The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL Pipeline Rankings Teams 17 through to 24

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

On the Tuesday the Athletic Hockey Show, Max Bultman and Corey Pronman present the Prospect Series Pipeline rankings. On episode two of this four part series, the guys layout the pipeline rankings for team 17 through to 24. The pipeline rankings comprise all players under 23 years of old before September 15th in an organization.Save on a subscription to The Athletic: theathletic.com/hockeyshowThis episode is sponsored by/brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/nhlshow and get on your way to being your best self.Sign up for Chime today, and make this summer the best one yet - for yourself and your wallet. Get started at chime.com/nhlshow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody. Max Boltman here alongside Corey Prondman for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's Prospect Series. This is episode two breaking down Corey's pipeline rankings this week. We're counting down from 32. And today we've got teams ranked number 17, 24. And Corey, that starts at number 24 with the Vancouver Canucks.

Yeah, Vancouver system. down significantly this season from last, in most part, due to the graduation of Quinn Hughes. That was, you know, a very foreseeable fall given how important player Hughes is to the Canucks. And the organization right now is an interesting place. You know, their farm system has some good players led by the recent high pick Tom Willander. It's not in, it's, you know, there's some other good players in this system. It's not an incredibly deep farm system. and so it's interesting to see what direction this organization goes in.

I think the Canucks are in a slightly better position than maybe some out there would describe them. I think their roster is good. I think if Thatcher Demko bounces back and even has an average season, never mind one for his standards. I think they can actually be in a playoff race next season. But it's tough to say with this group of young players and the current NHL roster, if this is going to be a contending group of talent going forward. And I think you can look at when we get into this list here, a couple of the first round picks,

the top half of the first round picks, but not the premium premium picks, right? Ever since they got Elias Patterson and Quinn Hughes, they have been picking more in the 10 to 20 range. And you kind of would have liked to see by now Vasily put Coles and take that next step. Still a lot of time for Jonathan Lekaramaki to do it, but you've got them ranked here as more of a middle of the lineup guy

rather than another one of those top lineup guys to help those two stars. Yeah, Pocleson's development hasn't gone ideally. It went down in the American League in the middle of the season, and he was good down there, but I wouldn't even say he wasn't great in the American League either. So it's, yeah, he's a good player. I still think, you know, he still think he has some offensive skill

and scoring ability to provide to go at the high compete level. But the offense as a pro has not been outstanding. His skating is just okay. so he hasn't definitely looked like a top 10 pick in his brief time in the NHL. That being said, in the last calendar year, while you do lose Quinn Hughes and that hurts you, they have picked up their two top prospects here. They're two top young players in your system. Atu Ratu, Ratu via the trade with the New York Islanders, that's the Bo Horvett deal,

and their first round pick this year, Tom Wollander. Those are at the center and a right shot D. That's as premium as it gets positionally, and it's their two top prospects. That is probably the encouraging. side of this for Vancouver. Yeah, and it's why I think they do have some players here, both on that roster and in the system to potentially be a playoff team or a consistent playoff contender. I mean, you look on this roster, I think Ratu can really slot in nicely as a third-line center, presuming Pedersen and Miller are your top two line centers. Then you add

Rilander into that core with Quinn Hughes. They need some more on defense going forward. But, you know, Kuzmanko is a really nice player. McKeyev is a really nice player. We'll see what happened to the best in the future. It probably seems like he's going to move on. but they have some good players on this team. And even, I think maybe the underrated storyline was the player, Art, I'm going to pronounce his name correctly. I think it's Artur Silov's. He was the MVP of the World Championships.

It's a very young goaltender there for Latvia. A big reason for why Latvia went on, you know, maybe the unexpected run they did at the World Championships. So there are players here, not a ton, but the teams, I, I don't. I don't know, like I said, I don't know if they can take this group that they have currently and turn it into a Stanley Cup contender, but I think this could potentially be a solid group of players. One guy I wanted to ask you about is Niels Holglander, and I know at various times he's a player, Canucks fans, and really, fans around the league have been pretty excited about. He got to the league unusually fast for a second round pick. But you've got him down on that just kind of projected to play NHL games tier, which, of course, he's already played, you know, almost 150 NHL games.

Where are you at on Hoke. Yeah, it's kind of a similar discussion as we had with Nick Robertson, maybe without the injury factor. But you have this small, mediocre skating winger who got you really excited a few years ago by his outstanding offensive skills to go with a really high motor and some physicality in his game too. And then he comes to the NHL, he says it translates quickly right away. And then it starts, you start to have some questions as time goes on. Can he keep up with the pay?

is the offense that he's going to provide, you're going to be significant enough because when you're that size and you're not an elite skater, you have to provide a lot of offense to justify your spot in the top nine in an NHL team. You could play top nine,

maybe on a not great team, but when you are adding guys with Kuzmanko, you are adding guys like McKayev into your top nine, then you have to start justifying your spot there with some more offense. And I'm not sure, and Hoglander has shown offense in the American League.

He's shown offense in Sweden. I think he has it, but I have some questions right now on whether the pure hockey sense is going to be good enough to be a long-time NHL player given the other concerns in his game. All right. On to number 23, that's the Florida Panthers. And we talked in our first episode, Corey, about some of these teams that are really being carried by one or two prospects at the very top.

And certainly at the back end of this, when you're getting to the attending teams, that's the case. Florida is a really good example of this at the very top with Anton Lindel and Spencer Knight. There's more here. Obviously, Mackey Samiskevich, first-run pick, good prospect. But Lindell, I think you've got him in the bubble of All-Star and top of the lineup player here. That's a prospect that will boost you from maybe the late 20s into here the low 20s. Yeah, and I feel like just probably because of the organization he plays for where which doesn't get a ton of fanfare, I feel like there's probably not enough love being given to how good Lundel has.

has been so far early in his NHL career. I mean, you look at the significant role. He played on a team that went to the Stanley Cup final. And the amount of offense, he's generated over the last two years without getting the prime power play minutes. I think he got power play this past season, but there's more second power play. And you just, you watch him time and time again. And it's not the flashiest player in the world, but he definitely has skill. He's very intelligent.

He's very competitive. He sees to make a difference whenever he's on the ice, despite not having elite skill or elite speed. And this is just a guy who looks like he's on the trajectory to become a very important player for a long time. A guy who I think could be a first line center, frankly, or this is a projected first line center. I may not right now, but one in a year or two on quite a few NHL teams. But on the same NHL organization that has Alexander Barkov,

I think this is going to be an outstanding second line center for a very long time. Only 21 years old. My one question for you is about the kind of offensive production from Lundell. And obviously he's not in a role where they need him. to be a huge score for them. But he's got one more year of eligibility on this list. What does he need to do point-wise, I guess, this year to realistically stay in this bubble all-star kind of tier that you have a bit?

Well, again, I think that it's going to be the same situation next season. They still have Carter Hagee and Barkoff and Kachaki's. It's going to be tough to get the real offensive minutes. But I think if he's at, you know, 50-something points while playing penalty kill and the teams having a lot of success around him, I think that's all you really want to see. I kind of look at him and I think of how Ryan O'Reilly looked when he was entering the league, also not an elite skater, but had all those dimensions I talked about before. I think that's the kind of player you can kind of hope Lundel becomes.

A lot of obviously external considerations around Spencer Knight here. But when he has been in, the promise that he has shown, I think does warn where you have the quality starting goal tender, right there in that category with the Yaroslav Ascarovs of the world. Right. And, yeah, obviously he went into the player assistance program. Yeah. Yeah, we say it's right. And obviously, he did go into the players assistance program during the middle of the season.

So it's kind of a delicate subject when you're talking about player evaluation in this context. But he did show up to the development camp in the summer for the Florida Panthers. And indications from the team, including the from their general manager, Zito, seems to indicate he will be there at camp. So it seems to indicate that he's on the path that coming out of the program. program, which is great to hear. As I said, it may have difficult to assess him as a player, but obviously, I've watched this player for many years. I have an idea of what he is.

I think he has the ability to be a legit number one goal tender in the NHL. And, you know, obviously, we'll see how, you know, Sergey Bobrovsky holds up as he enters the latter parts of his career here. But I think Knight has the chance to be a very good goalie for a long time. And, you know, probably, you know, we think about the three premium goals on the NHL, I think I guess for Walsdet, who is, you know, the super intelligent, methodical, efficient goalie, you know, Yaroslav Ascarov in Nashville, who is the elite athlete, who can be a little over the place at times.

I think Spencer Knight's kind of like the in-between those two molds kind of player. He just says a lot really well, and I think he will have a very long and productive NHL career. Yeah, 13 prospects related for the Panthers. After those two, the bulk of them are in your kind of last tier that has a chance tier. mentioned Mackie Samaskavich. He's in your middle tier, the projected an HL player. Tell me about Ludvick Janssen,

who, you know, Sam Miskavich, he has, the pattern as the first rounder. Ludvick Janssen was more of a mid-round pick a year ago, and he's up there for you ahead of Sam Skevich now. Yeah, he was one of the best defense at the World Juniors. I had watched him a year ago, I had some questions on whether the skill set would project well into the pros, and

watching at the World Junior specifically, you know, you saw the skating and the hockey sense and really stand out there. And he's still not a for sure thing. There's an average size D-Man, not a great defender, but I think there is some significant offensive tools there that gives him a real chance to play games,

and they need some sort of defense prospect coming that will help them because they don't have much depth there currently. Moving on to number 22, that's the Washington Capitals, a team that certainly had been in the position of some of our teams we discussed last episode of just not really making that many first-run picks for a while. but they have the last two years and they have gotten two premium prospects, I think you would agree, and I had Mera Shashenko in 2022 and now Ryan Leonard this year. Yeah, Amir Zichenko is a tough evaluation, you know, like Nichu for different reasons

in that, you know, he was, you know, had the cancer diagnosis this time last year. He comes back midway through the season and throughout the season, he just played just okay, particularly towards the end of the year. His play really faded off and he didn't have a great. playoff there in the in the Russian junior league but it's hard to evaluate him given what he's kind of had to go through you know coming coming back you know having go through rounds of chemotherapy and so I still I think about this player just the toolkit in general and I think that he will likely you know get back to the form he was at before although there is no guarantees and the form

he was at before was this big powerful winger who skated well handled the puck well who had an elite shot and competed well. And I think that is a player to get excited about. That being said, now that he is signed with Washington, probably going to play in the American League next year, he will have to show that more consistently. Vincent I Oreo is a defender who I think has really risen this list for you. And he's a player who he's got kind of that prototypical size you want to see.

What makes him an exciting prospect for you? He was one of the younger defensemen in the American League last year. He played a rather significant role on a team that did win the Calder Cup. big defenseman skates well good first pass i don't think you know the offense in his game will ever truly excite you but i think it can be good enough given just how you know how good a defender he is and i i just think there's a lot of tools there that suggests that he can be a a solid nchl player you know i think it is i think the offense will be good in the nchel i don't think he may not be a true power play type but i think he can make a first pass he can make plays

he has blue line poise and when you can buy that with the size of the mobility I think that makes for a rather strong defense prospect and a guy who, whatever I've watched him over the last two years, I've seen a guy with a lot of NHL promise. And then Connor McMichael, I think at one point a couple years ago

was much higher on this list for you. We've gotten to see him a little bit now as a pro. Is it the skating that's kind of brought him a little bit back to earth in these rankings? Yeah, for him and Hendricks LePierre. It's the skating. It's the fact that, you know, it's more than more one way, you know, forwards because that size skating combo.

I know I think Michael competes a little bit better. And it's why I think he has a better chance to be an NHL player because of that compete level. But that is the concern. And it's, you know, it's, you know, one of the interesting parts about, you know, prospect projection is when you watch a guy in junior and he has this amazing, these amazing years in junior. And McMichael was an outstanding OHL player. Then he goes to the two world juniors, plays well both of those world juniors. You get really excited about this player. But there was always a question of, well, how will it translate?

How will it translate? And you see initially it went well, actually, his first year in the American, I think he was quite good. And then afterwards, not quite as good. And, you know, we kind of talked about it with Neil Tolglander, you know, when you aren't that big, you're not that fast, you've really got to show a lot of offense. And McMichael, I think, is kind of on that bubble of it.

He kind of has, but he also at times kind of hasn't. And I think next year is kind of a make-a-break year for him with Washington. And you could probably put Andrew Kristol, in the same kind of category as those guys with those same questions. Probably more of a significant degree, which is why he went the second round on, the first round. Yeah. On defense, a couple of guys I wanted to highlight. Cam Allen and Ryan Chesley are both guys who kind of went into their respective draft seasons with a ton of buzz around them.

I wonder, do you feel like, I know obviously the year was what it was for Cam Allen. Chesley, I thought, just looked pretty good at the USA Development Camp. Are both of these guys, is the upside still there for them to be the kind of, of, you know, at least solid second pair guys who I think there was certainly hope they would be going into their draft years. I'm not there on second pair for either than just because there are things missing in their games that would concern me. Both are not that big. Both don't have that much offense in their game, particularly at Chesley. I think he had, what, like two points in Minnesota last year, three points.

It was, it's, you know, but I think they both compete really hard and they skate well. And I think there's paths there for them to be third pair defensemen. Obviously, I might be wrong. and if they could maybe miss up there and it becomes second pair of guys. But for now, I think if they hit, they're probably more third-paired defensemen. All right. Moving on up to number 21. That's the Calgary Flames, Corey.

They come away with this draft with Samuel Hansick. A couple years ago, they take Matt Coronado. Obviously, we know Dustin Wolf is kind of their hoping goal. But I think you're still kind of hoping for a little more of that premium position, a goaltender, a preeming position for sure. But we're talking about some wingers here, and then a goalie who you still got to wonder

until you really see it in the NHL. And there's always a chance Hans could be a center, right? I think there's always, in the leave of the draft, there was the discussion of maybe he could play the middle. I know when you talked in, he said he prefers the wing, but there's always a chance they could, you know,

force it into the middle there. Calgary is in a really interesting position as an organization because I think they have a good team. I think they obviously had to perform the last season, but I think that roster as a whole, obviously they lost some guys in the off season, but I thought it was a very impressive roster and they just didn't get the goaltending.

But now you have some more key pending free agents, and they have some nice young players, Coronado, Peltier, Zeri, Wolf may play game for them this season, but it's not an elite farm system. So I don't know what direction. this organization goes in right now because it feels like last year and potentially this year are kind of the window, no? Well, you start losing some of the names that they could lose.

Yeah, it's a huge setback at that point. I think I'm sure they'd still probably love to keep a couple of these guys if they can, but it isn't trending favorably in that way. They would need probably something to shift here in order to keep a Lindholm and we'll see what happens with Michael Backland and a couple of these guys on defense. And so it is a, it's a sticky situation that Craig Conroy walks into as a first year GM. Dustin Wolf has an interesting one too because I feel like at least, I think it does apply to Devin Levi too.

At least it's been interesting kind of following the public discourse on both of these players. And then when I talk to people in the NHL, but both of these players, and I feel like the hype may have already kind of got a little out of control on both of them to where it's kind of like, these are hits, you know, these are the guys that have made it. their premium young goalies. But there's a reason why both of them went so late in the draft too. I think if you read of that draft, Wolf and Levi both go much higher, especially I think because they've proved it now at higher levels.

I mean, Wolf's been absolutely outstanding in the American League against pros. And then Levi obviously fantastic in college and then actually held his own in the NHL last season. But I think there are, I've definitely talked to several Angel scouts who are still skeptical about Wolf. and because of the size and because he's a good athlete but it's not exceptional like you say Soros type athleticism at that size. So if he hits, it changes the trajectory of the organization a little bit.

If you get a legit number one starting goalie, which is why I have him projected as now as more like a tandem type goalie, then I'm not sure that answer is quite there in net and then you have to hope Markstrom really bounces back. One of the players who I think gone into his draft with maybe some first round hope even, would have been Jeremy Poirier. He ended up going in the third round, a couple years back to the flames.

Where is he at his developmental arc? What are the flames having him? It wasn't going so well, I thought from him initially in junior. And then really the last year or two, it's really turned around for him. He was really good in the American League this year. One of the better rookie defensemen in general in the American League last season, showing a lot of offense. He's a good skater.

The defense has always been a question with him. It's still not his ass that he's an offense first. defensemen. But I think this is a guy who is trending in a positive direction and I think has a real chance to play in the NHL. All right. Let's take a quick break right there. And we're going to come right back and we're getting the top half of these eight. All right, we are back, Corey, breaking down your pipeline rankings. We are into the top 20 now. And that brings us to the Los Angeles Kings. At one point, this was like the premier young system. It seemed like in the NHL and slowly some of those guys have graduated, but also some of those guys have maybe fallen a little bit back to the pack

from what they thought they might, what we thought they might be the last two or three years. Right. And that's always part of having a ton of draft picks. And it's why you get a ton of draft picks. Some of them are going to maybe be par value. Some of them are going to exceed your value, say, like Arthur Calli of. And then you have some others, like say Alex Turkot, which may not deliver on the value that you hope for when you pick them at that slot. Yeah, absolutely. You still have at the very top of quitting byfield, and that is a talent that while maybe not tracking toward the super superstar that I certainly had hopes he could be in his draft year, still looks like a, and you have him as a top of the line of player.

Right. And I kind of expect he will open the season, potentially on that top line wing as he was with Lanzacopatar at the end of the last season. He may not, they might try something different this season. But I thought towards the second half of last year when he was up with the Kings full time, he looked like a very impressive player. I think you do wonder whether the offense is ever going to be truly outstanding with him. It's just if it's the scale plus brain combo is it's pretty good, but I wouldn't call it, you know, something that's any elite traits.

But when you combine the fact that he's so big and skates as well as he does and he, I think he works hard. I think this is a guy who will have a very long and productive NHL career, whether that's center or the wing will see. Obviously, now they have some real legit center depth in L.A. So right now it seems like he's tracking to staying on the wing for the foreseeable future. Brand Clark's a guy we've discussed a ton on this podcast. And I think ultimately, since his drafter, he has answered some of the questions, but there are still ultimately questions about what his defensive upside is going to be, what's realistic with kind of the skating, but still a very good prospect here.

And you've got him on the bubble between top and middle line of player. That's a top 4D. Yeah. And I think he will be a top 4D. I think he's, you know, it looks like he's tracking to start. starting on the Kings next season. I expect he will play all season in the NHL. And I had some questions on him, you know, over the years,

but it was hard to watch him in the OHL in the second half and not feel excited about this player. I mean, he was just dominant in the OHL in the second half. He would take over games routinely with his skill in playmaking. And the fact that he, you know, his skating is ugly. There's no, there's no way around it. It's a real knock-kneyed skating. stride. But what I think you like about him is he's competitive. There's some physicality in his

game. He's got good size. So I think you can see a path for him to be just okay enough defensively in the NHL to go with the outstanding offense he does provide to where he can be a very nice tough four defensemen who can help run a power play, maybe even a first power play in the NHL. Some of the other defensemen in the system here, Jordan Spence, to be as Bjornfoot, they pick Jacob DeVorak this year, Kirill Khral Khranov. What is kind of the mostly depth here for you? Or is there anyone who you think can break through and play a real meaningful role? I think Spence is intriguing.

I do always wonder with those small defensemen, things need to align for them pretty perfectly with the depth chart for them to actually play in the NHL full time. Because Spence is 5-10 and on an elite skater, his calling card is his offense, which he has shown a ton of in the American League. I think he's a very nice player. The question then becomes on a team that has Brian Clark,

And on a team that has Drew Doughty, does he fit in there? And I'm not, especially since they're both of those two are right shots as well. So that's the question. But I think Jordan Spence, if he's not a king, I think he could be very good trade bait to use. But guys like, you know, like Devorak, particularly guy like Björn, who's closer, you know, kind of fits the more traditional mold, really good skater, good enough hockey sense, two-way guy, or you can kind of fit in on a third pair. And then real quick, Corey, just a thought on Alex Turcott.

I know you still got him in kind of that hasn't. chance tier. Is hope lost here? I mean, obviously still time for him to carve out an NHL career, but it doesn't seem like a ton of optimism for him being able to reclaim the potential we thought he had at one point. Yeah, obviously, I'm a little down on this player right now, maybe more than a little down than that might be a slight understavit. It's, it's been tough to watch him in the American League. And he looks like a good American League player right now, but in terms of projecting to the next level, I think we really take a step back and think about what he is. He's got good skill. He has good hockey sense. He skates well. He competes well.

So there are positives. There's a reason why he went fifth overall. But he's a 5-11 forward. Doesn't really score goals ever. The offense is not outstanding. And when you really think about what that profile is, you can think, I've seen that player a lot. I've seen that player when I go to a lot of American League games. And you see a lot of those players in preseason that don't actually make it. And I just think the player type is lacking some elite traits to carve out a legitimate NHL rule. When he was a prospect, I thought the skating and the compete were elite traits, but I have not seen that as a pro. All right. On to number 19. That's the Winnipeg Jets. And this is a system core that I was surprised to not see higher with some of the players they picked in

recent drafts, Col Perfetti, Colby Barlow this year, Rucker McGrady, I think, looks like a really nice prospect, Chas Lucius, of course, and Brad Lambert. Is it just the lack of a kind of a sure thing, high-end player that's holding them back? That would be my assessment. Yeah, they have some really nice players, particularly at Ford, not really a ton of defense, to be quite honest, but they have some really nice forward prospects. They don't have the one guy who's really broken through become that true premium player. Obviously, Cole Perfetti is the one we think of the most that has the best chance to do that.

but he's and when he's been healthy in the NHL, I think he's looked quite good and has shown he has the promise to be that kind of player, but he actually has been injured quite a bit since he's turned pro. And that is a concern, especially when you are not that, when you have that kind of that, that frame he has and you're not a great skater.

It is a little concerning. Chas Lucius has a chance to be that. I mean, he looked outstanding when he was in the WHL, for example, but as it has been with Lucius for quite a few years, he was, dominant for a couple of games, he gets injured and then misses the rest of the season. So we're just kind of looking here for that one player that can really break through. Brad Lambert didn't look great in the first half of the year in the American League after

not a great draft year, but then it looks great in the second half in the WHL, big part of why Seattle wins the WHL title, which Brad Lambert will be seen next year in the American League. We'll see, again, these are all very nice players. It's a perfectly fine farm system. But yeah, as of now, I don't see that one true premium name or enough, you know, outstanding depth to say they are an above average pipeline. You talked about Brad Lambert. Obviously, his skating, a huge asset, maybe his best asset as a player.

But one thing that stood out to me just looking at the top of this list is how many of these guys you have rated on Winnipeg's pool with below average skating. Perfetti, Magrorty, Lucius is in that tier. even you get kind of one tier down from some of the guys we're talking about in Hainel and Chibrakoff are guys who you have that question on. Do you make anything of that when a team has this many guys who who kind of have below average skating by your grading system? Well, obviously Barlow, who they just drafted recently, does not have those questions.

So maybe they were trying to get a different kind of element. I would be really interested to see it when and if they do try to get some good young, more good young defensemen into the system because I feel like this is going to be a lot of forwards, particularly wings, all coming up at the same time. There are guys in this organization like Lambert, like Lucius, like Perfetti, who have played center before. I don't know if any of those three you could confidently say projected NHL centers, that maybe Lucius has the best chance of the three.

But it'll be interesting to see how these guys all kind of come together. And in Winnipeg kind of like Calgary, you have this organization where you have guys kind of hinting that they might leave. So I don't know what the direction of this organization really is going for. forge. Frankly, I have a ton of sympathy for Winnipeg in that way because you talk about that. And I could understand why if I had been the Winnipeg Jets GM for the last three years, I wouldn't have been so worried about centers because I had Mark Schifley and Pierre-Luc Dubois in my organization and I would have felt pretty set down the middle. I could just worry about

surrounding them. And now it seems entirely possible Dubois has already gone. It seems entirely possible Sheifley will be gone from the next year too. So it is a tough spot for them to be in. But I like, I think this is a solid group. It's just like you said at the beginning, missing that kind of top end guy, especially at center and lead. All right. Moving on with this list, we're going to number 18, Corey, and that is the St. Louis Blues. This is a team that obviously injects a ton into their system over the last year.

I think it's five of their top six prospects you have here have been added in the last 14 months or so between the three first rounders this year, Dalbert of Orskiato, Stenberg, Theo Linstein. They obviously trade for Zach Dean. and they get Jimmy Snuggard in last year's draft. This system has really shot up over the last year plus. Yeah, and that's, you know, what you expect when you do rebuild. You try to add a lot of first round picks.

You trade for a former first round pick. You make the efforts you can to try and bring in premium young talented organization. And I like the direction they're going in. I do, and you know, obviously, Dalvo Dvorskiy's a great young player. Jimmy Snugglerud's great young player. They are building in the right direction to go. build this group around Robert Thomas and Jordan Cairo and Colton Pereco, but I still think there's quite a lot more work to do here.

They have some really good pieces to really get back to the winning ways in San Luis. I still think there's quite a few more years left of trying to build up assets, particularly on defense. I know they picked the old lifting in the first round, but I still think they need a lot more there at that position. Yeah. Dvorski, obviously, I think the headline prospect here, he and Snuggard, we could probably talk about it,

in tandem here. What do the blues have in these two guys? What is their potential to impact the team two, three years from now? Dvorski, I think, can be a legit top of the lineup player. That being said, on the same organization that has Robert Thomas. I can see him being more as the two to Thomas as one. And those could be two centers who I think you can really build around and try to win with. And Snuggaroo, I think it would be a really nice top six winger in an edge organization,

a guy who can play significant all-around minutes and help power play. What I wonder, Corey, when I look at this system, it has infused. a bunch. This is another team I think you could kind of question what state they're at as an organization because they do still have a couple of a few really win now players at the NHL level. They got an old veteran defense score. If you're Doug Armstrong and if you're the St. Louis Blues, are you kind of leaning into this and trying to kind of, you know, capital R rebuild? Or is there any hope that this could kind of be done on the fly and this group of talent could be the headliners that spark your next wave? I have some skepticism that you can really turn it around.

that quickly and particularly because of that blue line. Like there just isn't enough back there, I think, to be a winning team, both what they have currently and what they have coming up. So I do think there is probably still quite a few years left of finishing at the bottom of the standings and trying to get young players before they can get back to being a winning team. Neighbors, Dean, these are guys I think we could see sooner rather than later. What is your kind of hope for them and how they could impact the lose. I think those are both high compete types, really high compete types, actually, who have good

enough offense. Neighbors a little bit more than Dean, deemed a little bit faster than neighbors, but I don't think either than probably be more than maybe like middle six wings. Yeah. All right, wrapping up the back half of this top 32, Corey, is the Dallas stars. Another team that I think you could argue to be a little higher, but I guess maybe that's hinting that we're starting to get into some pretty exciting systems here. Wyatt Johnson at the top was one of the breakout stories of the NHL last season and he does give Dallas kind of that headline prospect that I think you look for. I should have corrected myself before. I think Dean possibly could be a center too, maybe more of a fourth line center.

But yeah, no, Wyatt Johnston is, you know, one of the premium young players in the NHL right now, a guy who looks like he has potential to be a star and a guy who was just outstanding skill, outstanding hockey sense, he competes really hard, you know, just became a really important part of a good NHL team at a very young age after being the best player in the OHL the prior year. The only thing about him you can really criticize is his feet aren't really that strong, not the fastest player in the world. But this looks like a guy who's going to have a very long imprint of NHL career and can be that kind of massive value pick you really hope for in the late first

as a guy who, you know, a couple years later looks like he would likely go in the top 10, maybe even higher in that draft. Speaking of massive value picks, I think since Logan Stankovin was drafted, I think there was the hope that he could turn into something like that. And you see a lot of these tools, it's the skating, it's the shot, it's the compete. Do you, I mean, obviously there's always going to be at his size, he's a smaller guy, I believe he's 5'8, there's going to be a little bit of wait and see. But what's your hope level, your optimism level on Logan Stankovin at this point? I think that's a good assessment of the situation that I have him rated very, very highly. high enough to the point that I know within the league,

when this list comes out, I'm going to get some pushback with where I have him rated. Because, as you mentioned, even though he does have all those great tools and the fantastic motor and the charged productions from this time in junior, that frame is very, very concerning with projecting him to the NHL.

So there are significant risk factors. But I think he has what you ask for in those small players to overcome that size. His skating is excellent. His compete is excellent. His skill is excellent. And he's done but nothing but produce and be an important player wherever he goes. So I think he has the trait to become a top six forward in the NHL despite his frame.

And I think he might even play games with Dallas as soon as his upcoming season. On defense, Thomas Harley and Leon Bischel are two guys who I think, man, when you're the Dallas Stars and you have two guys with this kind of size, this kind of complimentary games that these two can have, that's a really helpful thing. You talk about potentially getting these guys on ELCs for a couple of years as this is a contending team now and it can help them sustain being one for the next few years. Yeah, you saw Harley come in during the playoffs there and start playing a minute for them.

I think he'll play even more minutes for them in his upcoming season. Fishel is probably a year or two away. But what you think of, you know, Hayskin and being this really great all-around player and Harley probably a little bit more offensively tilted. And then you have Bishel being this big, mean, highly mobile defenseman. I think this is a blue line you can be excited about. In general, I really like the direction Dallas is going. I know they're right in the middle of the pack.

You know, that's just part of certain guys get graduated and whatnot. But I think when you think about these four players, it's not a deep system, but these four players, and you combine the fact that they have a young Rupa Hintz, they have a young Jason Robertson, they have a young Miro Heskin, and they have a young Jake Ottinger. I think this is a group that could contend together. One more thought. I want one more guy.

Maverick Bork first one couple of years back. I think you still have him, though, projected Corey, as a guy who can contribute to this team potentially in a fairly short term. Yeah, maybe this year, maybe the year after. I mean, he struggled initially in American League than he was better in the second half. The skating at that size isn't concerned,

but he's extremely intelligent and skilled and competes well enough to where I think he's got a chance to be a middle six forward. All right, that's going to do it for us. Thanks for listen to this episode of The Athletic Hockey Show's Prospect Series. We will be back with more of Corey's Pipeline Rankings tomorrow, getting into the top half of the top 32. You can follow us on YouTube at YouTube.com slash at The Athletic Hockey Show.

And right now, you can get a one-year subscription to The Athletic for $2 a month when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. We'll talk to you then.