The team's
twenty four hundred and eighteen shots were actually sixth in
the league. That's sixth best, Folks. That scoring deficit was
because the shots only went in nine point two percent
of the time. That was thirtieth place. They traded away
one of their best players in Brack Nelson. They have
plenty of contracts left on the books they're going to
have to deal with, but some new hope in the
form of the number one overall pick. So, Stephan overall, here,
what's the state of the ales right now? And what
do you expect to next?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is the biggest question mark I think in
the NHL in terms of what is Matthew darts first time? Yeah,
I'm going to do you look at this roster. We
know that lou Lemerla tripled down on a roster that
never want anything. You mentioned the back to back Eastern
Conference final runs in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one,
but then all these long term deals.
Speaker 5: So what do you do?
Speaker 4: I think for Darts, you doesn't want to rush this right.
He wants to do it right. He knows the importance
of development. The Islanders prospect will has been ranked towards
the bottom for a long time. But with guys like
Cole Eiserman, getting Nelson, getting cal Richie and Nelson deal
that you just mentioned before, and now having the first
overall pick, things they're looking brighter for sure. And I
think for Darts it's about evaluating this group maybe first
month or two of the season, and then maybe making
some bigger moves to the deadline. I don't think this
summer is going to be crazy. I know Islander fans
want complete turnover, Go get Eelers, go get Morn or
trade everybody they possibly can, but a lot of these
players have modified no trade clauses or full no trade clauses,
So I think it'll be a wait and see what
see how Darts evaluates this core, whoever this core may be,
and then I think you'll see more changes happening at
twenty twenty six deadline and at twenty twenty six at
a toil draft. Nothing too crazy this summer, maybe some
death pieces to help with some secondary and tertiary scoring.
Speaker 2: Let's start with Bohorvat on this team, he had twenty
eight goals twenty nine assists for in eighty one games played,
and those fifty seven points led the team among the
many statistical categories. Horbat was the best player on the team.
Total lies time was the best among the forwards. He
took more than three shots per game. He won a
lot of face offs. By the way, the Ales as
a team won four hundred and fifty more face offs
than they lost, topping the NHL's second ranked team, the Leafs,
by one hundred and fourteen positive face offs. They blew
away the field and face offs won. I just thought
i'd note that. Still back to Horvat, he has totally
slipped on the teams, as the teams did in his
even strength defense rated poorly in goals above replacement. How
is Horvat's time on the island aging and what are
you expecting for him going ahead?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's been since he's joined the Islanders
after having that impressive starting Vancouver that one seed, and
it was just it's been tough because lineup, line changes.
Barzol has been hurt two thirds of his tenure on
Long Island, which has really been tough for Bow. And
it's clear that Bo's whole finger and he's told us
numerous times. One he's got to be better, but two
he wants to get able to make every lineman he
has better. He doesn't have to be relying on other
people to be better. So I know for a fact
that things he could be a lot better then he's been,
but he's been consistent to.
Speaker 5: Work ethics there.
Speaker 4: We could talk about that all we want, but yeah,
production wise, I think this year is with down not
I having Barzol really hurt him because him and Barzol
showed to be a dynamic duo the season prior. And
I think just without Bo, Declaire gets hurt those You
lost two thirds of his top line within.
Speaker 5: The first two weeks of the season, three weeks of
the season. That's tough.
Speaker 4: So I think you got to give credit to Bo
for sticking with it. I know it's easy to say,
but production with him there, it's hard when you have
to do it all yourself. And I think maybe he
saw his defense take a hit with that. But you mentioned,
you know, face off dot I think he said a
career high in the faceoff dot a Lott Islanders did
ben Wan de Rosier, who was Patrick WA's right hand man,
that he brought in from Quebec, was in charge of
face offs, and he's the only one that's staying on
the coaching staff. That should help bo Horeb and others.
But yeah, I think you could expect Tarba to have
a bounced back season. I don't think it's been great
if you look at his contract and things like that.
But I also it's hard to blame him right solely
for what's gone on with all the injuries and things
like that, and coaching change did all that kind of stuff.
But I think bo Horve, you looked like you said
the twenty eight goals this past year. I think he's
a thirty plus guy. I think he can be that.
I think having the right lineles is.
Speaker 5: Important for him.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure if he plays with bars All next
year personally, especially with rock Nelson gotten now, i'd move
bars All back to center. I just think he's better
in the middle of the ice. Maybe give Horvat get
one of those guys at freegency, or maybe playing with
a Holmestrom or a Siplokov, which we'll probably get to
in a little bit season next year. But I don't
think it's gonna be completely crazy to what we saw
this year. I think sixty points, sixty two, sixty three
points is probably where he'll be at.
Speaker 2: We're going to have a moment of appreciation for Anders
late here, folks. The old captain's goals above replacement led
the team by a lot. His even strength offense rated
the best of players on the team who played the
bulk of the season. His twenty nine goals led the
team overall. In our tidy format, our fantasy ranking format,
he finished eighty seventh amongst skaters, which is way above
where he gets rated I think by a lot of folks.
I think people outside in you York probably forget sometimes
about him. I went on Hockey Reference and looked this up,
and by my reckoning, he's fourth in the NHL among
active players and goals scored in his career. Do you
expect another season of the same sort of underrated excellence?
In many ways, play from Lee or the scoring isn't
what he used to be in some ways, is the
eventual decline coming for him like it does for all
of us.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think Islander fans will call it on the lease
surgence this past year. He needed this.
Speaker 4: I think it was important in a lot of the
rumors and what do they do with the caff and
see you haven't been doing anything, they have to move on.
I don't think we'll see twenty eight.
Speaker 5: To thirty goals from Leave next year.
Speaker 4: I think a lot of that had to do with
all the injuries where Lee found himself playing with Horvat
on the top line. Getting those extra minutes certainly impacted
his production. But that being said, he did switch stick brands.
He's skating, you're using a Warrior stake, and he just
finished more chances than he's had in years past, obviously
going back to when he had those big years and
got his contract to seven by seven, But he just
finished in front of the end. He was dynamic there
and his skating looked light years better than it's been. Again,
he had an ACL injury a couple of years ago,
if you guys are remember, and I think it's just
taken him a couple of years to finally feel really comfortable.
So yeah, I think Lee could still be a strong
third line forward in terms of fantasy value, maybe middle
six forward, But I don't think we're gonna see as
much productions as I don't the minutes are going to
be there that we saw this past year.
Speaker 3: Well, we've already alluded to Barzil a couple of times,
so we'll get to him now. February first knee injury
limited barsologist thirty games this season. He just scored twenty
points in those thirty games, which was at five point pace.
That was a big step down from his next worst
productive season, which was sixty which he had two of
sixty two. And I know that we've seen seventy eighty
point production from him. I wonder if you think he
can get back up to that full that point per
game production if he's fully healthy next season. I guess
the question is will he be fully healthy and do
you think he can bounce back to that level.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So he had the knee injury in February, block
and a shot, that's just unfortunate. Then he had an
upper body injury two weeks into the season, three weeks
into the season against Columbus, and I just, yeah, it
was tough. I think get back to being an eighty two.
I think it could be a point per game play,
I really do. It also depends on who his linemans
are going to be. Like I mentioned putting him back
to center, that obviously eliminates more that being his linemates
where he had a fantastic year and had his best
year since his call. They're winning years. So I think
Barzalt it's going to be about him shooting more. That's
always been his thing. He's a great playmaker, but when
you're a one dimensional playmaker and people don't think you're
going to shoot, defenders don't think you're gonna shoot, and
you don't shoot, you're not going to score the goals.
And I think when he found the confidence in shooting,
that's when you saw the bounce back season where he
has done now on both fronts. So I think the
biggest thing for Barzol when it comes to Fantady is
who's gonna play with. I'm not saying it's gonna be
less point production if he's the center and not in
align with Horbat, but it certainly could impact it depending
on the finishing of the guys around. And like I
mentioned zip Acop, he didn't score a lot of goal
with his first an Antel year and now that's what
he was supposed to do. Do clare Is do Clark
gonna be healthy, Dolaig're gonna play with Warbat or do
Claire gonna play with Barzel in this instance? So I
think Barzol is an eighty two point fire.
Speaker 5: He could do it.
Speaker 4: He's got to be healthy, and I think that's he's
not injury prone, but he's had unfortunate injuries over his
career so far.
Speaker 5: So yeah, health you should be.
Speaker 4: To go for Triny camp Peeth unless he was already
skating towards the end of the year that he could
potentially key back for the playoffs, but they weren't going
to rush it. So yeah, I think he's gonna be dynamic.
Yet again, I think get up a really strong season,
but we have to see who he's gonna play with.
Speaker 3: Yeah, get out of the way of those shots, man,
Come on, just that's fine. You got a good goalie
back there. We'll talk about him later, but let's move
on to the next guy. We're going to talk about that.
Simon Holmstrom. Second straight season for homes from playing seventy
five games, and he's actually right on the dot at
two hundred HL games played. That's fine. He boosted his
point pass from twenty seven to forty nine this past
season and telling twenty goals for the first season. Probably
one of the most unherlded twenty goal scorers in the league.
I would say this season, not a lot of people
talked about him. I certainly noticed at times like, oh,
he's still still putting up numbers, that's fine, and its
time on ice went up by four minutes. That's a
little bit of a tip of the hat from the
coaching staff, just under seventeen minutes total time on ice.
If you look at some of his underlying metrics, Holmstrom
had a pretty awful course. He against his expected goals
against those average like he seemed an average defensive player.
But maybe he just got a little unlucky out there.
I'm not sure. Looking at the expected goals, he actually
looked like he way overperformed what was expected of him.
So I don't know, maybe he was getting a little
lucky there. I'm not really sure what to make of him, Stefan.
That's why you're here to tell us what we should
expect from Holmestrom coming up to next season. Do you
think he can get to that fifty point pace or
do you think there's some regression coming here?
Speaker 4: No, for sure, I think this is a guy that
could be a twenty five to thirty goal scorer in
this league. You look at him and he doesn't shoot
the puck a lot, but when he shoots, the pucket
goes in, and he had a high shooting percentage. He's
relied upon heavily. Like you mentioned tipping the cap to
Patrick will, he earned Patrick Wahs trust. Is the guy
that broke into the NHL because of his defense, but
always had that off in the game. You just had
to have the confidence in the shot. And you saw
it last year again with injuries that allowed him and
other guys to get more ice time and just grow.
And I think this guy's obviously an RFA. He's going
to get a contract, probably a longer trim deal or
a bridge. Still, we'll see what happens to This guy
is a true top. I mean he probably second line
is his ceiling, but he's dynamic. He plays on the
power play, he plays on the penalty kill, and I
know his defensive metrics might not be great, but he's
relied heavily. Probably one of their better defensive forwards. I'm
playing with Padro, he could play anywhere in the lineup.
Maybe there's a chance he plays at bars all this
upcoming year. I think that's a strong possibility, which obviously
would help his fantasy number. But yeah, I'm pretty high
in Simon Holton. I think he's only going to get better.
He's still young, and I still think there's more to
do with his confidence. I think it's high as high
has never been, but I think it was another level
to his game, and I think he's going to be
a really dynamic player for the Islanders for years to
come and then obviously that will help his fantasy for sure.
Speaker 2: On to JG. Pajo and old Jean Gabriel has always
struck me. Is a steady player, scores somewhere in the
vicinity of half a point per game every year, takes
a bit over a shot, throws a lot of hits,
especially for a center, and wins a lot of face offs.
Five times in his thirteen year career, he's garnered SELK votes,
though not necessarily in the most recent seasons. Seems like
a competent second centerman who on a championship team probably
would and could play lower in the line up than that.
What's your take on Pago's season and the road ahead
for the player who will turn thirty three early next season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the question mark is going to be
an islander come the start of the season.
Speaker 5: I think he will be.
Speaker 4: I think it's more like a guy like Casey Zekis
does get moved because he has no trade production. But
Pagoe he's a fantastic faceoff man. He said a career
high in face offs this year. He was phenomenal on
the face off dot. Like Lye, he played higher up
in the lineup, sometimes at wing just because of injuries.
The penalty kills struggle minl this year and you could
blame him a little bit for that, but he should
balance back in that regard. But yeah, production wise, Pajo's
not guy that's going to like the lamp every game.
But fourteen goals, twenty exist forty two points. I think
there's a twenty goal scoring him. I think it depends
on Tome. I was probably closer to fifteen sixteen goals.
But yeah, this guy is very underrated for what he's
able to do and maybe doesn't have as much fantasy
value as well, because you know, if he's a defensive forward,
that's usually the role. But he showed that if given
an offensive role, he can produce. Not a twenty twenty
five goal scorer, but maybe fifteen sixteen goals, and I
think the Islanders that's good for them. Not sure how
great it is for Fantasy, but yeah, I think for
Pago he showed last year there's definitely more left in
the tank offensively than what he showed, maybe in a
couple of years probably.
Speaker 5: I know we had a hand.
Speaker 4: Injury in the bubble and he ended up not being
going to finish that series, and I think that hand
injury really took him out of the offensive game for
a couple of years. But I think he's come to
rule now. Confidence also played the part, but I think
when he's doing this stuff well defensively, more of an
offensive game for him.
Speaker 5: So I think this is a.
Speaker 4: Guy that that certainly could be a factor offensively given
his minutes. But yeah, I think you could.
Speaker 5: See the scene he just had.
Speaker 4: I think he can make that again next year, whether
it's with the Islanders or with f it's with another team,
I think it's even higher because he might be might
be tasted maybe in more offensive role than he got
on the Island.
Speaker 2: And Maxim Tiplikoff is another guy you mentioned along the way,
the hot addition from Russia last season, he started as
a top six player in average time on ice, but
usage declined as the season went along, until he was
playing very much a depth role for Patrick wat at
the end of the year, at least by minutes. He
played through a ten games scoreless streak in around the
new year that ended in a three game suspension for
a headshot, and it was a three game suspension, but
he missed four games, so I don't know if they
just told him to sit down an extra one after
that for what overall? Topping half a point per game
in one's first year in the NHL is pretty good, though,
keeping in mind he's already twenty six. Maybe not as
good as it would be for some nineteen year old rookie,
but and he also likes to throw hits one and
a half per game. That's something as fantasy types enjoy.
What do you make of Mexim Ziplokov's debut and whether
he is going to be an impact or a long
term piece for the Islanders team.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's a real confeeding one.
Speaker 4: When he was coming over from Russell, the whole talk
was this guy's the goal scorer, and Islander fans were
salvating because they need a goal scorer. And he just
kept racking up assists and they're thinking at some point
it has to even out right, this guy the goal scorer.
He's getting the assist because the game is different, the
ring size, just in style. He has to get used
to it. And the goals never really came. And you
mentioned the three games suspension. Did sit a fourth game
because the Island was actually playing pretty well and why
didn't want to mess with the lineup. But yeah, I
think there's concern in the sense of the ten goals
as ten goals, and I think but there are opportunities
to score. He is incredible, incredibly talented at driving to
the slot and getting that shooting ran. He has a
quick move to the slot. It opened it up and
he had a lethal shot. It just didn't bury. And
I think maybe having that once he did un of
the belt. Year two, I think you'll see more goals.
Not saying he's going to score twenty five, but I
think twenty goals is certainly on the table. He does
throw the body, which is impressive. He has no fear
at all in his game, and the one biggest thing
for him that I think limited his offensive zone time
and just those offensive numbers is he turned the pucker
over a lot. He's a very big in transitioning in
that stretch pass or neutra zone pass. He just he
forced it too many times. He trusts himself and I
think he can be a really strong playmaker. But if
you're the Islanders, you want to see him find the
back of that. You don't need him to.
Speaker 5: Be a playmaker.
Speaker 4: He's here to score girls goals. I think he can
be a twenty goal mark and I just think this
year is more about him just getting comfortable and the
fact that he was able to get as many assists
as he did. I think the strong sign that he's
an understanding the NHL game. Cut down in the turnovers,
take more shots. I think he's going to be in
good shape to be a twenty goal scorer for the
Islanders this year.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about one of the young guys, Callum Ritchie,
one of the guys alluded to in that deal. He
did play the first seven games for the Avalanche season.
I think maybe a bit surprisingly made the team out
of camp and looked a bit overwhelmed. I would say
watching those games, there were some you could see the skill,
but also you could see he wasn't quite ready. He
went back to the O and had a fantastic season
for the Oshawa Generals and also was on that team
Canada for the twenty World Junior Championships. I'm curious, Evan,
what you think his chances are making the team out
of camp. It seems he did already once. Maybe he'll
make it again and actually stick with the team all
or most of the season. He is twenty already this season.
He'll be twenty one in January of next year, so
he's got a little bit more experience under his belt,
and they certainly could use a little bit more offense.
So what are your thoughts on Kellen Ritchie playing with
the Islanders next season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you're going to make the team out
of camp. I think you look at a sample size
he did look overwhelmed. He goes back with OSTAUA, had
a pretty solid season, they go to the playoffs. I
think for him it'll be a bottom sixth role. If
people want to say they can just go in and
play him as the number two center, I think that's crazy.
He needs more time, he needs to get adjusted. I
think having guys like Pajo and Warvett and Paul Mary
to really show him the ropes of what it means
to be in NHL. I think is important.
Speaker 5: But I love his game.
Speaker 4: I'm pretty high on Calum Richie, but I think he's
probably going to be a third or fourth line center.
I don't think he's gonna move the wing. I think
he is a center. That's where he's got to be.
But yeah, you want a confidence. I guess that's the
biggest thing. You Look, he looked overwhelmed with Colorado in
those seven games. I think he played and he did
score against the Islanders, scored against the Roken his won
NHL goal, But I think he had any talent. He
just has to trust himself he got He's got one
of the highest prospects in Colorado system.
Speaker 5: For a reason.
Speaker 4: The Islanders wanted him and then he was believed to
be untouchable. So I think he makes it out of camp. Also,
Bridgeport being the mess that it is, I think it
would just be detrimental for him to go to Bridgeport.
I'd rather I'd rather him have growing pain at the
NHL level and get a custom there. So I don't
know how much of a fantasy impact he'd have. It
is first year with the Islanders, but I do think
he makes the team, and I think he'll surprise some
people in terms of how fast he does get adjusted.
I think in a Patrick Wats system that's focusing offense
as well at Colorado's, I just think he might be
in a lesser role that maybe he doesn't go up
against the number one or two pairings of the opponents,
maybe the bottom pairing, and I think he could exploit that.
So I think I think you have a solid to
start with the honors. I'm not sure if I have
too much value on the fantasy thing, but I think
he could be definitely a sleeper kind of pick for fantasy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like you said, a depth role, maybe he can
get some favorable matchups that could be really good for him.
That sounds good. Let's move over to the blue line.
We're going to start, of course with Noah Dobson, and
Dobson points wise definitely had a bit of a regression.
He went from a seventy three point pace to a
forty five point pace. The previous two seasons. Before that
seventy three point pace, he was in the low fifties,
so not too terribly different from those seasons. His time
on ice did go down just a smidge, but he
kept his power play time and overall he played miss
a few games, but he had a similar number of hits, shots, blocks,
so all that was still looking pretty good. And he
still was in like his ipp and points percentage, all
that was pretty similar. So what do you think we
can expect from Dobson moving forward? Do you think he's
going to get back to being closer to seventy point
guy or do you think he'll settle around this fifty
ish point pace.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's better than any better closer to
a seventy point guy than he was this past year.
I think he's probably sixty sixty five point ring, which
is still fantastic and the Islanders could use that. I
think he was another situation where injuries to the team,
barzald player at power play being dead him quarterback in
that power play. Not having that bar the well at
the pass too hurt his numbers severely. And this is
a guy that if he's not producing offensively, his defensive
game isn't the best. I think it hurts the confident.
We talked about confidence a lot, but it's a real thing.
He's also in need of a contract. We'll see what
the Honors do with him. There's rumors and speculation. I
don't think he gets traded. I think he's with the Islanders,
and I think he's going to be a top parent.
I think he's a number two. I think maybe there
were times where we thought that Dobson could be a
number one. I think he is a number two. We'll
see if they draft Matthew Schaeffer and the draft, which
obviously would impact Dobson if Schaefer is ready, and maybe
that's his partner. Who knows, but yeah, I think Dobson's
close to that seventy point guy. He just needs the
players around him to finish the chances of the power play.
If he's gonna get to seventy points or sixty five
points and he's quarterback in the power play, it's got
to be effective the secondary assist guy as well, which
is important when the Honors struggled to finish this year.
But he could if he could show to be a
power play guy, whether it's power play one or power
play too. When the power play gets going, I think
sky's limited for him. The problem is when the power
play is not going, it's gonna hurt Hi. It's gonna
hurt him tremendously. The Islanders are they create chances of
that five on five, but they need the power play
for Dobson to be the most effect him and he
needs to get a key part in that. So yeah,
I think he posted a seventy point guy. Probably put
him that sixty h But I think this past year
was attributed to the lack of forwards finishing chance and
then just him in general, having different defense partners everybody
in the back and got hurt and missed at least
one game the entire year, which is really tough to
get into a flow. He had his injuries as well,
But yeah, I think the closest twenty point guy. I
don't know if he gets to that, maybe sixty five,
but I think I bounce back to him for sure,
especially if he gets the contract done. I think that
also is a lot of perfect for a young player
as well.
Speaker 2: The defense gets a little bit rougher from our fantasy perspective.
From here, well, we'll put up Ryan Pullock and Alexander Romanov.
They both have maybe a little bit more of a
defensive role, otherwise not necessarily that similar. In some ways,
they do get a lot of bash, a lot of hits,
a lot of blocks for both of them. And Romanov
is up on restrictive free agency this summer, so I
guess there's some question there. But among Romanov and Poolock,
would you see who you like who you got for
next year?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's concern. I would probably honestly lean
more towards Romanov just in terms of the hit aspects
and the blocks. And he didn't produce off the rush.
I've never seen a guy like in him. This is
the first year where I said, oh wow, he's dangerous
off the rush. Pullock, I think has regressed a lot
in his offensive game. He was paid to be an
offensive guy, while Pellick was paid to be a defensive guy.
And Pulock's kind of turned into Scott Mayfield in the
sense of he's more defensive, more lay the body, blocked
the shots, and then that's the problem when you're paying
him to produce offensively. They're not a guy that should
have five goals. He his shots that I have not
been on target. He's really struggled with his consistency at
hitting the net, and it's hurt and it's hurt his
value and I think for Romanov, I just think he's
gonna hit more, and I just think Romanov also offensively.
I think his offensive game. I think Romanov had four
goals and sixten assists. Pulock had five goals and eighteen assists.
I'm more impressive. Romanov gave me also younger, more durable
in the sense of that he is younger. He has
had a couple of injuries and things like that just
come from hits. But I'd be higher in Romanov in
terms of complete value than Pulac.
Speaker 2: For sure, we're going deeper. Yes, I'm not quite sure
if if every show would even cover Scott Perinovich, but
we're gonna His minutes were some of the worst, whether
without you from a goal's foreign goals against great perspective
for the team. Last year, he got healthy, scratched a
lot for the Blues, traded to the Aisles when the
Ales had a lot of defenseman injuries in January, and
then when others returned, he went back to the press
box a lot. He was a pretty good prospect at
one point. He's now twenty six, but he's also got
an expired contract, so I'm not sure if he will
be an Islander next year. What do you think of
is Parunovich. Maybe a long shot candidate to have a
role with this team next year.
Speaker 5: Definitely long shot.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure they even offer him a contract, to
be completely unless you mentioned it was a great prospect.
Toby Baker winner, I believe, and he came over, showed
some skill that Jelland really needed, really strong puck, possessor
of ads, danger, does all those great things. But he
had a really bad game against the Rangers. It's not
his fault. He's trying to box out Matt Renpy's. He's
not the biggest guy, so Renpy is and he failed
in that guard. He got healthy, scratched pretty much for
the rest of this season. So yeah, I don't think
he need a factor at all for the Islanders. Maybe
as a deaf guy in Bridgeport, if that's even the case.
If not, maybe he signed to the team to give
him a chance somewhere else. But yeah, he really struggled.
I didn't know why I didn't get back in the lineup.
I think we've asked Patrick rob about it. I don't.
I just think he had better options, or he thought
he had better options. But yeah, I don't think he's
a factor at all for the Islanders next year. If
he is, I means there's probably been a lot of
injuries and they had to call him.
Speaker 5: Up and play him.
Speaker 4: But yeah, it stinks because he has so much potential.
Now you said he's twenty six. Now I haven't really
shown a lot you'd go in transition, But I think
has a strong HOCKEYQ, which if he got playing time,
you think that would lead to a lot more assistant
and be a Fannessy like sleeper value wise, But I
don't think he's gonna get the ice time to really
produce it. All.
Speaker 3: That's good to know. Maybe a little bit unfortunate, but
always good to know. Let's move over to the goalies.
The Islanders were ranked twenty first in terms of expected
goals against for sixty be conceded the fourteenth ranked actual
goals against per game. We all know why. His name
is Ilias Sarokan, and he was awesome this season. He
was twelfth in the league and in terms of goals
save above expected he was seventeenth in Delta Fenwick and
of course for the Islanders he was definitely their the
main guy. Sixty one games played, fifteen point sixty one
goals save above expected at even strength, pretty awesome stuff.
Varlamov had ten games, Hopeburg had fifteen. I think moving forward,
it's obviously going to be Soroken here. I think we
can probably expect sixty ish games and saving more goals
than expected. Is that what you would expect Stefan? And
who's we going to see sixty more? What do you
think we're going to see in terms of Sorokan and
whoever else gets the rest of the games?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think the goals to not play Serroken more than
sixty games, and just every year something on Varlamov gets hurt.
We spoke with Varlamov after the season he's been out.
We thought maybe he was going to retire. We heard
some things, but he said he should be ready to
go for next year, which is a positive, except he
gets hurt every year. And Hagberg struggled late after going
back from an injury, so I don't know if he
could even be your number two. But yeah, Sarrocan. I
think he's a product of bad defense in front of
the penalty kill. I mean, his stats at five and
five or even strength really good, and then his penalty
kill was downright terrible when team in front of them struggled.
He struggled on the penalty kill. I think Matthew Darch
came in and said we need to do responsible defensively.
I think that's going to be a huge point of
emphasis for him and for Patrick Watt's staff. Whoever is
Sydney Colgan is going to be and that's only going
to benefit Sarrocan. So I think, Yeah, I think you're
going to see much higher goals saved about average. You
think you're going to see a bounce back for him
on the penalty kill, and I think you're going to
see it that I'm not saying his name is going
to be in the VESNA combo, but I think he's
going to get back to those elite elite numbers in
all strengths and that'll help you on and then I
think that makes a strong fantasy option going for I'm
not saying the defense and is going to be much
change the guy locked into contracts the RFAs are expected
to get deals back, but I think you see a
more structurally sound team and from him that just should
benefit him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, there's definitely a lot to be excited
about for Sorocan and hopefully, like you said, the team
around it will get a little bit better. I wanted
to ask you a little bit about the draft because,
as we all know, the Islanders got lucky and went
up to the top of the draft board, so that's
pretty exciting. There have been rumors that maybe they would
slide back because taking Hagen's at one, which is the
hometown boy, is maybe a little wild. I think that
the most likely thing is they probably just take Schaeffer
or Misa. But I'm wondering what your thoughts on all
of that are, and do you think they actually go
with the hometown kid.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I think just going from organizational need. When
I said Dobson was the number two, everyone thought he'd
be a number one, and that changes things. And I
think Schaeffer is the guy to get the honors need.
I'm not saying you the generational talent or he's a
cal mccarr or a Quinn Hughes, but games like Mirohaskin.
But also he's a game changer, he's a captain, he's
a guy you want to build a front of the run.
You can see him holding the cup, right, So I
think for the Islanders. They need that number one guy,
and if they believe that he can be that guy,
you gotta take him. I'm not too high on Lisa
in the sense of it. If it's Misa or Higgin's,
I would take Hagen's because Hagen's is most valuab to
the Islanders in any other franchise from business standpoint marketing.
And also I do think Hagen's has been severely underrated
throughout this whole process. He was number one for a while,
he dropped down, but to be a point per game
player at the NCAA at the age of he is tremendous.
Speaker 5: No one talking about it.
Speaker 4: I'm not saying you take him at number one, but
I don't understand how people are saying he could fall
to eight or nine whatever.
Speaker 5: I think that's absolutely crazy. I think the guy Hagen's
the guy to.
Speaker 4: Have at my mindset is also, if Higgins wants to
be an Islander at some point in his current he
really wants to be an Islander, there's waste for him
to be an Islander. If you don't pick shafferd There's
no way Shapers can end up being an Islander. So
I think Shaffer's got to get. They need that kind
of puck moving, mobile power play. One guy just this
offensive machine that's also responsible defense than Shafer is a
pk er out there, trustworthy minutes late in games. So
I think Shafefer the gotta get. We'll see if he's
ready for the NHL or if he has to go
play back in juniors or for me, I personally would
rather see him go play NCAA hockey against men. Maybe
it's less games in terms of schedule, but I think
he needs to develop against the big boys.
Speaker 5: He's shown.
Speaker 4: I know it's only been seventy two or so games
at the OEHL level over the last couple of years,
but I think what's best room is go to the
NCAA route. But I think for the Islanders, you get
a guy like that is on your blue line and
you have him and Dobbs and potentially is a pairing
for years to come. I think that's a huge thing
for the Honors and something they really need going forward.
But Haiggin's also I don't think they're going to trade
the pick. Like I said, if Higgins wants me an Islander,
I think there's ways to work it. Maybe they move
up in the draft.
Speaker 2: And they take.
Speaker 4: Number one, and they find a way to trade and
get back into the top five and take Higgins there.
Speaker 5: But I think Schaffer's have got to get for sure.
Speaker 2: All right, Stefan, this has been a great talk about
the New York Islanders. Tell people how to find all
your stuff out there.
Speaker 5: Hey can follow me on Twitter X.
Speaker 4: That's Stephan Underscore, Rosna's s T E F E n
Underscore r sn R NHL dot com the hockey as
well in the Lmonters. Theelmonters dot com is my weekly
Monday through Friday substacks. I appreciate it, guys.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks Stefan, and good luck following the Islanders
this year.
Speaker 3: Than Wilson.
Speaker 6: That's good fire Pats my goodness, long with a cat
quick graph.
Speaker 2: Now it's your weekly goalie talk. But Kat Silverman, Cat's.
Speaker 3: In pleased to be joined once again by Kat Sullverman
of ngal mag. We're talking Islander goalies, and we're talking
maybe someone that is a little surprising to some. That's
Marcus Gidlof. He's sixty six, two twenty three pounds, drafted
in the fifth round in twenty twenty four, and this
was his first season playing professional hockey. He did split
his time between the J twenty and the SHL. Naturally
did a bit better in the SAHL or in the
j twenty, but respectable numbers in the SAHL. Got loan
to JR Gardens during the qualification playoffs and had two
pretty incredible wins that did actually help the team get promoted,
and he should be back with Alexan's next season. He
is funny on hockey prospecting, they have these comps and
he was naturally the one that showed up when I
went to go look he had. It was him and
Jacob Markstrm was actually the one that Byron over there
was promoting, which is funny. So that would be a
great outcome. Obviously were the Islanders. But Kat, what your
instincts tell us about Gidloff.
Speaker 6: That's a really fun comp especially because everything I saw
on Gidloff, like every clip I watched, every game that
he was playing. He's huge, but he doesn't play like
he is and that reminds me a lot of Jacob Markstrom,
who I think, by the time he hit the end
of his tenure with the Vancouver Canucks, had settled into
a little bit of a slower rhythm, But when he
first started playing over in North America, particularly with the
Florida Panthers and then moving his way up to Vancouver
to play with their AHL team, really had a tendency
to be a little bit more active when it came
to challenging shooters, moving around within the blue paint, moving
laterally within his crease. A lot of the bigger goaltenders,
pardon me, that we've talked about, especially in the past,
with some of the other teams that have still seemed
to draft kids for size. It seems like those guys
have good position and good tracking instincts, but then the
biggest thing that they need to do is work on
their agility. Gidloff is a little bit more mobile than that.
Without going all the way in the direction of get
Mad Soguard, who for as much fun as he is
to watch, can be a little unpredictable, not just for
shooters but for his own teammates, and Gidlof seems like
he's a little bit more controllable and a little bit
more controlled with his movements, so he's a little bit
easier for his teammates to work around and work with
versus them having to stay a little bit farther away
from the crease and then see if they can predict
what his vibe is going to be during that game,
so to speak, which should make him an easy transition
if the Islanders decide that he is their next big thing,
because they are eventually going to need to have another
young goaltender in there in their system who becomes their
heir apparent, which I would say is probably coming within
the next three or four years.
Speaker 3: Here, do you think still go Love has starter upside
if he ends up moving to a different organization, I
think so nice like that, Let's talk about the other
guy they have, Dimitri Gamzen six three hundred and seventy
four pounds, drafted in the fourth round in twenty twenty
four as a double overrager. He's now twenty two year old,
and in my opinion, this is the way to do it.
Wait until they was a little bit older, they've shown
a little bit more, and then draft them. That works
out often pretty well. And he's played a little bit
more this season in the KHL. Back in twenty three
twenty four, he had thirteen KHL games. He had eleven
more this season up to twenty four and he was
good nine to thirty seven save percentage previous season nine
to twenty eight save percentage. All that's looking pretty good
looking at his hockey prospecting. His trajectory has really gone
up in his draft season. I guess that's understandable why
he didn't get drafted. His equivalence he was extremely low,
but then after a couple of seasons he's shot up
and now he's all the way up to eighty five
percent chance of being an NHL AER, and his trajectory
looks a lot like Nikolay Habbibulin. So there you go.
That's great. Comp Kay, what your instincts tell us about Gamzon.
Speaker 6: I think he did a good job waiting on him.
I decided, just out of curiosity to go back and
watch some older games of his from when he got
passed over the first time, and then a few from
when he got passed over the second time, just to
figure out because obviously there's a fine line where if
you wait too long and you draft them as a
double overrager, some of those kids end up looking so
much better, but haven't changed who they're playing against, and
so of course their stats are starting to look better
and better. But particularly the kids who are playing in
a junior league versus playing in the KHL, which is
something that we don't have to worry about as much
with him. Obviously, by the time they're a double overrager,
they're playing against sixteen and seventeen year olds, which they'd
better look better at that point. And really the biggest
thing with him that I was looking for was what
he was missing in his game, because he's been playing
some KHL games here and there and getting called up
to the team since his first draft eligible season, and
it really looks like the biggest concern, and this might
still be a concern for him, is his physical size.
And I don't necessarily mean his height, but in terms
of his strength and stature, he is not necessarily built
to withstain really long, heavy workload seasons and sometimes during
games where it looks like he was having to work
a little bit more, he was fatiguing by the end,
and it looks like he's added a little bit of
bulk he is, definitely and even just looking at some
of the hard numbers that we have here on the screen,
he's currently listed at six three hundred and seventy four pounds.
I believe his draft eligible year he was listed when
fifty five one sixty, which for a six three kid
is you have to add a little bit more, a
little bit more muscle.
Speaker 5: To make it through a season at that size, and
it looks like he's done so.
Speaker 6: But for him it would be conditioning because I think
his movement looks good. I think his tracking looks pretty good.
So it really was for me just figuring out if
he's someone who is going to be able to withstand
the riggers against the harder opponents essentially, and it looks
like he's been able to do so that's less of
a concern now it's seeing if he wants to come
over and play.
Speaker 3: I'd have a great mentor if he does come over
and get mentored by Srokean, So that's probably a pretty
big appeal. But thanks so much, Kat for convince your
instincts on the New York Islander Goalies, of course.
Speaker 2: Will be back right after this Dig the Dynasty Dig
New York Edition, Victor. This system ain't too bad by
your accountings, also not that great. It'll get a lot
better once this number one overall pick shows up right now.
I'm sorry, it's the number twenty system in your rankings
doesn't mean there aren't some good players in here, though
it starts with a no brainer.
Speaker 4: Who is it?
Speaker 3: That would be Cole Isserman twenty twenty four to twentieth
overall pick six foote hundred ninety six pounds. He will
be nineteen at the end of August. He had his
first NCAA season after his USNTDP tour, where he broke
records for his goal scoring. It was pretty fantastic over
a goal per game at the USNTDP. He also was
on the uaighteen team and the U twenty team this
past season with some pretty important goals and all the
guy does iscore goals right. He also was with BU
who lost in the championship game. And I think one
of the criticisms with Cole Eiserman has always been what
does he do away from the puck? And I don't
think that could be any more clear than it if
you look at Mitch Brown's player card Forcalizomen, because typically
when things are above average, they're blue, and the better
above average the darker, and when they're worse, they're red.
And his whole card is basically red except for one thing,
which is shooting, and we know he can shoot, we
know he can score, but everything else is really not great,
even his playmaking, his expected primary syst his transition game,
his retrievals, corsi, all of that battles one. It's pretty
awful actually when you look at this. So that's a
big concern and part of why I don't have him
higher if HL player card has him at a six
point sixty three. I recognize the offensive skill. I recognize
that he certainly can't put the puck in the net,
but I think his opportunities may be limited if he
can't figure out a better two way game, which I
know it's something he's working on. It's just not there yet.
Looking at his bash, he definitely shoots a lot. He
actually hits quite a lot if he's had and be
a little bit more aggressive, hits at times and can
get penalized for that. But overall his bash should be
pretty good, primarily driven by his shots and hits. He
also is pretty average for pims if you're interested in
that kind of thing. But let's hear a little bit more.
Get some other opinions about coalizermen from our Fratil scout
Jesse who.
Speaker 2: Needs is here today to talk about Coalizerman skating acceleration
improved at bu showing more consistent engagement with and without
the puck. Stride length and posture can look awkward under
pressure at times. Does well to carry paces through the
neutral zone, especially when tracking loose pucks or cutting inside.
Needs more explosiveness in his first few steps to truly
punish defenders in transition, passing and handling. Elite hands in
tight manipulates defenders and goalies with minimal space and time
prefers the shot, but can flash deceptive touch on quick
area passes and give and go plays. Puck control on
the rush is excellent. Attacks defenders one on one with confidence,
aly over handles leading to turnovers or missed opportunities. While
not a primary playmaker, his ability to attract pressure and
then dish it could make him deadly have developed further.
Shooting among the best pure shooters in the pipeline. Elite mechanics,
quick release and deception, shooting scores in every situation off
the rush, out balance one timers in tight mid range
curls and drags. Occasionally forces low percentage shots instead of resetting,
especially when trailing. He's already got a pro caliber shot package,
which is a rare trait at his age and a
strong fantasy signal. Pouni says that Eiserman has an offensive
zone IQ, which is excellent. He times his movements well
to stay available and maximize shooting windows. It's got a
scorer's mentality sometimes blinds him to better passing or reset options.
He can be overly ambitious with the puck, especially in transition,
and gets caught forcing solo plays. When focused, he shows
those signs of reading coverage, particularly on the power play.
For checking, surprisingly competitive, shows real willingness to pressure defenders
and win pucks below the goal line. Four checks with
a scorer's intent looks to create turtlers immediately shoot or dish.
Could be even more disruptive with added skating pop and
stronger body lower body leverage defense end zone awareness is inconsistent.
He can drift or misread coverage responsibilities. Has the physical
tools to engage, but the defensive detail isn't yet a
natural part of his game. He's willing to back check,
but often cheats to cheats high to prepare for breakouts
or rush chances. Still prone to turnovers in transition. Puck's
security under pressure is an ongoing area of development, so
the best asset eleitch shot generation, both in quantity and
in quality, a rare blend of hands instincts finishing for
multiple areas in the eyes doesn't need time or space
to be dangerous, generates offense from low probability spots others can't.
He's a sniper's mentality. This level of natural scoring touches
what teams and fantasy managers covet at the NHL level.
He's embraced more of this role at BUS, suggesting a
growing maturity in his game. The biggest concern still learning
when to make simple plays instead of chasing highlight reel moments.
The skating needs another gear to match NHL transition pace
and with stand tighter coverage. Lacks a reliable defensive conscious
at this stage, prone to puck watching or missed assignments,
can be turnover prone under pressure or when frustrated. Decision
making under duress can show immaturity at times. Overall needs
refinement and situational awareness and play selection, but offensive instincts
are elite. So the top tier outcome thirty five plus
goal scoring, first line winger, powerplay one deployment, top six stability.
That would be if he rounds out his playmaking and
learns to make quicker, smarter reads, ceiling could push even higher.
The style mits fits modern NHL scoring needs the fiftieth
percentile outcome. Strong top six guy situational weapon sheltered at
even strength, deployed in offensive starts and special teams could
still bring value as a volume shooter in that situation.
The stylistic comparable think Cole Kawfield with a bit more
size and less finesse. A volume scorer always has goals
on his mind, shades of Mike Hoffman in terms of
the powerplay role and shot first identity. At his best,
he can be a trigger man floating into space, catching
passes and stride and finishing. Mason Black, the NHL Rankking
and tidy Champion, put out this poll Cole Aiserman versus
Matthew Savoy, and Iiserman wins in a landslide seventy five
to twenty five percent.
Speaker 3: Is that how you see it?
Speaker 5: Victor?
Speaker 3: This is a poll between two guys that I don't
really love that much. Just so I think I would
probably duck and run a different direction if I could.
But I do think between these two. I probably would
take Cole Iiserman as an elite one skill. I think
he's someone who might be a little pigeonholed in terms
of where he fits, but I think that he clearly
has something that his shot that is elite and can
be groomed. I'm sure the rest of his game can
be worked on. He doesn't have other concerns. I think
Cole Coffield is probably a reasonable comp in terms of
He's not as small, but he's also not as Neither
of those guys are really great defensively. Cole's a little
bit maybe more, has a little bit more speed, but
Iiserman's a little bit more physical. Neither of those guys
are winning Selky trophies, but they do have that elite shot.
So I think I would probably lean Isserman Savoy. He's
so interesting. All along, I have been saying that there's concerns.
I haven't thought that he'd be able to translate his
game super well, although I have to say I was
really impressed with his fifty four points and sixty six
games for the Bakersfield Connors this season, and so that
has to count for something, and so I definitely think
he's turning things around, but I think he might end
up just being by a fifty to sixty point NHL
or maybe more of a middle to bottom six even
so we'll have to see about that. I'm taking cool eijermen,
and between these two, the hockey prospecting is pretty even.
Izerman in his second season is a fifty eight percent
chance of being a star. Savoy graduated the model at
fifty percent, so pretty similar there. The FHL player card
for Savoy has him at a six point two five,
and so that's a pretty similar a little bit lower
percentage of on the percent side than Isserman, and neither
Savoy doesn't have really good bash either, so his block
shots and hits are all pretty low, so you're getting
a low perpheral ceiling there or peripheryl floor from Savoy.
Looking at some other realistic comps, I like the Col
cough Field looking at another any guy from the usn TDP.
Clayton Keller is someone that Eiserman looks a little bit
alike in this model, and so I think that would
not be an unreasonable outcome in terms of point production, No,
in terms of overall actor player, and I think as
Clayton color is just an amazing playmaker compared to Kolijerman,
who might not even be NHL average. So that's something
to think about. In the top down hockey model, Coalijerman
sixty nine percent chance of being a star, ninety five
percent chance of being an NHL are so very optimistic
there in terms of his outcome. I'm a little less
optimistic than j Fresh, which is pretty unusual. Jesse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, for sure. All right, Victor, the next guy up,
this is this is a big one.
Speaker 3: Victor.
Speaker 2: I called this guy out during the draft. He's a
good Wisconsin kid. He was a point scorer at the
World Junior Championships. I like to think I'm a fan
of this year player and the envelope. Please, who is
the need to know prospect?
Speaker 3: This would be Quinn Finley. I almost said I was
looking at a different Finley, I almost said to him,
but no, hiss Quinn Finley. And he is, as you mentioned,
a badger he was last season. This season he was
a twenty twenty two third round pick from the Islanders.
Six foot hundred and sevent nine pounds left wing. He's
really young for his draft class. He's an August eighth birthday,
so when he was drafted. He was back in the USHL.
He spent a couple of seasons there before coming to
college and it didn't go super well. His first year
in college just round half point per game, a little
bit under that, but this season he exploded for over
a point per game forty points and thirty seven games,
turning heads from everyone. His FHL player card has him
show showing that he's a volume shooter one hundred percentile
for shots, also has a fair number of hits and
pretty average for blocks, so overall his bash should be
really good. And I have updated his numbers to be
a five point five to five, so going from not
really rosterble to being an average roster player. So that's
pretty good. But let's hear a little bit more about
what makes quin Finley good from OURFHL scout.
Speaker 2: Our scout Tony our leed scout has this to say
about Quinn Finley. Good skater, a little bit upright Tony
passing and handling, a decent passer, average handler. Did see
some improvement between the two games he watched early season
and end of season. An Elite shot has Quinn Finley
great slap shot, snapshot and risk shot for the IQ
Quinn's got a good hockey IQ. That's vision, anticipation, panic,
and poise. He lacks a little vision to find teammates,
but as anticipation to get his own shot off, poise
is very good. Plays the point on the power play
for Wisconsin. That shows a lot of trust from the coach.
Didn't see much for checking and as far as the
defense doesn't really foresee that Quinn Finley will be a
penalty kill specialist. At least saw no evidence of doing
that at Wisconsin, so Toner doesn't have much of a
read on that. But overall, the best asset, once again
Tony says, is the shot, and the biggest concern is
that Quinn is a little bit of a smaller player.
He probably will not give us a whole ton in
the way of bash according to Tony's looks. But the
top tier outcome Tier two probably a top six to
Foard power play time, I'm in the NHL with a
lethal shot. He can hit corners and create his own
and the median outcome tier three an extra forward with
spot duty random chances on power play two, and that
would happen because Toner doesn't see as much from the
passing and as much from the bash and overall, Quinn
reminds Tony of a less Bashie Tyler Bertuzzi. But if
Quinn can improve his skating and the peripheral numbers came around,
he could be a valuable NHL player. The NHL ranking
poll went out to the people on X and Quin
Finley up against Justin Pourier, and Finley, Oh was way
on the short side of this one, seventy four to
twenty six. Victor is Poia that much better?
Speaker 3: Justin Poirier certainly has a lot more scoring, but he
is five foot nine, so he's got that little guy
problem that certainly matters to a lot of NHL teams,
and as they're breaking in it can be a lot harder,
so he has a tougher hill to climb. Qui Finley
being six foot, one hundred and eighty pounds not a
huge deal. So I think a lot of people are
probably looking at the PNHLI here, which looks a lot
higher for Poirie, and they're thinking there's a little bit
more scoring. But I think that's a little unrealistic to
assume he's going to translate that fully, and he is.
He did do great in the Q eighty points and
fifty eight games for BA Como, and he is going
off to the NCUBA next season University of Maine. That
will be a good test, bigger, stronger, tougher competition. We'll
see if Paray can make it work. I do have
some faith that he can translate at least some of that.
I'm not sure that he's going to be that high
of a scorer, though, so I think if I had
to pick between the two, I'm taking the guy who's
already a point per game scorer. In the NCUBLEA, I'm
taking Quinn Finley. I'm going against the people here and
I'm going with Finlay. Personally, I think that you might
be a little disappointed seeing how difficult a time Quarrey has.
I'm moving for him. I hope it works out. I'm
just not very confident. Looking at the hockey prospecting between
the two, Finley graduated the model at zero percent chance
of being a star, which is harsh. Pray trended down
from fifteen to six percent. We'll see what happens in
the nc DOUABLEA next season. I think he might take
another big hit on his way down. I also have
Pirey at a five point three six, so just a
little bit under the five point five to five I
had for Finley. Both kind of similar. I think it's
pretty clear to me that Parray's upside is higher, but
I think the floor is also way lower, and so
Finley might have a more narrow margin in terms of
where he works out, but I'd be more confident in
betting on him. Looking at some other comps for Quin Finley,
we're just talking about Anders Lee, and this could if
this could be another example of and honors. Lee was
drafted out of high school and he went to the
USHL for one year and then the NC DOUBLEA. But
the numbers are similar in the trajectory. And the other
reason I picked him is because pretty much everyone else
is just a replacement level or bust. So trying to
get some optimism here for Quin Finley. Looking at the
top down hockey model from j Fresh is not in
place to find optimism for Quin Finley because he has
just one percent chance of being a star and four
percent chance of being in NHL or so. It's pretty
bleak there, Jesse. But I think that there's more optimism
than that for this guy, and I think that if
might be a good by low or it might be
a good lottery ticket to throw. Throw a pick at
here at quin Finley GM in your league and see
what he says.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got time with Chicago Steel and then Ushl
more Chicago Steele and then obviously Wisconsin and again go
and assist at the World Juniors where the USA won.
Moving on Victor, who is to keep your eye on prospect?
I think we've heard the name already today.
Speaker 3: Dark Callum Ritchie. We've talked about him a little bit,
talk about him a little more. Twenty twenty three, twenty
seventh overall pick for Colorado sixty two, one hundred ninety pounds,
and he's in the center. He's twenty years old now.
He came to the Island of the brock Nelson trade,
played seven games for the Avalanche. As I mentioned, Stephan
reminded us no one goal he did score was against
the Roka And that's fun. I guess he can always
hold that over his head, which not a lot of
guys can say. So that's fun. And he did go
back to another season for the Oshwad Generals, lost in
the AHL finals again to the London Knights, although he
did all he could twenty five points in twenty games,
twenty one games. Sorry, all looked really good there, Like Manny,
Canadians didn't have the best U twenty World Junior Championship.
But looking at his FHL player card, it looks sorry.
His Mitch Brown tracking data, it looks awesome. Ninety second
overall percentage, ninety for offense, ninety for transition, seventy four
for defense. Everything's looking really great for him. There's only
a couple of minor things that don't look amazing, like
ozone retrievals and slot pass percent but everything else expected
primary assists, inspected goals, control exits, entries, protection, boards of
the middle, advantages created. All that looks phenomenal for Calimbracy,
really complete player in the O. We'll see how well
he can do translating that to the NHL. I like
what Stephan said, give him some installation, give him so
put him down in the lineup, let him get some
more favorable matchups and watch him blossom. And I think
that's the right play he can do that. I think
eventually he can be a second line player, but probably
won't start that way, and that might be a good
opportunity to throw an offer at a GM if he's frustrated.
Looking at the FHL player card, I have Richie had
a six point seventy five seventy five percent chance of
being a six. His shots are ninetieth percentile, His bash
overall is an eightieth percentile hit. Some blocks are above average,
so everything, oh in all pretty good peripheral floor at
least based on his OHL time, we'll see. I don't
think it was quite that good in the NHL, but
those were his first seven games, so give him some grace.
Let's switch over to our FHL scout and hear a
little bit more about Calum Ritchie.
Speaker 2: Who need is back on the case, and here's what
he has to say about the skating. Smooth Northsile stride
that's efficient and energy conserving. Top speed is solid, especially
in open ice, but initial acceleration lacks pop. The lateral
mobility and edgework are decent but not elite, limits elusiveness
in tight checking situations. Doesn't blow by defenders, but navigates
the ice with purpose and structure. Passing and handling. He
displays excellent vision does Richie, especially off the cycle in
controlled entries. Frequently draws and defenders before dishing to open teammates,
and it is a calculated risk taker handles the puck
well under pressure, doesn't panic or overreact, not flashy in
terms of dangles, but consistently effective and deceptive with his hands,
and uses his frame effectively to protect the puck while
scanning for lanes. Shooting, he possesses an accurate shot and
putting says it beats goalies clean when he gets time
to load it up. He gets time. The release is
clean and smooth, but not lightning quick. He tends to
defer to the pass in high danger areas. More shooting
confidence is needed. One timer's effective, especially on the power play,
just underutilized. Adding aggression and scoring areas would help out
his playmaking tendencies and elevate his overall threat level for
the IQ. One of the most consistent strength. He plays
a thinking man's game across all three zones. He anticipates
play development on both sides of the puck, makes intelligent
reads off the puck, supports teammates, and adjusts position needs seamlessly.
Calm under pressure, doesn't rush passes or collapse into poor
habits when harassed for checking. He applies structured calculated pressure
on opposing defenceman and is not reckless. Uses body positioning
and stick detail to disrupt exits and force soft plays.
Effective at angling puck carriers and creating turnovers through reach
and anticipation, can support a high motor winger by creating
secondary pressure and sealing off outlets. Defense Very responsible in
his own zone, Richie rarely loses structure or focus on
the rush. Maintains middleized coverage, eliminates passing lanes. He's a
consistent backchecker, doesn't quit on plays or float high in
the zone. Projects as a plus defensive center with continued
physical development and pro pays adjustments. The best asset then
high levels hockey sense and offensive vision that drives decision
making across all the zones. He thinks two or three
moves ahead. He supports structure, elevates line mates by moving
the puck at the right time to the right spot.
Has a great feel for time and in spacing, which
makes him a natural center. Maturity in his reads and
patients with the puck shows NHL habits already forming the
biggest concern. He lacks separation gear in his first few strides.
Acceleration is a half step slow doesn't have the lateral
pop to shake defenders in tight or on quick pivots.
This gap could be exposed at the NHL pays, especially
against faster aggressive for checks, and could limit his ability
to carry the puck through transition or chase down loose pucks.
Top tier outcome here for Ritchie Punite says it is
a strong second line potential first line two way center
with power play utility and matchup usage. Perfect complimentary pivot
to a high end winger duo. Doesn't need the spotlight
to make an impact.
Speaker 3: The justification.
Speaker 2: He's got the NHL ready habits vision size to fit
a versatile middle six mold. He can be trusted with
tough assignments, late game shifts, penalty kill duties, and long
term could become a player coaches rely on in all
phases without needing to carry the offense. The media outcome
more realistic second liner potential middle sixer. He'll earn his
keep with Smart's reliability in zoom responsibility rather than just
raw tools. Could see penalty kill time spot power play
depending on a team's depth. And that's because he's a
type of player who doesn't make ways, but he's missed
when he's absent. As long as the skating doesn't become
a liability, he'll be a bottom six staple who doesn't
hurt you. Stylistic comparable punit's going Boone Jenner, a high
IQ center who leads by example. Our friend Mason Black.
The NHL rank king put cal Ritchie up against Daniel Boot,
who we discussed recently, and Richie ahead of Boot sixty
nine to thirty one percent. The Utah Mammoth goes down
to the New York Islander, Victor. Is that how you
see things too?
Speaker 3: I do prefer Callum Ritchie to Daniel Boot. Yes, I
like all those things that Punite said about him. I
think it's pretty reasonable. I definitely think he's going to
be a reliable NHLer. I think the question for Richie
is just how much scoring will there be? I don't
know about Boone Jenner. That would be awesome. The bash
is pretty good. That's the thing I always think about
with Jenner, right, is a bash being exceptional. So maybe
it can get to that point, certainly in terms of
offensive output, I think that's a reasonable ceiling. I think
Richie maybe even has upside for more than that. But
I think I would definitely take Richie. It's pretty easy
for me looking at the hockey prospecting between these two.
They're actually similar in terms of they're both in like
around that ten percent chance of being a star. Both
seem pretty much locks to be nhller, that part's not
too different. I have Boot at a six point four
or five and Richie was a six point seventy five,
so a little bit higher in terms of the percentage,
But I also think that Ritchie's upside is a little
bit higher than that. Looking at some other comps for Richie,
I don't hate the gender one. As I mentioned, the
one I like here is Shane Pinto. I think that
Pento is a very responsible, good all around player with
also a little bit more offensive pop than maybe you
might think, and I think that Richie can be that guy.
They probably will ask him to do more defensive heavy
lifting early on, but I think eventually that skill will
be there and it can come out at the right time,
which is great. So I definitely think if people are
down on Richie or thinking that he's not as good
as he once thought, then might be good to send
an offer over there, especially because this guy is going
to play. He's going to have the opportunity. They don't
have a ton of other options in New York and
the Isles, so I think Richie is a good person
to get your hands on. Looking at the top down
hockey models, nine percent chance of being a star, sixty
one percent chance of being an NHL or so, all
of that is a little bit more pessimistic. I think
there's more upside than that. But what else can you
expect from j Fresh there? That's all for the Isles dig.
If you're a patron, you can listen to my top
ten prospects recap, including all the information around the draft
that we will be talking about once we know who
the Aisles do select, so he'll be covered in that
sense and in terms of the rest of the stuff.
If you're interested in scouting, or shoot me a DM
on Twitter or email us.
Speaker 2: We'll be right beck. To close off the show, Fantasy
Hockey Life, he is sponsored by fan Tracks. You can
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it's going to be a good time for you. When
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So I recommend you do that. There's all the different
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Can you believe that we play We play all the
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On the regular tim Ay has been going nuts putting
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A lot to do to get all the Scotty reports together.
Believe me, we're in peak season right now. Mike, Steven
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ranks and visualizations, and if you'd like to help more
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It is an ideal time. Yeah, I know July might
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an editor there. You can follow his work. I do
a solo show called Dynasty Sports Life. We talk about
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planning to record an episode and it will include talk
about the Columbus Blue Jackets because we do something called
a four sport draft where we pick among the city
Blender which means the three Cleveland teams and the Columbus
Blue Jackets who would be like best in Dynasty, from
regular players, for prospects, for old sleepers, that type of thing.
You might enjoy it. Give it a listen Dynasty Sports Life,
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Twelve Rate Review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever else you
get your pods. Thank you for listening. Sorry for the
confusion about Dobson and the draft picks, but I still
think you're going to enjoy this as a healthy, wholesome
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