The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL prospect pipelines: Rangers, Canucks in No. 24-17

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Max and Corey break down the bottom 8 teams in Corey’s annual NHL pipeline rankings including the Dallas Stars, the Boston Bruins, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and discuss the best prospects for each franchise in the group.We want to hear from you! Please fill out our listener survey: https://forms.gle/CDbF51vAPngm2ZYS6Hosts: Max Bultman and Corey PronmanExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris Flannery 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 Prospect Series, our second installment in Corey's Pipeline Ranking Series. We're doing teams ranked number 24 through 17 today, counting down. We'll obviously have number one for you on Thursday. But, Corey, we're going to start this episode a little bit under duress here with our Ranger fan producer Chris watching as we talk about the.

the Ranger's system. They're not too far down. They avoided the bottom eight on merit. But the system here does kind of lack a little bit of true sizzle. Maybe that's Gabe Perra, who's this prospect who has so much skill, so much talent, and we wait to see how it translates to the NHL. But it's probably defined a little bit more by volume right now with Malcolm Spence, Brennan Offman, E.J. Emery, even Carrie Terrance, Scott Morrow, who they acquired in the Kandre Miller trade. The question is, who's going to make this kind of system pop for you, if not? not Perot? It's a great question. I think my co-host, Scott Wheeler, and I would probably disagree on this, is that I think he has Perrault kind of in that tier of players. He thinks he's going to be an impact top six

forward in the NHL. I have some more questions, especially based on what I saw last year, between his playing college and at the World Junior, I didn't think, I thought Perot was very good. I didn't see a player who, given his below-average skating, 5-11 frame, I didn't see the off-the-charts skill and sense that made me optimistic that he's going to translate to the NHL and be a difference making forward. I still think he plays. I think he could be a middle six-wing, a power play guy who's going to score. But I don't think he's a no-douder to, you know, to the point of what you're trying to say,

is he a guy who really is going to elevate this organization. I'm going to need to be convinced based on how he does as a rookie pro this season and the Rangers are kind of an interesting position right now. They take a significant step back this season. I'm sure Rangers fans are hopeful

they're going to bounce back a little bit and I think they can bounce back you know get a little more consistent play from the team a little bit better goal tending but if that doesn't happen I'm not quite sure there's anything coming at least coming imminently

you know, Perot's good. Brennan Offen's good, but I'm not sure they're changing the future of this organization and especially not changing anything over next season, my opinion, in a significant manner. So it's a difficult spot for this organization right now. I think what fascinates me with Perrault, and I'm certainly not saying he's Artemian-Panaran, but you look at the timelines of where Panarin's contract is and where Perrault is in his development, it could be a pretty easy plug to have this kind of like more, you know, smaller, slighter, more perimeter oriented playmaker come in right as Panarin's contract comes up.

He could be in a spot that I think it's been, frankly, especially in New York, tough for some of their skill guys to get those proper deployments at the right stage of their development. Now, I don't think he is Panarin. But wouldn't Lefranier get that job over Perrault, though? It's a good question. I don't know. Like, do you try to go backward there and give that to Lafranier or do you say, hey, Lafranier, you know, you do what you're doing and we're going to try Perrault here. to, you know, avoid the same kind of issue we had with you.

Yeah, it's a good question. I do think there's just a general question now in New York of have they've just been too reliant on goaltending and have they actually acquired players that are going to tilt the ice at even strength? And I think in the last few years, there's been a lot of times where you've questioned the way this roster has been built. I will say Malcolm Spence had a really nice World Junior Summer Showcase. And I would take some encouragement there if I'm a Ranger

fan. I love the way he plays. I think he's going to, I think he's kind of the opposite there. He is a, he's fast, he's highly competitive. I think he's a guy who looks like he's going to play. Is he going to score a lot? Probably not. I think he's going to play. I think he's going to be a legit NHL player. Let's go to the number 23 team on your list. That's the Dallas Stars. That's a team that is right in the thick of Stanley Cup contention. And this is again, you know, back to what we talked about in the previous episode, it's one of those systems that's really defined by just a couple guys at the top. And really, these are guys who are not necessarily prospects anymore. These are guys who are contributing to their team already.

Wyatt Johnson in a huge way, one of the best young players in the NHL, and Leon Bischel, a big body defenseman who is, you know, central casting for a playoff defenseman, a young playoff defenseman. Yeah, and particularly Johnston, you know, has just been such an important player for Dallas and keeping them competitive. And quite frankly, leapfrocking ahead of several of their other, high caliber players on their depth chart. It's his skill, his hockey sense are elite.

He's a hardworking center. Just so much to like there. And a guy who should probably be in the Olympic conversation, quite frankly. How long do you think it is before we're considering Johnston as the one C in Dallas? Because right now I think it's a valid question if it's him or if it's rope by hints. But it does feel like a matter of time before Johnson kind of grabs that maybe a little more firmly. within the next year, two years. I think it's an open question right now, quite frankly.

Yeah. All right. Then let's go to the next team at number 22. That would be the Vancouver Canucks. And again, another one of these kind of more depth-focused systems. You have got their top prospect as Braden Coots. I thought that was interesting. He was their first rounder at number 15 this year.

But there's more guys who have been picked in that range right there with him. Tom Velander, Jonathan Lekaramaki. They got Atu-Rat too in the Bohorvat trade, obviously. what defines the Canucks system for you, though? It's good, not great, which is kind of the state of their roster right now. It's a good team. There's some holes, you know, some things you wish would have improved. Obviously, they had, you know, Demko with the injury issues,

and Patterson took some significant steps back. But it's kind of like with the Rangers, you're wondering, well, what's the direction here? Can you see the direction that with this current group of talent, they can become a playoff team? Absolutely. Is there a path here to becoming a Stanley Cup team? It's not quite clear with this current group how they get here. They're minus Pedersen just having an absolute revival, essentially. Which we're not ruling out. I mean, that could happen. No, it could, it could happen. And I think it'd need to be that plus one or two other things going right. But that's kind of where I see this organization right now. It's actually funny when I was talking to

our connection writer Thomas Strands. He pushed back on me. putting Coots as their top prospect. I think he preferred Lekromacki, but that's fine. Not everybody needs to be right. So, but I look at Coots as like just as hardworking two-way center, good skill, good speed, good hockey sense. Like, I think he's got a really good chance to be a middle six center. What did you make of Lechromaki's year in the HL though? Because, I mean, that's a team that went on a long run. Yeah. And, you know, their prospects didn't really play a central part of that run. But, you know, I love Lecker-Omachie's skill. I love his shot. I just think a 5-11 net times perimeter winger, although I think he did a better job this year of not being as perimeter in the American League in the NHL.

I just don't know how valuable that role is compared to what Tom Willander can be compared to what Coots could be. Let's go to number 21 then, and that's the L.A. Kings, Corey, and this is another team. Young, currently impactful NHL player at the top. That's Brand Clark. Impactful might be a strong word there, but he is playing in the NHL. I mean, his ice time wasn't significant last year, but the offense, you know, he's shown offense, which is what we spent from Brent. Whether, you know, his skating is going to hold up well enough for him to play against good players consistently and help a team win is still the open question with his game. But Clark's just, you know, a tremendous talent is one of the more creative defensemen I've seen in recent years.

And I think he's going to be a good top four defenseman. And then you have kind of Liam Gritree there who's also a guy with some skating issues, definitely not to the extent of Clark. but he had a tremendous year in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the best overall forwards in the OHL, big guy with tremendous skill, scoring ability. You wish he was a little bit harder at times, but I think he's still shown he could be a middle six forward in the NHL.

I was a little surprised that you had this system above Vancouver's for a couple of reasons. One, I think if you just talk about the two right shot defensemen that we just talked about there, Clark and Vlander, all the issues who just raised around Clark, to me, those are not issues with Vielander. I feel really confident that coaches are going to trust him play in big minutes. I don't know.

Yeah, I think the issue of Wollander is going to be that how much puck play is there really going to be at the next level. I think there will be some. I think he'll make a reliable first pass. His skating is excellent. He'll be able to skate pucks up. But I think there will be, so for a 6-1D, man, I do wonder if there's like enough special in his game outside the feet.

But I think with the Kings, it's not the top prospects. It's the depth of prospects. I think I had something like 15, 16, 17, 17, 17. prospects in their system, who I at least said have a chance to play games, which for this range of pipelines is rare. Usually you start ending around like 10 or 12. So I definitely think I've liked their mid to late round drafting a little bit more than say the average team. All right. So that is the next four, so to speak. We'll come back with the top 20. All right, we're back. And before we get into the top 20, listeners, we would love to hear from you. Check out the link in the description and

give us your feedback on the show, not just us on the prospect series, the whole athletic hockey show and tell us what content you've enjoyed most, what you might like us to do differently going into this coming season. Certainly, we appreciate you listening and your current support. And now, Corey, let's get into the top 20. And that starts with a team that I think is probably thrilled to be in the top 20 after where you've had them in some past editions of these rankings. That's the Boston Bruins.

Despite what some of my thing, I am not a Bruins hater. I, you know, just they hadn't had many draft picks and some of those draft picks weren't translating very well, but there's been some stuff in the system here that you're optimistic about, despite the quite frankly disastrous season of their most recent first round pick, Dean Laterno. I think what had one or two points at Boston College this past season, you know, they go out and get, you know, James Hagan's here this past year's draft, who, despite all the conversations we have been going to the draft, as a player I have ranked very highly. I think he has a chance to be an excellent top six forward in the NHL.

They get Fraser Minton at the deadline and the Brandon Carlo trade. I think he's a guy's got a chance to be a bottom six forward. And, you know, those are great places to start. And, you know, some stuff that there isn't perfect. You mentioned Laterno and, you know, Fabian Lee Sell hasn't developed at a super high level there in the American League. I'm sure some Bruins fans will have some questions on the order I have.

Some of their 22 draftees in, in that I think there's been a lot of conversation about Matt Poitra. and what he's going to be in the NHL after he makes the league a 19, and then this year was more up and down. I still have some questions on Poitra. I think he's very talented with the puck and makes plays, and he works hard, but his skating is pretty subpar for a guy his size.

I actually like Don's luckmelis a little bit more, who was very good in college this past year. When he's played against men, he's been impressive. I think he's got a little bit more of a translatable all-around game with his skating and his work ethic. that I think, I forgot where they got him was like the fourth or fifth round, but I think he's got a real legit chance to be a bottom six forward, maybe even a bottom six center in the NHL.

I think the question that pertains to the Bruins like the loudest here is they're a team that still has some good prime age, to even young players on their roster, right? Like you have David Pasternak, you have Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swamens right in his prime. Is this a team that if James Hagan's in one of those two centers from 2022, who are kind of right in the age where they can, within a year or two, you hope, start to make an impact in the NHL.

Is that going to be enough to make the Bruins a playoff team again? Or are they going to get kind of caught in no man's land with the end of this current era and then, you know, where this current system is? I think they could be a playoff team, especially if Swayman rebounds. I think on this podcast this time last year, we seriously questioned that contract. I don't think anyone thought it was going to go this bad as I went this past year. I think he should rebound to an extent. And I think if, I think Higgins could be, you know, in the NHL this spring.

And then maybe next year he's, he's helping them. You know, could there be a playoff team again? Yeah. Do I see a group here that could become a contender again? You know, it's, it'd be tough to say unless something significantly change. It's just, it's a thin group still, even though there are some prospects still to like. All right. Let's go to another team that's in, well, it's different situation.

This is more of a true rebuild, but it's another team that's been toward the back of these rankings in the past and now starting to climb up. That, of course, is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have a big first round draft class this year. They take three guys in Will Horcoff, Ben Kindle, and Bill Zonan, who are all very high on your rankings here. But the name that I want to get to first is a guy who I didn't expect to see quite as high as he is. And that's Emil Piani Niemi. What did he do this year to put himself in this territory for you? He was excellent in the

OHL and at the World Juniors for Finland played big minutes ran their top power play did a lot of things really well he's shown more offense than I expected he was going to have when he was drafted a couple of years ago

to go the fact that he's whatever 6-1, 6-2, good skater, good competitor he just checks a lot of boxes that make me think he's going to be a legit NHL defenseman and I'm sure the Penguins might defer on this point they probably think Ben Kindle

maybe even Harrison Bruy Ricky rise to this level. When I look at the system, I see a lot of pretty good pieces. I don't know if I see a true high-end piece in this system. A guy who I think is going to be a core part of their next rebuild. A guy who you think, if the penguins are a playoff team in five years from now, it's because of this guy. He became an impact player in the NHL. I don't see that player yet in this system, but I see a lot of really good secondary guys who can become, I think they got three, four, five, six legit NHL players in the system right now. But the fact that they haven't picked, you know, top five, top eight as part of the quote unquote rebuild their entering, keeps them from becoming a true top tier system for the moment. I did want to ask you about the order that you have their 2025 picks in because it's not the guy they took at 11 Ben Kendall. It's not the guy they took at 22 Bill Zahnan.

It's the guy they took third of their three first round picks, Will Horkoff atop the trio. Yeah, you always want to be careful. you do that is that, you know, are they missing something? Are I missing something? And because obviously, both of us can't be right. And, you know, sometimes I've done this before. It's aged very poorly, you know, and there's been other years. Like, I remember when I put, I told people that I thought Travis Kinnickney was better than

Ivan Proveroff, even though they went completely in a different spot in the same draft. And that aged fine. But that's just the way I see it. I really liked Will Harkoff. think he's a big man with legit skill. I think it's going to translate. And I do have some questions on Kindle. It has said that the draft still maintain him now.

I think he's really talented. I don't know if it's special talent, though, for a 5-10 winger. All right. The Carolina Hurricanes are a team that obviously makes a lot of draft picks. They're a team that has graduated a couple of big, big names. So we talked about it's a lot of that 2020 class that's coming off. They lose Seth Jarvis. I believe they also lose Alexander Nikitian this year.

I don't remember if that was last year. They do, yes. but they supplement him by picking six Russians every year. So there's still plenty of Russian flavor in this system. Yes, the Red Army of the West is in Carolina. But it's Logan Stankovan now at the top of this. And it's a guy they obviously get in the second of the Miko Renton and trades this past season. He's another one of these guys who's already an NHL player, already a good NHL player,

as is Jackson Blake, who I gave real consideration on my Calder ballot this past season. Yeah, he was one of the big surprises this year in the NHL for a guy who's not an amazing skater. How many times if he said this on this podcast, you're small, you're not amazing skater, it's a big hurdle. Well, he cleared that hurdle. He did that because he's so smart, he's so creative, and he really competes hard. And he makes special plays with the puck, and he just found a way to help this team win games, not just play, but he was a meaningful part of this lineup of their power play. Definitely one of the most impressive draft picks of recent years.

You talked about all the Russians. Let's just get to the guy you have rated the highest of that group, and that's Nikita Ardamanov. Big season in Torpedo this past season. Yep. And, you know, he checks a lot of the boxes other than his size. He's got, he's a good skater. He's very creative. Makes plays.

Good shot. It's been highly productive versus men. I think there was a point in like the first half of the year where he was like outscoring Ivan Demadoff in the KHL. And then his second half, he trailed off pretty significantly. But I think he's got legit talent. I don't think it's elite small guy talent, but I think there's legit NHL tools there. All right. And then rounding out today's segment is the Calgary Flames at number 17.

This list is topped by a player who, you know, we had plenty of debates on in his draft year. So I want to know, where are you today in 2025 on Zane Perrek? In a pretty similar spot to where it was last year. Actually, his first half of the year did not really go very well. It led to kind of a cut by Team Canada there going. going into the world juniors. He wasn't really, you know, tearing it up there with Sagina on the first half. And then the second half, he comes on, you know, more as you expect, starting to dominate the OHL.

I think he's a guy who still have some minor questions about the defense. I think I have actually a little bit less question on his defense than I did this time last year, but it's still a concern. But his hockey sense, his skill, his shot are all pretty special. I think this is a guy you think is going to be a top 4D and a guy who could run a first power play unit in Calgary. And the guy they took first round this year at number 18 is Cole Reshny. I think there's a lot of upside in this player. There's a good foundation, right?

He's gritty. He's smart. He's not the biggest player. But he has real skill. And that hockey sense really pops. I wonder for you, how high could we be talking about Cole Reshny a year from now? Because what he did in the playoffs, he was a big second half riser. I love his game.

He's a guy wherever he goes mid-teens. It wouldn't surprise me if a year from now, we're talking about him more as a guy who probably should have gone top 15, top 12. We'll see how he does in college, whether he makes the world junior team or not. But, I mean, he's such an impressive player, tremendous skill and hockey sense, and he competes hard. Skating isn't great for his size, which I know concern NHL teams. But I think it's good enough. I don't think he's a burner, but I think he moves well. He pulls away from guys.

and I think he's going to be a very important part of Calgary's future. They did get a big year this year from a player they did draft in the top 15 a few years back. In Matt Coronado, he gets rewarded with a nice new contract at $6.5 million a year. That's a contract that should age really nicely on the NHL's new salary cap. But do you think Coronado still has another level he can find? He chipped in 24 goals last year, which is really good. But if Calgary is going to get out of where they've been, he might need to be even more. I think that's probably what he's going to be.

I think he's like a second line wing probably in the NHL. I don't know if he's a 30, 40 goal guy or whatever you're insinuating that he could like hit another level. 30, yeah. Yeah, that might be high for me. I appreciate how hard he works. But I don't know if the offensive in his game is like that level of special. And the last guy in this system I really wanted to get you on is Samuel Hansick,

because he's a player that we talked about pretty prominently in his draft class in 23. I don't know that it's delivered yet, but sometimes with these bigger bodied forwards, it does take time. Where are you at on Hanzek these days? Definitely been a guy I had a hard time figuring out of whenever I do these evaluations the last few years, because there's been some stretches where he's been really impressive and some stretches where he's been very not impressive, where you wonder, well, how much hockey sense is there in this guy's game, how competitive is he sometimes? And then there's other times where you think he is a hardworking big man with legit touch and skill and good speech for his size.

And yeah, you wish he'd be a little bit more consistent on the score sheet, but you think with all these tools it's going to come together, he's still so young. And that's kind of where I land here. I don't know, is he a second line forward? Is he a third line forward? I'm not quite sure yet, but I do think he's going to play. All right. Well, that's going to do it for us today and for the back half of Corey's pipeline rankings.

We'll be back with you tomorrow as we start the top half. break number 16 to 9. We'll talk to you then.