The Athletic Hockey Show - Midseason lottery mock draft, Corey's latest rankings and Jiricek vs. Nemec

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

On the Friday Prospect Series, Max Bultman, Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler, along with Chris Peters from Flo Hockey dissect Corey's midseason prospect rankings, they present their midseason lottery mock draft and dip into the mailbag, with thoughts on the BCHL/AJHL shakeup, Marco Kaspers down and up season, Logan Cooley vs Berkly Catton and Jiricek vs Nemec Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody, Max Boltman here for another episode of The Athletic Hockey Show's Prospect Series with a full house today. The full compliment. We've got Corey Promin and Scott Wheeler of the Athletic. We've got Flohokies, Chris Peters, and we've got a jam-packed show for you today. We're going to start yesterday, a couple days ago, we talked about Scott's top mid-season draft rankings.

Today we've got Corrie's, so we'll turn the tables on him. We'll grill Corey on his list. and we're going to get into some mock draft fun and a mailbag. So it should be a really good episode today. And we'll jump right in here, Corey, with you. Obviously, we saw Scots a couple days ago. And one of the first things that jumped out to me looking at yours today was Caden Lindstrom.

You've got a nice tier of defensemen right behind Macklin Celebrini. The only guy disrupting that is Lindstrom. What has he done to put himself in that territory? I think he's done everything you could have asked him to do this season in Medicine Hat. I mean, Madison had has one of the best offenses in the CHL this season. And Lynch has been a critical part of their team in that offense. I'm not saying there aren't really good players like Andrew Bashel, like Evan McKenna on that team, for example. But the Lindstrom has been a huge part of that team's success this year.

And his game has really developed in a positive way. You know, when I watched him as a 16-year-old, he's productive. I wasn't blown away by the player at times. And even when I watch him in the summer at the Halinka, you know, you, you, you, you talk to people around that team and they're like, oh, maybe this guy's only like a third line for the NHL. Maybe he's just like a souped up version of John Beecher,

you know, you know, you know, super athletic, but doesn't have tremendous hockey sense or skill. And then the season starts and does not look like that. You know, he is showing a lot of skill.

He's making plays. He's scoring goals. And to go with, you know, I think he might be arguably the best pure athlete in the draft, or at least up there with Anton Soliev, you know, like outstanding skating.

especially for a big man. Super, super physical. This is a guy who plays hard, has an edge in this game, wins a ton of battles because of how physical he is, because of how fast he is, and then you have,

may not outstanding skill, but good skill, good hockey sense to go with it. I mean, you're looking at a guy who has all the pieces to be a really impactful NHL player. And frankly,

you know, when we get to a lot of the guys, I'll think, talk about, you know, maybe where I think, this guy's comp is in the NHL. Lynch is one I've been struggling to think of a comp for in the NHL. I can't really draw a line to anybody I think of.

Like I thought of Rupert Hince at times. I thought of Byfield at times. I don't think any of those are a perfect one-to-one. But I do think this guy has a lot of potential. Is the biggest reason for that because of that physical element? Because I'm trying to think of the kind of the big mobile centers that have come out of the CHL the last couple of years, your cousins, your docs and your Byfield. that seems like the thing that differentiates Lindstrom the most there.

Yeah, right. Those guys that custom, for example, compete hard, but he's not a killer like Lindstrom could be. Yeah, absolutely. We talked yesterday about kind of the placement of the wingers on Scots list, and you've got them more at the 8-9 range. I'm just curious, you know, we kind of heard it from Scott's side yesterday. We don't need to hear a ton on this. But how did you kind of fall on what to do with Eisenman and Demetov?

Well, I think if you're going to, if you have guys, like I do, like you have like three, four defensemen there, you're really, really passionate about. You have a couple of potential centers in the NHL, whether Lindstrom or Berklee Can or NHL Center or not, you can debate, but whether you have some guys who you think could be centers who you're really, really high on, I think to get a winger into that conversation,

you have to be so blown away by their ability. And I was last year, for example, on my fan Mishko. I thought he had, like, extremely special traits, an extremely special track record that I thought justified him in the conversation with, you know, guys like, David Reimbach or guys like Will Smith or Dmitry Simeb. I thought he deserved me that conversation because I thought he was the special winger. When I look at Cole Eisenman and when I look at Ivan Demadov,

I see really, really good players. And I know there are some scouts who may argue one or both for them are special. I would lean to know on both. I think they're both really, really good pro prospects. But I don't think they're of a special quality of talents that I would, that would make me consider them over someone like Artie Lefshunov, over someone like Caden Lindstrom. We've talked, I know, doing your rankings over the last few years on this show.

I know you're always torn on the smaller centers and how to rank them and what is the precedent there. Berkeley Caton seems like a guy you're ready to buy in on all the way. Yeah, because I think other than his size, I think everything else about this guy's game is really positive. I think he's one of the best skaters in the draft. I think he's super skilled and intelligent. I think his game has a kind of pace in it.

I think he's not physical, but he competes hard. He gets to the inside. He's always around the puck. His game has a ton of energy in it. He can shoot the puck well. He makes a lot of plays. He has a highly translatable game to the NHL to go with great production in Junior.

He was one of the best players at the Hulinka Gretzky. Two different environments now this season where he's excelled. I think the only thing about him is his side. He actually shrunk a little bit over the last few weeks. Central Scouting, their first measurement of him was closer to 5-11. At the top prospect's game, he shrunk down to 5-10. Unfortunate development for Berkeley can. But other than that, though, I think there's a ton of things to love about this guy's game.

And then one more guy I wanted to get you with before we turned over to Scott and to Chris. Adam Urechuk was a guy who I think is an interesting one in this class. We're not going to see any more of him. It doesn't sound like. It sounds like he's out for the year. after the world junior injury. You still got him at number 13 and at the back half of tier four. I think you're the last guy in tier four.

What's the debate that goes into, you know, do you put him with a guy like Zee, Bouillon who's put so much on tape this year and is obviously going to have more runway to a guy that, you know, it's been a little hit or miss and now he's going to be out? It's a good discussion. I think that's probably right around where your check goes

is right around that 12 to 17 range in the draft when it's all said and done. And he is really hanging his hat on. frankly one week of good play, which was his Hinkogresky, where I think you could argue he was the best defenseman at that tournament. And it helped a good but an amazing check team

almost beat a really talented Canadian team in that gold medal game. After that, his season wasn't amazing. Obviously, he goes to the world juniors and he's hoping to maybe get some more traction there. I actually thought he played well in that one world junior game he played in before the knee injury that ended his season occurred in that game,

but obviously he didn't get a full tournament, never mind one full game to display what he can do there. But I still see a guy who's 6-3, who skates well, who competes hard, who I think will have puck moving ability in the NHL, even though I don't think his offensive touch will match what his brothers is, and I don't think offense is going to be his calling card. I thought I think it will be good enough, you know,

second power play, maybe if you're in a bind, but maybe not like a true power play type in the N. chill. But I still think, you know, with the athleticism, he'll play big minutes. All right. I'll turn this over now to our, to our experts for the cross-examination here. Scott, you want to start us off? Yeah, the only one that really jumped out of me, and I kind of knew from talking to you over the last couple of weeks at a couple of these events that this was coming, but was Carter Yakumchuk, obviously high on my list as well. I have him 12th, but three is really high, especially

with the sort of quality of the D in this group. You've got him in the same tier as Lev Shunov, but ahead of Lev Shunov, you've got him in a completely different tier from Sam Dickinson. I'd be curious to know what you're seeing there that distinguishes him outside of the obvious goal scoring ability in the shot, what you're seeing there that distinguishes him from Lev Shunov and Dickinson in particular. Well, the shot of the goal scoring is definitely really good.

I mean, this is a guy who's on pace for, you know, I don't know whether he's on pace or not, but I think he's going to score at least 25 goals. Maybe I even hit 30 this year. as a draft eligible defenseman, presuming he stays healthy, which is incredible. Like it's more than Bowen Byram scored, for example,

in his draft season. And he was a prolific goal scoring defenseman as a draft eligible. And then this guy is also, you know, I think he's quite physical. He's big. Skating isn't amazing,

but I think it's good enough. And I don't think he gets the offense just from his shot. I think he might be one of the most purely skilled defenseman in this draft. I think his skill is up there with a guy like, let's shootoff.

His hockey sense and his offensive instincts may not be at the same level, but you look at his, I mean, you just go through any of his WHL shifts and he beats guys 1V1 routinely with his puck handling. And he gets by so many guys off rushes, that's making off the blue line. I've talked to a few scouts who've compared him to like a Brent Burns type, and I kind of can connect those dots a little bit.

Like I see the dynamic offensibility, the size, the free range type of play style that you would hope he would rain in every once in a while. but because he's so physical and big that he gets away with being good enough defensively. And I just see so much upside in this guy. I think, you know, this is a guy, a lot of offense last season, even more offense this season. I just think he's going to be a really good pro defenseman. Well, is it my turn, Max? Do I get to do this now?

It is. It's Peter's time. I was really dismayed when I looked at Corey's list, not because I disagreed, but because of how similar it is to mine. And that was the upsetting part. But I did want to talk a little bit about, especially when it comes to tiering certain players and the separation between Trevor Connolly and Consta Heleneas.

Is it the positional? Is it positional or is it more than that, Corey? Position is a factor. I mean, I think Connolly is one of the best skaters in the draft and he's bigger. I think Heleneas would have an edge on hockey sense there. And then, so yeah, you see, you know,

there's some things in Connolly's favor, a really important thing in Heleneas's favor. But I really think what does it for Heleneas and why there's a tier distinction is one position and then two, the accomplishments in the various leagues. Connolly's been one of the best players in the USHL this year, but Heleneas has been really good against men this season.

And if you ask me, who do I think is more talented, I would say Connell. But I think you have to give credit where credits do when a guy is doing very well and playing real minutes against men, at times being a leading player on a decent league of team. And that's where the distinction would fall for me. This guy has just been really impressive on various levels,

but particularly at the pro level. And so you kind of have answered some questions on whether it's going to translate up to better opponents. Yeah, yeah, that's good. I also, that's a satisfactory answer just for that. But, you know, I think that he is, that that's a real interesting dynamic. And also the fact that we have these different tiers is kind of what creates some of these arguments, right? Because it's sometimes it's really splitting more hairs than you might realize if it's a player a step higher or lower.

But the other guy that I wanted to ask you about. Heleneas does give you some concern. There have been times this year when I watch him where I don't wonder whether he's a special enough 511. guy to be ranked where he's commonly ranked. But like this is kind of like the same argument we have with exact Benson. Like you could pick apart the size. You could pick apart whether he's in a lead enough skater. But if he keeps scoring at every level, then it's like at some point he's just good.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. We have to we have to call it as we see it. And sometimes the production and the performance actually does, you know, you just kind of have to get away from some of the measurable at times. The one other guy that I did want to bring up. And I think this is because he's kind of a fascinating player to me personally and is a player that I've been debating about exactly where I want to put him on my final list that comes out next. And that is actually a little bit further down. And we go to Adam Kleber from the Lincoln Stars.

And you have them as your 29th prospect, which I, you know, I don't necessarily disagree. And I think this is a player that has shown significant progression. also coming out of the fall classic, I felt like there was a lot of buzz about Cleber in terms of where he can go. He was one of those guys where it's like, oh, I got to watch him more now to see what happens. So what put him over the top?

Was it this? He has had a recent uptick in his production that has made a significant difference in how I feel about his overall offensive upside. He's a nearly 6'5 defenseman in a right shot. You know, I think he's, you have his skating as below average. I think he's closer to average. I think for his size, it's, it's fair.

But, yeah. I worry about his boots. Like, when I've watched him, I think he can lump from a standstill when he's, when he's got to get out to a corner, his own zone, he can, he can, he can love. Yeah. Yeah, I think short distance quickness is going to be. Yeah.

A continual issue. I think there's, when he gets going, he's okay. Yeah. But, yeah. But, Corey, I do wonder, too, just, you know, he's not, obviously, the size is there. there's a lot to like about, you know, where he's come. I also think his year over year progression is a significant factor. But I just wondered what brought you into the,

into the light on Adam Cleaver. Well, it feels like you guys said a lot of the points that I would have said for me, but I'll, sorry. I got to get a word in at some point on this podcast. No, it's perfectly fine, but I'll just kind of plug in maybe a couple of things there. You know, when I saw him in the summer, I kind of thought the same thing. I thought, you know, good skater for the size, not a not a great skater, but good enough. But then I wonder, like, is there a puck game here?

Is he just a dime a dozen big guy who skates okay? That was my thoughts coming out of the summer. And as the season has progressed, going into his USHL play, going into his Rohingy Ray challenge where he was one of USA's better defensemen, actually led them in ice time in a crucial semi-final game when they played Canada West and lost that game in overtime. But I think this is a guy, you know, like I say, he's big, skates well enough. I think there's a lot of physicality in this game, which I like.

He's a very good defender at the USHL level. And then the offense has surprised me a little bit this year. I think among draft eligible defensemen in the USHL, I think he's either second or third in scoring right now. And offense isn't what this guy is going to be known for, but it's just, can he make a first pass? And I think as I've watched him this year, I've seen a little bit more of that.

Like he's on their power play, for example, in Lincoln, and he's getting his, you know, makes enough plays at that level to make you think that he can do it. And like, I just like, I look at him, I think, can he be a Brandon Carlo type? That's kind of what I'm thinking about when I watch him. And I'm, as I see that has gone on, I've ticked more, yes, in that direction. You know, it's why I have him overseeing E.J. Emory.

When I watch Emery, for example, I wonder, like, what is this guy's role in the NHL? He's big and he skates well, but he's not super athletic. He's not super physical. Like, he's not like any elite defenders. Like, what is he? Whereas with Cleaver, I see a more, I see a more defined path to become. an NHL regular. Yeah, yeah, no, that's good.

That's good to hear. I got one more for the group here. It's right in this same range of Corey's list. And Tanner Howe was a guy last year that played next to Connor Bedard and obviously had outstanding numbers as a result. Connor Bedard's gone now. And Corey, as you alluded in your list, the points have really not dropped off by that much. But at the same time, this is a, I believe, sub 510 late birthday winger.

You've got them at number 30. I just wanted to kind of pull the room here. where are we all at on Tanner Howe and his prospects? I would be, I'm about exactly there. Yeah, I would be, I would bet,

if you ask me which way to bet, I don't think he's going to go in the first round. I just think people will talk their way out of a 5-9, 5-10 wing, who isn't dynamic offensively in the first round. Like, I've had this conversation with people, like,

in the league this year, like, would you have taken him or Gavin Brindley at the same point? And Brindley went in the second round, and there's probably a long, similarities in the player type with the high-end compete. Obviously, Brimley looks really good this year. Maybe he should have gone at the whole other, you know, debate.

But I think that's, I think there's close enough that you're kind of thinking like late one, high two is his range. Just because I don't think even though he has his points, I think everybody acknowledges that his points in prior to the years were there for a very specific reason. However, what I've thought about Tanner Howell this year, especially coming into this season, I thought about another spectacular junior player, Connor McDavid, and the debates around a particular teammate at the time,

Alex De Brinkett, who was on McDavid's team as a draft minus one, and then in his draft year was playing with Dylan Strome. And then there was always, I think there was always the conversation of, yes, he scores a lot, but. And so I think it's a very interesting conversation with how, who I don't think,

Well, like the Brinket, I don't think he's going to make a lot of highlight reels. I don't think, you know, I think there's some distinctions. I think he's a better skater than Alex was. I don't think he has near the level of skill in hockey sense that he does, but he's extremely competitive, and that's why I think he's had a lot of success so far. I think there's a little bit of almost Otto Stenberg there as well. Otto Stenberg was a mid to late 20s pick in last year's draft, 510, 511, maybe an inch or two taller than how captain at different levels,

works hard, decent skill. I like that one too. Yeah, so I have one more that I feel like we should touch on too, and that's that you have Marcus Gidloff in your rankings, and you rank 36 players, he's 36. And this is a goalie, a big goalie, but also a goalie in a class where we just really have not talked a lot about the goalies because there really hasn't been a lot to talk about what kind of separated him

to at least get him on your midterm list here. I mean, you mentioned this thigh. This is a guy who's, I think, about 6'4. I don't think the athleticism is off the charts, but I think it's good enough. He can move laterally. He could make tough saves. Been excellent at the junior level this year.

I think he's the statistical leader in the J20 levels this year. Just shut out the top rank, your garden team last weekends. It's just been very impressive at that level. Played one game in the SHL was quite poor in that game, actually against the top back-yo team. But I think there's a lot of tools there. Like, I think of where Michael Ravel went

last year. I think you can draw some similarities in the size and the toolkit. I think of maybe, maybe similarities to Eric Portillo at the same age too. And I see a lot of similarities there with Gidloff. You know, I admit that I would like a bigger sample size on this guy. He hasn't had a ton of J20 games.

I think he's only 20 this year. He didn't play a lot the prior year. But like I said, this is a weak goalie draft. And I think he's the only one I've seen so far that has shown consistent promise. Like an Emil Vini, for example, is super athletic. but I think he's been really consistent when I've watched Jim Mikhail.

Yigorov is big, but now he doesn't, you know, and, you know, show well in Omaha. It may doesn't have quite the standout athletic traits that I'd like there. But I think so this is the one guy who I've, you know, the program goalies are just okay. So I, and then you have the OHL go, he's George and Lenders that are just on the smaller side. So this is the one guy I've watched that I've liked so far.

I do admit that I still need to see more of him, but, and I debated right to the very end to include him or not, But that last weekend was he was really good. And it kind of tilted me to put him on there. All right, good stuff. We're going to take quick break. We'll come back and we will do a first round mock draft, the first half of the first round lottery mock draft here as we stand in midseason.

All right, we are back and we are going to do what I think is our first mock of any kind of this draft cycle, guys. So this should be a fun one. We've randomized a tankathon spin for the lottery. and we did get quite an interesting result here with Seattle jumping up to the two spots all the way from number 11. They have already picked second once in the young life of their franchise. They will get to do so in our simulation again. But the first pick belongs to, and this is going to be a popular one on Twitter, the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm the Joker.

The Joker has the distinction of being able to. to be their gym. So we'll just go, you know, in order here. We'll go, Corey, Scott, Chris, me, Corey Scott, Chris, me representing the various teams here. Corey, do you want to keep us in suspense or you want to rip the Band-Aid off? I do think, though, if Seattle would win this lottery, that would put them in the first team to qualify for winning two lotteries in that short time period

and would prevent them winning a third lottery next season because they didn't win in the year they picked Shane Wright at four. So that would be an interesting scenario if that were to play out. But in terms of number one, Chicago does take Macklin-Celebrini. They begin to build an outstanding center group where you're hoping if things work out,

it's your Crosby-Mulkin type of dynamic, albeit maybe not the different style players, for sure, and the two of them, but two outstanding, potentially elite NHL players if they hit. And, you know, I think if Chicago is sitting pretty either way in this draft. I think there's a couple of teams like San Jose and Anaheim who feel the same way that like, if you get Celebrini, you're jacked because it's Macklin Celebrini.

And if not, I think you're in a really good position to add a much needed premier defense prospect to your organization. But I'm sure Chicago will very happily take door number one. And really Seattle is a poster child for the team that can benefit from that, right? as they've used their premium picks so far on centers, perhaps obviously not the caliber of Macklin-Selabrini, but if there's a team here that you say, hey, they could really use a stud D prospect,

the Cracken are very much in that conversation. Scott, is that the direction you're going to take it with them? Yeah, I think it's pretty straightforward. I mean, you mentioned Shane Wright and Maddie Baneers. They've gone to that well up front. Even last year, Edward Shale, they've drafted Carson Ray, Kopp, Yeager, Firkis. It's like there's some decent organizational depth there. at center and on the wings.

Certainly, McAnne-Colbrine is one-of-one in this draft and would be a huge get for a team like Seattle that I don't think anticipates to be or anticipated to be drafting this high, but you probably go D here. I mean, Ty Nelson, Caden Price, Lucas Dragasevich,

Riker Evans, the D that they have drafted are all sort of D-quality guys. They could really use a sort of premium A-level D prospect within that pool. As far as the two big, big names, if you will, at the top in Lev Shunov and Selyev. They strike me as a team that would be partial based off of the way they've drafted in the past to Archim Lipschunov. So I'll take the Bell Russian out of East Lansing and Michigan State and sort of cross that one off the list in terms of filling in a pretty big hole for the organization.

All right, Chris, that puts you on the clock at number three for San Jose. Yeah, you know, San Jose, rebuild. they're just crushed at this moment to have not landed Macklin Celebrini, a former San Jose Jr. Shark and, you know, his dad's with the Golden State Warriors. So, you know, the storylines of that are just too good. And but they lost that. So they don't get that. But what they do get is an opportunity.

I think this is one of those, you know, you look at the defenseman. You look at the center. You know, I think that that's it. And if I'm San Jose, I'm looking at the center. I think that Caden Lindstrom would be the guy for, for me in this instance. I think that there is a lot to like about what he can be and where he's trending. You love the size.

You have that physical, the physicality, which I think comes in handy in the Pacific Division. You know, and there's certainly his ability to keep pace is going to be important as well in that division. So, you know, I think that there's certainly an opportunity to look at the defensemen.

and they have not shied away from drafting Russians. They've traded for Russians. You know, Silaiev is certainly a guy that they could potentially look at in this range. But I just think that, you know, you're so focused on that, trying to build from the middle out and getting an elite level or a guy that you feel can be an elite level center or an All-Star Center in the NHL and Caden Lindstrom would be the pick. But I also think you're extremely crushed that you didn't get Celebrini. and I feel, you know, and I'd be, if I were the GM, I would just, you know, I'd be delivering

free hugs to the fan base. But Lindstrom's a nice consolation price. Yeah, Lindstrom and free hugs. You got to think of it like that. Exactly. You get two for one. Yeah. All right. That brings it to me in Anaheim, and I think from the second the Cutter-Gotier deal went down, I think we've been talking about the potential for Anaheim to use their top pick in this draft to add a blue liner. And obviously, there's plenty still on the board here. To me, this came down to the three of Anton Selyev, Kari Yakim Chuk, and Sam Dickinson. Yakumchukch is the right shot, which I think is a nice foil to Pavel Michikov. But I think Salive is a very appealing package of tools, I think based on the way that the Red Wings drafted when Verbeek was in Detroit,

I think there's a pretty good guess that they're going to love the toolsy 6-7 blue liner who can do a little bit of everything. And they'll take Salaev. And that would be interesting I'm trying to other than Minchikovychov. You haven't seen Anaheim draft a ton of Russians but this might be like you said a unique scenario where it just

it lines up for them and makes sense for them to take that gamble. Which brings me to drafting for Columbus which I think has kind of the opposite spectrum in terms of Russians where they might have drafted too many Russians lately.

They have a lot of Russian representation on their team. And I know when I talk to people around the league about drafting KHL plans, about bringing Russians in your organization, there is a concern about, you know, whether you can have too many of that in your organization, just because every time you bring a Russian and it brings risk

because they always have the flight plan option. You know, and they have some really good ones. Obviously, Marchenko is very good. Veronkov is good. Proverov's a little bit older, but he's good. They don't have like maybe like a young high, high end guy like

potentially and Daimadov could be. I think they would definitely consider Demadov here. It would be a really canalizing option for them to bring in. But just looking at this organization and, you know, they just dropped it in Fantili last year. They've had other high picks of four they made recently. And, you know, we'll see what the future holds for David Eurchick. I think they go defense here and I think they'll would pick Sam Dickinson.

That puts it to number six. That is Ottawa and Scott. Yeah, I think Ottawa is suddenly maybe a little bit disappointed to have missed out on the three big boys on the blue line. They could use that injection. We know what their core looks like up front with Kachuk and Stutzla and Norris and Batherson and Ridley Greggs joining that group. And they seem to have a nucleus up front that they like. Obviously, Jake Sanderson on the back end is the premium piece there. And they've got decisions to make on Thomas Shabbat and Jacob Chikrin.

now. So this has thrown me for a loop here because I was going to pencil in Sam Dickinson. I do wonder if a player like Carter Yakumtruck is is appealing here all of a sudden. And you mentioned the handedness. The handedness doesn't hurt within that organization. They've sort of got some tools down the left side in terms of their blue line. So I'll maybe go. I think they'd probably consider some of the high end forwards here.

Certainly I don't think Cole Eisenman fits the box in terms of how. they've drafted traditionally, although it's a pretty new management group there. So there's likely going to be a shift away from Mann and, and Dorian in the way that they drafted, which is a way that certainly wouldn't have been drawn to a player like Eisenman. I'm not sure they go for a winger here, though, in Eisenman or Demadov. So I'll go with Carter Yakim check here. All right.

And that sends to Chris, who's picking for Minnesota. Yeah, and I think this is a really interesting and potentially difficult range here, because you do have good options for sure, you know, and I'm looking at the forwards. I'm looking at Kat and I'm looking at at at, at Demadov, and I'm looking at Colizerman as all viable options for, for this team here. You know, and I mean, I think I'd even probably throw in, you know, Consta Hellenius and maybe even Trevor Connolly. Let's just throw all the forwards in there.

They need a little bit of everything here, though. And I think with the top end defensemen, the very best defenseman of this class now gone, I think you have to focus on the forward position. And, you know, as I look at it here, you know, I do think that they probably, they've got Danile Urov in the pipeline. They've got, you know, obviously, Carol Caprizov has been a franchise changer for them. Do they go for Demadov? No, they don't. They don't. And they will take the American, Bill Guerin, going back to USA, USA, and, and, you know, and,

and will take the elite goal score that is Cole Eiserman. And that's that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Chris, you are going to get so many comments from Minnesota fans about not taking a center there. I know, but I just, I don't feel like Katten is the guy. And not that doesn't mention a guy who scored the gophers.

Yeah, exactly. I want, I want chaos. Give me chaos. Bring him. He will be the first wild player to be booed every time he touches the puck. It's going to be amazing. Give it to me.

I'm picking for Montreal here. It also was really hoping to get a center, but saw Minnesota ahead and thought that was not going to happen. So I rather quickly go up to the podium for Berkeley Caton here. Maybe not the big center you probably prefer for Montreal. You've already got Nick Suzuki as a smaller center in that pipeline. But I think they just invested in David Reimbacher. They've gotten the big winger at the top of the top of the lineup center here. And so they'll take Berkeley Caton.

That's interesting, though. So when Buffalo was going into the draft. Hang on, right, right. Chris was going to, was going to say something on that one. Yeah, yeah, because I mean, let's look at, let's look at their general, you know, what else do they have up front? I mean, this is a team that, like, they're, they're crying for size, right? Yep. I mean, they've got, they've got Slavkovsky, they've got Doc, they've got guys that will be

better, but, you know, but at the same time, yeah, it's just like, wow, this feels like more of the same of Montreal, as good, as much as I like Kat. What's the alternative? The best alternative is probably what, Demadov? Yeah, exactly. The same questions. Yeah, so this is basically what we're saying is this is a terrible range for them to fall in for the draft.

So we'll see, but that's, it's interesting, though. It's just like, you know, that's how much. of that is though like what the draft is it where you pick in the year that you pick has a significant impact on what you ultimately can do and I think I I'm saying this is the correct pick for them but it's also like man like I think like the next best forward to have sides would be like Connolly or like Chernoshov they're actually asking the odds guy I talked to who loves Chernoshov like who sees the guy who's playing six two he skates well actually playing regular minutes on one of the best K-Shelt teams right now so I

I think, like, he's sneaky underrated a little bit right now, but six, seven, whatever, wherever much girl will be picking in this mock might still be a little, that's a little heavy, I think, for either of them at the moment. But, but, uh, no, it's a good predict. It's an interesting predicament for them. If that's, if this is the way it ends up going. That throws it back to Corey, though, for Buffalo at number nine. So Buffalo is an interesting one, because I thought going into the draft last year, you looked at their farm system, you looked at their roster. and I thought there's no way they pick a small skill forward here. They have way too many of them.

And then boom goes the dynamite. They pick Zach Benson. And not only did they pick him, they put him on their roster right away. So I will not rule anything out with this organization. And they seem to have a player type. And they seem to follow the best player available mantra. So I'm going to give him more of the same and give him Ivan Demadov here. And they can figure out where all these guys are going to play.

Maybe one of them plays defense. Not at all shy drafting Russians lately either. Nope. Correct. All right. Calgary is up next. That is Scott. Yeah.

Calgary, I think, goes into this hoping that there are one or two of the sort of high-end, the five or six top D in this class still available here. I think they're very happy that two of those names are sort of still on this list. They've gone. Conner's there. Samuel Hansick, Matt Coronado, you go down the list. They've gone to the forward well with their first pick in virtually every recent draft. They're thrilled to take one of, I think, Zeev Boyem or Zane Perak here.

I'll go with Zeev and just the projectability of Zeev and the better mobility, the fact that he's done it at the college level. They've gone to the college level with Matt Coronado, et cetera. I think Zeev is the more likely pitch. here as dynamic as Zane is offensively, if you will. So they're happy to add a premium D prospect to a pool that really doesn't have anything coming on the blue line, unless you're a believer in Jeremy Poir, which not a lot of people are these days.

Yeah. And now we go over to Arizona, which is in kind of that similar situation. I mean, honestly, the thing about Arizona, they've got, you know, they went D, they got Simashev last year. There's a lot, you know, there's a lot to like about kind of the future of their decor with that if he's the centerpiece long term. And I think this is another tricky spot where you have so many different needs that you can address. And I will also go with the dynamic offensive defenseman type in Zane Perak here for Arizona. Just, just because, I think that is something that's a little different than what they have, like for their future

pipeline. I like where, you know, having having the ability to score from the back end is going to be important going forward in the NHL. And that, I mean, it always is, but even more so now with the mobility and the skill of defense across the league. So I think that that's one way for them to address it with Porek in this range, even though I think you really could, I still think that Arizona just has so much that they need to continue to fill out that, you know, they'll take whoever is the highest on their board here, regardless of position, but Eileen Perak here. And there's no obvious six foot five guy either.

Right, exactly. That's a good point. He is a little bit small for them. But yeah, but yeah, who do you, who do you take? You can, no, nobody else is in this range is in that six, five range. A nice foil to Mavlamura and, uh, Dmitry Simishov. Yeah, exactly. All right, that sends it to me with the Islanders here.

And I think the Islanders could use a little bit of everything. They're in a spot where, you know, but I think all the D have kind of gone. So you're just kind of looking at the best forward available. For me, that's between Heleneas, Connolly and the Ginnla, maybe some consideration to, like, Corey said, Chernoshov, maybe Brantzigniard. I kind of think that the unique player type here is a little more size with one of Connolly or Chernoshov. I don't know which way to lean here. I guess I'm going to go with Connolly for them.

I don't think that's a bad move. This puts the national interesting spot. I think the two guys who I think they would be between here, I think there's definitely, if I had a lot of scoring wingers in recent years, I think they would love to add a center or a defenseman that they're passionate about. I was thinking about Consta Heleneas here.

I was thinking about Adam Eurecheck here. I think both would be good, fits for Nashville. I think I'm going to, I think, you know, we've talked a little bit about Helenez earlier in the podcast, you know, the size. I don't think he has the, he's a good skaters, not the elite skater that a guy like Berkeley Caton is, for example. So maybe he goes, he goes a little bit later than where everyone's kind of projecting

him right now. But I think this would be around the end of that range. And I'll give him to Nashville here at the 13th pick. All right. Scott, that puts you up with the capitals. yet again thrown for a loop. The capitals are in a unique spot where they've drafted Brian Leonard, Ivan Mier Schnochenko, Andrew Crystal.

They've gone the winger route as well and haven't really hit on the two centers that they did take in Hendricks Lapierre, obviously a couple of years ago. But I don't know. I think this leaves them in a tough spot. The premium, premium guys, we've talked about this draft sort of being 12, 13 players deep. We're now into that range. I don't know here. I don't know. I don't love the D.

I don't love the idea of them going to an Adam Eurecheck after he hasn't played for half a season here. But maybe that's the play. I don't love the remaining centers now that Heleneas is off the board. Maybe we'll take a swing on Adam Eurecheck and hope that he can sort of refine himself, six foot three, good mobility, sort of two-way type, hopefully long-term.

They don't have a lot of that within their pool. I mean, Vincent Eiorio and the guys that they do have there are sort of depth guys at best. So I like the idea of them taking it either probably disappointed not to have any of the premium guys left. Eurecheck sort of fits into that next tier for most teams. So I'll go with Eurecheck and not be thrilled about it. Right. On to Chris, who's picking for the Devils. Yeah, Devils.

Another team where, you know, they could probably address quite a few needs to, terms of their pipeline. They've obviously had a lot of young guys that have matriculated at the NHL level, you know, still waiting on, excuse me, some of those guys to come along. But, you know, as I look at it, you know, I like what they have in general. You know, I think that this is a good, good range to take, take the swing, you know, take a swing on, on a prospect that you feel has high upside. And that would be Igor Chernoshov here. You know, and I, I think that that is, one of those players where, you know, especially, like the devil should be better than they've been this year. Obviously, they've had a lot of different injuries and situations that have cropped up that has hampered their season.

But I don't think they're necessarily all that far away. And to me, getting a scoring winger with some size, somebody that's going to support your long-term centers, you know, that may not have the size would be helpful. And I think that having a guy like Chernishaw with his skill level and his scoring ability would, be a benefit to the devils. All right, and I will close it out here with the second pick for San Jose, this one being from Pittsburgh, courtesy of the Eric Carlson trade, and I will give them Tij Ginla. Ideally, I think you're drafting these two Western Hockey League guys to be your next spark, and one of them's the pure playmaker and one's the shooter.

Not exactly the case here. You're kind of getting two guys who are more shooters, but I think the talent level is there, and even if you end up playing them on different lines from each other. you kind of get two big time offensive prospects here in this draft, which is what they need. Just looking over the sort of order that we've built out here and the way that this plays out, I do think San Jose taking two forwards is unlikely to materialize after they went, Will Smith, Quentin Mustie, Philip Bistead, like there is nothing or very little.

I mean, Matthias Havillet and those types aren't going to be cornerstones on the back end. I could see them using that Lindstrom pick at the very top on a D and using the second pick on a forward now that we've sort of looked it this way. Suddenly you got a lot of forwards in that pool and very little coming on the back end if you're San Jose. I feel like this is an evergreen observation, but nine of the first 11 picks were either center or defensemen.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's probably how it goes. when Hall when all is said and done it's going to be lots of centers lots of defensemen and and Scott to Scott's point he very well could be right um you know i think that the the highest upside play um you know

i think i just think san jose they've got to make sure they're not taking huge swing like huge risk with that first pick that's one of the reasons why i went with lynch who felt a little more confident in him it's a very similar situation to arizona last year right right right you know where they have six and 12. They want to get a defenseman. You don't know if the guy you love is going to get, going to be there at 12. Um, so I think, I think San Josek, presumably they don't win the first or second pick could be in a similar situation. And could come to a similar conclusion, which is to take the big Russian defenseman at that pick, right? Like, Selyev was probably the, best deal. That's the one you considered, right? Chris, I think that's what you're saying. Yeah,

absolutely. Yep. Yep. All right. Good stuff. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll come right back with a mailbag to close things out. All right, we are back with a mailbag, and it's a good set of questions here today. We'll kind of divide these up amongst our crowded house here. But we'll start with Major Nelson, who wants to know how much, if any, do you think the Russian stigma will subside during the 2024 NHL drafts? Compared to the past two years, Corey, do you have a thought here? Well, I think after the invasion of Ukraine happened, it was just a lot of uncertainty. Same thing during the COVID draft.

When you're in a situation where you don't have recent precedent, you don't really know how to proceed. There's a lot of questions. People really didn't know what was going to happen. I know for a fact, there were a lot of teams that were hard-nosed on Russians in the first year that happened, and even the second year that that happened. But as time has gone on,

you've seen teams make major investments in Russians. You've seen that, you know, we'll see with guys like Simashev, Bout and Michkov over time, but you've seen like, you know, Miros Echchenko, Washington's a league against,

and he is in the NHL this season. We believe in the little year off will be over with Minnesota next season after resigning for one year at Magnetogors. We think there's a little bit more clarity on this situation and that it seems like you can get these players saw it. It doesn't mean it isn't more complicated. The lack of live views in particular makes it more complicated. The lack of national team experience for these teams make it more complicated.

But in my discussions with teams this season, I noticed a distinction between previous seasons where I'm sensing less uncertainty, less hesitancy to call those Russian names in the first round. And just frankly, this year there's a lot of good Russians. in this draft. And if you take Russians out of your list, you're taking a pretty decent chunk of the first round talent out. I do think most teams approach it, that tie goes the other way, and that if somebody is close to the Russian, you'll take the other player. But I do think there's going to be plenty of Russians here in their names early this summer. All right. Next one is for Scott and Logan Horn wants to know your thoughts on the BCHL,

AJHL shakeup with top Alberta teams like the Brooks Bandits leaving hockey Canada. Yeah, this is obviously, in terms of the junior hockey landscape north of the border here, a huge story. The AJHL and BCHL have combined to be the only real challengers

to the USHL for college hockey recruits over the last decade plus, two decades, really. Now suddenly, they saw an opportunity, I think, where they were limited under Hockey Canada's current guidelines, as it's currently written for Hockey Canada, they weren't able to recruit players from beyond the borders of their leagues, basically, which made it very difficult for them to accurately and then sort of completely compete with the USHL,

especially because of how many Quebec kids have chosen in recent years. I mean, we've seen it this year with Sasha Blavere. It's become an annual thing where two or three top players out of the Quebec minor hockey loop tend to go and play in the U.S.HL and go the college hockey route. We saw it with Thomas Bordolo in terms of eventually even playing for USA hockey internationally. They were losing that war. Now suddenly if you step outside of Hockey Canada, you've got access to all of the Canadian minor hockey players

in terms of recruiting them into the BCHL as an opportunity and a stopgap into college hockey. It's difficult, though, because it puts the HHL obviously in a terrible spot. The HHL is going to suffer in a big, big way over this. The rest of the teams participating in the HHL are going to have a tough time surviving. You're losing really in the HHL scenario. You're losing your four dynasties, your four superpowers of the last 10 or 20 years. And then a Blackfault's organization that came in and built in a very small town, built a brand new arena with rich money ownership that wants to invest and sort of join that group before that have been the established

superpowers in the AJHL. So in terms of the BCHL, I think ultimately it's good for the competitiveness and giving college hockey bound players more options. But it's going to hurt in the short term. It's really going to hurt the kids who are playing in the AJHL and really going to make it tough on the CGHL to continue to survive as a real destination. It was already tough. The Maritime's Junior Hockey League, the OJHL, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League have always had a little bit of a tough go. There are a couple of teams in the OJHL that have recruited players away from the OHL over the years to go the college route, but now suddenly it's less a destination for college players, the CJHL this being, and more of a destination for U-Sports players,

and the quality of the hockey will likely suffer as a result of the BCHL's move and these five AJHL teams. So good for college hockey-bound players in terms of top prospects, probably a net negative for junior hockey in Canada on the whole. All right. Next one's for Chris. It's from Ben Craig, who wants to know about the stramel over Perrault decision for the Minnesota Wild. He says, are the wild regretting that or what, which is certainly probably the way of the Wilder feeling right now. Well, you know, it's interesting because, I mean, like, those types of decisions are obviously made with a lot of different, you know, like different, different factors involved. I mean, we're talking about two incredibly different. Like, they could not be more different the two players. it comes down to a preference of the organization.

I think that there was a mandate that they, that they got tougher, that they get somebody that was going to provide size. And that was what they wanted with the pick. That's what they got. The thing is, is that we already knew, like there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Gabe Perot

was going to put up way more points than Charlie Stramel, and we'll continue to put up way more points. And it just was that that was not the kind of player that the Wild wanted in that range, whether or not that's a good decision remains to be seen because these two players still have a ways to go before they're going to be NHL competitors.

Obviously, I think that Gabe Perot and I had him ranked as such is a better prospect than Charlie Stramel. And Stramel has had, quite frankly, an awful season. And the thing that's amazing about it is he's having an awful season on one of the best teams in college hockey. Last year, you could kind of write it off as,

hey, Wisconsin's really bad. This year, they're very good. and I would say that there has been some, you know, stagnation there. And so, you know, I think you do have some regret maybe. I don't think it's a one-to-one regret. I know Perrault is the guy most tied with who was believed to be the pick that would have gone had there not been a decision to change and go with Charlie Stramel there. But, you know, I think that there's still a long way to go in terms of what Charlie Stramel ultimately, Lee becomes as a prospect. What gave parole to me

becomes as a prospect. And we, you know, we shouldn't make decisions based on a half a season, basically, in terms of like how regretful one should be. There's no question, though, like that that was a high risk pick that Minnesota made. And the early indications are that it's not going to hit the way that they need it to. But those are early indications.

Yeah, I say this is a guy who was a big Charlie Stamble guy going into the draft. You know, it's one thing to say we expected Gay-Paro to score more points next season in college than Stramel. But Gay-Perel is currently third in college hockey and scoring right now. And as I'm looking at Charlie Strainwell is all the way at 691st in college. Is that good? So that's a minor distinction. Yeah, yeah.

And I mean, like that's the thing is like, you know, we were never, we were never expecting Charlie Stramwell to be in the top 40 or 50 baby, but, but yeah, but probably not in the 600s. And yeah, I think these are the, these are the decisions that you make and you say, hey, you know, maybe maybe he is going to be a fourth line center for them someday. And you get an everyday NHLer and you're like, oh, well, at least we got an everyday in each other. But, yeah, I mean, Gabe Perra with his hockey sense, his ability to make plays. I mean, the fact that he, no matter where he goes, he puts up points, I mean, you know,

certainly a guy that you'd love to have in your, in your system. be able to work with. But it's not over yet. No. We still do need to see what Gabe Perrault's offense looks like in the NHL, right? I think ultimately if Charlie Stramel is a third line center at the 21st pick, you can sleep fairly easy at night. But if Gabe Perrault is producing at a transferable rate there, that's going to make it tougher.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that's really going to still be the question. You know, Gabe is still, you know, an average. to below average skater. He has improved his feet, I think, in a certain, but, you know, elite hockey sense, high-end playmaker, you know, does that translate? We still have to find out. I think both have questions.

This gave translate, and frankly, is Stramel even a third-line center? Yeah, is he an NHL player at this point? Well, that's what I mean. I'm saying, like, if fourth-line center, you're not too pleased at the 21st-Bake, if he can become a third-line center, which I'd imagine what they were envisioning at the time of the draft. Right, right, right. Yeah.

Yes. Yep. He's got a lot of work to do. Yeah, yes. Next one is from Joe, who wants to know thoughts on Marco Casper's up and down season. He phrased it actually aptly, the down and up season. I can probably take this one. That is a good way to put it because it was not up and down in the way we usually think of it,

where it's some good, some bad, some good, some bad. It started really rough, and that included a rough preseason where he did not really make any kind of serious challenge for the Red Wings roster, and then a really slow start in the HL. He was actually the HL player of the week last week, or two weeks ago, I guess now. But he's got 12 points in his last 13 games. The offense has started to come.

I still don't think that's going to be a big. I don't think he's a point per game player, for example, going forward. But I think you have seen improvement in his game. I talked to the Griffin's coach, Dan Watson recently, and he just talked about Casper playing with more confidence, more tenaciousness, relentlessness. Those are the things they drafted Marco Casper to be. There was actually a play the other night.

It was an empty net play, so not like a, you know, huge deal necessarily, but he wins a race to beat out what would have been an icing, then wins this puck battle with at least, I think it was two different players from Belleville behind the net that ultimately sets up Yonatan Bergerens. Well, he doesn't get an assist on it, but that's an example of the kind of play the Red Wings want to see from Marco Casper. It's the kind that made him a top 10 pick candidate. And so that is starting to come, even if I still don't think it's going to be big time, big time offense. that's a guy who I think you're talking about as kind of that middle six two-way center with some physicality

and that I think you can live with a top ten pick on that. Next one we'll go to Corey. It's questions from the Gargoyle timely since we talked a lot about Berkeley Cat. And today he wants to know Logan Cooley versus Berkeley Cat. That'd be a tough one for me. I mean, right now, given what Cooley's, you know, Cooley's had and had like an incredible rookie year, but he's been quite good and really good in Minnesota last year. I think I would lean that way for Cooley.

I think at the same age, honestly, it'd be really close for me. I struggled to think of a comp for Cooley when he was a draft eligible. I gave him brain point. I didn't love it, to be quite honest at the time. And I'd say, they'll stay away with Catton. I look at the NHL. I'm not really sure who his comp is. And I don't love giving comps of guys who are teenagers,

never mind just still young NHL players. But I think Cooley is the closest guy I've thought of when I've watched Catt. I think there's a loss of that reason, the way they skate, the way they make plays at quick tempos, the way they compete, the frames. So I think, honestly, they are really close for me as prospects. That one's interesting because obviously Cooley goes third in that class in what was not maybe the strongest class. But a guy, you know, Chris, I think had him number one.

I think I was pretty high on Logan Cooley that season as well. And we're talking about Catton at six here. I think that's an interesting kind of framing for this. All right. Next one is going to go to Scott. And Nabil Raymond wants to know where David Reinhbacher would rank among this year's top rated defenseman, Scott. I'd be curious to hear Corey's thought on this as well because I know we've sort of differed on Reinebacker over the years.

And I think Peters and I have sort of been closer to the same range in terms of projecting him. In terms of the five or six defensemen that we always talk about this draft class, he'd be towards the back of that group for me, honestly. I don't think he's of the quality of Anton Selya, of Artimlip Shunab, Sam Dickinson, maybe closer to Dickinson for me. I still like David Reinhacker. He's still a 6'1, 6'2 defensemen who's decently mobile and competitive and can and should provide two-way value as sort of a top four defenseman in the NHL. But there isn't a quality, and I've never seen a quality in Reimbacker that says to me that he's going to be a sort of true top of the lineup guy.

And I think in Lev Shunov, in Saliev, maybe even in Sam Divers. I think there's a real opportunity there that you get a first pairing stud. And I'm not sure at this point in terms of the way that things have played out for for Reimbacker that that's what you're looking at. All right. And then this last one I think was directed to Corey. I'm actually going to give it to Chris. Let's go once in a know if you regret ranking Eurocheck higher than Nemich all these years later.

Not that many years later. Chris, I think you were in the same boat as Corey, though, having Eurocheck over Nemich. I did. Yeah, I had him over him in the draft year. And I felt pretty strongly about it at the time. And what I would say is, you know, there is no question that Nemech has had a really nice run here in his early NHL career. It's 26 games. You know, roughly, that's a lot, you know, it's something, it's certainly a data point.

It's not the end of the story here between Eurocheck and Nemich. You know, certainly the production is good. I know, you know, Scott was obviously very high on Nemich as well. but my opinion hasn't changed. And it doesn't because it doesn't change after 26 games. You know, and that's we've, you know, Corey and I have talked about this before too when we've done some of these, you know, guys we were wrong about. We ended up being right about them later.

You know, like you kind of got to wait sometimes. And that's the hard part about this is you want to do, do I want to buy, you know, certainly the stock is rising for Simon Nemich. And the stock is obviously going in a different direction for David Eurecheck. but I haven't seen things in Eurochek's game that give me the ultimate pause that he's not going to work out and not be a star defenseman for the Blue Jacks. I do think that the situations the two are in are very different at this point as well. And that situationally, that's the thing that can make a difference in how a prospect looks versus how they ultimately project. And so if the situation doesn't change, and I'd have to assume that there's going to be some significant changes in the Columbus organization here,

in the near future. And yes, you know, David Urecheck complaining about not being an NHL player, honestly, I want a player that like that talk that is saying I should be in the NHL. Now, he better be putting in the work behind the scenes on top of that to prove it. But I want a player that that has that belief in his ability. And I, I don't, I don't begrudge him for that. But there's no doubt. Like, if you, if you're judging them based on what we've seen over these last two years, you know, I still would have had Eurichick ahead of them last after last season. And, you know, it's probably that gap has significantly narrowed based on what we've seen from Nemich in the NHL this year. But really, it's way too early to say that one or the other is going to be the better

player based on, you know, or to change my opinion based on the body of work that I've seen over the last four years. And since it was directed towards me, I don't know if it corrects the tougher word, but to echo Chris's point, I leaned the year at Checks Way the last two years. And if you asked me to rank them right now, I would, it'd be a serious debate, I think, and might even lean Nemich's way, but I'm not sure I'm all the way there yet. But the recent data has been quite compelling in one direction. Absolutely. Just like it was really compelling in the other direction in the last year,

like Yerchuk, way better in the American League, the Nemich was last year, way better at the world juniors. But, you know, development is not always a straight line. Yeah, a little different conversation here, but it almost, we just talked about with Stramelin Perrault, that like you didn't draft stramel thinking perro wasn't going to score more than him you probably if you prefer your check it's not like you thought simon nemitz wasn't going to be able to produce and produce somewhat early in the nchel right no but he's playing big minutes right it's like it's not

it's not it's not it's not like some power play points that's lukews his job like this guy's he's he's the boy he's playing has been very impressive yeah sure no doubt yeah yeah and that's the thing you don't take away anything from what's happening now and you say okay well this is this is interesting. It's just when you're looking at the big picture, it's still a 26 game sample. So that's the other thing versus years of watching these players. Well, and that long term, you drafted or you preferred Eurocheck because Eurochek didn't get drafted. You preferred Eurocheck if you did because you thought, I'm going to have this big body, six three defenseman who can also add offense down the line. Yeah, yeah. Neither of these

guys are close to the tippy top of their projection. So that's it. It's fine. Yeah. The only thing I would add there is that I do think in terms of Chris talked about, I'm not sure whether there's anything that gives pause with your check. I have started to worry about how many mistakes he makes, whether it's getting burned on pivots out wide to give up breakaways or coughing the puck up or caught out of position in his own zone kind of thing. With Nemich, you've got an efficiency that I don't think you're ever going to get out of Eurechik.

And some of those mistakes have started to, he's still a very projectable prospect, but some of those mistakes have started to worry me with with your check yeah i think i think nevich is way way smarter and i think yorechek the better athlete i thought it was interesting chris said he wouldn't bother him to see urechek talking about thinking he should be an hl player do you guys feel the same way scott and core yeah i feel like i i feel like if you're going to say that and like his comments were along the line like i played well last game and they said i didn't and the next game you get in you better play real well because because you just called out your coach and your management more or less for saying they're bad evaluators.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's the other thing that I do think is really important in, I've said this a lot and I'll continue to say it, self-awareness is one of the most important traits of development. And if a player, if I didn't think there was nuggets of truth to what Eurecheck was saying, I would disagree with that, you know, like I would, I would be a little bit more harsh on the commentary. But I do think there's nuggets of truth to what he's saying.

I do think there are things that he does that has proven that he should be the NHL and there are things that he's done as Scott mentioned that prove that there's still more work to be done. I still think that that work can happen at the NHL level, especially on a team like the Blue Jackets, but hey, maybe it's better to not be in Columbus right now with the way things have gone. Kind of a tough situation there, right? Because it's like, we know they're not good. We know they're going to get a high pick, but we kind of know the mandate coming in was to win this year. So it's definitely a hot seat. They're particularly on the management side. and we might have some more clarity this time next year in terms of and how they're going to be using their roster going forward

I do I must say love me some Simon Nemich he was we know Scott we all know he's a Scott favorite for sure a wheeler Hall of Famer through and yeah all right that's going to do it for us today thanks for listen to this episode of the athletic hockey show prospect series. You can catch more of Chris over at Flohockey and on his podcast, Talkin Hockey Sense. The rest of us, you can follow on YouTube at YouTube.com slash at the athletic hockey show. And right now, get a one-year subscription to The Athletic for $2 a month when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. We'll talk to you soon.