The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL Pipeline Rankings Teams 25 through to 32

Episode Date: August 21, 2023

This week on the Athletic Hockey Show, Max Bultman and Corey Pronman host the Prospect Series Pipeline rankings. Max and Corey will host all week, ranking all 32 NHL teams. On episode one, the guys tackle pipeline rankings for team 32 through to 25. 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 Pranman for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's Prospect Series. Got a really fun show today. Really, it's a fun week of shows as we break down Corey's pipeline rankings, all published in this week at Theathletic.com. Corey, before we dive into this, do you want to really quickly break down those rankings and who's eligible for these as prospects?

Sure. This is a slightly different. twist on what we traditionally think of as a farm system ranking. The pipeline rankings and the way I do this is it comprises all players in an NHL organization that are age 22 or younger as of this upcoming September 15th. Why is it that criteria? Well, it's because in my experience with trying to do prospect rankings and prospect pool rankings I have found it's been very difficult to define who isn't a prospect and that in my experience

I graduate players too quickly and too aggressively who still have a lot of development ahead of them and for all intents and purposes are likely still NHL prospects. So by doing this method, even though it will include some NHL stars, Tim Stutzlow is still eligible. Jack Hughes is still eligible, for example. But for the most part, it comprises most of the most important young players in an ageal organization. And for most of the last five drafts, that being the 2019 through the 2023 NHL draft, most of those players are part of this process. So really, it's just a more holistic way of looking at what a team has in its system that is still what we would kind of consider young players or prospect age, right? So if you're really forecasting an organization's

outlook, you know, say you're the Buffalo Sabers, you don't want to take Owen Power out of the equation just yet just because he's already reached the NHL. That's kind of the logic. So you're going to hear some names, as Corey said, that you've heard before. Right. And I think that is the most important part. I'm trying to give the readers an idea of who has the brightest future ahead of them. And I think Buffalo is a great example. I think Buffalo has a very bright future. But if you take out Owen Power and Jack Quinn and J.J. Peturka and Dylan Cousins and then just look at the rest of it, it's still a good group of players. But I don't think it accurately paints a picture of what Buffalo is doing right now with their rebuild and how their future accurately looks. Yeah, absolutely.

And naturally, the flip side of that with the teams that we're going to talk about today are teams who usually, for the most part, have a pretty bright present. And they have been trading away picks and prospects. And so no surprise, Corey, that we start with Tampa Bay and Boston at numbers 31 and 32 respectively. Right. And they were actually 32 and 31 respectively last season. I don't know how much this will make Bruins fans feel better. But last season, I felt they were 32 by a pretty decent margin. And this year, I felt it was close.

So, you know, I guess that's some progress in a positive direction. And there are some slight difference between the two of them And that Tampa has just kind of gone scorched earth when it comes to picks What was that the phrase that came out of the NFL with the Rams? You know, FM picks or something along those lines? Yes, exactly, yes. That seems to be Tampa's approach right now, whereas Boston has traded a lot of picks too, mind you, but they have favoringly sell, they have John Beecher still in the system

who were late first round picks, but they have also moved a lot of picks as well. But yeah, you look at the state of these organizations right now, and it's more guys who I think could come in be bottom six forwards, third pair defensemen. I don't see a lot of guys coming up who can be impactful players. I've had some pushback from Bruins fans when I published this list last year. Some believe Fabian Liesel, some believe Mason Lerai, the defenseman, Liesel the first round winger, could be those kind of players. I think Liesel showed those instances in the first half of the season in the American League where he was excellent for a 19-year-old. Didn't have a great world junior. I thought he fell out a little bit then in the second half.

And I think that's his kind of his issue, is his consistency, even though his skating and his skill are top six quality in the NHL. And Alori is a very skilled, big defenseman. So that toolkit can look really intriguing sometimes. But I worry about his defending due to his just so-so mobility. and I think he will probably play in the American League all next season and I'll be very curious to see how he progresses. When you talked about the closer gap this year, I think the differentiator, you know,

you break these down each player, you put them into a tier. And the differentiator appears to be when I look at these two systems for Ethan Gauthier, who was the early second rounder this year for the lightning, the winger, he seems to be, he's in that middle of the lineup tier. Is that kind of the tie break in this scenario, the best overall prospect, so to speak? Yeah, I think he would be the best prospect between those two systems. And probably, and, you know, it's not that big a gap, but it's enough where I think this is a guy who I think could be, you know, a middle of six forward in the NHL one day.

Tampa hasn't had a lot of high picks in recent years, but they did get a high second round pick in this past year's draft in which they selected Gochier, who I think, you know, was very skilled, the competitive, he skates well. the production wasn't great this year, especially in a weaker QMJHL league and his size at that position is a little concerning. But I think he's a good player. And like I said, he'd be the best proff between those two systems. How tough was it for you to rank Isaac Howard, who was the 2022 first rounder for the lightning? He's coming off, I thought, was it quite good World Junior Camp for the USA in Plymouth. I don't know if you've heard any rumblings out of that.

But you've got him a tier below just in that projected to play on any. NHL games. What went into the ranking for Howard? Well, he was, I had him ready as a middle six forward this time last year, but he was right on the fringe of that for me. I debated going the other way throughout that whole end of the draft process. And then he goes into Duluth in his freshman year and he just frankly wasn't very good. I don't think anybody I know who even our big Isaac Howard fans are going to defend the season he had. You know, he's a scorer who didn't score, and especially when you're not that big and you're not that fast and your your, your, your, your trademark traits are your skill and your goal scoring ability and you don't put up offense.

It's hard for me to sit here and say you're going to play a regular role in the NHL. You're going to help an NHL power play. The camp that he had with USA is very reassuring, but he has to back that up now when the real game starts in the fall. And he goes into Michigan State next season, new environment, and he has to show up. And if he does, and he has a good first half, and he goes to the world juniors, and he plays well there, or two that I think you'll be you'll start to think okay this looks like the guy who was with the US program looks like he's back but except based on what I saw last season it's hard to be overly confident about that in fact he's not even the after Goce he's not even the highest range

ford I have in that system I think Nico Hutan and who looked very good in the WHL last season and then good again in league this past season big winger who plays hard and can score goals I think actually has a better chance to play in HL games and you got Jack Finley the second I believe above him too in that category. So it'll be an interesting year for Isaac Howard, no doubt, and for Tampa fans to watch him. But this is the reason that these teams are at the back of the list. They're not the most interested in the prospects anyway. They've got championship aspirations, although Boston, it got a lot more interesting this week with a couple of, with the Creachie retirement on top of the Bergeron.

So we'll see where that goes. And those retirements, I think, create an opportunity for John Beecher, who didn't really have an amazing year in the American League. but he's a center. There's holes in the depth charts in Boston up the middle. I'm not saying he's going to make the team out of camp, but there's opportunities this season for John Beecher to play in the NHL. We'll see whether he seizes that opportunity or not. Yeah, especially if the Bruins aren't able to go make a trade for replacement center

and they just have to bump a Zaka and a coil up the lineup. We don't think John Beecher's going to fill a top six role. But if others move up, maybe he can fill that fourth line role. maybe even a third line role as a season progresses. I think if he can find a way, even if it's not this season, if he can find a way to become a legit third line center, I think given how his last couple of years have gone, you would consider that a success. And it's possible.

I mean, again, his skating is incredible for a guy that size. He could be that player, whether he will be, we'll see. And we should, you know, 30th pick in the draft. Usually if you are getting a third line center, the 30th pick in the draft, you are happy. That's par value. Yeah. Yeah. And like I said, I think there's been.

times in the last few years where you're not sure he's even going to for sure have an NHL career. But I think given his athleticism, I think he should find a way to get some sort of role in the league. Yeah. Next team up on the list is the New York Islanders at 30. And there are another team who are kind of being carried a little bit by their 2023 second rounder Danny Nelson, who one of the most interesting prospects in this past draft, a guy who played defense for a lot of his career coming up, who joined the program a year late. And he's a really, he's a young player for that class, and by the end of the World Under 18 tournament, he was playing an extremely important role.

And I actually think he has a real shot to make the World Junior team this season. Yep, very versatile, very toolsy player. The Islanders are in a very interesting position because they come in right towards the end of the pipeline rankings. But the NHL roster, you would argue, is not quite the caliber of Boston or Tamp or some of the other teams that are sandwiched in between. it's still a good roster and they traded a lot of picks

to make their roster better it's not just been for rentals Alexander Romano's going to be on that team for a while but Horvats going to be on that team for a while so it hasn't they've moved the picks and the farm system isn't very strong but it's been to strengthen the NHL team for the long term

but you look at the team right now and after the NOAA dops in all over Wallstrom years and obviously Wallstrom's development hasn't gone very well there hasn't really been a lot of a young talent coming into this organization. Who else? I mean, this is a pool that has a lot of these kind of like a few projected to play NHL games, a few has a chance. Who are some of the players that Islanders fans should be watching

in this system that have a chance to pop, right? Like whether it's a, yeah. Yeah, I think it's Samuel Bold Duke. I think that's the guy who at least, you know, when I was debating it, I debated getting him a middle of the lineup grade. I think given his size and his skating ability and he was showing offense now as a pro. He even played a. on a power play at times when he came up with the Islanders last season. I think this is a guy who at least has a chance to become a tough four player if his development continues to go well. A couple of kind of like the depth defensemen obviously I think are notable too. You get Zach Schultz, Callio Delius. These are guys who maybe someday can play on your third pair. One guy who I thought

was interesting at the USA camp was Quinn Finley. I think there's a real quickness and he can be a fun player to watch. I don't know that he has quite the skill to play like up a line. up really, and he's not really has the size that you'd prefer to play in the bottom six, but there is a package here of tools that I think can make him fun to watch and kind of a guy that I think would be easy to root for following him come up. Yeah, he's a good player. He's talented. You know, he had a nice year in the USHL.

I don't think he had an amazing year in the USHL, and that's always the tough part, but projecting players into the NHL is so few that actually make it. And there's a lot of good prospects in all these systems, even the players who are, even in the systems that are rated right towards the bottom, there are. many good hockey players actually. But it's just so hard to make the NHL that you have to have, I think, pretty overwhelming evidence to think a guy is going to have an NHL career. Yep, absolutely.

We talked about Boston and Tampa and their position in how it affects their spot in this ranking. Certainly the Pittsburgh Penguins farm system is familiar with that line of thinking. They got some Stanley Cups out of it. No regrets for them. But for the past few years, they have been kind of prospect barren. And I think that's actually starting to come around a bit. They're still feeling the effects of so many years without their high picks.

But they now have in Braden Yeager and Owen Pickering a couple of really legit prospects to play in the middle of a lineup or higher. I think Pittsburgh is a good example of how hard it can be to, one, both just rebuild a farm system and two, to kind of walk that line between trying to win. and quote unquote retool at the same time. Because, yes, they've had their first round pick for the last two years. I think Bray and Yeager and O.1 Pickering are great players. But they haven't really had other picks in those drafts too to help build up the depth in the farm system. And the result is, I think, last year they moved up one spot and maybe this year they moved up something like one or two spots. And that's not really significant movement, even though you have these two really good players who are not elite players, but they're very good players.

I think Pickering has a really good chance to be a top four defensemen in the NHL, and I think Brayden Yeager has a really good chance to be a top six forward in the NHL. So I'm really fascinated by the direction of this organization who, you know, they're making these high picks. They're not trading these assets. They're not trading these players. But they also are going out to try to get Eric Carlson, and they seem to think they have still a contention window.

And I just, I've kind of confused a little by the direction of this organization, but I'll be interested to see how they approach next year's trade deadline and obviously based on how their actual season goes. Yeah, I mean, clearly there, when you're trading your, your 2024 first round pick for Eric Carlson, you are all in on trying to win in this Crosby-Malkin window. It's just a question of how reasonable that is because Eric Carlson makes you better, even at $10 million for the next couple years. And they weren't a playoff team last year.

They weren't a playoff team last year. And so we've also seen that he did not look like this Eric Carlson when he was with another offensive defenseman in the Chris LaTang mold with Brett Burns a couple years ago. So Brett Burns, sorry. And so I'm just curious how it's going to work. I feel like they will be a playoff team with Eric Carlson. I don't know that I see them being good enough to win a playoff series just yet. And that makes it a tricky spot to have given up your first round pick.

I think there's a story with a lot of the teams in the Eastern conferences. I'm not so confident they're a playoff team. I mean, they could be, but there's a lot of really good teams in the East. There's paths for Ottawa to get better. There's paths for Detroit to get better. There's paths. Are you confident that Pittsburgh's making the playoffs over Buffalo? I'm not so sure I would say that right now.

You know, their division has some really good teams in it. So it's tough. Like I said, I think that'll be fascinated to see the results of that conference and how this trajectory for Pittsburgh goes. The one thing I'm most interested to see with these top two guys is, is Braden Yeager going to be able to be a seven? for them because for so long, the Penguins have been the envy of the league with their center situation, Crosby and Malkin down the middle. Obviously, he's not going to be either of those two guys,

but no real succession plan down the middle for them. If he can be a top six center, that does make it easier to rebound from that, although it's going to be painful no matter what. What's a degree of patience they would have? So here's why I ask. Obviously, the window is very short here. At some point, it's going to fall off. I think it's two years. That's why I was I think I really liked Owen Pickering last season when I watched him in the duck. I think he looks excellent. He's big. He skates well.

He moves the puck well. He gives a good effort every night. I think it's very reasonable that, obviously not this coming season, but the season after, he can be in the NHL and helping them in a meaningful fashion. Is that long enough? Or short enough, short enough time frame, rather? or is a full extra season, you know, do you start to get impatient and think about moving him? I would not be moving these guys, but to your point, it may be moot because if you don't get these guys to help you win in the next two years,

you may not have a chance to win in the next seven, and there's a decent chance that one of them can hit or approach unrestricted for agency in that time. and these are the asset complication questions that come when you've been good and as long as Pittsburgh has and acting accordingly. Yep, I agree. All right, moving on to Edmonton, we've got another team who's actually made a few first rounders recently, but is in kind of this win right now mode. The top guys at this system, I think should be approaching the point, though, Corey, where they can help the NHL team, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, and Xavier Borgo.

I think they need them to help them this season. I think the Oilers have been desperate for young defensemen to come up and help their team in a real way. And obviously, you know, Darnel Nurse has been that. He's done very well. You know, Oscar Clefbaum's injury issues. Derail what was looking like what was going to be a very long and promising career. And now I think they really do need Broberg, who is quite a divisive prospect, depending on which scouts you talk to.

Some are not believers in this player and some still are. you know, he's played in the NHL, he hasn't played big minutes yet in the NHL, but I think they need him to at least whether, you know, they obviously have a great veteran blue line now with Nurse and Atcom and but they, if he can step up and

take at least some positive steps in his development this season, you know, given just how good a skater he is for a six three guy, it would it would help them a lot because that we know they're going to a score, but if that blue line can get short up even more, it will go a long way to helping them win a playoff series. And what do you think, what kind of role do you think he's ready for at this stage?

Like, could he play 20 minutes a night for a playoff team right now, or do you think it's more like you're easing a minute, 17, 18? I think you're hoping for the first, but I think realistically you just want a regular defenseman every night who contributes in a positive way. And if he can take that next step, which I believe he can, it's great. One of the challenges Edmonton has, and it's a challenge that every team in the league would sign up for, being able to build around two players like McDavid and Drysidal, is that when you have two guys taking up this much of your caps base at the very top, and you can add Nugent Hopkins, Zach Hyman, into this too, I suppose.

It can be hard to fill out around them with guys who are capable of helping you win. And that is where Holloway and Borgow become, in my mind, just as important as Broberg to this. because if either one of these guys can become a legit top nine forward, and ideally both of them do, it really changes the depth of this organization. Yeah, and Borgo, probably not this season, but I think you are hoping for Holloway to come in and help the team this season. And I don't know if his offense is ever going to be exceptional. That's not really what his game has ever been,

but he has offense. He's a good skater. He plays hard. And he had a good camp last year, then kind of fell off as the year went on. But I think you are really hoping that this is the year he comes in. and makes the, like you said, just creates depth in that lineup. You know, whether it is playing with those top two lines, or just being a really good third liner and providing secondary scoring options

for a team that doesn't always have secondary scoring options. Yep, absolutely. Anyone else in the system? I know they just drafted Bo Akey in the 2023 class. He's a guy who I know you've got projected to play any NHL games. Anyone else that you're watching this season to see if they're able to pop up or potential riser? Well, I mean, I think this is make a break for Raphael. right now who at times in his career has looked like a very promising prospect because of his size and

what I think could be high end skill and goal scoring ability but his skating his work ethic have not are not always the best he's very inconsistent and like that Kyle in the same way we're talking about Holloway and Borgo not he's at the same caliber of prospect but they need that kind of guy to come in and be a secondary score you can't always to build a contender can't always come from those high picks you need later first or debt or second round picks to come in and hit and I'm not sure he's on that trajectory right now, but this is a big year for him. He was a very important part of the American League team last year.

He put up good numbers, and we'll see whether he could take a step or not this season. We'll go right from there to talking about a team that has a prospect who I think, we believe, can do exactly that. Go from a late second rounder, and this is, of course, Matthew Nyes, into a guy that can play potentially fairly high in their lineup fairly soon. Yeah, and Nise was really good.

again in college this past season after, you know, two great seasons with the gophers. This is a guy, you know, with size. He's very competitive. Creates a lot in the hard areas of the ice. Has very legit offensive skills. You know, skating is why he kind of fell down in his draft year and as well because his offense wasn't quite as good as expected, but then the offense rebounded in college. And he looked good with the Leafs late in the season before he got in.

injured. He looked like a guy who I think can be a top six, if not even a good top six winger in the NHL. And like you said, this is what Toronto has needed in their pursuit to win playoff series. And obviously try to win a Stanley Cup is getting these type of later picks to become important players in their lineup. And we'll see whether Nights can do that. But of their prospect pool, he looks like one of the guys with the best chance to do that. and from what I've seen, he looks like a chance to be one of the better draft picks of the last few years. A couple of guys who I think Leif's fans are hoping will blossom into this same kind of situation. A couple of somewhat controversial picks at the turn of the late first, early second, the last two years,

Frazier Mitten and Easton-Cowen. What do you see in these two prospects? And what can Leif's fans kind of dream on with the two of them? Both of them have some similarities, and they're both smart players who compete well. Cowan's a little bit smaller and Minton maybe not quite as fast. I mean, those are both guys who I think have traits to play in the NHL. I like Minton

a little bit more than Cowan just because I think there's, you know, because he's a center because I think, you know, he's shown good offense ability to run a power play in the WHL. To me, he projects more as a bottom six forward. Cowan kind of in the same way if they were to hit.

Nyes, I always kind of saw offense in him at the younger ages and it's just an incumbent his draft year. Minton was a little bit close in that regard. Cowan's really never shown any history of offense. He just really bloomed late in his draft year and had that big postseason. Minton, at least when he was a 16-year-old in the WHL,

scored at a really significant rate. And then obviously, Cam Hoops has been very good in the last few years. That's been a Logan-Stancovin's team. Logan-Stankovin is gone starting next season, so I'll be really curious to see what steps Minton can take offensively as more of a go-to option. The one question I really have looking at this leaves pipeline, and for where they are, I think it's actually pretty solid for where they've been in the contention timeline.

But on defense, you know, Topi Niemela is kind of the number one defenseman in this by a long shot. But he's another kind of smaller, offensive-minded D. And I think when we talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's fair to wonder where these kind of bigger two-way blue liners are supposed to come from or if they're just going to keep having to trade for them. Right. I mean, I think, you know, he's not even as good as Rasmus Sandin, and Sandin had to be traded because there's just no room in the death chart. So I think that's a fair question. One guy from Trotta, I would like to highlight is Dennis Heldaby, who was, you know, was a drafted last season as a reentry goaltender, but he's big. He moved fairly well for a guy his size. He has not been the consistent starter in Faria's dead over the last two years. So I think his numbers are a little inflated because of how much rest he guessed. But I think the tools there are actually very legit. I think there are night. in the night's when he actually is starting, he looks like an NHL goaltender. So I'll be really curious to see how his development is going forward. But that's a guy as a mid-round pick that I think actually does have a legit chance to play in the

NHL. Do you have a thought on Nick Robertson? I mean, he was a guy who was a very hot commodity kind of talking point for a while after his draft year. Obviously, he had the huge 50 goal season in the OHL right away, has had a little bit of a harder time staying on the ice the last couple years. How much is that influencing him and kind of plummeting in your rankings? I think that is a significant contributor.

It's, you know, when he was a junior, you saw this super skilled winger with this high-end shot and a lot of offensive creativity. But he was this small winger who didn't really skate all that well, you know, kind of like his brother, awkward looking skating stride. But he was competitive and you thought, okay, he works hard. to the hard areas and so he can overcome these limitations and then he gets to the pro game and even in junior he got dinged up a little bit but as a pro he's been hurt a lot and you know when he talked to some scouts they would kind of describe him his game being a little reckless at times not doesn't always protect his body the way you want him to and I think that is a concern I think it's a concern in terms of having a long in his career given that there already were risk factors

in his game now there's additional risk factors in staying healthy. And it's tough for me to say confidently he's going to have a long career. Yeah. All right. Moving on to Vegas here. This is another team that I think their pipeline is really defined by the guy at the very top. And that's David Edstrom. I know that was a guy, based on your rankings pre-draft into where they actually went. This might have been one of the steals of the first round for Vegas to get this guy at pick 32. What do you see in David Edstrom? Right. And obviously, the debate with him was the offense. Some scouts agree with me that I think there'll be enough offense in his game to go with the 6-3 frame and the skating

and the competitiveness to be a really good NHL player. And some scouts are less convinced there will actually be offense at the next level. So we'll see how he does in the SHL this year and how that offense progresses. But I really do like Edstrom and I think he fits a lot of what DeVegas tends to value. And I can see a world where Nicholas Waugh moves on the next couple of years and Edstrom comes in and fills valuable minutes in that team in the near future. I think Matias So Pavlov, is also that kind of player, not quite as good as skater as Edstrom, but also a big center with good skill, good work ethic, good hockey sense. It was a really big player for Chequette, the World Juniors,

and a major reason why they went to the gold medal game. I said, that's the guy I'm a fan of. So those two guys are probably the two, I think there's an other, there's offensive, there are two Karki, who I like, but I think those two are the guys who I can realistically see having NHGEL. careers from their system. Just sticking on Edstrom for one quick second.

I mean, you talk about WHA moving on. Obviously, we think Eichl and Chandler-Stevenson state, but if David Edstrom, even at age 21 or 22 can be a 3C for you, I think that's a pretty good situation for a team to be in. Right. And obviously, we'll see, you know, William Carlson fits in that too long term. But I just mean that he seems like the kind of guy who I think can get to the NHL in a couple of years and fill a rule. We'll see what role that eventually is.

but like I said, he has so many NHL traits that I think he will find a way in the next couple of years to be a legitimate NHL player and help them continue to content. How about Brendan Brasson, who was the first round pick a few years back, obviously known for the

big shot. You have any thoughts on where he's at in his development? He struggled as a pro this past season. You know, his game has always been his skill, his hockey sense, and his goal scoring ability, and then going back to a previous discussion we had about Isaac Howard,

for that player type, if you're not scoring when you're not that big, you're not that fast and you're not that competitive, you're not really bringing a whole lot to the table. And I think that's what's kind of the issue with Brassan this past season. Again, the talent is legit. And there's a reason he went late in the first round. But I think he needs to show more as a pro going forward to make me think he's going to be an NHL player.

One player I did like a lot this past season who went up for me was the Czech for Jakob Rabinik. I definitely watched his name. But he skates very well. He has some good skill, decent enough size. And I think this is a guy who, after being a mid-round pick, looks like a guy with a chance to be a bottom six forward in the NHL. And on to our last team of this.

I think I said back half at the top of the show. We're going to do the back quarter of this ranking today. But that is the Colorado Avalanche sticking on theme, right, of the premier teams in the league right now who haven't had as high of reason. resources, although this year, Colorado did add two first-round picks, which certainly helps, Callum Ritchie and Mikhail Glyayev. But this being an under-23 ranking, this system still is he's all about Bowen Byron at the top. Without him, they are in a much different place on this list, I think. And it's kind of a good test case if somebody would ask me, well, where would my system be if we

had this player or that player? In Colorado's case, I believe only six or seven players in their entire system I have actually rated as NHL prospects. And, but, but, but, Oh, and Byron is a large part of why they are not 30th or 31st, but they are actually 25th. And that I think he is an outstanding young hockey player when healthy. And that has been the big thing with Byron, has been staying on the ice due to multiple different injury issues over the years. But when he has been healthy and you watched him with Colorado this past season when he was on the ice, man, is he a good hockey player. His skating is outstanding.

He competes well. He has really good offensive instincts and skills. He attacks. And I think his skating will help him defend well enough. As a pro, it's a really exciting toolkit. He's always been a very exciting hockey player. He just needs to stay healthy. It's going to be really interesting with Colorado,

who have the decision to make coming up on Devon Taves and what they're going to do there. Are they going to be able to give him the kind of money that I think he's warranted in recent seasons? If you trust that Bowen Byron can stay healthy, it makes it easier to potentially move on from Devon Taves. But if you lose Taves and you continue to lose Byram to injury, all of a sudden one of the league's most exciting young blue lines over the past few years thins out a ton. I think another decision like that's going to come up too with Mikhail Gulliayev, if he progresses well.

And can you have Mikhail Gulliayev, Kail Bakar, as Samuel Girard, all on the same blue line? And you don't want to jump the gun too much Gulliayev has to actually prove it. He's still a very young player, even though when I've watched him, over the years. And even in the most recently, with his KHL preseason, I think he's looked very impressive. I think he has a potential Gerard replacement, but that that decision is years away. And then any thoughts on Cal Richie, who I think at various points through the season was ranked as a potentially middle of the first round player, gets to Colorado for the very back

of the round? It's all consistency with him because he has a toolkit to be a higher ranked player. you know, good side center who skates well, has legit offense in his game, but the season he had was not that of a first-round pick. Was it because he was hurt? Is it because his work ethic is inconsistent? You know, I think the upcoming year will hopefully educate us more on what kind of player Cal Richie really is. Yeah, absolutely. All right, that's going to do it for us.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect series. We will be back with more of Corey's pipeline rankings tomorrow, breaking down the 17th through 24th ranked teams. 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 soon.