The Athletic Hockey Show - Whose NHL Draft stock rose or fell at U18 Worlds?

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

With the full Prospect Series crew on location in Frisco, Texas for the U18 World Championship, the guys get together to discuss the state of the top of this year’s NHL Draft, which players have seen their stock rise or fall during the tournament, and how Monday night’s draft lottery could shake things up before picks are made in June. Hosts: Max Bultman and Corey PronmanWith: Scott Wheeler and FloHockey’s Chris PetersExecutive 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 Boldman here alongside Scott Wheeler, Corey Promin, and Flow Hockey's Chris Peters for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. This time I am literally beside Scott Wheeler, Corey Promin and Chris Peters, all gathered around a mic in Scott's hotel room in Frisco at the U18 World Championships. We're going to talk a lot about that today. But I wanted to start, Corey, with just a, you know, it's been a while. We would talk to the people in a few weeks here. on the draft. So let's get a little bit of a refresher on the state of the top of the 2025 NHL draft class. And that's going to be an important topic here in a couple of days because

the NHL draft lottery is going to be this coming Monday and we're going to get a draft order and an idea of how potentially the 2025 draft could go. I think most expect Matthew Schaper, the Erie Defenseman, they go first overall. I wouldn't say it's a guarantee, but I think it's a very strong possibility. I think depending, you know, how the draft order plays out and and how some teams are going to approach Schaefer both of us through the position, whether they want to pick a defense in the first overall, and as well the fact that Schaeper just didn't give him a lot of information this season outside of a couple of major events where he really stood out.

He didn't have the sample size that other players had, but I think he's still the likely candidate to go first overall. After that, though, that it kind of opens up to this big blob of forwards, I would say, and the exact order of which they're going to go. I think we talk to teams that's very uncertain. I think most think that Saginaw's Michael Mesa is going to be the first four off the board. But I've talked to a number of teams that have different four as their top four. I've talked to teams that have Frontell, Anton Ferndelle from Juergner as their top forward.

I've talked to teams that have Caleb D'Noyer from Moncton as their top forward, that have Jake O'Brien, the center from Brantford, as are talked forward, that have even still poorer Martone from Brampton, the winger as their talk forward. Some still even think James Hagen's from Boston College is in that conversation. So I think there's going to be this really fascinating debate in terms of how that two to six, two to seven grouping could go. Quite frankly, there are people who think that Roger McQueen from Brandon would have been in that conversation if it wasn't for the injury concerns and depending how the medicals come back from

him. He's a guy that I think will be really tempting. I would argue he's a better prospect than Keating Lindstrom, who went forth overall last year, who also had arguably just as bad, if not worse, pack issues going into his drought. So I think that's what the draft lot is really going to set. You're going to see these stylistically different forwards who kind of form the debate. Do you want speed?

Do you want skill? Do you want size? I think we'll see how the order plays out. But the two top prospects here in Dallas, Anton Frundel, and the defenseman riding Mercka, who I think right now is the odds on favor to be the second defenseman picked in this draft class.

I think both have been good at this tournament, but I don't know if either have really stood out with Frondell. You need to put a big asterisk next to his name because he kind of just came over here after playing a very long and competitive playoff for Yurgarten where they got promotion to the SHL.

But he had some rest and I don't think his quarterfinal game against Finland was good. It wasn't great. Recording this before the semifinals and the middle round games take place. So if he goes off there, sorry if this looks stupid in hindsight.

But Chris, Scott, what have you thought of Frondel in Merck so far. Even Murkka, I think, has been good, and it has had some really great moment, but I don't think in a drag class where I don't think there's a clear number two to fesman. I thought there's an opportunity for him to grab that from Kachshon Hitchson, from Jackson Smith, from Logan Hensler, from Sasha Bumidia and whoever else. And I'm not quite sure if he did that quite here. Murdka really got people talking in that very first game. I thought his high point of the tournament was that first game against the United States. He was debatably the best player

on the ice in that game. He went end to end and scored a beautiful goal. He played a ton of minutes in that game. And they were really relying on him as their go-to guy, their best player that was before the addition of Adam Vanach, who came in late from Youngstown in the USHL. Since then, though, Mercka, I don't think has sold in terms of the conversation as to who the second best defenseman in the draft is. I don't think he stamped it or sort of cemented it, if you will. He's been okay in a couple of the games. And they're still playing him. He's still playing 23, 24 minutes a night for that team. He's still quarterbacking their top power play. You can still see the skating and the poise on the puck and some of the unique attributes that made him

such a top player immediately in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds this season. But there's been a lot about this tournament that's been uninspiring. And the top of this draft class, after the six or seven names that Corey mentioned off the top sort of fits that bill for me. I think whether you're putting Reddy Mertka into that sort of eight to ten range or you're putting Victor Eklund into that eight to ten range or Roger, who knows where Roger McQueen fits into that group at this point. All of those players have at least question marks and they're not inspiring in the same way that Zane Perak and Sam Dickinson and Zeev Boyam, you go down the list of the top of last year's draft. This draft just doesn't have that juice.

And this week has been indicative of that. It's been a very, very tough week. There have been a lot of bad games here. There's been a lot of bad hockey here. And the standouts, maybe we can get to them. But the standouts in this week, in many cases, have been the 2026s, is not the 2025. Which is kind of been similar to last year, too, with this tournament. For sure.

Last year, it was Porter Martone. It was Gavin McKenna. It was those sort of underage players who, James. Higgins, who set the tournament scoring record as technically a year out from his draft. So it's been tough. This is probably the least talented U18 worlds that I've covered. And Chris has covered a few more of them. But it's been difficult to find first round talent here.

And part of that is that a lot of those names Corey mentioned off the top are not here, right? James Hagen's was of this age group last year. He's not this year. Same deal with Martone. Misa, obviously not here. O'Brien, obviously not here. So a lot of those big names aren't here. But Chris, like, when Corey's going through those names, you're thinking, oh, look at all these guys, teams think could be the number two.

That must mean it's a really strong class. You're not so sure that that's the case here. No, I think it's exactly the opposite. I think that really the fact that there is a lack of consensus suggests that there are players with a lot of holes. We talked about Anton Frundel, and he had a great second half. He had injuries at the beginning of the season. really changed the dynamic for him. That was kind of, you know, it got him off to a slow start. Then he has an incredible second round, or second half, rather, in the Allsfenskin, produces points at a

high level, comes here. And all the general managers that are going to be at the top of this draft have mostly been here. And a lot of them have been at the Sweden games. And I think a lot of them are looking for Frundel. He's been okay. But you look at those guys at the top of the list. And the fact that, you know, with the season that Michael Mesa had in the OHL, that he hasn't established himself as a number one, the number one forward in this draft with the production that he had, that is a, suggests that teams are not sure, right? Teams are not sure about some element of his game. And that's that uncertainty within the top three, four, five is is really not what you want at this time. I think that this, you want to have a little bit more certainty. And because of the variance, I think you were going to talk to teams and all of our public lists are going to be out there. And they are probably going to look, you know, I think public lists tend to, sometimes we might get sucked into each other's lists every now and again.

And they get a little bit closer. But what I would say is that every NHL team's list, I would venture is vastly different. and it's not because there are so many great options. It's because there are so few. I think you're being a little bit harsh. No, I'm not. Okay, like, let's focus on Michael Mesa. How would you compare Michael Misa to say Berkeley Catton this point last year?

I mean, you're talking about an eighth overall pit. What is the point of it? Okay, well, I think at least it's the same conversation. I love Berkeley Catton. Yeah, just a while. You know, I would, you know, look at, say, you know, Caleb Dinoje, compare him to Beckett Seneke, who went through. I think at the minimum, it's a similar conversation for me in terms of the caliber of

player. I'm not saying this is as good a draft as last year's draft, but I think Dinojeet, I think Frondell, Jake O'Brien, James Hagen's. I think Hagen's and Catton are extremely similar players. For example, you know, I look at Jake O'Brien versus Tija Ginnler. I think a minimum, there's an analogy there. I think that there's no elite, elite players, maybe Schaefer's elite, maybe it isn't, but I still think O'Brien, Frundel, Hagan's, Misa, Dinoje, those are premium prospects, in my opinion,

even if they're not the highest of echelon players. Yeah, yeah, but I don't think any of those guys are going to unseat the top two guys from last year. We have a very... The top two from last year are Macklin Sellebrini and Ari Levsinov. And you could also throw Demadov into the mix. How many of these guys are you putting in that category? And certainly, defensemen, it's really, after Schaefer, that's the other thing. Last year has got...

Mesa, for me, is in the same conversation with Leveshinov and Demadov, I think. Schaefer and Leveshinov could be a pretty good debate. It is, and I probably would lean Schaefer, quite frankly. Yeah, I mean, it'd be nice if he played more than 30 games and we'd have a much better idea. It would be. I would be nervous calling the name of one. I still would call that name of one, but it would make me nervous. Yeah, and I think that's kind of the thing. I think there's never certainty in the draft,

but I do think that there are at this year, the players that I'm seeing at the top of the draft, you know, and especially among defensemen, because Scott, we were talking about this the other day, about how, you know, Z. Bouillon went 12th. And I don't know, after Schaefer, you know, is it a guarantee that a Merck or an Acheson or, you know, those players are going to go, you know, very high? I'm not sure. We've had, I've heard that debate a lot about how Z-Boym won 12 compared to this year's draft. We've had a conversation a lot.

Could we just call a spade of spade, but Z-Boyum shouldn't have gone 12? Well, sure. Like, I think, I think he's got a number two conversation for last year's draft quite fattingly. Absolutely, absolutely. And I'd say, but you also think, you know,

correct, Dickinson, how many of these guys are we putting in that in that category? It was definitely a deeper topic, especially that blue line. I mean, I definitely agree that I think the second best defenseman And this year's draft, whether it's Merka, whether it's Aitchinson, whether it's Hensler or Aboumeddian or Smith or Cameron Reeder, whoever, might have been like the sixth defenseman picked last year. Yeah, yeah, I would say. I think a good conversation I've had people with Mercos.

I think the issue of Merck and when I've watched him here is you see the skate and you see this skill. You can make plays. Made a beautiful play in the game in the quarterfinal, for example, that led thing to the Czech's first goal. David Roosevelt. But I think the thing that he maybe lacks a physicality element in his game. So I think I always compare him to Anton Selyev last year, who's similar size, similar skating, both are offense, have some offense,

but it's not premier offense. Ace Merck is a little bit more poised, but Solaev had that meanness in his game. He goes 10th overall, and he was still, what, the fourth defenseman picked in that draft? You know, now you look at this year's draft, you know, it's hard to,

the defense difference for me is the biggest one. I think forwards-wise, I think it's at least outside of Celebrini, there are still some really good force, really good centers in this year's draft. So at dinner last night, I asked you guys, like, more or less than a 35% chance that the second pick is someone other than Mesa. And Corey said over 35% chance. Scott, I'm curious what your reaction is today. I know you're a big Mesa believer. I still think Misa's the clubhouse leader here, but 35% still establishes him that as that. I would probably say there's an over 35% chance. And I think if there is a guy, I'm more convinced now, despite the vanilla OK week that Anton Frundel has had, just from talking to teams this week, I think Frundel is the most likely

of that next group with Porter Martone, with James Hagen's. Higgins obviously started the year. When we were first talking about early lists here, we were talking about James Higgins as a potential first overall pick in this group. And that no longer obviously is the case with. with Schaefer in the way that he's established himself. But I think even Misa Frundell, they've distinguished him themselves from the two early kids that we were talking about, which was Porter Martone and James Hagan's coming out of

their excellent performances at last year's U18 Worlds in Finland. And I do think as a season canes ago, one of the Keel de Noia continues to play hockey. If they go to the MEM Cup, if they perform well, I think he's leading the Q playoffs and scoring now, leaving Mungton and scoring by I think 10 points or something like that in their in their playoff right at the moment. I think he's got a very strong argument as well. And they could win the Memorial Cup and he could be the lasting viewing

of hockey in this age group that people have. Well, that's what fascinates me is once this tournament ends, he's the only one who can make another statement, right? And so when he's the only one who can do it and he's at the Mem Cup, this big spotlight event, which is a huge opportunity. Which is not quite there yet, but we expect he could be.

Ramuski's a good team. All right, let's take a quick break right there. We'll talk a little more about the tournament as a whole here this week. Who stood out, who's raised their profile outside of obviously those top couple names. All right, we're back. And let's go now to our kind of full-on conversation on the World U-18s here in Texas. And I want to start with guys who have really helped themselves this week. So, Scott, let's start with you on Team Canada. Who on Team Canada has helped themselves this week? I think Brady Martin has sort of cemented himself, at least in

that top-10 conversation. We talked off the top of the show about the difficulty sort of finding guys for that seven, eight, maybe more the eight to ten range in this group, the eight to twelve range in this group. You don't feel the same way about those guys as you have in previous years. And so you start to go to, okay, who's going to play in the NHL, who has a clear identity? And there is no player in this age group who has a clearer identity than Brady Martin. I thought he was actually a little quiet in the first couple of games. Braden Coots was the standout of those early games. But as the tournament has gone on, Brady has really established,

himself, as he has over the last two years with the Sue Greyhounds, as just this physical force, this one-of-one player in this draft. He dummies guys along the wall. He bowls guys over and open ice. He's always on loose pucks. He always seems to be around the net. He's a center. He's got room to get even stronger despite being an extremely, extremely strong, powerful player. There's skill there. He's made some little one-on-one plays through his legs and that kind of thing. So you've seen the flashes. And I think he's a player for NHL clubs now where you look at that top 10 group. And I think it's conceivable that he sniffs it, that on draft day a team takes Brady Martin in that sort of 8, 9, 10, 11 range in this age group. Yeah, I mean, I don't see a big nurse where he

hit him in Marco Casper at the same age. And I think that that's the, that's the player that that teams are going to be looking at us, maybe a second line center who plays really hard, who can provide offense. Is it going to be a first power play guy in the NHL? Probably not. Is he going to even be a center in the NHL? Maybe, maybe not. It's actually played wing here at this tournament. But he provides a lot of really positive things to a team. And I think in that 8 to 12, 8 to 13 range, I think he's absolutely in that conversation. And then the other player who I think has really stood out for Canada is Keaton Verhof.

Canada brought a very young group on the blue line, like an extremely young group. And actually when they turned to decide when they finally registered eight defensemen and they had to decide on who they were going to scratch, it was 2025 Alex Huang, who, was the first player that they decided to scratch, which meant that they were including Daxon Rudolph, Keaton Verhoff, Ryan Wynn, Carson Carrolls. And Verhoff has emerged here as maybe not just their number one D, but maybe their best player. He was clearly their bet.

I mean, Cole Reschney scored two big, big goals in a three, two overtime win in the quarterfinals yesterday for Team Canada. But Verhof was their guy. He led them in time on ice. He made the play that set up Cole Reshny on the overtime winner. He made a number of plays swinging low in. the offensive zone late in the third period of that game. And he's a big, big, big guy who's got a ton of talent. And when you start to sort of crystallize what you think the shape of next year's

draft might look like, after Gavin McKenna, I think you look, and I'm sure we'll touch on Yvars Stenberg, but after Gavin McKenna, I think you're starting to look at Yvars Stenberg. You're starting to look at Keaton Verhoff. Those are the names that feel like they're going to be in that top two, top three, top four conversation this time next year. And Verhoff's been a been a horse for them. And I'd argue he's been better at this level than Schaefer was at this level last spring in terms of the, turns of the impact. And I think at least at the same age and look projecting as the pros, I think he's a similar prospect of Schaefer. I think this is a guy who has the chance with the six four frame, the skating, the hockey sense, the competitiveness. He's shown

off as the WHL level and here at the U18 level now too. I think he's got a chance to be a legit top top pair, you know, impact player as a pro. And I think he looks like a very pretty in prospect. Carson Carroll from Prince George also played a ton of minutes in that quarter final against the checks and has been very impressive for Team Canada. But Verhof, to me, if McKenna wasn't so special, I think this is a guy who'd be in the first overall conversation. He's a really unique defense prospect. If I were to nitpick one thing about Verhof, it would be that his skating isn't that high, high-end quality. I think his feet can look a little heavy at times.

But if that can come along and he can be an average to above-average skater and develop it in the off-season and that kind of a thing, I think he's a pretty special talent. I have no issues of skating. It's just not shape or level for me, but I think he'll be an average of NHL skater. All right, let's go to core then for Team USA. And the most interesting thing about this NTP group, the Z-18 team, they stay together all year.

They're always pretty good at this event, partly for that reason. This is not totally the same U18 group, though, that they've had all year at the NTDP. Yeah. Well, yes and no in that they kind of brought in a bunch of players who were part of the NTP team over the last few months, but you had Will Horcoff, who was with the team up until January. They went to University of Michigan, where he played very well. You have Colin Potter, who was with this team last year left to go play at Arizona State this

year. But they brought those two guys in, and they've been very impressive. among their top scores. I think both of them, pressed scouts. Then they also brought in Blake Fiddler from the Nettison Oil Kings, who has been,

in my opinion, their clear best defenseman at this level. You know, six or six five right shot who could skate, he plays hard. Puck plays just okay, but it looked good enough.

And this has been a USA NTP team that's been heavily criticized by myself, by, I know you guys have had things to say about the team. Stouts have been kind of carving them up as those as this is a

This is a good team. The CHL and TDP series in November, for example, was an overly inspiring event. But they've been, in my opinion, just as good as any other team at this tournament. I know it's not a great tournament, but I don't think Sweden's been clearly better than them. I don't think Canada's been clearly better than them.

They've got a legit chance to win gold and, you know, famous last words before the medal round starts. I'm saying this. But I think, you know, this is still a team. It looks like they're going to get at least two first rounders out of this group. Could be three or four. Like, I think Potters is going to be a first round.

rounder. I think Blake Philler's a first rounder. I think Will Horcoff has at least played as way into that conversation because of the late first rounder. I could see, I think Will Moore's had some good flashes here, 6-2-6-3 guy who can skate and makes plays. Like, I wouldn't surprise me if he's the first. Cole McKinney, Jack Murtock, depending he talked to, some have them as late first. I don't think all of them are going in the first. But I think this is still a good collection of players. Yes, we're talking about predominantly late first for all of them. There's no top 10 player here. There's no top five player. here. But this has been a good team and it's definitely been a lot of the extra

additions that I think have changed the foundation of this team and that the fact that actually Will Horcoff, who earlier in the year was not really that impactful a player for this team. You come here now and now he's a six by guy who's skilled in making plays and scoring goals. And I think you add Blake Fither to this really middling defense group. You know, you had Charlie Trethaway without a top prospect. He's not really anymore. But Fiddler, you know, moves in and takes the number one job. And it cuts himself well, I think this has been a decent USA team, even if it's not a premier USA team.

And certainly, you know, James Hagen's at the top would have been, you know, he's an American, he was at the NTPs at Boston College. Now he factors into this. But Chris, not to keep putting you as the guy to carve this class. But Corey talks about four or five of those his first-round picks. Like, are those four or five first-round pick with a bullet, or is that more of in this class? I feel like it's in this class.

I mean, there are guys that I like elements of their game. Certainly, like, you know, you know, watching. Blake Fiddler, watching Blake Fiddler, I haven't. I haven't seen a guy that, you know, in many classes would be, you know, a lock for the first round, but I would say that he is, I agree. Yeah, he is trended enough in, in that way in this particular class. Cole McKinney is a guy where he does so many things well, but nothing truly great. And he's got good two-way value. I think that there's, you know, I think he's a guy that will probably be on the World Junior team next year, just with the versatility that he has. You know, I think that,

Horcough, you know, leaving, going to Michigan, having the time that he did, he showed very well at Michigan and then has come here and looks improved, looks more impactful. You know, and then you look at a guy like Cullen Potter, I think in a lot of years, he's the kind of guy that NHL teams would shy away from in the first round. However, he's also one of the few guys in this class where there is a trait that you can say is truly among the elite of this class and that is his skating. You know. How much difference is he from like Alex New Hook at the same age? I mean, New Hook had a lot more production. I mean, I think that the thing is, is that Cullen makes a lot of plays with his feet.

He has, I think he thinks the game fast enough. It's just not enough of those things. And it may be because of where he's playing or what he's doing. But it was same at Arizona State and it's been the same here. There's a lot of things that lead to nothing in the end. I think New Hook probably competed harder, but I just think of the same skating combination. It doesn't make skill, but maybe not super smart.

That was the one in the kingdom of mine. And I thought it knew it got overdrafted, but that was a whole other issue. Frank Nazar went 12, too, and I think there are some parallels between him and Frank. But Frank also played harder, was more consistent over the course of the end. I think his motor was outstanding. I think that's Pollard's issues. It's a lot of dante on the perimeter sometimes. Yeah, exactly.

One more name on this USA team, Corey, that I know we talked a lot about yesterday. And we talked, we debated at the rink. who's the best skater in this class at this event, Cullen Potter or L.J. Mooney, who has a whole host of other questions around him, but he's been a standout here. Yes, I agree with that. And I think coming into this tournament, I think Mooney was quite frankly a fringe draftee.

Like, he did not have a great year. He was often injured, didn't really score at the level he probably expected to. But he's been one of the more productive players here. And just quite frankly, it's hard to not find him on the ice. And every time he's been taking a shift there, He just jumps out with his outstanding edge work, his creativity, his hustle. I mean, I've had the conversation with the other guys here. You know, he reminds me a lot of what Rocco Grimaldi did at the same age in terms of the impact he's having at that size and with the pace.

And whether that's praise or criticism, you can have your own perspective, but Rocco did play games in the IHL. And I look at LJ, even though he's a legit 5'7, I see a path for him to play games in the NHL. I'm not saying he's going to be an NHL player or a guy is going to help you and help you win playoff games, but I do think he actually looks like a prospect. And I do think he deserves to get drafted. I'm going to echo that too. And there's a couple of things there that I think are really important. So we talk about the skating and the skill, the hockey sense, they're all there. The other thing is, is that as a 5'7 player, he does not shy away from the interior.

Not is not a perimeter player. He actually, in the first game of this tournament, 6'4-6 redeemed Merca got planted. by 5'7 L.J. Mooney. He planted Evar Stenberg. He rocked Anton Frundell. He did rock Anton Frundel. He got a penalty for it, but he is shown that willingness, that fight. He does not shy away from those things. And then you watch him in this tournament. He is Team USA's leading score. He has been an assist machine because he is setting up so many plays. I agree with Corey that I see a path for him. I think a lot of these 5'7 guys, we're not talking about guys that are going to have a thousand games in the NHL, right?

Maybe they'll have two, you know, Rocco Grimaldi had 200 games in the NHL. They're also guys that'll probably play a lot in the AHL and there's still value in that as well. You think guys like Tj. Tynen and others that have carved out nice careers for themselves. But LJ in this tournament, I think for sure he's said, yes, I deserve to be drafted. Yes, you should consider me bringing me into your organization. And I see a player, you know, like the question is going to be round.

You know, I would be very surprised if it's before the fourth, I'd be probably, I could see the fifth as a more likely option for him. Either way, I think that we have an NHL prospect here. When you're talking about the third round, a guy who plays 200 games is a roaring success, though, in the NHL draft. Yes, absolutely. And I think it'll be interesting to see where he goes. I don't think he goes second round like Rocco did. He doesn't, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't, he's a great season in which got him picked. Yeah.

I don't think LJ had that year. but I think he will be some more in the third or the fifth round is my guess. You looked at like say Dom Fensori for example. He's a better player than Don Fensori was at the same age.

All right, Chris, let's go to Sweden now and this is a good age group for Sweden. We've talked a lot about Frundel and we can certainly continue him here. But who else has stood out to you from Team Sweden?

Yeah, I mean, you know, we'll start with Sasha Bumetting, because he's really been, he set the defense him scoring record. Every year there's a new record set at this tournament, and that's going to continue to be the case when there's

less of Russia around. But he has 14 points through five games. He has been setting up a lot of plays. He's averaging about 24, 26 minutes. So, you know, I think that that's been pretty impressive to see him. He's played about four more minutes than the next closest defenseman on average. The skating is high-end. I think that's probably the key factor in his game. I would say that, you know, when we talk about rising stock, though, It's going to be interesting to see because I think as much as he has performed and produced at this tournament, the decision making, some of the plays, I mean, there was a there was the casualness in the defensive zone at times. I think that is really going to be something that kind of could keep him a little bit lower. But he is, he is a player that I think has shown those traits to be potentially a top four defensemen. There are, there are things that I like. There are things that I don't like. The skating is something I really like. He has a. an incredible shot that we just don't see enough of. And he has, because of his skating and his ability to move pucks, he's played well. I think Sasha Bominian is going to be a really illustrative case when we start getting into this

NCAA discussion that's going to be happening throughout the summer where, you know, it's been on a common topic here where we wonder which of these top European players are going to come over and go to school, which of these top Canadians are going to go play in school. And, you know, there's a kind of this guy, you know, keep in mind that I think a lot of these top prospects are only going to want to go between six to nine schools. They're not 30 schools in a lot of these top prospects. Legit top prospects are going to go want to play at. You look at Bumadeen, who was really impressive as a 60-year-old in Youngstown.

He played a lot of minutes. He put up a lot of points. He looked like a no-doubt first rounder. He goes to be used as a true 17-year-old, and it was a rough first couple of months there. Scouts were carving him up. I had people asking me whether he was even like a top two-round pick in some of the games that he was going to, which seems a little harsh in hindsight. after he looks like, well, you know, the clear best defenseman here at this event

and looks like a no doubt first rounder with a 6-2 frame with the way he skates. And he's a little chaotic with the puck, but he definitely doesn't lack offense in his game. But, you know, I think, you know, college is a really tough level for a virtual draft eligible. Even Logan Hensler was a late-birthday struggle. You look at a guy like a Charlie Strammel, you know, in his drafter. He had his struggle with two years later now. He's a good player. So I'm going to be really interested to see how that goes for any legit 17-year-old who tries to hop into college next year and play in the big conferences.

And I would definitely tread lightly, especially at the hope they're going to step in and play top line, top power playing right away. Yeah, I agree completely with that. I think a big thing, you know, there are things, Bumadeen's development over the course of the season is definitely a good indicator of the value that they can be played a lot with Tom of Beelander. that was a huge benefit for him. But you also look at Cullen Potter. Cullen Potter goes into college a year early. These guys are not the Maclin Celebrini's, the Owen Powers, the guys that go in a little bit earlier, Adam Fantilli.

And I also think that schools, NCAA schools, are going to be very cautious about the draft eligible players they bring in because they also know that they're probably not ready. And so they're not going to overextend themselves to, get those players. So it'll be interesting to see, but I mean, just real quick also on the Potter Club, they're at Michigan State. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, yeah, that was the whole thing. And Michigan State said we're, you know, not yet. We don't have a spot, you know. And the funny thing is now, they probably still wouldn't have a spot for them if it be decided to ever transfer.

But the thing is, you know, there's a lot of things that'll happen. There have been a ton of college scouts here at the under 18 worlds as well. They are scouting Canada. They are scouting Europe. They are making sure that they are turning over no. So I think every major program has been here and made their case to players, families, whoever else was here. So there's a lot happening. But real quick, didn't want to get back to Sweden as well. Part of the story, obviously, Frundell's arrival was a big story.

But I think for Sweden, one of the key storylines of this entire tournament. And really, I think the key storyline of this tournament is the arrival of Yvars Stenberg is probably the best looking prospect here. Very handsome. Very highly skilled, highly, you know, quick. I talked to him this week. You know, he gave himself a comparable of Tim Stutzla, and I actually thought that was a pretty good one.

I think that there's a lot of dynamic elements to his game. You know, he can take over a shift. He can do the things that I think in this tournament help you win games. He was okay against the U.S. I think other games, he's been a little hit and miss, but you see the flashes. And so I think Evar Stenberg, a 2026 draft pick, we've talked about Gavin McKenna. You know, I think when we're talking about forwards, we're going to be talking a lot about

about Yvars Stenberg as well. I've been very, very impressed by how strong he is over pucks too. For a kid that age, now he's a late birthday in that age group. But his ability to puck protect along the wall, pull pucks through his feet, shed contact, get to the middle of the ice has been extremely, extremely impressive. I think he looks after Gavin McKenna, like the best young forward. in that group that I've seen so far. Okay, so I asked you for who stood out on Team Sweden, Chris, and you gave me two names.

Neither of them was the guy on Team Sweden who is the tournament scoring leader right now. I mean, you know, we got it. We got to give it to Philip Beckberg. You know, he deserves credit because it wasn't exactly a strong season in the OHL. And here he comes, and he is leading the tournament scoring. He scores every game. He is the bumper position on their number one power play. They are feeding him bucks.

He is putting them in. And he's also making plays. It's not just that he's a power play merchant. He has actually made some plays. He showed a good release, good puck movement. Scott, I think you've seen him a bit more this year and have a little more context on it because, you know, this season was, you look at him here and he looks like a really good player. Now, he's not big and there are still some elements that, you know, are not going to allow it and be a top prospect. But he's earned every right to be the leading score with the way that he's played here.

For sure. And I think his season deserves a little bit more context. He did not have a great year production wise for a fun. five foot nine winger. And as a result, I think entering this tournament, people were wondering about whether Philip Eckberg was more of a sort of five, six, seven round pick than a sort of third or fourth round pick potentially. He still might not go in the third or fourth round because of the season that he had, because he's a five nine, five ten winger. But it's my understanding. I was told that when he showed up in, in Ottawa to join the Ottawa 67s this year, that he was very ill,

and that it was a long lasting illness that persisted for several months. And he played through it in the fall, and they've actually given him a ton of credit. He was not well. He was not able to be in the gym like his teammates were. He struggled on the three games and three nights. They weren't sure whether it was long COVID or some kind of persistent bacterial infection or what it was. But I think that influenced his season and just put him behind the eight ball on an Ottawa 67's team that A didn't have a ton of talent around him. And B, under Dave Cameron, doesn't necessarily play a style that's conducive to a player like him. Then he comes here. He gets to play with other skilled players. He's a focal point on the power play. They've had Anton Frundel playing on PP2 here so that guys like Ekberg and Klingsell

and others that have been very productive for this team internationally can play on their top power play. And he's been, it seems like every time he touches the puck, it's in the back of the net or he's making a play that nearly goes in. Nine goals through five games, 15 points through five games. He's been he's been impressive with the puck on his stick. He's been impressive on that power play. still not sure what he is, but there's clearly some talent there, at least when he's playing with his peers, when he's playing at this level.

All right, so we've talked about the players who have helped their draft stock at this event. There's always unavoidably, Corey, a few guys who it goes the other way for, who has maybe hurt themselves this week? I'll start off with Jack Nesbitt on Canada, who I think I had rated as a top 15 player on my last board. He won't be there on the next update,

which comes out in a few days. And that was just based on, I thought how strong he was looking at Windsor. He was a really important player on a top team. Six-four centermen who I think has really good hands, offensive IQ, show some physicality. The skating looked a little rough, but you thought, okay, but you know, you think of where Connor Geeky went in the draft. You're like, well, maybe he could hold up. You think of where Matthew Wood went in the draft, and maybe it could still hold up.

He could still be a high pick. And I think if the draft would have happened two weeks ago, he was going at the top 15, top 17, top 17. I think teams were very high on him and just how he looked in the OHL. He comes here and he's really struggled, like really struggled with the pace. He showed some flashes of skill, but it hasn't been consistent.

They're not really playing him that much. It kind of reminds me, quite frankly, his Windsor teammate Liam Greentree who kind of rode the bench a little bit at this tournament last year. And it doesn't mean that he's not a good prospect. Liam Gritree, he looks like a really good prospect for Los Angeles.

And I think Nesb is still going to be a first rounder, But my guess is just with his, the issues he's showing with the pace, my guess is it's more likely a second half of the first round right now, maybe closer to the 20s than it would have been in the teens. How about for you, Chris? Yeah, you know, we're going to stick with the Canada theme. And it's always tough with these guys because they do come in, you know, late. And it's, they're not together.

But, yeah, I mean, that's for a number of teams here. And so what I'll say is for me, the guy that is probably one of the highest, rated prospects coming into the tournament that I feel like hasn't lived up to the billing is Jackson Smith, the defenseman for Team Canada. And, you know, we talked about Keaton Verhoff, who ends up out playing him. I think Jackson Smith is a guy that, you know, you would expect to be a top pairing guy. Once you saw the roster initially named, Verhoff comes in and he kind of takes over that role. No power play time. You know, those are some of the things that you kind of expected. He looked to play more of a defensive role. I think for me, the issues is Jackson Smith has

the size. He has skating. He has a lot of talent overall, but the hockey sense has definitely lacked. I feel like there are decisions that he makes with him without the puck that just don't line up very well with being a top pairing or top four defensemen. I think that there's athletic tools there that will allow him to still be a pretty high draft pick. But I think the more we watch him, the more of those warks show in terms of the hockey sense and the different things that really are going to prevent him from being part of that conversation with guys like Merck. I think that for some, Jackson Smith could have been the number two defensemen in this draft class. I think based on what I've seen here, I don't think that you can make a very convincing argument that that's still the case.

I think some of the concerns that we sort of highlighted with Sasha Bumidion are concerns that Jackson Smith shares in his game as well. Just lack of execution this week, pucks in defeat, sort of laxadaisical at times defensively. He's been walked under his stick a few times. to get to the middle of the ice, taking bad routes, set some bad gaps. There's just been a lot of sloppiness. Despite the production in Bumadine,

there's been a lot of that in Bumadine's game as well in terms of just sloppiness with the puck, turning pucks over. And I think Smith has shared in some of that this week. It's been,

like he doesn't even look, like Carson Carroll's has been better than him. You could go down the list of 2026 defensemen on that team and he hasn't been their second or third best defense. Well, I think in the Canada check overtime, they didn't even play him. I think they gave. Yeah, he gave him Vidal-H shit. They gave Carols a shift and they even, I think they gave Ryan Linus shift

before they went to Jackson Smith. Is it fair to call him kind of like a boom-bust guy though, right? I mean, you look at the toolkit of a six-three guy who skates that way. He's got skill. I will say, though, a lot of the things we are saying right now about him, like, what's his identity, his athletic, but what's he going to be at the next level? It's a lot of the, you know, didn't play really well at the U-18s. It's a lot of the same thing if we said about Thomas Harley, at the exact same age. I'm not saying Jackson's bit to have quite as much offense

as Harley had did at the same age, but Harley got carved up hard by scouts in his draft year despite the obvious tool and it's why he went closer to 20 in his draft year. All right, one more name, Scott. Who did not help himself this week?

Well, we talked about L.J. Mooney as a standout off the top and there's sort of these three little guys in this draft class that have been a source of conversation all year long, and that's Cameron Schmidt, Adam Bonach, and L.J. Mooney.

And I think if you'd pulled scouts at the midway point of this season. There would have been a varying consensus even then, but the consensus likely would have come back with Cameron Schmidt and then Adam Bonach and then L.J. Mooney with the way that Mooney's year had gone to that point with the injuries and just not maybe looking himself. L.J. Mooney's been the best of that three. And I think Cameron Schmidt has been the least impressive of that three this week. And Bonach's probably still in the middle of that group. Schmidt had one of the nicer goals, one of maybe still the nicest goal of the tournament so far,

very early on. And ever since that goal, he has been almost a non-factor in the remaining games for Team Canada through this tournament. He had a breakaway and had a chance to finish it in overtime last night

in the quarterfinal against the checks that he didn't score on. But he's come and gone in a lot of games. I think his calling card for so many and for so long was just this brilliant skater who can really shoot the puck.

He's a more natural scorer than Adam Benach and LJ. Muni are. But he just does and impact games as consistently as those other two guys do as well. And I think you start to wonder about where he lands in the draft. We saw him on so many public lists in the first round in that kind of a thing. And I think there are a lot of question marks with Schmidt's game, his decision making, and just how consistently involved he is.

So he's made some big plays for hockey Canada. He scored the golden goal at U-17s. He's been a good player for them. He's scored for them. But that just hasn't been consistent this week. And I've been a little bit disappointed in that because before the arrival of Cole Reshney and Ben Kindle late, who arrived late for this team, this team Canada lacks some offensive juice. And I thought that Schmidt could give them that and he just hasn't.

He probably should have mentioned Reschney in the standouts too. I mean, he, without him, I don't think they're even in the, is that a big funnel right now? For sure. And Reshny has been brilliant in the second half this season after what he admitted to me in a story we have at the Athletic today admitted to me that he was extremely disappointed in the way he played in the fall and in the way that he played in November at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. Reschney is as hot as any player in this draft class has been in the last three, four, maybe even five months. He's been lights out, and he dragged that Victoria Royals team much further than they belong to go in the WHL playoffs.

All right. Well, we've got a pretty dream scenario here for the semis. Canada, USA, Sweden, all still alive. We're going to get some great hockey to close this thing. But that's going to do it for us today. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect series. You can, of course, catch more of Chris over at Flow Hockey and on his podcast called up. I'll be back with Laz on Monday, and we're going to have lottery reaction Monday night. We'll talk to you soon.