The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL Draft 2024 final recap

Episode Date: June 30, 2024

On a special Saturday edition of The Athletic Hockey Show prospect series, Max Bultman, Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Chris Peters from Flo Hockey recap the 2024 NHL draft from Vegas. The guys discuss two big trades for the Utah Hockey Club acquiring John Marino from New Jersey and Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lighting. They take a look at the goalies selected on Saturday, how far Aron Kiviharju fell in draft position, and some new insight on Minnesota Wild first rounder Zeev Buium. Max, Corey, Scott and Chris present their favorite draft classes of 2024, they look back on Vegas hosting the final NHL draft on location, before looking ahead to a decentralized Draft in 2025.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody, Max Polkman here alongside Corey Prondman, Scott Wheeler, and Flow Hockey's, Chris Peters for our post-draft recap episode of the 2024-Nh-HL draft. We are in the hotel lobby here shortly after the draft has wrapped up. You'll hear a little bit of the Dulcet, we'll call it elevator music, I guess, lobby music. Basically. Yeah, a little ambiance for you from here in Las Vegas. We're going to get into the draft in a second, Corey, but really the headline stealer of the day was had nothing to do with this draft particularly.

It was all about the Utah Hockey Club and a couple of big trades they made. Well, in particular, the trade that for a part of them, Mikhail Sergichette and John Marino, and we had thought about Utah's draft class on day one where they get two first round picks, pick Tija Ginnah at sixth overall, and then in the 20s they go and get four. Cole Bo Dwen, both very good prospects. I think Cold Bull Dway can be a really nice third line center in the NHL. Tichigua is going to be a top-sex scoring winger, likely in the NHL. We looked at that class and we thought, those are good players, but they really needed

a defense than we thought. You know, you looked at that organization where the strengths and weaknesses are, and some people would say, but just take the best player available to figure it out later. So a lot of times teams don't figure it out later. But it seems that Utah has tried to do that. And now you're looking at a blue line core, although J.J. Moser goes the other way, back to Tampa, a very nice second round picked by them a couple of years ago.

Then now you have Surgachev and Marino. And when we did the Milstein camp discussion the other week, we talked about the draft deluxe for obvious reasons. But Dimitri Sinechev was there too at that camp. And he looked awesome. I think he looks like a legit top pair potential defenseman in the NHL. Maverick Lamarroom has progressed really well. And I think there is a really exciting group

with defensemen coming together in Utah. When Cole Bowdoin was picked, we also thought, okay, now it's like you got Logan Cooley, you got Barrett Hayden, you got Conrad Heaney, now you have Bo Dwen. It's a lot of nice center players right there. And are you maximizing Conner Geiki? Are you maximizing Cole Bo Dwen?

If you've got to push one of them to the wing, maybe you've got to trade Barrett Hayden. Turns out the solution was we trade Conard Geiki. Yeah. who I think his value is as high right now as it's been in the last, let's say, 18 to 20 months following a very nice year in Swift Current, a very nice World Junior, and they end up turning into McConaulte, each other. Scott, I want to ask you about Geeky because he goes the other way to Dempey Lightning here.

And obviously the Lightning are clear in Cap Space here, but they do add a prospect to us now, I think they're unquestioned top prospect here. What are they getting in them? Well, in Geeky, they're getting a big player who has some surprising. finesse. One of the things that stood out about geeky and minor hockey right through to his 16 and 17-year-old seasons in the WHO was this big kid with a quick set of hands who can fire a wrister and has some real offensive quality. He's worked to get stronger. He was a pretty skinny kid a couple of years ago. We now saw him in Gothenburg at the World Juniors and he was carrying around a lot of weight.

He's a big kid who the real question now is does he have the pace? I know he's worked hard at his skating. And then the secondary question is, is he a center or a winner? The Canada played him at both. He played it both in Winnipeg and Winnipeg and Winatchi and Swift Current. They can't seem to figure out what sort of fits his game best, I think, because of a little bit of a lack of pace. But you don't find six foot four forwards with that kind of skill at that age. And that was always his calling card.

That was what God teams excited about him in his draft year. And I think that remains today. He's got some legit skill for a big ham. Chris, how well set up now is Utah as they go forward? with what they've added, both last draft with two picks in the top 12, now they have another high pick this year, and then they get these two big defense back. Yeah, I mean, they are majorly, majorly set up.

You know, like, I feel like there's a vision. I feel like there's a, you know, they obviously, we talked about how much they went with size last year this year. They go ahead and they obviously get a big-time star, a potential star, and you should get a, you know, you have a guy like Gorda and I think will help you win. And then, you know, you're still waiting on Sima Shev. I got Servichette, which is a great piece going forward.

You got hopefully played Kelman. This is a team that is starting to look more like not just some vanilla kind of middle-of-the-road team. They're starting to look like they're on a path towards competitiveness. And in a new market, obviously, knowledge that matters. But I think the work that the scouting staff has done, and really I thought when they were in Arizona, making me aggressive play, you know, Bill Armstrong, background in scouting, You get Ryan Jenkowski, you get Daryl from a thousand, you get guys that are, have done this at a high level for a long time. And you put all that brain power together.

It's going to actually work pretty well for you. And I think so far it has. And to see not just the trade with the Sergachev, but also just the quality of the draft they had, getting a lot of players that we all like, you know, I think that they're very well set up for the short term with that deal. But then they still have that long term set up with the way they've drafted. there were more trades today, but let's get to the picks, Corey. And right off the hop, what became one of the obvious storylines that they tool in the draft, all these goalies start flying off the board in round two.

I did not see this coming. Did you see this coming? What happened here? Well, I think when we were doing our analysis of the draft, we maybe undercut the goal of discussion a little bit. Maybe even when we were doing our articles about it, we would say this is not a great goalie draft. Even scouts I talked to said it wasn't a great goal of draft. But honestly, when I looked at my list, had plenty of goalies in really good spots on my list. I had a lot of goalies projected as

NHL goalies. And, you know, we saw the five goalies that went in the second round. Elyne Bacca, Carter George, Evan Gardner, Emil Vini, and Mikhail Yeagerov. I had four of those five as projected NHL goaltenders. More on the backup variety, I think Yeagerov, the New Jersey goalie has maybe a little bit more upside a little bit more on him later. But I thought that was a perfectly reasonable scenario. I thought this was a decent goalie class.

Maybe it doesn't have a high, high end. Like maybe we were all super high on Michael Haramble last year. But I had no issues with how fast those goalies went. The Evan Gardner won. He surprised me a little bit just given how little playtime he got on a consistent basis at Saskatoon, though his numbers were great and he's

athletic and he looks like a very nice goalie. I just, that one surprised. me a little bit. But overall, the number of goalies, eight in the top three rounds, maybe a little higher than I expected, but I thought a lot of them deserved to be picked where they did. Scott, give me one of these goalies that you like the most, whether it's about the fit, whether it's about the long-term projection, one of these picks that you were especially intrigued by. Nabokov and George were my one-two goalies, really all year and certainly finished there on my final list. They went first and third with McKayley-Egrov, sort of wedged in between them

in the draft. Nabokov's a fascinating one. Gorge is a fascinating one. They're both about 5-11, six-feet tall. So don't have that sort of classic ideal size. In the Bacob's case, you're talking about a 21-year-old who was the KHL playoffs MVP last year. Both kids battle in the net. They're competitive. They're decently athletic.

But again, neither of them are that freak athlete that you do often see in the 5-11, six-foot variety. So they look a little bit different than the goalies that were sort of used to seeing in that range. But I think the track record, their performance, in Carter George's case at UA Team Worlds, on a big stage in Emilian Nabok's case in the K-HL playoffs, that sort of solidified where they were, I think, for teams. And I know in George's case, teams also thought he interviewed really well at the Combine. He's just a really great kid, which I think helped his case.

So those are probably the two goalies in this class that I was reasonably excited about. I didn't feel the same way about them that I did, Trey Augustine or a Michael Harabal a year ago. but they're legit goalie prospects. Why is Carter George materially different than Trey Augustine? I think Trey Augustine had done it longer. He'd done it on more stages. He's done it at a higher level.

And I think he's an inch or two taller. I like Augustine and his demeanor. I'm still really high on Trey. But there's some similarities there. Chris, one thing I was talking about with one of my athletic colleagues, Jesse Granger, right before the second round started, was yes, Ilya,

is 21. But is there any argument to be made that for goalies, we should not look at that the same way that we do for skaters? I guess what I'm saying is like if you could tell me that at 21 a goalie was going to have the numbers that he had in the KHL when he was 21, I think I'd be happier to know that than even just knowing he's 18 and what could be. Yeah, I think that's actually a really good point is that you're, he's further along his development. You have an idea of what that range is. And I'd be interested to see. you know, over these years, how many more of these re-entry guys go? And I think that this will be an interesting case study in that as well.

There's so many more variables when you draft an 18-year-old goalie, things can go a certain way. They might not get the playing time. They might not get, you know, they might be at a lower level. You really don't know. But here's a guy that's not at the KHA level. And then, you know, you have an idea of what he's going to be. Or certainly more, you know, just in terms of, I don't know what I lost my training. but like I think for her for when you have an older goaltender you just have that idea of the

trajectory of where that's heading you know the thing that about Nabokov is you know the size thing does matter I think it's all the positions doesn't matter more than it does in the goaltending position you know so I think that that'll ultimately be that the what we're waiting to see if you know he could do it but he obviously just did it in a high level I do like Nabokov. I had him rated well, and I think he's got a really good chance in playing the NHL. And the year he had was great.

The playoff he had was just fantastic. The character came to a KHL championship of that age. It's really impressive. He's a super smart goalie. I think he's not an elite athleticism, but good enough athleticism. But when I was thinking about Navakha this year, I couldn't help but think of a very similar case,

which is the only Akuna Val about five, six years ago, where he was an older goalie, Edmonton took him in the third round he had a monster year in the KHL when he got drafted and then it was just all downhill from there a guy who didn't have a track record doing before didn't have the elite traits who usually associate with a premium goalie

and I'm not saying you can't use that to say well that's what's going to have him to bachow but I do wonder given the frame just how it's going to translate into the American League never mind into the NHL it is a risk that I think it's just kind of made a flash in the pan

or I don't know it feels like in the NHL, the VHL, the KHL, all those goalies put up numbers. It's very strange how that always seems to happen over there. So I had some hard time with Ray and the Bachoff. But at the end of the day, I did

think he showed me enough to think that I think he could play in the NHL. Yeah. Yeah. And he was not on my list at all because of the size factor, but it was, the thing is that you understand, I certainly didn't think he should have been the first goal to take it, to tell you that much. But

But aside from that, I really think that, you know, the age factor that you brought up at the beginning is interesting. And I think the teams are going to look at that and say, okay, how do we kind of gauge that versus the younger goalies that are far less proven? A non-goly today who I think became a little bit of a storyline was Aaron Kivie Hardy. Scott, I know you in particular have been really high on this player for a number of years. He slips way down. I think he ends up going on the fourth round. What was kind of your reaction to his fall? why do you think it happened?

And what's kind of your big picture takeaway from this? From a player who a couple years ago was a name to watch in this class? In broad strokes, I don't think the fall was expected. I think how far he felt did still surprise me at least a little bit. Relative to some of the other names that were going there, there were names with very little track records, names that have a lot of work to do just to get NHL entry-level contracts, just to play pro hockey.

Kids that are really raw started to go in that later. third to early fourth round. And once they start to see those names, that's what surprised me. In the second and early third round, most of the kids who are going there belong there. Most of the kids who are going there are comparable prospects. I think ultimately what took place is, A, a kid who burst onto the scene really early in his development curve, was excellent as a 15-year-old. Actually, led points per game, led all defense men as a 15-year-old at the U-20 level

in Finland, was a captain at that level as a 15-year-old. And then the injury this year, the gross spurt never coming, a five foot nine defenseman who doesn't have sort of above average feet is a huge question mark. Ultimately, what kept me on him as sort of a late first, second round potential target for me in this draft class was the IQ piece. I truly believe that Aaron Kibbri was one of the smartest players in that draft. And I think in today's game, that can carry you a long way. Now, if he was a third round pick, I wouldn't have felt any real strong feelings about him being a third round pick. once he was available in the fourth round.

I think we're talking about a kid who this winter in Ottawa is going to be the number one defenseman for a big four country at the World Junior is going in the fourth round. That's whether or not he's five foot nine, the injury, the lost time, the feet, he's still a premium player in his age group in his country, in a good hockey country.

So that was sort of part of the equation for me. Who would be your NHL comparable for a kid? I think you're hoping that he's a, Jared Spurgeon light that the IQ can carry him and that he can be, I don't think he skates or has the mobility in the way that a Samuel is. Pergin really competes too. Yeah, yeah. Spurgeon plays hard and Spurgeon's, has added muscle over the years, but that's, that's kind

of what you're hoping for. A Matt Grislich, a Jared Spurgeon, a guy who won the IQ piece and the efficiency piece can carry himself into the NHL. The one name I thought would Kim O'HRueh with Scott Brunovich, maybe, and the scouts I've talked to at the NHL. because we would have some of our conversations with scouts about this, and they would say, I think, Perrovich, probably a better quickness. Maybe I like Kivis' edges a little bit more,

but then the question is, is that an outcome you like? He probably like it in the fourth round, but I'm not sure you like it in the second round. And I don't know, I don't know. So I understand why he got to where he did. It was easy to talk yourself out of that player profile because there's just no comparables of it in the NHL. the same reason why Lay Hudson, who would make a more dynamic version of that player, got to where he did in the draft.

Time will tell whether any of them have a long career. All right, let's take a pause right there. We're going to come back and talk about some big picture stuff from this draft. All right, we are back. And Corey, we talked yesterday about Steve Boyum, and one of the interesting storylines of day one, was that him going all the way down at number 12. Minnesota trades up to number 13 to get him with a day to kind of talk around the league here.

Any new insight? We were really surprised that he was the one to go. six. I know you said somebody had to, but why kind of he fell and why Philadelphia didn't just take him? Right. And I think we always knew there was that group of 12 to 13 skaters and somebody had to go 12. But I think what was interesting is that Philadelphia was in a position to take Steve Boyum, and they seemed to opt out in what's a very unusual trade where they traded down one spot. For just a future third. For Minnesota, and Minnesota, because it's pink volume, Philadelphia, take Jet Lachenko.

And Philadelphia afterwards said, you know, we were worried a little bit about where he fits with the young defense. But we have, we have Kim York, you know, we have Jamie Drysdale. But something that I think a lot of people in the league have taken notice of is the fact that Zee, Boya, you know, obviously just a great player. It didn't seem like it really came down to the players' abilities. It's hard to say exactly why Philly made that decision. Maybe they just love Jet Lachenko that much.

I'm sure they do. don't take a guy 30th overall if you don't have a super high grade on the player. But there is this undercurrent of the fact that the same people who represent Kutrogote and all the drama that happened between Philadelphia and Karnoge also do happen to represent Z. Boya. And it's hard to ignore the fact that those circumstances exist and that they made what was objectively a bit of a strange move on the draft. interesting. All right, let's go big picture here now, guys. I want to go around, ask you each, some of your favorite draft classes. Prefer you can make it one. If you have to give me an honorable mention, you can do it. But we'll start with you, Scott. What was your favorite kind of draft class as we zoom out big picture? I really liked what the Chicago Blackhawks did. Obviously, the only team to end up with three first round picks. I thought they did well with all three of those first round picks. They get Archimletchuna of my top-ranked defenseman at number one. They get Merrick Vanekir.

and Sasha Blavarvarez, two players who have clear paths to being professional hockey players look like pros in a lot of ways already. Not even mentioned it on the podcast yesterday, but not hard to imagine. Sasha Blavarren, Eric Vanekherner and as my mate's on a third line with the Chicago Blackcom. A good third line. On a very good third line. Both those guys could be up and down the lineup types on a good team if they progress

naturally, progress how you hope. Obviously a little tricky with Vanekir because he's out until December with the shoulder surgery. But even beyond that, I thought their third round was, they didn't have a second round pick because of the way the things played out. And I thought their third round was really, really no worthy. They have clearly prioritized speed. You look back at previous drafts, Paul Wadwinsky, Nick Lardis, Frank Mazar, Oliver Moore, amongst the fastest players in each of their draft classes. Round three, they've got three picks. They pick John Mustard, one of the three or four fastest players in this draft. They pick AJ Spalacey, one of the three or four fastest players in

this draft. And they pick John Mustard. They pick John Mustard. One of the three or four fastest players in this draft. Jack Pridgham, who's a top 10 speed guy in this draft. So clearly prioritizing speed there. We joked sort of off mic before we started recording that eventually you're going to need more than just speed to build out that forward group. But they, I sort of wrote in my column today, they don't have the fastest team in the NHL at the moment, but they have the fastest prospect pool in hockey without question. It's been a huge priority for them. Spalasi in particular just really gets after it and is mean and physical and big and strong.

He was actually a three and a half star recruit by Nick Saban and could have been a free safety in Division I college football. Chose to go the hockey route, very raw player. But there's a lot to like about all three of those kids. And to add that kind of speed element, even if only one or two of them makes it, to go out and target that in the third round, I thought was a pretty smart approach. Chris, how about you? What classes did I do? Well, this seems way too easy to say it, but that can celebrate it obviously is the highlight of the Samson. Sharks draft lies, but beyond that, it was really good. Now, they did take Sam Dickinson.

You know, if it were me in that scene, I'm probably taking Zip Buyang, because he's there, but at the same time, you know, you get one of the premium defensemen in the draft class. Then in the second round, beginning of the second round, get Igor Chernyshov, who I had a first round grade on, very skilled player with size, and then that helps him. We got Leo Sala, Millennius, and 53rd overall, a guy that just plays a very simple game, a very simple game, and a, you know, he does. doesn't stand out in any one thing, which is why I think he's slipped, but he plays the right way. He just does a lot of things well. He's got high-and-hococass, good skater.

He does some nice things out there. Then you got Carson Wedge. It's just a beast. You know, he's right on the forecheck. He'll probably play down your lineup. Take a little bit of a swing on a big goalie. Christian Courts who had some nice moments at the world of great teams this year. Colton Roberts, you know, another guy that was on my top of 100, has some upside. He's got size. I think the offense is coming along quite nicely. I mean, overall, that entire class, you know, it's deep. It helps you in a variety of areas and a variety of positions. And I think they got a lot of quality.

They got a lot of value with some of those late hits. So, yes, Macklin Celebrini is the headliner. You would win the draft by picking him no matter what, but they continue to build on a prospect system that needed for. Dickinson and Selene Wallenius in particular, with what we know about where that pool was at, with Shakir Muck Medellin. Kaganoni and not a lot else. They've probably drafted their first and third ranked prospects,

including Tony and his at third, probably behind Shakir and Mugman Newell. And that changes what that very thin pool under the line runs like. Well, and I think even to the point about, you know, would you take and see William at 11? You know, it was two weeks ago that we were talking about them at 14, hoping that St. N. Solberg's going to fall to them. So to get Sam Dickinson, who I think is like a more sure thing version of St.N. Solberg really hammers home. I mean, maybe not quite as physical, but in terms of the big mobile skater type, right? Like it's, it is really, I think, a dream scenario for San Jose. Corey, we'll go to you now.

What was the draft class that really stood out to you? I like when New Jersey was able to accomplish there today. I mean, we'll go, you know, the mid-late round picture, you don't want to talk about too much. You know, I think Casper Piccarorina, and Big Ford who can skate, has some scale. He's got a chance. He's been with Herman Traff. He's six-three.

You could fly. He can score goals. He's got a chance. I like Patias Malowski in the queue. He was really good at the world. He was really good for a strong big combo team. He's a good skater. He's got some playmaking in him.

But obviously, we talked about Anton Soliazio. Yesterday. He's an outstanding process. He's got a chance to be a star, two-way defenseman in the NHL. He's so mobile, so physical for a guy that size. He's got a powerful unit in the KHL. There's a lot to like about his game.

But then their first pick today, they go out and get Mikhail Yeagerov in the second round. And when you think of all the traits that gets acquired in Saliav and Yeagerov, It's an exciting thing because you look at, you know, Salaya was probably one of the freakish athletes

in the draft, but I would say Yigarov right behind him is probably right up there in terms of freak athletic. For a 6-5 goalie, the way he moves in the net, it's first round quality goal-attending. And I think on Yerov's best knife, he looked like a first-round pick. He went in the second round because he didn't have

those best nights that often. The people who were big fans of this player will point at the team, not at the goalie. and say it's because the Omaha Lancers made him look worse than he actually was. That being said, it's hard to say, it's hard to take a guy with a sub-900 save percentage in the first round. So I understand the argument both ways. You know, we'll see how he does long-term. You know, a VU recruit, and we'll see what his career holds for him.

But I think he's an exciting prospect. And I think getting those two guys of your first two picks has a lot of potential to work out for the Douglas. All right, let's take another break right there. we'll come back and we'll talk about the future of the draft, not just in terms of the 2025 class, although we will hit that, but the centralization of the draft. All right, we are back.

And Corey, before we get into the 2025 class, our annual tradition of looking way too far ahead, way too fast, I do want to look ahead to next year's draft in a different way because the idea here, the whole week, has been kind of the last hurrah of the centralized draft, that we get the whole league in one place. What was your impression of this week, how that went, and everything that came along with that.

Obviously, it's been something in the background of this weekend that even though it's in Vegas and it's great to be here and being in the sphere is really cool, it's hard not to look forward and think, okay, what's coming next? And also, for a league that seems to have cited the fact that finances for a big reason

and far they're decentralized. They're just dropping a gigantic wad of money into booking the sphere at the same time. So it's a little hard to equate to be quite honest. and quite frankly just being here and talking to all the NHL people there here not just like the team people like the scouts but all across the team spectrum you know whether it's the business people the social media people

you have obviously all the journalists who are here the agents the families it's tough to think that this is going to be the last time there's still going to be people at a decentralized draft particularly the players and the people close to them there'll be some media there but it's not going to be the same thing and it's said and quite frankly a bad decision by the NHL. You know, if they want to go this route and see how it goes next year,

fine. But that will leave the NHL at a disadvantage relative to the other leagues. In terms of the fact that the other leagues, even though they may have something similar in terms of how they run their drafts, they still get their once a year occasion where it's basically

a giant conference for their sport. In the MLB, you have the winter meetings, the NBA, you have, have the Summer League and the NFL has the combine. We can't do it in the combine and hockey because the playoffs are going on during it. So whether it means reversing the decision on the draft, which to my understanding, there are some teams pushing for that,

that they are extremely frustrated by this decision and they have been making that vocal to the commissioner's office. Or instead of doing what we do with rookie camps in the fall, where we have this two teams there, three teams here, two teams in this city, we do maybe like an NBA summer league where we put all of the rookies in a centralized location, there has to be something. Because I think just going forward without a way

to get the whole league in one place is a terrible decision. You know, just, you know, I get the money argument. I don't get the schedule argument of, oh, it's so close to free agency. You know, you can move the calendar around. So free agency isn't on July 1st, on July 5th. Who cares?

We can find a solution to this problem, But this was not the solution. Yeah, I've always thought the NHL draft is one of the things that the NHL gets so right because of the spectacle of it, because of the ability for media and everybody else to get more out of it. And I also think that, you know, it allows you to showcase the future of your league. And I think doing it the decentralized way, the way the NFL doesn't have to worry about people being stars. You know, they just are going to be there. I think this is an opportunity for the NHL that introduce these players to people.

And as, you know, the line of work that we're in, we know that there's a lot of interest in that. And then on top of it, you know, like, I think there are some teams that are obviously looking at it from the practical standpoint, the finances and everything else. You're costing the league a great opportunity for exposure that doesn't come and won't come as easily next time. And so I just, I've said it from the very beginning. this is, you know, something that wasn't broken that is now being fixed. And just, as Corey said, it disadvantages the NHL relative to the other leagues because you take away this unique opportunity to gather everyone together. It's worth noting, too, that it's not just the teams that voted no on decentralization

that have expressed themselves to the league. I've spoken to multiple directors with teams who've said that their general manager has second-guessed voting yes. So it seems like there's some trepidation now. And I think this week and how successful we were in Vegas as a sport this week, I think it makes that decision that much harder to say, we've just accomplished this and we're now never going to go back to doing that. So it doesn't feel to me, honest to God, it doesn't feel to me like the door is slammed shut.

I will go to far to say this is not the last. Yes. Oh, bold prediction. All right. I like it. All right. Let's look ahead to 2025 in a prospect sense now. Scott and look ahead and there's some names that I think people are going to be pretty familiar with here

Porter Martone, James Hagan's Anton Frundel. When you look ahead to the 2025 class, sum it up for me. Who do we need to know and what's the identity? What's the theme of next year's draft? Well, I think after a year, the year of the defenseman, so you will, or Macklin Celebrity plus the defenseman, there's going to be a bit of a departure back to the norm, a bit of a regression to the mean next year. I don't think people have the same excitement about Charlie Trethaway. or Logan Hensler that they do. Certainly people, there's a lot of excitement about Matthew Schaefer, but there isn't that same number, that same quantity.

You're not going to have people breaking records in the NCAA as defensemen next year. The quality of the D is going to be back to me. I think the excitement about next year is those names you mentioned. It's James Hagen's Anton Frundell. It's Porter Martone. Those guys are legitimate, legitimate players. In Martone's case, you've got a profile that you won't find a single-strandall. that doesn't like Porter Martone and what he looks like.

So I think if those guys can build upon what they've accomplished, Frondell's got to get healthy. Higgins is going to be Higgins. He's going to be a stud at D.C. But if the other guys can start to sort of build on what they've accomplished to date, we have an opportunity for a class to have at least some guys that are sort of pro-built in ways that some of the smaller forwards in this draft, the Constellaneous, there were players in this draft that teams just weren't universally on board with.

You talked to people about him. Megan's and Pranel and Martone. Everybody likes those guys. I like Roger Rekhina-a-law, too. Brandon's huge center who can skate has a ton of skill. And, you know, we've seen a little rhyme of this over the last two years of Montvind Michoud and Ivan Deminoff. Lo of behold, we've got another great rushing forward

in the M.HL. No way. Ivan Ryapkin is a really good player. He was sixth in the MHL in scoring this past season. He's going to be a guy who talked about a lot. And I do quite like Matthew Schaeber. I think he has a legitimate chance to be a top five. the next year draft. We have a long way to go until next June, but he has an extremely

exciting tool. He's a great skater. He can move pox. We don't need to go start debating where guys fit on lists right now, but I think he's got a really good chance to be a three-year team well-spects. We don't need to debate where guys fit on list, but Chris, I do have to ask you, Ryabkin to Montreal, yes or no, answer right now. No, not anymore. They did it once. No, but also U-17 scoring record in the MHL outscored Matt Vein Michkov at the same. same age in fewer games. And so that's an interesting dynamic there. We haven't mentioned the exceptional status player, Michael Bisa. You know, right. Yeah, exactly. You know, so. Yeah, he'll be going to his second Elyka. And, you know, that's a rare thing. But I mean, obviously, he's going to be a guy

that's part of the discussion. Another defense is going to keep an eye on that is a really high upside guy, Sasha Bumetian, you know, Swedish player plays for Youngstown in the, in the USHL. You know, There is a lot of upside that we're seeing from that class early on. It's going to be very fascinating. Obviously, a long way to go to next June. But I think there's enough excitement. I don't think any of these guys are Macklin-Colabrini level. But at the same time, you know, were we saying that Matt Concelebrini isn't close to

Connor Baderi a year ago? I think James Higgins compared to a little bit of a little bit of Cooley for you. Or Jack Hughes early on that spectrum. Yeah, I think he's probably a little bit behind Hughes. but, you know, not terribly far ahead of Cooley, if that makes any sense? Yeah, I'd say that. I'd have a gap between James Higgins after what we saw this year and Cooley. I think the skating is maybe even a higher grade,

and Logan's a great skater and the creativity on the puck, the cleverness of his game. Logan plays hard, but I think there's a little bit more dynamic flair to James. Yeah, I just think there is definitely that. But I also think that with Cooley, there's a little bit more, like, he doesn't always play with it, but there's a little more jam to him. There's a little bit more, you know, compete, I think sometimes. Not to say that Hagan's lax compete, he doesn't. He doesn't.

But, yeah, but I mean, I think that's going to be fascinating. Really, and I really think Anton Frundel is going to have something to say about number one next year. He's got size, he's got strength, it's got power, you know, ended the season injured. We'll see him at the Holinka. So, I mean, there's a lot to like about this class coming up. The QMJHL almost had a disastrous draft this year where they went to the end of the second round this draft before they had their first player pitch. There were fewer players put out of the QMJHL this season than they were out of the Russian

Junior League this season. But I think next year, the story will change. I'm not saying the Q is back, but they got a little bit more excitement in the group next year. When I put up way, way too early, don't take it serious, 2025 draft ranking next week, there will be multiple QMJHL players on that list. All right, the cue is back. You heard it here first from Corey Pranman. Thanks for listening to the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series

and all our coverage from the 2024 NHL draft in Vegas. Our next athletic hockey show drops Monday afternoon after the first few hours of free agency on Canada Day. It'll be Ian Mendez and Mark Lazarus with you there. As for the rest of us, we'll talk to you soon.