The Athletic Hockey Show - Prospect Series 2023 first round mock draft

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

Max Bultman, Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler from The Athletic and Flo Hockey's Chris Peters play Chief Scout and General Manager, and select their picks for the first round of the NHL Draft, before it happens next week in Nashville. Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ NHLSHOW and get on your way to being your best selfSign up for a Chime Checking Account today to link your paycheck. It only takes two minutes and doesn’t affect your credit score. Get started at chime.com/nhlshowHead to factormeals.com/nhlshow and use code NHLSHOW50 to get 50% off your first boxFor 15% off MudWtr go to mudwtr.com/hockeyshow and use code HOCKEYSHOW to support the show and get a discount!Stay cool and dry all summer with Birddogs and get a FREE Yeti-style tumbler at birddogs.com/athletic use promo code ATHLETIC at checkout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody, Max Bultman here alongside Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler, and Flow Hockey's Chris Peters for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's prospect series. A very special episode today, guys, because we are going to do, basically right from the jump here, we're going to dive right into a first round mock draft, all 32 picks. We're going to alternate between the four of us. It's going to be what we think is going to happen. So this is a predictive situation here, not going off of our personal rankings. And we're just going to dive right into this. So Corey has randomized something to get the order going.

Chris, you're going to step right in as Kyle Davidson here and kick us off. So I will turn the floor over to you. It doesn't get any easier than this, does it? So I'm just going to go ahead and Tim Murray this one. The Chicago Blackhawks are proud to select Connor Bedard. And if I need to explain this to you, after all we've been to, talking about on this podcast, then you have not been listening enough. So Connor Bedard, pretty good player, number one.

No surprises there. A round of applause for Chris Dieter's on that selection. Yeah. He did not thank David Poyle. I think that is a huge faux pot to start our draft here. But Scott, maybe you can rectify it here, number two. Yeah, number two, I think not quite as straightforward, but still feels like it's going to be Adam Van Tilly. So the Anaheim Ducks will take Adam Fantilli out of the University of Michigan.

I think he just fits in terms of a bit of an explainer. I think he just fits with what they've been building down the middle there. We saw them take Nathan Gosey, a big, strong, physical, fast player down the middle, Mason McTavish, that same competitive edge. Now suddenly if you take Fantilli, you've got kind of three young players that you've taken in back to back to back drafts here down the middle that give you a little bit of bite, a little bit of competitiveness. obviously in Ventilla, a potential sort of first-line center if all breaks well. So that, that, uh, I, I think it just feels like it's going to trend that way when push comes to shed.

Do we all feel that's a no-brainer or do we think there's, anyone here, I think there's a chance they don't go Fantilia to. I think there's a chance that there's always a chance. But it feels, feels like it's a small chance that it's Leo. Yeah, I would just say, I think Pat Verbeek is very much, you know, he does come from the Steve Eiserman school. always the chance for something surprising. But I just think, in general, this is something where, you know, I just, I just feel like

Fantilli's too much of a hand-to-glove situation for that organization right now. The only argument I keep hearing around the league is, and whether you believe it or not, it's an interesting debate as we get closer to the draft, is they look at Fantilli and they compare them to Lille Carlson and they compare him to Will Smith. And not everyone in the league agrees with this. I think most people in the league have Fantilli at two, but they'll say of those three guys, Fantilli has the worst hockey sense.

Would that concern you if you're Anaheim picking him at two? How is that slowed him down so far? I mean, I don't think I've ever seen it be an impediment for him. No, and that's where I lead to is that, you know, when you're with hockey sense, you're worried about offense. And this is a guy who just led college hockey in scoring by a professional. pretty significant margin. And I do get the concerns.

I had someone who worked on the league the other day, make the analogy to me that, you know, that, well, Jonathan Druent had a better hockey sense than Nathan McKinnon. And, you know, you saw how that, how that aged. And I think you look at Fantilli, you look at the season he had in terms of the offense. You compare it to say Maddie Baneer's season or Kent Johnson's season in their draft years.

And it's just miles. better. And I tend to agree that he'll be the guy. But I think there's been surprising that abates on this one that I thought it was just worth discussing at least a little bit. Yeah. I do think it would have been more of a conversation or more of a concern for me if this were this time last year and he was coming out of Chicago and there was a lot of force that plays happening and a little bit of selfishness happening and questions about whether he was going to be able to sort of use his linemates as well as he needs to. And I think he answered a lot of those pretty emphatically this year and just sort of figured out that it's not just one and done one and

one hockey. And I think that the IQ piece came into that where he was making making smarter reads out there and smarter decisions with the puck out there. Yeah, like it's possible that's something that's something that's something like a 90 point center or something, right? But I don't know that he has to be that when you consider all the dimensions to his game. If you have like a 70 to 80 point two-way center who's mean and probably one of the toughest players, certainly one of the toughest centers in this class, I don't know that he really needs to have ultimately like above a point per game or something like that to be worthy of the number two pick. I don't know how you feel about that, Corey. The guy I've been thinking about a lot with him has been Jonathan Tays. And Jonathan Taze,

when he was at his prime, I would not call, I think he was an extremely skilled player, but I would never I've called him like this elite playmaker or this guy who is the kind of guy who runs a power play at a high level, but he was such a good all-around player with significant skill and I think that piece is just so valuable

that I just I would be surprised, not shocked, but surprised if he was not the picket too. Corey, why don't you keep the floor here with Fort Columbus and number three? I think if if there was a surprise at two, I think they're taking Fantilli at three.

But if Fantili goes two, as we presume, I think it gets interesting here. I think half my league sources think it's Leo Carlson. Half my league sources say it's Will Smith. That was reflected in the mock draft I put out a couple of days ago. That being said, I did get quite a couple of people after I published that, and I gave them Leo Carlson who say they think it's going to be Will Smith. So maybe it was like 55, 45, 45. My sources were saying Carlson, now it's like 55.

45-45 Smith. And I know Aaron Portfline, our Columbus writer, who's really dialed in there, has said that there is a lot of love in that organization for Will Smith. So I'm going to give Will Smith here to Columbus. And I say that with out confidence. But that's just my gut feel right now, is that where the winds are blowing right now. If you were going to make the case for Smith over Carlson, what, they're both very smart players. I think maybe, but they're both kind of have maybe some concern over whether there's centers. Carlson, maybe even the more likely to stick at center.

Chris, if you were going to make a case for Smith over Carlson, how would you go about making that? I mean, I'd say that there's a little bit more of a dynamic element to his game. You know, I think that his creativity is extremely high. He is a, you know, he's just a very gifted playmaker. He's got that high-end hockey sense, though, you know, he sees a lot of things before. I just think, you know, if you were having that debate, if I was having that debate, you know, I think that there's still a lot that Leo Carlson does that Will Smith just is not physically capable of because of his, you know, physiological makeup, you know, the between the two guys. But, I mean, the thing about Will Smith is, you know, you've got a dynamic element to him.

He would be unlike a lot of what, you know, what Columbus has had in the past. you know, I think that there has been at various points this season questions about whether he had the all-around game to be a center. I think that he answered a lot of those questions this year. I think he drove play a lot. And then, you know, the other thing is he played center all year, you know, whereas Leo Carlson did not. You know, I think that there's a little bit more to it than that. But still, I think that's, if you're going to make the argument, that seems like the argument that you would make. And I think there's a skating differential there, too.

Agreed. Yeah. I think that's the biggest argument is his favor. I think he's got better feet than Carlson. Carlson is bigger and he did it versus men. They're probably a little bit more competitive. So, I mean, it's a close debate one way. But I think you can look at Smith and you can see with the skating, the skill, the hockey sense, him being that kind of play driving,

number one center if he really hits. Well, at four for San Jose, then I think they'd be thrilled to scoop up Leo Carlson. And I think, you know, you pair him with Philip Bistead, who they took last year down the middle, all of a sudden you got two big centermen. They've got some smaller players in the organization already. And I would have honestly been a little bit, you know, you're going to take, I would have taken Will Smith if he was there for them. But I think you can be a little bit worried of are you going to load up on too many smaller forwards,

potentially smaller wingers with top picks after taking William McClend a couple years ago. I think San Jose would be thrilled with this outcome. Now, Chris, if I'm not mistaken, taken you have Mitch Cough two on your personal lifts, correct? No, I have him fourth. Okay, give him fourth. I have Scott. I have him second. I have him second.

I have two. I have him three. For anybody at any of these four picks, how hard are you thinking about it in terms of, again, projecting what's really going to happen? Or are we all thinking these are the four guys? This is going to be in some order. Mitchcoff's

not going here. It feels to me like the only real option is San Jose at four. Columbus, they've got a track record of bringing over Russians. They've done it with a number of players, a handful of players in the last three years, but they just, they need a center as badly as any of these teams do. And they've got obviously Gujarro and Kent Johnson and others on the wing. And then it would be a big, big cut at two.

So it feels like if it's going to be anybody to me that San Jose is the team that would consider it, San Jose has also like Columbus recruited players out of Russia in the last couple of years. and made it a habit. And it sounds like, at least under new management, that they're committed to playing a bit of a long game with that process there. So I think if it is any of those first four, it's likely going to be San Jose that considers it the strongest.

I'll say this, though. In our scenario, though, I think doesn't it seem more likely that Mitchcov is in play for San Jose if Smith is the one that's still on the board there, not Carlson? Yes, no question. I think Carlson makes just a ton of sense. for them. Yeah, the only thing I thought with Columbus is the job security there for the management group. Again, we're projecting what we think is realistically going to happen. And realistically,

if you're in Yarmel, kick a line in shoes right now, where is he on his fourth coach? It's, I can't imagine he's picking a guy who won't be there for minimum the fourth season after you've drafted him. Yeah. All right, Chris, that leaves you with quite the decision to make here at number five for Montreal. The draft starts here, huh? You know, like, I mean, you know, I think, and since we're doing this predictively, I think that this is another situation where you won't see Matt Vei Mitchcove picked. I think that a lot of Habs fans would love to see him picked.

I just don't think that that's going to be in their plans. You know, you think about the top two offensive players for their team, Nick Suzuki, Cole Cofield, how many more, you know, undersized skill players do you want? And as good as Mitchcove is, you know, it's, It's becoming a little redundant. And so I think that they're going to go. I had been saying Reinbacher for a long time. I had been, that's been a lot of my mock, you know, my most recent mock.

That's where I had Reinbacher going. However, the chatter that I continue to hear around the scouting community is just the difference between the forwards and the defensemen is viewed as it is as viewed as fairly significant when we're talking about the top tier guys. I think you're also looking at a situation where you are, you know, we'll see if they bring in Pierre Luc Dubois. They've got another number of moves that they're looking at. However, I go back to the cut Ken Naomi draft. I know we're dealing with a different, you know, a different regime here in terms of the decision makers. So I think at number five, I'll be taking Ryan Leonard. And I will be not passing on the rugged winger that has scoring pop like they did.

with Katkanemi over Brady Kachuk. And I also think that there's a familiarity with Ryan Leonard there. Kent Hughes obviously has been in the Boston area for a long time. That's where Ryan Leonard is from. He's come up through the ranks. And while he is not a six foot, he's just shy of six foot. He measured in at 6.11 and three quarters at the combine. But he plays big.

And I think that a more rugged winger with scoring pop is going to be the order of the day for Kent, Kent Hughes and the administration there. So I think the interesting decision of Montreal is, you know, you went Slavkowski won last year. Yeah. Your other first was Philip Meshire, who is a wing. Cole Koff feels such a huge part of their team right now. Yeah.

You know, maybe Owen Bex's a center in the NHL. Maybe not. We'll kind of see how his career goes. Can he be a legit third-line center or not? I think you look at its organization and you kind of wonder, Like, if you take Leonard, which I've kind of heard the same things, like Chris, I think Ryan Leonard's a real possibility of five, is when do you start addressing the premium positions?

Unless you're happy with your defense, unless you believe Lane Hudson is going to play, and you think Logan Mayhew is going to play and be a good player. And you think Kirby Doc has a long-term future as a top six center in the NHL. And the answers to those questions may all be yes, and you plug in Leonard, and he's a great, player. But I think that's interesting question is when you consider

him versus Reimbacher. Do you address the premium position or do you take another wing even though he's an excellent and uniquely unique wing in terms of the way he plays? Yeah, and I would say that I think that the odds of

Doc sticking at center are solid and being a top six are solid, but I still don't see why that would preclude even sorry, I still don't see why Hudson or or my you playing and panning out would preclude a Reinhbacher pick. I think that's still, even if both of those guys hit, I think that's still something that Montreal could stand to address.

And I think that's what makes it such a tough decision. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with Chris here. I think it's not very possible. But I think that that's what makes it a tough decision for Montreal. How convinced are you that Reinbacher is going to be the top four, top pairing kind of potential guy that you would want to take at fifth overall? I think that's the other thing. And I think that that's really, you know,

The rumors have suggested that the debate is between Reinhuebacher and Leonard here and not Mitch Kov. What history tells you then that when in that, if that is a debate, then that the management's typically favor the defensemen when that happens? I believe so. Yeah. Yeah. But if you're especially confident that Leonard is a, not just like a foundational forward for you. I feel like he's the safer projection between the two players personally. He also gives them a sort of scoring and competitiveness element that say what you will about what the rest of their forwards up front look like. But that is, those are two things that they would absolutely covet in this scenario. Yeah, it's a need.

That's a need. He'll drag everybody else into the fight. He's going to score some goals and put the puck in the back of the net. And they need both of those elements on top of the fact that I would just add that, obviously Kent Hughes is a Boston guy. He's a Western Mass kid. Didn't play on those Boston teams that Kent coached growing up. Right.

He would be pretty intimately familiar with Ryan Leonard as a Western mass kid who played on some of those all-star teams with Will Smith and those other kids, right? So there's a tie-in there. Not that that's a sort of deciding factor, but it does feel like it doesn't hurt Leonard's case. All right, Scott, why don't you go on the clock now for Arizona? Yeah, this one's interesting because we know that they,

we know that they took a few players to dinner. They took Dvorsky, they took Leonard, they took Lander, they took Benson, they took Jagger, but they've also got picks at 6 and 12. And we also know that they've used a lot of their recent picks on forwards at the top of the draft light. So Logan Cooley and Connor Geiki last year, Dylan Genther, before that, they've invested serious resources into taking forwards with their sort of premium assets. So it does feel like Reimbacker is the natural choice here.

And then in saying that, I know when I was doing my report, on my story that I did right before U18 Worlds on Dalboar Divorsky that the AIC staff told me that the team that had been on Dvorski the most all year, bar none, was the Arizona Coyotes. And that plus the dinner that they had with him, I think it's not as cut and dry as take the defenseman and take Rinebacker and move on here. I still think that's where I'm going to go here. But I think it's closer to 50-50 than people may realize with Dvorsky.

Just get the hunch and the sense that they really, really like Dallabor and that he'd fit into their plans as if you're one, two, three down the middle is Logan Cooley-Doward Vorky and then one of Barrett Haten or Connor Geeky. That's a pretty good young sort of nucleus down the middle that they can play around with for the next few years. And Dvorsky would also fit into the timeline that they're sort of operating under with potential relocation, potential new arena. He'd just signed in the S-H-L through until 2025.

So I think there's a lot about Dvorsky that makes a lot of sense for them. But I think at the end of the day, you just have to be a lot of it. have to come back to the fact that they've invested a lot at forward, Reinebacker's there, Reimbacker fits in as a potential sort of number two, number three defensemen for them. And that just, that makes a lot of sense for them as well.

So I'll go Reimbacker with the caveat that I, I think there's a real good chance. This is Dvorisky, especially if Reinebacker goes five to Montreal, right? Yeah, I agree on terms of the Ryanback situation there. And I think that's what, there's two really interesting questions. I think with this pick at six for Arizona.

It's, I think the defenseman conundrum is real. I think, you know, this is now a team without Oliver Beck and Larsen in the mix anymore, without Jacob Chicken in the mix anymore. Victor Soderstrim, their 11th overall pick a few years ago, hasn't really developed at the pace that they want him to. So this is an organization that needs defense talent. They have picks of six and 12.

I think you have to, if you're the coyotes, you have to come away with the defenseman or try to, at least, with those picks, a six and 12. And if Ryan backers here at six, I think it makes that plan really easy. but if Montreal goes Ryanbacker at five, that's where I think it really makes this pick really interesting because I think the people in the week will tell you the best player available is as Scott said, Dvorsky or Ryan Leonard. But do you go that there or do you take a defenseman?

Is this where you take Dimitri Simischov? This is where you take Tomulander? Or do you kind of wait and are Axel-Santin-Pelker, whoever, or do you hope one of them is there at 12 that you're really high on? And then the second question is Matvei Michko. We didn't really touch on it as much in the Montreal pick, but I think it's worth discussing here in Arizona is, you know, why not Mitchcoff to Arizona?

I think some people in the league would argue, well, there are several years out. They may not even have a rink for several years. Why is this not a fit? And my thinking on that is because you don't have a rink and because you don't have certainty, you need to get this guy signed. And you need to convince them to be part of your organization. And can you feel confident that you can do that?

Yeah, I think that's actually one of the factors here is that, you know, what is what a part of the risk of Mitchkov isn't, you know, he has leverage. He doesn't have to sign with you. He could, I mean, he wants to play in the NHL. But I think that he has enough leverage to kind of not dictate where he goes, but to like, if Arizona were to draft him, what, what assurances would they have that he'd ever sign there? And that's, and that becomes the issue because he can make a lot of money in Russia. I know he wants to play in the NHL. I don't have any question he will eventually. And maybe you can use him as a trade chip,

but I think that's way too much to leave the chance with that valuable of a pick in this particular draft. On top of that, I just think in Nashville, these meetings that he's going to have with these clubs next week take on so much more meaning. And that would be even more pronounced for both sides of the equation in any conversations between Michkov and Arizona over the next few days just because who knows, right?

And who knows from him and where he's, he's at. I do know that there were players at the top of last year's draft that we're hoping that they weren't through their agents, et cetera, that we're hoping that they weren't going to go to Arizona. I think it's not at them all at sort of this point in time. It's not a desirable place for these kids to land. And when you're Matt Bay Michikov and you've got sort of more risk associated, it just seems to heighten all of these. And then on top of that, this is just so late in the process for those kinds of conversations and these kinds of introductions in terms of him meeting with teams in Nashville, that you're going to have to make, both sides are going to have to

make really good impressions on each other. It just feels like there's enough opportunity in a conversation between Arizona and Michigog for that to just not break the right way. I think Mitchcoff is going to still be a focus here at seven here. So, Corey, why don't we put you on the clock there for Philadelphia? No, I mean, he will be a focus. And I think everybody is kind of betting on him going to Washington net eight. But I think Philly's going to break their hearts here and they're going to take the Russian. And I saw Daniel Breyer's kind of presser today, and he's kind of talked, you know, I think the general mood out of Philly has been long-term rebuild and be patient.

And this is going to take some time. And like I said, Breyer was talking about, you know, we're talking about how this player is going to look, you know, several years down the line, not helping us in one or two years. And you look at some of the moves they make, they've clearly got some political capital with this new management group. to take some time, to tear some things down, to try and retool. And you've got a, you know, a core now that has cut or Goce in it. You're probably going to have a very high pick again next year.

And, you know, I think you at with Goce and now Montfei Michkov, I think you now and probably some, you know, whoever you pick a 22. And then again, next year, I think you start to see the core coming together. If Ryan Leonard was here, I think it would be very tempting to Philadelphia. But I'm going to give him Mitchcoff here. All right. That puts Washington in a fascinating situation at number eight because I think it has been Michigan, Mitchkoff to Washington, Mitchkov to Washington the whole way.

If he's off the board by the time they're there, I think their best bet is probably to grab a center, whether that be Delabor Dvorovsky and Nate Danielson. I think they're going to need to restock that premium position here. And I think I would lean Dvorsky, but I don't know Chris Scott Corey, are you guys hearing any specific names here? The only thing I would think of is if they did go Danielson is Ross Mahoney is their head scout. He's plugged into the West as anybody. I don't know whether he likes a player or not, but I mean, they are a team that has a very good feel on the Western League,

but I would kind of tend to agree with you. I would guess it would be Dvorseky. Yeah, there's just been such a groundswell of Dvorsky. You don't hear a bad thing from anybody when you ask around about him at this point. the UA teens just seem to push him from that 10 to 15 conversation into this range. It doesn't feel like he's going to linger much longer than this. So I think Dvorsky at eight if he's there and he's the sort of last of that that group of eight that seems to have developed,

it makes a lot of sense that Washington would take him. Even after taking centers in theory centers, right, and Hendricks Lapier and Connor McMichael, but you don't know what you're getting out of either of those two kids at this point. There's question marks about both of those kids. So they're not reason enough not to take a center here. Both of them may be wingers in the NHL. I've been putting together the consensus big board here that'll run on Friday.

And it was interesting. Dvorski is six on that list, which includes all three of your rankings, Bob McKenzie's and Craig Buttons. He's sixth on that list, despite not clocking in at sixth or higher on any of them. And it's just what Scott said. You just don't find anyone who doesn't like this guy. And he rises on the back of that. I think it's really interesting. Yeah.

All right, Chris, that puts you. you up for Detroit at number nine and good luck with this. Yeah, I know. When I saw, when I saw that I got Detroit and you got to try and get inside the mind of Steve Eiserman and Chris Draper and the brain trust there, I was just like, oh, man, that ain't good. Because it's hard. It's hard because I think they have a lot of different, a lot of different ways they can go with this pick.

And, you know, to me, you look. We've talked a lot about the size and the different things of the guys in this draft. And you think about the guys that are going to be here at this range. You got Benson. You've got Perrault. You know, and then you've got other, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you've got wood. You know, Barlow is not much bigger than the other guys, but he's is above six foot. You know, you've got the Oliver Moore and the speed factor and different things like that.

There's so many different guys that I think you could kind of pull here. I think, you know, they're right in his backyard. They should have a really good book. on them. You know, you continue to get more skilled and more dynamic as a team if you draft Gabe Perot. If you draft Gabe Perot in this range, you are getting a player that, you know, has shattered any expectations of production at the NTDP. I think that, you know, it would be great to get bigger, but I just think they need more help on the wing. You know, they've got some guys that are going to be their long-term guys down the middle. You know, I think that I,

I have high expectations for Marco Casper long term down the middle for them. But this is such a, you know, and I really had to wait to see how the rest of the board would go. You hope that maybe somebody takes a swing and, you know, Dvorisky's there or something like that. I have mocked Matthew Wood to them as well. I think that that's a real possibility of getting bigger and more scoring, you know, getting a guy that's going to play well down low. And also, but, you know, I just, you know, somebody pointed out to me, and I, He's like, yeah, he may not really fit the, the Eiserman mold of a pick necessarily, if there is such a thing. I mean, sometimes you have to wonder.

That being wood or Perot? Wood, sorry. Yeah. I mean, because Max and I kind of debated this earlier today because I mocked Perot to Detroit a nine. And I think the Detroit faithful that's that Max brings to the athletic, you know, we're worried that it's just another guy who kind of looks like Lucas Raymond. and he's not that big, he's not that fast, but he's got all this skill and he works hard enough. And it's like, what we do?

We have two of these guys in our top six. And that's when I really start to think about Matt Wood as a real possibility here to Detroit at 9. And as we get closer to the draft, I'm starting to hear a lot more people express support for this guy than I had all season. Not surprising after his great U.A team world championships. And you're right, he doesn't fit the,

maybe the high compete mold that Detroit targets high in the draft, typically. But he is 6'4. He has a ton of offensive abilities. And, you know, he has great skill. Hockey sense, goal scoring ability. He was really good in college this year. So you just talked me into it.

Yeah. I know. It's, it's a, I think it would be a, because I don't think I had in my last mock draft, too. You can take it. It's not too late. Are we locked it? Did I, did I submit the pick to the central registry yet? The next pick isn't off the board.

We can play by different. rules here. All right. So there it is. Okay. Well, that's who I mocked in my last draft. And now Corey's talked me back into it because you're right. Because I do, that was my debate with Perrault. It's just, you know, now you've got Raymond and Perot. That's, you know, and I think, like, you can have smaller players on your team. You can have guys that are undersized. You can do that. You just can't have a ton of them high up in your lineup. It just, it just doesn't work. But this is like where the tension is that I don't think either of those guys are ideal. Eisenman picks high in the draft.

Right. And, you know, you know, Gabe competes well, but it's not like any elite compete type. And Wood is, you know, he's big, but he's not super competitive. It's,

it's, you know, Benson has the elite motor, but he's five foot nine. It's, it's an interesting conundrum there, I think, them at that exact spot,

given what we think is going to be on the board. Yes. Yeah. So I'll, yeah, go on. Sorry, Scott. Go ahead. No, I was just to say the other layer to it is,

is there, is there an opportunity that any of these teams consider that Matt might be able to move back to center. He played wing exclusively at Yukon last year, but played center exclusively in the BCHL for his two seasons in the BCHL. That's another factor, I think, for Detroit. Ideally, they'd love to get a center here. Does he play with the competitive music center?

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I just don't think he has the feat. Yeah, I don't think he has the feet. Or there. There's one more guy here. Yeah, right, right. That I think we should be talking about, though. And that's Samuel Hansick, who.

I realize it's not Matthew Wood, Gabe Perrault kind of skill. But I think when you project what his offense might have been over a full season had he not gotten hurt, he does have more of those peripheralizerment traits. We know that, you know, Hansik described his interview with Detroit at the Combine as his best one. I think he belongs in that mix. And I don't think it's out of the question that he ends up turning in to a, you know, 50 to 60 point winger who compliments all these guys really well. Maybe he doesn't have the pure skill, but I think he belongs in that conversation. And if this pick goes the way, if this draft goes the way that we have it, Max, I mean, you know, I know that Steve and his immediate availability said that, you know, they did not have plans to trade the pick. But is, if it goes this way, is there any possibility that you try to trade down and maybe, you know, or is there, are you leaving too much to chance just because there's a lot of good players in this range here?

I think we would need to know their tears. It would surprise me just because I feel like, you know, the message the whole way has been, you know, need high-end players, need high-end players, which doesn't scream trade back, especially when you already have 17. But if you have four guys in a tier and you want to go back to, if Arizona wants to come up and I guess in this scenario, they already got a D or if there's somebody they love, you know, I don't know. But it's a good question.

But I just feel like the emphasis has been on getting this high end that they're missing. And I feel like you don't usually get that by going backward. But I don't know. True, true. No, that's fair. All right. Let's go to number 10 here and we're going to take a break after that. but let's go to St. Louis here at number 10.

Yeah, so I'd have jotted down in my notes here that I think this comes down to if one of the sort of top D are available and it's not going to be Rhynebacker. So if you believe that they're going to covet a player like Tom Wander, then it has to be him. I think ideally they'd like to get a C or a D here, even if Gabe Perra is there, even if Zach Benson's there, they've gone to the winger well consistently at the top of the draft in recent years. Even Zach Bullduke, who played some center in minor hockey growing up,

is going to be a winger in the NHL. We know that Jimmy Snuggaroo is going to be a winger in the NHL. You go down the list. So this is going to be CRD here. But I think with Wollander, he just makes a lot of sense as a player that they like. I mean, they've targeted two things above all else in their defensemen, not just on the amateur side, but on the pro side in terms of free agency and trades that they've made in St. Louis over the years.

And they want guys who can skate and who can defend and who can play in transition. and that's what Tom Wander does. So I think they give consideration to an Oliver Moore or an 8 Daniels, or Braille-Meager, those next three Cs here. I'm sure we'll be in the conversation for them. But I think if Wollander's there, he makes the most sense in terms of just grounding out their pool on defense

and giving them that sort of premium two-way defender. All right, we are back in Corey. That puts you and the Vancouver Canucks on the clock. Yeah, and I think if Vancouver's in a really similar position to St. Louis in that a lot of their premium draft assets in recent years have been used on the wings. There's a pressing need in the organization for centers. There's even more pressing or needing the organization for defensemen. And the only difference between their situation and the blue situation is they pick one pick later. And what do you know what? Tom Mowander goes at 10

to St. Louis. And now they have to ask some hard questions. Are we going Russian here? Are we taking Demetri Simashev here at 11, or do we go with the center at 11? I think they've expressed a lot of interest in Nate Danielson. I think Nate Danielson makes a lot of sense to them at 11 as a two-way center with size, who can skate and has skill. And I think he would fill a lot of organizational needs and be a very good player as well. So we will give Nate Danielson to the Canucks at 11. All right.

So that goes to Arizona. Arizona got the D early, which I think helps them here because they could be in a little bit of a pickle otherwise, although Dmitri Simmership is still there. I think this puts it to Arizona. Do you want to take one of these smaller skilled wingers, a Gabe Perrault or Zach Benson, or do you want to go for a forward of whatever position with a little more size and muscle to him? I'm thinking Hans, like I'm thinking to Neil Boot. I think I'm going to give them boot here.

I don't know that this is a little bit of a guess, but I feel like he's got kind of the attributes to complement some of the skill that they've picked up. in their recent classes, whether you think of a Logan Cooley, whether you think of a Dylan Genther. You know, maybe there's a little bit of a wait time, but I don't think it's an extreme one, certainly not on the Mitchkov level. And I would say the theme in the league is everybody believes they want to get bigger.

How will they do it and exactly how big is big? And, you know, what you have to give back in other parts of the game. But I do think whether it's, you know, Hansik, whether it's Matt Wood, you know, there's other players that can be picked high, you know, but like maybe Koi Marl isn't that big, for example. But I do think they want to get bigger. Sends it back to Chris for Buffalo at number 13. Yeah, this is an interesting one too because I think, you know,

you look at what they have. You know, they've obviously used a lot of draft capital on the blue line. They've gotten some really good forwards. They've got some good scoring wings. They've got a lot, you know, so I think that they have a lot of options available to them. And they're also in a position where they can wait a little bit. And, you know, especially since they're so, good on the you know in terms of of depth on the left side this is where i think it makes sense for a

team to go and and take a dmitri simishov and simishov to me um you know and he's he's lower on my list because of you know the the various risks associated i think there's you know the the offensive upside is is you know i know i i think it did improve like i think that we saw a little bit more of what's in his toolkit as the season progressed this year and so i'm less concerned about that but I think if you're specifically Buffalo, you know, you can potentially grab another high-end defenseman, a guy that's going to defend very well that keeps your blue line mobile enough. You know, you look at the long term and you say,

okay, well, we've got, we've got Dahlene, we've got power. And now, you know, we've got Matthias Amos and now we've got Simashev as well. You know, like I do think that that makes sense. And since you are not in a rush to get that player over here, you know, I think they, you know, I think they're going to have some stop gap. defenseman, I think they're going to probably try to address that at the NHL level in the more short term. But if you're looking long term and you know, you think about that blue line long term, all of a sudden you're building an absolute juggernaut of a blue line. You're also going to have

an ELC coming over at a time when you're really going to need it when power gets paid and once Dahlene is paid. Great point. And yeah. I was just going to say they've also recently signed who Kisikov, Nukhov, Novakov, Komarov. They've, they've committed to, several Russian prospects and have signed them out of Russia, obviously different in Comrob situation because he's playing in QMJHL. But the other three guys that I just listed there are all over in Russia and have recently been signed by that club. So they clearly feel comfortable with their connections over there.

Yep. All right, Scott, that puts you on the clock for Pittsburgh at number 14. Yeah, an interesting one because I think they're in a position where the pool is the pool. We all know it. It's ugly. There's nothing there. It's not like they have holes to plug. It's not like they have an abundance in it.

one way. This is really their first major asset that they've had at the draft in some time. And we know that it didn't work out with Samuel Pooling. I'm sure like they hoped it would either. So they feel like, to me, a team that just needs to take a really talented player and take a cut here. I think Kyle will be prepared to do that, just knowing the way that he's drafted in the past. He likes competitive players. He likes smart players.

And in previous drafts, I'd gone to players like in mock drafts. I've gone to players like Matt Wood and Samuel Huff. Cronzic here and that kind of a thing. But I think with Benson being available here, Benson just fits so well in terms of at least what Kyle liked in Toronto. And also just in adding a really talented player to a pool that hasn't had one in a long, long time while also having that sort of competitive work ethic engine piece to his game that everybody admires about Zach. So I think Benson will be my pick here for Pittsburgh. Yeah. One quick thing about Pittsburgh before we move on to is, you know, when you have this

kind of regime change. You know, the interesting thing is that you've got Kyle there, but now you still have, you know, Nick Pryor running your draft and is the director of amateur scouting. You still have a lot of the same pieces from before. And it'll be interesting to see that kind of push-pull dynamic of, you know, a new general manager putting a stamp on a team or, you know, allowing that group to go with what they had. And, you're right, Scott. I mean, they just need players.

And, I mean, especially, I think, you know, Benson's value only shoots up the further down the board. he goes here. And, you know, I think it makes a lot of sense to me that that could, that could very well have been the pick anyway. And I think with Pittsburgh at 14 and even Washington at 8, it's the aging core question. And it's, is this even the team making the pick question? And I think like what?

I think everybody's always talked about what Pittsburgh trading the pick of 14. But I think Washington training the pick at 8 is at least a somewhat real realistic possibility, especially as it plays out as above and Mitch Kov has gone. that I think you have to ask, okay, we take Dvorsky realistically. When's he coming? Two years, three years, four years. He's going to be helping us win games. Is that really going to help Alice Olvechkin right now?

Yeah. Well, maybe that makes a Matt Wood compelling here in its own way, too. You've got a kid who's already played a year of college who may be able, within a year or two or two and done or three and done player in college and make that jump. Maybe he can fit into this window in a way that Zach Benson may not be able to, at least not quite as quickly. but it does still feel like Benson's just lingering here and that Pittsburgh could be a team that sort of covets what he brings to the table

and also just in a situation with Kyle at the helm where he can afford to take a swing here. And if I recall correctly, Kyle said he was really, really comfortable in his opening press conference with this draft class specifically. He made a point of saying that. So I think he'll have done his homework to compliment Nick Pryor and the rest of the group there. All right. Where does that leave us? that puts us at Nashville at number 15, Corey.

You know, when I've been trying to think of who Nashville is going to draft, when I'm doing going through my mock drafts, I've been thinking of big toolsy guys. I think of this could be a Samuel Hansick landing spot. I've thought of David Edstrom. I've thought of Quentin Musty. I've thought of Daniel Boot here. But none of these scenarios that I think Gabriel Perra was still going to be on the board.

Because it feels like the momentum for him in the league has been in the opposite direction where he just, I just keep hearing really, really positive things about him around the league. And I did not, you know, think that he would be available at 15. And he almost wasn't. He was going to Detroit at 9 before I whispered in the GM's ear as he was going up. And then he announced a different name when he got onto the stage. And, but I think in this scenario, he's just too good, too skilled, too smart, Gabriel Perrault to the National Predators. And Barry Trots has said that he wants someone who's going to get fans out of their seats in Nashville. I think Gabriel Perrault certainly qualifies, right?

Like the line was something like, I can find you good bottom six players. I want some flash and skill. That's Gabe Perrault all day. My only caveat there would be they've taken a lot of winners at the draft in recent years. Yolkeem Kemel, Zachary Leroux, you go down the list. It's even Luke Angelica. Yeah, I was going to say Luke Evangelista is going to play the wing. Who knows what fit or good.

Spetchkov will be. So they feel to me like a team that could covet a center here. But I know, Corey's absolutely right. I mean, Gabe being available there, it would be hard for them to pass up, especially with Barry Trots' sort of take swings approach that he's been parroting. All right. That goes to me at Calgary, number 16. And I think they would have to be thrilled to get Samuel Hansick there.

Another team that I think, you know, in fact, reading Julian McKenzie's story today, his interview with Todd Button, certainly sounds like a team that wants to get bigger. This is a Tulsie player who I think does have the upside to be a legit top six piece for them. I think Calgary is thrilled if Samuel Hansik falls to him at 16. I would agree with you, Max. I think that's great. Now I just looked at the draft board again and what happened here? I've got a pick for Detroit again.

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. No, I think Hanzek makes a lot of sense for Calgary. And I think that would be a very astute pick for them. So I think when you get to Detroit at this point, there's a lot of sense. a different, I think there's a different tier of players that you're operating under. I think that there's, you know, you do have to have that Axel Sandine-Pellica discussion at this point. You know, you have to say, hey, you know, we've got a chance to get a guy that's got some mobility. They

can move pucks. You know, we've, we've got some needs there. And I think for, for me, at the end, like, I think it comes down between him and I think Oliver Moore would be another guy that would be get some strong consideration here. You know, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, add that speed dynamic to your roster. But you're talking, you know, two guys that don't have necessarily size on their hand. But I think when you look at Sandy Pelica and you say, okay, well, we've got, we've got some really good talented young guys that are in our system already. And guys like Edvenson and a whole bunch more, you know, the Red Wings are not shy about

selecting Swedes. As Max, you well know, is you keep getting these trips to Sweden out of the deal. So, you know, but I think that I think that that's, you know, ultimately a range. Like I think they could do well to get a top tier defender here, a guy that could potentially be a top four guy. And then, you know, it just, it just seems to fit in terms of the way that they draft as well. I think you're right that they don't shy away from the Swedes.

And I've thought about Axel Sending Pelka at the 17 pick with them. You know, it's quite a bit actually. But the question is, is when you love. look at Eisenman's draft history, he doesn't like this type of defenseman, typically, who of this size, but is Sandin Pelka just so skilled that it overcomes that? And especially since I would argue, he's a competitive player, too. Like, he's got a little bit of a, he's not going to run people over, but he's got a little bit of bite in him.

Yes, he does. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think, too, like, just the hockey sense element for him is, is pretty good. Like, you know, I think that's another thing that'll speak to, you know, and advancing up the ranks playing in a substantial role as a as an older player. I mean, you know, and, you know, Steve, Steve Eisenman did once take Tony DiAngelo in the first round at this size. So, but I think, I don't think we're dealing with the same kind of player here with the Sandy Pelica. Well, what I would say is,

I think what this comes down to is what does Hawken Anderson think of Axel Sandian Pelica? If Hawken Anderson's going to pound the table for this guy, then I do think he would be a strong candidate. Right. Yeah. But I like your Oliver Moore fallback. I have to say, I think that that would be a really good outcome for them too. Yeah. I know the winds are blowing toward Tom Hollander going over Sandin Pelica. I believe that's the order it should be in.

I think that's what's going to happen on draft day. But there's still quite a few scouts who have it the other way. Yep. And who believes Sandin Pelica is a second best defenseman in the draft. All right. That puts us on to number 18. Scott, that goes to you in the Winnipeg Jets. Yeah, we're kind of in a situation that,

that Corey and I shared when we did our sort of trading mock draft here where I think the Jets would love to get one of those four defensemen in a best case scenario. It just feels to me like that's not going to be an option for them though. They've used, I mean, we don't, they've used a ton of assets on forwards. Rucker McGarady, Brad Lambert, Chas Lucius, Cole Profetti, like it's been constant for them in terms of forwards. And yet once those guys are gone, is a team going to feel comfortable here taking an Oliver Bunk or a Tanner Mollandik or a Lucas Dregasovic or an Atyn Mare? And I think the answer is probably no, which turns you back to some of the high-end forwards that are still left. So now do you take another sort of smaller guy, if you will?

I mean, or do you go after a little bit of size that you may be lacked when you drafted Chaz and when you drafted Cole? I think the more likely scenario is that they go after someone who can score, someone who provides a little bit more of a competitive edge. So I wonder whether this is maybe the landing spot for Quentin Musti or for Colby Barlow. I'll go Colby Barlow here just because this does feel like the range he's going to go. He's got in terms of flavor. He looks a little bit like what they targeted in record in the birdie last year, really athletic kid, really strong kid, the leadership qualities that they

liked in Rutger McGrody are the same leadership qualities that everybody likes in Colby Barlow. And then he can he can shoot the puck and sort of help them as they transition away from Blake Wheeler and Pierre Luke Dubois and their sort of current core of forwards. I didn't know Winnipeg was allowed to pass up an NCDP kid. Yeah, I mean, you know, well, they eventually leave, right? That's true. When Scott was making that pick, I was like, pick a Canadian, pick a Canadian, pick a Canadian. Because I really do, because I do think that that is something that they have to at least consider at this point.

They've gone to that well so many times. And then you, you know, you're starting a seven-year clock whenever they get to the NHL, it seems like. Corey, you're up now at number 19 for Chicago. I think this range of the draft is interesting. Just because Scott alluded, I think, you know, this is an above-average draft. So I think this still happens around 18, 19, 20. And other drafts happen, maybe 14, 15, 16, where the top tier is still on the board. but you don't have your pick of the top tier anymore.

It's just what's left. And there's still a couple of top tier forwards left. We have Brayn-Legger left. We have Oliver Moore left. And I think Chicago would like to add to their forward group. This is a team that just lost Jonathan Taze and Patrick King. They need a lot of skill. They got it out one, but they need more of it.

They added, you know, Frank Nazar last year, but they still need a lot more. And, you know, with Bedard and with Nazar, those are small guys in an ideal world. Again, if you're picking earlier, you can get some size with the skating and the skill, but we don't live in that ideal world. You get what you get at 19. I think they will be between Braden Yeager and Oliver Moore here. This is how the board played out. And I'm going to give them Yeager here just like I did in my last mock draft.

I like it. I think Seattle, in that scenario at 20, has to be very happy to take Oliver Moore and extend their center depth. They've come away from their first couple of drafts with Maddie Baneers and Shane right and you know the success this year you know supposed to kind of put them out of the range to get another premium position and you know you can argue whether more is really a premium player or not but i think he certainly has a premium asset in his skating and if he ends up the third line center for this team i think he could be one of the better third line centers in the league

i think there is like i think he fits really well in as a third line center too because i don't know if you just kind of with the program i don't know if you want him to be the guy and like you're one of your main offensive contributors but i think he can be a really good secondary offensive guy who can be excellent in possession, kill penalties, and do a lot of things to help you win. My only question with Moore in Seattle would be, suddenly you've drafted a lot of 5-11, 5-foot-10 types up front. Yeager Fergus, David Goyette, Oliver Moore, even Shane Wright and Maddie Baneers aren't exactly

sort of bigger guys, if you will. So I was always circling like a Quinton Mustie there or someone who added a little bit more a little bit more length. I think Perfect World, I would have loved to take a D for them, but I just don't see the value here at this pick with this board. Because they still haven't used a premium pick on a D yet, although Riker Evans progressing obviously really well. But that probably would have been my first priority.

And I think Musti, that makes a lot of sense. But more it is, I'm not going to pull a Peters here. And we'll take a quick break. We'll get right back into it for the last 12 with the first round. All right, we are back and dive in right back into our first round. on mock draft. We're going to go to number 21 at Minnesota and Chris Peters. Yeah, I think this is an area, you know, we've, we've kind of been talking around a couple of guys, one that we haven't really mentioned a whole lot yet as the guys with a little bit of size and still have some

offensive pop is Callum Richie. You know, he's got that 6-2 frame. He's a, you know, can play center. Probably, you know, I think there's a good chance he's a winger, you know, played through an injury throughout this year. I think it really impacted him. You know, I, He was inconsistent this year, no question about it. You know, if you look at the entire body of work, I think that there's a lot there to look at and to like about the player. And I think that you take advantage of kind of a down year for him, getting him a little bit later than maybe he could have gone in any other years,

especially given the size. And you take Callum Ritchie at 21. Not to drag this on too long here, but that Oshawa team was terrible too. Like, they just had nothing to happen. It doesn't help. similar to Nate Danielson and Brandon, where you can only do so much when you're the only weapon out there kind of thing. So I could see him really popping next year as that team gets a year older and sort of having what a Connor McMichael or Philip Thomasino did in their post-draft season where suddenly they go from point per game to 100 points kind of thing.

I think he could chase that down. Scott, let's go to you here with Philadelphia. Yeah, I think the first pick is really going to help determine this second pick. I think ideally they'd like to go a D. We've heard Keith Jones in multiple of his sort of conversations, whether it's radio, podcast, his opening sort of presser, etc. He's talked about how he's going to build this team. Him and Danny are going to build this team from the back end.

I think if they go Mischkov at 7, that it's much more likely that they use one of these on a defenseman. In saying that, though, it wouldn't shock me if they took another, if they're a team that's now comfortable all of a sudden taking him at Bay Mischkov, I wonder whether they're a team that's comfortable taking an Edward Shalai too, right? And just doubling down, injecting some skill into the, into the roster here and sort of going about it that way. In saying that, though, I do still think if they go, if they go Meechkov at 7, you're probably going to see them take a D here.

So I'll go Oliver Bonk, who seems to have sort of established himself as that next guy once those big boys are gone, if you will. Just a sort of projectable, quote unquote, safe pick, if you will, really well-rounded kid, maybe doesn't have a defining quality, but can defend and has a little bit of offense and sort of looks like he's going to be an NHL player. I'm the Rangers GM here at Kick 23, and I'm just devastated right now, because I was just ready to call that name,

right back before the Flyers picked him at 22. And now it's interesting buying here for the Rangers. I think you do, like, with how much talent they have on the wings, I think you would like to see them get a center or defenseman, get some size into the organization as well. I was thinking of Bonk, I'm thinking of David Edstrom here. I'm thinking of Charlie Stramel here.

I think it could be Edstrom or Stramel, just my hunch. I think the way the league is trending right now, more people in the league would take Edstrom over Stramel. Just the way that organization seems to think and prioritize player types, I just think Charlie Stramel feels like a ranger with the nastiness in his game to go with the size, you know, their director of amateur scouting and John Lilly's, you know, has probably seen him for a very long time based in the U.S. And that's just my hunch.

I don't know. Chris, where do you think Stramel will end on draft day? Yeah, I mean, I think that because of this, you know, this kind of dearth of these, bigger players, these big, with athletic tools, you know, I think that a lot of teams understand how bad Wisconsin was last year. And I think there are absolutely concerned. about the hockey sense, I still think really anywhere here in these next 10 picks or the very, very beginning of the second round, I think it's a wide range because definitely there are people

that just don't think Stramel thinks at all. There are people that have seen him, you know, play it much better than he did this year that would say they would take a chance on the athletic toolkit. So I think this definitely makes sense. I think he's the kind of player that the Rangers would like to get into their system. They have, you know, a group of players up, at the top of their lineup that Stramel could potentially fit in and kind of more of the middle to the bottom of the lineup in the future. And, you know, I think that with the way Mike Hastings is going to probably transform Wisconsin over the next couple of years here that he's going to get trained up

really well in the defensive elements of the game, which I thought he showed great improvement in this year, especially when we saw him at the World Junior's playing in a pretty prominent defensive role. I also think, Corey, you know, I'm not ready to sleep on the upside for Stramel either. tough college freshman year being what it was. I'm not ready to erase the memory card on what we'd seen from Stramwell previous. This still could be a pick that has upside. Yep, I agree.

Yeah. All right, number 24, I had the opposite reaction when Scott took Bonk at 22 because I think Edward Shala sounds a lot like what the National Predators are trying to target right now in taking a little bit of a swing. And so I think he fits that nicely. He gives them some offense. You're going to question how much of it's going to come through. but I think that upside is there.

You know, for a guy who entered this class, this cycle as a, you know, top 10, top 15 name, getting him at 24 seems like a really good outcome for the predators. Boy, for an organization that has lacked skilled forwards up front since basically its inception, to add Gabe Perot and Edward Chalet would certainly sort of change that dynamic. All right. On to number 25 here. That is Chris for the St. Louis Blues, their second pick of the day. Yeah, I think, you know, we're going to see this little run on some of the bigger forwards that have a little, you know, a couple of questions about them. And I go with Quentin Mustie here. You know, he's got size skating. The skating ability is certainly the concern. But I think that his offensive game has really flourished in the last year. He played exceptionally well, you know, big time producer. He's got, you know, a little, he's not, he's not a massive guy. He's, you know, like six, close to six two, six one, six two range. And.

he's got the offensive ability. You've already got the defenseman that we took earlier with Lander, and now you've got a scoring winger here, a guy that can play with some burliness and heaviness on top of his offensive ability. All right, Scott, number 26 for San Jose. Yeah, this is a tricky one because San Jose's drafted a lot of 5'11 forwards in recent years, and it feels to me like they would love to have had their hands

on a Quinton Mustie if he were still here, just a winger. They could actually use a couple of wingers within their pool and a winger with some size in particular. With him gone, no, the one player that I've been hearing just only positive things about over the last month or so in terms of just how high he may go and maybe surprise some people as Otto Stenberg. We know that they've gone to Sweden consistently with San Jose. We know that that new management group has talked about wanting sort of well-rounded, competitive, versatile players. Stenberg sort of fits that, can play center, he can play the wing, he can play up and down a lineup, he can penalty kill, he can. play on the power play. So I think Stenberg is, he's going to go maybe even earlier than this and feels to me

like if he's there, even though he sort of offers a lot of what they already have, that Stenberg could be a fit here for San Jose. All right. Corey to Colorado, number 27. Colorado, in my experience, under the Joe Sacchar regime, tends to really prioritize athleticism. I've thought of Tanner Mollandick with them. I've thought of Gavin Brinley with them.

I thought of guys like Theo Linstein, but the way this mock draft played out that David Edstrom is still on the board at 27, and you can get a 6'4-3 center who can skate and provide some secondary offense. I think they are thrilled in this scenario to add a center prospect like him at 27. I just got sniped on behalf of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's going to be interesting how Bradshaw Living approaches. We don't really have a book on him in Toronto.

yet. Obviously, we know how he drafted with Calgary, but new scouting staff, new preferences. I don't really know which way to lean here, to be honest. But I do like Gavin Brinley. And I think while he is a smaller player and there may be some, you know, comments made about that joining the Toronto mix. He is a nice blend of skill and motor and skating. And I just would have a hard time seeing it. You know, obviously, smaller player can miss. But I really like his odds of being one of the guys to beat that history. Let's go to 29 now. Chris, you're back on the clock for the blues. Yeah, and you know, when you have multiple picks and you, you know, you can kind of get a little more aggressive and, you know, I know, there's, there's debate about whether or not you should do that or can do that. And while I don't think he necessarily fits their, their profile of the kind of guys they draft, you know, I think Corey, I see Corey,

we have a doc open. I see Corey was trying to guess where I was going with this. And, you know, and so let's see, there's a couple of different ways that I wanted, I was thinking about going with this. So I started my lean and now I just want to explain a little bit more. So you've got, you know, the potential, do you believe Joel Holfer is your goalie of the future?

If you do, then you're probably less likely to take a goalie, but I think you could start considering Michael Harabal here, you know, as a long-term guy, a guy that you're not going to need for a while. But I do think there's enough here. I think like Theo Lindstein might be a fit, but we've already, you know, so you want to get Tom Vlander and Theo Lindstein into the mix there. But I'm going to go something that I would not always expect St. Louis to do here. And I think they, with this third pick, they go a little bit of the higher risk.

potential for high reward, and they take Andrew Crystal. All right. On to number 30 for Carolina, Scott. Yeah, so Carolina, I mean, and maybe no team in terms of amateur scouting has shown more of a type and more of a trend in terms of the types of players that they like. And yet, at this point in the draft, I think there's going to be several players that just fit as Carolina Hurricanes. I think they could really like Bradley Nadeau here and the skill skating element that he

provides. I think they could really like Riley Hight here in terms of. of the center who sort of fits into the mold that they targeted in Seth Jarvis and the mold they targeted in Ryan Suzuki in his own ways as well a little bit. I think they could like Mikhail Goulyeyev. They have not sort of shied away from drafting Russians and the talent in Goliath is real and there are teams that are very high on it. I think of those three Gulliyev, Nadeo and Haidu, I think are three players that they could be drawn to for various reasons here. I think I'll go with Bradley Nadeau. I just, he's a kid who impresses. He's a kid who impressed.

at the combine, he impressed in the testing, he was great in the playoffs, and it just felt like there was this building and this crescendoing that was happening for him throughout the season. They just kind of solidified him as a first round pick here on talent and skating. So I'll go with Nado for a bit of a skill play for the Carolina Hurricanes. All right, Montreal at number 31, Corey. As we get closer to the draft, I feel just more and more teams are high on this player. I don't think he's getting out of the first round. We're here at 31.

and if Montreal had gone D at 5, maybe this changes they don't. They go forward at 5. They got Ryan Leonard, who has all this, a tremendous skill and scoring ability to go with his compete. I'm giving him Tanner Mullandick at 31. One of the very best skaters in the draft, he's an excellent competitor, defender, and I think there's some offense in there too. Very nice player for them to get a 31. All right, and that leaves it at number 32.

Vegas, I'm going to take a goalie here. I'm going to take Michael her ball. I don't know if a goalie is ultimately going to go in the first. first round next week. And obviously, Vegas has just had quite the adventure in that. But I think locking in, potentially the top goalie in this class is a good way to use, a first-run pick in a year that you won the Stanley Cup and give yourself a chance that if he turns into a starting goal, you're going to be thrilled with that.

And with that, we are going to call it a wrap on this mock draft. We appreciate everybody joining us today. Next time you hear from us, it will be from Nashville. So we're looking forward to that. And thanks for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. You can follow us on YouTube at YouTube.com slash at The Athletic Hockey Show. And, of course, you can catch more Chris over at Flow Hockey and on his podcast

Talkin Hockey Sense. Right now, you can get a one-year subscription to The Athletic for $2 a month when you visit Theathletic.com slash hockey show. Be back next week. Three episodes coming from Nashville, Tuesday, Wednesday, right after the first round, and Friday's recap to the two-day draft. We'll talk to you then.