The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL Mock Draft 2024: first round projections by Pronman, Wheeler, Peters and Bultman

Episode Date: June 21, 2024

On this special edition of The Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series, Max, Corey, Scott, and FloHockey’s Chris Peters project the entire first round of the 2024 NHL Draft and give their expert analysis on each pick. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody. Max Boltman here alongside the athletics, Corey Prondman, Scott Wheeler, and Flohockey's Chris Peters for a special episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. It's our live mock draft show, guys. We're going to be making all 32 first-round picks here. I mean, I guess it's not totally unprompted. We've been planning for it. But we don't know what each other are going to do.

And you guys should have heard how yoked for this Chris Peters was. But he's going to have to wait because Scott Wheeler. has won the lottery to represent the San Jose Sharks and make the first overall pick? The first overall pick in the athletics draft will be Macklin Celebrini, to the surprise of absolutely no one. And I'd be interested to hear at least quickly who, whether you guys think there is any kind of a debate, because for me, it's been cut and dry all year.

And I'm probably not even entertaining discussion about Anton Slajav or our Tim Lishunov or the rest at the top. there. I've heard like extreme minority opinions about this and I don't think they actually exist to the point where somebody would actually do it. Just like throughout the course of the year, I've heard like the opinions of like if they, if you really want an offenseman, like maybe Lefshunov, maybe Selyev fit here at one. If you, I've heard like again, extreme minority that some would consider Demadov there at one. But I don't actually know of any scout that I've talked to. in the last six months, that is.

This chat was more like in the summer and the fall. In the last six months, I haven't talked to anybody who has anybody other than celebrating yet the one spot. When I did my Selyev piece in the fall, same thing. I had a couple of people mentioned Salaiev is sort of in the conversation at that point,

but I don't think that's the case any longer. Wire to wire. You look at like what Adam Fantilli did in his draft year, which was just outstanding, one of the best college season. ever and and you know won the hobie baker celebrini wins the hoby baker nearly a full year younger

than watch fantilly and jack icel were in their in their draft seasons it's just one of the greatest prospects i've seen in my time doing this he is outstanding i think he's one of the most complete players that i've tracked just there aren't notable weaknesses in his game there's nothing you know i mean i don't even know why we're spending so much time on this. He's so clearly ahead of this pack. I don't think it's close. I don't think it's been.

You have to at least talk about it. Yeah, yeah. If you're the sharks, you can't go into their meeting and be like, Mack, okay, done, let's go home. Yes, they can. Start focusing on pick 14. This is over. We got a, we got a 14th pick to make.

Let's move on. Next. The sharks also owing pick 14 is also kind of a killer to what I would want to bring up in this conversation, which is that if you did want a defenseman, the argument would be trade with Chicago and get their other pick and move back one spot and get a second mid first rounder. They've already got a second, you know, a mid first rounder to go with that. And they've already basically, you know, on lottery night, it was pretty clear from Mike Greer that they're going to do celebrating here.

But that would be the only thing I could think of. If you desperately love the defenseman here, you have to at least trade back. I don't think you can take them over celebrating. I think you got to at least get an extra asset for your trouble, but they won't do it so it doesn't even matter. Let's move on to pick number two. That is Chicago and that is Corey Bronlin. Yeah, obviously, this is a major decision point here in the draft. Again, we're talking about projection. I'm talking about our list and what our preferences are. You know, the information that our reporter, Scott Powers, has is the names in consideration

here seem to be defensemen Artim Lefshunov and Anton Silev, as well as forwards, Caden, Lindstrom, and Ivan Demadov, kind of the consensus-ish. top five players in this year's draft. Just knowing kind of what I think Chicago is going to value in this scenario where I think they both would love, I think they would love all kinds of those players. I think they would love to add skill to their blue line. I think they would love to add Salia's size and meanness to their blue line, to add a really dynamic player to play alongside Connor Bedard and Ivan Demandov,

or to add, frankly, some size and some meanness to their forward group that they don't have either in Kaden Lindstrom. Just knowing how much scouting work they've done this year, I mean, Chicago's got to be one of the most noticeable scouting groups you see on the road in terms of how much the management group in particular gets around to scout players on how much emphasis they've put on this pick. I got to imagine they will think long and heart about Demadov and Zelaya, but I think their lean will be towards the guys they've seen live

and are very comfortable with as a group. And I think the pick will be, will be, Arctim Lefshunov here. The big, mobile, extremely skilled defensemen who significantly outproduced players like Quinn Hughes and Owen Power did in the same conference in their draft years. Played a big role on why Michigan State was one of the best teams in the country. And I think has even a chance to play in the NHL next year. One thing of note here that I should have probably said before we started this for the listeners, this is a predictive mock draft. This is not our, if I were a GM mock that we already

did an episode on a few weeks ago here. So when Corey says that about Lev Shunov, this is not him going on his ranking. This is not him saying what he would do. This is a informed predictive pick by him here. So when we go to Scott here next, who I think is going to raise the obvious kind of question about Demadov, that is still about kind of what we think will happen and our predictions. Yeah, and I think it ultimately, it feels more to me like it's come down to the two of them, to Demadov and Lev Shunov, then Winstrom and Selyev. But I think Corey's on the right track.

The more I've thought about it, the more I've sort of asked around about it, I think, Levin, not that I'm sure, and I'm sure they're going to continue to have debates, and they'll be in Fort Waterdale to meet with Demadov and all of that. but my hunch is kind of the same as Corey's at this point. I think Lev Shunov makes more sense. And that's coming from someone who had them mocking Demadov in my first mock. So it's just too hard to pass up that package. They've got a good blue line of prospects coming,

but Kevin Kurchinsky and Alex Vlas, like Sam Renzel, they don't have that sort of that mojo. They don't have that sort of premium, premium upside. that a player like Lev Shunov has. We're recording this on Monday. It's going to post on Friday. But in the meantime, I will be at that Dan Milstein camp where I don't believe Ivan Deminov is going to skate.

Again, I couldn't be proven wrong because of it. I recorded this before we published it before the camp actually starts. But I don't believe he's going to skate, but I do believe Chicago's going to have a very large contingent down there to meet with him. And, you know, I think that all go into part of the park. process and we'll see ultimately where they land on that decision. Yeah, you know, it's been interesting to see the kind of, you know, obviously in our mentions and everything else about the debate among Blackhawks fans.

And I think there was a, there's certainly a segment that, that wants an increase in high-end skill at their forward position. However, I just think that people have completely missed the boat on how good Levshunov is. I mean, we can tell them as much as we. We want to. It's just like, I want a forward. Give me a forward. Defensemen aren't as fun as forwards.

I'll tell you that. It's not as fun to pick them. They can be, though. They can be. They can be. Like, we're going to get to this when we get to Montreal. Like Montreal fans want skill, skill, skill. And it's like, you know, there's like, like, Zane Parick and Zeevoyam, I can see a world

where they have more offense in the NHL than Demadog does. It doesn't mean they will, but like, you know, like, you know, you can argue Quinnie Hughes is the best offensive player on Vancouver right. now like right right yeah and i mean like that's the thing is is to me that yeah but defense is so critical to winning in the league and and having having a player like elvshanov who is strong you know has really underrated skating ability at times i mean he's got some burst and he he doesn't look like he's working all that hard but boy is he moving and there's just tremendous poison his game and maturity in his game and i think we also saw at the combine just

just this gregarious personality, a guy that's going to, you know, get into his dressing room and be a, you know, be a guy that the teammates like and that want to work with. And, and I mean, I think Chicago has to feel like if they're making this pick as a defenseman, they're picking their number one defenseman. You know, they like Kortinski. You know, they obviously like Alex Vlastic. They got them on a tremendous deal, you know, but they're, this pick, if they're making the pick of the pick of defenseman, I'm for, I'm for. firmly believe that they think this is going to be their number one defenseman for a long, long time. He is fun.

He is fun. He himself is a fun player to watch. He plays loose. He's all around it in the offensive zone and in transition. He wants to be involved out there and making things happen, sometimes even a little bit to a fault. So he's going to be an extremely entertaining player. I know when we had Scott Powers on, he said the plan as in for Chicago to be picking

here again. But I've seen to be hearing that from a lot of her beat writers who cover the bad teams and somebody has to be bad next year. And chances are, I think Chicago will be. Like, so like, you know, maybe they take Demet off. Maybe they don't. You know, I think they need both players. They need more high-end skill and score in this organization.

And I think they do need that potential number one defenseman in this organization still. They have really good defense prospects. They don't have the number one, like Scott said, or potential number one. And then, you know, whether it already becomes a one or not, you know, what's that we'll tell what time. But like, they need both. those things. And chances are they'll take one of them this year and they'll be right back to the top five or seven picks next year and have a chance to take the other one. Yeah, exactly. And there's a lot, there's a lot to get excited about among those forwards there. All right, let's go to the third

pick now. That is Chris. And Chris is picking for Anaheim. Yeah, you know, and this is one where I feel like Anaheim is a tricky team to get a hold on in terms of what they're going to do with the draft. obviously last year, you know, they went and took Leo Carlson. And, you know, I think that there's, there's continually going to be a bet on, on upside. To me, you know, I think that this is likely going to come down to one of the defensemen available. They've really built up their forward group. They built up their their defense as well. But, you know, parting with Jamie Drysdale in order to get Cutter Gochay, you know, they've, they've have some, some real good pieces there. I think that you

could absolutely look at a Demadov. We don't know what they're going to do. do with with with with trevor's egress and things like that you know what's going to happen ultimately with that organization i just think for them you know we're reaching the at the tail end of the career of the great cam follower who's really been an underrated player and has been with them the entire time um and i think you're you know you're looking and saying okay we've got muntukov we've got zellweger we've got some really good offensive guys how do we get you know a stopper here and i think that anton stelyev would be the stopper i think this is the guy that you know you'd have to wait a few years, but I think that you have the pieces in place now on your blue line,

those stopgap players are going to be there for a couple of years that are veterans. And then you also have the guys like Jackson Lacombe who's coming on. You know, Zellweger and Mintsyakov are only going to continue to improve. So I just think that, you know, for me, that you go with a big defense man, you get a guy that's going to play. He's got great mobility for his size. You know, I think that he has that physical nastiness to him that will only get better as he gets stronger. And I just think there's an intelligent player there. So for me, I think Anaheim's going to be looking defense.

And I think that, you know, to any really, I mean, you talk Dickinson, you talk Yakim Chuck. You can make a case for any one of those guys. But I'll make the bet on the size and upside play with Selyev. And I really like how he fits in that organization with Haville Minchikov, Olin Zell-Wager, Tristan Luno, like they have a lot of skill, a lot of offense on that blue line. They don't have that big physical shutdown, nasty, player that they can pair a Mitchikov or a Zell Weger with. So here's the one, and I tend to agree with you, I think you look at their depth

chart, you look at what their priorities are in terms of the draft and what kind of, like Selyev makes so much sense. Here's the only scenario I'm thinking of where it could turn a little different. You know, you mentioned Trevor Zegras. Like it's not an open secret. He's on the market. And he couldn't have heard him, his stock more at that men's world championship. Oh, he was out for a skate.

for those couple of weeks. So we'll see, you know, his stock's at a real low point right now. So I'll be really curious to see if he actually does get moved in this offseason or if it's something that has to wait for next year. But I look at Anaheim and it says, like, we need defense. We have a lot of forwards. And then I look a couple of picks later and this conversation is going to be with Montreal is, we have defense.

We need skill. Like, let's say there was a scenario where all of a sudden, Ziegrets gets flipped to Montreal and they get one of their defensemen back. Say it's like a David Ryan Pack or something like that. Yeah, that organization. Does that change your thought process with Anaheim or will you still say Saliav there? Oh, man. That is a great question.

And I think that's a really intriguing scenario in general. I think I'd still probably lean towards the defensive side. Yeah, I do. I think then we've got we've got the core blue line. I think you've got a top four of the future set. You've got a bunch of options. So yeah, I mean, that's a great question. But I still think here as I look at Anaheim, I look at what they have up front.

Because really, I haven't necessarily factored Zegrois into the thought process of their future forwards because of this open secret. And so even with that in mind, I think I'd still stick with Sala. but I do think that does change the calculus some, and then you have to really make a decision on, hey, there's so much skill there. If you love a Lindstrom, if you love a Demadov, you know, if Katten or any of those other guys, strike your fancy,

you know, then you might consider it. But yeah, but I'll stick there. All right, we'll go to pick four here next, and that's me with Columbus. I think that the defenseman would have made, Sallia would have made a lot of sense for them, but I think Caden Lindstrom is probably, the answer here. They get another big center behind Fin Tilly if he's a center, but I think I'd be willing to take that chance that he is.

If not, you get a power winger to line up on the second line with Cillinger down the line, and I think that can work well too. But the question is probably above all the medical, and that's the thing that we really can't account for on this show. We don't really know how the different teams are going to view that with the back injury. But for me, I think it's a good enough gamble on a rare set of physical tools. that I'm willing to take that bet. Yeah, and you know what? I think with Columbus, that search for the top of their lineup center, you know, and Fantilli could be it.

You know, we'll see with Lindrum as well. But, I mean, I look at two of those players and I look at the skill level that you brought with both of them, the size that you brought with both of them, the meanness that you can get. I mean, and that's going to matter. They're going to be a heavier team. You know, they've have some smaller players in their system. They've got some good defensemen in their system. but yeah, I think that to me that that is the pick that could be the most impactful for their organization and they might have their top two centers a long term with those two guys.

Those two guys are the closest comps for each other in their respective draft classes too. Like it's it's it's almost fitting that those two guys are sort of within that realm of possibility because they are with the skating and the meanness and the physicality and those quick twitch hands and all like they're there they're actually a lot of. like in a lot of ways. So that that piece of it is really fascinating to me that the idea of having two like-minded, similarly styled, similarly built players one, two down the middle. Now, there's no guarantee. There are some who believe that Caden might be a winger and that he's got some learning to do on the ice if he wants to be a center. But if he can be a center, that's an extremely exciting potential possibility down the line. And I think watching Florida right now in the Stanley Cup finals is only going to accentuate the want to have that kind of player and as many of them

as possible in your lineup. Scott, we'll go to you next with Montreal number five. Well, we had Arpinon a week ago, and his sense, and I think it's one we all share is that if Lindstrom's there, that he's probably the more likely of the two picks in terms of the top forwards. But with Lindstrom being gone, I think Ivan Demadov does make the most sense for them here. That isn't to say that they should ignore the options on D, whether that's a Z William here or Sam Dickinson here. But it does feel to me with the way that they've built out that prospect pool on the back end, with the need for true, true skill types upfront, a game breaker up front. I think Demetov at 5 to Montreal makes the next most sense if Kaden Lindstrom

is off the board. Kind of building off what I kind of said earlier got is, and I know you are, you have Demodov's two on your list. What do you think in his peak years he's scoring at in the NHL versus what do you think in their peak years, probably the next most skilled players on your list probably would be Parick and Boyum. What do you think they're scoring in the NHL at their peaks? Yeah, Perik and Boyam are obviously in reverse order there, but Boyham then Perik are four or five on my list.

I believe that each of those players has 70 plus point upside. I think there's a real opportunity for Zane Perak and Zip Boyam to be among the five or six most productive defensemen in the NHO and the prime of their careers. I think if Ivan Demadov hits, hits, hits, he's a lead your team in scoring winger. He's an 80, 90 point guy. Obviously, extremely difficult for defensemen to get there, really, unless we're talking about Eric Carlson, Roman Yose. It's a small list that have broken past that.

Some would say 70 point players lead a lot of teams to score. though. Yeah, yeah. And there's, with the way that Montreal's built, there's a real chance that they might not have that that other guy that Nick Suzuki and Cole Cofield and Yerai Slavkovsky, they may never be 80 point guys on a regular basis. So they need that. We all know that they need that. I think Demadov's upside is probably higher than from a pure point producing standpoint, probably higher than a Perak or a bollum, but it may end up being close. It's a fair point. It may end up being close if Perrick and Boyham are as good as I think they can be sort of at the peaks of their career.

At Utah at number six, we'll go to Corey. I think Utah's are really difficult want to project. We think Utah we default to size. They like big guys. Last year they went from Dimitri Sibishev, who was big, to Daniel Bout, who was bigger, to Michael Rabal, who was even bigger than that. And then the year before, Connor Geeky, who was big and Maverick Lamaroo, who was even bigger. That seems to be the stereotype that they put in there.

But they also, I think, recognize they need skill. Like they picked Logan Cooley with the highest pick among that group at third overall. And I think you look at this blue line with B. Trissimishoff coming, with Lamaroo coming. And you can see that they have those elements in there. So you're thinking, okay, well, maybe Sam Dickinson. fits here. Maybe Carter Yakimchuk fits here. Maybe if Salaya gets a six, this kind of feels like their kind of player. But someone's got to run the power play too. So I'm thinking about Zeeboyum here,

I'm thinking about Zayn Porek here too. And at the forward, like, you know, like Lindstrom feels like they're kind of player. And it's, it's really difficult, I think. Like, you know, and I think that's kind of the story of this draft is I think there's a couple of names we kind of agree are going to go really high. And then it can kind of go in a bunch of different directions because I think a lot of these players are really closely grouped. And depending on who you ask, they'll get different opinions.

I think you look at an organization defense is probably the biggest need. But I think they have a lot of needs. And every time I put out a mock draft the last little while, the most feedback I keep getting from my people in the league is Beckett Seneca needs to be higher. is that he's going higher than where you have him right now. And I look at what we have there.

Like if Lindstrom got to there, I think he fits. I think if Salive gets there, I think he fits. Maybe even if Demadov gets there, I think he could fit. But I think in this scenario, like,

I'm getting a sense, maybe not, I don't know what Utah thinks, but I'm getting the sense in the league that Seneca is being viewed as one of the premium names in this draft.

And I think he'd be one of the last of this group. So he goes at six there to Utah. Worth noting too. Now they didn't, their hand because they took a bunch of guys to dinner. But Seneca was among the group with Sam Dickinson and Berkeley Caton that they took out to kind of a group dinner at the combine. So that would suggest it the very least that they like him enough to have decided to have spent more time with him. So it's, yeah, I don't hate that.

I think that will take some of our listeners by surprise, but it does feel like it's trending that direction. Yeah, to Corey's point, there's, there is a lot of Seneca smoke right now. There is. They're just, they're, in terms of the six, seven range, I was talking to, you know, somebody at a team that they're trying to figure out where they're going to pick, you know, and they, they felt very strongly that Seneca would not be there after seven. So they thought Utah and Ottawa were two options for, for teams that could take him. And I believe that there is a strong likelihood.

Now, we talked a bit about Seneca, you know, he's still growing. He's closing in on six foot three. He is incredibly skilled. And I think he fits a need. So for Utah, I don't feel like this is the reach that some people might say it is because of he's lower on a lot of, you know, public lists.

But the, the buzz continues to grow that Seneca is going in this range. I think there's a chance he's gone by six. It's possible. Yeah. It's possible. I'm not saying I don't think it's the likely scenario. and I like the way we've done it.

Like I wouldn't say, like, I know he should have gone there, but like I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone by six. Like there are some people who adore this player right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Lindstrom and Demadov are both gone at Montreal, if Montreal considered it either. All right. With Seneca gone at six, Chris, what does Ottawa do? Yeah, I think Ottawa is certainly what that would have been among the players in consideration for them.

that they can they can consider a lot of the guys. You know, there's been some, some growing buzz on, on Sam Dickinson as well in this range. You know, we've talked about Perek, we've talked about Bougham. And, you know, I think that either of them make a lot of sense. Any of those players make a lot of sense. You know, I think for me, the way this is going to, there's obviously a lot of OHL connections here.

I think it comes in the end with Seneca gone. To me, it comes down to Dickinson and Perak. And in the end, I think, they go with the bigger player. I think that they're going to go with Dickinson in terms of the upside. Obviously, there's left shot talent on their team already, which makes it a little bit more challenging. But, you know, we're very curious to see what, what ultimately is going to happen with some of the other defensemen on that team. Jake Sanderson is obviously a cornerstone guy. You know, I think there's some similarities there. But in the end, I think the temptation to take

Perak is very strong, but I think that Dickinson checks a few more boxes for them and what they're needing and what they're looking for without giving away too much on the offensive side. So I go with Dickinson there. Is there any world where that's a plus? You think, Chris, Ottawa having, you know, if they take Dickinson and he can play behind Sanderson and Shabbat for a couple. I mean, he's not probably in there next year. It may not even be the year after, probably the year after.

But you could really bring him along to start his first year or two on the third pair there and insulate him. Yeah, I think that's part of it too because he does need some more development time and just in getting, you know, we saw a tremendous growth in his game this year. You know, I think in a lot of different ways. And I think he's just a tremendous athlete. And I look at a guy that's going to be, you know, part of their, part of their long-term plans. And then, you know, Jake Sanderson would be a great tutor, you know, for for him to show how he's going to play. It's interesting.

You mentioned sort of him being not necessarily on the rise, but some smoke in terms of him in this. range. I did get a little bit of the opposite feel in my scout survey, which will be out. We'll have been out released today, but we'll have been out for a few days by the time this drops. I was actually a little surprised, especially after the way that he played at the Memorial Cup and in particular in the Memorial Cup final. I was a little surprised by how many people were sort of quote unquote down on Dickinson or at least viewed him as the fifth or sixth defenseman from that group. Concerns about IQ have been there all year and came up again in my survey, but I did start to get the sense from people that maybe he was, if he was going to be a

top 10 pick, that it was maybe starting to feel fringe for some people. And sort of more that, that sort of 9, 10 range, if you will, than 6, 7. There are some people in the league who would connect the dots to a draft that happened a long time ago, mind you, but look at Sam Dickinson and ask them whether he reminds him of Cam Fowler at the same age, where Cam Fowler was seen as like this fantastic. Skater, but there were some minor questions on how much offense there really was in his game. And he went lower than he should have in that draft. I think he went 12th overall to the Anaheim Ducks in his draft.

But that was too low at the time. But I can see a similar, and I don't think it will. I think enough people love Dickinson, but I think I could see a similar situation pan out where people talk themselves out of him. There's also, frankly, some people have used, used Jake Sanderson with me. Like there's also a belief that he might be some kind of a version of Jake Sanderson. And Jake in hindsight looks like a really good fifth overall pick. So I think there's sort of multiple outcomes there. Next up is Seattle at number eight.

And I don't know with Ron Francis running the show there. I mean, Dickinson, I think would have been a nice fit there. Although I think you can go back and say, how does he feel in hindsight about the Hanuffin pick? That, you know, Carolina-wise, I don't know if it worked out as well for Carolina. But Hanifens obviously become a great player. I just don't think I can see Zeev Bouillon much lower than this though with him still on the board here at Aden. I think they've used so much capital at Forward with their early picks

in the early life cycle of this franchise. I think this has to be a D. This is the perfect draft for it. And I think with Ziv Boullium, they would get a really, really nice, you know, top defenseman here to kick things off.

Yeah. I mean, I think to me, he's, he has the chance to be a game breaker for them. And they need game breakers. They need more guys that, you know,

Maddie Baneers took a bit of a step back, but I mean, I think that ultimately he will, he'll be the face of that franchise to a certain degree. And then, you know, for a guy like Bouyam, you know, West Coast guy, an opportunity for him to really ingratiate himself with a team, plays an exciting brand of hockey. He didn't want to tip his hand,

but I think he believes he's ready to play in the NHL right away. I don't know if I would go that far, but he kind of intimated that a bit at the combine. I definitely thought long and hard about giving Boyham to Utah there at six. And actually, I think by the time we all have posted, I would have had my most reason mock draft out where I think I gave them, Boyam in that mock draft because I think he's among those premium names. And that's what I struggle is.

I think Boym is the defenseman. He's so dynamic. Seneca's a little bit bigger, maybe fits their profile a little bit better. But I think like those guys should go quick. I think Boym is absolutely outstanding. I don't think he should get to eight in this draft. He's a better player than that.

And I just have a, I have a, and I've seen these scenarios play out. Like, we just did this. And I didn't take Boym at six. Maybe I should have. But it's just hard for me to fathom a guy who had 50 points in college, basically carried a team to an NCAA title getting to the eighth overall pick. Yeah. And the other thing about Zeeve, too, that.

His defending got so much better. Like that Denver team suffocated people. And he was playing. Yeah, it was insane. And like, you know, so he's starting to see that. And that was a big question. I said we're seeing growth in that area. I respect the year the BC kids had all of them Smith,

Baro, Goce. I understand why they got the Hobie, why Goce got the Hobie nomination. In my mind, Zee, Boy, was the second best player in the country after Macklin celebrating this season. I think, I mean, really an unprecedented kind of year. And you just look at the guys, the guys that have won Norris trophies or will win a Norris trophy and he dwarfed their numbers.

Frankly, of our picks two through eight here after Macklin Salbrini, if it plays out like this, Ziv 2 Seattle, well, Seattle taking a D first of all, but specifically the idea of Ziv to Seattle, I think is the most cut and dry, the one that makes the most sense for where that team is, for what they're. For Zee, frankly, and where he comes from, for being a California kid, being on the West Coast, for what that team looks like, him at 8, I think would be a huge, huge hit for Seattle. All right. Let's take a pause right there, and we will come back. We will do picks 9 through 16. All right, let's jump right back in with Scott Wheeler at number nine for Calgary. And Scott, the eyes of Alberta are upon you and whether you're about to say the name. No pressure, right? again, a lot of

Yeah, I mean, I think he's in the conversation. I do recall Corey Bronman giving me a tough time for mocking previously in my first mocking Kyi Ginganlet to Calgary Flames, but it's starting to feel like that's a real consideration and a real possibility. I am not, however, going to go there. I think Zane Perreck has game breaking upside. I think he'd be a natural fit within their, within their organization. they need a premium D.

I'll do respect to Etienne Moray and Hunter Bruce Davich and you go down the list. They need that piece, that cornerstone piece. He's a Canadian kid, which I think helps given their current situation and all of the smoke that's been there about them struggling to keep kids. I think Teach makes a lot of sense here. I really do. I think Berkeley Caton would be a hard player to take here. And we've kind of talked about that a little bit in the past as well, just because

Two WHL kids who, I believe Corey pointed it out on a show, two WHL kids were going to be compared to each other in the coming years. And to not take Teage and take the other WHLer would certainly come with some boldness. I think it's Teager Zane here based off of the way that this has played out. But they've got more upfront than they do on the back end. There's been talk even from some of our insiders about the desire within that organization to add a cornerstone guy on. on the blue line and this is their best opportunity to do it.

I also don't think him being sort of offensively inclined a lot like Bruce Davich is really enters into the conversation because I think we're talking about two completely different levels of players. So I will pass on Tej and take Zane here for the flames. I think he'd be a really important, important pick for the future of that team. I don't think he is going to be, but if he is a center, would that change the calculational? If Teague is center, yes, but I also, my evaluation is the same. I think Teague is a winger all day. I think he plays like a winger. I think you want him getting after it

along the wall and on the forecheck like a winger. I don't think he has the natural playmaking instincts to elevate a line mate that you want to see in a center. He's a scoring, forechecking winger for me. All right, Corey, that brings us to number 10 with you for the New Jersey Devils. Before you make the pick, I do want to hear, would you first be trying to trade it? I would, yes. I mean, if I'm their general manager, I probably think if I don't make the playoffs, actually, I'm getting fired. So I probably have tried to make my team better using any means possible.

The thing is, we keep hearing about this rumor trade with the Calgary Flames, which we presume involves Jacob Markstrom, and I presume involves 10th overall pick. And I think I said this in our show the other week. I don't think I would trade the 10th overall pick for Jacob Markstrom. You look at when the Corey Schneider trade happened for a similar range pick, and they got a much younger goalie with most of his prime years ahead of him. And in Markstrom, you're kind of getting the tail end of it. So I'm not sure that makes sense to me. But absolutely, on New Jersey, I'm thinking of ways to make my team better without using this draft pick.

All right. Now we'll get into your prediction. You know, when I look at this organization, obviously they've made a lot of high picks lately, and they have good players at, you know, good young centermen, albeit, you know, they're maybe not the biggest centers. If there was ever like a pie in the sky scenario, it's if teams were really concerned by King Lindstrom's injury situation, all of a sudden, if he somehow got to 10, I think that'd be a really fascinating development there for New Jersey to take a swing on that. I don't think that's going to happen, though. So now I think, you know, look at this team and I say, you love.

Love Luke Hughes. You love Simon Nemich. You know, Dougie Hamilton, they have their offense on the blue line there. Could you use more of a two-way guy? Like, I think a perfect scenario is that Sam Dickinson falling scenario. I think he would slot in perfectly that organization alongside a Hughes or a Nemich. That doesn't happen, though. So now I start thinking, does Adam Yerichick make sense here? Does Stein Solberg make sense here? Those are guys I think could pair well with those guys. But I think you're getting too far down the talent range there with that. You've still got to take talent over anything else. And so I give him Carter Yakumchuk here, even though I think he's more of an offensively inclined defenseman, probably too similar to guys like Hughes and Dougie in that regard. And I think their goalie is going to have some nightmares with all those guys running around with the puck. I think that's one where you can maybe find, take the best asset and trade one down the line. But I think that's too good a player.

And that's the direction they go here. I don't think you look at a scoring winger here. I don't like an Eisenman or whatever. I think you got to take a defenseman or a center of this organization. You're keeping the pick. And, you know, we're trying to make trades make this team better. So maybe Yakentuck's gone by January. But that's the pick here.

I wonder if a scoring winger like a Teague does make some sense here as a potential running mate to a Nico Heeshire or Jack Hughes type somewhere down the line. I know they went that route with Alex Holtz and it hasn't panned out. Maybe like people hoped that Alex Holtz would pan out. But I think Teage in the pace he plays with. I don't think he's going to run into some of the issues that Alex Holtz, for example, has run into. I think all those things could make some sense. Like I don't see pressing needs.

Like they have centers. They have wingers. They have defensemen, but it just feels like if I had to pick an area where I would like more depth, it is on the blue line right now in terms of where their organizational depth is. But, I mean, you know, it's tough to say by an organization. They didn't make the playoffs. But I love their roster outside of their net. Like they look like a really good, talented team.

But I said, I think Yakimchuk's the best player on the board. And they just take the best player and they figure out the rest later. Godspeed to Seamus Casey trying to cut his teeth on one of those power plays long term. I don't think he's going to be cutting his teeth on one of those power plays long term. I think they're going to have a little too much on the offensive side of the puck there to. Yeah, I mean, what a great problem to have, I guess. To me, the ideal scenario is that they trade the pick and that they get some more immediate help. But I guess we'll see.

Yakum Chuck certainly does a lot of good for him as a right shot. That is six defensemen in our top 10. I feel like I should note there. So all six of the Consensus Top De go in our top 10 along with Celebrini, Lindstrom, Demadov, and Beckett Seneca. Would be an NHL record. Really? Yeah. Okay.

All right. Chris Peters, that goes to you with Buffalo at number 11 and a lot of forwards on the board. Yeah, a lot of forwards. A lot of forwards. And, you know, obviously Buffalo has certainly used their share picks on defensemen. I don't think there's really much sense in reaching for a defenseman here, even though you look at especially since they have about a thousand left shot defensemen on their roster right now.

And so for me, this comes down to best player available. And for Buffalo in particular, I think that Tej, this is where he finally gets to go. And for a couple of reasons, the thing about Buffalo is we've talked about them, as a place where they've had some smaller, smaller forwards, you know, the Zach Benson, you've got Matt Savoy, you've got these kind of smaller guys. Tej isn't a giant. He's six, he weighed in at six feet at the, at the combine. And, you know, and he's continuing to get stronger.

I like the details in his game. You know, I think this is an organization where he can play comfortably on the wing, be a scoring winger. You know, I think that there's, he's not a guy that they're going to have to rush into anything. Again, this is another pick, though, where there's a lot of talk about trade. There's a lot of talk about trying to find something. And I think that that could potentially make sense for Buffalo to do that. They've got to take that next step. And so I think that the trade is potentially the more likely scenario. But I think if you're in this range and

Tija Gimlet is there, you say, this is a guy that we feel is going to play for us. He's going to play a lot of years. And he's going to provide some skill. He's going to provide scoring. I think that's a good place to be. I think like Buffalo and New Jersey have very similar situations entering the trap in that I think everybody likes their rosters. Obviously, New Jersey's had a little bit more success lately actually making the playoffs.

But they both really talented rosters with with young, high-end talent on those rosters. They've made a lot of high picks lately. There's no pressing organizational needs. in their farm system in terms of that you need to add at this position urgently. And it kind of feels like either they're going to trade the pick or they're just going to take the highest ranked player on their board and figure out how this all works out later. I love the idea of them taking a swing on a player like Eginler or even Cole Eisenman or

Beckett Seneca. Those types of guys make sense. And if they don't trade the pick, maybe I've talked with Matt Fairburn as recently as this week about it are Sabres writer, but maybe if they don't make the pick, they trade a Matt Savoy, or they trade a Yuri Coolidge and sort of go about upgrading the roster in a little bit of a different way. They can't all play, like Coolidge, Savoy, Osloon, Isaac Rozlin, Isaac Roseen, Zach Benson, Jack Quinn, Peturca, like at some point you run out of top nine spots.

So it, they're of mine, T. J. Gingla, added into that. So it's it, um, the, the math doesn't work. Yeah. All right. Let's go to number 12 then for Philadelphia. I got to think Philadelphia would be downright giddy here as a team that needs a center having just had to trade away cutter go to a Berkeley cat and to still be there. He's not the big center that maybe you ideally would have next to Movay-Mitchcock,

but he's pretty much everything else. And I think for him to be here at 12 is a, is a win. for the flyers, frankly. I agree with that. Yeah, I agree with that. And the reason being, you know, I think we look at what Danny Breyer is putting together here. And there is certainly an emphasis on skill,

an emphasis on upside. And, you know, I think of the sub six foot centers that you have, you've got, you know, McCatton, I think will play at the center position. I think he's a play driver. The speed that he plays with, the ability to create and transition,

the way that he processes the game. I think, you know, with two high profile, high-end, offensively talented players like him and Mitchcove long-term. The size doesn't bother me as much. Now you do have to support them with bigger players and create that. But I think you really, especially at 12, I don't think you can get better than Berkeley Caton here if you're Philly.

All right. Then we'll go to number 13 here for Minnesota, and that is Scott. I'm going to take Cole Eisenman here. I think there's a media odds that Cole Isman slips further than this, that he's available into the late teens, even potentially. But with the way that this has played out, with a player like Katten being gone, with a player like Carter Yakumchuk,

who I could see them being interested in gone, it just feels like they're not the team that's going to take a Consta Heleneas. I actually think there's a lot of Marco Roski and Consta Heleneas parallels, and Rossi's a good player, but I don't think he's that sort of premium, premium piece that maybe they were hoping he would become. I think there's a chance Heleneas becomes that as well, just a good, really, really good player who's maybe not a driver at top of the lineup first line type.

And I don't think this is quite the range where you take a Michael Bransig-Nei-Gard or that sort of next tier of guys. So for me, I like the idea of Eisenman, the pure finisher outside of Carrillo-Caprozov, their lineup really lacks that. I like them to take a swing on Eisenman here. I, you know, it's going to be interesting. I think they're in a range where, I, You know, Scott said he wouldn't take Calenius there. I think that he's got to be in the conversation just because of the center position.

You know, so yeah, but I mean, I think that that it likely comes down to this sort of level. And I think that your rationale makes sense in terms of, you know, Eizerman with that pure scoring ability. He's in it. He's going to remain a polarizing prospect. I think there's still a chance that he slips outside of this top 15. But, but, you know, that's going to be, it's going to be interesting. And again, like we said, I think the first time we did a mock draft, I took Eiserman to Minnesota because, and I was like just wanted to welcome the booze that would come down for a guy that left the gophers to go to Boston University.

So I say bring it. What I find interesting here is you made the Rossi comparison, Scott. I totally agree with it. I think it raises a question in Minnesota, though, of it did that player type not work out and therefore you don't want to chase that player type anymore? Or did that player just not become what you thought he was and you're going to take another. they're kick at the can with Heleneas, because that can lead you to two different conclusions there with the same comp on the guy. There's also a pretty unique set of circumstances in terms of how Marcia's development

has gone. So, no, it's a fair question. If they liked Rossi, then there's good reason that they should like Heleneas now. I also do one over a center group that has Heleneas Rossi, Marraqus Nadinov. Like, it's, ideally would like to find a center with size at some point. I mean, they have, there's other ways they can create. that maybe you're off as a center or maybe Caden Bannocker's a center in the NHL,

but there's a lot of maybes and all of those conversations. And I'm not sure any of those, I'm not sure Kuznadeen of the top two-line center at the future by any means, maybe not even a center in the NHL. So, but just stuff to think about. All right, so the pick there to Minnesota is Cole Eiserman, Corey, that goes back to you picking for San Jose.

You know, there's, I still think there's some, you know, some good forwards on the board here that you have to consider, you know, maybe you'll look at Costa Hollinias here primarily or Michael Branson, knee guard here, but you really look at the shark system, particularly after getting Macklin-Colabrini. You have their young group of Celebrini, Will Smith, William Echlin, David Edstrom, Philip Bistet, Quentin Musti, Caspar Haltoon,

Thomas Bordolo, Colin Graff. That's, you know, the young nucleus they have here. And on the blue line, it's basically Shakir McAwa-Dua. And we'll see whether, like, Mario Ferraro, even sticking around long term or not in the organization. They need a defenseman here. And I don't think, and I think the talent merits, on the board merits taking a defenseman here. And I think it's down to Ademir, Chicker, Stein, Solberg here.

Those are the two best defensemen available. And we're going to, we're going to go take Solberg. We are going to take a nasty to play against mobile 6-2 defensemen who just came off a really great performance of the men's world championship. and I think it will give you a top, maybe not the highest producing points type, but he will be a top four defensemen of the future so when you can hopefully build around and keep

and provide a lot of character to your room. I have heard that there is some actual Iserman smoke there. I've spoken with a number of teams who think that Iserman is being strongly considered by San Jose. So if he is there, I think that might make it an interesting dynamic in terms of Solberg taking a D. The need for D is so, so, so clear.

But I do think a player like Eisman, if he's there, could be sort of really in the conversation. I've heard they like Artim Lef Shunoff too, but he was gone to two. So what does that matter? He wasn't available at this pick. We had a conversation of pick earlier about Eisman. I think in terms of falling,

I don't think he's out of the conversation if he's there. All right. We'll go now to number 15. That's Chris picking for Detroit. How did we end up with me picking for Detroit and not you, Max? That's what I'd like to know. It was the randomizer gods. I might have to lean on you for this.

I mean, you know, I think the guys that have been talked about in this range have been pretty frequent. And a lot of it, you know, ends up kind of center your own. You could trade picks with Max who picked next. I trade back one pick to Max. I want to hear who you pick. I'll get my thought. All right, okay. I mean, so here's the thing.

In the range that Detroit's in, the guys that would be the splashy picks, I feel like, are gone. So, you know, the guys that are, you're going to make a huge splash. Now, you could certainly reach for different players that you want to. However, I think there's a player that's got a stylistic fit to kind of the team that they've been building. I think a guy that will help you in the later, later times of the playoffs, a guy that has scoring ability, but also has that tremendous work ethic, and that is Michael Brantzad-need-need-need-guard.

Now, it's amazing that we think about, we've got two Norwegian players that could potentially go back-to-back if it goes this way, which would be historic. And on top of that, to me, Brant-Said-N-Gard is the kind of player that will help you win games. He's not as exciting as the guys, but he's also in this range. It's a very fair place to take him. He fits within the kind of team that you're building.

and, you know, he does have a really good shot. Like, he's got a great shot. He can make, he can score. And again, you know, you think about the guys that they've kicking, Marco Casper, Nate Danielson. You're not, it's not like, wow, you know, they don't wow you, but they are effective players. And, I mean, they've still, Danielson and Casper have some development work to do.

But I think Neegard is a kind of a high floor player here, a guy that will help you in the near future and a guy that's shown it at the professional level. I think I like this one. I mean, this is where I've tended to go. The curveball here is Heleneas still being available. And I think Heleneas checking some of those compete intelligence boxes, but having maybe a little more kind of natural offense in those two guys you mentioned. I think that's a big debate point.

But if Heleneas isn't there or even if they just decide, you know, they don't want to go that route. I think it comes down to the two Michaels, Michael Brancic-Neigert and Michael Hage. I think those are the two directions you can go. Do you double down on this identity you've built with a Casper and Danielson and these, you know, competitive two-way presence is. I think Brancic-Neegard shot, actually, you can argue he may score more goals than either the other two for that reason. But Hage, I think, would be the, you know, you're missing this skill element here.

And I think you can make a pretty good case for that, too. Yeah, absolutely could. I see a lot of comments in my social mentions or article mentions from Detroit fans, just because Branson Neegard with his size and his fork ethic kind of feels like such a pro-typical pick of this Eisenman era of drafting that we seem to just be defaulting to him as their pick. And I see the Red Wings fans getting antsy about that and almost like telling us, can you present us with one alternative to this player other than this player? And Hage could be that player. But quite frankly, again, like kind of we said, somebody's got to score on this team.

It's nice to have a team that works hard. It's a playoff style team. You got to get to the playoffs first or have a playoff style team. And someone's got to score. and I do think of Heleneas is there. He works hard too. I know he's not as big. He's like an inch and a half, inch and a half shorter than Neegard, though. Like he's not small or substantially smaller than Neegard.

And I think that's, that'd be a lot of skill to pass up. And he competes well too, I think. And he's very smart. I think you could envision a world where he is in a prominent role on your power play and all that stuff. Like he's, the Rossi comp, I think is a good one.

And he's bigger than Rossi. And so I think there's something to be said that. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. So I like the Brandsigniagard pick, but I do think there are alternatives, Red Wings fans. So yes. We've got a number 16 here at St. Louis. And last year they took Delabor-Divorski. I just have a hard time seeing Consta-Helenius go much farther here than we've already had him dropping. I think you can argue there's even a little bit of redundancy to that pick. But I think that St. Louis will like the hockey sense. They will like the competitiveness. It doesn't have quite the size. I think maybe I default to when I think. about St. Louis. But, Cora, you've comped this player to Robert Thomas. And I think they like Robert Thomas quite a bit in St. Louis.

So I don't think they'd be too hesitant to go with Consta Heleneas here, even if maybe you'd like maybe a little more bite in an ideal world. I would argue he's just as good as Dvorsky, too, quite frankly, as a pro prospect. Like, probably a better skater, competes harder. Just not quite the power play dynamo that Dvorsky is with his shot. And, but like, he's a, I think he's going to be a top six forward in the NHL. Worth noting they also picked Otto Stenberg a year ago, too. So they've gone to that well.

The sense I've got from Blues fans, if we're going to talk about Red Wings fans, the sense from Blues fans that they'd really like, even after taking Theo Winstein with their third first round pick last year, that they'd really like to see the team prioritize a D here. So I do wonder about David Derecheck or E.J. Emery, like those types here might be a little early for some, but certainly with Heleneas being available, it might change that calculus. but I do wonder if they'll consider those types. When I sized up the board going into this, I thought Eurocheck at 16 was going to be where I went.

But after seeing Heleneus, you know, slip to this point, I just feel like St. Louis is going to like that player. And I don't think they're so far ahead. I know it's more of a retool than a true rebuild and all that. But I think forward-wise, they can still use a player like Heleneas. And I think on talent, I think there's enough of a gap there that I would see them taking Helene. We're going to take a break right there, and we'll come back with the back half of the draft. All right, let's dive back in here at number 17, and that is Scott for Washington. Yeah, thought about sort of the top available forwards here, whether that's a Trevor

Connolly or Michael Hage, but I think the way they've drafted in recent memory after taking Ryan Leonard and Andrew Kristol with their top two picks a year ago, taking Ivan Mirrish and Chancco the year prior, they really haven't spent a high-end asset on a D in a few years. I like Ryan Chesley. I like Vincent and Yorio, but those guys aren't sort of moving the needle. So I think this is where I'll take David Yerichick. I think Yerichick makes some sense here. They get a player who probably becomes their top D prospect in their pool

and a player with some range and some skating who I think works. Now, do you think Columbus is going to have a problem with that pick? Yeah, my bad. Adam Yerichick is the pick. Yeah, Adam Yerichick is the pick. All right. On to number 18, Corey, would you like to draft someone who's not on another team's roster? It's like Columbus just getting substantially worse here in the middle of the first round.

I think it could go a couple of ways. Like I think, like I said, when I picked for Chicago at two, I didn't, it's kind of interesting. I ended up doing both with their picks here is that I think they need everything. They need forwards and defense. Is there a long way from building a contender, even though there are. pieces and they are building in a promising direction. So, you know, if they go, say, Debedov at two and then maybe Yerchik there at 18, that'd be a very nice draft for them to add potential top four defensemen and a potential top line winger

of the future. But they've already added that potential top pair of defensemen and already left Shunov at two. Your chick just went one pick before. So there's no, I think, clear next best defensemen. So we're looking at forwards. And, you know, my organization here, Chicago has a lot of good two-way players. Frank Nazer is a good two-way player. Oliver Moore is a good two-way player.

Obviously, Bidar's a really dynamic forward, but we need a little bit more, I think, skill in this organization. So they're going to draft Michael Hage here with the 18th pick and add someone they hope can be on their top six and power play in the future. He qualms with that one, Chris or Scott. No, no, because I think that he fits similar to their profile. the speed factor, the skill factor.

I mean, Chicago is building a quick team. And they are, this helps them in that regard. I think that age, his skating ability is a separating factor on top of his scoring skill. I will move on to number 19 then. And that is Chris. That's you for Vegas. Yeah. So the debate for me here comes down to two different players.

And the one guy, I kind of have them as like as a Chandler-Stevenson comp almost with with Jet Luchenko. He's in that consideration. However, Vegas, they are not afraid to take swings. They don't get many opportunities to pick in a range where they are going to land an impact prospect. And so they're going to take a player here that I think, you know, is top 15 caliber and skill and skating. And that's Trevor Connolly. You know, I think that they will, they're a team that is focused on the on ice product and they're going to continue to try to find ways to make it better. Now, let's just keep in mind. If it's Vegas picking in the first round, this guy probably is never going to play a game for them. So we'll put it that way.

But I think this is their opportunity to land a potential impact prospect in the range that they're at. Yeah, always a risk if you're the Vegas pick that you're going to have another team's hat on within a year or two with the way they go at the trade deadline. All right, we'll go on the next one is me for the Islanders. I like Igor Chernishov here for them. I think there's a power element. There's a skill side that they need. And I think that that fit in their system works really not. nicely. It's a Russian situation. You don't know exactly when he's here, but he's not in the

SCOW organization. And as much as I think you want live viewings, we're at a point in the draft now where I think you can argue Chernoshov's talent is a cut above. So we'll go with him. I will go to 21 now, which is Los Angeles for Scott. I think this is about as far as you're going to see Jet Lucchenko linger. His stock is as hot as any player's stock in this draft class. You will not talk to a scout who doesn't love this player. They, I believe the last center that the Kings drafted was two years ago. I think they've drafted one center in the last two drafts. And that was Hughes, the other Jack Hughes, who's had a bit of a tough go of it in the last

couple of years. So Lucchenko makes a lot of sense here. This is, this feels like about the limit of him, where he's going to go, the skating, the speed, the two-way smarts, really, really well-rounded player that that belongs, if in the top 20 and then shortly after. All right. On to Corey for Nashville at number 22. Lachenko is a good name there.

I think he goes right around that range. His stock is really high after a great U18 world's there for Canada, where he was one of the clear top two line centers for Canada. And the other one there was Colbo Dwen, who I think goes at this pick here to Nashville. Both players are both really high-in, compete types with really good hockey sense. Are the offense going to be amazing,

maybe more with Lachenko than with Bo Dwen, but I think Bo Dwen's a really likable player, and I think he's going to be a mid to late first round pick, and I think National gets a guy who they can confidently project as a center in their lineup in the future. Corey, last summer Barry Trots kind of talked, though, about wanting to chase kind of some swings with his picks and feeling like he could kind of find more of those kind of depth pieces in other ways.

Does that give you any pause given Boduan to them? I think if O'Dwen hits, you could be a second-line center in the NHL. So I don't think that's an issue at all. I wouldn't say Tanner Mollandike is the quote-unquote swing type either. I think at the end, I understand the temptation in that. And if there was some obvious guy there, like if Chernoshev was still here or something on that, I would say that maybe more of the appropriate gamble in that scenario. But he isn't here.

The Islanders snatched him away from me. So I go with Bo Dwen, who I think is the best player available on the board. And you could even argue green tree. might even be a little redundant to what they did last year with Matthew Wood. He'd be probably the skill option if you're going with a forward there. Yeah, he is definitely more skill. But they were on the same team twice this year, both with the summer, Halenka and then the U-18s.

And Bo Duen was way better than him. So I just think he will go ahead of Green Tree. All right. On to Toronto, Chris Peters. Yeah, you know what? I think that there's got to be at least some thought about a Liam Green Tree here. But I also think that the defense situation, in Toronto. This is a range where I feel like that next tier of defensemen is going to

slot in very comfortably. I look at guys like Charlie Ellick and I look at E.J. Emery. And to me, the guy that has the more upside between the two, both very good skaters, very strong defensively, you know, he didn't put the numbers up this year. He is not going to excite or ignite the fan base. but E.J. Emery to me is a guy that can be a solid shutdown defenseman at the next level. He is still growing into his game. He is discovering more of his offensive capabilities. His footwork is outstanding? I just think, you know, is he the most exciting pick you can make at 23? Probably not. But he is, to me, a guy that will make a lot of sense for where they're going and what they have as needs within their organization at the moment.

The only thing I wonder about an Emory pick as it regards to Toronto is they have really, really prioritized the smarts piece that's been such a focus for them and the players they've taken. And I just wonder if there's a belief out there. It seems like there's a belief out there that that's still where Emery's game has to get to and Charlie Ellick, same exact same questions. But I think taking a D here does make a lot of sense for Toronto. I just wonder if he would, I do think he would be a bit of a. departure from what they've targeted in the past.

Now, this is the first draft. This is the first draft under Bradford Living, right? So maybe there will be a departure from the way that West Clark and his team have selected traditionally. And maybe, I mean, Brad Tree Living spoke pretty publicly about the need to get bigger on the blue line and prioritize size on D, in which case, Emery and Ellick would make a lot of sense that way. But that is the only question I sort of have about that pick.

There's some more natural, I think, weefs-type picks that are lingering here. All right. On the number 24, that's me for Colorado. I think Emery would fit for them, too, frankly, but I will go with Green Tree here. I just think Colorado's kind of thinned out up front over the years as they've lost guys to the cap. And I think an infusion of skill in offense is a shot that they can take and something they can use in their system. 25 is Scott for Ottawa. Yeah, after taking a Sam Dickinson high, I think that there are good odds that they take a forward here.

Immediately I go to, in terms of the consensus, I think I go to Sasha Boisvare, who feels to me like he's going to be taken in this, basically exactly in this range. There's a big group of people around hockey, around the USHL, who really, really like Sasha's game, center with size who can skate detail oriented competitive, scrappy fought four times in the USHL this year. I think there's a belief that he's a projectable middle six type and that this is kind of where he belongs. So I like them to sort of take another, I think there's some Shane Pinto there,

frankly, in terms of in terms of the profile. So I like Bois-Vare here after they nab Dickinson at the top. All right, Montreal, number 26, Corey. probably not sleeping very well at night if I'm a manager after doing this but I'm going to take two Russians in the first round and they're going to take Igor Surin here at 26 adding a center with really good skill and high in competitiveness a nice compliment to what Ivan Demadov is and giving them two potential forwards of the future. Devon obviously more of a first line capacity in Surin probably close to a third line, second line if he really hits. but that would be the direction I go with Montreal's pick. Yeah, and that's a nice flavor kind of to compliment with Demadov there. You get the more high compete.

I was taking Boy Verre, but those damn senators just took him right before we wanted to. Right from under your nose. Chris, that brings us to you at number 27 for Carolina. And Corey's smiling because he knows that's where I was going next. Carolina, with a Russian on the board, with some skisks. to him. Come on now. That's a Carolina pick of I ever saw on. One thing that I will say, I think that, you know, with

Eric Tolski at the helm, I don't think we're going to see a material change to the way that any the draft goes. I think that there is kind of a separation of church and state a little bit there in that organization. We talked a lot about Darren York and his work with the amateur draft and then

I think that that'll be what continues. So, hey, if we couldn't get one rush and let's go and get another one, Nikita Ardamanov. will be the guy for me here. I just think that he checks a lot of those same boxes. He had a really strong showing in the KHL this year. And played primarily pro,

also scored a good bit in the MHL playoffs. You know, he's not the biggest guy, but he's certainly in this range feels like the most Carolina e-pick I could make at this point. All right. At number 28, it's Calgary, and they took Zane Parac with their early picks. I think they got to go forward here. You guys think I'd be crazy to take Sam O'Reilly for them? Is this too soon for Samuel Riley at number 28? I think he's in the conversation. I think he's going either late first or right at the start of the second. So I think this is, I think by 25 to like 35, 38, that's his range. All right. So let's do that for Calgary and take Samuel O'Reilly. I don't know if he's going to have quite the, you know, the global. low up in the draft plus one as Easton Cowan did, but I think there's a lot of nice tools there. This is an organization that needs centers. If you believe Samuel Riley can be a center particularly, then I think this is a good

range for him. That it goes to number 29, Scott for Dallas. Yeah, as these picks were getting sort of made, the one player that I kept going back to in my head was honestly Terrick Perasek. I think he fits with the way that Dallas has drafted in the past. I think he also could be a Carolina E pick where Peters was there as well. There are some questions about Parasak in terms of really skinny kid. I mean, we all saw it at the combine.

He's going to have to put on some weight, played with Andre Becker and Zach Funk on a line where he had two drivers who could really make a lot happen for him. So natural questions of, is this just a really smart player who knows how to play with other good players? Or was he a hundred point guy on his own merits? the more I watched him, the more I think he made a lot like Gabe Perrault on that top line with the NTDP a year ago. The more I watched that line, the more I felt like Parasac was every bit as important to that line as Funk and Becker were.

So I like Parasac to still go in the first round on just the smarts and the way that he understands the game offensively. And Dallas feels like a natural fit. All right. How about at number 30, Corey, for the Rangers? I think the Rangers want to get bigger and it doesn't get much bigger than Dean Letterno. Six-foot-six-center who can skate really well for a big guy and showed very nice offensive skills, albeit at the prep school level, playing for St. Andrews College this season. So, you know, with him, we see the aesthetic toolkit.

It's obvious he's talented, whether it translate to the next levels, never mind the NHL level, but just like the college level, the USHL level, remains to be seeing how much offense there really is going to be in his game when he plays against better players consistently. But he's really talented and it's a very, nice dice roll for an organization that's very well built already and has a lot of talent. And if you hit on this guy, you can get a top nine forward with some real size. Chris, at number 31, I know you're about to snipe me what I'm going to do at 32, but I'll

just let you get on with it. Oh, you think you, you think so? I do think so. You think so? Because this is, with Philly being here, I think it's kind of an interesting, interesting range for them. obviously I think one of the that's that's starting to generate

some late first round buzz I think I might I might fool you here some late first round buzz and this is great because actually at the combine he said I think I'm going in the first round and I was like at first it was like ah that's that's that's pretty overconfident I think but

Dominic Medinka big right shot defenseman out of the check is is the pick there I think that there's a chance he goes late first, early second. I think it's an opportunity to get bigger. The other guy that I would consider in this range very strongly is Adam Kleber. But I think that Bidinka with his, you know, with what he did this year, more pro games, a little bit more.

I think that there would be some fewer reservations to taking him. And so I go Bidinka here. So I did not, I take it steal what you were going to do. You did not. I thought you were going to be Mr. Charlie Ellick here. who looks a lot like for Anaheim at number 32, a lot like the guys that Detroit has taken, especially when Pat Verbeek was there as an AGM,

the big mobile competitive defenseman. So we will go Charlie Ehrlich to Anaheim at number 32. It's a double defense draft for the ducks, maybe a little point of pause, but I think it's something their system could actually really benefit from. I mean, yeah, why not? And honestly, yeah, I didn't say Alec in that last group of him,

Badinka and Kleber. and yeah, I mean, I think those big defensemen that might not have the best offensive numbers, we're going to probably see some of those teams in that later first round, go up and get those guys because they will not be there for long on day two. Yeah, and Elic was being talked about kind of, Scott, were you talking about him a little bit higher into the 20s there even? No, I talked about him a little bit with Toronto. Yeah, that's right, that's right.

All right, so that is our mock gentleman. any kind of before we wrap this up, any big picture takeaways here. It was really heavy on D, 6 in the top 10. And then it kind of did Peter out for a little bit of a dead zone there once we got through Eurocheck for a while. Zero Swedes. Wow. So Leo Selene Valenius, I guess is probably the guy that you're banking your hopes on

if you're looking to fly the Trey Croner here in the first round, right? Or maybe Alian's Erickson, Lucas Pedersen. I think one of those three have a chance to go right at the end of the first. but that would be quite a humbling moment for the country of Sweden to have zero. How about, yeah, two zero and two Norwegians in the top 15? I mean, like, that's a little bit. Yeah, I mean, it's a weird year in that way. And certainly if you're the Swedish team, you're like, what the heck just happened?

More Norwegians than Finns and Swedes combined in the first round. That is a crazy stat. Yeah. I think the only person in terms of like guys that weren't picked that I kept sort of coming back to with some of those late picks. It feels like in talking with teams over the last couple weeks, like Merrick Vanekers stock is in a really good place, even after the shoulder surgery and the fact that he's going to miss this off season and start really sounds like in December of next year before he'll be back. But Vanekers, Vanekers a player that teams, I think, have a lot of time for and could sneak into the first round. Yeah.

All right, good stuff today, guys. Thank you all for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect series. You can catch more of Chris over at Flow Hockey on his podcast, Talking Hockey Sense. And of course, you can get your fill of Scott and Corey on Theathletic.com. They're coming out with new stuff daily right now. You are going to want to get in on that ASAP. We'll talk to you soon.