The Athletic Hockey Show - Pipeline Rankings: Who has the NHL’s best prospects?

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

It’s that time of year once again for Corey’s annual NHL Pipeline Rankings, a comprehensive look at the future of all 32 NHL teams. Today, the guys break down the best young players in each organization, the overall outlook for the clubs based on their prospects, and what they could use in their systems to become true Stanley Cup contenders.Hosts: Max Bultman and Corey PronmanExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris FlanneryWatch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowJoin our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/VTm9VjkFSubscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody, Max Pullman here alongside the athletics, Corey Prondman, for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. And it's a fun one, Corey. It's your annual pipeline rankings, all 32 teams ranked. We're going to go over pretty much all of them here today. And it's one of the most, I think, important exercises because it's a window into the future of what these teams have on the way and in place. I think that's a key distinction for people to keep in mind here. big difference between you and Scott is you are ranking all you 23 players, including the

established NHL players. You are going to hear the names Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Leo Carlson today. And that has a big influence at the very top of this list. But we're going to start at the back half, Corey. We're going to start with the teams who frankly don't really mind being at the back half of this list because most of the bottom six teams are the best teams in the league. Colorado's at 32. Edmonton's at 31. Dallas at 30. Vegas at 29. The Florida Panthers are at 27. These are the teams we expect to compete for the Stanley Cup this season. And really, there are, you know, I didn't mention the reigning Stanley Cup champion, Carolina. There are other top teams in the league. But these are teams that are okay with not having,

you know, relatively speaking, top prospects. The one possible exception that might be the Edmonton Oilers, though, because they're a team who, yes, they have Connor McDavid, yes, they have Leon Dry Settle, yes, they're going for it. But things are a little tepid there, and it's not a loaded system right now. Right, and obviously you look at the young talent on the roster and you wonder how they would have looked if Philip Roberg is still there, if Dylan Holloway is still there. If, you know, those are some pretty key asterisks in terms of their drafting and development, those two players obviously have become very good for the St. Louis Blues. You know, they've been a team that's been struggling to search for secondary scoring. They've kind of hoped to find it with guys like Faciliput-Coles in and Matthew.

you Savoy and Isaac Howard. I have varying opinions on those players. I think put Colson and Savoy are like a nice hardworking guys, secondary skills. Savoy's a really good skater. I don't know if he makes a ton of plays. I think he's going to get put in some advantageous positions because of the lack of depth they have. But I think realistically he's like a third liner probably.

And then Howard is the one I've really struggled with. Obviously, they traded for him two years ago with the whole. hope of him being a guy that can ride shotgun with McDavid or Drysiddle. And he may get that opportunity still. But I think with Savoy, you like how he competes. You like the pace in his game. Whereas Howard's more of a pure skill guy, a score. I don't think he competes quite like Savoy does.

And I feel like his size without the elite feat. I do wonder if there's a place for him long term in an NHL lineup, despite the fact that he has, he's been a very productive college and American league player. That's tough considering who they gave up for him, too. right? I mean, the tradeaway Sam O'Reilly, who's had a great junior career and looks like a pretty projectable guy. And that's a one for one, if I recall, right? Yeah. And at the time, it was, I thought it was a very fair trade. I had them, basically, I had Howard slightly raided ahead of O'Reilly at the time. O'Reilly wasn't really killing it in junior when

the time, when the trade was made. He was the very last pick of the first round, kind of like Howard was. But since then, O'Reilly just has been on a very upward trajectory, you know, OHL regularist. He's an MVP, OHL playoff MVP. And he's a guy who I think is considerably ahead of Howard right now two years since the trade has been made. Yeah. All right. So the other team that I did not mention there is the Winnipeg Jets, Corey. And the Winnipeg Jets come in on this list at number 28.

That's more concerning than those other teams I mentioned. They were not a playoff team this past season. They have some good players in place, obviously led by Connor Hallibuck, led by Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor, Mark Sheifley. but in Winnipeg, you pretty much have to draft well to stay competitive. And so to see their name this low on the list, that really flagged for me. Yeah, I think there's two significant picks that have come to play there. One, they take Rorty, who actually had a really nice year in the American League, and he doesn't sign.

So they trade him for Braden Yeager, who doesn't have a great year at all in the American League this year. And then Colby Barlow, as well, has just kind of been a disaster in the last couple of years. He had the one good, you know, kind of decent year towards the end of his OHL career, but, you know, really poor first pro season. And as a mid-first round pick, you're kind of wondering if he's even going to play. So those are the kind of things hanging over them right now. And then I kind of think when you're in Winnipeg, there's always this kind of question of direction. Whereas I think, you know, in other markets, they can accept, you know, the prolonged rebuild. I don't know if Winnipeg has that option.

I think this is a team that's always kind of trying to make the playoffs, trying to contend every single year. So I don't know if they can do the whole tear it down, rebuild, get all the elite young players for five, six, seven years. So I'll be really curious to see where they go with this. I think if you're trading Hellebuck, you're hoping to get not just futures, but futures that can help you, you know, in the not so distant future. Yeah, near-term futures, right?

So you can still build around Morrissey-Connor. and Shifley. The Vegas Golden Knights are at 29. I'm going a little out of order here, but I just, as I look at this list here, the thing that jumps out to me is Trevor Connolly's not their number one ranked prospect for you. That was not what I was expecting to see as I look at this list. Yeah, I like Pipperenen, their late first round pick. I don't love him, but I think there's a lot of traits there that excite you, the 6-3 frame, the skating, the he can make a reliable first pass. He's competitive. There's a lot of things that project out really well, potentially as a, you know, maybe a number five, offensive. him in the NHL, guy who can help you at both ends of the ice. Connolly's guy I struggle with, I think if you just zero in on him this season and just what he did in the American League this season, it's an exciting player. He was a very productive teenage player, great skater, high skill level. There's a lot there to be excited about, but you can't just throw out all the data either. You can't just throw out how poor his previous year was too.

And, you know, I still have been watching Connolly over the years. The skating's elite, but I do wonder about his hockey sense at times. I do wonder if he's going to be like a true, like, top score at the next level, or if he's more just this speedster who isn't overly physical. Like, there's some questions there on the role. Is he just like a good third liner? Maybe, maybe not. I'm on the fringe in terms of what his, if the offense is going to be spiked.

special enough at the next level. So I would rather just prefer the defenseman. Yeah. All right. Moving on to number 26, the Ottawa senators. Carter Yakumchuk's the guy that you've had a lot of belief in going back to your draft or to his draft year. Jonas Lagerberg,

Hohen was a little bit of a surprise pick this year. But you've seen him play. These are the two top guys for their system. I want to start with Yakim Chuck because, you know, they need this pick to really blossom for them. What is kind of the state of Carter Yakumchuk's game? Where is he at right? now. I mean, it's definitely down since his draft year. Like, it had, I think he had a good, this

past American League year was probably actually quite positive. He was quite good in the American League. His draft plus one in the Western League was not great. So the last two years, there's been some good, some not so good. I still think you really love the skill level in his game. He skates pretty well for a guy his size. The defense is a question. And it's a kind of a strange question you would feel like with his athleticism that he could find a way to be reliable defensively on a consistent basis and maybe he still gets there over time but the last couple of years you know he hasn't been a guy who coaches tend to trust a lot doesn't kill penalties the physicality his you know sometimes it's there sometimes it isn't definitely likes to

attack more than he does to defend but the skill is really special for a guy his size so I think he's a guy you're still excited about. I still think he's a guy he's going to play. Two years ago, I thought he was a premium pro prospect. And now I kind of think more of like a pretty good, but probably not a premium pro prospect. Second pair, top pair, two, three. Like, what are we talking? Yeah, I think like four with power play.

That's kind of what I'm thinking right now. But I think when you have Sanderson and, you know, and Shabbat, like, depending whether they keep Shabbat or not. But let's say they do. And I think like he fits into that organization pretty well. If he has to be the guy, which I don't think he's going to have to be with Sanderson there, then I don't know if he's going to be able to log like the heavy minutes, the tough matchup minutes. We talked at the draft about how necessarily when you subtract a player like Brady Kachuk, things change for an organization.

But in terms of the forward, young forward prospects they have on the way, yeah, they get William Mecklin back from San Jose, kind of the final wrinkle of all that trade. They also get Casper Hal Toon back and they draft a bigger bodied score in Jonas, Lagerberg Hohn, what should fans expect from those two players? What is the kind of ultimate projection? And then maybe if there's a ceiling there too that you think could exceed the projection, they can dream on a little bit. And they took cover, you know, they take over there. Yeah, Jackson, Cover.

Yeah, well, I don't really like that much, but some people do. Like, I see 6-2 and he can skate and he's got skill. I just wonder, like, what other dimensions he has in his game to help him in the NHL. I feel like they kind of, like, rolled the dice in a guy without a lot of high-level experience and hoping it's going to develop and thought like he's one of the most talented players as like the old like a dodge and like in baseball take the high school kid with all the tools and we'll see in three four or five years how it goes. In terms of Laguerbergh Haud, I see a six

two and a half, six three guy who could skate who could shoot the puck who's got really good skill who competes well. Like there's a lot of boxes he checks. Like I think if he was healthy all year I'm not saying he's so don't like run with this and say oh they got a top 20 player but I think if he was helped he had out the way he was producing and with his tools he could have been a top 20 pick now he didn't play all year

he played nine games so it could have gone he could have not scored for a month two for all we know but there's a lot that it's a really you know two dice rolls there by Ottawa two really talented players and we'll see how it goes Eklin is an elite feet type

really competitive really skilled I think you wonder if the skill for a small guy there is special, but it's still pretty good. He's a legit top six forward. I just think, you know, Brady was a really unique profile. And I don't think Eklund's profile is quite as unique. He's still very good. He's just like, you know, I think more of a standard top six winger.

Yeah. At number 25, the Minnesota Wild, this is a system that is depleted from the Quinn Hughes trade. But it's now kind of built around these two young center prospects that are, you know, Danil, you're of is in the NHL. Charlie Stramel, we expect will be fairly soon after a strong college career. What do the wild have in those two players going forward? Well, I think Stramel's progression has been very positive. I think we remember where his guy was two years ago where we were wondering, like, this guy even going to, there's scouts I was talking to him, wondering if he's even going to play in the NHL. And now I'm looking at this guy. I'm wondering

how high in a lineup is he going to play in the NHL? Because I, I see, you know, this is, I know he was, you know, a junior. So, like, you know, you got to make some adjustments based on how their age and how many years of experience they had in college. But was he a junior or a senior last year? Sorry. I think he was a, he was a senior, right? Yeah, sorry. Two years, two years before Michigan State and two years at Michigan State.

Yeah, two years, Wisconsin, two years, Michigan State. So, yeah, I apologize. But even that was so even further than the point. But I still see a six three centerman who was one of the best centers in. the big 10, one of the best overall players on one of the best teams in the country. You know, he's very physical. He can skate. I think you do wonder exactly how much skill he has, how many plays he's going to make at the next level.

But like, I could see him be a second line center. I'm not saying that that's for sure going to happen. But like, I think he checks a lot of boxes. And I think he's a very exciting pro prospect right now. And you're all of like, oh, or well, well, rounded player, like high skill, works. good skater. Like, I think those are like your two and your three, you know, Cs of the future. I don't know what the order is, but I think they're both really nice center prospects.

It's interesting because I remember when obviously Stramel was a pretty high pedigree prospect coming up, right? He was in then TDP really young and he was playing up. And I think at that time, you were really, I was certainly was really daydreamed on what can this guy be. So you see the potential to be as high as a second? Because I feel like I look at him and it's like, is this going to be like Nick Paul in Tampa or kind of an impact where he's like a 30. point guy, but he's a really important third line player. Nick Paul played like 15, 16 minutes a night on some really good Tampa teams. Like, if that's the, and I can see the Paul comparison for sure, but I would argue that is a

second line center. It may not be the most sexy second line center and may not be the most, the second line center in terms of like being a top, whatever, 40 center in the league, top 45 center in the league. But I feel like that's, especially in a league that's expanding. I feel like that fits the criteria. Yeah. All right. At number 24, the Carolina Hurricanes, two real headline prospects here, I think.

One they just drafted in William Hawkinson. And the other is Bradley Nadeau. And Nadeau in the HL this year, Corey, like, I don't know if he's gotten quite enough attention for what a season he had there. Yeah, and I think it's going to be fascinating because I feel like Carolina, you know, they're keeping most of their core together that just won.

And Nadeau, I don't think, really has much more to prove down there. there. So I do wonder, like, how do they find room for this guy? I think do they kind of go like the non-traditional route and just stick him on a fourth line? And even though that's not where, I think he competes well, but he's not what you usually think of with a fourth liner. But I feel you've got to find a way to play this kid at some point, right? Yeah. And I think it's a great environment to go into. I know it might not be like the prime role that we're used to seeing for guys who light up the HL in that way. But if you can go in and you can have a little bit less pressure on you as you debut and they still have good players

up and down that lineup. Stick him next to Jordan Stahl. I mean, you could try it any which way. I don't know that I'm breaking up the second line with Hall Stankovan and Blake, but they've got all kinds of options there. With Hawkinson, he's kind of the central casting, Hurricane's D, it feels like, right?

I mean, especially when you have the top two spots with Miller and Slavin, you know, just stick him on the third pair at a couple years and he'll be right at home. Yeah, I was really surprised that he got to the mid-second. Like, I know his offense isn't great, but, I mean, you look at his J20 scoring record he's pointed a little bit.

He's a good skater. He's physical. And I think when people think about what Carolina likes to draft, they think small skill. And I think they would argue that we only take small skill because all the big guys that we like that could play a little bit are gone. I'm sure they were looking at their draft board

and thinking, oh, hey, there's one of them that's still left here. Like, let's go get them. And they've actually drafted, you know, big defensemen. They drafted Scott Morrill. They drafted Dominic Badinka, high second and now Hawkinson. So they're willing to roll the dice on big mobile defenseman at the right spot.

And I think this is a guy that, you know, world junior defensemen for team Sweden as a draft eligible, played SHL, played out of Spenskin. Like his hockey sense is an issue. There's no, but I think there's still a lot of traits there that project well into the NHL that could make him a four, five, six NHL defenseman. Yeah. At number 23, it's the Tampa Bay Lightning. And we talked earlier about Sam O'Reilly.

I think he's the guy we have to start with, though, again here because the Tampa Bay lightning are a team that has. stayed strong through having young players come up and be good players. But it's been a while since they had one really hit. Can Samuel Riley be that player? I think he's looking like that right now. And I wonder if he plays right away, quite frankly, or if he takes one more year in the American League,

they use Giki as the next guy out. They already have a pretty deep forward line of it. It's not even a guarantee that Giki can break through this season. But Giki was also really good in the American League last year, one of the better young forwards in the American League. So they've got two really good options coming. But O'Reilly is kind of the more well-rounded player, the better skater, better competitor. Offense isn't quite a geeky's level, but it's still pretty good.

I mean, you look at how we pointed in the OHL this year of the playoffs. He's one of Canada's best players of the world juniors. There's a lot in this player to like. And, like, I think he, whether it's this season or the next year or after, I think he's going to be in the NHL quite soon. So you would have him, would he be clearly above geeky then for you? No, not clearly above him. And definitely not this year because geeky's a couple years older. Sure.

And also played very well against men last year in the American League. It's just the skating differential. So, like, if you need a score, it's geeky. If you're looking more of a bottom six guy who can play heel penalties, chip in 20 points, like that's probably O'Reilly this season. Like the last wave of young centers that Tampa Bay had come up and it propelled them to two Stanley Cups was Brayden Point and Anthony Sirelli. I'm not going to compare them to those guys. But those guys are still in their prime here.

in the next two or three years, do you see this as a down the middle of point, Sorrelli, O'Reilly, Geeky, and some combination, or do you flex somebody to the wing? I could see Geeky get pushed to the wing. I also do wonder if one of those two was used as trade bait here at some point.

You know, it kind of feel, I've always kind of felt like them in Detroit are the perfect trade partners when it comes to Larkin, other than the fact that they play the same division. I feel like, you know, they're both, they have two premium young set of prospects Detroit, you know, would probably ideally like to get one of those in a larkin deal.

If that feels like something that would make sense, but in the case where it doesn't, I feel like O'Reilly probably makes the most sense as a true center in the NHL. And geeky, while he's a very good center, I think you could prefer his, you can use his skill on the wing a little bit better. All right. Wraping up the bottom ten here with the New Jersey Devils, this is a team that's in an interesting spot. New general manager and Sunny Mehta.

They're a team that probably underachieve the last two or three years, at least for what they had on the roster. But that's kind of a separate conversation. Today, we're mostly talking about their top prospects, and that starts with Anton Selyev. Yeah, and Selyev had a really tough year. Torpedo changed coaches. They didn't, you know, it wasn't Igor Larianov, who was Selyev's coach when he was drafted and playing big minutes. The new coach didn't really like him that much, didn't play him a whole lot. He only got a couple of points this season. So there's some concern there for sure. I still think you look at a guy who can skate the way. he can for a guy who's 6-6-6-7 who's still really physical.

And the offense definitely doesn't look anywhere near as impressive as I thought it did two years ago, where you're talking about this guy and teams are talking about this guy's potential top-five pick in that in his draft, 2012-draft class. But I still think he's going to be a top-four defenseman. Like I think you look at, you know, at the worst, he's Kevin Ball, you know, Jamie Alexiac. Like, I mean, I think he could be better than those type of players. is like he still can make a first pass. Like there's a lot there to like.

And I still think he's going to be a good NHL defense, but he might need a full year in the American League to actually get some minutes here, kind of like how Sivishev didn't play with locomotive much his two years. And he goes down in the American League. He plays real minutes now. He's probably going to make Utah next season. Like I could see Salaiev need a full year in the American League, but I still think he's going to be a good player.

I go back and look at that year's defense class, and it was so hyped. and there was so much excitement around it. I don't know if any of them, maybe Sam Dickinson, maybe Zeev Bouillon, have, like, kind of risen to that two years later. Like, when you talk about Lepshanov is a guy who's kind of dipped, Selyev's kind of dipped, Yacomchuk's kind of dipped. Even Dickinson didn't have a great year in the NHL,

which is just okay. Boyam didn't have a great year in the NHL. I think he's probably the best name of the bunch, but it's not with, like, enthusiasm. That draft class, you're talking about, you know, Demadov and Seneca really as the guys who have really hit early on from that draft class. Yeah, absolutely. Alexander Command is their latest first-round draft pick.

I think this is an important one for them when we talk about the devils. I feel like the identity is really set by Jack Hughes. He's not their only good player, Esper Brad, Nico Heeshire, Luke Hughes. But Alexander Command, I think, is the kind of player who gives a spine to your lineup. And he's not going to get there right away. He might not get there for two years, maybe three years. But I do think it's an important flavor to add to this system. I agree.

I think you look at how he played on Sweden's national team where he was playing with these two really, really talented wingers in Elton Hermanson and Marcus Nordmark, both of who were first round picks as well this year. And he kind of was able to help them succeed by scoring. He scored. He has offense, but he was more the guy who was really physical, who won a lot of battles, who was a great four checker. And I could see New Jersey taking this guy with the vision that, like,

we have a lot of skill throughout our lineup at four. and on defense, but we need some guys here who can really supplement the skill and play a different type of role. And I could see Command being that kind of player for them down the line. This could be me maybe sticking to kind of the draft day bias on Salev and staying anchored to that. But one of the placements, and they're back to back, but one of the placements I was most surprised by on this list is New Jersey at 22, but then L.A. at 21.

Their top two prospects, Elton Hermanson and Adam Goli, are a good. good players, but I look at those top two, and we know how the top prospect in a system on these lists tends to kind of be the driving factor of where they're ranked. Why is L.A. at 21 ahead of New Jersey? Yeah, I mean, it's really close, obviously. Especially, you know, once you start getting higher in the rankings, the distinctions become a little bit more notable. At this point of the rankings, you can really go either way. You know, I see New Jersey with 10 legit NHL prospects. I saw, sorry, New Jersey has 8, and L.A.'s got 10, two who I really like in Hermanson and Goliur. They're other who were just drafted, and New Jersey's got Salaia in command.

So in that way, it's close. I think L.A.'s got a little bit more depth. I really liked their past draft. They were one of the only teams. I think they might have been the only team, I think, that got one of the B grades or higher that were not with a top 10 pick. You know, I really liked, you know, where they got Thomas Vandenberg, Liam Lefebvrege, George Lenthalis, Alex Costov is one of my favorite reentry

prospects, you know, Volichik Chihar was one of the best players of the world juniors. You know, it's a deeper system than you would think given their draft capital. They're an interesting spot, though, because they're kind of a, they see Copa Targo out, Panarin comes in, they still kind of lean pretty heavily on Drew Dowdy. It's not like they don't have guys coming. Like the Brandt-Clark-Quitton-byfield era is upon us, and Adrian Kempi is a really good player. I just look at their system, too, and I wonder, like, is this, are they in for a kind of

a refresh of the top here. And I'm sure they'll keep trying to make the playoffs and everything. And in the West, they might. But I think they might need a replenishment of some impact guys. I tend to agree with you. When we get to Pittsburgh, I think they're at a better spot than LA, but I think that they're going to have a similar conversation where, you know, you just don't want to tread water, right? You don't want to be an average team with an average farm system because then it's like, what's the direction here. And I think LA's got a good farm system for what they've been drafting with. And yeah, they've got some decent young players in the NHL.

But it's not quite clear. I think it's, you do have a path to being a wildcard team? I don't know if I see a clear path for them to win a Stanley Cup right now. At number 20, Corey, it's the Boston Bruins. And I think this system, it's defined by James Hagan. So we talk about it, you know, the top prospect in these systems often has a heavy weighting on where these systems land. So let's start with James Higgins.

He's certainly under the biggest microscope of any Bruins prospect. I might throw that right back at you, Max, and I ask you, what do you think of Hagan's actually? Because, I mean, you've probably watched him a lot the last two years. And I asked that because I'm pretty conflicted on the player. Like, I think for, I think he's a really good player, just considering, like, what Scott and Chris think of him. Like, I don't know if I can get to, like, this premium, premium, like, top flight,

at least center prospect. He might be a top flight winger prospect, but I don't know if he's a top flight center prospect. Well, I think to your point, when we talked about him leading up to his draft year, and obviously at one point he was considered the favorite to go number one in the class, and that didn't happen. But I remember talking about him kind of along the lines of Logan Cooley, and that's kind of always been my bar for him, and he hasn't reached that bar.

I don't think that's blasphemous to say, right? Especially when you look at what Logan Cooley did as a college freshman, like James Hagan still isn't there, you know, two years into his college career. So maybe an unfair bar to judge him against, but I also think that is the way we've kind of talked about him. I think that's the way Boston fans want him to develop. And so there is offense there. I just don't know that it's quite the same level of high-flying control the game offense.

I do think he has a little more at the net offense than maybe I always gave him credit for. But I agree with that. Yeah, like I think he's probably more of like a kind of a true second-line player here. I don't know. I mean, maybe it's first-line wing, like you said. You know, we always get these dangerous conversations about an expert point. and we use that for Cooley and then I think we use

you know then Berkeley Catton comes along and it's kind of the same play style than Hagen's and it kind of feels like Hagen's and Catton are in a group and that Cooley's in a much different group right now and so I kind of feel like yeah both Catton and Hagen's are both very good players

I think they can be scoring forwards in the NHL great great skaters like Cooley I don't know if the brain and they compete however are quite at the same level as what Cooley has shown at the at the NHL level. How does that change the picture then for Boston? Because we know they need a top center.

And I think the hope is certainly that Hagen's is going to be that. I don't, yeah, I mean, he could be. He didn't play center this year in college. Like, it's, and I think he could be an NHL center still, just because the skating is so good. And I do think he's shown more effort than I saw in his draft years, more similar to what he showed as a junior. And then they have these other centers here.

They have a lot of, like, they have a lot of good center projects. I think their top, whatever, I think their top four prospects are all centers. It's him, and Dan's Lachmelis, it's Dean Latterno, it's Fraser Minton and Matt Poitra.

I think that their top five prospects are all centers. You think one of them is going to hit and become a legit center. I just don't know if any of them I think is truly a top flight center in the H. It's not that I doubt that one of them is going to be a center. Are they going to be able to center

the top line on a good team? I think the whole, I think, well, the tools, as Laterno. Like if he, like he's a tough one

because I think kind of similar to the Trevor Connolly the conversation we had in the previous segment. If you just zero in on this season, he was really impressive

and he looks like he could be like a legit middle six center in the NHL. Do you just throw out the season before where he looked like he couldn't play?

That's the tough balancing act there, right? Because you do wonder if there's going to be similar issues when he goes up levels and goes to the

the pro game, is he going to have more struggles again like he did as a freshman in college, or is he just this monster who can skate and he can make a play? And he's not elite offensively, but it's good enough. He can play both ways. Like, maybe he is that. And if he is, that's a middle six center all day. Well, the name Boston fans are going to want to hear is, like, how is he different from Tage Thompson?

I think Thompson's more dynamic with the puck. Like, that's just, and just from what I saw in the same age, like, Thompson's skill stood out. And I think the difference is, I think Thompson's consistency was more of an issue effort-wise. I don't think Letters' effort is as much of an issue. I think the question with him is just exactly how much skill, how much hockey sense he's going to have at the NHL level. Yeah. The other name in Boston, and you mentioned him already, is Fraser Minton. And he had a really strong season this year for the Bruins.

I don't know that based on the tier you have him in, though, that you necessarily are as bullish on him. I think long term he's probably closer to what he is than I think a guy who projects higher Like when you watch him this is not the tools he has player He's not a great skater He's not like this high high end skill type I think he's just really smart really competitive very steady Like I think he's a bottom six center in the NHL and a good team Which I know is not what people probably think of him right now But that I just don't see the like the tools there the long term that get you like really excited

and I know like Broan's fans will get upset about that, but that was what happened with Poitra, right? When he came up a couple years ago, it's like when you're not a great skater and you're not like super athletic, like eventually things catch up to you a little bit. I think just when Minton levels out here, you know, he didn't crack the Leafs lineup initially

and then he comes to Boston and he plays right away and he looks really good. But I think like long term, he's like kind of like a three-four center, I think. The team that I think, this is the team at number 19, the Washington Capitals, They are one of the most interesting kind of retools that I've seen in recent memory because it looked like this was a cliff. You lose Baxter.

Alex Ovechkin's approaching 40. This is talking a couple years ago. And it looks like it's kind of headed downhill. They pick Ryan Leonard at number eight. And that looks like the first pick of a rebuild. Instead, they've really managed to do this on the fly, Corey. Like they're a good team again. Did they win the president's trophy or they were second for the president's trophy?

They certainly were like the best team in the east, I think, a couple years ago. And then this offseason. they get right back at it and they make the big trade for Jordan Cairo. And they are once again one of the more interesting now teams in the league. And they also have a pretty strong collection of young players. Some of them have already reached the NHL like Leonard, Ilya Proto just got there. Cole Hulson just got there. Now they draft Oliver Suvanto.

This is all the sudden like a really interesting blend of old and new in Washington. Yeah. And this week I'm going to publish an article showing the top 100, U23 players in prospects drafted outside the first round. Washington's got two of the top five there in Cole Hudson and Ilya Proto. They've done a really good job there of, you know, the first round picks they've made have been fine. Like, you know, I think Leonard's probably, you know, he's a great player, but he's probably,

you know, going into a redraft right around where he was picked. Miros Echchenko's been okay. You know, Lyndon Lackovic had a good year. He hasn't been, you know, a great year. Terrick Parishchechek's been fine as a junior. you know, but it's really been the picked outside the first round that's gotten you really excited. And particularly Cole Hudson. Like Cole Hudson to me looks, I know we, in case people didn't know, we've talked about Lane Hudson a couple of times on this show.

Like, I don't think Cole Hudson is far off lane. And I'm not sure how controversial a statement that is, but like, I don't know. I've, I've watched those two play so much over the last five, six years. And I don't know. And I know like some people, when they talk about cold, they, well, they slow down. he's not quite late. I'm like, I don't know, man. Like, they all, they play the same way with the, with the shimmy shakes and the deception

and the elite brain and the competitiveness. And, like, he looks like, and like, you saw what he did the end of the year when he came up. What do you have, like 10 points in like 12 games, something like that? It was. He was excellent. Yeah, he looked really good right away. And I don't know, he, I had one scout texted me this towards the end of the year. He's like, you know, we were talking about.

like, you know, is he going to be this long term? And he's like, I've stopped questioning this family already kind of thing. Like, there might just be something in the water. And like, I think that despite the fact that they, like Lane, he's not an elite elite skater for a small guy, like the brain might just be that special. The thing I think is interesting, too, about Washington is sometimes we talk about NHL teams kind of having a type in the draft. Like, this is who they kind of draft.

I don't know that you could pin a type on the Washington Capitals at this point. Like, yeah, you draft your small, skilled defensemen. and Cole Hudson, they've used high picks on Terrick Parishak and Andrew Christal, these very kind of small skill winger creative types. Then they also have drafted the protises. And the protuses, I think, are a absolute weapon to have. Like, they're playoff-built players, and they've both overachieved. And I think, I'llia, to your point, like, what a find in this guy.

Is this third-round pick, I believe? Yeah. And really interesting third-round pick. I'm not sure if you go like hockey DB him. he did not have a productive draft season. Like the first half of his draft season in the USHL, he could barely play. And then the second half,

he was a little bit more productive, he was playing better, but he still was like, like three quarters of point per game, half point per game in the USHL in his draft year. And I think, like, and Washington was like big, big believers. I heard they had him like super high on their list.

So full credit to them. And like he goes to the OHL the year after. He's one of the very best players of the OHL. He doesn't quite play like Alexei. I think he's not quite as hard. as him, but I think he might have more offense than him. Either way, I mean, I think that you combine the two of them, it's a really valuable thing. We should talk about Ryan Leonard before we move on here because he's a player we've talked

about a lot for his entire career here. Offense hasn't exploded yet, but I think he's still become an important part of their lineup. I'm very curious to see where in this lineup he fits now, because we talked about Ed and Jordan Kairu. They also signed Alex Tuck. Ovechkin is back. There's a huge surplus of winger's here that's going to have to get sorted through.

Where do you see Ryan Leonard kind of fitting? into all this and where does he stand right now. And I also do wonder what they do with Ivan Mirosanco, who needs to go through waivers this season. Like that's going to be a pretty, and he's not a premier prospect, but he's a good prospect. He's been, you know, he's talented, he's physical. He's scored in the American League. Like I think they've got to figure out what to do with him now, too.

Leonard, like I said, really good player. You love the skill. You love the hardness. You love the pace. You know, he's not a guy who sees the game at a really high level. I don't think you're ever expecting premier point. from this guy, but I still think like he's a really, really

viable top six wing long term. And maybe not this season, depending on how they deploy their wingers, but I still, I mean, it's good to have too many good players. And, you know, maybe Protis is a center that kind of makes us all work out.

But I still think you're really excited about Leonard. All right. Number 18, it's the New York Rangers. This system's gotten a huge refresh in the last year or so. They got a true top prospect now in Albert Smith's from this class. They pick up Colbo Dwan in the Vincent Trocheck deal that gives them another guy who projects as kind of that checking center in the future.

You got Liam Green Tree for Artemie Panarin. We went through the Gabe Perot stuff last episode. But I did have a question. Is Liam Green Tree above Gabe Perot for you? I know we talked about some reservations on Perrault, but I'm sure it's close, but he's listed here above him. Yeah, it is close. I just think, I mean, Perot definitely has more skill.

and, you know, a smarter player about Green Tree, and he's a guy who can play both special teams and I don't know if he's going to be a penalty kid in the NHL, like he wasn't junior, but I just think there's a lot there to like.

He's a very projectable top nine wing. You know, Perot, I have reservations. This is not a surprise. We went through this, you know, the song and dance. We had the episode with Scott and Chris the other week. Oh, he reminds me like less of, what you think of like what perfetti's become or you know the higher end guys of of that nature

you know it reminds me more of like joshua and mitchelli and bobby brink and ardy caliave like like that type of profile that scares me like when you're that size you're not elite skater he's got to have off the charts offense and i haven't quite seen that i think i've seen really good offense i haven't seen the off the charts offense to make me think that he's a the long-term solution there. And I realize that's controversial. I realize Rangers fans are not going to like that. And time will tell whether I'm wrong,

but that's kind of, I would rather bet on a guy like a Rain Tree who has more, you know, clear NHL traits. The name that I did not expect to be as high on your Ranger list as he is is Nathan Aspinall, the 6'7 forward from the Flint Firebird. This guy was a fifth round pick two years ago.

What's he done to move himself up? I think he's in your middle of the lineup player tier, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, he was one of the very best players in the OHL last season. I think he was a first team all-star. Skating has really come along for a guy his size. Like he moves pretty like a 6-7 guy, how you want him to move in the NHL. Like there's some quickness. There's some, he can get by players.

He's got good skill. I don't think it's elite skill, but it's pretty good skill. He's reasonably competitive. Like, he's an exciting athlete. Like we just mentioned about Leturno, the previous team. Like, I don't think there's that big difference between those two players, quite frankly. And one's a first round pick, once a fifth round pick. Yeah, I mean, certainly if you could find players at all, let alone players who make a real impact at that point in the draft, it moves things along a lot quicker.

And that could be valuable in New York. One more guy there I wanted to check in on is E.J. Emery. And this was a guy who at one point, we were talking about, you know, first round pick. And, you know, where is he stand today? the offense has been a real concern in college like it's actually kind of funny i went to i you know i went out to watch uh north dakota play versus the series against minnesota early in the year and i think he got two goals in that game and all the no guy guys were like joking with me that uh i turned emory into an offensive dynamo but you know but you look at

his track record like obviously he's he struggled to point at the college level the skating is good, if not really good. And I still think, like, he's got, like, a path to become an NHL defenseman, maybe more of a third pair of HL defenseman, because the issue with him is, like, what does he do other than he skates really well? He's not really a puck mover. He's not really physical. Like, there's a kind of a lack of, like, what's the role here for me?

Those guys do play, though, like, that athletic trick and that skating, those guys play. It's just a matter of how high, how high in a lineup. All right. And, yeah, how valuable it is. Yes. Number 17, the Vancouver Canucks. We know this is a long-haul rebuild for Vancouver, but they've already restocked the system quite a bit. I mean, Caleb Malhotra this year, obviously in the trade for Quinn Hughes, they get Zeebuev,

they get Liam Ogren. They also draft Brooks Ruggowski this year. They already had Tom Villander. They draft Adam Novotny. All those names, Corey, though, above last year's first round pick, Braden Coots. I was not expecting to see Coots as low down this list as he is. Is that more of a credit to how good those other names are, or did something... It's a combo.

Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a combo. I think Coots looked much better when he was traded Prince Albert but I didn't love his first half didn't like his world juniors I think he's competitive I think he's like you know

he's got some fightsiness in his game he's got skill he can skate I do water as like a 511 6-0 center like who's not dynamic offensively like is that just not like a bottom I had a scout compared to me to Jake Evans and I like that comp a lot like you know like how exciting is Jake Evans

it's a comp for you I think he's a really good player but yeah it's a 3C yeah yeah and That's kind of what I kind of think, three, four C on a good team. Like, that's kind of what I kind of see Coot says. Here's a question for you, Max.

Yep. When would you realistically, and you've, I'm saying this because you've gone through the turmoils of a rebuilt. Yep. When would be a realistic timeframe for Vancouver to be contenders again? Like contending for a Stanley Cup or to like be in the playoff, Max? Contending and standing for the Stanley Cup. more than five years from now.

I was going to say 10 years, yeah. I mean, 10, like, we'll see. It depends a lot on what happens between now and then. Like, the picks you make, how high are you picking? Are you making any free agent ads? I think Vancouver tends to be a market that can still draw people in free agency. Like, my first instinct is like seven or eight, but it's like five is the, you're not, it's not happening in the next five.

I think seven to 10 makes sense. And I know some Vancouver fans are going to hear that. and their eyes are going to start twitching a little bit. But it's the fact that you're starting with a really bad roster and a farm system that's good. It's not great, though. A lot of these guys are years away from helping your team. Despite how much we like Zev Boyum,

like there's a chance that Zeev Boyam is the guy who gets you the next guy, as opposed to being the guy who is on the next Stanley Cup contender. Yeah, I mean, you look at where the Red Wings are right now. I think they're kind of the model for how things can go wrong. So I try to be careful that's like not everyone's going to follow that path. Some are going to be more along the lines of Montreal. But we've seen it in Detroit. We've seen it in Buffalo.

Sometimes the guy you think you're building around, Jack Eichol, Dylan Larkin, doesn't see the end of it. Well, Buffalo started with what Raspers-Ristelan and Sam Reinhart and Sam Reinhardt and Eichael. And then you can go back to Griggenko and Zadarov and Semkis Gurgens and all those. those high picks. And then obviously, Detroit, you can go back to Rasmussen as Adina,

you know, Lark and Manta, Svetchnikov, Chalowski, like all those guys. I mean, there's a lot of misses in there. And that's part of the reason.

Chicago, you can go back to Doc and Bokevist at the top of their rebuilt. It's still ongoing. Like, yeah, like if Malhotra is,

you know, an elite, elite NHL player, it changes things. I think Caleb Malhotra's 18 today. Like, if you told me that Vancouver hasn't played a playoff game before he's 25, I wouldn't be floored, but I think they should.

I think they should play a playoff game by the time he's 25 or 26. And that opens. Playoff game. Yeah, yeah. I didn't mean the consent for a playoff spot because I think you're right. I think Vancouver's an attractive market. They'll get free agents. People want to go play there at some point.

It's just more like, you look at the system. And Malhotra is a really good player. Is he the foundation of a contender? you know, like that, I need to see. Now, he's interesting because he took some really positive steps in the second half of the season, especially into the playoffs. If he goes into BU next year and he just picks up where he left off and he's ripping up college hockey and he's like a Hopi Baker candidate right out of the gate. Then I think we changed that. Instead of seven to ten, you're talking about five to seven, I think.

Yeah. Because now you're like, okay, now you've got one of those real pieces to work. work with. Yeah, as a stand right now, I don't, I think we're thinking more second line center. The other guy I wanted to ask you about Vancouver's Tom Villander, because this is one of the prospects, and you know this from having done this as long as you have. Sometimes there's a guy that you just, you're sure about. And I was sure about Tom Vlander was going to be a stud.

I still like him. I think he's a good player. I mean, the way he skates, like, I still think he's going to play. Is he going to be like, does he lead NHL the fedsman? But I still think he plays a long time, though. I think he plays a long time, too. And I'm not giving up on him, to be clear. I'm just saying, like, I wanted a gut check.

Because every time I've seen this guy, I'm like, this is a 20-minute-in-night NHL defense. And with the compete and skating. He will. He will be that. Yeah, I think he's going to be that. All right. Move on to Pittsburgh at number 16. Pittsburgh, like you said, they're in an interesting situation here.

They're balancing the end of the Crosby-Malkan era, which continues. They've also got more of an infusion now. Ben Kindle was one of the stories of the season in the NBA. They got a solid prospect group of Will Horcough, Harrison Brunachie, Bill Zahn, and now the Ruck Twins. But you've got Rucker McGrady as their top-ranked prospect here for the Penguins. Why? I mean, I think there's a lot there to like about his game. I think you love his hockey sense.

I think you love his competitiveness, the way he plays in the inside. You love, you know, he's got decent size, played really, really well in the American League this season. And, yeah, Kinda was in the NHL, and I could easily see the argument to get Kindle over McRorty. He plays center. I just think the unique role that McRourty can play as like there's really hard to play ying's winger who can point at a really high level

I think is really enticing and I also don't know if Kindle's pure, pure offense is elite for a 510 guy but those are the two top guys for me the clear top two guys but I think McGority deserves to be in that conversation. We talked about a little bit when we talk, I think when we talked about L.A. or one of the previous

teams. But when I look at the Pittsburgh system, the penguins have a lot of good players who project to be supporting cast pieces on a good team in the future, right? But I do wonder, like, as long as they have Sidney Crosby there, how much tougher does it get to find the impact piece? And is there kind of a window in which they have to find kind of the headliners of the rebuild here? Or can they just kind of keep playing it out like this? You probably saw more of them than I did this past season, just given, I don't think their underlying numbers. Their underline numbers were good. They weren't amazing. Like, are you a believer still in this team going into next year?

Do you still think they're a 100 plus point team that they're like a legit top team in the east or do they come back down to earth a little bit? Well, I slagged them so much last off season that I'm like very cautious in how I look at them, right? Because I was so sure this was a bottom five team last year and then they just weren't. And some of that owes to maybe underrating just how much Sidney Crosby counts for. But some of it is like, Kyle Dube has found a bunch of underrated fond. And I am not going to say that he can't do that again.

I just question if that's for the best for the penguins, right? Because I do view them as like a wild card contender, right? Like I think you're looking for the seven or eight, especially now that Washington's risen up. I think New Jersey is in a better situation. There's no directive there, though, to rebuild. Like as long as Krazy is there, I don't think he's going to stomach the bottom out. Like that's. Yeah.

So, but then where that leaves me is like then they're picking somewhere most likely between 10 and 20. And I don't know if they can find the pieces that, like, they're going to still just be ranked 16th for a long time if they don't pick top 10. Is that no? Yeah. I mean, I agree with where you're going with this. I think there is a path to being playoff teams for the next few years while Crawford

and Malkin are still around. I think if you're looking over the next five to 10 years, is there a clear path for them to win another Stanley Cup? No. No. I think once Crosby does eventually retire, I think things could get pretty bleak there. Pretty similar to what's going on in Vancouver. I think Vancouver has a similar system in terms of strength. They don't have Crosby. But once Crosby leaves, it's pretty much the same situation. Yeah. And I guess I don't know what my point is. I'm not saying they should trade Crosby necessarily or anything like that. But it's just that I look at it and like, yeah, you're getting all these good role players. And they're going to be. 25 by the time that you actually get the draft picks, the draft the impact guys. And then are they going to be,

is Ben Kendall going to be 26 by the time your future kind of number one players in the organization? I think from their perspective, they're hoping Kindle continues to develop and the Ruck Twins really hit. And all these things go really well. And that when it's time to actually throw in the towel and rebuild, that the rest of the league values these guys so much that you can get some really premium futures and turn them into the next, to a quicker rebuild, essentially.

That's the dream. Does it actually happen? We'll see, because even like the Ruck Twins are no sure things. And I have to say, like, Kyle Dubus, I think, has established himself as one of the best executives in the NHL. Like, I'm so impressed with what they did last year. So that's why, like, I'm hesitant to, as I cast this doubt, like, I do it with the caveat that, like, Dubus has already, you know, exceeded my expectations of what he's been able

to do to this point. So he may well be able to keep doing it. Number 15 is Detroit. And we've talked about a lot of these guys on the show for years. There's a lot of guys and kind of Detroit's profile on the show for many years. There's a lot of guys that you have projected to play middle of the lineup roles. Good players. Michael Brancic-Neegard, Nate Danielson, Carter Bear.

There's still not a true kind of top guy. And especially as you get higher on this list, you need a true top guy. My question, as they now need a new general manager, the Dylan Larkin situation looms, do they need to kind of take a step back into the darkness here, as painful as it might? be to find that top guy. Probably, because I think, especially if they lose Larkin and let's presume they don't get a premium young center back, because the chances are that's not going to happen.

It's going to be one of those. You're going to get one like B plus asset or a couple or a handful of B assets. Typically, that's what happens in these type of deals. You don't usually get the A plus asset back for the top player. That's a little bit older. Maybe you get a couple, you know, pretty good young players, whatever. But, you know, presumably they don't. Then, yeah, you need centers.

You need more depth. You need guys who can score. And I look at this team, and I still think Danielson's going to be a good NHL center. I think Marco Casper is going to be a good player for them for a long time. I think J.P. Herbert can be a scoring winger for them. I think Branson Negaard can be a scoring winger for them. I think Carter Bear, Emmett Finney.

These are all, like, really competitive types. They have a lot of really nice prospects. It's something we've talked about with, like, you know, in the, because the aftermath of Steve Eisenman stepping down, if you look at his draft record, it's not bad. Nope. Like, it's not, it's not great. It's not the reason, though, that things haven't got,

have gone poorly here, though. Like, I think he's drafted, I think he's drafted perfectly average to slightly above average for the draft slots he's been given. I think, I think average to slightly above average is right. The issue is they pinned everything on it, right? Like, they didn't make, besides Alex DeBring it, they didn't make these big trades that we've seen propel the Florida's, the vaguses and the Carolinas, everything was about the drafting.

And when everything is about the drafting, it really can't just be your first round pick that hits par, right? Like, you overachieve with cider. I think you hit at least par, I would say you still overachieve with Raymond when you have an 80 point player. I don't think you can ever put that in the bank. But then really besides that, like Edvenson is like par, I think at six, which is still a really good player, a top pair of defenseman.

And then it's Emmett Finney and the seventh. Everything else is pretty much, yep, that's what you should get at that spot. and I think you need to have those fines, those protuses, those Hudson's, those Kucharovs, those Sorrellys to go further. And I think that's what did them in ultimately on the drafting front. So like average to above average, I think is a good word. But I look at what they have now and I see all these guys who are like 18 to 24, Ciders just turned 25.

And I think if they took a step back and they picked top five once in the next two years and got a number one center, I'd actually really like how they're positioned. Which they only did once, I drew. I assume. Yes, right. They picked a lot. They picked six a couple times and they picked fourth once. But yeah, you're right. If they could pick five or even six again, right? Like, I think if you got a center in the top six, I would actually really like how they're positioned. Yep. It's just, you know, you know, I think it's difficult. But I agree with you. I think it may not even be one or two years. It could be much more to be perfectly honest, but you look at just how tough the

East is right now, how tough the Atlantic is right now. Like that, I think the only way to get to the top of this division is to go to the bottom, unfortunately. And I think they might already kind of be there, whether they like it or not. I do think they'll get a little more for Larkin than you think when you talk about the B assets. Like maybe we're splitting hairs on what we call A or B, but I think they're going to get at least one, if not multiple first round pick assets and that are like Pips. And then also I think they'll get a really good prospect, whether that's a year of or O'Reilly or something like that.

I meant that by a B asset. I didn't mean like you're not getting like a top, like you're not getting like. And top. You're not going to Seattle and getting cheap to read from the Marcel and Laibeck kind of thing. Understood. Understood. Something like that. Yeah, I get that.

All right. Let's move on to number 14, Buffalo, a team that Detroit is basically now has to look up to, the team that everyone didn't want to be the Buffalo Sabres. Well, now the Red Wings are them, and they're looking to do what Buffalo did, which is break out of this. A lot of the volume of Buffalo's system has progressed into the NHL. You got Daxon Rudolph in the top five this year. I want to talk about the other right-shot defensemen in their system first,

though, redeem Merca, one year. after his draft. Where do you think he stand there? He had a tough year. I think he had like one or two goals this past year. You know, he struggled in the Western League for what we expected him after how good he was in the Western League in his draft year. I still think you like him. You like the size. You like the skating. There's first past offense. Like he can make a lot of stops. You know, I could see him be like a forward defenseman in the NHL, which I think when you look at Buffalo's blue line with power, with Daline, with Samuelson. You don't need much more than that, quite frankly, especially

not with Rudolph in the mix too. But he didn't have a great season. The other thing with the forwards is you have Yuri Kulik and he had a tough health here, obviously. You have him ahead of Oseland, Heleneas, Benson, all these guys that were really good for them, I thought in the playoffs this past year. And I get the profile. They're all kind of on the smaller side, but they all compete quite well. Are you that high?

Are you that high? Yeah. Yeah, I think he competes really well. I think he skates well. He can score. He's a center who plays both ways. It's just a really exciting group of young players and you really could put those forwards for me in any order

like if Buffalo fans are offended or they have medical information that I don't have access to you that says like there's going to be some problems here long term that you want to put them, you want to flip those guys? Yeah like Ocelain, Heleneas, they all compete really well. Benson's the one that they'll be like, what the heck because Benson was awesome in those playoffs. He was awesome.

Like he was outstanding. For me, it's just the similar arguments with like Perot to some extent, but it's just more like what is this long term when you're not an elite skater and you're 5-9? The difference between Benson and Perrault is Benson is a dog. And I think Perrault competes hard, but Benson is just, you know, he's just such a tenacious competitor. But I think of, like, you think of what Carolina just won with with Stancovid and Blake.

Those guys both compete really well, particularly Stancovin. And they also skates really, really well. I do wonder with Benson if the feet hold him back from ever being like a true elite offensive player over the course of 82 games consistently. But and that's why I prefer the centers. I prefer the D-Men there. That's just the way I always prefer players. But listen, I understand it's going to rub some people the wrong way. I still think Benz is a good player.

You want to get ahead of those guys feel free too. I don't think it's unraiserable. It's just not the way I would put a list together. You'll push back with the same note on the skating here. But, like, I don't think Benson's that far off of Seth Jarvis and how I would look at them. I know Jarvis is a better skater. But a significantly better skater for me. And I think, yeah.

So that's the difference there for me. But I understand where you're getting at there. Like, um, but yeah, that's, I mean, that's, they both went around the same part of their drafts, too, for what it's worth. Yeah, they did. Um, the one last thing, we should just circle back on Rudolph because it was one of the surprise moments of the first round. It was probably certainly the surprise moment of the top 10, I thought, uh, as you've kind of had a month to digest it.

Like, what do you make of the Rudolph pick with a month of hindsight? If you believe in the compete and the defending, like if you think it could be good or good enough in the NHL that I support it, I, I, his, his inconsistency for me at times, especially at the big events rubbed me. the wrong way a little bit. But in terms of skill, hockey sense, size, skating, like, he has all the tools to be an impactful player at the next level. All right.

For what it's worth, I'd probably have Buffalo fringe top 10, maybe top 10 here. So that's a disagreement for us. But I certainly think I would have them above Columbus. And I do get, I think I get your driving reason here is Adam Fantilli at the top. Adam Fantilly is the best prospect on either of those two teams, young player on either of those two teams, he's still on a huge trajectory. Surrounding him, you know, you got Denton Matechuk, another good young NHL player, Jackson Smith, Oscar Hemming.

Is this, is the gap here? Like, are you more sure on Caden Lindstrom than I am? Like, where do you see Columbus ahead of Buffalo there? Yeah. Caden Lindstrom, obviously, is one of the toughest evaluations in the entire NHL because he missed the, you know, basically two years with the back injury. If he comes back, plays a full year this year, just a disaster season for him at Michigan State.

he could, you know, bottom six four for them, barely scored. And yet I still haven't projected as a middle six four to the NHL. You know, and why would some say that is? It's because I still see a premium athlete. I still see a huge guy who is a tremendous skater for his size, who is very physical. And I still think, like, you got to put some context around everything that's happened with him. is how much hockey he's missed and I still think there's a little bit more

I'm not saying I've never been a big believer in his hockey sense but I still think there's a little bit more skill there a little bit more offense than what he showed this past season and even if he doesn't bring that much more offense I still think of when you're skate when you're that big that fast that physical someone's going to find ice time for you I don't know if it's going to be in a significant role

maybe it will be I think it could be But that's a distinction there. And then, yes, Fantilli, like, obviously, you know, he's a premier young player in the league. And, you know, maybe he's not been quite what Leo Carlson has been for Anaheim, but he's still been really damn good. And you love how he competes. You love the size. You love the skill. You love the scoring ability.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's, you know, he's a potential number one center still for me. And if not already, a number one center for Columbus. So I just think that piece is just so valuable. And we're going to see that more and more, the higher on the list we go. Players like Fantilli are almost impossible to find. And so I think that's where I say I do get it. Like when you have a piece like that, you don't have to find a piece like that. And that's really valuable.

The other thing I want to say on Lindstrom, he doesn't have to look far for a guy who kind of reclaimed his trajectory. All he has to do is look around his college locker room last year at Charlie Strammel. And Lindstrom starts with a better baseline of tools there. And if he can get back on track the way Charlie Stramel did, he ends up a better player than Charlie Stramel. Yep, I agree that. I think there's some distinctions there, but I think the play style and the issues in the development, like there's definitely some overlap there. Yeah. All right.

We're into the top 12 now, and that's the Toronto Maple Leafs, Corey. Obviously here in large part, like we've discussed, on the strength of their top prospect, number one overall pick, Gavin McKenna. But there's a few other notable names that you really liked from this year's class here, Mons Goodmanson, Patrick's, Plumans, Ethan McKenzie. The Toronto Maple Leafs, for a team that really didn't want to be bottoming out last year, have restocked in a pretty meaningful way. Yeah, they're a team who, I think, six months ago, I had some significant questions on short and long-term trajectory.

Can they build a winner here? Can they build enough to keep Matthews enticed? And now I'm seeing a path here for them to get back to not maybe quite the glory days of when you could define whether they were actually glory days. But being a top team in the league. And I actually can see a path for this to happen. I still think there's a lot of work to do. Like they still had a lot of issues on that roster last year.

We'll see whether all the changes the management team made there lead to different results. But I think the roster looks better. I think the farm system looks dramatically better. Like it looks a lot deeper. You know, I liked a lot of the way they acquired depth and extra picks. and I liked a lot of the picks they made. The system is way deeper than it was a year ago. You know, you still have Easton Cowan there,

who's a really good young player. All those guys they picked in that draft class. You know, I pretty much liked almost every single pick they made, quite frankly. Some of their later round picks from the previous years, like Holinka and Pleschkovich have aged well for me. So, yeah, I think they're not in a tremendous spot. I think there's a lot of work to do in Toronto.

But I think, you know, you look at this organization, right now, and they're in a much better spot than they were six months ago. And obviously, a lot of that due to the lottery luck, but you get them how you can get them. Do you see this for where they go from here? Like, their offseason, I don't think, really told us a clear answer of what is next for Toronto. Because they go out and they get Darren Radish. That tells you, okay, they want to get back in the mix.

But then we've also heard Matthew Nize's name and rumors. Like, do you think this is more of a, okay, you got McKenna, you know, giddy up and go? Or do you think there is a little bit more of a reset afoot here? I think it's McKenna giddy up and go. I think that's, I think they're trying, they have to convince Matthews to resign. Yeah, and that is obviously the defining, uh,

question now going forward in Toronto. Anyone else with the Leafs? Yeah, I think Scott's theory on Nyes was really good is that I think with McKenna in the mix now, I think they, I think they were trying to sell high on Nyes because they think they expect his offense to take a step back next season, uh,

without the power play time. That made a lot of sense to me. Yeah. Um, but I think Nyes is still a really good player and you're very happy to have him. And I think he's going to be a, if they become a playoff team again, I think he's going to be a big part of it. Well, and if you do trade him, it may just be, you trade him and strengthen somewhere else where you may be more needed. Like the blue line. Exactly. Yeah, maybe you're able to kind of find a defenseman, a young defenseman that way, which seems totally plausible.

All right, the Philadelphia Flyers at number 11, Porter Martone, Madovay, Mitchcov. We know those are great offensive wingers. I mean, those are, I think maybe we should check in on, like, where you're at on Mitchcov these days, because it's kind of always a debate. But certainly Martone couldn't have been. any better when he came up late in the year? Yeah, he was just, what a year he had between Michigan State and then in the NHL. His world juniors wasn't quite as good, but I mean, he looks like an all-day top line wing for me. In terms of Mitch Koff, yes, obviously that's been a point of debate here in the last little

while, and he didn't have a good year. And I think, you know, when things were going well for him last year, he pointed to all the things talking about in his draft year, the Sticks elite, the Brains Elite, you know, special score. And when it didn't go well this year, we talked about why that may happen as well in his draft year. We talked about the fact that he's not a good skater, that he is 5-9, that he's not super competitive, that there's going to be a lot of things he does that that's going to piss off a coach. Like, I see people, like, Flyers fans complaining online about like, why don't they play him more? And I'm like, I know why they're not playing him more. It's not a, it's not a

confusing thing. But I still think you look at a guy with his, Ah, he says that's how he lead his brain is, that I still think he finds a way to come a really good top six wing over the course of his career. Is he a special forward? I think he raised a lot of doubts this year of whether he's going to reach that level. I think the question in Philly is even less, though, about are Mitchkoff and Martone good enough? Is there going to be a center that can kind of drive the middle and make everything, open

everything up for them, right? And they have good players that. They have Ziegress. They have Michkov. They have Mertone. But it still comes back to, as any of Luchenko, Jack Berglund,

and Jack Nesbitt got to pop? And I don't know the answer to that. If one of them is going to do it, I think it's Nesbitt. And I don't think, like, his offense is going to be special. But I still think when you're 6-5 and you can score and you're physical,

like, to me, he's like a lesser version of Kouturier. And I know, like, that's not like the most exciting thing to say, but I still think that's a good player. Like, I think he could, like, I would guess one of Bergland. It's like Bergland and Nesbitt to me are very similar to like the stramal Uroff conversation we had with Minnesota.

I think one becomes a two, one becomes a three. I'm not sure which one is going to be which, and they're neither of them are like super exciting offensive players. Like Yorov would be from Minnesota, but I still think they're good players. Yeah, but he hasn't scored at all. Like, I mean, I'm not, you probably have called. I know the stats are not promising. I really thought there was more playmaking there.

I mean, in his draft year, you would see these moments of playmaking. He has playmaking. He can't score. Like, he literally can't score. He can make plays. He just, he gets a lot of, he gets a ton of scoring chances throughout the course of a game. He just doesn't score. Well, can that work when you have the wingers or is as skilled as they have there?

I mean, maybe if he plays next to Martone, that's actually a pretty good combination, Martone the shooter and Lucchenko, the facilitator. Possibly. I don't know if it's like. elite playmaking, though. I think it's just good playmaking. All right, Corey, we are into the top 10, and that is the Nashville Predators at number 10. Wyatt Cullen, David Edstrom, Igor Surin, all good prospects. Also, a lot of names for me to say ahead of a guy that Nashville Predators just took in the top five one year ago.

What is your current projection right now on Brady Martin? Why is he not higher on this list? Yeah, Martin is a very tough evaluation. He was hurt for a lengthy part of the season. shoulder injury. And then when he came back, he was not overly productive, right around a point per game in the OHL for the Sue Greathounds. And while he's never really been known as this prolific offensive type, if you're trying

to put a forward into the highest echelons, you like to see some offense of the highest levels. Now, some might say again, he was injured, a small sample size. But the issue with Martin, as we discussed a lot in his draft season, is he doesn't exactly have this long track record of high-end scoring that you can say, oh, well, he did this in the past, really. You know, the two main times he scored have been international events, the U-18 last spring, his excellent world juniors this past winter.

And then obviously, the other thing you really get excited about by Martin is the unique player type and just how physical he is. but it does, like, you know, he's not huge, despite the fact that he's really physical. Like, he's not an elite skater. He's a good skater, but not an elite skater. So I do, like, there's a lot of, there's some risk factors here.

Whereas, you know, a guy, like, say, Surin, who I think, you know, it was just fantastic this past year in the KHL. He was, I don't know, a really important player for locomotive who went to go win the KHL championship. He's also highly physical, but he scored in the KHL. So I feel like it's hard for me to get Martin over Surin just with that in mind. It's just, I can certainly understand Cullen ahead of him because of the offense. And Surin, I think I get what you're saying there.

Like Edstrom, though, it feels like Martin's floor is kind of the role that Edstrom maybe even is his ceiling. Yeah, maybe I think Edstrom, despite the fact that this production wasn't really high in the American League, he still was like a 20-minute night guy from Milwaukee playing all situations and really good track record. the SHL being an offense guy there when he was a teenager. Six-three, he could skate. He plays both special teams. I don't feel there's risk there. With Martin, I think there's a risk he misses, quite frankly.

Entirely? I lose like a bottom. He might just be like a bottom six guy when it's all said and done. I don't think he is, but like, I mean, the track record of 60 point per game, 18-year-olds becoming prolific NHL players. like that's not a great and again the body of work isn't great either so like i'm not saying i don't think he's going to miss me yeah i'm projecting i'm projecting his middle but i think there's actual risk there whereas i think with some of these other guys i'm not as concerned on on the risk factors i don't

remember what sam bennett did in his draft plus one and obviously sam bennett isn't the same body type as brady martin but there was a lot of sam bennett had 90 points or whatever in his draft season. Like, he was a, he was a high-end O-HL player. I'm just thinking, because I know that was a name. And obviously, Martin's draft year and the World U-18s coincided with that loud, you know, Khan-Smith run from Bennett along the way. I think Sam Bennett's success in a lot of ways did probably help boost Brady Martin up

the draft order, and his NHL career, at least, very slow starting offensive. I think his scoring record is probably closer to Max Jones than it would be to Sam Bennett at the same age. Now, I think he's a center. Jones is a wing. and I think he's got more hockey sense than Jones had. But I think that's what I mean by risk factors. Jones didn't miss, but he didn't quite not miss too. Like, you're not ecstatic with taking him in the first round.

Certainly that's just going to be it. It's a very important development for Nashville to manage and to watch. Like, it's a swing. They pass on Porter Martone for him. But even if you separate that conversation from it, just their path forward, they're going to need Brady Martin to become a top six center or else they're going to be hurting. they need to go find another one somewhere else.

I was just looking at their deaf chart today, looking at their projected centers for this year. And it's tough. It's, uh, like I think Maverick Bork's going to be a top six center for them. And I was like, whoof. Yeah.

Like, he's fine or anything like that. But like it's, it's, um, yeah, they need some of the, they need all three of those guys to hit, quite frankly.

They need Suren, Edstrom and Martin to all, to all play for them. Big job for Chris McFarlane. as he walks into Nashville. Let's go to number nine, the New York Islanders. Corey, the Islanders have locked down their future left side of the blue line, right? They draft Maltigustivson this year.

That's after drafting Matthew Schaefer and Kishon H. And last year, let's start with Schaefer because he's the top prospect in this system. He's obviously a huge reason that they're in the top 10 year. It's a good system, but he's really the bright light at the top of it. My question to you is how bright a light is he? Are we talking like a McLean-Cellabrini, I guess, level impact at the top of the this system outlook i have a hard time getting him all the way to celebrate he because celebrating is a you know an MVP candidate right now he's one of the three to five best young players i've

ever i've ever seen uh but he's he's in the next group for me but i mean obviously that's still a very you know elite group like you're talking about where badard would be where leo carlinson would be like i think he's i think those are the three next players in some order and, you know, he's a legit franchise, number one defenseman, special skating. The offense has been considerably better than I thought it was going to be a year ago. Still thought there'd be a lot of offense, but I didn't think he'd be like this much offense, this much playmaking in his game right away to go with, you know, a really good competitive all-around game.

You know, he's just a fantastic prospect. And you mentioned the left side. You've got to figure at some point, H.S. or one of H Center, Augustine's going to be playing the right side, you'd imagine. Yes, and their top three prospects in the system, or U23 players and prospects in the system,

all left shot D, right? On some ways, you're saying, hey, it's great to be that stocked at a position. On the other, I'm looking at it, and I say they're going to need some forwards here, and they drafted Victor Eklund, they drafted DeNiel Prokerov, but between those two guys,

Danny Nelson, Cole Eisenman, like, what forward here do you think has the best chance to pop? Cal Ritchie, another name in there. I like Prokerov a lot. I like Eklon, a lot. I think those are the two. The different kind of players, Eklund obviously, is a high energy, high compete,

really good skating, scoring winger who's small. Prokeroff's not really an offense guy, but he's huge. He can skate. He's physical. You're hoping he can chip in, you know, 20, 30 points while playing a really unique role.

The one that I think is kind of debatable as Eiserman. I've had a hard time warming up to him when I've watched him in the last two years. I mean, this past year, at BU, his game was particularly ugly at times. I mean, you love the shot, you love the skill, but there's a lot of holes in his game too.

And I think we mentioned Martin having some miss in his game. This guy has a lot of miss in his game. And, you know, the Islanders fans have lived it with Wallstrom and bellows. And it could be a little lazy to connect those dots. They're not the same players because they all went to the NTP. Like, there's distinct differences in their games. Like, I think Eisenman,

is more physical than those guys are, that he makes more plays and something than those guys, at least more plays than Bellows did, faster than Wallstrom was, but he's also 5-11-60. So there's some distinctions there, but that's the guy you're hoping to get offense from Cal Richie, too,

who I thought was just okay as a rookie pro this season. So they're hoping one of those two guys can be a skilled guy, and I'm not. Richie, I think, could. his consistency, that was a concern. Not to go too big picture here, but that kind of brings up something I think about a lot,

which is that you can miss on any profile of player, right? Like we talked earlier in the episode about, you know, Carter Yakubchek hasn't trended as well. He's still going to be certainly a player. I don't think we're talking about the same misrisk with him. We talked about Brady Martin a second ago. Now we're talking about Iserman, right?

We've talked about Trevor Connolly. I think people sometimes think, oh, there's this risk attached to the big athlete type because what if they don't have enough offense. Or conversely, I think you and I in particular often talk about the risk with small skill wingers, but you can miss on any player type here. You can miss on the score who puts up a 50 goals, a goal per game.

You can miss on the big talented mobile defenseman. You can miss on the do it all center. Everyone is possible to underperform what your projection is on them. And it's, yeah. Yeah, I think there are certain player types where the risk is lower, but yes, to your what you're saying, there is definitely missing a lot of players' games. I mean, even though like the most elite athlete,

like a Caden Lindstrom, we're talking about him as potentially being a guy who could miss. Yep, absolutely. All right, let's move on to the number 18, the Calgary Flames. And speaking of promising blue lines on the way, Calgary Flames have one of their own, obviously headlined by their most recent top pick,

Carson Carls. He's top prospect in the system. It's the next two names that I think are pretty interesting. One of them, Calgary drafted, that's Zane Perak and very different profile from Carl's. He's much more the puck mover power play quarterback. And then there's the one they traded for this offseason. Simon Nemitz comes over from New Jersey.

They're making a big bet on him. They're paying him right away. You've got Nemitz a hair actually ahead of Perak. I think that's interesting. Yeah. And, you know, if Carl's is the physical shutdown type and Parick is the freewheeling offense type, I think Nemitz is somewhere in the middle where he's very smart. you can move pucks, but he's not like an elite offense type.

But I kind of think like even though he doesn't have the dynamic flair of Perrick, I think long term, I don't think their offense is going to be that far apart. Like I think when Nimich was drafted second overall for a reason, he has really good skill. He has really good hockey sense. And that's why I have him right where I were, I have him a nudge ahead of Parick, even though I think Perich could have a little bit more offense.

think it's close enough to go with the fact that I think Nemitz is a much steadier, much more competitive defenseman. Yeah. In the system, I think, beyond the blue line, they're going to need a forward to pop at some point here. The hope probably is that that is Cole Reschney or Samuel Hansik, one of the forwards they've drafted with high picks in recent years. Jack Hextall, another name in their Chase Harrington, even an early second round pick this year. Colin Potter is not a guy that you even ranked here, but obviously a name that fans are going to want to know. Who do you give the best odds to break through from that group. Yeah, and also Ethan Wittenbock, who had the huge year in college, but I kind of think

he's a really good college player. I'm not completely convinced on the pro profile. I'm not like, you know, the skating isn't special for his size. Like, I would need to see him back it up this year and like to like really be sold and maybe go to the world juniors and get it done, that kind of thing. I think Reschney is the one that gets you the most excited. I think he's the most well-rounded of the players. He's got legit hockey sense.

He can make plays. He's competitive. Is he going to be an elite score? I don't know about that, but I think he could score the next level. He can play the middle at the next level. He can play both ways. So I think that's the one where I think you get a little bit more excited by. Yeah.

All right. On the number seven, that's the St. Louis Blues. I look at this system, and I don't know if people are going to take this, it reminds me of kind of a souped up version of what we talked about with the wings, right? Like Jimmy Snuggarood's probably the most of a true difference maker between those two systems and he's he's at top the St. Louis pipeline. But I still look at, you know, Dvorsky, Tyn and Lawrence, Milton Gastron, Justin Carboneau, like all good players, all look like really good complementary players. Are there any of them that can kind of become a top line,

true impact guy here in St. Louis, Corey? I mean, obviously, there was a time where we thought Tyne and Lawrence was going to do that. It also didn't have a great draft season. We'll see how he bounces back next year at BU. I think some people think Justin Carboneau can be that. I'm not quite as convinced that he's, I think he's more like a good middle six type. I'm not convinced that he's like this premium type. Obviously, I think you mentioned Snugglerud.

I think he's got a chance to be that. But the one I think some scouts are even more excited by his Adam Yerechick, maybe not a top line forward, obviously, but I think he's got a really good chance to be like a, you know, top half of the lineup defensemen in the NHL. He's six three. You can skate. He's got offense.

He's physical. You know, he checks a little. a lot of boxes and he was excellent that the world junior is excellent in the oh-h-l he's a guy that i think the only reason he's not at the highest highest tiers is i don't think his pure playmaking is like quite of the special variety but like he's definitely a guy i could see pop and become like an impact player at the next level yeah for st louis it's going to be a fine line to walk here i mean there's been rumors about some of their top players that it seemed like have tamped down

since Alex Steen took over. But it's a fine line to walk. We've talked about a couple different times on this show with, you know, L.A., a little bit New Jersey, Pittsburgh. Like, they're not a playoff team right now. They have a good system, but I do still wonder, you know, how they get it to either kind of end of the extreme. How do they kind of escape the middle?

This is a little different than those, where it's not just a, I think it's a very good system. But more on depth, right? Like, yeah, on quantity. Yeah, but if you can get three to four top six forward slash top four defensemen out of this group and some really nice, you know, middle to bottom half of the lineup guys to go with Thomas and, you know, it's, they need more.

You would need to sign a free agent. You need to make a really good trade or two. But I think there's a clear, I don't know about becoming a contender, but I think there's a clear path to becoming a quality team and there would be for some of these more aging cores. And that's why they're, I mean, not just obviously, we talk about the cores as a different situation with L.A. and the age of some of their players, but also it's just a higher-ranked system here. All right. We'll go to number six. That's the Seattle Cracken. This is where I think

the system starts to get really impressive. Obviously, getting Chase Reed in this last draft gives them the thing they've never had, a first-round pick defenseman and one of the very best defensemen in this draft. I think he was your number one overall player. That's a big needle mover. Jake O'Brien from a year ago, really talented young forward. What caught my eye, Corey, is that Berkeley, Katten and Shane Wright on this list are behind Julius Mietinan and Casey Mutron. Which direction do I take that? Is that concern? Is that red alert for Katten and Wright?

Or is this like, hey, you're really in on Mutron and Mietin? I think a little bit of both. Obviously, I was a big fan of Casey Moutrin going into the draft. Ham. He was raised as a top 15 player. Obviously, Shane Wright's had some struggles at the NHL level. I think he's still a good player, but you're thinking, like, probably a third line center long term.

Caton's first NHL year was tough. Like he started off, it was that those first 40 or so games went really rough for him. And we had this conversation with Scott a few weeks ago regarding Zane Parrick when talking about his rough first NHL season. You know, and Scott was like arguing, well, he wasn't ready, yada, yada. And I understand that Parrick and Cadden and 19-year-olds probably weren't ready for the NHL. And I don't know what you think, Max. Like, do you throw out the data?

Like, I have some trouble throwing. out data and, you know, Cole Hudson came in the NHL at 19 and he was perfectly good. You know, there's been, you know, so I look at what Catton, and Cairn was better towards the second half of the season, but I still look at this guy. He's 5.10. He's light. Had trouble scoring. And it was a concern. I still think he could be like a really nice middle six score in the NHL. His feet are pretty dynamic. But those were some concerns. Mietin, on the other hand, I thought was so impressive. I mean, there were so many good players in Everett, this past year.

But Mietnan was arguably their best forward. He was better than Carter Bear. Like, you know, he's 6-2, 6-3. You could skate. He competes. Plays both ways as a centerman. He makes plays. He was the playoff MVP there in the Western League.

Just a, there's a lot of real positive things in his game. And I think he went right at the top of the second round two years ago. He's been an important part of the Finnish World Junior teams. But yeah, no, he's definitely a guy. I'm very excited about. To your point about the not being ready for the NHL and what kind of struggles will you tolerate, the kind that I find like, hey, this isn't a big deal, is more along the lines of what we've seen with like Matveh Mitchkoff and Trevor Zegris.

Not to say they're unimportant, but where it's like, this guy is producing, he's really creative. He hasn't quite figured out the risk reward calculus. He makes some decisions that he can't get away with anymore. What I'm more troubled by is when a guy can't produce and when it's like, oh, he's not finding a way to do this. Because I think you can mature in your game and make fewer mistakes. I, and obviously you're going to continue to get better, but there is some inherent level of like,

do you kind of have enough sizzle, enough skill to be a big time NHL score, a big time one. It's not like, I don't think Berkeley Caton's going to be a 50 point player now at this point. But I'm saying if I once thought he could be a 70 point player, that's where I would now be a little more, okay, do I need to check that? Yep, and that's kind of what I feel. I thought the same way about Pirate 2 this season in Calgary. It's like, okay, yeah, you're like this elite skill guy, but you didn't like produce at all. it's like how do you and yes you didn't play many minutes and it's tough and he's a teenager and

but if your whole game is offense like got to show me a little offense right yeah and Seattle too like they're obviously the Jason Robertson situation around the draft got so many headlines and I think it kind of does shine a light onto a reality Seattle is facing here is they're going to have to figure out a way to kind of get a rebrand a little bit here of of being more than what they've been, which is kind of just a meh team that doesn't, it's not that splashy, doesn't seem that exciting.

And there's some tack stuff that can go into, we could go into too. But I do wonder at some point, does Seattle package? They've drafted a lot of skill. Yeah. A lot of skill in recent years. I mean,

even the guys we even mentioned like Shala and Fergus, like they, like they've taken a lot of shots on skill there and some of them just haven't worked out. But I think Jake O'Brien's going to work out. But it's, it's been tough for them. Yeah, I think at some point

they're going to need to package a couple of these guys or in separate deals or whatever. Right certainly seems like the most likely at this point, but maybe even go beyond that and just get a little more juice into the organization.

Into the top five, number five, the Utah Mammoth. What a system for to be number five, and I can't even really disagree with it once we get to the teams that are ahead of it, but man, you go through this, Logan Cooley, Caleb Dinoeer, Tijic, Ginlet,

Daniel Bout, Demet, Demetri, Cimishev, Ethan Belches, all awesome names. We can get to any one of those if you want to hone in on anybody in the development you want. But the two names that are kind of grouped with those guys that I do not know as much about are Thomas LeVois and Gabe Smith. What did those two do to kind of get into a similar category with a few of those players? Their second halves and their playoffs in the queue were just outstanding.

I mean, Thomas LeVois was, you know, I thought he was the best defenseman in the playoffs in the queue. He's six, four, he can skate, he competes. I think you always worry about 19-year-olds in the queue when you're pointing how much that can translate up levels. And I do have some concerns on his offense long term. But I think there's enough offense there. Like he can make a first pass to go with the great athleticism and stopability. Like, you know, he's exciting. And Gabe Smith just had just a tremendous year for Moncton.

He was the Q playoff MVP. He's huge. He's heavy. He has great skill. He could score. The skating has taken some positive steps from where he was two years ago, where I thought it was a significant concern. I don't really think it's as significant a concern anymore.

And, yeah, I mean, you look at the system, and it's just big guy after big guy who can play. Like, they have a lot of those types. Simashev, in particular, is just, I think he's going to be just a tremendous NHL defenseman. And then obviously they have skill with a Ginnishol. and Kuli, but yeah, they have a lot of really good two-way guys at premium positions. And what's probably different for them than some of those other teams that they have ranked ahead of them is, I think they have an NHL roster built to win right now too.

So I think I'd argue, you know, after San Jose, you'd argue which team would you like to take over the most for the next 10 years? I think Utah would be right in that conversation. I'm with you, and I could hear a case for them over San Jose. San Jose has Celebrini, and that's the biggest case. But I look at everything that Utah, I think Utah joins that list of True Cup contenders this year with the addition of Vincent Trocheck and Caleb Dinoe on the way. I think Logan Cooley's got another leap in his game coming. And then you just have the boot, the Simashev, like all these guys that will see what their impact is on day one as full timers

or early in their career as full-timers. I know Day 1 has passed in some of those cases already. But even if they're not in their prime yet, I guess is my point, they can help down a lineup on a team that's chasing a cup. And it's a loaded division. It's a tough road. I think they're a contender right now. Yep, I agree with that.

All right. At number four, Corey, is the Chicago Blackhawks. And they're an interesting team. I mean, right now, the Connor Bedard injury casts such a shadow on their offseason at a tough moment. I don't know that I have a good feel, though, for kind of where Chicago stands here because on one hand it feels like maybe there's some restlessness and need to start winning. On the other hand, I look at their system and I see a lot of good names, a lot of young names, and there's a part of me that almost wants to say they're right on track. How do you kind of view

the state of things with the Blackhawks? You know, I think Chicago is a perfect example of how difficult it is to win in the NHL and how long it can take to really build a winner and how if you and you lived in Detroit, like if one or two of those high picks miss, actually at the start of the rebuild, it can set it back years. So you miss on Adam Bokevis, you missed on Kirby Dock,

and what was supposed to be a five to seven year plan becomes a seven to ten year plan. And, you know, the only real way to win at the draft is to pick high or to pick often. And Chicago has done both of those things. They've made a lot of picks.

Some of them have been positive and some of them have been negative. You know, you look at Frank Nazar, trending really well. Sam Renzel, for where they picked him, trending pretty well. Some other maybe later first, for lack of Neshal, really good freshman year at UMS,

Merrick Vaneker, 40 goals in the OHL, Roman Kansorov, high second round pick. He's one of the best prospects in hockey right now. Nick Lardis? Yep. Lardis has progressed well. I'm not like, I don't love Lardis, like long terms of prospect,

but he's obviously, you know, for where they got him. He looks like a value pick. But then he has some high picks, like the two big defensemen, Lef Shunov and Korninski, haven't done particularly well. Sasha Boivir, top, you know, 20 pick.

He had a really tough year at BU last year. And those are guys that, you know, for where you drafted them, you would be hoping for more. I still think Lef Shunov is going to be a long-term piece for them. But Kortinski and Boyver, quite frankly, they're questionable to even be NHL players at this point.

All right, so there's a lot there to get to. So let's start with Kortinski and Levsanov, though, because I think those are two of the picks that have kind of been always under the most spotlight, particularly Levshanov, just you take him at number two. You and I both loved Artem Levshanov. I still feel like Artem Levschenov is going to be a really good. At the very least, kind of second pair, number three, defensemen. But there is, you know, it's taken a little longer than you'd hope.

And it doesn't help. You see what Seneca and Demadov have been doing as well. It could test your patience a little bit. But we talked about this earlier in the show. If you go through that draft, there's not another defenseman that you're thinking, whoa, he's clearly better than Levsinov. He might have some preferences, but I don't think there's a guy who's clearly leapfrogged him. I still think he's a good player.

I still think the tools are very unique. He's definitely a little bit of a wild player. And I think his sense and his compete come into question at times. But he's still very talented. And like you said, I think there's definitely a path. for him to become a top four defenseman that helps their power play, and that can play a lot of minutes. How about Anton Frundel, the number three pick in 2025? Another really, you got to get him right in the top three.

If you're going to get him right anywhere, get him right in the top three. And Fredel, from what he showed at the end of the year, it looks like they got that one right. Yep. And he had a really nice year in the SHL, good world juniors, really good end of the year there. He can be a frustrating player, but the talent is really intriguing. It's high-end skill. It's a high-end shot. He's physical.

He competes off the puck. Um, his sense, I think can be average and like you wonder whether, you know, he's going to be like the, you know, the most premium play driver you'll ever see. But, you know, I think he's, I would take more tone over him. But otherwise, I think, you know, whether it's three or four, like that's where he would belong in a redraft of that class. Like, he's still at the very tippity top. And he looks like he's going to be a really, really good top six forward in the NHL. Yeah. How about two guys?

You mentioned them both already. Nestrosil and Kansarov. And I think Kanserov in particular is the guy I want to talk about as he comes over here. There's a lot of hype here now. How much of it is justified? What's a reasonable expectation for Roman Kanzerov in year one and just in the future? Yeah, obviously he had such a great production in a KHL being a big part of a top team, huge numbers. And it's not just that he has skills.

It's the way he exhibits his skill. It's hard skill. It's a lot of scoring at the net. It's a lot of winning battle despite the fact he's 5-9, 5-10. So I think that's exciting. And I think, you know, you talk about him in that way. It's easy to compare him to Caprazov just because, like, the play style is in the fact they're Russian.

And I probably would not go all the way there. Like, I don't think he's Cap-resol. That's a little excessive for me. But I think he could be, like, you know, a legit top-line wing in the NHL. I'm trying to think of names, but they escape me, like maybe like a Jason Zucker type. Take that all day. Yeah. I don't know.

You know, Brian Rust. I don't know. Is anybody that you're thinking that you could think of that has that kind of profile at 59, 510? Now, that's the thing is the size factor. I think Rust is a great name for it. You know, Russ probably gets you more excited than Zucker does. But I do think, you know, Arturi Lekinen, right? Like these are guys who I think.

Yeah. Like these are guys who I think. You play on winning teams, right? And Zucker in Buffalo, like, it's happening later in his career, but he's always been a guy I've kind of looked to as like, this is a kind of player that helps you win games. If he was three inches taller, we'd be talking about Zach Hyman. Yeah, Trocheque on the wing maybe. Like, that's like, yeah, Hyman 6-1, but I get what you're saying, like that player type.

Yeah, and so, like, I think, and it's, yeah, and to your point, like, that's the kind of guy you win with. Yeah, and we could talk about some guys in Carolina, too, for that matter, in the recent team as well. All right, let's go to Montreal here now at number three. And Montreal, I don't think it's any surprise. At least it's not to me that Yerislovakowski is at number one for the Canadians. He kind of took the leap this year, right? He goes from that 50-point player to the 30-goal, 70-point Olympic hero status thing. And if there is a debate, it's because there's a lot of good players in Montreal. Obviously, Lane Hudson continues his assent. I think, I don't know where exactly

you'd rank him among NHLD now, but it's certainly probably top 15. And I think a lot of people would tell you top 10. That's there. Ivan Demadov is there. This is a team who's rebuild under Kent Hughes is going about as well as you can ask for. Yeah, I agree with that. I think there's probably three teams that are like the cream of the crop. And that's like Montreal, San Jose, Utah, where I think like if you ask me,

which team would I like to take over tomorrow? You'd probably name one of those three would, you know, for the next 10 years. Am I missing? Do you think anybody else would get in that? mix. I know I have Anaheim rated higher as a as a system right now. Obviously, their cap situation is a little more influx at the moment. Now, the one thing

I'll say about that is Montreal does have the most glaring need, I think, of any of those four teams. And that's at the second line center position. Michael Hage has a viable path to being that answer at second line center. But I don't think any of those other three teams would I think about Anaheim, maybe on the blue line for Anaheim,

besides Jackson-Lacombe. But I would say certainly with Utah and with San Jose, I don't really see a spot in the lineup where I go, this is the obvious weakness of this team anymore, whereas Montreal, you can at least find that at 2C. Is that fair? Yeah, that's fair. I'm not completely sure Hage is going to be a 2C in the NHL. He might be a 3C or a two wing. Like, I think he's a really talented player, but he's not, you know, he can be a little perimeter or he gets pushed off pucks. Like, it's, um, he's an offense guy for sure, I think in the NHL level, but is he going to be a play driving second line center? Like, I think there's some, there's

some minor questions there. Now, of course, Montreal is also the most accomplished of all those teams right now, right? Of all the teams we've mentioned, Montreal went to the Eastern Conference Final. I expect them to, it won't be their last trip to the Eastern Conference Final in the next two or three years in my estimation. And Nick Suzuki continues to rise as well. Obviously, not one of the players we're talking about here. We just talked about Kanzarov as this kind of hyped Russian coming over for Chicago. There's another Russian picked in the second round in 2025 by Montreal, Alexander Zorovsky, who I think fits into kind of this, the next big Russians coming over.

Yeah. And he was really impressive playing over in Russia this past year. A lot of offense, a lot of skill. He makes plays. He competes really well. I don't think he's physical, but he just gives a good effort. He's shown he can win battles versus men. You know, there's some interior offense there.

I think he's a guy who has the indications of being a. you know, middle six, top six score at the next level. And I think just another guy that's going to give Montreal a lot of options. And, you know, you mentioned with Seattle before some point they've got to make a move. Like Montreal's got so many assets right now that at some point, you know, they will be positioned to make a big move here. I think that this year they should trade for Ryan O'Reilly out of Nashville. They should package one of these prospects or two and get a proven veteran. I know he's not a long-term answer there, but you plug Ryan O'Reilly in behind Nick Suzuki and you become miserable to play against.

He's still putting up points. He's a guy I'd love to see there. As well as Dylan Larkin, I think, would be great there as well, as we're talking about center options for them. On the blue line from Montreal, David Reimbacher, we talked about some of the high picks Chicago made on the blue line and how they've fared a couple years out. What's your assessment on David Ryanbocker where he stands?

I think still positive. I know the offense wasn't great. The point production was just okay in the American League last year, but Laval was one of the best teams in the league. He played big minutes for them. You like the skating. You like the effort at both ends. Like he's got good enough skill, good enough vision.

It's not a premium young defenseman, but I think he's still a pretty good young defenseman. A guy I think would be like a four, number four long term in the NHL. I still think he's a good young player. You know, not just, he's just not an exciting fifth overall pick. All right. Into the top two, number two, and you've kind of teased it already. It's the Anaheim Ducks. Leo Carlson, the new highest paid player in the National Hockey League, is at top this list, as you better be, if you're going to be the highest paid player in the National Hockey League.

You talked about a tier earlier of Schaefer, Bedard, and Carlson. I want to specifically ask you about Bedard versus Carlson. Obviously, the money says one thing. It's the product of an offer sheet. It doesn't mean everything. But I do look at the profiles of these players, what they've accomplished to date so far. How do you size up Carlson relative to Connor Bedard? goes one in a redraft here. Yeah, it's very close. And, um, you know, I, I, I, I have it very close

between the two players. My lean towards Bedard would be just the fact that I still think, despite the fact that he's like this 510, 511 centerman versus the six three guy in Carlson. I still think long term there's, there's a difference in the skill level, in the creativity, in the offense, in the shot. Like, I don't think it's like a little offense gap. I think long term there's going to be a moderate, it's a significant offensive gap between the two players in terms of how much skill Bedard has. The difference, though, is he doesn't have the supporting cast right now.

So I don't think he's been able to exhibit it on a consistent basis between that and the injuries and some inconsistent play at times. But I think he's on the first half of the year when it was going well for him, that, you know, this guy's got 100-plus potential on a consistent basis. and I think he's going to get there. I've always viewed Baderd through the lens of Patrick Cain, and I know one plays center and one plays wing.

I think it's a value add to be able to play center if he's indeed able to stay there. But it's funny, like, you think back, and I was thinking, like, okay, so would you rather have Patrick Cain or Anzicopatar? And I think the answer to that question is yes. Like, you can win with either of those, and those two teams were the defining teams of the 2010s.

Yeah, and I've talked to scouts who, like, who would take Carlson over Bidar, and I talked to something who had it the other way. I, neither answer would offend me. quite honestly. I would still take the dollar, I still think the skill, the track record are still pretty special. But there's

a reason Carlson got paid $18 million. Yeah. All right. Besides Leo Carlson, Carter Gautier, obviously a stud. He's already at 40 goals score. How high can he get? Is this a 50 goal score or a 55 goal score? That seems a little... Well, I don't already at 40. I know, but

you feel like something, there's going to be a little aggression to the mean there at some point, too, also. But, but, but, offense keeps going up in the NHL and we're adding teams. So not immediately, but it seems like we're heading in that direction where we're lowering the quality of the league. So sure, I won't rule out 50. I also think, like, whether it gets to 50 or not, it's the overall makeup of this.

It's having a guy like Carlson in the middle. It's having a pure score like Cutter Gotea. And it's having a guy in Beckett, Seneca, who looks like he can kind of do a little bit of everything as a true power offensive winger. He's going to have big offense. He's a big body. There's just a, and not, then you get deeper into. the system, right? And it's Roger McQueen, it's Dionne Solberg. I mean, those are two guys that I think

hold a lot of the key to where this goes for Anaheim now. With Carlson and the money that he ties up, I think it is going to limit your ability to bring in proven guys. But what can McQueen bring? What can Solberg bring? To get those guys on ELCs, that may kind of hold the key to the next three to four years for Anaheim. I thought McQueen should have played one more year in college, but to his credit, I thought he looked really, really good at Providence, even though the offense wasn't special. Keep in mind, like they were a really good team.

And I thought he was really snake bit in the first half of the season. Kind of like, it reminds me how Matt Boldie looked at times in his freshman year at BC. Like I still thought, I think McQueen looked apart, looked ready to be a good pro.

Like, he's huge. You can skate. He's really physical. He has pretty good skill. Like, that's the guy who I think, like, a lot has gone right already

for them with Gochier and Seneca. Those are things you somewhat expected, given where they were picked. McQueen obviously had the Astroxxx him because of his back injury and his draft year. If they can turn him into a real player, then all of a sudden, I think they're really cooking there in Anaheim. But not every pick works out.

I mean, you look at McTavish and in Drysdale, obviously they turn Drysdale into Goachia and Zegra is, like it's tough to make every single pick work. It's why you've got to get the quantity. Going from McTavish, and it's not all they got, obviously, but Nikita Klepov, kind of the big piece of that. Like, that element is something for the smaller, I mean, there guys have skill. Leo's got skill,

Sinica's got skill. But that kind of pure creativity guy in Kliepav, like, did that fill a hole at all for you? Or is it like, where do you think that fits in? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. They didn't have like a true power play flank guy that they, you know, like eventually Troy Terry is going to move on.

Like that's kind of the role that Klepov will fill, I think, in three to five years. Yeah. All right. Let's go to number one. No surprise. We've been talking about him. really throughout the show, but it's the San Jose Sharks. Was this close, though?

I mean, we talked about how good all these top five systems have been. Is this San Jose with a bullet or was it neck and neck? It was San Jose with a bullet. Like, I mean, obviously, Celebrini is in his own tier. And by himself, he elevates them into that conversation, nearly by himself, quite frankly. But then it's like, you just keep going and going and going. And it's premium player after premium player. You have Stenberg and Vera Hoff, obviously, from this past draft.

You have a highly-touted goalie prospect in Ravensburg, and you have Sam Dickinson. And then you even have some other guys from past drafts who haven't quite broken through yet. I think Philip B. Stett's a really good center prospect. He was really good in the American League last year. You know, you have Ryan Lynn, who they drafted. You have Igor Chernyshev. It was one of the best rookies in the NHL last season. It's just a lot, really, to get excited about in San Jose.

And I've been doing this long enough now. that I've had a number of these, number one with the bullet systems, and then five years go by and nothing happens. So I don't want to be making any guarantees. I think L.A. I think L.A. was one of those at one point, right? Yeah.

Turcad. Yeah. And Buffalo was one at one point, and they got there eventually, but it took a minute and a half. Carolina was there at one point, too, and obviously, you know, so, you know,

there's a percentage right there. So, but you don't want to make any guarantees that, oh, San Jose is going to be a contender in five years. They're going to win a Stanley Cup in the next five to ten years or whatever. But I think you look as an organization, and particularly because they have the hardest piece, that Superstar, Armour One Center, where you can think, you can find everything else externally. You can go through the trades and free agency. You can find some of the other pieces, but you couldn't find that guy that way. I think you look at all the prospects they have, the Ket.

the capital they have. And I think you see a path because of a contender. But that being said, I do wonder how this next season goes for them because they want a lot all one goal games last year. They want a lot of games.

They didn't deserve to be. And I do wonder if they take a step back next season. Oh no. Another top 10 pick for the San Jose Sharks, right? I don't think we're at the point yet where that's the end of the world if that's what happens. I mean, especially if they keep getting

the kind of lottery luck they've been getting. It's kind of funny how much crap like Breyer took when he said that when it's the same rationale that they you know yeah Vladdish had like this monster year and they you know they didn't you know they weren't tilting the ice and and I think objective analysts would look at the flyers and say they were not as good a team as the results suggest and that's all I think he was trying to say kind of thing and the old young team they might take a step back and people were like oh my god I can't believe you said that it's like well I don't know it's all like he's not trying the guy

threw the biggest contract ever out yeah I know people are ridiculous yeah I don't think it'll be the worst thing for Philly either for what it's worth. But let's just do this for fun just because I want to, we've been hyping them up all episodes. I want to map out a future lineup with what they have to just kind of emphasize what they could put together here, right? So line one, we're saying Smith, Celebrini Chernoshov. I think that's got a little bit of everything. Man, that's an outstanding future first line that's already all in the NHL. Line two, you got Evar Stenberg, Michael Misa, and who do you think goes on the right side there? This is probably a veteran at this point for the ages that we're talking about. You're bringing someone out. Veteran or veteran like I would guess so too.

Like musty is not a sure thing for me. Cameron Lund's not a sure thing for me. I think maybe you put one of those guys on the third line right wing or third line left wing. But I think you got to fill that whole. I think that's fair to say that's still a hole right now as another two RW. Yep. Yep. And or LW. I mean, depends on where you want to play Evar. Third line. you're probably talking about B-Stet, one of those wingers you just mentioned, whether that's musty or Lund, and probably a veteran checker.

Like, you're going to want somebody, and it may just be veteran checkers. Like, you may go to Tampa route there and import an entire third line, and you could trade from some of these picks to do that. Yeah, and then the other one that I really like, maybe you get Teddy Mutron onto that fourth line,

but I don't think he's a guarantee either. Like, I kind of feel like forward-wise you've run out of the sheer things. Yep. So, and this kind of people might be like, well, you just told me this system was amazing. Well, that is. All right to have all internally under 23. It's not like you can't spend any money in free agency to build your winner.

Yeah. Yep. And then I think on D, Dickinson Verhoff. Yep. That's the top pair. Second pair, I really like Leo Shalin Walan. I think he's an NHL defenseman. He's a prolific skater.

You can move pucks. He's been a big part of national teams. He's played well versus men. I think him and Ryan Lynn are the second pair there. I don't know if they're an amazing second pair, but they are, and I don't even think Dickinson and Verhoff's a great top pair either, which has obviously been to the conversation we've had.

Keep in mind, they have Truba and Nurse, too, for the next four years. Like, you can mix those guys into that. And we should definitely should have mentioned Kiefer Sherwood on that third line. I thought we were just including the kids. I was, but now I've kind of evolved it to show that, you know,

the reason that we're excited about him is because you're adding this, like this much, of a legit NHL lineup to just in the U23 prospects base. And then I think Ravensburg and Ascarol, those are your two long-term goalies. Yeah. That's kind of the point I was trying to make with this, is like they have so much in place before you even get to talking about the NHL system. And so you talk about a true, but you talk about a Sherwood.

You talk about a Michael Kesselring. It starts to round everything out well. Could you use one true? And the hope is that this is Lynn, but that one true like dominant offensive defensemen, yes, that's probably the need. But it might be win. I did think it was funny. Their director of scouting and they chirped us, not us specifically,

they chirped the media specifically. He's like, well, everyone said we need to take a defenseman in regards to Stenberg. And I'm like, I don't know. I still look at the system and I still think you need another defenseman. You know, so the time will tell obviously what all these players should have gone in, right? Yeah, well, when they win the lottery and take DuPont next year, they won't need a defenseman anymore. And then we won't have anything to say. Fair enough.

Awesome. Great stuff today, Corey. Thank you all for listening. This has been a long episode, but I hope it's been an edifying one for all of you. That is going to do it for us on this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect series. We'll talk to you soon.