The Athletic Hockey Show - Which NHL team has the best prospect pipeline?

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Max and Corey break down the top 8 teams in Corey’s annual NHL pipeline rankings including the Philadelphia Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Chicago Blackhawks, and discuss the best prospects for each franchise in the group.We want to hear from you! Please fill out our listener survey: https://forms.gle/CDbF51vAPngm2ZYS6Hosts: Max Bultman and Corey PronmanExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris Flannery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody. Max Bolman here alongside Corey Promen for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. The final episode, Corey, of our countdown through your 2025 pipeline rankings. And that begins at number eight with the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is a team that has transformed its system over the last several years. They were a team that forever felt like they were wandering the desert looking for centers. Now, their center deputies. is pretty darn good. I mean, you can debate whether Kent Johnson's a long-term center,

right? But what you cannot debate is that Adam Fantilli looks like a stud, 30 goals last year. As a system headliner, it's hard to get a whole lot better than him. Yeah, and then you mentioned you have Johnson. There's probably a wing. We'll see what happens with King Lindstrom long term, but you're hopeful that he could be at NHL Center for you. Cole Cillinger is obviously become an important part of that team. That seems to be the position. They have the least amount of concern is that right now, quite frankly. Frankly, and Fantilli just looks like an absolute star, like you said, a big, big physical guy who skates really well for his size, has tremendous offensive touch and goal scoring ability.

And it looks like he's going to be a first line center in the NHL for a long time. They did lose a top 10 pick this past year. They traded away David Yerechek in a way that I don't think was how the organization would have preferred everything to go down. But they replace him pretty naturally right in this next draft class with Jackson Smith. We've got that in Matechuk. I don't know that this blue line has like a defining prospect, but when you already have a prime age Zach Werenski there, these are nice complementary pieces to round that out.

Yeah, and Matechuk had a really nice year this year. I'm sure some Blue Jackets fans might say he's that premium player. I think his skating is definitely at that level. He has, you know, good hockey sense, good skill. I think he wore a little bit about his size, you know, even though he's a competitive kid and he's a really good skater, I think you wonder just if he could be. that true, you know, top-end two-way guy. But he's, you know, he said he's been promising so far.

You mentioned Sillinger. I mean, he was a high pick. At this point, it looks like his best role probably is as like a 3C type. But where are you at on Sillinger these days? I agree with you in that front, you know, just because he's a below average skater. I think while he's skilled, I don't think it's tremendous skill. I don't think this is a guy who's going to be a massive part of a winning team's offense, but you love how physical it.

You love how competitive he is. And I think he could be a really likable third-line center. And then with Caden Lindstrom, you talked about it, right? There's so much it's like a wait and see. We got a little glimpse, though, at the World Junior Summer Showcase, and then he played a little bit at the Memorial Cup. Like, if he comes back, as, you know, certainly we all hope he will, Fantelli Lindstrom is a frankly terrifying combination of top six centers to play against.

It could be. But I think with Lynchstrom, there are still some questions there. And it's not just with his health, with the back injury that he's been working through for the last, you know, more than a year. I think there are still some questions on, you know, how much, you know, scoring there's really going to be in his game. I think the Blue Jackets didn't think so is why they took him in the top five and why many teams had him in the top five in his drafture.

But there were several who didn't. There were some who wondered, is his hockey sense good enough? Is this going to be a guy who really makes enough plays in the next level? we really only saw really in his entire track record only like a couple of months where he showed that level of offense in his game to go with the fantastic skating, the size, the physicality. So I think at Michigan State, he's going to have to answer some of those questions of, you know, is this a guy who can really drive your offense or not? At number seven, Corey, you got the Philadelphia Flyers.

And it's a system that I would say this is a team that with Motvei Michkov's outstanding rookie year and now drafting Porter Martone, they have added a significant, amount of skill to this organization. It just so happens that the bulk of that is coming on the wing. And you could debate whether that's, hey, look, that's where you put your skill guys, or do you think, you know, for a team that, you know, as these guys start to arrive, may not pick top three or top five, you could debate whether they'll be able to find that premium center. And I love Porter Martone. And I, like, that's where I would, that's where I had him rated. If I was in their position, I would have taken Porter Martone in this past draft.

that being said, I'm sure there's going to be some Flyers fans carefully watching James Hagan's carefully watching Jake O'Brien in the coming years and hoping they made the right decision when it comes to Martone. How about with Mishkov? I mean, did you see anything in his rookie year to move the needle up or down? I mean, obviously, he was incredibly productive. This is a guy who I think produced pretty similarly to Connor Bedard, which tracks with their history together.

Yeah, now he's nearly a full year older, so that's a variable there. but with Mitch Kov, you know, we always loved his skill. We loved his hockey sense. One of the smartest offensive players I've ever seen. But you were wondering, and it's why he's a little bit in his draft year. There were some naysayers in the league. He's barely 5'10. He's not a great skater.

He's not super physical. How is it going to translate? And I think he showed this year it did translate that he would be a major offensive player for an NHL team. Now, is it going to work in the playoffs? We'll find out. going to keep it up, we'll find out. But for people who are big Michkoff fans, and that would be me included, I was a big Montefat-Michikov fan and still am, I think you've got reassured.

I don't really, frankly, frankly, frankly, frankly, right from the fact of him, didn't really change that much. It's been pretty consistent from where it's been the last few years, because he's given me no real reason to change it, quite frankly. I talked about the centers at the top. And the Flyers, it's not for lack of trying. They are pushing the pedal to try to find these centers. They use a high pick on Jet Lucchenco.

They use a high pick on Jack Nesbit this past year. I think the question that everyone's going to have is, is either of these guys going to be capable of playing a legit top line center, whereas you could argue they both kind of project more as middle six guys. Yeah, maybe I think Nesbitt might have a little bit more offensive upside there, just because I think he's got some significant skill. And I think this year he's going to play a big role in Windsor and the offense is going to come in a bigger way than it did the past year

where Liam Green Tree, and Ilya Protois kind of ran the power plays there on the flanks. Lachenko is the more interesting one in that I think when you watch him in his draft year, you were really excited by the skated, you're really excited by the competitiveness. The points weren't there, then he goes to the U18th, he plays really well there, he runs a power play there. You think, okay, maybe, you know, he was a late bloomer,

but then he goes back to the OHL this year and the offense doesn't really come either. So I'm a little bit more concerned about him than I am Nesbitt in terms of just how much upside there's going to be in the NHL, but I do think both are going to play. And other than those two, there are some centers in the system to be excited about. In particular, I thought Jack Berklin has been really impressive. You know, I thought he was one of the better players of the Word Juniors from a showcase.

He's a big, hard centerman with legit touch. His skating's just okay. But quite frankly, I think he's got a chance to be a third-line center in the NHL if he continues to develop at this pace. One riser that the Flyer system has had, and this is probably a really welcome one for them, is the goaltender, Igor Zevrag. They took him in the third round in 2023, and you've got him in pretty nice territory here, right in the same grouping as Bonk and Lucenko. I think ahead of Lucchanko, actually. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, Zevraggan as a teenager was, you know, Skaw starting goalie this year.

And not surprising, as a teenager in the KHL, there were some ups and downs. But when you saw the ups, it was extremely impressive to what this guy did and the caliber of save that he can make and just how I think his athleticism, quite frankly, is high end. And he's intelligent, he's structured, he makes a lot of difficult saves. And we'll see whether he backs it up next season. But I think you're just talking to scouts too who watched him over there. I think there is some optimism here that this guy's got a chance to be a starting goal in the NHL. All right. Let's go to the number six team on your list then.

And that's the Seattle Cracken. We talked about it with the Blue Jackets being center rich. The Cracken are trying to follow kind of a similar path. Now, we'll see. Someone obviously is going to have to bump to the wing at some point. You're not going to have four. top eight picks and just run them straight down the middle and be burying two of them. You don't think Jake O'Brien's a fourth line center?

It's not how I would do it. But it's a strength to have this many guys who can do it and to have the luxury of having to bump one of these guys off the middle. Of course, we're talking about Baneers, Katten, Shane Wright, and Jake O'Brien. Let's start with Wright because he's a guy who after his draft, and really in his draft year had some adversity. Out of his draft year, there were some questions buzzing. He comes out. He has a really, really nice first full season. in the NHL last year. And he had a really nice year the previous year in the American League. I feel like because he goes to Seattle,

it's probably what he needed. He was kind of out of sight, out of mind there a little bit, just kind of working on his game and playing well. And he's not a guy who gets you really excited. He's not going to blend on a highlight reel. He's not going to go end to end. But he's a very well-rounded player. There is legit offense in his game.

He makes plays. He's got skill. He skates really well. He could shoot the puck. And you look quite in the NHL this year. It's exciting. I think he is tracking to be a legit second line center on a good team, I think. He out pointed Maddie Baneers.

And for where Maddie Baneers started out at, I don't, you know, on one hand, it's great for Shane Wright, but I think it could leave you on Baneers going like, wait a minute, is this guy, whereas we're talking about right looking like a second line center, that's a really nice thing. You were hoping Maddie Bineers might be your first line center down the line here. And now all of a sudden he's also. looking like a second line center. And that's okay.

That's really good. But I do wonder if you have any concerns about that, or are we going to see a Baneers bounce back? Well, offense and skill was kind of the concern on Veneers going into his draft year. And obviously, it didn't seem that way during us Calder year. It's kind of resurfaced a little bit. That being said, I thought when you watched him at the World Championship,

I thought he was one of USA's best players. Given that, I actually thought he was going to get an Olympic camp invite. I was a little surprised when he didn't. But I'm still a big fan of Baneers. And I am not ready to rule that that he can't be a first line set or either. I still think, I'm not saying he's going to be a major score, but I think there is more to his game than what he's shown so far. Yeah.

Okay, do you have a thought on Berkeley Caton and what his timeline might be? Like, when would you like to see him in the NHL and where when he is in the NHL? What's it now, late August? How does like six weeks from now sound? Sounds good to me. Probably sounds good to Seattle. Yeah, I think you've got to start him. and then it's kind of see where it goes from there.

But I think he was so good in junior last year. You've got to start him and see how he handles it and then make a decision. We've talked about it. I think every time we talk about the Cracken is it's where's the D. And they draft one this year. And Blake Fiddler, they get a really potential mid first round pick in the early second round. I think that's a really nice pickup for them.

But it's not really a headlining type of player. He's a complimentary defenseman. He's a meat and potatoes guy. How do you think the Crackens, blue line of the future takes shape? Well, probably not with what they currently have. They would have to find some things externally. And, you know, I'm not saying they're going to do this trade,

but there was a similar situation a while ago where Columbus and Nashville made the exchange with Ryan Johansson for Seth Jones. You know, there might be a situation emerging here in Seattle where they can't, if you look at guys like O'Brien or guys like Cannon or baneers or whatever, and you think we can't maximize this player in a way that we'd like to, then maybe you start looking for teams

that have too many good defensemen, you know, maybe something like New Jersey or elsewhere. All right, let's go to the number five team on your list. That's the Montreal Canadiens. I'm sure you have no opinions on this farm system, but I'm going to try to pull a couple out of you anyway. Let's start at the very top of this list, right? I mean, obviously there's some premier talent in this organization.

They've had the first over. I'll pick. They get Durae Slevkovsky. They get Ivan Demadov at number five. He looked really, really good when he came over last year. And obviously, one of the breakout stories of the NHL last year was Lane Hudson. No surprise. Those are your top three.

The debate everyone's going to have is on the order you have. It's the order I just read him. Slevkovsky, Demadov, Hudson. Just to start out, talk me through the logic. I think Slefkowski's toolkit and his role is probably the most valuable of the three. you know, it's great to have a skilled winger is great to have a, you know, a mostly one-way defenseman. But with Stavkovsky, you have a 6-4 forward who's very skilled. He skates really well.

And what really impressed me this year more than what I've seen from him in the past was the level of hardness in his game. It's not something I always thought was going to be there. But he, I think he like let Montreal and hits or, like, he was close to 200. Yeah, like he was extremely. physical and a presence consistently. And now the offense wasn't there always consistently. That's kind of been the story of his pro tenure goes up and down and he gets a little streaky.

But I think you look at this player profile and you wonder where he's going to be as he continues to mature here. And I think that's a really exciting player. And that's a guy that as Montreal continues to try to build because of a consistent playoff team. I think that's the kind of guy who makes a major impact in the playoffs. Now, Demadov isn't a really competitive player. I don't think he's super physical, and I worry about his skating a little bit, but he's way more skilled, though.

Like, he has eye-popping hands and creativity, and I think he's a guy, you know, he basically came in, and once they kind of bench Patrick Lina, they basically, in the playoffs, too, quite frankly. They put him around the first power play flank. Like, that's the kind of level of skill you're talking about there with Demadoff. And I think along similar lines, like David Reinbocker is not a headline. player necessarily in this system at this point, even though he is a top five pick. Like, he's always going to kind of be in the shadow of those other three guys. But he is the kind of player that teams win with.

And I wonder, I know he hasn't been in the headlines as much as the rest of these guys. But what's the status of you and David Reimbocker and your evaluation on him in August 2025? Positive. Obviously, he was hurt there to start the year. But when he came back, he looked pretty good in the American League. A lot of what you liked from him in previous years, the competitive. The competitiveness, the two-way gain that he makes plays.

Offense isn't going to be anything special, but I think it's there. I think he's just going to be a really steady, topboard defenseman. You look at him, you look at him with Caden Gully and with Hudson and Noah Dobson. And I think that's a group that can grow together and be really successful together. And I know you like Oliver Capitan as well as a prospect who's kind of elevated himself into that solid middle of the lineup territory for you. He was a late second round pick. What is he done to put himself in that territory? Just the work ethic, the hockey sense.

His skating concerns teams going into his draft year, but he's been really good against men. It comes in the NHL this year. He does okay, does really well when he goes back to Finland and with a senior team with Finland. So there's a lot of positives there with Kavanaugh. I think the fans are going to want me to spend a little more time pushing you on Hudson here, Corey.

So let's talk more about his year. I really liked Lane's finish to the season. season. I think when you looked at how it started, I think it was a lot more of the like tilted. Yeah, he's going to get a lot, but he's going to give a lot back. As the year went on, it did improve. Did it shift your opinion, though, at all about kind of how he projects going for you. You still haven't rated really, really high on this list. But I think there's always going to be people who are like, why is any higher? Yeah, I mean, a player of eternal debate, obviously. We're recording this show. a day after USA doesn't invite him to the Olympic camp.

And I'm sure if you put their managing group on a call, they would probably just say some of the same things that you just said right there kind of thing about the rationale in that I think he's a player with special offensive traits. It's a good skater, not an elite small guy skater. He's a good skater. I think the couple of things that I liked about Lane this year, to your point about the defending, it wasn't what got you excited about him or close to it,

but it wasn't a disaster. like he competes really hard and he held his own in battles you know he kept watering like is he going to get killed here is he going to get run over is he going to get overwhelmed and he gets boxed out or whatever as you expect but he held his own like he was getting in there he wins some battles you didn't expect him to

and I think that was definitely a positive the degree of offense he shows right away when I was probably was with top five in the league or something like that for defenseman even if you really liked hot see I don't think even his biggest fans, respecting him to, what he scored?

Not in year one. Yeah, like a 20 year old. Like, so those two factors combined. Definitely, I think, changed the evaluation of him a little bit.

I think you are still wondering, you know, I think when he came in, you're thinking, okay, is he Sammy Gerard? And now you're thinking, okay,

well, is he Adam Fox? And then the debate becomes, well, what should you, you know, how good is Adam Fox? And what should you pay him

and stuff like that. But I think you're talking about him now, I think more along those lines in terms of the caliber of player, you're expecting long term. All right. Let's go to number four. That's the Anaheim Ducks. I love this system, frankly.

And when I saw it at number four, my first thought was how is it not a little bit higher? So I guess we'll get into that as those go. But you talk about being loaded. Leo Carlson, Mason McTavish, Roger McQueen, is there a better collection of young centers in the league than that? And oh, by the way, you surround him with a guy in Cutter-Gote, who could play. center, although he seems to be kind of settling in on the wing, absolute sniper, big body, Beckett Seneca, huge, skilled.

You go to the blue line even, which for a while, I think, had been an area of concern, and all of a sudden it's Minchikov, it's Solberg, it's Luno, Olin Zellwiger. Like, I have a hard time seeing many systems that can be as complete and have as few question marks as the Anaheim Ducks do. And it's something we've been saying here for a year or two. I think we've had a lot of optimism about Anaheim here. for a couple of years, and we still do. I think you and I are both extremely excited about,

not just the talent, but the well-roundedness of a lot of these guys. There's a lot of guys who are size, a lot of guys with a high motor, a lot of guys I think will translate the playoff hockey. And while Anaheim's did take some steps this year, they went from being, you know, really at the bottom of the league to being a little bit more respectable. I think you are still waiting for, you know,

the internal question when you're rebuilding in hockey is like, okay, but when's it actually going to happen? when are we going to actually not be optimistic about the future, but when is the future actually going to arrive and we're going to win some games? I think that's a minor question. You know, in Anaheim at this point, with just how long they've been rebuilding for, but, you know, the talent there is significant.

I love Leo Carlson. I know the numbers haven't been there quite yet, but I think he's going to be a star in the league. The tools are just so off the chart good. And especially that was Zegris out. and there'll be more opportunities there on the PowerPoint to run the flank. And I think he's going to be an absolute star in this league. To your point about the like, when's it going to happen and turn in the corner,

one of the stories this summer around the Anaheim ducks surrounds whether they can get a contract done with Mason McTavish, are they going to trade Mason McTavish, right? Who just seems like one of the main reasons to be excited. He's already in the NHL. If you move on from this guy, I don't know how you can say that you're taking that step this. unless you were to get, you know, basically a player in the exact same situation back, which I guess granted occasionally happens. But if you're trading him, you're not doing it from position of strength.

And I wonder what your take on all that is. It's a strange one for me to observe from afar. Like I think some people I've talked to have pointed out maybe he didn't have like the most spectacular year you were hoping for from McTavish. But I still think a guy is, like, there's still a center with legit skill. He's highly competitive. He's a guy who's worn a letter for Anahehy. I'm at such young age.

He could score. He makes plays. Is the offense in his game elite? Probably not. But can he be like a hell of a second line center behind Carlson long term? Absolutely. And I've just found this stalemate. I obviously don't want to give in.

Just give guys whatever you want. They've got to pay them fair value if you're a manager. But I found this like stalemate so strange. Unless I'm missing something obvious, they're not strapped for cash in an I'm like it's not a matter of trying to make the cap space work. I figured they would just find a resolution here with McTavut at some point. Right. He's obviously the third overall pick, right?

So no one's surprised by him being good. But what's interesting to me is like we just spent the whole draft cycle watching Brady Martin rise like nobody's business, partly because he's got so many similarities to Sam Bennett, who was like this exact kind of second line center on the Stanley Cup team, is Mason McTavish, not somewhere on the continuum between Brady Martin and Sam Bennett? Might argue if he hits, he's at the far end of the continuum, quite frankly. He's ahead, right. I mean, maybe, you know, Bennett was so good in the playoffs, but he wasn't always that level, but

not at this age, not the age McTavish was certainly. No, I mean, he was struggling to play the NHL at that age. Yeah, so I think any team in the league should be calling on Mason McTavish. And for that reason, I don't think the Anaheim Ducks should be trading him. I think they got a fine way to get this one done. We talked about the blue line. I will say, you know I love Pavlman Chikov. I can acknowledge this was not as good a year this past season as it was the year prior,

where I thought he really looked like a slam dunk top pair guy. Yeah, I think he's a guy who's struggling to find a role in that the tools are obviously there. The skating is very good. He's got size. He has some skill. I think he gets a little lost in terms of like, well, what is he actually good at? I don't think he's a super hard defender.

You know, he's an aggressive offensive player, but I don't think he's a premier puck mover, like a guy with high-end instincts. So I think he kind of wonder, well, what special team does he fit on when the team is going good? Because, you know, a guy like Olin Zellweger's maybe more of a natural power play type is

whether Zellweger is actually going to be on the duck when they're good or not is another question because he doesn't feel like a repeat type. But we'll see it. But I think Minchikov, you know, a lot of things alike there, but like you kind of insinuated there, I'm a little more uncertain about what his future holds.

I don't, like I think he's going to be an I HL player, but I don't know where he exactly fits on them over the next couple of years. And if they ever do become good, what slot he fits on their special teams? So what's your biggest question in this group of under 23 guys? I know that the big picture question on the ducks is like, when's it going to happen? but is it about Cutter-Gotier and whether he becomes that like legit 30 goal score?

Is it the health of Roger McQueen? Like what would you point to as kind of a key, you know, pivot factor for this system? Well, one, I think they need Carlson to be as good as I think he's going to be. If that doesn't happen, things change pretty significantly, pretty quickly. But I think McQueen and Minchikov are the two other ones where you're holding out hope there that things are going to end up positive. Let's go to another extremely well-rounded system out west, and that's the Utah Mammoth, another team that just they kind of have a little bit of everything. They have so many of these pieces that teams struggle to find.

They just drafted Caleb Denoia, who maybe he's your first line center. If he's not, I think he's going to be one of the best second line centers in hockey. He is Mr. Do It All. He's a great playmaker. They have two in the NHL already in Logan Cooley and Dylan Genther, young stars. They have big-bodied defensemen in Dimichry Simachev and Maverick Lambert. They've got Danil Bout and Tijit Ginla outside the top five for you. And I think a lot of teams would be thrilled to have either one of them, another system that just kind of has it all.

And what I think is so interesting about Utah system is it's a very deep system. There's a couple of names you could have even mentioned on top of that. It's where the team is currently, though, they get you excited. Because even though they picked forth overall this past summer, it's because they've fluked into a lottery win there. you know, this is a team that I think you can reasonably expect to compete for the playoffs this year. And if they didn't make the playoffs, I think some might even call them a mild disappointment for them this upcoming season. And when you combine that the level of young talent they have, I think there's a lot of reason for optimism in Utah right now. Yeah, you look down the middle in the future and we'll see if Caleb Denoia is one year away, two years away.

But the idea of Cooley Denoia, those are two very complimentary players. But then you can surround them with a boot, with a Genthler, with an against, or within a Gens. like this that's excellent up front and you already have a good young d there and mikhail surgaachev you're going to add a demetri simishev to that you're going to add a lamaroo to that maybe you want your power play guy but i can't think of too many other places uh that that the mammoth are lacking what do you expect in out of coolly this year though because he took that first step towards stardom last year i think we'd agree there's more in there i do think there's more to come i think he's an outstanding player.

You mentioned, you know, what's Denaue. I think Cooley's probably the one ahead of Denaugay long terms because there's more offense there. But I think that's an exciting group to build around. And I like Barrett Hayden. I mean, I don't love him. But I think if he's your three behind those two, it's a great place for him to be in your lineup.

How about Simashev? Because, you know, certainly with some of these big Russian defensemen, Alexander and Nekisham, we finally get to see with Carolina at the end of last year. year. I think there's kind of this mystique around players like Simashev, players like Nikitian. What's reasonable to expect from Simishov this year and going forward? Yeah, Simishev and Daniel Bood were both playing a locomotive. The last two years, they were a top team. They won the KHL this past year. They didn't really get a ton of ice time, and I don't think you're really thrilled with how they're development. What I think you like the tools like

you did in their draft here, both are huge, could skate, have good enough skill, work hard, maybe Simashev's a little bit more meaner than Buda's. Bud has a little bit more natural offensive touch, a goal scoring winger. But I'm not completely convinced they step into the NHL right away. Maybe Simishev does. Maybe he doesn't. I think you'd like both of them

just play a significant minute against men. Maybe it's in the American League right away. Maybe they start in the NHL, we'll see. But I like both. I think both play in the upper half of an NHL lineup, but I'm not convinced it's happening right away. All right. Well, let's take a quick break right there.

We'll be back with the top two. All right, we're back. And before we get to the top two, the long-awaited conclusion to the pipeline countdown, listeners, we want to hear from you. You can go to the link in the episode description to give us your feedback on the show, what content you've enjoyed the most, what you'd like us to do differently next season on the athletic hockey show. Thank you for your continued support. And now checking in at number two, Corey, is the Chicago Blackhawks. There's a lot to get to with this system. There's a lot we're going to discuss here.

but let's start with Connor Bedard. Because there is kind of a narrative of people feeling a little disappointed by him. I think if you told me the guy would have 120-something points before his 20th birthday in the NHL, I think even two years ago, amid all the hype, that would have been pretty exciting. Yeah, I think, you know, we've had this conversation before about what's a generational prospect. Is he generational? I feel like that label gets assigned too liberally. we had this debate with Rosmas Dahlene back in his draft year two.

I think you want to be really careful when you overhyped kids and you sign them the next McDavid or whatever. And then Rethel Padard was that. And just spoiler, Gavin McKenna is not generational either before we get to that ridiculous debate over the next 12 months. Like you want to be not to say that they're not fantastic prospects. Noly was fantastic. McKinnett's fantastic. The Dard's fantastic. Just McDavid is a freak of nature.

and I think you want to be real careful before you assign a guy that level of hype. But if you take that away, like I say, you say what Bardard is, he's been a successful player in the NHL, a top offensive player on his team

the last two years, off the chart skill level. The only real thing about his game that's probably been a mildly disappointing is when you saw him in junior, his shot was like the defining trait of his game outside of his just his puck handling his creativity. And we haven't seen

that as consistently in the NHL, but once that comes and talking to scouts around the league and management types, everyone kind of thinks it's coming. Once those shots from range start going in a little more consistently, I think we're expecting huge offensive numbers from Badard. I think the concerns with him are more like, you know, with the lack of the leach feet at that size, you know, I think we always discussed is he a wing or not? And I think in a world where they attracted Anton Frontel third overall, at some point, Chicago's going to have to have that conversation.

But they don't need to force it. And Frundel's played wing before as well, so they can, they could mix and match and try different things out. But overall, I think Badaard's in a great spot. And I think, I don't know if it's going to be this year, but I think within time, he's going to be one of the elite players in the NHL. All right. So that was the first overall pick in 2023.

Chicago also had the second overall pick, 2024. They used that on Artem Levschenov. Defense heavy draft, you know, certainly Zee, Booiams has been really, good. And as you look back on that class, do you still feel like Ardum Leveshanov has a good chance to be the best Blue Laner to come out of it? Yeah, he has a good chance. I wouldn't say he's definitely going to be, or even that he'd be the top-ranked blue

liner for me from that draft. I think, you know, Sam Dickinson had a fantastic year in London. So, like, for me, it probably between those three Lefshunov, William and Dickinson. But he's absolutely in that conversation. his first half of the year in the American League was just okay, but much better in the second half. He comes in the NHL. He looks really good right away with Chicago.

He's just a 6-2 defenseman with tremendous skill and offensive instincts. He skates really well. And if he continues to build him what we saw in the second half of the last year, maybe he didn't get back into being, which way was for me going into the draft, the top-ranked defenseman in that age group. I think he's going to be a very impactful player for Chicago for a long time. I know Blackhawks fans are going to be keyed into the placement of Frank Naser on this list. He shoots up for you, frankly.

He's right there right after Anton Frundel, ahead of Kevin Korninski, Sam Renzel. It was a really nice year for Naser. And I think as partial rookie seasons go, about as good as you could have asked for, really. Well, it was more than just the NHL rookie season. It was the American League play, too. He was just, I was a little surprised by how good he was in the American League, quite frankly, as Chicago fans will have documented quite clearly for me over the year that I wasn't super high on him coming into this past year and he proved me wrong.

I had concerns on the offense. There was clearly no concerns on the offense. I love the skating. I love his compete level, but he saw like a 5-10 guy who I thought in Michigan didn't show special offensive traits. And I don't know, that's going to still give me the calling card of his game. I think his work ethic and his pace are still what gets you the most excited about Nazar, but in the NHL and the American League, but especially in the NHL.

the world championships at the end of the year. You know, he showed plenty of offense, plenty of creativity. And I think this is a guy tracking to be a really nice top six forward and potentially a second line center on a competitive team. I mean, you talked about the Olympic orientation roster a little bit earlier. Frank Naser got an invite to the Olympic orientation. I don't think we expect him to be a serious candidate for a Olympic team spot, but it tells you he's in their future plans.

Yeah. I mean, how many times do we go into drafts and every freaking 510, 511 center? is Braden Point. I'm not saying Nazar is brain point, and I think he doesn't have the hockey sense of brain and point, but there's a lot more rhymes in his game to a guy like a point than there is to the other, you know,

two dozen guys we've heard compared to him throughout the years. Yeah. Talk me through Kortinski and Renzel, too, because I think that's one that, you know, Blackhawks fans will debate. Renzel was so exciting, you know, when he came up and there's a lot to like in that profile, but you still got Kortinski a little bit ahead of him.

and it's close. Like if you really push me on it, I can flip Renzel and put him up there. But I think Kortiski's had some struggles, but he's probably been rushed a little bit into the pro game. And he struggles with his defense a little bit, but still with his, he's such a good skater.

Like his skating is so good for his size. And he's so talented that I think within time, he's going to figure it out. He's become a really, I think, steady second pair in the NHL. Renzel, I don't think he has like that calling card trait, other than maybe his side. I think he's a good skater.

He's a good puck handler. I don't think he's super hard to play against this. But I think that's skating in Cortchensky still gets me excited. And just, like, Renzel was definitely better last year, definitely in the NHL between the two games they played. He was better than Korchinsky. But I think projecting into the future, I still think Kortinski finds his way into the NHL.

I've asked you so much about Anton Freundel over the course of the summer through the draft cycle. So I won't make you go back and do that more. But I will just say, like, I think there's a sense of unease around the state of Chicago's like rebuild right now. And so just kind of big picture when you look at this system. I know they're here in large part

because when you have a talent like Bedard, it props up a lot of things. You feel better about this system though today probably quite significantly than you did a year ago? I would say in some ways, yeah. I mean, Renzel had a positive year. Nazar had a just tremendous year.

They've continued to build. did. I mean, when you're picking that high in the draft, we can quibble on should you have taken Lefschnob, should you've taken Anton Frundel or should you've taken whatever, James Hagen's or whoever they, whoever they wanted to take. You know, these are all great, great players. They didn't take, instead of, you know, they didn't take whatever, I don't know, who went to, like, the Costa Helena set two or something like that. There's something that'd be ridiculous at the time. They took a really good player. I still think. you're optimistic about the direction the team's going in.

I think there is still reasonably some concern that outside of Bedard, where is like the elite offensive traits in this organization? Because I think they've continued to make a priority on two-way guys, hardworking guys, fast guys. Frundel definitely has some of that in his shot and Luf Shunoff has some of that in his skill. I think that's maybe the one little critique. I still think this is a team that's building in a positive direction. I still think they're building towards being a really good NHL team

long term, definitely not anything, short term. But I think you're still looking for some elite offensive characteristics in some of these draft picks. All right. And with that, we go to the team at number one. It's the San Jose Sharks. Was this close for you? No.

I mean, they just, it's a special group of young players, you know, between, you know, before you even get to the top guy, you know, Sam Dickinson, which is outstanding this year in London. He looks like a guy who has a chance to be a. top pair, if not a number one defenseman in the NHL with the 6-3-6-4 frame, the way he skates the amount of offense he showed. I don't think his hockey sense his offense is his strength. And he was London's power play.

He gets insulated a little bit there, but he was so impressive this year. Then you have Will Smith, who bounced back really well. Second half of the NHL year shows significant offense. In the NHL, you have Michael Mesa, the second overall pick in this past year's draft. I think it's a chance to be, you know, a bottom end first line center. which wouldn't be great if you're rebuilding, but you don't need a bottom end first line center because you've got a potentially top end first line center

as well in Macklin-Selbrini, who quite honestly might be one of the best players I've ever evaluated. Like he is close to a perfect hockey player in the way he plays with his skating, his skill, his work ethic, his creativity, details. And then you have a system after that where the top end is not, Those are the top end guys. You only can have so many top end guys,

but I still think you like a lot of the other picks they've made. You look at a guy like an Igor Chernish-up and how he dominated in the OHO after being a second round pick. That's an exciting thing for Sharks fans. And I like Josh Ravensburg and the goalie. They pick in the light first, and then an ASCorp doesn't even qualify for this list anymore due to age. So I don't think San Jose is winning next year or the year after that

or probably even the year after that. But I think you look at this group of players and you see a path for them to become a competitive team, for them to be a winning team if they continue to make good decisions and the development of these key players goes well. It's a system that doesn't lend that well to this format because there's not many questions about them, right? But I guess to the extent there is,

knowing how good Dickinson was last year, is there still a need for that kind of one more, particularly offensively tilted D in this system? Probably. Like, I like Leo Chaldeen Willanius, but he's not that guy. I know some people are hyping up like Luke at Cagnoni, but I think, like, he's good. And I think you're happy to get him in the fifth round. But I think when they're good, he's probably not in the picture, just my opinion.

So I agree. I think they probably need that guy a little bit still. But I don't think you're looking at this, thinking, oh, my God, they have no defense. I don't think that's the case at all, quite frankly. And then maybe there's a room for kind of a power winger, I guess, too, right? Like, if you look on the wings, it's, you know, Smith might be a center, but I think he's probably a wing. And then you're talking about William Mackland. You could probably use that, you know, again, go back to the Canadians conversation.

Where's your Slavkovsky? Yeah, like Mustie's not a power winger at all. Halton is, but he's kind of slow and a little limited in his playmaking. So neither of them are sure things to make it. Beasts big, but he's not heavy. So I think that's a fair criticism as well. These are champagne problems, though, in San Jose, the number one U-23 pipeline in Corey Prondman's rankings. You can read the whole collection of rankings on the athletic.com.

And certainly, I would highly recommend you do so for your favorite team. There's a lot of great insight, a lot of work that went into these. Corey, I appreciate you doing this this week with us. That is going to do it for us today and for this series on the athletic hockey show prospect series. Stick around for next week. We're going to talk about the individual U23 player rankings. And we'd also love to hear your thoughts on these rankings. We're going to be doing mailbags a little bit differently this year.

Instead of Corey tweeting out every week mailbag questions, we're going to have a year-long portal that you guys can be submitting your questions to. You can find that on any Scott Corey and I have all tweeted it out. Hopefully you can also find it on the FLDIC.com. But reach out if you haven't found it. And you can send those all year. We'll be pulling from them. And we're certainly going to want to hear your thoughts on this collection of rankings

and on the U23 rankings. We'll talk to you soon.