The Athletic Hockey Show - Olympics recap: Juraj Slafkovsky takes MVP honors, NHL takes note, Corey’s latest college, junior, and European free agent rankings, prospects who could get traded, Max’s SHL tour, Corey’s Beanpot notebook, and more

Episode Date: February 25, 2022

First, Max and Corey talk about Max’s eight-day trip to Gothenburg, Sweden where he got a close-up look at a number of Detroit Red Wings prospects playing in the SHL, including Simon Edvinsson and Elmer Söderblom, as well as Corey’s trip to Boston, Massachusetts to check out the consolation and championship Beanpot games, with thoughts on Matt Coronato, TJ Semptimphelter, Jay O'Brien, and more.Then, the guys jump into an Olympics recap and discuss Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky’s special performance en route to a tournament MVP award and a potential jump to the top of this year’s NHL Draft, Brock Faber shouldering the load on Team USA’s blue line, Finland as the gold medal winner, and more.Plus, the guys talk about some interesting players from Corey’s latest college, junior, and European free agent rankings who could find NHL homes, including Ben Meyers, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Strauss Mann, and they close things out with a discussion about prospects that could be moved at the trade deadline, with particular interest on the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche.And, you can get a 6 month subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey everybody, Max Boltman here alongside Corey Pranman, back with another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's Prospect Series. We've got a packed episode today. We're going to talk about the Olympics. We're going to talk about a couple trips. Corey and I recently took college free agents and European free agents. And as we get into the month of the trade deadline, we've got Corey's prospects who could be traded. It's going to be a really full show. We haven't done this in a couple weeks.

Corey, how you been? I've been a busy couple of weeks. Obviously, the Olympics has dominated a lot of my last couple of weeks and watching that at odd times, along with the usual games that I've been watching. I was out into England for the Beanpon, watched one of the prep kids during the second week of the Olympics, too. But I think your week, last week or two, has been far more interesting than mine. Yeah, I just got back from eight days in Gothenburg, Sweden, my first time over there to Europe. I spent the week around Frulinda,

frulinda, I should say, which was really cool. I've never spent any time around the SHL before. I got one day out at an angle home, which was cool. But yeah, I mean, the Red Wings have drafted a lot out of that league

and particularly out of that franchise in the last few years, six guys in the last three drafts they've taken. And so I wanted to, number one, see those prospects, but also write about that program. And so that's in the works right now in the process. But, yeah, I mean,

three games. and Elmer Suterblum, the sixth round pick from 2019 scored in all three of them. I thought Edvenson was outstanding and really got better over the course of the week. And yeah, it was really good. I mean, I got to see in total five Red Wings prospects play, the four from Frulyndon, and then Albert Johansson from Farriestad, who scored in that game. So for the Red Wings listeners we have out there, I picked a good week to go. And I got to see a lot of those players.

I think Edvinson, one of my big takeaways, I do think he's going to be in the NHTS. next year just after what I saw from him. The way that he defends at that age, what was really impressive. One thing I think that makes me interesting in terms of the August World Juniors is the more NHL people I talk to, the more I get the sense that those top-top-end guys, there's going to be some hesitancy of sending them to Edmonton in August.

If there's the top prospects they think can be on the roster in October. And it's interesting because I know Evanston has talked to the media about how he wants to play in that world junior in August. And given the progress he's made this season, I'll be curious to see if the Red Wings pull back on him at all or not. Yeah, it will be interesting. I mean, Sider didn't play in his final World Junior eligible. And, you know, Raymond, obviously, was in the NHL this year and so didn't go.

It'll be interesting. You're right. I even wonder, though, about even the European guys who aren't the NHL team. Like, that's really when they're getting started. And you get Champions League play. And the timing of August as opposed to like June, I do wonder how that limits the player availability, not just for the NHL guys. You think, you know, teams probably are willing to let their guys go, especially when it means a lot to them. But we don't know yet what kind of affects those.

And how similar those rosters are ultimately going to be. Yeah, it's roughly around when the World Junior Summit Showcase usually is. That's usually late July, early August, not mid-August, which I think is when the World Juniors is going to be. there is U-20 terms around that time, but they're in Europe typically. I think they'll make accommodations, but for the guys like Edwinson, guys like William Eklund, for the North Americans, guys like Matthew Veneers, and Jake Sanderson, Owen Power, Mason McAvish, Colerfetti. I have a, I don't, I think you might see like a couple of those guys go,

just if, you know, they force their hand. You know, I'm sure Shane Wright wants to these get one kick at the can there. but I could see it not happening too. Well, and you look at there was a pretty notable, you know, Brandt Clark was left off that list. It's probably going to open a door for him now, and I don't presume that he's in the NHL next year anyway, but you think now he at least gets that chance to play.

Especially if power is gone. They have a power play slot open. Presume Zell Weger move or Cormeier moves to the first unit, and that opens a spot for Clark potentially on the second unit. Yeah, exactly. So it should be good for, especially a lot of the kids who were just right off the bubble or maybe had, you know, in Thomas Borlowe's case, something come up that prevented him from going.

That, yeah, it should be good from that standpoint for those kids. But for fan bases who wanted to see their very top prospect at the World Juniors, they may be in a little bit of a hold-your-breath state between now and then to see what's going to happen there. Yeah, no, I think that's all fair. One thing that I think probably, you know, a typical North American listener probably is not aware of, then I'd be curious to get your insight from going to Europe is, I've watched a lot of European hockey, I've gone to Europe several times, is the atmosphere in Europe for a hockey game, kind of like in a soccer game too, you know, people who have watched, you know, European soccer

probably have seen this, but this translates to hockey too is the atmosphere and the way the fans interact in the building in a professional hockey game in Europe is much, much different from what you would see in an NHL game. It's really cool. I mean, you're right. It's very different. I think when I wrote about it, I think the phrase I use was like, it's like college hockey scaled up. But I think that even undersells it because it is more.

It's like a giant party. Yeah, it's a party that they've got chants. They've got songs. They've got a big bass drum that they beat throughout the game. And I have had these chants stuck in my head for like days and coming out of these games because they're just so, it's really the same rhythms. And sometimes they'll change what the word is or if it's a player or the team name, the city. It's really cool. And I think you can really feel that energy and it builds.

It's a great atmosphere. They have like this big section in Gothenburg. They called them Go Ghebar, which I think translates something like good guys. And it's just kind of like they want everyone to be like part of the family there. And then they have kind of a section below that. And they're called Section 184-185. I should know that. But they all wear black.

And I think it was described to me as they're more kind of like the soccer style, hooligan section. And so you get a little bit of all these things. They wave these flags. They've got anthems. It was, it was awesome. By the end of it, I was like I could get used to this kind of viewing atmosphere. Yeah. You don't just see that like in the top level like SHL for example. I remember going to go watch a DEL game, that's a German league in like a midst tier, a city. And it was that kind of atmosphere. When I went to go to the Lincoln Memorial, when the, When Cheki was in the fifth place game, you're still seeing that kind of atmosphere. It's just kind of a way of life over there in terms of how they attend their sporting events.

Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, it's, I got to chat a little bit with Edvinson about it. And he was kind of asking like, oh, it's, you know, what's it like in the U.S. And how is it differ? And they've got, like, in the U.S., you kind of have, like, different, each fan base kind of has their different things, you know. A lot of, a lot of them actually seem to have adopted kind of the Rick Flair Wu. And there's different songs. that different arenas kind of when they come over the PA.

Yeah, but there's extended periods with American rings where it's just dead quiet. Absolutely. And that was not the case at all during an SHL game. So it's, yeah, it was really cool. I'd like to go back. And I think if you have the opportunity at any point for those listening, like it's something you'll want to experience. Like it is a bucket list thing I think people should add. Yeah, no, I think I agree wholeheartedly.

I want to ask you, Corey, about Souterblum. And I just wouldn't saw him. And I want to kind of check what. I thought with you. I don't know how much you've watched him lately, but the way that he's scoring over there is quite something. I mean, I think he's sixth or seventh in the SHL and scoring. He's got 18 goals and really an NHL shot. It's an NHL shot today. And, you know, the question on him for a long time have been the feat. But he's long enough that I think he's getting by with it. And so I wonder how you see kind of him translating. I think he's going to need at least

a year in the HL, especially to adjust to the style, the physicality, which is a little bit different in North America versus in Sweden. But he really impressed me that the whole time I was there. Yeah, I mean, he's got NHL skill. He's an NHL scoring ability, obviously much more than an NHL above average size. The feat have just been not as an issue, it's a major issue. It always has been. It's why he went in the sixth round, even though I think you're looking in hindsight, obviously should have gone much higher than that. I think we redid that draft. I think he would go definitely the top three rounds, maybe even second round. Not sure if you go in the first round because of the skating.

But, you know, he looks like a really strong prospect. And that's just going to be the test. Can he play in an NHL pace? Can he... There's not a dry flag. I think with his size and his skill, he can be a secondary piece on the line, a net front presence. There's some things that he can do really well that are going to translate. But if he can't even get...

by a guy or skate pucks up reasonably well in the NHL, it's going to be a problem. I had people ask me, because I think partly because Tage Thompson is having such a big year, and he is that size. I had a lot of people ask me, you know, is he the next, and that's the difference, is that Tage Thompson is a, I would say, NHL average skater, or close to it at that size, which makes it play much better than that. Yeah, I think he's a better skater. I think he's a dramatically better skater, but I think he's a better skater than Soderblum.

and Tage Thompson took a long time to get to this spot. I would like the prospect, but man, there were some years where he tested your hypothesis on him. And he wasn't getting it done in the NHL. He goes down in the American League. He had the injuries.

And now, obviously, he looks great. And he looks like the guy that Buffalo saw when they traded for him in the Ryan-O-Rilly trade. And I think that that even ended up becoming a center is probably something that I did not see coming, to be quite honest. Probably not my comp for Sotomblum, but I think Sotabloom could be like a top 9-4 in the NHL.

You know, Tate Thompson looks like a top two-line center. That's a different projection level. But I think he can help the Red Wings. Yeah, I think the scoring alone, like it's, I think that's going to translate. And I think the way he plays down low, he has learned how to box out. He has learned how to protect the puck.

You'll have to keep doing all of those things. I do think he's going to need to get meaner. But I think I think the projection is there. I think he will be probably a third line or so player with some unique physical skills. You mentioned a comp. I just don't even know if there is one. I appreciate people trying to look for one, but there's just not that many guys with that size, and it's hard. Finding comps are not easy with, particularly for guys who are on the extreme edges of the size scale.

I'm dealing with this when I'm asking for people who get asked me for comps on this year's draft, like Matt Savoy and Logan Cooley, for example. And it's like, you know, oh, I can try and think of some, but there's only like so many 5, 10 or smaller guys in the NHL who are tough six forwards, which I project both as, but you're not going to find a perfect cop. Like I go to like Cooley and like, okay, you're not Braden Point. Brain point is a superstar of the NH. I don't think you're that level. But I think you're probably better than Vincent Trocheck. Yeah, but there's no like guy in the middle there that I can kind of think of. Yeah.

And different too, right? Yeah. Yeah. No, it is, it's tough. But I, you know, I get it. I know fans love that stuff. So I, uh, I just wanted to kind of address that Thompson one because I was one that I got several times while I was over there after watching him. And I really frankly, I had the same thing with Edvinson. People ask like, okay, who's Edmondson? Like, he's like Edvinson. I don't know exactly how to, he's got a really good defensive stick. He's a gazelle with the way he moves. He's got good hands. Paraco maybe. But Pareko, I think of as more of like the thundering. Sure. Like, Edmondson's aggressive and he uses some physicality. Yeah, he's physical, I think, too. He's physical, but it's not like, that's not like the bedrock, right?

Like, it's like, to me, it's like the patience, the calm. Like, it's, like, I would almost say more Petrangelo than Pareco. I don't think he, I think he's, I think Petrangelo's, like, maybe he's a little bit more, a little bit more pure offense. And I don't know if I think Evanson's, like, natural athlete are probably a little bit better than Petrangelo. Yeah, that's fair too. I mean, but, and that is kind of the, I think there tends to be a public. idea of Edvinson as kind of a chaotic, offensive, like, risky player, but that's not what I saw when I watched him.

No, I think he's like a second power play guy in the NHL probably who plays like, you know, he's not taking, you know, you look at that organization. I don't think like he has dramatically more. I don't think like Saider has much more skill than him, but if he had to be between the two of them, I imagine Seid just getting, getting the power play time. Well, Sider's Power Play 1 right now and, you know. That's what I meant. Like, if you, like, five years from now.

projecting. Who's PP1? I'm guessing it's cider over Evanson. Yeah, and you have Johansson, who I think probably plays power play in that mix in some fashion too. But like, you know, Edvinson's not on Furlunda's power play, right? But he is a huge workload defenseman for them, even without the power play. And I think it really speaks to the two-way ability that he brings. He is scoring at a rate that you would expect in a men's pro league that would be influenced by playing on the power play. That's not what's happening. But he gets, his passing is really good. His skill is really good and he's aggressive. So it's hard for me to find a comp like that, even though I know it's kind of how people want to contextualize what they can be. It just makes it tough. But you had some

good viewing opportunities too at the Beanpot. And it doesn't so much, you know, like my trip, it doesn't so much go to the drafted prospects, but lots of relevant prospects at the Beanpot in any given year. Yeah. That was the best. I watched, there was a constellation game between Harvard and Boston College, and then there was the championship game between Boston University and Northeastern. In the consolation game, that was the best game I've seen Matt Coronado play this season. I thought he was really impactful. Some of his college games this year kind of been in and out.

His two 20 games at the summer, well, juniors, some were good, some weren't as good. But this were, you know, I thought he played with pace. He had energy. He showed really good skill. He created chances. Like that was like that was the real first impression I got of Cornell this season where it's like okay this is why you were top 15 pick like you have a lot of elements to your game and I would like to have seen them more consistently this season but I saw what you did in junior I see what you can do in certain moments like he still looks like a really strong prospect

um Jack Hughes uh the draft eligible for northeastern I thought was solid one of the only guys in the Northeastern, I thought, it really showed his skill and creativity. He's not really having the big year that I thought he was at least going to, not a big, big year, but like a solid good year for a draft eligible, not having the big production that I was kind of hoping he would, given how skilled a player I think he is. And even though when I watched him in the beat pot, I thought he was one of the most skilled, creative, instinctive players on the ice, given he's 5-11, not a great skater. I kind of wondering where his stocks

going to end up by the end of it. I think coming into the year, we're like, oh, yeah, this guy's going to be a first round pick. And I'm like, eh, maybe late one right now kind of thing. Could slide into the early parts of day two. That's kind of where I think he fits right out, even though, like I said, I do respect the skill a lot. Those are kind of the main takeaways

because there weren't a lot of the top college players there. They were in Beijing. You know, Devin Levi wasn't there. Drew Kemp, Kemp, Zeezyzscharro, weren't there. probably missing a couple Jack Bain Drew Helleson but it was so interesting to see

Dylan Peterson, St. Louis Prospect scored the winner, a big moment for him and I thought the goalie for Northeastern T.J. I'm going to watch your name, Septim Feller who has played a high and Levi all season actually fared quite well but yeah

so it wasn't that amazing tournament but I did go for Hughes and to watch a couple of the drafted players, and because there's quite a few prep guys this season in Boston who are getting hype as potential top two, three, four round picks. Well, BU wins it. You mentioned Peterson. Anybody on that team really stand out to you? You know, there's a few prospects there, Jay O'Brien, Master Simone, Fensori, Ty Gallagher.

I like Jay O'Brien there. I think he's the one. Like, I know he's, he has gone through a lot of fluctuations in his development over the last five years. first round pick, I think, picked roughly around 20 by the Flyers. He goes to Providence,

can barely stick in the lineup. He leaves Providence, goes, plays in the BCHL for a season that he comes back, plays a couple of years at BU, but watching him there, I'm not saying I'm a Navarre with him. He wouldn't go in the first round.

He'd redid that draft right now. But I think I watch him and the skating, the skill, the computer good enough to where I think he will play NHL game for one day. I'm not saying he's going to be

like a great NHL player, I think he can provide depth and useful minutes to an NHL team at some point. Yeah. All right. Any other thoughts to wrap on that before we get into some Olympic stuff? Yeah, just on the same of prep stuff. I think this looks like a really strong Boston prep class. Ben McDonald, from Noel from Greenboro, Michael Fisher from St. Marks,

both guys that I think are getting a lot of attention right now. There's a couple other guys like Brian Ali in Connecticut. and Michael Callas, St. Sebastian, they're no interest, particularly McDonald and Fisher, I think, are two guys that could be top three, four round picks. Yeah. All right. We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back toxom Olympics. All right, Corey, let's get now into the Olympics.

And I think, you know, there's one obvious story here for our prospect purposes that leaps above the rest, and that is the performance of Slovakia's Urislovsky. Name the tournament MVP is a draft eligible, which for an Olympic tournament, even without NHL players. Like, it's a pretty significant, pretty significant performance by him and one that's got his, his NHL draft stock really on the rise. And his performance was on the rise to the tournament, too, even though he did seem to score in every single game.

He started for Salaki on their fourth line. He wasn't on their power play. It seemed like even his fellow draft eligible Simon Nimich was going to be the guy who was going to get more opportunity and be more of a factor. And then as the tournament progressed, Nimich ended up being. like a seventh offenseman benched, I think, towards the end. And Slavkovsky was clearly their best player. He's a tournament MVP, obviously, Slovakia's best player.

But he was first line, first power play, seemed to be one of the only guys on that team that can consistently create offense, even as a 17-year-old. And as you said, it's not the Olympics, as we would expect with the NHL players. I wouldn't even call it the World Championships at this level because NHL players do go to the World Championships, even though last year there weren't as many, some still went.

But even if you consider this like a European hockey tour tournament, seeing 17-year-olds do what he did at those kind of levels is rather rare, especially in the moment that he had to do it in with the stakes of the Olympics, helping Slovakia get their first ever medal at this tournament, a very special performance, and one that a lot of NHL people have taken. can notice of. And even though his play with TPS and Lika has been all that amazing this year, when he's played for Slovakia at the Holinka Gretzky, briefly at the World Juniors,

and now here at the Olympics, I think you're going to start hearing a lot more discussion of Slavkovsky right at the top of the draft class this summer. Well, that's what's interesting to me is that we've known for a while. This guy has basically every tool, right? He's got size, skill, he's got a great shot. You can skate well. skates well, that's right. You look at him and you say, okay, this guy has the whole package. But along the way, you've seen the production in Liga, and there's a pretty strong track record of what top top prospects tend to produce in Liga.

And it can vary a little bit, but he's only got four points on the year. And so I think that's where this tournament was so interesting is to see the outpouring of offense. And I kind of wonder, like, how you square one with the – because you think this is at least as good of a level as Liga to play in and to produce in. How do you kind of square those? Earlier in the year, I was like, oh, well, TPS is such a great team. And, you know, when you play on a deep team, like sometimes that happens, you don't get the opportunity. But TPS hasn't been so good in the second half of the year, and his production still isn't there.

So I think it's tough. You have to always balance all the information. It's rare that outside of the special players or the ones who just are not really relevant, that you get uniform information at every level. Sometimes you've got to balance these things. So you got, you know, with the fact that his international play, particularly this season, has been extremely impressive. Even though he didn't score the World Junior's just two of World Junior games, I thought he was really good. Like that game versus Sweden, he was, he was awesome. And then he had to square that with his club performance, which just quite, they said, it's, like it's still, he looks like a strong prospect in those games, but it doesn't look like a guy who could be a top five, top three, even challenge her first overall.

It definitely doesn't look like that kind of guy. I think that's what's going to be really interesting with this whole first overall pick debate that things will be coming down the pipe over the next few months is yes, like Shane Wright is not having the year that you would think is accustomed to a typical first overall pick, at least in the CHL. You know, typically first overall CHL picks are top first, second, third in their league and scoring, you know, running away with the MVP is in their league, so on and so forth. But you look around in the world and there is.

hasn't really been a guy who's done that. Like Logan Cooley is a great prospect, but he's not scoring at extreme numbers, particularly for a 5-10 forward with the program. Kamel has slowed down a little bit. I think he's been pointless in his last 10-league game, something like that, although injury bridge those games. Savoy's scoring the WHL has slowed down a little bit. And now you have Stavkosky, who I think he said it's four,

points, I think one goal in the Liga, but then he has this performance, like, okay, well, maybe this is the moment, but it's not perfect because you have everything else he's done this season in the background. So that's why I think this debate can be really interesting going forward. Yeah, and obviously, if he comes out of the Olympics and just, you know, goes on like what you would typically associate with like top five level production in Liga, then I don't think there's any question. But you got a chance here for kind of what, I guess, what I would call the reverse Peterson, where at least Petterson was like a point per game player in his, you know, league in the Alls Fenskin in his draft year, but internationally, like, it wasn't as dominant.

And so you could have the potential here where if Slavkovsky, you know, kind of keeps at his league a production rate, you kind of have the reverse of that, where you've seen in every international stage he looks like a top five pick. And then in his league, he looks like, yeah, first round, you know, high first rounder, but maybe not top five, top three, like you said. Yeah. And then there's opportunity to play the world championships in the summer. Does he go there? Does he do what he think he's going to do? It would, you know, just, that won't championships, I think it could be rather interesting from a draft perspective for that reason, him and Nemich both go.

If your check is healthy by then. Yeah, I think that's perfectly fair. I think it's the first overall, second overall, third overall picks in this draft I think are not defined, which I think is really interesting a couple of months out. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the Olympics, I mean, the other guy, there's a lot of guys we could talk about. You had a really good article out of it, the standouts, but the guy who I think, well, first of all, I want to talk about Brock Faber because we expected Jake Sanderson to kind of carry the load for Team USA and his situation was tough.

You know, obviously gets in late and then banged up. But Faber really was able to kind of shoulder the load for Team USA. Yeah, you had two teenagers, three two teenagers on that team play significant roles. One would be Brock Faber. The other one was Matthew Nyes. And the one being Maddie Baneers. With Sanderson being injured and favored, you know, with Sanderson out, didn't take much power play time,

but still played clearly the most amount of minutes on that team. It was clear that David Quinn trusted this guy the most because he's an NHL-level skater, because he's an NHL-level competitor, and because he could make a good first pass, even if the offense is never going to be the calling card of his game and wasn't at this tournament. He was the guy who was going out there to play against any type of decent forward competition because he had the amazing skating to shut down guys. Finland obviously wins the tournament.

We talked about that in our preview. never bet against Finland and international competition because of exactly what they just did. They just have their style of play, the way that they do things really seems to work internationally. They pull off the upset of the Russians in the gold medal game. But big picture, I mean, Canada and USA both had their tournaments end a lot earlier than I think people expected, certainly than I expected. Any kind of closing thoughts on the North American countries here coming out of the Olympics? Nothing that interesting USA had a really young team

and they obviously had a very impressive performance versus Canada in the group stage but that was a tough group because Germany was a really a good team. You had the Chinese in that group that Canada played twice and that USA played so you didn't really get a good gauge on where this team was before the medal

round against some of the other European teams and you know against a very young team there's NHL prospects on this team, a lot of NHL prospects on that team actually. You know, you saw some guys elevate whether it was Favit, whether it was Manny Baneers, whether it was college free agent, Ben Myers, who I thought had an excellent tournament.

But it wasn't as shocked as he's such a young team who, frankly, did not have Jake Sanderson, did not have some really high-end guys other than Baneers, who I thought was outstanding in that quarterfinal game. You know, move on. And with Canada, it was just not really an impressive team.

You watched them and there was a lot of vanilla in their game and there wasn't a lot of skill and speed on that team. Obviously, you had a couple of the top prospects there, like Kent Johnson, Mason McTavich, I own power, who each had their own moments, but I never thought any of them really elevated to help take over a game and do what they need for Canada and move on in the big games being the one against,

United States and then in their quarterfinal game. So I wasn't overly surprised from when I saw the tournament that they got knocked out, but it was interesting to see that there wasn't, some of those young guys didn't really take, you know, giant rules at that tournament, or at least in terms of a performance level. My kind of main thought coming out of it was I wonder if I underrated the significance of just the familiarity that these European teams would have, partly through events like the European Hockey Tour,

where, you know, maybe not these specific teams playing together an overwhelming amount, but the general familiarity from playing with each other that a lot of these guys would have had over the past few years, several of them. Right. And there's other tournaments throughout the year. They played in November. They played in December. You know, the Channel 1 Cup, for example, seems kind of seen as like an Olympic tune-up for a lot of these nations.

Finland had, in particular, had a lot of, you know, former-Hall veterans, like Phil Dula's Semi-Vatnin on their team. You know, they had a rather good. depth and talent for a high-level European tournament. So I wasn't really surprised that they won. In fact, as I watched the Russian team, I was kind of overwhelmed by the group they put together. I didn't really see a lot of NHL talent in that group other than Gritschuk for Omkov and the

goaltender Fedathev. But otherwise, it wasn't really an overall impressive group from Russia. Yeah. All right, you tease Ben Myers just a minute ago talking about him. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to talk about him because he kind of headlines some of our free agent rankings that we're going to get to. All right, Corey, you talked about right before the break.

Ben Myers for Team USA is a guy who's playing at University of Minnesota in the Big Ten and an option to become a free agent, or not the option, he's going to be a free agent at the end of this season. You think he's got a good chance to play in the NHL. Tell me a little bit more about what you saw from Myers and kind of what his NHL trajectory looks like. Right. Well, at Minnesota, particularly with Team USA, I saw a center who can drive the play.

I mean, he was USA's third line center. That line with him, Noah K. Sean Farrell, I thought, was consistently excellent. And he was, I think, the main reason why that line was consistently excellent because he has good speed. He competes really hard. He has skill. I don't think he's going to be a big offensive guy. He hasn't been a big offensive guy in college, for example. But he scores enough.

He has enough creativity and playmaking to go at the effort level and the pace that I think he can be a bottom six-four than a number. National Hockey League. Will he be a center? Maybe a fourth-line center. If he plays hard, you know, I can see that kind of, you know, wishy-washy thing because of the size with some coaches depending on the caliber of team he signs with. But I think, you know, you watched him at that level with a team surrounded by NHL prospects. And you're like, you know, this guy is clearly the one, one of the few here that looks like

an NHL player. Yeah. You have a guy at the top of your list right above Ben Myers when you did your brand. ranking of the top college in European free agents was Andre Kuzmenko from Russia, 26-year-old, undersized winger, but he's got a little bit of sturdiness to him, and he's scored like crazy for Scott in the KHL. Yeah, been a guy on the radar for a couple of years, signed a long deal with with Skah. I think he's like 25, 26 years old right now.

He's coming up now at the end of the deal. One of the top scores, offensive overall players in the KHL this season. Extremely dynamic skill, undersized winger. He doesn't have a size, and he's not really an amazing skater, too, to be quite honest, but he competes really hard. He creates a lot of offense around the net in the KHL despite his size. And as for that latter reason, I think his game is going to translate. I think he will be an NHL forward.

I think, you know, he can help a team in, like, a middle of the lineup kind of role. I don't think this guy's like Panarin or anything close to it. But I think, you know, he could be a second power play guy. You can play second, third line wing on a team and provide score. into an NHL lineup. But I think the issue with him is going to be not really an issue, just a reality is that his age is, I could be wrong, but I believe you have to sign him for a one-year deal when he comes over, and then I think he'll be a UFA right after that.

So I think it'll be interesting to see where he lands and where the, you know, how he chooses to start an NHL career and in what context. Do we have any kind of feel? I mean, do you have any kind of feel? I shouldn't say we. I don't. do you have any kind of feel where which teams might be kind of in on either of these two guys?

Well, I think almost I think a lot of teams are going to be in on both of those guys in terms of, I don't, haven't heard any early indicators. Like guys down the list, I've heard some indicators on. Like I think a couple of like the half a chance,

midish range kind of prospects. I've heard some teams associated with them. But I think with these two, their options are so wide open. I think when their seasons are over, they're going to have to really start narrowing down and doing interviews and stuff like that, which I don't think they've thoroughly,

begun that process yet, even though teams definitely with Myers, they've talked to Myers, most of the, a lot of them in the, I think in the early parts of the year, like before a season started, maybe even during the season, I don't know that for a fact, but I don't think until we get to the end of their seasons, well, we really start hearing, like, how teams are getting narrowed downed. Yeah, and then the other guy on the list who was at the Olympics, or maybe not the only one, but Strauss Mann, obviously for Team USA, is a guy who turned pro last year, which you don't usually see that a guy will turn pro and then not go into the NHL.

over to the SHL with Halefthia, which has been the best team in the SHL this year. He did that to my understand because he did not get an HL offer. Yeah. And so a year later, do you like his prospects more for having that opportunity? Yes. I think people were impressed by his Olympics. I think people have been impressed by how he did in the SHL. Still undersized goalie, still not an incredibly athletic undersized goalie.

So some of the variables have not changed for why he did not get an NHL offer. But, and I think, you know, but because. he has done quite well versus men over the last year. It at least answers some questions, reassures some of the hesitancy of signing a small goalie. I think he's still a candidate for an NHL deal, but we'll see. And then Max Verano, I thought you made this. This was a great point in your article. You don't usually see someone who has actually gotten the NHL opportunity already.

He was a college free agent two years ago, signed. It doesn't go well. He ends up in the SHL. and now he's one of the top scores in the SHL. It would be a little bit of a trick to turn to in one year that way, get the offer right back, but he did just about everything he could have to at least make that a possibility. Right.

I think it was more than, I think it was like three or four years ago where he signed out of Princeton with Ottawa, didn't go very well in Ottawa, gets traded from Ottawa, Toronto, quickly leaves, goes to Sweden. I think one, played Sweden last year just okay. And yes, now he's one of the very, very best players in the SHL. and typically that wouldn't be an indicator to me.

I think people, like, maybe Adam Tamalini in that league might get a look at, but I don't think he's a great skater. So maybe he'll get signed, but I don't think he's an NHL player. I think Verano is intriguing and why he was so highly sought after as a college free agent because he has, he's a very strong skater. And now he's showing offense versus men. I think that combination is going to entice teams to give him a second opportunity. Yeah.

The other story you had come out this week, which is always a hit among the fans or really not a hit among certain fans if a guy that they like for their team ends up on it, is your prospect of getting moved to the trade deadline. It is that season. We are within a month to it. And some big names on there this year, you know, guys who were high picks and starts right at the top with Grigory, Denisenko, and Vitali Kravsov. Yeah, I think, you know, Denisenko is what comes to mind because I think everyone expects Florida to be a buyer. They have a reasonable amount of cap space. They're elite team of the NHL. And whether it is Owen Tippett, whether it is Grigre Densenko, or Maki Samiskevich,

we expect one of those wingerers will be used as one of the main assets in a trade. Dennis Sanko comes to mind because things haven't gone so well for him after he was so highly touted coming out of Russia. Just in general, hasn't really scored versus pros in his career. Maybe a change of scenery would be best for him. because there's really no clear place for him in this lineup right now or going forward, quite frankly, unless, of course, Tippett gets traded. So that's what comes to mind.

I think the Rangers situation and Colorado situation is also very interesting. I think all with the Rangers, they've had a lot of high draft picks in recent years. They're a very good team this year. You have a top 10th pick for the second year in a row. The previous year was Leon Anderson. Now it's Tally Kravsov, who doesn't seem to have a lot of. a spot on this team. He's currently in Russia.

Right now, I stock obviously, he's significantly lower than it was three years ago, but he's big, highly skilled winger. They'll be interested in and see what happens with him. Their defense situation, they have three really good young defensemen and Braden Schneider, Yves-Lunkevizs-Sach Jones. What happens with them?

So I think that will be a really interesting thing going forward. And with Colorado, just because they're Colorado, an elite team. they've had, you know, they've done, you know, good job in recent years acquiring young prospects into their farm system, you know, whether it is Justin Barron, Drew Hellison, Oscar Olison, you know, you presume it's, they've got to do something here at some point because this is, this is their window. Same thing with Florida. So I'll be curious to see what those organizations do here in the coming weeks. The Colorado one to me is interesting because you've got a couple guys there in. obviously Justin Barron was not like a super high first-arm pick, but a first-arm pick who was thought of pretty highly throughout his draft year.

He was playing pretty well in the H.L. right now. And then you mentioned Hellison, who is a guy who's kind of, he was mid-second rounder, but he's playing really well at BC. What's kind of the current situation of what either of those guys, I don't believe Colorado has their first-round pick. Are either of them kind of a stand-in as a first, or is it more, you know, if you're going with Hellasin, it's Hellison plus a fact.

first or a second to get you kind of that, you know, we assume they're in a tier for a high, high level rental potentially. Yeah, I think most teams would say Barron can definitely stand in for a first. I think with Hellasin, most think he can, but it's not universal. Like, you know, he was at the Ulymonds. He was at the seventh offenseman scratched some nights. He wasn't a standard tournament for him there. Some people think he could be around at Brinilla, but others see like a big mobile

defenseman who shows him offense, has been a top defenseman in the hockey east over the last year and a half and get excited about the play. was a big part of the World Junior goal last season for Team USA. So I can see the argument personally that he was standing for first, but I can see, I know more universal and barren than it would be for Allison. And then with Minnesota, you have Carson Lambos on the list here, and it's not all that common that you see a team. Pick a guy in the first round.

He has a pretty good year immediately, and he's potentially on a list like this for a prospect who could be moved. Is this just like Minnesota's got a decent number of prospects now, and you can't take everyone off the table situation? Yeah, I mean, that's the kind of thing. I mean, they're clear abundance. Buyers. Well, they're buyers, but where their system is the strongest right now is on defense.

In terms of the amount of players they have. They have Carson Lambeaus in Winnipeg. They have Ryan O'Rourke, Damon Hunt, strong prospects. They have Kallyn Addison up in the pros, who I don't think would probably be used because he's so close to the NHL. You've got to imagine he's to be part of their team going forward. in the recent years because of his age and what he's done versus men so far.

So I think you look to the junior ranks and it's like, okay, what comment? Is it Lambeau's or Roker Hunt? You know, those seem like the guys who would be used in a trade. Lambo's is the one who would be the most desirable to other NHL teams, depending on the type of trade we're talking about.

If it's a rental for like a mid-tier guy, he's probably not involved. But if you're going to have to go after, you know, everyone knows Minnesota wants a center. And if you go after Claude Giroux, Carson Lambeau's going to be. have to be part of those discussions. In Minnesota's NHL defense situation relatively solidified, which goes into that.

They are going to need some ELCs in the coming years as they get into the buyout consequences of Souter and Parizet. But the defense situation there is fairly short up for at least the, I think Dumbas only got one year left, but it's like, you know, Dumba's got a year left. They've got, extended John Merrill, Spurge and Burdine. And that's why Addison is important for the Duma situation because he's a right shot like Dumba, offensive driven. There's some, there's a role there.

that he could replace if Dumba walks. Any team you're watching, especially closely at this deadline? Is it Colorado like you were talking about, or who are you watching most closely? I think it is the Rangers. I think they have to do something. I mean, everyone knows Krabsaw is probably moving at some point. It's just a matter of what the deal looks like and, and I said, that defense situation. Because we've talked about it several times on this show that something's going to give here

at some point. And I think Lunkf still has value around the league after how good he was in Sweden over the last couple of years before it came to North America. You know, they've had, they made a lot of high draft picks over the last few years. You know, they look like they're a contender right now. It may not like the top tier contenders, but they're, you know, top team in the east. I think the situation would be really interesting here going forward. All right.

That is going to do it for us today. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Subscribe to the Athletic Audio Plus on Apple Podcast to get all the bonus content from our entire network. I'm going to start you with a 30-day free trial, and then it's just 99 cents a month after that. Right now, you can subscribe to The Athletic for $1 a month for six months when you visit theathetic.com slash hockey show. So do that. Read all of Corey's great content throughout the trade deadline and up to the draft, and we'll talk to you soon.