The Athletic Hockey Show - Michigan torches Bowling Green, Calder Trophy picks, NHL teams whose prospects will take them to the next level this season, and much more

Episode Date: October 8, 2021

First, Max and Corey talk about the Michigan Wolverines, featuring a lineup with four of the top five picks in the 2021 NHL Draft, torching the Bowling Green Falcons 7-1 in an exhibition game last weekend, expectations this season for Owen Power, Matty Beniers, Luke Hughes, and Kent Johnson, and how the year could play out in Michigan.Then, the guys dive into the Calder Trophy debate and discuss a bunch of potential nominees, including frontrunners Cole Caufield and Trevor Zegras, as well as Spencer Knight, Jamie Drysdale, Lucas Raymond, Shane Pinto, and Alex Nedeljkovic, and make their picks for who will actually win the award.Plus, to close things out, the guys discuss the NHL teams whose prospects could really propel their respective organizations to the next level this season, including the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, and Los Angeles Kings.Join The Athletic Hockey Show’s official fantasy hockey pool on OfficePools.com: http://www.officepools.com/invite/classic/m/HAFE2H6QAnd, right now, you can save 50% on an annual subscription to The Athletic when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, everybody. Max Boltman here, alongside Corey Prondman, back with another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's prospect series. Today we're going to be wrapping up Storylines Week here on the Athletic Hockey Show. Got some fun stuff to talk about. We're going to talk about our Calder finalists. We're going to talk about prospect pools that we think are going to break out. This is going to be our last episode for a few weeks here. We're just going to take a quick hiatus while the season gets underway. So we're really going to set the stage for everything we're going to be watching for throughout the start of the season here. and really most of the season in the prospect realm.

So I'm looking forward to today's show. And Corey, we're going to start off with some college hockey, actually, because one of the most interesting prospect teams in the world is right up the road from me at the University of Michigan, where there's four of the top five picks from last year's draft, a bunch of first rounders on that team, and they are just starting to get underway. Yeah, the University of Michigan played against Bowling Green in an exhibition game, so that did not count towards their standings last Saturday, where they won seven to one.

And even though it was an exhibition game, it was a very interesting game for people across the hockey world to observe because of the abundance of talent on that team. You mentioned the four top five picks. Owen Power, number one to Buffalo, Matthew Bedeers, second to Seattle, Luke Hughes, who went four to New Jersey, and then Kent Johnson, who went five.

to Columbus. Baneers and Johnson played on a line together, and Power played huge minutes, and Luke Hughes was also a prominent part of that team, and it was just a very exciting team to watch for those reasons. You're just seeing the type of skill and hockey sense on this team to go with guys like Power and Hughes who have tremendous skating ability and power size. is a variable. And you were also interested in, you know, Thomas Borlo and Brendan Bresson. Brasson, I thought, had one of his best games I've ever seen him in a Michigan sweater. And that's with the caveat that John Beecher, a first round picked by Boston,

and Mackie Sanfiskevich, a first round picked by Florida, were not even playing in that game. And yet it still felt like Michigan had the puck the entire time. Bowling Green is not expected to be a top five or top 10 team in the NCAA this season. but there's still a program that's used to playing competitive hockey, particularly one that tends to be a little bit on the older side, so it can push some of the more skilled rosters. And it just felt like Michigan was in control for large portions of that game.

Well, it's huge, when you talk about Brassan having one of his better games, I mean, he's a guy who has a big shot. But when you look at where this team could really take a step forward, if he takes a step forward and he's able to be a goal scorer on that, team. You know, last year, a lot of the standouts, he gets overshadowed a little bit by Thomas Bordolo, by Ken Johnson, by Matthew Baneers. You add him in there as a sophomore year. If he makes that sophomore leap, I mean, I know probably a lot of our listeners care about these guys primarily as NHL prospects, but for a team in Michigan, that's a huge difference maker

to have a guy who's going to be that level of finisher taking kind of that next step. Yeah, and I think he's got really good skill in hockey sense. He can see the ice very well, too. I think when you actually watch the power play, he was the guy on the half wall. When you think of all the options they have there to be given the half wall option is a huge sign of confidence by the coach staff. We'll see if that changed when Samaskiewicz comes in or not. But I thought he was really impressive. I thought, you know, not surprisingly, oh, and power was extremely impressive in that game. Even though Luke Hughes did not get the prime power play time, I thought, you know, he had a positive game.

game and just in general, they are just a fun team to watch. You know, I was talking to scouts who were watching that game and we all kind of shared a similar sentiment that we were watching the game, but it was almost as much entertainment for us as sports are for a lot of people, you know, but as it was us, you know, trying to watch the players and learn about the players because it's, it was just that kind of game. There's a Globetrotter effect when those guys go out on the power play where you're just kind of looking to see. It's not even so much, are they going to be dangerous? It's like, what are they going to do to be dangerous? Or how are they going to make this look? I mean, there was one sequence on

one of the Brasson goals. I think it was Johnson, who's on the left flank. He goes behind the back to power. Power slides it right across to Brasson. Brasson wires it into the net. And it's, you know, my friends, I went to Michigan, right? So my friends in my college DMs are like sending this clip like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. And it's like that might be what it's like for those guys all year this year. Yeah, I mean, you're kind of hoping they're going to be the Tampa of a lightning of college hockey. That's right. The power play.

You know, well, you don't want to get too excited about a team based on one exhibition game. You might recall they, they crushed ASU last year. And that was a regulation game. That was a real game. Yeah. And ASU was a solid team that season. They weren't a top team, but they were, you know, they weren't a team that got

ruled over by everybody. It's a long season. We'll see what happens when they get into the conference games. When they got to go up against a team like Minnesota, for example, or when they go to the icebreaker. turning out. I think they're playing out of the Deluxe of Providence in one of those games. Those are good teams. We'll see how that goes. Great coaches on both teams, too. I mean, those teams are going to come to know how to defend skill. Yeah. Well, also, one of those coaches is the world

junior coach. That's right. Yeah, Matthew Baneers has a pretty distinct interest in playing well in that game and Thomas Bordolo as well and Bresan as well. Well, Prasn actually aged out of the world juniors. Oh, did he? Okay. Yeah, at a late birthday. But, yeah, we'll see how. We'll see how the entire season goes and one game does not predictive of how an entire season is there's going to be times where they're not going to score and there's going to be games where they score a lot and the most talented team in college hockey does not always win particularly win in the playoffs in the national championship game and primarily due to the fact that those are single elimination events and also that it tends college hockey tends to have some pretty

significant age differences at times between teams, and those can be variables. You look at the UMass team that won the title last year. They had some really talented players. Zach Jones is a very talented player. Mark Del Geisel was a nice prospect for Nashville. Philip Lindberg was a very solid college goalie prospect. Is he going to be a good pro-time hotel. They had some really nice college players like Trevigno, but this wasn't what you think of a team

full of first and second round picks. You could argue Zach Jones could have gone there. a redraft, but that wasn't what the roster was composed of. And that's a lot of what winning college hockey teams tend to look like. So I'll be interested to see if this Michigan team can buck that trend. I think sometimes people like myself and others tend to overhype college hockey teams that have the great recruiting classes when that's not always predictive of collegiate success. But I think this Michigan team has a chance at least to buck that trend.

Well, it's just a rare opportunity, too, to have this kind of Ross. I mean, realistically, Baneers and Power could be in the NHL right now, and it wouldn't have surprised many people had they been just, you know, in broad strokes of kind of their readiness as players, especially Baneers' situation in Seattle. Like, that's an expansion team. It wouldn't have been shocking for a number two overall pick to step right into the NHL. It's a big opportunity for Michigan to have a group like this and get these guys in second year. I also think it's a big opportunity for an Owen power.

Given what you just mentioned, to go up against teams that maybe are older and maybe built more like these veteran-laden teams, I think that's a really good opportunity and good challenge for him to face that kind of competition and try to be a more veteran player than his maybe years in order to drive a winning team. Yeah. We'll see how power plays against some of the better teams. But I thought just versus Bowling Green, I didn't think he dominated the game. But there were just a couple of select moments in that game, whether it was the power. play assist you mentioned or just like defensive plays where any other defender looks beat and he just skates back easily, knocks the puck away with his long reach and his, and with how quick, quick he moves and it just eliminates chances so easily gets the puck away back up the ice.

I think he's going to be such a force in college hockey this season as you would expect for a first overall pick. And this is a unique opportunity to watch this team, but Michigan continues to recruit. All indications are that Luke Hughes is still going to be there in his second year at Michigan. And then they're probably going to bring in Ann Fantilli the next season, who has a really strong chance to be, you know, top five, top three, maybe even our first overall pick in the 2023 draft to go with some other strong recruits. They just recruited somebody from the Tri-City Storm, Gavin Brindley,

who I really like. He's got a chance to be a top two-round pick in the 20th. redraft. To go with what I presume will still be some good players who will be left there, Staviskevich, I presume will still be there. Dylan Duke will probably still be there. So I don't think this Michigan, the eyes on the Michigan hockey team are going away anytime soon.

Absolutely. All right. Now I want to get into kind of more of the NHL side of these prospects. And we do focus a lot on the draft and drafted prospects who haven't yet been in the NHL yet. But there's going to be some really interesting names breaking into the NHL this year, Corey. and that means the Calder debate kind of could be a fun one this year. I think for me, you look at a guy like Cole Coughfield who broke in and got a little bit of,

a lot of run, actually, in the playoffs from Montreal last season. And it's easy for me to look at it and say, going into the year, that's probably the guy who I would call the favorite for this award. But you can go down the list, and you can see a lot of guys from his draft class, frankly, whether it's Trevor Zegris, Matt Boldie Spencer Knight, you get into some of the more recent ones. Jamie Drysdale, Moritz, Cider. you look at Alexander Holtz, even some older players,

Zach Jones, Shane Pinto, we don't know what Quentin Byfield's health is right now. This could be a really interesting rookie class in the NHL. Yeah, and you've got a couple of teams there that have a combination of guys because you have Anaheim with Driesdale and Zegrois. You have Detroit with Raymond and Sider.

We'll see in Florida what happens with Spencer Knight and Antona Lundell. I don't know if either they're guaranteed to get a lot of ice time this season, but we'll see how, their seasons go. With the Rangers, you know, will Zach Jones be the guy? Will Nealzunfus be the guy who takes him that second power play unit ice time?

You know, we'll have to see how those things progress over the course of the season. I think you're definitely right to highlight Cole Coffield because he played so well in the playoffs last year. And I think a big part of projecting who's going to win the Calder is opportunity. You know, Cole Coffield looks like he's going to have every opportunity to be a top six forward with power play time this season. I have a hard time seeing someone like, say, a Bowen Byram getting the big minutes in Colorado to elevate his way into the Calder conversation, even though I think Bowen Byram is an excellent prospect. Whereas in Detroit, there are roster spots for the taking for Lucas, Raymond, and Mort Seider to come in,

and the same thing in Anaheim with Zegra's in Drysdale. Yeah, and Raymond one is interesting. I mean, he's a guy who I don't know that I went into the preseason expecting that he was going to get a roster spot. Part of that is because we didn't know yet that Jacob Verona was having shoulder surgery that was going to take him out of the lineup for the first four months of the season. But part of it's that Raymond has had the kind of, you know, kicked the door down preseason so far that I think he was going to need to have to make the team. And there's still preseason left. He's not made the team yet. But he's got six points in three games. He's looked pretty consistently dangerous watching him.

He's been a big help on their power play. if he makes the team, it's probably in a top six deployment. It's probably in a potentially first power play role that those things can become pretty predictive of Calder opportunity. Yeah. And a preseason doesn't always translate into the national hockey league regular season. There's a long list of guys who do well in the preseason. And then when the lines are full of all the six one, six two guys who can fly and are

competing as hard as they can every night, all of a sudden, that preseason started than look as shiny anymore. You know, it's why between those two guys, just because Sider is older and stronger and seems a little bit ahead of Raymond in the S.H.L. Last season, it's why I would probably say, between the two of them, I would presume Sider's going to have more NHL success this season.

But Raymond's preseason is been really interesting. I mean, when you watch, say, him or William Eklund in the S.H.L. last season, I would put my money on Eklund being the one to break through because I thought his skating was such a differentiator, and I thought he played a little bit better versus men last season, but it might end up with both of them making the actual hockey league and seeing how they do. I said there's always a kind of a pretty big jump from the preseason

to the regular season, so we'll see how it goes. But I love Lucas Raymond. His skill level is truly a lead. He can make a ton of plays. His shot as a weapon, his vision is a major weapon. It's just going to be a question of whether he can adjust to the pace of the NHL when the games become real. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to turn this into a Detroit Lucas Raymond thing, but just to kind of put the bow on him.

Like to me, it's really been his instincts in his sense that I mean, the skill obviously, yes. But he's making these opportunities with these seam passes on the power play across the slot that are almost no look passes. He's getting on pucks quick and getting them onto the net. Like it's been a really interesting overall package that you've seen from him that when you think the game really well, it can mitigate some pace issues or not even pace issues, but just raw speed issues, I should. say. Yeah. And then the other team that would be really interesting, I think, from a culture perspective is Anaheim. Yeah. Because with Drysdale and with Ziegress there, you know, we're expecting big things. Drysdale still has another year of World Junior eligibility left, but it's hard to imagine him playing at this summer's world, at this winter's

world juniors because of how good he was as a pro last season at the American League level. And then he goes to the NHL. It doesn't play tremendous, but for an 18-year-old, I thought he was much more than competent. He looked like he at least belonged in the league. So I think, you know, in Anaheim, I don't think they're going to be a playoff team this year. I don't think they're going to take a huge step forward.

But I think you're looking at those two. And as a Ducks fan and hoping that they at least show you some signs of better days ahead. The one thing I'll say about the Calder voting and not being on a playoff team is that I don't think it gets held to quite the same standard of needing to come from a playoff team as maybe the heart or the Norris does and that helps. But being on a playoff team just helps your exposure. Like when you're Anaheim, you're not going to, number one, you're already playing a bunch of 10 PM games, which does hurt. I think West Coast players sometimes. Like it's just harder to get in front of the eyes, especially for a player like Drysdale who maybe, you know, his game is, he's obviously a beautiful skater.

but he's not necessarily going to be on every single highlight reel in the way that even his own teammate and Trevor Zegris might or like Cala McCar was two nights ago. Sometimes he will because the skating pops that much, but you got to get in front of eyeballs too. And I think that's where being on a non-playoff team can hurt guys. That could be about Detroit. That could be about Anaheim. That could be about San Jose. That could be about a lot of these guys. Yeah, and I think defensemen just generally have uphill battles.

Trevor Zegers is probably the opposite. He is the highlight real variety. I think there's a path for him to win the Calder Trophy. but that's why I would look there are some guys who are you know down maybe not as quite as talented as say Bowen Byron or J.B. Drystale as players

but you know there there's a path there for maybe Carter McMichael in Washington or Shane Pinto in Ottawa if they make their teams if they end up in a middle six role if they're getting points if they're on the power play I think there's a path for both of them potentially have you know

maybe not win the call there but be like top five get top five votes for those very reasons that you alluded to. Last year, the Calder Trophy, obviously, Carrel Caprisoff, I think very well deserved. There's another guy in Minnesota this year who I think could be a dark horse, and that's Matthew Boldie. First of all, do we think Matthew Boldie is going to make Minnesota's opening night roster? It seems like there isn't, you know, isn't an extremely young roster. I don't see Matthew Boldie and Marco Rossi and Adam Beckman making that team. It's probably just going to be one of those three guys.

my bet right now is towards boldly, but given how well he did versus pros last season, if he's not the guy, and I can easily see him be the guy that comes up in the middle of the season, if there's an injury or something along those lines, I think he's really close. And how good he was versus men last season, the skating is going to be the concern

when he gets to the NHO season games. How quickly does he transition to the pace? I don't think he's not going to be a very good player long term, but there might be that initial transition period. but if he does, I think he has more than enough skill in hockey sense to be in that type of conversation if he's able to elevate into a top nine rule from Minnesota. And then I think you mentioned him a little bit earlier, but one of the more exciting young teams in the NHL this year is going to be the Ottawa Senators. And Shane Pinto would be kind of the rookie to watch when it comes to the Calder conversation this year. The 32nd overall pick, so the first pick of the second round just a couple years ago, really, really good the last two years.

at North Dakota came up seven points in 12 games last year for the senators. I mean, Shane Pinto, if he gets the opportunity, is a guy who I think there could be some buzz for. Yeah, and he's looked really good in the preseason too, carrying over from what you saw in the NHL last season. And I think there's deserving attention for Pinto, very well-rounded player. He's got great individual skill, great hockey sense. He can score tough goals.

He's a very reliable two-way centers. skating's just okay but I think he's shown so far that the pace of the NHL has not that big of an issue for him at this current stage in his development and given kind of you know building all the points you've already said in terms of opportunity there is roster spots here in Ottawa and I believe there is I didn't get the exact details but things like Colin White might have some injury concerns there too now so that it just creates more opportunity there for him to get extended ice time and be an important part of this team and potentially enter the Calder discussion. Among the centers, I think you're kind of looking at,

I don't know if McMichael is necessarily going to play center this year in Washington, but if he makes the team, Connor McMichael and Anton Lindell, a couple of guys who maybe are a little further down the radar of guys people are talking about for this, probably because Lindel only kind of just got back on the ice, but what do you think of their candidacies, respectively? Yeah, those are good teams that they're both part of in terms of, in terms of the overall rosters, it's going to be harder to snag away top nine forward roles,

a harder stack away power time roles, particularly in Florida, as opposed more than Washington. Florida was such a deep offensive team last season, and, you know, Sam Bennett seems to have rediscovered himself there. We'll see whether that carries over to this season. So I don't know.

Maybe Lundell has to play in Syracuse for a period of time. Maybe not. We'll kind of see how they plan to use them. But I see McMichael having an opportunity there in Washington. They aren't, I believe, fully healthy yet either. And McMichael was so, you know, impressive last year versus men. He's been, you know, was great as a junior. Their size and skating's always been a concern with him,

but he just scores wherever he goes and shows great individual creativity. It wouldn't surprise me as a 20-year-old if he steps in and shows he can play in the National Hockey League. Do we need to be talking about Hendricks-Lapierre in that conversation for the Capitals as well? they both had good camps. I would expect, if it comes down to one of the two, it's going to be McMichael because LaPier still has junior eligibility. But after what I thought was not, you know, was a good, not amazing QMJL season,

it is good to see. And also when he went to his U-20, camp didn't really hear a ton of positive comments from scouts about him at that camp. It is good to see that he's had a very strong preseason with Washington. When was the last time a goalie won the Calder Trophy? I'm thinking back, is it Steve Mason, 0809? Is that the last goalie we had here, win the Calder? That would be.

And, you know, it's always tough trying to project, you know, the rookie goaltenders because playing times such a big component. It helps a little bit, unfortunately for Florida fans, that Sergey Borowski has not been the most reliable goaltender the last couple of years. So you can envision a way that Spencer Knight gets 25 games, 30 games, 40 games with Florida. The thing about Spencer Knight, protecting him to be that echelon of player, is that I don't think he's going to be that good that quickly, even though I think Spencer Knight is an absolutely fantastic prospect. Just the track record of 20-year-old goalies playing at that level is almost non-existent in the National Hockey League. John Gibson had to play a full year in the American League.

Andre Vasseleski played a full year in the American League. Robin Lainer played a full year in the American League Jacob Markstrom was one of the most premium goalie prospects going back about 10, 15 years ago took years in the American League before he came up. So a

20-year-old actually breaking in and making an impact is almost unprecedented. I think it's like Mark Andre Fleury. I think Carrie Price would be the exact last one who did that. And I'm not sure I'm ready to say extension is going to have the trajectory of Carrie Price.

I think he's an excellent goalie prospect. If I think a goalie who's going to have success, it probably would be Alex Adelkevich, who by some technicality appears to still be called or eligible. That's correct. Yeah, he did not play, I think it's 25 games that he would have needed to play last year. And he came in just under that.

So even though Alex Adelkevich was already a Calder finalist, because he only played 23 games last season, he is eligible again. Now, what I wonder, like, if you're a vote, I am a voter. or so I guess maybe I should ask this of myself. Like, how does it color, you're eligible. But if someone was a finalist last year,

I wonder how it colors voters, like, predispositions to put a guy on their ballot or not. It'll be interesting. I would hope that people would just vote for the best player. But I, if there might be some biases, if it comes to that, and that Nadelcovic has another good season and has earned consideration,

especially since we imagine he, but play a lot more than he did last season too. If he, you know, he's the guy in Detroit right now. And if he has a good year, you're looking at a 50, 60 game season likely for him. And it's going to be hard to avoid this conversation.

It is. And I can just say for myself, I fully plan to consider everyone who is, who meets the criteria, you know, equally without, without it. But it is one of those narrative elements that I think,

you know, at least you have to talk about whether or not could play a factor. Oh, yeah. I mean, we deal with this every year with the older player, like the Russians. Right, the Russians, yes. Yeah, I have to, like, you know, I have to deal with the nonsense for people who are like, oh, it's not fair that Kappersov is eligible.

It's like, well, if you don't think it's fair, change the rules. That's right. You know, the rules are the rules. But, yes, it does play into people's, it will play into people, it might play to people's biases. Anyways, Kappersov still ran away with it last year, even though there were those oppositions to his claim to the Calder. Yep, yep. All right.

So, with that. that we've discussed a lot of the candidates, Corey. Give me your top three going into the year. Obviously, we're not voting on who deserves it. We're saying on who you're predicting we'll finish in the top three. Yeah, it's going to be, I would say, tough for me to see a way, even though I think guys like Sider and Drysdale are excellent, excellent prospects, it's going to just be tough for them to have the kind of offense.

It's going to be required of them to be in that conversation. So my number one candidate would be Trevor Zegris. I think he's going to have a fantastic season. I think he's going to, even though he is playing on the West Coast, and it's probably not going to be a strong Anaheim team. I think he is the guy who was most likely to pop to become an impact player in the national hockey league next season. And right behind him, not surprisingly,

is his fellow NTP teammate and World Junior teammate for two years and Cole Cawfield. Hard to bet against a guy who just went to the state. Stanley Cup final was an important part of why the went to the Stanley Cup final, I don't know if he's going to have, I think the hype machine probably got a little too much behind him, but that's fine. I mean, he's played so

well to deserve it. I think he's going to have a very good year. In terms of a goal expectation, I'd say 25, but maybe he could, maybe he could hit like 27, 28 too, which I think, I know I'm sure people are, well, why didn't you say 35? I want to say 40. Well, 28 would be like a really, you know,

that'd be among what, that's second or on almost any team in the national hockey league. Correct. For a rookie, that would be a very excellent season. And that's a guy that I would bet big on. Quentin Bifield could have been in that mix for me. But because of his injury, it's tough to see him, you know, elevating to that level. And, you know, until we know more.

As we're recording this last night was the night of the injury. And we really don't have much more to go off. off then. And if we really kind of want to go, you know, for maybe someone that may be, you know, non-conventional, I'm going to say William Eclinch for the, for the, for the number three. I think San Jose is not going to be very good. He will have a lot of opportunity. I think he's an excellent player. And he's looked very good in the preseason so far. I think his skill set translates to the NHL very well. I'm going to go with with Caulfield at number one. I really think it, you know, on a team in Montreal that's going to be, I still think a good team. I don't know

if they're a playoff team, but they're still going to be a good team, a lot of exposure. I think he's going to play a prominent role. I think he's going to score a lot of goals. He's my preseason number one, followed by Zegris, who I just think is going to be such a fun, highlight, real kind of playmaker. And I'm going to go with Shane Pinto at number three. It's a little bit of a dark course. I think the opportunity is there in Ottawa.

And I think that's going to be a really fun team. A lot of young players and just a fun team to follow the entire season. So you're scorning your readers by not putting cider in there. Well, I'm not going to make a homer pick on the national show here. Plus, we don't even know that he's on the roster yet. I do think he's been really good. If he makes the roster and he's on the first power play and in the top six, he's going to be a contender.

But for right now, I'm going to stick with Shane Pinto at 3. And for the same thing, with Drysdale, with Cider and maybe even like a Thomas Harley, if he would to make the Dallas, like getting first power play opportunity for a defenseman is very difficult. You know, does he going to take away Hironix Ice Time? Is Drysdale going to take away ice time from some of those other defensemen in Anaheim who are a little bit more established? Obviously in Dallas, they have Klingberg and Hayskin in there.

So for defensemen, it could be because there's only one defenseman on the powerpoint traditionally, it's tougher for those guys to elevate into those type of roles. Yeah, I would say of the Detroit guys, if Raymond makes the roster, I think he's got a better called or shot, partly just because of the deployment opportunity than Sider would, even though we don't know for sure that Raymond's on it yet, and we're pretty convinced that Sider will be. I might even say Raymond's odds are a little better. All right, let's move now into our last segment for today.

And in the intro, I think I called it prospect pools we think will take a step forward. But what we're really going to talk about is teams that we think are going to take a step forward this year on the backs of their prospect pools. Like young groups of talent that we think are going to propel NHL teams to take a step this year. And I think that conversation really has to start with the New York Rangers. Yeah, the New York Rangers have had, you know, they've won several lottery picks with Alexei Lefrenier with the first overall pick a couple years ago. Cape Ococo with a second picked years before that. And it's not just those two guys, although those two are the main discussion points with this team.

This is now a team that wasn't bad last year. They weren't great, but they weren't bad. They were one of the leading, you know, goal scoring teams in the league two years before that. And now, you know, you look at the success that they had with a stirkid and net. You look at some of the young talent. They have, you know, a decent group of veterans around that. young talent and the question is is this the year the Rangers take the step forward

and I think there is definitely a path to them to become a playoff team and maybe even make a little bit of noise in the playoffs may not be a contender but at least be a formidable team and that has to start with Lefrenier and Kock were taking a step forward both of them I think have similar questions both of them I think are incredibly skilled players intelligent players who can score and are competitive but both have had struggles with the speed of the National Hockey League. Their skating was always kind of the concern when you watch them in their draft years. And sometimes those guys just take more time.

Everybody has a weakness, and sometimes it's the skating for some players. But if you kind of look historically at players who may not have exceptional skating as teenagers, those guys just need typically time for their bodies to mature, for them to adjust to the speed of the level. the body is an important component because you need to be able to win battles. If you can't blow by guys, you've got to be able to at least muscle your way through some puck battles to win along the boards around the net if you get challenged off the rush. And I think with those guys, it's just going to take some time. And it's why, you know, I'm not sure it's going to be this year,

but I can see a path where they pop this season. I think the Rangers in general are going to take a step this year. And I do think both of those guys you just mentioned are driving forces as to why. I just think with Kako, there's too much talent there. This will be year three now in the league for him. I think he should be comfortable enough, know enough. The ways to kind of be able to make an impact in spite of not being a burner, right? Like, I think he can use his body.

He's strong. I think he's able to protect the puck and use the skill. And that combination, I think he's just going to help him win a lot down low. And so when you have that, he's going to make plays. I think he's going to finish plays. And he's, I think, one of the breakout player can. It's along with the guy who went right ahead of him, Jack Hughes, in that draft. to me, and we can kind of jump off right from there to go into New Jersey because really they're right in that same tier of team that has the potential to jump into the playoffs this year, driven largely by guys like Jack Hughes and Ty Smith.

You know, you could see Alexander Holtz at some point this year. You could see Dawson Mercer at some point this year. Yeah, you know, if you look at Don's projections at our website, he kind of sees them as one of those teams that will take a big step this year. I think he has him as either a bubble. I think he hasn't as a bubble playoff team right now. Part of that is because they added Dougie Hamilton during the offseason. But I think there's going to be some big steps from some of those young guys, in particular Jack Hughes.

Ty Smith got a little injured here in the preseason. I think the hope is he won't be out too too long. But when he comes back and they have more of a healthy roster, you know, I think there could be some success for this team. You know, with Jack, the question hasn't been on the tower. He's an exceptional skater. He has great individual skill in playmaking ability. He's not the biggest guy, but I think he's shown he can create a lot of chances in the NHL.

The question with Jack has just been, can he finish at even an average NHL ability? You know, because if he does that, I think he's going to score a lot of goals. And it's the only thing is some secondary scoring. And Ty Smith is close to as good as he was last year to be like, a nice second best defenseman behind Dougie Hamilton, at least offensively, they've got weapons to work with now. Yeah, and with Hughes you talk about just finishing at an average level,

that really is the key because he's going to create so many opportunities that you can just play the percentages with him. Like he's going to create enough dangerous chances that a 10% shooting percentage or on-ice shooting percentage results in a lot of points for Jack Hughes, but you've got to be able to be at that average level to expect to be able to play the percentages that way. Yeah, and you hope over time it works out that way. He's never really been the biggest goal scoring threat ever in his life,

but I think they've just got to hope, like, he doesn't improve to being a truly dangerous goal score. He's just got to be able to convert enough of the scoring chances. He converts up of his skating primarily to maybe if he adds five, ten more goals last year, even if it's like five to seven, I don't think we're looking at his season last year and nearly the same lens as has probably been discussed, because his assist rate was rather solid

and his play driving was rather solid, I thought. And with New Jersey, they have a lot of young depth, but I would say the difference between them and the Rangers is there's a little bit of a time frame difference there. I think you look at the Rangers with where Keandre Miller was last year where he was so excellent. And you think that whether it's Zach Jones or Niels Lungfist, maybe even Brayden Schneider, the young goalie, shishishish jerkin,

they seem maybe a year or two ahead in the time frame right now. And obviously, you'll help having guys like Panarin and Zabanajana and others helps with their time frame a little bit. But I think there is some real depth there with the Rangers terms of the young players. We haven't talked about Vitalik-Crafts. He had a top 10 pick. We'll see whether he has an impact this year or not. Whereas the devil, I think they're just hoping for progress from the bottom to, you know,

at least maybe being in a playoff discussion at some points this year, even if they don't make it at least look like you're threatening at some point. If I gave you the choice between those two, one of them makes the playoffs where you taken? Oh, and that's exactly. I think the Rangers are ahead. They just have more pieces there right now. I think the question for me would be phrased differently. I would phrase, what's more likely the Rangers being a top three seed in their division or the devil's making the playoffs? I think that would be a more interesting debate. But I think long term, if you look at the talent in both of those organizations, I think the young talent is kind of similar. The range has a few more veterans.

Devils have maybe cut up a little bit with the addition of Dougie Hamilton. But I think both of those organizations are definitely trending in a very good direction. All right. A couple organizations that I think are going to maybe be a little more dependent on purely their young talent. That's the Ottawa Senators and the Los Angeles Kings. Los Angeles Kings do still have Anzee Kopitar. and Drew Dowdy. I don't want to let those guys get lost in here. But especially when you look at the Ottawa Senators, I think we're at a point now where, you know, we'll see where the Brady

Kachuk contract situation goes, but those young guys are driving the bus in Ottawa. Yeah, I mean, you have Brady, you have Tim Stutzler, you have Josh Norris and Drake Batherson there now, all of which are extremely important players for that team. Shane Pinto, as we discussed earlier, we expect will become a notable part of their lineup this season. this is a year that I think you are hoping that Ottawa shows some progress. I don't think realistically you can look at them and say this is a playoff team now. They're probably still way too young and they didn't have a bad year last year. They weren't a top.

They weren't a playoff team obviously. They weren't at the bottom of the barrel though. So I think you kind of hope for a little bit of progression there. Playoffs may be too much to ask, but I think if they go on some runs here or there, They have some nice stretches where they look dangerous. Maybe they finish a couple of points away from the playoffs, whether it's five to ten. I think you can call that for its successful year. And then once you see the signs of that, if you're Ottawa, if you have that kind of progression this year where maybe you get closer to the playoffs, maybe an inch right up to there, you can start sending the singles that, okay, now it's time to start adding external pieces.

It's time to start going after free agents and spending money, which I know has always been an issue there. because this is the time now. The key for me with Ottawa really is going to come down to a lot of Josh Norris, and if he's ready to be kind of the guy for them. And if he is, then, you know, I still don't think they're a playoff team. I think that division is too stacked up top with Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Florida. I don't think Ottawa was better than Montreal. Like, to me, there's no road to the playoffs for the senators realistically.

But I do think there's a real road to, like, putting themselves on the doorstep. And a lot of it, I think, goes through Josh Norris. The center position is so important. And I mean, Shane Pinto obviously can be a factor there too. But with Norris, what he showed last year, if he takes a little more step, I think you're all of a sudden talking about a team that knows where it's going down the middle. And to me, that's maybe the biggest question that an NHL team has. I think Josh Norris is a potential answer.

But I think he needs to show it this year to really feel good about Ottawa, maybe a year from now talking about where we're talking about New Jersey. Yeah. I currently project Norris as a first line center, but he hasn't. And he came, he had a really good year last year, but you can't say he had no doubt he's a first line center kind of production year, which is fine, still rather young. He looked at what he did his first pro year, fantastic year in the American League. Then he follows up with a very solid rookie NHL season. You're right.

What he does this year will be a very important defining moment for them and figuring out what their centers of the future really look like. And it may not be this year far away. Like you kind of like that, I agree. They're probably not in the playoffs this year. But you want to see the progress from those guys because then you could, like I said, you could start adding externally. And there's more guys coming. You know, they have already in the pro level, Jacob Bernard Docker, Lassie Thompson, you know, Eor Sokolov, who probably is starting the minors. I think Alex Formanton could be an important player for them this season.

And then you have a top five pick in Jake Sanderson, who's going to turn pro likely at the end of the year. And then Ridley Gregg, who I think is also a very important prospect. likely joining the team next year. So I think realistically it's not the playoffs, but I think you're hoping two years, three years, you're starting to have that conversation there. Honestly, things can turn fast, but you need a couple guys to pop big.

Whether it's Norris, whether it's Stutzler, whether it's Sanderson walking in and having like a Miro Hayskin and like impact, those things can change your timeline fast, but you kind of have to wait for them to happen to count on it. Yeah, maybe not hate. Nate, will he have that kind of offense? You know, we'll see.

But yes, if he could be like Hayeskin, if he'd be like McAvoy, it would go a long way. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Shifting gears to Los Angeles. And I said driven by the young guys, you know, maybe I'm even a year ahead on saying that because even as we talk about quitting byfield and we don't know where his leg stands, this is still a team where I think your best players are still Kopitar, a couple guys out of this off season, Victor Arverson, Philip, De No.

Alex, I follow certainly in that conversation. well, they sign Alex Edler. But I think you're starting to see the entry of one of the NHL's best farm systems. You're starting to see a lot of them enter the NHL now. And Gabe Volardi, obviously, has been there for a little bit. We'll see whether Byfield's there. Mikey Anderson is there. You're going to start to see Tobias Bjornfoot, potentially Alex Turcop. I don't know where Arthur Calliav's timeline is. But when we talk about LA, I think this is a year that you're going to start to see a lot of the most exciting young prospects in this farm system. Yeah, I think L.A. is in a different spot

from the other three teams we've discussed so far in Ottawa, New Jersey, New York, where the young players are there, the prominent roles on the team. You're expecting them to be a big part of why you're better this season and the season after. I think L.A. is a little bit behind them in the timeline. I think L.A. has

accumulated all the talent. It had a bunch of draft picks, high draft picks. And I think you're hoping this season that you're starting to see a glimpse of the progress. I think you're hoping that by A lot of these guys go to Ontario in the American League and have lots of success and start to push some of the veterans for Ice Time. You know, there are some young players on the team that have been impressive.

You mentioned Björn Fitch. You mentioned Mikey Anderson. I think, you know, I think you're hoping Gabe Belior takes a step this year. Leas Anderson, who was a top 10 pick acquired from the New York Rangers, who was not having much success with the New York Rangers or division at all, had a nice season last year with the Kings, has had a good. preseason and you know not all these young guys are going to hit but you're with LA has seemed to accumulate so many of them that you know if say a rass you know picking on somebody for no for no parent reason let's say a Rasmus Kapari doesn't work out who's a first round

pick who I do like a lot you hope maybe it's leas Anderson or Mikey or Mikey Anderson or someone like a Jared Arison Dolan who who evened that out and so yeah I don't know if you're going to see massive production from the young guys this year at the National Hockey League level. But I think after having so many draft picks the last couple of years, if you're a Kings fan, you're hoping to see some steps forward right now at the American League level and then hopefully by mid-year and towards the end of the year at the NHL level. What's interesting to me about LA's situation is that I actually think, you know, I'm not going to say that they are a playoff team, but there's a path to the playoffs.

in that division, part of it depends on what you make a Seattle and how good they're going to be right away. But to me, out west, it starts with Vegas, obviously, and then it's a lot of questions. Yeah, and obviously Dom's model seems very optimistic about Seattle. I'm not quite sure. I share his enthusiasm for that roster, but I think that, you know, it's definitely not a bottom feet of roster, I don't think. They should have some success this season. It's kind of funny you mentioned the thing about their division is that if you almost talk to anybody who works at any capacity with those teams they all mention that you know they'll also say we have a chance because of this division so that can't apply to everybody somebody's gonna

lose games but yes the division is definitely very weak right now and you know will it be the kings will it be the sharks you know it's going to be tough for either of them but somebody's got to win games and time will tell over the course of the season who those teams are. All right. So they get at least three playoff teams. Let's run through these really quick and say who you're taking as the three playoff teams. So Vegas obviously is going to be one of them. Are you taking Vancouver as one of them?

So, you know, obviously Vancouver has some very interesting players in terms of, you know, obviously they have, I think Quinn Hughes will take some big steps this season. I still think he was really good offensively the last season. His defense is never going to be what gets you excited about him because of his size, but I think he won't be as bad defensively as he was last year. I think he can elevate into a premium role in that regard. So I could see Vancouver becoming a playoff team in that division. after that though

and then I presume Edmonton would be the other one because after that now you start talking about Arizona who will obviously be a bottom feeder and Anaheim it's hard to see them being a playoff team Calgary is the one that's probably the most interesting between those

it probably will be some combination of those four and if a team like L.A. were to rise and knock off one of Calgary or Vancouver they're going I'm going to have, Calgary and MacGerman, you're going to have kind of the mediocreish season they had, and I think LA's going to have a lot of guys take big steps. I know they added Kachiev.

I know they added DeNo. I know they added Arvinson. I'm skeptical that's enough to elevate them over those teams, but it could at least get them close enough to where if there's some good luck, some bad luck, some injuries, it could close that gap. Goaltending is the big advantage I think Vancouver and Calgary have on L.A., but if L.A. gets, you know, nine, 10, 915 goal tending. I think they have a shot. Yeah, and Cal Peterson hasn't looked too bad in the NHL. No, he hasn't.

No, so it'll be interesting season for L.A. Maybe more of a getting guys in, maybe more like what Ottawa was two years ago or one year ago starting to work guys in than where they are right now. But I'm so excited to see those L.A. guys start hitting the NHL, especially Alex Tercott and a guy who, and Quentin Bifil if he can be healthy, obviously. But Alex Turcad, I think it's a guy. I'm excited to see. whenever he makes his debut,

should be a lot of fun for people out in L.A. Yep, no, I agree. All right, that's going to do it for us. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's prospect series. Please follow the Athletic Hockey Show on your favorite podcast platform and leave a rating and a review.

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