The Athletic Hockey Show - USHL Fall Classic recap, NHL preseason prospects thoughts, the end of the Chicago Steel dynasty?, listener questions, and more

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

On this week’s Prospect Series episode of The Athletic Hockey Show, Max, Corey, and FloHockey’s Chris Peters give their thoughts on the USHL Fall Classic, which Corey and Chris attended, questions entering the season for the USNTDP, the potential end of the Chicago Steel dynasty, the play of NHL prospects like Devon Levi, Matt Coronato, Adam Fantilli, Nate Danielson, and Easton Cowan so far in the preseason, and the guys close things out answering listener questions in the mailbag.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowYou’ll be amazed at what you can do with Grammarly. Go to http://grammarly.com/GO to download for FREE today.Head to http://factormeals.com/nhlshow50 and use code nhlshow50 to get 50% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody, Max Boltman here, alongside Corey Pranman and Chris Peters of Flow Hockey for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. We got a lot to get into today, boys. The season has started the preseason anyway. We've got games to discuss. But before we get to that, I wanted to ask you guys about an event you both just got back from, in Pittsburgh, Cranberry, technically, I guess.

the USHL fall classic. And of course, when we talk about the USHL, we got to start with the U.S. national team program. Two big names here. One of them is a 2024 draft eligible, Cole Eisenman. James Hagen's projected to be a top pick in a 2025 draft. Fair to say those two held serve on those lofty expectations at this opening event. I would say so. I thought both played excellent.

Eisenman was named USHL4 the week after the tournament. actually has recorded this right now. News is breaking that he is decommitting from the University of Minnesota, which is interesting. Beth's not really related to his play in the USHL Fall Classic. What I thought was interesting, too,

was not just how those two players looked excellent. Hagen's is a dynamic skater and playmaker, and Eisman has a ton of skill and is a constant scoring thread in the offensive zone with a hat-trick and run of the games. I thought it was interesting that they started them on different lines.

These were players that played together very often throughout the course of their 16-year-old season and to start the year, the U.S. staff led by Nick Four had them on different lines. It looked like they were really trying to balance out the offense. Although they were playing both flanks on the U.S. power play, so obviously still playing together in that regard. So we'll see whether that sticks all year

or whether that was just an experimentation thing and they come back together after their first loss or whatever. But I thought that was interesting, Chris. It was, yeah. You know, and I think, you know, especially at the early stage of the season, you're going to see, I think, a lot of line experimentation. They really don't start really kind of formulating those set lines until later in the year, unless they have a situation like last year with the U-18 team with, you know,

Will Smith and Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perot, which just they kind of started clicking the year before and they wanted them back together. I think both Hagen's and Iserman had time away from each other at various points last season. And so you know, you want to just kind of try to spread the love a little bit and make sure that, you know, like Christian Humphreys was getting a lot of time with Eisenman and other players are getting opportunities. So to play with such elite players. And, you know, I think that that's also been a bit of a philosophical shift within the NTDPA within the last little bit from the guys that I've talked to is like, you know, you don't necessarily want to, you know, put all your eggs in one. basket right away at the beginning of the season. They don't really operate the same way that teams do. While wins and losses matter, I don't think that they're really focused on a September

USHL game in terms of what they're trying to accomplish over the course of the season. But what I will say is that when when those two are together, the magic happens. You see it. They're they're typically going to have the puck more than anybody else. Whoever they're playing with is is kind of, you know, the beneficiary of some loose pucks or some rebounds and things like that typically. But, you know, I think that they're, they're really incredibly skilled players. They have great feel for each other. You know, I think that they're both in the mix for the World Junior team this year. I don't know that both of them will ultimately make it.

But we did see, you know, Cole Eisenman get off through an incredibly hot start with four goals at the fall classic. And then, you know, Higgins, while he didn't have as many points, he was a driver. And that's what we expect from those two guys. I think one interesting thing about keeping them apart, too, is when you look at this U.S. age group at the U18 level, I think outside of those two forwards, I think that the talent drop off to the next best forward is rather dramatic. Like, I don't think, as it stands now, there's another forward in this group that will be a first round pick. I'm not even 100% sure there's another forward in this group that's for sure going to be a second round pick. I mean, there probably will be by the end of the year, but I can't sit here and confidently say that. And I think that leads to maybe the merit of trying to spread out the offense a little bit.

So you at least have Eisenman and Hagen's carrying a different line. But enough I'm saying there aren't good forwards on this team. Like I think there are good forwards that can work their way up. Like, you know, whether it's Camille Benerick, Christian Humphreys, you know, Plunt, McMorro, Van Sagi. Like, there's good players. But I'm not sure about you, Chris. But I didn't see coming out of that. And if I'm watching this age group last year, too, I'm not sure.

who the third best forward clearly is. And I think that's going to be something that's going to have to be sord out over the coming months. Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, you know, the other thing, too, is we talk a little bit about, you know, the size factor as well. There aren't a lot of big forwards in this group, not a lot of guys that are above six feet in this team.

And, you know, I think guys that did stand out that we should mention, you know, I really think that Christian Humphreys has a lot of tools and a high level of skill that's going to allow him to really, you know, flourish this year, especially if they end up putting him more with Eiserman. And that's, you know, while he can be a shooter, I think Humphreys is much more of the past first, kind of make a playmaking kind of center. So that, you know, I think that that's a player there.

You know, there were some guys, you start to see little flashes from guys as well. Like Brody Zemer had a couple of really nice moments. McMorro, who you mentioned can absolutely fly. You know, Vensaghi is a big forward. He's one of the few big guys in that team, so he has a little bit more of that power. game. So each guy is kind of bringing a little something different to the table. But I completely agree with you. I think the drop off between Higgins and Eiserman and the next group is pretty

significant. And it's hard to see, you know, to very comfortably project any of those other players into the first round this year. It's a long season. We'll see kind of where things go. But of the guys early on, I really thought that Humphreys was the one that stood out the most to me. He did have the most points. But he also, I think, made the most amount of plays. What I think is interesting about the point Corey raises there about kind of who is the third forward is that this this NPD U18 group seems to really be about the blue line obviously we know about Will Skaeham we know about EJ Emery Logan Hensler the the Hensler hype train is kind of in full steam here and maybe he's kind of the the one who's the story coming out of this event so far yeah he was named

defenseman of the week in the ushach with with including the big overtime winner in the first game and several other points in the week. And you added that he's a six-two defenseman. He skates quite well. He's really intelligent and skilled. And again, you're talking about this is a guy who is standing out already at the junior level that he has size, and he's not eligible now until 2025. Watching Hensler, there's a long way to the finish line of his draft year.

We'll see if he even grows a little bit more. We'll see how his play develops. But it's hard not to think of the very best. defensemen who have played at the program and think, can this guy enter that conversation? Can he enter a conversation with Zach Rewinsky and Noah Hannafin? Can he enter a conversation with Seth Jones? And I think it's very possible when it's all said and done. He is in that conversation, but we'll see how the rest of his year goes. And he, of course, isn't eligible until the 2025 draft, so we're going to have to really wait on that one. One guy I can't believe I'd left out when just listing

those names. One of the most exciting of that group is Cole Hudson. And I guess my question for you, Chris is I've just given you 4D here who I think all four have a good chance to go in the first rounds of whichever draft they're going to be in, whether it's 24 or 25. Who's the first, who's going to be the highest pick when it's all said and done of those four? Or is it someone else? Well, yeah. I mean, of those of those four in terms of, you know, like I think ultimately Hensler could be the highest in, in the 2025 where he's, he goes the highest. You know, and he's got a lot more runway. The guy that I really think that is fascinating this year is E. J. Amory. I think that the sky is the limit for him.

I think the upside is fantastic. He made two tremendous primary assists on goals for Cole Eisenman this year. There was one where he had a seam stretch pass that hit him right on the tape, and then another one that sprung him for a partial breakaway. And, you know, he is starting to find the offensive game. His defensive capabilities are strong. He's a tremendous skater. I think there's a lot of, as he gets stronger, he's going to be a lot harder to play against.

he is one of those guys that I just see the, you know, the toolkit that he has suggests, it just screams upside to me. And so that's, and it's the same with Hensler. Hensler, it's just the ceiling on him is phenomenal. His north-south speed as a defenseman is exceptional. I really do think that that's a separating trait for him from a lot of the defense. We actually saw him take a puck down the left wing, cut to the, you know, blow past the defenseman, cut to the center for a scoring chance at the goalie.

ultimately just barely got a piece of. And that's the kind of stuff that he does. What's going to be interesting is, you know, Cole Hudson didn't have a great fall classic. He didn't really stand out in any meaningful way. I think that, you know, you see his, his puck skills, but obviously the size is a factor.

You know, he's a clear 510. So he's a little bit taller than Brother Lane was in his draft season. You know, I think that he's got the tools. He's a good defender too. Like, he's not an amazing, you know, just being at that size, it's hard to do. But, you know, that group is really,

enticing. But then you also look at Skahan just to bring it all home. And Skahan is the guy that teams are always going to be very high on a 6 foot 4 defenseman, over 200 pounds, a mean player. He plays the game mean. He's physical. And then he also, I think, is showing

better touch on the puck this year. I think we saw him move pucks decently well. I think that there's, you know, the question I think is going to come down to, you know, hockey sense when it comes to his offensive game. But I do think that defensively and physically, he's so advanced for his age that he's going to be a really exciting prospect.

So I do think that all four of those guys have a real opportunity to go in the first round. If we're, you know, looking at the very early stages and there's a long way to go, you look at what Hensler is put together over the last couple of years and how he's starting his season and you're starting to see a player that's really starting to hit the hyper drive in his development. Here's an interesting question. We've talked about Eisenman Hagan's being in the mix for the World Junior team. and this is an extremely deep group of forwards that U.S. will have to pick from the World

Juniors. Is Hensler in the conversation on what's going to be probably a very thin blue line? I think you have to. You have to keep Hensler and Skahan in there. Now, the interesting thing is Emery cannot be in the mix for that. He is a dual citizen and there's a certain amount of time that you have to spend in the United States before you're eligible to represent the U.S. he will not meet that requirement in time for the world juniors.

So we'll take him off the table. But Hensler, to your point, as young as he is, you look at the poise that he plays with, you look at the speed that he brings to the table, and you look at the fact that that U.S. blue line is very shallow, not big. You know, I think there is a chance that you can bring them. I think that the U.S. would lean older as much as they possibly can, but guys like Hensler and probably Skahan as well, and maybe even Cole Hudson, though they have a lot of guys that are kind of similar in size.

Like his brother. Yeah, exactly. Like Lane. Do you want two lanes and a shame as Casey and, you know, whatever? But, but you got basically, you know, I think that those guys bring enough different tools, especially with Hensler being a right shot. They're a little thin on the right side of the blue line. That's going to help things a lot.

So really good point, Corey. I think it's possible that one of those two guys is. And I think even Emery, had he been eligible, would have been in the mix at least. I think you could justify trying to even think about both, especially when you think about next year and you're probably going to be scratching a guy anyway. Like, Chris, to your point, the right shot, I think they're thin at both hands, especially when you talk about the meanness factor, right? Like, this is not the strength of this year. It's what they're going to have to overcome. Right.

Emery's an interesting one to me because I think, you know, Skahan, his role is defined. He's big. He's mobile. He's physical. If there's even a little offense there, he'll be a first rounder. if not he's a second rounder like Tyler Cleven was. Cole Hudson is a pure offensive type. He showed a little bit of pushback.

I thought he's bigger than his brother. But either he's going to have to be an all-world puck mover to be a high pick or he won't be and he'll go right where Lane went or lower. Emery to me is the big question marks. I'm not really sure what he is yet. I think he's, you know he's six-three. I know he skates well. But I'm not sure.

Does he have offense? Is he a super physical, super competitive guy? You saw flashes, especially after the puck moving there. at this level that I didn't see at the junior level the prior year. So I could see him really hit the high end trajectory to be like a legit first rounder, maybe even a high first rounder. And I could see him not do that either and maybe even fall out of the first and to the second. I think so he's really fascinating to me.

But I did think what we saw this past weekend was very positive from every. Yeah. Yeah. And one thing on him, you know, Nick four coached Keandre Miller. and he said this is we're following a very similar trajectory between E.J. and Keandre because they had the athletic toolkit. They had strength. They had size. They had some offense, but it wasn't perfectly evident in. And they really kind of found their way as defensemen as as good defenders first off. And so he was the one that brought that up to me. And you kind of hear that comparison quite a bit because of the size, the makeup, the style of game.

And we were saying that same thing about Keandre in his draft year, Corey, where what it, what ultimately is he? Now we see him in the NFL. I thought he was more. I thought he had like a little bit of a nasty edge. That was more evident though. And that's fair. I think that's fair. Yeah.

That's absolutely fair. And maybe a little bit bigger. And but. Stronger for sure. Yeah. So I. And there was the whole like he was a former forward to convert to defense. Right.

But, but I like I said, I like Henry and and we'll see how his year goes. One last thought here on especially the World Junior prospect. Does the fact that they didn't even invite Brady Cleveland to their camp this summer tell you that maybe the Skate-Han profile just might not be as much of a priority? Or is the talent there just so much higher that it's irrelevant in the conversation? I don't see how they could have invited Brady Cleveland. They basically couldn't even play with the U-18 World Championship. So I just don't think he was realistically on the radar until he goes to college

and actually shows that he can take a regular shift. Yeah. And honestly, at Wisconsin, I think, you know, based on what they have currently, I think he'll get a decent amount of playing time. He's in a good spot. But yeah, he might be a guy that's a little bit further away. And I don't think it's anything about the profile. I think they want to get bigger. They want to have some size back there.

But just the player pool that they had was very, very thin, which is why I think that, you know, we could see one of those guys, one of these U18 defensemen. I think one of them at least should be in there at the camp to see how they look with those older players. Can they play with that enough poise? And maybe they go as an eighth defenseman. It's a good experience for them. But yeah, it's going to be tough to see exactly how it plays out. Good stuff. It'll be very interesting to watch.

We're going to take a quick break. We're going to come back and talk about a couple more things about the Fall Classic and move into the preseason. All right. We are back talking about the USHL Fall Classic and one of the goalie risers. from last season, especially coming out of the world junior, was Adam Guyon. And to start the season, he has picked up right where he left off, Chris. He really has. You know, I mean, the expectation for him is to play a ton of games this year in Green Bay.

That's why he stayed, you know, going the USHL route as opposed to going into the Minnesota to loot this year. He's going to play the vast majority of games for the gamblers. And he played both games on the weekend, you know, look. looked really good. There was a game where, you know, Green Bay had to come back, but he held him in in that game. And, you know, they ended up winning two games this week at the Fall Classic. And what are the things that you notice about, you know, Adam Guy, and it's his ability to play in traffic, his ability to play battle through a lot of net front noise, tracking Pucks well, you know,

controlling rebounds. His athleticism is obviously a big key, his quickness and his feel for the game. And I think that we saw all of that as very evident. He's very comfortable, it seems, in those situations when there's a lot of bodies in front and there's a lot of sticks flying at him. There's a lot of people crashing into him. He seems to thrive in those scenarios. And he always finds the puck. So, you know, I think that Green Bay is going to be a team that has a chance to make some noise. They just added Julian Lutz from the Arizona Coyote system. He's coming over. He played last two years in Germany. He's dealt with a lot of injuries. But, you know, that's another nice piece. They've got some other good players. They actually will have end.

up having five draft, NHL draft picks on their roster once Lutz gets there. And so that's a good thing. I think it's a well-coached team. I think that, you know, Guyon is going to get exactly what he needs out of this because he does need to play more,

quite frankly. You know, he played his first season in North America last year, primarily in the North American League, got a taste of the USHL, had a tremendous world juniors. Now we're going to get to see what he looks like over the course of a full season. He'll still have big opportunities on big stages.

and I really do think that he's a player that I'm fascinated by. And certainly, you know, a guy that it's all about sealing with him. You know, the Blackhawks have made a pitch to say, hey, we think he's got the highest ceiling among the goalies in this draft. And that's why they made him the number one pick among goalies last year. That was interesting that Slovakian's World Junior coach was in attendance there. Obviously, not to evaluate whether he'll be the goalie or not, but probably just to see where he was at and maybe talk to him and get in. preparation for the tournament. There was other Slovak players there, too, who were relevant for their U-20 team.

But, yeah, Adam's athleticism to me is the key thing that always stands out. And the thing that makes him distinct from the other USHL goalies is that he just has the ability to make the tough save that other players don't. And for me, especially in the second half of last season, what I was concerned by when watching him, I thought there was erratic play at times, oversliding and being way too aggressive. And just, and, you know, I found, at least in the two games that I watched him, that I thought his decision making was a lot cleaner. There wasn't a lot of extra movement or wildness in his play and with his decision making. And if he can play like that all season, he's got a chance to be one of the very best players in the league this season.

Always interesting to talk about the Chicago Steel, especially in past years where they have had just star power like crazy. When you look at this year's steel roster, Corey, maybe nothing that jumps off the page, certainly quite in the way that it has in years past. What stood out to you about Chicago at this event, and where do you think they kind of stand? I think we were all kind of hoping that Michael Haig, who is a talented prospect that will be, I think, a relatively high pick in next year's NHL draft would stand out. He's a good skater. He has skill, but I thought he was just okay in the two games there.

I did not think he was a standout player. Even like coming out of the Halinka had some questions from some people in the league, like, why did Canada not bring Michael Haig? Did why do they not bring Sasha Buevaire from Muskegon? Was it because they went to the USHL? Are they anti-USHL players? Then both of them kind of laid an egg this week. Oh, that might be why. It's because there's some holes in their game.

And I think with, you know, Hague's a good player. We'll see how is your go. They don't say they went Bovare. They're both good players. But I didn't get any high-end sense from watching him there. there was high, high-end skill in offense to go with the good skating. And then you kind of look at the rest of this team, and it's just, it's fine. Like, again, only two games you want to overreact, but in terms of like any obvious traits,

like there's, when you watch like Adam Van Tilly, your power on this team, it's, it's hard not to notice that the giant guy who skates really well and can make plays with the puck. Like there's, there was no obvious player like that, even though the 07, Lucas Sochin people say good things about, we'll see how he develops it. I didn't think he had, he had some flashes, but I didn't think he stood out. in that kind of way at the event. And I just thought their blue line in general looked problematic during the course of the weekend.

So we'll see how their year goes. When you're used to seeing a ton of talent on the Chicago Steel, I'm not saying those days are over, but the early indication that's not going to be this year's team. Yeah, I agree with that. Like, you know, I think that this is, we've seen Chicago Steel teams be among the top. top scoring teams in in the USHL and it was you know they they didn't produce a lot in this in this couple of days um you know I think that they're going to be a better team than they showed at this event but at the same time I you know there are some significant concerns there when you move on

you have guys like last year with Max Celebrini and Jade and Perron there's going to be a drop off those are high high end USHL players I mean you know Celebrini very well could go down as one of the best ever in the USHL based on his 16-year-old performance in one season. But, you know, I think that that's the bar that Chicago has set for itself. Now, it's very interesting to see kind of them be average. We just haven't seen it in the last few years. They're usually competing for Anderson and Clark Cups. And that is not really that that wasn't necessarily evident.

I think that there's a lot of size issues on the team, for one. You know, I didn't think, I thought that they got pushed around a little bit in some of their games. one guy that I am going to be keeping an eye on this year as an NHL draft reentry. And I liked pieces of his game this year. And that's Michael Higgins, who is James Hagan's older brother and also now committed to Boston College. There were flashes in this game. And he was a player that was down their lineup last year. He didn't get the ice time.

He didn't necessarily get the points that you would expect from a guy that can move pucks decently well, has some good skating ability. You know, you can see the skill. He's listed at six foot. you know, he's a little bit on the lighter side, but I did think he looked thicker this year, a little bit stronger. And that is a guy that I think could be one of those players we watch kind of progress over the course of the season. But yeah, I mean, you look at Hague, you look at, you know, just you mentioned Sotchin as well.

There were some 16-year-olds that really, really stood out in this event. He wasn't one of them, you know, so that doesn't mean that he won't later on. You know, I mean, there's a lot. You could see the flashes of his hand skills and, you know, we're obviously familiar with his brother Grayson, who was a second round draft pick last year, a third round draft pick last year. So, you know, that was, there's, there's something there. So we'll wait and see. I mean, Chicago tends to kind of develop over the course of the season.

But yeah, it's not the Chicago Steel of Old, it doesn't seem. I do agree with you, but Higgins, I think he could be a reentry. One other player, I want to highlight before we move on that I liked him, the classic, at least the guy who I think could be a riser this year on Waterloo was John Mustard, which I think will, you know, it's a great hockey name that. I think could lead to all kinds of nicknames. But I think, you know, he's 6-1. He skates well.

I thought he showed some hands skills. He got only the one goal, but I thought there was some, he could help to generate some opportunities there with his skating. It's a really intriguing skill package there. And like I said, there's a lot of opportunities there for some good old fun. You know, I thought John must have relished the opportunity there at the fall classic. And I knew you were going to do that. And I do appreciate that he didn't hot dogs.

like after he scored that goal too. Gosh, darn it. You've got to stop this. Matt, stop this. Get this podcast under control. I will pivot us, but I just do need to point this out because when I was looking at the Steele's roster a second ago, this is the all bloodlines team of the USHL. We've got Lucas Sochon.

We've got Jordan Brissan. We've got Michael Higgins. And then we've got Thor Bufflin, second cousin of Dustin Bufflin. The other guys are all brothers. This is the all bloodlines team. This is what they are. Thor Bufflin actually scored one of the better goals of, of the fall classic too in that game that they ended up sneaking away with an overtime win.

So shout out to Thor Bufland, who is not at all close in size to Cousin. There you go. All right. Let's move now to the NHL preseason. Just getting underway here. But there are some names that have started, I think, get onto the radar, catch some attention. And I want to start in Buffalo where obviously there's probably a couple guys we can start with here. But we got to start with Devon Levi, two periods of shutout hockey on Tuesday night against the Bruins.

not the most NHL heavy lineup per se from the Blue Inns, but pretty impressive nonetheless, Corey. Yes, and he looked really good and made some tough saves in that game. And I think Levi is one of the more interesting young players going into the NHL season. Because it seems like all indications are that he is somebody that the Buffalo Sabres are looking at to be a really important player for that team. And that is interesting for a number of reasons is because this is a guy who is relatively inexperienced at the pro level. Yes, he's got that little bit of experience from from the late last year. And I think he was, what, the third goalie at the Olympics, something like that.

So he has some men's experience from there. But this is not a guy who, frankly, has seen a lot of professional shooters. And I know they have some other goalie options. They have Uklepeka Luka and they have Eric Connery. But this is a team who I thought the biggest issue with Buffalo last year was their goal tending. I know their defense was suspect, but the goaltending, I thought, in my opinion was the biggest issue. And I thought that was the issue over the last year and a half that they needed to address to become a legitimate playoff team. And I think their solution to that problem seems to be Levi, who was a very good prospect.

He's very athletic, extremely intelligent, you know, incredible numbers at the collegiate level. But, you know, so was Caden Primo. Like, it's like, there's other goalies over the years. Like, he's like, Swayman eventually became good when he needed the year in the American League first. it's just a very, I think it's very interesting how early they are giving him the reins, Chris. What do you think? I agree completely. And I think Devin Levi is an exceptional goaltending prospect.

I really do. I just think that is a position where you can get it really wrong. And I think that that, and you can get it wrong by too much too soon. And then all of a sudden, you know, it's a position where confidence matters so much and where mentality matters so much. And if things don't go well on a team that has expectations with pressure on them with a rookie goaltender, that's where things go sideways. However, what I will say, the thing that I think makes Devin Levi special as a player is I think he is mentally strong. I think he's a highly competitive individual. And I think that he is able to have a short memory in terms of, you know, he doesn't, he's not the kind of goalie that he'll have a bad game and then he's awful.

Like in college, he had a few bad games. And every single time he returned with either one or zero goals. against in that. So he's a he's, he's got that bounce back ability, but it's harder to do at the NHL level. Um, there are just, there just isn't much precedent for what we're seeing right now, not in the modern NHL. You look at, you know, teams are, are starting goalies in the ECHL. There's, they're, they're trying to gradually bring them along and, and, and let them kind of mature into their, their game. But if, if, if there is a goalie that's going to be able to handle this, I think it is Levi, but it's just, how do we know.

you know, it's very hard to know. Goaltending is as volatile as it is. And now we're, you know, we're putting in a player that we just haven't seen much precedent for. He could have success, but he may need to have success in a tandem role, too, to start again. He's only 21 years old. I'm just surprised. And I know they have, I know they have UPL. I know they have Cobury.

I just surprised that in this offseason, they didn't go out and look for a legitimate, you know, backup option. And, you know, that, you know, so that there was a plan B in case we get. a month or two months of the year and it's clear that Levi is fighting it as a rookie in the NHL. Very fair. I don't want to make too much of any preseason game, certainly not a 10-0 preseason game where one team looks like a majority NHL lineup and one team does not. But when I see Matt Coronado put up a hat trick and added an assist in that game, Corey,

I can't help but take note of that. Yeah, and there's three young forwards competing for jobs in Calgary. we presume Samuel Hansx going back to Vancouver. We kind of knew that Coronado, Connerzary, and Jacob Peltier are all fighting for a small amount of ice time there in Calgary. And that's a great opening statement by Coronado, who did show well with the men's team with USA last spring. It seems to have a lot of traits with his skating and his compete that you think will translate to the pro game. Again, he's been the kind of guy who's just continued to score wherever he's gone. and even though he doesn't always have the flashiest of toolkits,

this is a very promising start to his preseason, and we'll see how he kind of carries it out throughout the rest of it. Adam Fantilli was one of the big stories coming out of the Traverse City prospect tournament. I thought he looked outstanding there. And against the Penguins lineup a couple nights ago, again, not the strongest of the playoffs. It's going to be a theme here, but he attacks on a couple assists right away. And I think it's fair to say he looks like he's ready to go in the NHL.

Yeah, he does. And I think I think some of the things that that we've seen from him is just the maturity. You know, I mean, he is his ability to just kind of have the confidence that he had in college. Sometimes it gets him in trouble. Like sometimes he'll make plays that are a little too complicated. He has a tremendous amount of faith in his ability to make plays. But, you know, he's got the size. He's got the speed.

He's got that. And I think that it's so, it's such a breath of fresh air for, Columbus to have a player that is so confident in himself, so understanding of what he is and what he needs to be, and who is really embracing the pressure that's on him to be the future face of this franchise. The fact that Columbus has veteran talent around him to insulate him and to make him better is another key factor in why I think he's going to have success this season. And I think that, you know, whether that's a Calder caliber season or not is irrelevant because I think if you're the Columbus Blue Jackets, the most important thing right now is to continue this build, continue building up these players and making sure that they are filling roles that they are ready for and can continue to compete in. I think Adam Fantilli is, you know, exactly what this organization needs at this very time, not just because what he does on the ice. but also just because of who he is and how he operates. And I think it's going to be a fun year for them to follow him

and to kind of see where he goes. Because I think that there's high, high potential for him to have a lot of success this year. A major distinction between him and Connor Bardart's situation going into this year will be a supporting cast. At least the early indicators are, based on just the last preseason game and some stuff about the camp, is that Fantili could start with Patrick Lainey and Alexander Texier,

which is a decent amount of talent, particularly playing with Linae, and how those two could connect. And obviously, we'll see what happens with Leo Carlson and Anaheim and if he starts there and who he starts with. Another guy out of Traverse City who I think has made some big noise so far in this preseason is Easton Cowen. He gets the goal, but I was reading some of the Sheldon Keith quotes afterwards,

and he's been really impressed by this player, jumped him right in to NHL hockey and getting Keith to want to use him a lot. Yeah, I mean, he got a lot of scoring chances in the one game, really good Traverse City turn and followed by a very good first preseason game. He's a very interesting player because we've talked about him a lot on this podcast since he was a first round picked by Toronto is the player profile. He's barely 5-11 forward. I think he's a good skater. I don't think he's an incredible skater.

He showed offense, you know, he's gradually shown more offensive touch, you know, included the point for game playoff there for London where he was a very important part of why they went to the finals. You know, he's a high compete type. Everyone loves that. Everyone loves to hockey sense. The question is the projection. When you look at that athletic profile, it's like, what is the projection there at the end of the day? Is he a third line forward?

Can he be more? I think that, I think, again, the people who like absolutely love him will say, you know, there's some similarities between him and Anthony Sorrelli at the same age. There'll be others who say, I've seen this player a lot and it ends up being, you know, a bottom six forward. So I, but the strong start and if he consistently shows offense, he's probably, you know, very likely going back to London and we'll see how his season goes. But, you know, you can see some similarities to him and say, oh, Beck, maybe at the same age, where Owen Beck seems to be having a very similar profile and

a lot of positive things being saying about him as a potential middle six forward. So I can see the analogy there too. He was one of the more kind of, I guess, controversial, maybe the wrong word. People surprised picks of the 2023 NHL draft. Another earlier on to the public, I think, was Nate Danielson, and he got a lot of reaction for where he went. I think, Corey, you were on him in that range for a long way here. And I've watched him through Ricky tournament through camp and now through his preseason debut. I think he's off to a really good start.

It looks like the complete big fast 200 foot center that, you know, the Red Wing certainly are hoping he was to be. Yeah. And we'll see how the rest of his camp goes. But I watched that first preseason game against Pittsburgh and just kind of looks like the same thing just with better players around him. And he looks like a, you know, a legit NHL player. I think there will always be a question of whether there's going to be elite offense

with this player, but I still think even if there isn't, even if he's like a 50, 60 point player, which is still quite a big of offense, that I think he can be a really important part of an NHL team, maybe not this year, but in future years. But I do think everything I'm seeing is if there's any questions if he looked like he's going to be a world junior player for Canada, I think he is definitely a world junior player for Canada. Obviously, going to be more rookies, yet more young players that look really good in the preseason.

We will get to those. We're recording this on Wednesday. So if your team's prospect did something on Wednesday night, Thursday night, and we didn't get to it here, we apologize. We will try to get to them. We'll be doing more of these. It's safe to say. So we're going to take another quick break, and we're going to come back and take some questions. Okay, we are back, and we are back with our first mailbag in what feels like a while.

So we're going to get right into it, starting with Chris. Maxwell Long wants to know, other than write D, what are the Blackhawks going to target in coming drafts and what archetype is missing from their prospect pool? very interesting. I think I got this question on my own podcast recently, too, so maybe from the same person. However, you know, what I think there, I mean, really, I think right shot defenseman is still a very much needed thing that they are going to continue to go after. What I do think that the Blackhawks are going to need to try to build up a little bit more. And they have some of this already. But I think that having options is helpful as more, you know, some of those power scoring kind of of power wingers. They have some good players. You know, Gavin Hayes is a heavier forward.

Colton Dock is a heavier forward. You know, they have some guys that have size, but I think having some of those guys bringing in some more speed, bringing in some tenacity, guys that are going to kind of help insulate some of their smaller scale players, you know, Badard is not a big guy. Lucas Reichel is not a big guy. You know, guys that can kind of play on the flanks with them. They're starting to, they're doing that right now with their veteran kind of stopgap guys, but they're going to need players that are on entry-level contracts that are going to be able to do that as well. You know, I think that they feel, they have to feel pretty confident about the fact that, you know, they've got high-end skill players, particularly at the center position. And then also have, you know, a number of guys on the left side of the defense that are going to be big-time players for them.

So, you know, I think the right shot D is really going to, I think, going to be the big focus. But if you can get bigger at forward, I think you'd want to as well. I think it's, yeah, same thing. size of four, and I think on the blue line. They have a lot of defense prospects, but outside of Kevin Kortinski, I don't think there's a premier guy, and that's, I think, a priority. And probably I'll have a good opportunity in this year's draft, depending on where they pick. Yeah, I was just going to say he's not a right shot, D, but there is certainly a big left

D climbing up the boards of this coming draft class. And Nabil Raymond wants to know, Corey, for your thoughts on fast-rising defender, Anton Siliyev. He's in Bob McKenzie's initial top 10 rankings. he's six foot seven and this kid just keeps scoring in the khl it's kind of crazy yeah he's got as we record six points in ten games in the kachel although i think not not any in the last few games uh like said he six six six six he uh he uh not always he's six six but he is actually you know reasonably mobile for a guy his size he is very physical so i mean it's hard not to watch him and not like get excited by all the things he can do and the massive pro potential he has.

I think, like, if you just ask me to watch these 10 games and say, where does he fit in the draft, like, oh, well, he's a top five pick. It's not even a question. Not a question. But it's only been 10 games. And this is also a guy who I thought was very good at the junior level for a 16-year-old on a top MHL team last year in Russia. But he's also a guy who only had eight points over the entirety of his, of his, junior season as a 16-year-old, even though we've gotten deep a junior team, but then all of a sudden

he's scoring in the KHL. So you want to see, he's actually on Torpedo's power play, and Torpedo is a good team. I think he's only lost one game so far this year. So it's just, again, very impressive. He's playing power play penalty kill at the KHL level on a good team. Early indicators are extremely impressive. Like, I would not rule out how high he can go on the draft. Again, he can go top 10, he can go top five, he can go higher than that. Like, he could be in the conversation. with the very best names of this draft. But it's still only September, and let's kind of see how his next month goes, and if he can maintain that level against men as a young player.

Seems like a good draft to need a defenseman. Chris, Charlie Douglas wants to know what are some strengths and weaknesses of the various pro and junior league as developmental paths. For example, is a certain league a good path for players who need to work on their defensive game, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, you know, I mean, it's always such an individual thing. It really depends on the player. what they can get out of different things. I think that, you know, we're starting to see what I would say is that based on where all of these players are going, there is no one right path. And there is no significantly better path. That's the other thing that I think. Like, there is no clear number one developmental arm. You can say the numbers in Ontario are big for the OHL. That's true. They're dealing with one of the largest populations of players anywhere in the world.

as well. So that's the way it should be. You know, you could certainly talk about college hockey and being the, you know, giving those guys a little bit of a longer kind of timeline that allows them a little more time to develop and maybe it's better for playing against men. Maybe they need to get build strength. You know, that's kind of been the argument for college hockey is we don't play as many games, but we have more practice time. We have more development time. We have more strength training time. And we also are giving you world class facilities, world class training, world-class nutrition, like all those different things. And the junior ranks are catching up with that in certain ways, too.

And a lot of players are taking it upon themselves to do that. What I would say is, like, you know, for every player, they have to make their own decision. They have to make it based on their level of comfort, whether it's staying close to home, whether it's, you know, there's a certain style of play, whether it's chemistry with a coach. Circumstances everything in development. Where you are, where you put yourself and what the work that you put into it is everything in development. So, you know, you can't, there's no league that is going to fix you if you are defensively deficient. There is no league that is going to make you a superstar forward.

Usually those guys are already kind of figured out. It's what do they, what tools do they give you? So I would say there's really no right way for a player of any kind because I think that the NHL teams are now so involved with development. as well where they make these kind of decisions that, hey, you know, like player X, we would love to see him go to major junior because we think he needs more games. We think he needs to play in a pro environment. We'd love to see this guy go to college hockey because he needs to get a little bit stronger. I mean, you're not hearing that argument as much. There used to be, you know, the CHL used to say we're the fastest route to the NHL. And for a period of time, that was true.

But how many one and done's and two and done's in college are we seeing now with those or guys that are going straight. You know, we don't see it often where they go straight from like the USHL to the NHL, but it's usually some of those guys, it's two, three years after that. That's not that, that's not really that long. There are plenty of guys that play four years in the major junior rank. So it's a, I think that question has gotten easier to answer over the years because there is not as big of a gap as there is. The coaching's better. The training is better. What players are doing on their own time is much better. And I think that we're dealing with just a higher caliber of player in general across the board because there's this culture of

athletics that has now permeated where these kids are doing these things a lot younger and a lot better. So maybe that's not a great answer to the question, but I think that's kind of where we're at right now. No, I think it is a great answer, but it does have, it does leave me with kind of a follow-up for you. I'm just going to tack this on. So I think about like a good environment for a player he needs to work on his defensive game or whatever, but what about a player who maybe the question on him is how much offense do they have? Is that a player who you think, okay, if they go back and they play junior hockey, that that's going to be good for them?

Or is that the kind of thing where you're not going to just, you know, appear offense because you're playing against worse competition? Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, if you wanted to go to a league where you're going to point up and get confidence, that's maybe one thing. Like, we've seen plenty of guys that, you know, struggled to score in one league, go to another and then they point up a little bit. But did that benefit their development?

element. It didn't in almost all cases. Um, there isn't a lot of things that they can do at, there's not a lot of that any coach can do for you. Um, it's just, you know, some guys, it's going to be strength. Sometimes it just clicks in their brain with their hockey sense. Um, you know, so it's really difficult. But I do think, you know, certainly, you know, there are leagues that you can get a little more time and space. You can figure that out. But when you get to the NHL level, that's all gone. So, you know, if you, you're going to have to kind of find it yourself. Um, I don't think there's any league that could bring that out of a player. Yeah.

Almost might as well learn to do it how it's going to have to be done at the higher levels. Right. Right. Corey, Logan Horn wants to know your thoughts on medicine, on the medicine hat Tigers duo of Caden Lindstrom and Andrew Basha as the clock starts ticking in for 2024. Lindstrom's a really intriguing pro prospect.

Six-three skates well. You know, he was just okay for Canada to Halinka, but with medicine hat. He plays a bigger role. And, you know, I think has shown. more offense there. I think he had something like 40 points there last year. And I think he's gone off to a decent start again. This season, he had a multi-point game against the hitman. I think in the second game of the season, got into a fight actually with other fellow top-rated prospect, Carter, or Kempchuk, in the first game against

the hitman. I think the hockey sense is just okay with his game, but he's got a legit shot, legit skill. I think he's got a strong chance to be a first round pick. And if he has a really good year, maybe even a high first round pick. Basha, I really don't know that. Well, I watched one of those games and his skating and his work ethic stood out, but he's not the biggest guy either. So you got to see much offense and how much skill is in his game. But he's intriguing because of those other elements I mentioned. Another 2024 pick the people want to know about Chris. Patrick McConnell wants your thoughts on Henry Mews. Is he going to get top 15, consideration.

Well, it's interesting because we've talked about all these top defensemen. I like the player a lot. I think that he's steady. I think he's reliable. I think there's good hockey sense there. I think he's got that two-way capability. I think ultimately we're going to have to wait and see on that in terms of the top 15 consideration.

I think that there's certainly a path for him to be among the top defensemen selected just because I think he's such a smooth operator in terms of the way that he plays. and the confidence that he plays with. He was one of those guys that really popped last season where we got to see, you know, at the under 17 challenge and the different things that he did where he really did kind of stand out among the group. And now we're going to have to wait and see exactly how he progresses

over the course of the season. Because when you talk about guys like Siliya, when you talk about Artem Lev Shunov in Michigan State, or you talk about even in his own league with Dickinson and all these other players that are going to be, you know, we're going to have to be tracking. I do think that that's a player that is going to be, he just checks a lot of boxes and I think he's a very easy player to like and see the pro potential. Is he the super dynamic, amazing, offensive, you know, guy maybe not, but I do think that his two-way skills and his overall poise with the puck and his hockey sense are key contributing factors to what will keep him as a top prospect this year.

All right, and then last one is from William who wants to know why does the athletic have a vendetta against the capitals? Corey, I'm going to assume this one's directed to you, but I also kind of would love to hear Chris's take on it. I don't know if it's like directed towards me. It may just because we had some national pieces lately with where our national writers been going through their season previews and the player tiers. And I guess I'm guessing there was less either cap of representation in the player. tiers or a lower rating for their protection points this year than maybe this reader wanted to

see. And I think in their prospect pool rating, I don't think I've been too harsh on them given the lack of picks they frankly have. I like Miros dechenko. I like McMichael. La Pierre, yeah, but I like

Vinnie Eiorio quite a bit. I think he's going to play and have a long NHL career. And obviously I think Ryan Leonard's a really good players. I don't think I've been that harsh on Washington. I think the issue of Washington is just they are heading for a rough landing here where they've got a really old core. They didn't make the playoff last year. I don't think they've really substantially added since then. They haven't had a lot of picks and I just, eventually they have to make the hard turn

here and it's just a matter of when they are ready to do that. Do either of you two think they're a playoff team this year? No, I would have a hard time seeing that. Yeah, yeah, I don't either. And yeah, so I guess I guess he's right. Vendetta, Vendetta confirmed. It's confirmed. Well, I think Washington and Pittsburgh both have like that really interesting predict of it. Obviously, Pittsburgh's going for a little bit more.

They had Riley Smith. They had Ryan Graves. They had Eric Carlson. They should be a better team this year. I think both those organizations face a really interesting question of when do you really pivot and how do you really pivot when you have aveshkin and Crosby? And what you owe to those guys. and their importance to your organization, to the city,

I don't know what the answer to those questions are, frankly. Yeah, and nobody's going to feel bad for you. You know, nobody's going to give you any sympathy because there's been, you know, this great, you've gotten to enjoy Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin and, you know, all the other great players that have been there. And so, yeah, but that's the thing. The dark ages are probably coming.

You know, Chicago is in that now, but they got Connor Bedard. So now everything's kind of lived through us a little bit with Littstrom, Datsug, Zetterberg. Like, how was that pivot perceived in Detroit? That was a little before I was really around the beat. So I was like, I was in the state. But, you know, what I remember, certainly in the early years of my beat, there was a lot of hindsighting on it of, you know,

it should have blew this whole thing up sooner. I don't know. I think Washington isn't a similar spot with a vetcheon where you can't just, you know, Revenson actually did trade away Datsuit, but it was after he was done playing in the NHL. I don't think anyone in hindsight would have told him to trade like a Zetterberg, and Ovenchkin is in order of magnitude more significant than a Zetterberg. It's just the ugly years. It's the cycle.

It's what happens. Pittsburgh's in for it, too. Carlson might have bought them an extra year or two before they're in that spot. Yep. All right, that is going to do it for us. Thanks for listening to this episode of the athletic hockey show Prospects series. You can also catch more of Chris and his yops over at Flow Hockey and his podcast talking Hockey Sense. You can follow us on YouTube at YouTube.com slash at the athletic hockey show.

You're going to have a lot of content going up there this season. You are not going to want to miss it. We'll talk to you soon.