May 16, 2024 • 46 mins
Mike Benton is joined by Hall of Fame goaltender Grant Fuhr on the latest from Coachella Valley - what are the odds Dan Bylsma gets into the coaching circle again in the NHL? Plus Everett Fitzhugh, Al Kinisky, and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic on what could be available, and who the Kraken take at 8th overall in next month's NHL Entry Draft.
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Featuring the great stories, personalities,conversation and news in the hockey world.
Back to Benears walks in left Circlesets the classic gay Chas Shutout a part.
It's the Overtime Podcast, a presentationof the Krack and Audio Network and
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Sports Radio ninety three point three kJR f m enjoy that one time day
over time. This is Jordan Everlief. This is Joey Decourt, This is
Matta Veniers. Is Shane right,This is Jary mccannon. You're listening to
Overtime. Here's Mike Benton. Allright, let's get after Rick. Lad,
you're with us. A new edition, a new drop of Overtime courtesy
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of the Crack and Audio Network andthe iHeartRadio app. Again, simply sign
up for free to get it atsports Radio KJR dot com. Comes to
you Thursday, May sixteenth. AgainMike Benton with you, Glad you're hanging
out with us. A lot toget to the Coachelle Valley Firebirds into Round
three of the Calder Cup Playoffs.The Kraken kicking eighth in the upcoming NHL
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entry Draft. We are several daysremoved from the NHL Draft lottery. Also,
your mail bag questions. Will getto all of this with Grant fear
All of Thame goaltender and Coachella ValleyFirebirds broadcast analyst everet fits you. Al
Kaniski also back with us for more, plus a conversation with Scott Wheeler of
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The Athletic. He's got a lotto get to as far as the NHL
Draft that he's a great source asfar as coverage on this leading up here
to the big event at the Spherein Las Vegas. And Scott's got a
pretty good idea of what could beout there when the Kraken pick eighth coming
up in the draft. We'll getto all of this conversation in just a
little bit. First things first,last night, Coachello Valley often running in
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Game one against Ontario in the thirdround and once again dipping right back into
the veteran waters with their highlights righthere at courtesy Evan Pivnick. Up to
our conversation. They work in thecorner with a kill Thomas Good strip by
Potter Rosstey McCormick. Let'sh go upat stop students right circle pressure for Coachello
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val Carrick shoots peak face off oneby the Firebirds. Malonson races to the
buck, Harris Morrison puts it offTampa shot by shot oh faced off Way
leads to a Jimmy Shop blast ina three one blade for Coachellow one game
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two nothing. That's a series leadright now in Round three of the Caldor
Cup playoffs, Coachelle Valley and theirsecond sequence here through this because they earned
the bye and joining us now afterthe game one win for the Firebirds over
Ontario Hall of Fame goaltender and FirebirdsTV and radio analysts Grant Fear joining us
once again. Grant kind of feellike last year a little bit, doesn't
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it. It does, except theBirds are taking a little bit of an
easier routing this year. Last yearthey kind of stretched every series to the
bitter end, so a little easieron their bodies this year. What's the
same about last year as far asmaybe what you're seeing with what's fitting in
for this season? Well, Ithink the biggest thing I've seen is to
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compete, and they play hard everynight, and they play good what I
call honest hockey, where they're winningall the little battles, they're on the
right side of pucks and just playinggood sound hockey right now. What kind
of value are the veterans showing rightnow for the young guys in spots like
these, I think it's huge.Man, you look at a guy like
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Max McCormick, Cole Lynd, AndrewPodolarski. They're good veterans and they're good
leaders, and the guys are doinga great job of following you behind that
because they go, they work hardevery shift and it sets a good tone
for all the younger guys. Well, the young guys are certainly a big
part of this. Shane Wright,Riker Evans, Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison,
his grandfe're joining us once again hereon overtime. But yet those young
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guys are getting plenty of attention andfor good reasons here. Where are they
at right now with their game andtheir level as well? Well, I
think they're all getting better. Imean they all get the opportunity to go
up to Seattle and play some NHLminutes and I think that did wonders for
their confidence, and they've come downhere and they've continued that and they've actually
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got better. Shane, I thinkit's been spectacular since this got back and
you can see the boost in theirconfidence. And I think just getting that
little taste of NHL action it givesthe guys confidence and let them know that
they can play at that level.Now, people are going to look at
Wright's numbers and I'll just use himas an example here and think, you
know, why is he not producing, maybe say at the level he was,
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you know, producing in the AmericanHockey League, but playoffs, especially
at the higher levels AHL NHL,they're a completely different beast, and your
role changes a little bit. Wouldyou certainly agree here on Shane Wright's case?
No, most definitely. And Ithink with Shane you've seen a big
improvement is two hundred foot game.I mean, everybody knows he's got offensive
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talent, but it's the playing hardevery day, day in day out,
doing the good things defensively as wellas offensively. And I think he's gotten
better and better defensively and his offensivegame is going to come naturally once he
gets that opportunity. And I thinkyou saw that as last up in Seattle.
He can score goals, but it'sthe two hundred foot game that had
to get better. In junior youcan get away with it when you've got
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that much talent the American League,you can get away with it a little
bit, but come playoff time,you can't get away with it at all.
So you've seen Shane progress as aplayer. He's gotten better and better
months by month. Our numbers werecertainly popping last time he was back up
here, and the key ingredients arefalling into place right now. Grant,
what's Los Angeles putting into that Ontarioteam that maybe showed last night that it
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was going to be a tough oneand maybe a tough series. I think
just the way they play. Theyplay a hard, physical game and they
play kind of a stifling one threeone system where if they clog up the
neutral zone, they clog up themiddle of the ice in their own end
and it's hard to break through.And the Kings play a little bit of
that. But you can also exposethat with speed, and we saw that
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in the Eiler series. We're seeingthat with the Firebird series that if they
can't get set up, you canexpose them trying to get set up when
you can attack with speed. Now, you bring a great point up there
about what they did in running theone three one in very similar fashion to
what the Kings run and we've heardmaybe in comparison, what Dan bilesm has
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been doing to mirror what the crackhad have been doing and create a seamless
transition. How much are you seeingthat right now function as a pattern in
how AHL teams work now these days? I think a lot of teams want
to do that. You want guysthat are able to step right up into
your system in the NHL and playthe same type of hockey. And Dan's
been a great job with that.I mean, I'll be shocked if Dan
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doesn't get to looks for an NHLjob. The guys are well prepared,
they play hard every night, andthey love playing for him. And I
think that's the key as a playeris you want to coach that you want
to play for that you'll go throughthe wall for. And Dan's that type
of guy. Through two years,what has this job told you about what
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Dan is doing and what he's capableof doing as a head coach if he
can get back to the NHL.Find it. He shows you why he's
won a Stanley Cup, and he'sextremely well prepared. He's got the guys
playing good hockey, and he doesn'tlet the foot off the gas. Pedal
on him and he expects them tobe good every day. I mean,
they don't have to be great,but they do have to be good.
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And he's instilled the culture of winning, and as an organization, that's what
you want to see. You wantto see that culture of winning, of
doing the little things right and doingit right every day. And he doesn't
let him off the hook and practice. They still have to do the little
things right. And I think whenyou see the guys go up to Seattle,
they're prepared to play at the NationalHockey League level. When you think
about when guys go up to theNHL and using Shane Wright, Riker Evans
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as well, who's basically earned afull time spot until he came back here
for the playoffs, in what wayshas he made that big of a difference
for players who step into the agelfor day one and then already. I
think a lot of it has todo with confidence. He instills confidence in
him. He puts them in thehard positions where you're at the important minutes
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of a hockey game. And yousaw that with ty Karka ended up going
up to Seattle and to stay inthere. You see it with Riker you
see it with Shane Wright. They'reput in the tough situations where games are
on the line, that sort ofthing, and they realize that they have
to compete. They can't make mistakesin those situations, and it's going to
turn them into good pros. Oh. They have come across here leaps and
bounds as far as their development andtheir improvement. Grant, Hey can't thank
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you enough here for doing this.How many rounds of golf are you up
to now for this year? We'rea little behind right now though that as
long as we got playoffs, I'mokay with that. You're you're at least
going out and being consistent in breakingeighty right, Well, I can still
do that. I need to scrapeit around somewhere near park. You're beating
the wheels off of me. Imean PG West told me that back out
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there last time out in that roadtrip about roughly oh now, I would
say three months ago. Hey,Grant, thanks so much. My man
appreciates it. It was great tocross pass with you down in Coachell Valley
and we'll look forward to catching uphere once again. Appreciate you everybody.
Coachelle Valley up one game and nothingin their series. Game two tomorrow night
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at Across Sure Arena, followed byGame three and if necessary, Game four
at Ontario and Game five if needed, wrapping back up at Akrosschure Arena on
May twenty six. You can findGrant on Twitter and ex at Grant Fear.
Also, he and Evan Pivnick havethe call TV and radio side streamed
on AHL TV. Get that bythe way at Watchthahl dot com. The
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Seattle Kraken we'll pick eighth in thisyear's NHL Entry Draft. What are they
gonna do with the pick? Whocould they be selecting? Is this even
maybe a tradable pick as well?Our conversation whatever it fits to you and
Al Kadiski, the Kraken will pickeighth overall, and a part of this,
we're gonna be having a conversation herewas Scott Wheeler of the Athletic as
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far as potential draft picks here inthis case. But first off all begin
where's the greater need forward or defense? Well, I think down the road.
I mean, you can never havetoo many capable defensemen. I mean,
what's the hardest position in sports?To find a left handed reliever and
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a right shot defenseman. So Ifeel like if if you can find one
of those, if you can finda right shot defenseman who you believe can
can be a Riker Evans type ofplayer, or a right shot Vince Dunn,
or a defensive stallwart like Adam Arson, I think you jump on it,
you jump on it. But aswe've seen this season, and I
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think as we're talking about right now, the number one need for this cracking
team is upfront. It's in yourtop six forward group. Now, whoever
this crack whoever Ron Francis picks inthe draft, we're not going to see
this player for at least two threeyears, if not longer. But you
never can have I think, toomuch offense. You can never have too
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much skill up front. So ifthere is a top six caliber forward,
a high skilled forward, with thatpick, I'm going to always say go
for offense, because I do thinkdefensively, you can teach a team concept,
you can teach team defense. Youcan find a player liking Adam Larson.
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I mean, Vince Duns are veryhard to find, I think,
but you can find that Adam Larson. You can find a Will Borgan,
a good defensive player without having toto give up too much. But you
can't find a whole lot of NathanMcKinnon's out there. You can't find a
whole lot of Jason Robertson's out there. Right, Obviously there isn't a whole
lot of that in this draft.But if you can find one of those
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top six forward players, that's whereI would I would say the need is
Yeah. I think I think thatthis probably just expands on your point a
little bit fits, which is it'salways easier to teach players the defensive systems
more. How to make a forwardthat maybe is not strong on his defensive
game, or how to make adefenseman that needs to get stronger on his
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defensive game, how to make himmore defensive. It's always easier to do
that than it is how do Itake a defenseman and make him more offensive?
How do I take a forward andteach him how to score? Have
to have that sense around the net, Like I would always rather take that
gut that forward, that winer,that centerman that just has a nose for
the net, that can find clutchgoals and say hey, we need to
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back check a little harder, Weneed you to play a little tougher in
your we need to win some faceoff. So from that standpoint, I'm
looking. I'm looking to the frontside of the team as far as draft
picks go, and I think,not only does it potentially give you strength
up front, but it also potentiallygives you a bargaining chip down the road
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if it ends up not being agood fit for the Cracking. And I
see that point certainly, and I'lllean into this answer this way. I
love where this draft class is at, roughly in the first eight, nine,
ten picks. They're very defense heavythe Crack and no, they're not
going to be getting maclan celebrining now. So where do you look elsewhere?
I like where they're at with ShaneWright drafted two years ago. Fourth overall.
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I like where they're at with JaggerFurcus, with Carson Raykoff, Edward
Shaala. We'll see what happens herein year two, Yannie Newman as well.
They've already got a pretty good stableof forwards here, and I certainly
see the value of adding more potentiallyusing that as a bargaining chip, and
very well they could use that maybefor a trade here down the road.
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But I can't help but think whatthey can do by adding a big cornerstone
piece on their back end. Ilean more toward here with defense. My
eyes right now maybe are on aguy out of London and Sam Dickinson.
Maybe. Some are saying a futureMiro Haskin in a player out of the
Ohl and saganaw Zane Perek who hasbeen tremendous as far as production back on
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the blue line. We'll see wherethis goes. Also Anton Saliev out of
Russia and that could also be abig pick that is hanging around. But
then again, if you go bestavailable, Tishaginla Drome Aginla's son is hanging
out there for Kelowna maybe as well. Some are saying Matt Vay Mitchkov two
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point zero, get ready here forthis name. I then the meatoff out
of Russia. You may have toconvince him to come over. He's not
a speed burner, but he usesskill in the face of danger as a
lead full shot, and he's notafraid to get into dirty areas as well.
That could be an option. Sothen I would also ask maybe as
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of right now, what do youlook for if you're looking at a forward
or even a defenseman as well,The strength and adding more in that area,
take priority here or are you lookingat Sheer's skill and adding more of
that here to the stable? Well, I gain again, you know see
above that the skill. If theskill is there, hopefully you can put
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on that strength, especially you know, depending on the age of the draft
pick over the first few years afterdraft is but you know, the skill
is not going to take leaps andbounds over the next three years, like
potentially the frame of the body can. So I would lean towards skill when
you're looking at these these kids.Yeah, I'm I'm I'm right there with
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you. I'm always going to goskill. A lot of these players just
have that natural talent. They havethat natural born ability. You can all
hone that and fine tune that,but you need to have it to begin
with. You can get in thegym, you can work on your skating,
you can work on you know,all of these other skills, but
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you cannot work on skill itself.So I'm always gonna go with with the
more offensive side. And also too, again where we're still learning, and
I say the royal we here inSeattle and amongst the fan base, we're
still learning about this draft process.Right who the Kraken draft at eighteen years
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old here in a month and ahalf will not be the same player they
see in Seattle when they come herein three years. And that's probably how
long it's going to take two tothree years before we even start talking about
this person being a roster player,let alone having an impact. Now,
you know, you could get luckyand find a guy that takes massive leaps
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and bounds and he makes the endand year two and year three wins a
calder and we're on from there.But you know, ninety percent of the
cases, you're not going to seethese guys unless you're a top two pick,
a top pick overall, you're notgoing to see the success and the
production from a lot of these playersuntil year three, year four beyond.
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All right, So it then leadsme to this likelihood that you trade the
pick depending upon what's out there.I mean, I for me, it's
got to be on the table.And just echoing what Ron Francis said at
his end of the year of ail, you know, everything is an option.
They have the picks, they havethe draft capital to play with.
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You're at a point now where youbuilt up enough of a cupboard that I
think you can. You can startto see what you're going to have down
the road as far as as faras capable players and talented players. But
I think that it's it's kind ofa it's a catch twenty two in my
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opinion, because on one hand,you're hoping this is the last time the
Krack can have a top ten pickfor quite some time. Yes, you're
hoping that this team isn't in thelottery for a number of years. The
team's in the playoffs, you're competingfrom here on out. So if this
is your last top ten pick thatyou get for some time, do you
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want to trade that pick for someoneelse? Or if there is a player
out there that you have your eyeon with some term that you think could
benefit you and you know, Idon't want to throw any names out there,
but there are a couple of teamsout there who have a lot of
high offensive players that may be unhappy, that may be looking for opportunities elsewhere
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that you could package a top tenpick in a trade. I do think
that is something worth looking at,because, like we said here, unless
you're getting a Macklin celebrity, you'renot going to see this guy for a
bit, you don't know what youhave until he gets here, if he
even gets here. So I don'thave an issue with trading the eighth overall
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pick, but I do think it'sgot to be a deal that makes sense.
And like I said, hopefully thisis your last top ten pick.
You know for ten years. Youknow, this team isn't picking in the
lottery, you know, from fromnow until right But time will tell that
on that regard. Yeah, andnegotiating for a player is interesting because you
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obviously do want to have as manyoptions as possible so you can be creative,
but you never want a team thinkingthis team will sell the farm for
the right player. That's that's notwhere you want to go to the negotiating
table at it either. But froma creativity standpoint, and I think Ron
is as a creative creative as theycome. From a negotiation standpoint, you've
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got to make sure that teams,if they are interested in a pick,
that you're ready to ends that call, because if it's packaged with the right
pieces, you could see somebody onthis cracken team next season versus to your
point, fits three or four yearsdown the road, that's making an immediate
impact and not for one season ortwo, but for an extended period of
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time. And if you listen toeverything that's been said going into the last
two months of the season between Ron, between you know, you and I
and the folks all we on thetelevision side, John Eddie, JT all
them, you know, they've beenechoing the same thing. That's going to
be a big summer, a lotof big decisions, a lot of big
moves need to be made, whateverthe case may be. So at this
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point nothing would surprise me. Imean, I think in the organization you
would like to say that you probablyhave five untouchables, but even still do
you have that many? I mean, if the right deal comes across Coder
McDavis for sale, right, Igotta be that if Wayne Gresky can be
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traded, anybody can be traded.Yeah, So I'd like to think that
there are a handful of guys,both on the roster and in the system
that are are untouchable. And Ithink Ron is even alluded to uh to
as much. But listen, theright the right price comes and this is
you know, this is going tobe the biggest summer for the Kraken I
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think in their first decade because yes, it's only year three, but you're
now going through a coaching change.You now have an opportunity to go out
and get a bona fide top sixsuperstar talent. I think the money is
there in the salary cap as well. You have a top ten pick to
play with. You have a lotof prospects in your system that are valued
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by other organizations as well. Sothere are some players that you know are
are are in the minors in juniorhockey that other teams are high on,
and they may may not be.You know, this might be the highest
you'll ever sell on a player likethat. So I do think that there's
a lot to be decided this year. But this summer, I'm gonna go
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on a limb and say, thisis going to be the most important summer
in the first decade of Krack andhockey. Will there be a draft pick
involved here with this trade? Ifthey make one, and they have to
make one that remains to be seen, will it be the eighth overall pick?
I would say this. I stoppedshort of saying trade the pick,
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But if you're gonna make a trade, make a count because you don't trade
a pick like this to stand pat, you trade it for an upgrade.
So what's out there? Those questionscontinue to evolve here to this day.
And listen about three weeks ago,we didn't know where certain teams would be
as far as the nucleus of theirroster. But I think you begin to
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look at a team like Toronto,who came out in their exit interview day
Brendan Shanahan head man of what theycall the Shanna Plan, and that they
will look at every option to tryto make their situation better. Does Ron
Francis go into Toronto and say,can this guy help make us better?
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That's a big, big question maybethat we could see an answer here to
potentially here for this summer. That'sgonna be a lot of fun, right
Scott Wheeler joining us now. Youcan find his handy work at the Athletic
covering plenty and I mean plenty ofprospects leading up each year to the NHL
entry Draft. Scott joins us nowhere on overtime. Scott, thank you
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very much here for doing this,my man. First off, you mean
so busy. How many times aday leading up to draft week? Do
you have to really charge your phone? Now? Well, my phone the
iPhone ten I'm working with these daysseems to drain its battery faster than it
should. I don't know whether that'sthe phone that's getting mold or whether that's
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over you, but it's this ismy crunch time for sure. May and
June are kind of the busiest monthsof my year as we're into the home
stretch here, and not just sortof preparing final draft list and finishing up
features, but also obviously ECHHL Playoffs, USHL Playoffs, the World Championships,
which are featuring a number of actuallydraft eligible players this year, and then
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obviously the Memorials Cup, which iskind of the final hockey place in advance
of the Combine in Buffalo. Soa lot still to finish up in terms
of hockey and work for the draft. Now. Aside from making sure that
your lists are prioritized or finalized herecovering everybody from major junior to college to
Europe, you have to make surethat you've gotten outlet at your seat at
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the sphere, right. Yeah,I don't know what that's going to look
like. I must admit that wifi has tended to be an issue at
you get the many NHL drafts thatI've covered, So I'm curious to see
whether the Wi Fi will provide uswith what what we require from a media
standpoint act the Sphere, but Ican't wait for it. By all accounts,
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from everything I've heard about what it'sgoing to looks like and the production
value and the money that the Leaguehas put into it, it's going to
be quite the show. So thatpart of it's going to be a pretty
unique experience. It that'd be alot of fun. Have you been to
the Sphere And when's the last timeyou've been to Vegas? I have actually
never been to Vegas alone the Sphere. It's Vegas and Seattle are actually two
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of the final NHL markets in NHLarenas that I need to get to.
I believe I'm a twenty six ortwenty seven of the thirty two markets at
this point, and Vegas and Seattleare still a nice to do with.
So I'm looking forward to looking forwardto getting down to Vegas for the first
time. Oh, that's going tobe fun down there. Seattle certainly calling
your name my friend, and hey, we know that this city takes care
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of a lot of people when theycome in here for the first time,
so We're looking forward to having youaround whenever that can happen, hopefully pretty
pretty soon. Scott, how dowe best talk about this draft after maclan
Celebrini. Well, I think thestory of this draft after Maclin Celebrini,
when we look back on it fiveten years from now, is going to
be written about the defenseman. Thisis a draft that has really six sixty
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who are viewed as premium defenseman,plus the seventh in Adam Yeirchek, who
was viewed in that group heading intothis season but lost the year to a
pair of knee injury and is nowa big question mark. But the sixth
who are likely to go at avery very top and I'm talking five in
the top eight or nine picks inall likelihood, and then certainly all six
gone before the team's probably in thatsort of top twelve range. That's rare
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at the draft. Typically there areonly two or three defensemen taken in the
top ten to twelve picks. Youreally have to go all the way back
to twenty twelve, more than adecade ago to find a draft that has
five or six sort of bee takenright at the top. And obviously twenty
twelve was the draft of Morgan Rileyand Tyler Myers and Macdumba and Campus Home,
and that was really the story ofthat draft when Maliacopov and alex Galchenya,
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the two top forwards, never reallyworked out. So this draft isn't
going to look like that because maclinSellabraini is going to become star in the
NHL. But I still think thestory of this draft maybe just the quality
and impact that these five or sixtyare likely to make in the NHL.
I think we've got not just somefirst pairing types, but some potential true
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number ones. And I also thinkwe've got some guys who are going to
put up some big points from theback end in this group. So a
big mix of a lot of thingsthat goes sixty, and that's going to
be exciting to sort of follow themand track to see which of those six
will really rise above the crop asNHLers. Yeah, so if it's enything
like twelve years ago, you're talkingabout guys you mentioned like Morgan Riley,
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Hoppus lindhol Matt Dumba, but alsoJacob Truba as well, there could be
some pretty good players hanging around therein the rough of the first ten picks,
a Scott Wheeler of the Athletic joiningus right now. Scott, at
this point, what are the oddstelling us about what could be there at
number eight? Are we talking aboutsomeone who's a better fit if you need
someone to maybe make an impact onthe future of your franchise or just basically
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flat out best player available, saymaybe as a Ford. Well, the
beauty of this draft is that afterCelebrini, the group from really two to
ten, two to twelve that Italked about, there's a lot of variants.
There are teams that have I mean, you can order that two to
twelve in probably ten different ways.If you did a survey of the thirty
two NHL clubs, there's a lotof variability in terms of the way that
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these players are talked about. Evenamongst those five or sixty, you'll see
them ordered one to six in avariety of different ways amongst NHL clubs.
So that could mean that at eight, the krack and get their third or
fourth best player on their list,right, they could get a guy that
they really like if they break theirway, and that part of it is
really exciting. As far as Seattleis specifically is concerned too. I think
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that they've they've done a really goodjob in really the last last few drafts
of very quickly assembling an excellent poolforward obviously Matty Mnier's and Shane Wright,
but even beyond those guys, CarsonRaycopp, Jagar Furkus and what he's doing
in the WHL playoffs right now,David Goyett led the OHL in scoring.
(29:25):
They've done a really good job.Ryan Winterton played his first NHL games this
year. They've they've assembled a tonof sort of quality forward prospects in a
very short period of time here.But as a result of that, they
haven't really spent a lot of draftcapital on the Obviously, Biker Evans has
become a piece of the puzzle.Ty Nelson was a member of the Canadian
(29:48):
World junior team and is one ofthe better d in the OHL these days.
But they haven't spent If you lookat their sort of first and second
round picks, they haven't spent alot of draft capital on D. And
because there are so many quality Din this draft, I think it's a
great opportunity forget best player available.The best player available might be a defenseman
for Seattle at eight, and Ithink that's excited me. The opportunity to
(30:10):
really add that premium d project thatthey haven't yet added. That changes things
for the look of their pool.It could change things for the look of
their blue line of the future,and that's a big, big deal.
So I expect that they'll take adefenseman, not just because that may be
best player availibleity available there, butbecause it just makes a lot of sense
(30:32):
to add for the first time,sort of take a premium asset and use
it on a high end defenseman andthere's going to be two or three available
for them there. We'll see ifthis one name is there, Sam Dickinson,
a defenseman out of the Ontario HockeyLeague. What's the read on him
and how fair is it to seemaybe hints of from what we've maybe Miro
Hayskin in in his game. Well, Sam is a six foot three defenseman
(30:56):
who can really skate. So byvirtue you you go to players like case
In, those long players who canreally really move. The strength of Sam's
game, despite the fact that he'sbig, strong, heavy, athletic,
well built kid, is he canreally move that frame around and he can
really, really skate. It's probablyhis biggest strength, and as a result,
(31:18):
because of his length and because ofhis mobility, he's an excellent defender.
There's a case to be made thatSam Dickinson is one of the first
or second best pure sort of defendersamongst that group of six defensemen. Now,
he doesn't have the offense of hisname correct or as the billiam who
are kind of the premium offensive din that group, but he has really
developed his offensive game. It's comea long long way. He scored twenty
(31:42):
goals in the OHL this year.He was a point per game defenseman in
the OHL this year. Those arenot easy things to do. So this
isn't to say that he's just abig, strong, mobile defensive defenseman.
He is all of those things.But there has developed some real offense to
his game, some potential power playupside in his game at the NHL.
Now and then suddenly you go froma top four sort of if he can
(32:07):
have some offense, suddenly you takea projection from a top four defense in
which I think he is almost alock to become, and suddenly maybe he's
a first pair of guy. Right, So that's the calculation that teams are
making with Sam Dickinson. At themoment, He's going to be a very
very good NHL defenseman for a longlong time. His floor is very high.
(32:27):
But I think there's some real feelingthere as well, and a lot
to be excited about as well.So Sam may be available there, he
may go slightly early, but Ithink there's a coin flip oodd that he's
available there. And if he isavailable there, I'm sure that the Seattle
craftan would think long and hard abouthim. You mentioned the one name out
of Saginaw, the Ohl Zane Perrek, and it's often said that right shot
(32:50):
defenseman don't grow on trees. Scott, what kind of potential are we talking
about him right now? Well,Zane is one of one player. He
looks nothing like the other sixty inthat group. He's a dynamic, exciting
offensive defenseman who broke the U seventeenin OHLB scoring record when he broke twenty
goals two years ago. He thenbroke thirty goals this season, which is
(33:13):
unheard of for a defenseman. Healmost cracked one hundred points this season,
which is also unheard of for adefenseman. He led the Memorial Cup hosts
in scoring by thirty plus points.We're talking about a legit star offensively and
a player who may someday post sixtyseventy eighty points from the back end if
all breaks well for him in theNHL. So the real question with Vain
(33:36):
is just is the defensive game thereto match the offensive ability? Is he
going to be able to earn thetrust of a coach to get out there
for twenty to twenty five minutes tonightand allow his offense to take over.
We know that he's going to runa first power play unit, we know
that he's going to put up pointsin the NHL. Does he have the
(33:57):
B game that some of those otherd have is the question teams are considering
now. Even if he doesn't havethat, I still think there's a strong
take to be made that he's atop five, top ten pick in this
draft just on the basis of hisunique offensive upside. He's doing things that
some of the top offensive that havecome through the OHL and had really strong
(34:17):
NHL careers in recent memory hasn't done. Whether it's Evan Bouchard, who's a
point for game defenseman for the EdmontonOilers right now and was a seventy to
eighty point defenseman in the OHL withthe London Nights. Whether it's Brant Clark
who was a top five pick forthe Los Angeles Kings, Pavel miint Yukov
who had a breakout or a pyseason in Anaheim this year, those were
(34:40):
top offensive defensemen in their own rightsin the OHL, and Vanekrek is even
what the cut above those types.So we're talking about a special player offensively,
the kind of player who's been comparedto Eric Carlton in style. Eric
Carlton was never a very physical player, would be quite like in my opinion
of first ballot Hall of Gamers.So now that isn't to say that p'rex
(35:04):
going to be that and Eric Carlsonin hindsight, he's won three Norrises and
was a generational talent. But that'ssort of the play style and the prototype.
If you will want to ask youabout zeev Booyam. You brought him
up a little bit earlier, SanDiego native, eighteen years of age at
Denver, already over a point pergame on that blue line. What's you
read on him and maybe him beingalready at the college game, how much
(35:29):
that could project him to be NHLready down the road. Yeah, Zve
was in a pretty unique set ofcircumstances where because of his late birthday,
he got to play two years atthe National Development Program before his draft and
then played college hockey in his draftyear, which is a rare honor and
a testament to his readiness as well, obviously coming out of the MTVP to
(35:52):
jump in and not just play ona Denver team that won the national championship,
but to emerge as their number onedefenseman and a number one defenseman on
a team that had Sean Barns andthese older brother shi William who are legitimate
high end defenseman in the college incollege hockey at sort of in their own
right. So, uh, Zevehad a special season, had a better
(36:13):
season statistically than some of the verybest freshman d who's played college hockey at
that age in recent memory, abetter freshman year than Owen Power. At
first overall pick Zach Warenski, CharlieMacavoy, the Hughes brothers, those are
big, big names, those arestar players, those are number one defenseman
when Hughes is quite likely going towin the Norris this year. Uh,
(36:36):
and and then zis to his credit, had a better season production wise than
those players, uh and and didit. Did it while also being a
reliable defender and a really active defenderand using his mobility in his feet to
defend at a very high level inthe end and also play sort of hard
minutes as well for that Denver team. So he's not just an offensive guy,
he's not just the point producer.I think as a result he will
(37:00):
quite likely be gone by eight,But if he's available, he feels like
the kind of player who would bea bit of a no brainer for the
craft and could sort of be thatsort of if not a number one,
then that sort of number two,number three said defenseman of the future for
them, there's always a question ofwhat if and what if they take a
(37:22):
forward And you know, looking downthe list here, names like Ivan Demidov,
Tjaginla, Jerome mcginles's son, andthen Berkeley Catton at a WHL spoke
in a lot of familiarity here aroundthis area. What's the upside, what
are the risks? Maybe as faras players in that category, well,
(37:42):
Teage had an explosive season. Hewas a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds team
that won the WHL championship went tothe Memorial Cup of year ago, but
on that team was frequently because ofhow loaded they were, and that was
as stacked forward as a CHL teamhas ever been in my time covering the
league in Seattle there year ago.Because of that, was a fourth liner
and even a healthy scratch at timein his sixteen year old season. Then
(38:07):
he gets traded from Seattle to Kelownaand he just takes off this season and
was one of the biggest risers inthis draft and has a real opportunity to
be a top ten pick now.And it's not a top ten pick,
than certainly a top fifteen one.So TG is a great story. A
power forward, not in the waythat his dad was, where he'll drop
the gloves like his old man did, but a power forward in the skating
(38:30):
department. He's a little bit smallerthan Jerome was. Jerome was kind of
six foot two and a lot meanerthan TG is. But he's a six
foot six foot one kid who canreally skate, can absolutely rip the puck
like Jerome could, a very excitingoffensive player who when he gets the puck
in the offensive zone, can makesomething happen. And can score a goal.
(38:51):
So that's Tig's game. Catten's allabout the skating. A five foot
ten, five foot eleven center,so a little bit on the smaller side
for your prototypical center, and todayNHL those guys often moved to the wing,
but a belief amongst many that he'sstill going to stick at center because
of his skating. He's one ofthe best skaters in the draft, a
dynamic offensive player who gets the puckand winds up and can just make things
(39:15):
happen with the puck on his stick. Really really exciting talent and an opportunity
to be, if not a topsix center in the league, been a
very talented top six winger in theNHL. And then the other list.
I mean, Demodov's quite likely goingto be gone. Demodov's one of the
best young players that has come outof Russia in some time. But caten
(39:36):
And and Pig could be options thereand could be candidates there for Seattle and
would certainly add to that strong group. I talked about it forward and give
them another sort of premium forward asset. Now plenty of options surrounding pick number
eight here. We could go onand on but Scott, you have given
us more than enough. My friend. You've got a lot here to get
to, a phone to read charge, and a family here to take care
(39:58):
of as well. Hey, thankyou so much, sir, really appreciate
your insight, and hopefully we cancheck back in with you a little before
the draft here as you get goingand get really busy. Thanks so much
again. Cheers Mike anytime. Allright, Thanks to Scott Wheeler. You
can find him by the way onTwitter and next at Scott C. Wheeler
(40:19):
again with comprehensive coverage on prospects leadingup here to the twenty twenty four NHL
Entry Draft coming up next month atthe Sphere in Las Vegas. Scott,
it's a great conversation. We'll planon catching back up with him in the
not too distant future. Onto ourmailbag segment. First question to al Konisky.
This is from Rick Judge. Shouldwe hope for Tis again Let's to
be available at number eight or dowe go for a defenseman to fill a
(40:42):
prospect pool with Evans graduating out ofthe NHL. Great question, Rick,
and thanks for sending me in.Tija Ginla is a fantastic prospect currently with
the Colona Rockets of the WHL andthe CHL. He's a six foot one
hundred and eighty five pound left shotcenter, and yes, he is the
son of Hall of Famer Jerome Aginla, who played at six feet two hundred
and ten pounds. To give youa sense of where Tz's body frame could
end up, Jerome Aguila was agreat power forward, so TS has that
(41:07):
in his DNA. TJ also justfinished his second full year with the WHL,
putting up forty seven goals in thirtyseven assists for eighty four points in
a sixty four game schedule with theColona Rockets. He also played with Team
Canada this year, notching six goalsand six assists for twelve points in seven
games. He has a propensity togenerate offense. Having said all that,
(41:28):
t S would be an excellent pikeat number eight for all those reasons I
just mentioned. The Kracking do needto refill their de prospect pool as well,
with Riker leaving Coachella for a fulltime role with the Crack in this
season. But the next few yearsis going to be about filling the scoring
and end at the prospect pool,and t S would be doing the backstroke
in the deep end in a fewyears. If he was chosen by the
Krack in at number from Curtis Parker, this is forever. It fits to
(41:52):
you. How important do you thinkdeveloping the young talent will be to the
new cracking coach. It seems obviousas an important need, but there were
a lot of young players who wereSAP previously, even when it was obvious
they weren't making it this year,Everett, go ahead. I think developing
new talent is vitally important for thenext Kraken coach. I mean, if
(42:15):
you look at this system that RonFrancis has built is continuing to build,
there are a lot of high valuedprospects within the organization. There are a
number of prospects in the Kraken organizationthat other teams are even high on.
So you have to imagine that theseplayers who the Kraken have taken in their
(42:37):
first three drafts are going to befeatured in a pretty prominent role within this
lineup over the next two, three, four, five plus years. And
you want to coach who knows howto develop players. You want to coach
that has had the history of takingplayers from the junior level through the American
(42:58):
League and now to the NHL,and what it takes to relate to these
players, what it takes to getthe most out of these players. I
mean, I can't tell you howmany conversations that I've had with people who
talk about, you know, today'splayer isn't yesterday's player. The player of
twenty twenty four isn't the player ofnineteen ninety four, and everything in between.
(43:21):
And it's so right from the waythat players train nowadays to the way
that you know you have to makesure you're looking out for players mental and
emotional states. You know, thegone are the back skates. Gone are
the hard coaches and the hard wayof coaching players. I think you need
a coach that knows what each playerneeds on a more individual level. I
(43:46):
don't think coaching is any more abroad stroke. It's not a broad brush.
I think every guy needs that individualize, that specialized piece when it comes
to coaching. So I think it'sgoing to be huge for Ron Francis when
he decides who this next coach isgoing to be. How are you going
(44:06):
to interact with how are you goingto help further develop the young players within
the system. All right, I'lltake this one here from Ky Parker.
Is Jake Gonsel someone you would throwthe bag at Seattle need scoring and he
can score well to say the least, Kay great observations. I love Jake
Gensel. I think he's worth themoney, and I think the question here
(44:28):
is going to be how much areyou willing to pay for such competition?
Being that he can crack forty goals? But he's already right now in the
clutches of the Carolina Hurricanes and theyhaven't been afraid to throw money at players,
and as well, players who makea lot of sense. Jake Gonsel
makes a lot of sense here forthem. So this is kind of a
wait and see process. But ifhe makes it here to the market by
(44:50):
July, I think he had togo for Jake Gonsel. I would throw
Sam Reinhart in there as well.And again I'm going to say something that
maybe you may agree or disagree with, But if he becomes available, you
consider maybe trading for Mitch Marner ifyou exhaust your options in the free agent
market, or if nothing else isavailable for a player of say Jake Genseil's
(45:12):
ilk or Sam Reinhardt. I likewhat Marner brings on the offensive front.
He can produce. It is somethingthe Crack in need. Yes, you
can bring hup questions here as faras his production in the playoffs, but
he did also have over a pointper game run. Don't forget about a
couple of years ago with the leaves, and sometimes maybe a change of pace
does a player good. But firstthings first, Yes, for sure I
would look at Jake Gensel twice again. He's hit forty goals, he's won
(45:37):
two Stanley Cups, and he isdue for a massive pay raise his contract
ending this year at six million peryears. So you're gonna have to overpay
for him, no question about it. But he's a player who's well worth
it. Two Stanley Cups twice,hitting forty goals, He's got built in
relationships here with previous Penguins teammates inthe crack and dressing room. I think
he's a great fit. Again,you may have to overpay for a guy
(46:00):
like Jake Ensel's well worth it thatwe'll do it for here once again.
Want to wish again all the besthere to Evan Pivnick Grant Theer on their
call and of the Coachella Valley Firebirdsagain in Game two tomorrow night. Big
thanks you to Grant for his conversationwith us as well Everett and Al,
my main men in the broadcast booth. Additionally, Scott Wheeler for the athletic
(46:20):
and giving us all we need toknow around pick number eight coming up in
next month for the NHL Entry Draftwhen the Kraken are due to select at
the Sphere in Las Vegas. Again. Catch this podcast on demand anytime via
the krack and Audio Network and theiHeartRadio app. Again, simply sign up
for free to get it at sportsradio kjar dot com. Again, Nick,
(46:42):
thanks to Grant, Fear, Everett, Fit's you, Al Konisky,
and to Scott Wheeler and certainly toyou for pushing play for overtime. I
Mike Benton, have a great one. You're home for the Kraken. Sports
Radio ninety three point three kjr FM
Featuring the great stories, personalities,conversation and news in the hockey world.
Back to Benears walks in left Circlesets the classic gay Chas Shutout a part.
It's the Overtime Podcast, a presentationof the Krack and Audio Network and
(00:21):
Sports Radio ninety three point three kJR f m enjoy that one time day
over time. This is Jordan Everlief. This is Joey Decourt, This is
Matta Veniers. Is Shane right,This is Jary mccannon. You're listening to
Overtime. Here's Mike Benton. Allright, let's get after Rick. Lad,
you're with us. A new edition, a new drop of Overtime courtesy
(00:44):
of the Crack and Audio Network andthe iHeartRadio app. Again, simply sign
up for free to get it atsports Radio KJR dot com. Comes to
you Thursday, May sixteenth. AgainMike Benton with you, Glad you're hanging
out with us. A lot toget to the Coachelle Valley Firebirds into Round
three of the Calder Cup Playoffs.The Kraken kicking eighth in the upcoming NHL
(01:06):
entry Draft. We are several daysremoved from the NHL Draft lottery. Also,
your mail bag questions. Will getto all of this with Grant fear
All of Thame goaltender and Coachella ValleyFirebirds broadcast analyst everet fits you. Al
Kaniski also back with us for more, plus a conversation with Scott Wheeler of
(01:26):
The Athletic. He's got a lotto get to as far as the NHL
Draft that he's a great source asfar as coverage on this leading up here
to the big event at the Spherein Las Vegas. And Scott's got a
pretty good idea of what could beout there when the Kraken pick eighth coming
up in the draft. We'll getto all of this conversation in just a
little bit. First things first,last night, Coachello Valley often running in
(01:48):
Game one against Ontario in the thirdround and once again dipping right back into
the veteran waters with their highlights righthere at courtesy Evan Pivnick. Up to
our conversation. They work in thecorner with a kill Thomas Good strip by
Potter Rosstey McCormick. Let'sh go upat stop students right circle pressure for Coachello
(02:15):
val Carrick shoots peak face off oneby the Firebirds. Malonson races to the
buck, Harris Morrison puts it offTampa shot by shot oh faced off Way
leads to a Jimmy Shop blast ina three one blade for Coachellow one game
(02:38):
two nothing. That's a series leadright now in Round three of the Caldor
Cup playoffs, Coachelle Valley and theirsecond sequence here through this because they earned
the bye and joining us now afterthe game one win for the Firebirds over
Ontario Hall of Fame goaltender and FirebirdsTV and radio analysts Grant Fear joining us
once again. Grant kind of feellike last year a little bit, doesn't
(03:00):
it. It does, except theBirds are taking a little bit of an
easier routing this year. Last yearthey kind of stretched every series to the
bitter end, so a little easieron their bodies this year. What's the
same about last year as far asmaybe what you're seeing with what's fitting in
for this season? Well, Ithink the biggest thing I've seen is to
(03:20):
compete, and they play hard everynight, and they play good what I
call honest hockey, where they're winningall the little battles, they're on the
right side of pucks and just playinggood sound hockey right now. What kind
of value are the veterans showing rightnow for the young guys in spots like
these, I think it's huge.Man, you look at a guy like
(03:42):
Max McCormick, Cole Lynd, AndrewPodolarski. They're good veterans and they're good
leaders, and the guys are doinga great job of following you behind that
because they go, they work hardevery shift and it sets a good tone
for all the younger guys. Well, the young guys are certainly a big
part of this. Shane Wright,Riker Evans, Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison,
his grandfe're joining us once again hereon overtime. But yet those young
(04:05):
guys are getting plenty of attention andfor good reasons here. Where are they
at right now with their game andtheir level as well? Well, I
think they're all getting better. Imean they all get the opportunity to go
up to Seattle and play some NHLminutes and I think that did wonders for
their confidence, and they've come downhere and they've continued that and they've actually
(04:26):
got better. Shane, I thinkit's been spectacular since this got back and
you can see the boost in theirconfidence. And I think just getting that
little taste of NHL action it givesthe guys confidence and let them know that
they can play at that level.Now, people are going to look at
Wright's numbers and I'll just use himas an example here and think, you
know, why is he not producing, maybe say at the level he was,
(04:48):
you know, producing in the AmericanHockey League, but playoffs, especially
at the higher levels AHL NHL,they're a completely different beast, and your
role changes a little bit. Wouldyou certainly agree here on Shane Wright's case?
No, most definitely. And Ithink with Shane you've seen a big
improvement is two hundred foot game.I mean, everybody knows he's got offensive
(05:10):
talent, but it's the playing hardevery day, day in day out,
doing the good things defensively as wellas offensively. And I think he's gotten
better and better defensively and his offensivegame is going to come naturally once he
gets that opportunity. And I thinkyou saw that as last up in Seattle.
He can score goals, but it'sthe two hundred foot game that had
to get better. In junior youcan get away with it when you've got
(05:32):
that much talent the American League,you can get away with it a little
bit, but come playoff time,you can't get away with it at all.
So you've seen Shane progress as aplayer. He's gotten better and better
months by month. Our numbers werecertainly popping last time he was back up
here, and the key ingredients arefalling into place right now. Grant,
what's Los Angeles putting into that Ontarioteam that maybe showed last night that it
(05:57):
was going to be a tough oneand maybe a tough series. I think
just the way they play. Theyplay a hard, physical game and they
play kind of a stifling one threeone system where if they clog up the
neutral zone, they clog up themiddle of the ice in their own end
and it's hard to break through.And the Kings play a little bit of
that. But you can also exposethat with speed, and we saw that
(06:17):
in the Eiler series. We're seeingthat with the Firebird series that if they
can't get set up, you canexpose them trying to get set up when
you can attack with speed. Now, you bring a great point up there
about what they did in running theone three one in very similar fashion to
what the Kings run and we've heardmaybe in comparison, what Dan bilesm has
(06:40):
been doing to mirror what the crackhad have been doing and create a seamless
transition. How much are you seeingthat right now function as a pattern in
how AHL teams work now these days? I think a lot of teams want
to do that. You want guysthat are able to step right up into
your system in the NHL and playthe same type of hockey. And Dan's
been a great job with that.I mean, I'll be shocked if Dan
(07:02):
doesn't get to looks for an NHLjob. The guys are well prepared,
they play hard every night, andthey love playing for him. And I
think that's the key as a playeris you want to coach that you want
to play for that you'll go throughthe wall for. And Dan's that type
of guy. Through two years,what has this job told you about what
(07:23):
Dan is doing and what he's capableof doing as a head coach if he
can get back to the NHL.Find it. He shows you why he's
won a Stanley Cup, and he'sextremely well prepared. He's got the guys
playing good hockey, and he doesn'tlet the foot off the gas. Pedal
on him and he expects them tobe good every day. I mean,
they don't have to be great,but they do have to be good.
(07:44):
And he's instilled the culture of winning, and as an organization, that's what
you want to see. You wantto see that culture of winning, of
doing the little things right and doingit right every day. And he doesn't
let him off the hook and practice. They still have to do the little
things right. And I think whenyou see the guys go up to Seattle,
they're prepared to play at the NationalHockey League level. When you think
about when guys go up to theNHL and using Shane Wright, Riker Evans
(08:07):
as well, who's basically earned afull time spot until he came back here
for the playoffs, in what wayshas he made that big of a difference
for players who step into the agelfor day one and then already. I
think a lot of it has todo with confidence. He instills confidence in
him. He puts them in thehard positions where you're at the important minutes
(08:28):
of a hockey game. And yousaw that with ty Karka ended up going
up to Seattle and to stay inthere. You see it with Riker you
see it with Shane Wright. They'reput in the tough situations where games are
on the line, that sort ofthing, and they realize that they have
to compete. They can't make mistakesin those situations, and it's going to
turn them into good pros. Oh. They have come across here leaps and
bounds as far as their development andtheir improvement. Grant, Hey can't thank
(08:52):
you enough here for doing this.How many rounds of golf are you up
to now for this year? We'rea little behind right now though that as
long as we got playoffs, I'mokay with that. You're you're at least
going out and being consistent in breakingeighty right, Well, I can still
do that. I need to scrapeit around somewhere near park. You're beating
the wheels off of me. Imean PG West told me that back out
(09:13):
there last time out in that roadtrip about roughly oh now, I would
say three months ago. Hey,Grant, thanks so much. My man
appreciates it. It was great tocross pass with you down in Coachell Valley
and we'll look forward to catching uphere once again. Appreciate you everybody.
Coachelle Valley up one game and nothingin their series. Game two tomorrow night
(09:33):
at Across Sure Arena, followed byGame three and if necessary, Game four
at Ontario and Game five if needed, wrapping back up at Akrosschure Arena on
May twenty six. You can findGrant on Twitter and ex at Grant Fear.
Also, he and Evan Pivnick havethe call TV and radio side streamed
on AHL TV. Get that bythe way at Watchthahl dot com. The
(09:56):
Seattle Kraken we'll pick eighth in thisyear's NHL Entry Draft. What are they
gonna do with the pick? Whocould they be selecting? Is this even
maybe a tradable pick as well?Our conversation whatever it fits to you and
Al Kadiski, the Kraken will pickeighth overall, and a part of this,
we're gonna be having a conversation herewas Scott Wheeler of the Athletic as
(10:16):
far as potential draft picks here inthis case. But first off all begin
where's the greater need forward or defense? Well, I think down the road.
I mean, you can never havetoo many capable defensemen. I mean,
what's the hardest position in sports?To find a left handed reliever and
(10:41):
a right shot defenseman. So Ifeel like if if you can find one
of those, if you can finda right shot defenseman who you believe can
can be a Riker Evans type ofplayer, or a right shot Vince Dunn,
or a defensive stallwart like Adam Arson, I think you jump on it,
you jump on it. But aswe've seen this season, and I
(11:05):
think as we're talking about right now, the number one need for this cracking
team is upfront. It's in yourtop six forward group. Now, whoever
this crack whoever Ron Francis picks inthe draft, we're not going to see
this player for at least two threeyears, if not longer. But you
never can have I think, toomuch offense. You can never have too
(11:26):
much skill up front. So ifthere is a top six caliber forward,
a high skilled forward, with thatpick, I'm going to always say go
for offense, because I do thinkdefensively, you can teach a team concept,
you can teach team defense. Youcan find a player liking Adam Larson.
(11:50):
I mean, Vince Duns are veryhard to find, I think,
but you can find that Adam Larson. You can find a Will Borgan,
a good defensive player without having toto give up too much. But you
can't find a whole lot of NathanMcKinnon's out there. You can't find a
whole lot of Jason Robertson's out there. Right, Obviously there isn't a whole
lot of that in this draft.But if you can find one of those
(12:13):
top six forward players, that's whereI would I would say the need is
Yeah. I think I think thatthis probably just expands on your point a
little bit fits, which is it'salways easier to teach players the defensive systems
more. How to make a forwardthat maybe is not strong on his defensive
game, or how to make adefenseman that needs to get stronger on his
(12:35):
defensive game, how to make himmore defensive. It's always easier to do
that than it is how do Itake a defenseman and make him more offensive?
How do I take a forward andteach him how to score? Have
to have that sense around the net, Like I would always rather take that
gut that forward, that winer,that centerman that just has a nose for
the net, that can find clutchgoals and say hey, we need to
(12:56):
back check a little harder, Weneed you to play a little tougher in
your we need to win some faceoff. So from that standpoint, I'm
looking. I'm looking to the frontside of the team as far as draft
picks go, and I think,not only does it potentially give you strength
up front, but it also potentiallygives you a bargaining chip down the road
(13:18):
if it ends up not being agood fit for the Cracking. And I
see that point certainly, and I'lllean into this answer this way. I
love where this draft class is at, roughly in the first eight, nine,
ten picks. They're very defense heavythe Crack and no, they're not
going to be getting maclan celebrining now. So where do you look elsewhere?
I like where they're at with ShaneWright drafted two years ago. Fourth overall.
(13:39):
I like where they're at with JaggerFurcus, with Carson Raykoff, Edward
Shaala. We'll see what happens herein year two, Yannie Newman as well.
They've already got a pretty good stableof forwards here, and I certainly
see the value of adding more potentiallyusing that as a bargaining chip, and
very well they could use that maybefor a trade here down the road.
(14:01):
But I can't help but think whatthey can do by adding a big cornerstone
piece on their back end. Ilean more toward here with defense. My
eyes right now maybe are on aguy out of London and Sam Dickinson.
Maybe. Some are saying a futureMiro Haskin in a player out of the
Ohl and saganaw Zane Perek who hasbeen tremendous as far as production back on
(14:24):
the blue line. We'll see wherethis goes. Also Anton Saliev out of
Russia and that could also be abig pick that is hanging around. But
then again, if you go bestavailable, Tishaginla Drome Aginla's son is hanging
out there for Kelowna maybe as well. Some are saying Matt Vay Mitchkov two
(14:45):
point zero, get ready here forthis name. I then the meatoff out
of Russia. You may have toconvince him to come over. He's not
a speed burner, but he usesskill in the face of danger as a
lead full shot, and he's notafraid to get into dirty areas as well.
That could be an option. Sothen I would also ask maybe as
(15:07):
of right now, what do youlook for if you're looking at a forward
or even a defenseman as well,The strength and adding more in that area,
take priority here or are you lookingat Sheer's skill and adding more of
that here to the stable? Well, I gain again, you know see
above that the skill. If theskill is there, hopefully you can put
(15:28):
on that strength, especially you know, depending on the age of the draft
pick over the first few years afterdraft is but you know, the skill
is not going to take leaps andbounds over the next three years, like
potentially the frame of the body can. So I would lean towards skill when
you're looking at these these kids.Yeah, I'm I'm I'm right there with
(15:50):
you. I'm always going to goskill. A lot of these players just
have that natural talent. They havethat natural born ability. You can all
hone that and fine tune that,but you need to have it to begin
with. You can get in thegym, you can work on your skating,
you can work on you know,all of these other skills, but
(16:11):
you cannot work on skill itself.So I'm always gonna go with with the
more offensive side. And also too, again where we're still learning, and
I say the royal we here inSeattle and amongst the fan base, we're
still learning about this draft process.Right who the Kraken draft at eighteen years
(16:32):
old here in a month and ahalf will not be the same player they
see in Seattle when they come herein three years. And that's probably how
long it's going to take two tothree years before we even start talking about
this person being a roster player,let alone having an impact. Now,
you know, you could get luckyand find a guy that takes massive leaps
(16:56):
and bounds and he makes the endand year two and year three wins a
calder and we're on from there.But you know, ninety percent of the
cases, you're not going to seethese guys unless you're a top two pick,
a top pick overall, you're notgoing to see the success and the
production from a lot of these playersuntil year three, year four beyond.
(17:18):
All right, So it then leadsme to this likelihood that you trade the
pick depending upon what's out there.I mean, I for me, it's
got to be on the table.And just echoing what Ron Francis said at
his end of the year of ail, you know, everything is an option.
They have the picks, they havethe draft capital to play with.
(17:41):
You're at a point now where youbuilt up enough of a cupboard that I
think you can. You can startto see what you're going to have down
the road as far as as faras capable players and talented players. But
I think that it's it's kind ofa it's a catch twenty two in my
(18:02):
opinion, because on one hand,you're hoping this is the last time the
Krack can have a top ten pickfor quite some time. Yes, you're
hoping that this team isn't in thelottery for a number of years. The
team's in the playoffs, you're competingfrom here on out. So if this
is your last top ten pick thatyou get for some time, do you
(18:23):
want to trade that pick for someoneelse? Or if there is a player
out there that you have your eyeon with some term that you think could
benefit you and you know, Idon't want to throw any names out there,
but there are a couple of teamsout there who have a lot of
high offensive players that may be unhappy, that may be looking for opportunities elsewhere
(18:48):
that you could package a top tenpick in a trade. I do think
that is something worth looking at,because, like we said here, unless
you're getting a Macklin celebrity, you'renot going to see this guy for a
bit, you don't know what youhave until he gets here, if he
even gets here. So I don'thave an issue with trading the eighth overall
(19:11):
pick, but I do think it'sgot to be a deal that makes sense.
And like I said, hopefully thisis your last top ten pick.
You know for ten years. Youknow, this team isn't picking in the
lottery, you know, from fromnow until right But time will tell that
on that regard. Yeah, andnegotiating for a player is interesting because you
(19:33):
obviously do want to have as manyoptions as possible so you can be creative,
but you never want a team thinkingthis team will sell the farm for
the right player. That's that's notwhere you want to go to the negotiating
table at it either. But froma creativity standpoint, and I think Ron
is as a creative creative as theycome. From a negotiation standpoint, you've
(19:53):
got to make sure that teams,if they are interested in a pick,
that you're ready to ends that call, because if it's packaged with the right
pieces, you could see somebody onthis cracken team next season versus to your
point, fits three or four yearsdown the road, that's making an immediate
impact and not for one season ortwo, but for an extended period of
(20:17):
time. And if you listen toeverything that's been said going into the last
two months of the season between Ron, between you know, you and I
and the folks all we on thetelevision side, John Eddie, JT all
them, you know, they've beenechoing the same thing. That's going to
be a big summer, a lotof big decisions, a lot of big
moves need to be made, whateverthe case may be. So at this
(20:41):
point nothing would surprise me. Imean, I think in the organization you
would like to say that you probablyhave five untouchables, but even still do
you have that many? I mean, if the right deal comes across Coder
McDavis for sale, right, Igotta be that if Wayne Gresky can be
(21:02):
traded, anybody can be traded.Yeah, So I'd like to think that
there are a handful of guys,both on the roster and in the system
that are are untouchable. And Ithink Ron is even alluded to uh to
as much. But listen, theright the right price comes and this is
you know, this is going tobe the biggest summer for the Kraken I
(21:25):
think in their first decade because yes, it's only year three, but you're
now going through a coaching change.You now have an opportunity to go out
and get a bona fide top sixsuperstar talent. I think the money is
there in the salary cap as well. You have a top ten pick to
play with. You have a lotof prospects in your system that are valued
(21:48):
by other organizations as well. Sothere are some players that you know are
are are in the minors in juniorhockey that other teams are high on,
and they may may not be.You know, this might be the highest
you'll ever sell on a player likethat. So I do think that there's
a lot to be decided this year. But this summer, I'm gonna go
(22:10):
on a limb and say, thisis going to be the most important summer
in the first decade of Krack andhockey. Will there be a draft pick
involved here with this trade? Ifthey make one, and they have to
make one that remains to be seen, will it be the eighth overall pick?
I would say this. I stoppedshort of saying trade the pick,
(22:32):
But if you're gonna make a trade, make a count because you don't trade
a pick like this to stand pat, you trade it for an upgrade.
So what's out there? Those questionscontinue to evolve here to this day.
And listen about three weeks ago,we didn't know where certain teams would be
as far as the nucleus of theirroster. But I think you begin to
(22:53):
look at a team like Toronto,who came out in their exit interview day
Brendan Shanahan head man of what theycall the Shanna Plan, and that they
will look at every option to tryto make their situation better. Does Ron
Francis go into Toronto and say,can this guy help make us better?
(23:15):
That's a big, big question maybethat we could see an answer here to
potentially here for this summer. That'sgonna be a lot of fun, right
Scott Wheeler joining us now. Youcan find his handy work at the Athletic
covering plenty and I mean plenty ofprospects leading up each year to the NHL
entry Draft. Scott joins us nowhere on overtime. Scott, thank you
(23:38):
very much here for doing this,my man. First off, you mean
so busy. How many times aday leading up to draft week? Do
you have to really charge your phone? Now? Well, my phone the
iPhone ten I'm working with these daysseems to drain its battery faster than it
should. I don't know whether that'sthe phone that's getting mold or whether that's
(23:59):
over you, but it's this ismy crunch time for sure. May and
June are kind of the busiest monthsof my year as we're into the home
stretch here, and not just sortof preparing final draft list and finishing up
features, but also obviously ECHHL Playoffs, USHL Playoffs, the World Championships,
which are featuring a number of actuallydraft eligible players this year, and then
(24:22):
obviously the Memorials Cup, which iskind of the final hockey place in advance
of the Combine in Buffalo. Soa lot still to finish up in terms
of hockey and work for the draft. Now. Aside from making sure that
your lists are prioritized or finalized herecovering everybody from major junior to college to
Europe, you have to make surethat you've gotten outlet at your seat at
(24:45):
the sphere, right. Yeah,I don't know what that's going to look
like. I must admit that wifi has tended to be an issue at
you get the many NHL drafts thatI've covered, So I'm curious to see
whether the Wi Fi will provide uswith what what we require from a media
standpoint act the Sphere, but Ican't wait for it. By all accounts,
(25:06):
from everything I've heard about what it'sgoing to looks like and the production
value and the money that the Leaguehas put into it, it's going to
be quite the show. So thatpart of it's going to be a pretty
unique experience. It that'd be alot of fun. Have you been to
the Sphere And when's the last timeyou've been to Vegas? I have actually
never been to Vegas alone the Sphere. It's Vegas and Seattle are actually two
(25:29):
of the final NHL markets in NHLarenas that I need to get to.
I believe I'm a twenty six ortwenty seven of the thirty two markets at
this point, and Vegas and Seattleare still a nice to do with.
So I'm looking forward to looking forwardto getting down to Vegas for the first
time. Oh, that's going tobe fun down there. Seattle certainly calling
your name my friend, and hey, we know that this city takes care
(25:49):
of a lot of people when theycome in here for the first time,
so We're looking forward to having youaround whenever that can happen, hopefully pretty
pretty soon. Scott, how dowe best talk about this draft after maclan
Celebrini. Well, I think thestory of this draft after Maclin Celebrini,
when we look back on it fiveten years from now, is going to
be written about the defenseman. Thisis a draft that has really six sixty
(26:15):
who are viewed as premium defenseman,plus the seventh in Adam Yeirchek, who
was viewed in that group heading intothis season but lost the year to a
pair of knee injury and is nowa big question mark. But the sixth
who are likely to go at avery very top and I'm talking five in
the top eight or nine picks inall likelihood, and then certainly all six
gone before the team's probably in thatsort of top twelve range. That's rare
(26:41):
at the draft. Typically there areonly two or three defensemen taken in the
top ten to twelve picks. Youreally have to go all the way back
to twenty twelve, more than adecade ago to find a draft that has
five or six sort of bee takenright at the top. And obviously twenty
twelve was the draft of Morgan Rileyand Tyler Myers and Macdumba and Campus Home,
and that was really the story ofthat draft when Maliacopov and alex Galchenya,
(27:04):
the two top forwards, never reallyworked out. So this draft isn't
going to look like that because maclinSellabraini is going to become star in the
NHL. But I still think thestory of this draft maybe just the quality
and impact that these five or sixtyare likely to make in the NHL.
I think we've got not just somefirst pairing types, but some potential true
(27:26):
number ones. And I also thinkwe've got some guys who are going to
put up some big points from theback end in this group. So a
big mix of a lot of thingsthat goes sixty, and that's going to
be exciting to sort of follow themand track to see which of those six
will really rise above the crop asNHLers. Yeah, so if it's enything
like twelve years ago, you're talkingabout guys you mentioned like Morgan Riley,
(27:47):
Hoppus lindhol Matt Dumba, but alsoJacob Truba as well, there could be
some pretty good players hanging around therein the rough of the first ten picks,
a Scott Wheeler of the Athletic joiningus right now. Scott, at
this point, what are the oddstelling us about what could be there at
number eight? Are we talking aboutsomeone who's a better fit if you need
someone to maybe make an impact onthe future of your franchise or just basically
(28:14):
flat out best player available, saymaybe as a Ford. Well, the
beauty of this draft is that afterCelebrini, the group from really two to
ten, two to twelve that Italked about, there's a lot of variants.
There are teams that have I mean, you can order that two to
twelve in probably ten different ways.If you did a survey of the thirty
two NHL clubs, there's a lotof variability in terms of the way that
(28:37):
these players are talked about. Evenamongst those five or sixty, you'll see
them ordered one to six in avariety of different ways amongst NHL clubs.
So that could mean that at eight, the krack and get their third or
fourth best player on their list,right, they could get a guy that
they really like if they break theirway, and that part of it is
really exciting. As far as Seattleis specifically is concerned too. I think
(29:03):
that they've they've done a really goodjob in really the last last few drafts
of very quickly assembling an excellent poolforward obviously Matty Mnier's and Shane Wright,
but even beyond those guys, CarsonRaycopp, Jagar Furkus and what he's doing
in the WHL playoffs right now,David Goyett led the OHL in scoring.
(29:25):
They've done a really good job.Ryan Winterton played his first NHL games this
year. They've they've assembled a tonof sort of quality forward prospects in a
very short period of time here.But as a result of that, they
haven't really spent a lot of draftcapital on the Obviously, Biker Evans has
become a piece of the puzzle.Ty Nelson was a member of the Canadian
(29:48):
World junior team and is one ofthe better d in the OHL these days.
But they haven't spent If you lookat their sort of first and second
round picks, they haven't spent alot of draft capital on D. And
because there are so many quality Din this draft, I think it's a
great opportunity forget best player available.The best player available might be a defenseman
for Seattle at eight, and Ithink that's excited me. The opportunity to
(30:10):
really add that premium d project thatthey haven't yet added. That changes things
for the look of their pool.It could change things for the look of
their blue line of the future,and that's a big, big deal.
So I expect that they'll take adefenseman, not just because that may be
best player availibleity available there, butbecause it just makes a lot of sense
(30:32):
to add for the first time,sort of take a premium asset and use
it on a high end defenseman andthere's going to be two or three available
for them there. We'll see ifthis one name is there, Sam Dickinson,
a defenseman out of the Ontario HockeyLeague. What's the read on him
and how fair is it to seemaybe hints of from what we've maybe Miro
Hayskin in in his game. Well, Sam is a six foot three defenseman
(30:56):
who can really skate. So byvirtue you you go to players like case
In, those long players who canreally really move. The strength of Sam's
game, despite the fact that he'sbig, strong, heavy, athletic,
well built kid, is he canreally move that frame around and he can
really, really skate. It's probablyhis biggest strength, and as a result,
(31:18):
because of his length and because ofhis mobility, he's an excellent defender.
There's a case to be made thatSam Dickinson is one of the first
or second best pure sort of defendersamongst that group of six defensemen. Now,
he doesn't have the offense of hisname correct or as the billiam who
are kind of the premium offensive din that group, but he has really
developed his offensive game. It's comea long long way. He scored twenty
(31:42):
goals in the OHL this year.He was a point per game defenseman in
the OHL this year. Those arenot easy things to do. So this
isn't to say that he's just abig, strong, mobile defensive defenseman.
He is all of those things.But there has developed some real offense to
his game, some potential power playupside in his game at the NHL.
Now and then suddenly you go froma top four sort of if he can
(32:07):
have some offense, suddenly you takea projection from a top four defense in
which I think he is almost alock to become, and suddenly maybe he's
a first pair of guy. Right, So that's the calculation that teams are
making with Sam Dickinson. At themoment, He's going to be a very
very good NHL defenseman for a longlong time. His floor is very high.
(32:27):
But I think there's some real feelingthere as well, and a lot
to be excited about as well.So Sam may be available there, he
may go slightly early, but Ithink there's a coin flip oodd that he's
available there. And if he isavailable there, I'm sure that the Seattle
craftan would think long and hard abouthim. You mentioned the one name out
of Saginaw, the Ohl Zane Perrek, and it's often said that right shot
(32:50):
defenseman don't grow on trees. Scott, what kind of potential are we talking
about him right now? Well,Zane is one of one player. He
looks nothing like the other sixty inthat group. He's a dynamic, exciting
offensive defenseman who broke the U seventeenin OHLB scoring record when he broke twenty
goals two years ago. He thenbroke thirty goals this season, which is
(33:13):
unheard of for a defenseman. Healmost cracked one hundred points this season,
which is also unheard of for adefenseman. He led the Memorial Cup hosts
in scoring by thirty plus points.We're talking about a legit star offensively and
a player who may someday post sixtyseventy eighty points from the back end if
all breaks well for him in theNHL. So the real question with Vain
(33:36):
is just is the defensive game thereto match the offensive ability? Is he
going to be able to earn thetrust of a coach to get out there
for twenty to twenty five minutes tonightand allow his offense to take over.
We know that he's going to runa first power play unit, we know
that he's going to put up pointsin the NHL. Does he have the
(33:57):
B game that some of those otherd have is the question teams are considering
now. Even if he doesn't havethat, I still think there's a strong
take to be made that he's atop five, top ten pick in this
draft just on the basis of hisunique offensive upside. He's doing things that
some of the top offensive that havecome through the OHL and had really strong
(34:17):
NHL careers in recent memory hasn't done. Whether it's Evan Bouchard, who's a
point for game defenseman for the EdmontonOilers right now and was a seventy to
eighty point defenseman in the OHL withthe London Nights. Whether it's Brant Clark
who was a top five pick forthe Los Angeles Kings, Pavel miint Yukov
who had a breakout or a pyseason in Anaheim this year, those were
(34:40):
top offensive defensemen in their own rightsin the OHL, and Vanekrek is even
what the cut above those types.So we're talking about a special player offensively,
the kind of player who's been comparedto Eric Carlton in style. Eric
Carlton was never a very physical player, would be quite like in my opinion
of first ballot Hall of Gamers.So now that isn't to say that p'rex
(35:04):
going to be that and Eric Carlsonin hindsight, he's won three Norrises and
was a generational talent. But that'ssort of the play style and the prototype.
If you will want to ask youabout zeev Booyam. You brought him
up a little bit earlier, SanDiego native, eighteen years of age at
Denver, already over a point pergame on that blue line. What's you
read on him and maybe him beingalready at the college game, how much
(35:29):
that could project him to be NHLready down the road. Yeah, Zve
was in a pretty unique set ofcircumstances where because of his late birthday,
he got to play two years atthe National Development Program before his draft and
then played college hockey in his draftyear, which is a rare honor and
a testament to his readiness as well, obviously coming out of the MTVP to
(35:52):
jump in and not just play ona Denver team that won the national championship,
but to emerge as their number onedefenseman and a number one defenseman on
a team that had Sean Barns andthese older brother shi William who are legitimate
high end defenseman in the college incollege hockey at sort of in their own
right. So, uh, Zevehad a special season, had a better
(36:13):
season statistically than some of the verybest freshman d who's played college hockey at
that age in recent memory, abetter freshman year than Owen Power. At
first overall pick Zach Warenski, CharlieMacavoy, the Hughes brothers, those are
big, big names, those arestar players, those are number one defenseman
when Hughes is quite likely going towin the Norris this year. Uh,
(36:36):
and and then zis to his credit, had a better season production wise than
those players, uh and and didit. Did it while also being a
reliable defender and a really active defenderand using his mobility in his feet to
defend at a very high level inthe end and also play sort of hard
minutes as well for that Denver team. So he's not just an offensive guy,
he's not just the point producer.I think as a result he will
(37:00):
quite likely be gone by eight,But if he's available, he feels like
the kind of player who would bea bit of a no brainer for the
craft and could sort of be thatsort of if not a number one,
then that sort of number two,number three said defenseman of the future for
them, there's always a question ofwhat if and what if they take a
(37:22):
forward And you know, looking downthe list here, names like Ivan Demidov,
Tjaginla, Jerome mcginles's son, andthen Berkeley Catton at a WHL spoke
in a lot of familiarity here aroundthis area. What's the upside, what
are the risks? Maybe as faras players in that category, well,
(37:42):
Teage had an explosive season. Hewas a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds team
that won the WHL championship went tothe Memorial Cup of year ago, but
on that team was frequently because ofhow loaded they were, and that was
as stacked forward as a CHL teamhas ever been in my time covering the
league in Seattle there year ago.Because of that, was a fourth liner
and even a healthy scratch at timein his sixteen year old season. Then
(38:07):
he gets traded from Seattle to Kelownaand he just takes off this season and
was one of the biggest risers inthis draft and has a real opportunity to
be a top ten pick now.And it's not a top ten pick,
than certainly a top fifteen one.So TG is a great story. A
power forward, not in the waythat his dad was, where he'll drop
the gloves like his old man did, but a power forward in the skating
(38:30):
department. He's a little bit smallerthan Jerome was. Jerome was kind of
six foot two and a lot meanerthan TG is. But he's a six
foot six foot one kid who canreally skate, can absolutely rip the puck
like Jerome could, a very excitingoffensive player who when he gets the puck
in the offensive zone, can makesomething happen. And can score a goal.
(38:51):
So that's Tig's game. Catten's allabout the skating. A five foot
ten, five foot eleven center,so a little bit on the smaller side
for your prototypical center, and todayNHL those guys often moved to the wing,
but a belief amongst many that he'sstill going to stick at center because
of his skating. He's one ofthe best skaters in the draft, a
dynamic offensive player who gets the puckand winds up and can just make things
(39:15):
happen with the puck on his stick. Really really exciting talent and an opportunity
to be, if not a topsix center in the league, been a
very talented top six winger in theNHL. And then the other list.
I mean, Demodov's quite likely goingto be gone. Demodov's one of the
best young players that has come outof Russia in some time. But caten
(39:36):
And and Pig could be options thereand could be candidates there for Seattle and
would certainly add to that strong group. I talked about it forward and give
them another sort of premium forward asset. Now plenty of options surrounding pick number
eight here. We could go onand on but Scott, you have given
us more than enough. My friend. You've got a lot here to get
to, a phone to read charge, and a family here to take care
(39:58):
of as well. Hey, thankyou so much, sir, really appreciate
your insight, and hopefully we cancheck back in with you a little before
the draft here as you get goingand get really busy. Thanks so much
again. Cheers Mike anytime. Allright, Thanks to Scott Wheeler. You
can find him by the way onTwitter and next at Scott C. Wheeler
(40:19):
again with comprehensive coverage on prospects leadingup here to the twenty twenty four NHL
Entry Draft coming up next month atthe Sphere in Las Vegas. Scott,
it's a great conversation. We'll planon catching back up with him in the
not too distant future. Onto ourmailbag segment. First question to al Konisky.
This is from Rick Judge. Shouldwe hope for Tis again Let's to
be available at number eight or dowe go for a defenseman to fill a
(40:42):
prospect pool with Evans graduating out ofthe NHL. Great question, Rick,
and thanks for sending me in.Tija Ginla is a fantastic prospect currently with
the Colona Rockets of the WHL andthe CHL. He's a six foot one
hundred and eighty five pound left shotcenter, and yes, he is the
son of Hall of Famer Jerome Aginla, who played at six feet two hundred
and ten pounds. To give youa sense of where Tz's body frame could
end up, Jerome Aguila was agreat power forward, so TS has that
(41:07):
in his DNA. TJ also justfinished his second full year with the WHL,
putting up forty seven goals in thirtyseven assists for eighty four points in
a sixty four game schedule with theColona Rockets. He also played with Team
Canada this year, notching six goalsand six assists for twelve points in seven
games. He has a propensity togenerate offense. Having said all that,
(41:28):
t S would be an excellent pikeat number eight for all those reasons I
just mentioned. The Kracking do needto refill their de prospect pool as well,
with Riker leaving Coachella for a fulltime role with the Crack in this
season. But the next few yearsis going to be about filling the scoring
and end at the prospect pool,and t S would be doing the backstroke
in the deep end in a fewyears. If he was chosen by the
Krack in at number from Curtis Parker, this is forever. It fits to
(41:52):
you. How important do you thinkdeveloping the young talent will be to the
new cracking coach. It seems obviousas an important need, but there were
a lot of young players who wereSAP previously, even when it was obvious
they weren't making it this year,Everett, go ahead. I think developing
new talent is vitally important for thenext Kraken coach. I mean, if
(42:15):
you look at this system that RonFrancis has built is continuing to build,
there are a lot of high valuedprospects within the organization. There are a
number of prospects in the Kraken organizationthat other teams are even high on.
So you have to imagine that theseplayers who the Kraken have taken in their
(42:37):
first three drafts are going to befeatured in a pretty prominent role within this
lineup over the next two, three, four, five plus years. And
you want to coach who knows howto develop players. You want to coach
that has had the history of takingplayers from the junior level through the American
(42:58):
League and now to the NHL,and what it takes to relate to these
players, what it takes to getthe most out of these players. I
mean, I can't tell you howmany conversations that I've had with people who
talk about, you know, today'splayer isn't yesterday's player. The player of
twenty twenty four isn't the player ofnineteen ninety four, and everything in between.
(43:21):
And it's so right from the waythat players train nowadays to the way
that you know you have to makesure you're looking out for players mental and
emotional states. You know, thegone are the back skates. Gone are
the hard coaches and the hard wayof coaching players. I think you need
a coach that knows what each playerneeds on a more individual level. I
(43:46):
don't think coaching is any more abroad stroke. It's not a broad brush.
I think every guy needs that individualize, that specialized piece when it comes
to coaching. So I think it'sgoing to be huge for Ron Francis when
he decides who this next coach isgoing to be. How are you going
(44:06):
to interact with how are you goingto help further develop the young players within
the system. All right, I'lltake this one here from Ky Parker.
Is Jake Gonsel someone you would throwthe bag at Seattle need scoring and he
can score well to say the least, Kay great observations. I love Jake
Gensel. I think he's worth themoney, and I think the question here
(44:28):
is going to be how much areyou willing to pay for such competition?
Being that he can crack forty goals? But he's already right now in the
clutches of the Carolina Hurricanes and theyhaven't been afraid to throw money at players,
and as well, players who makea lot of sense. Jake Gonsel
makes a lot of sense here forthem. So this is kind of a
wait and see process. But ifhe makes it here to the market by
(44:50):
July, I think he had togo for Jake Gonsel. I would throw
Sam Reinhart in there as well.And again I'm going to say something that
maybe you may agree or disagree with, But if he becomes available, you
consider maybe trading for Mitch Marner ifyou exhaust your options in the free agent
market, or if nothing else isavailable for a player of say Jake Genseil's
(45:12):
ilk or Sam Reinhardt. I likewhat Marner brings on the offensive front.
He can produce. It is somethingthe Crack in need. Yes, you
can bring hup questions here as faras his production in the playoffs, but
he did also have over a pointper game run. Don't forget about a
couple of years ago with the leaves, and sometimes maybe a change of pace
does a player good. But firstthings first, Yes, for sure I
would look at Jake Gensel twice again. He's hit forty goals, he's won
(45:37):
two Stanley Cups, and he isdue for a massive pay raise his contract
ending this year at six million peryears. So you're gonna have to overpay
for him, no question about it. But he's a player who's well worth
it. Two Stanley Cups twice,hitting forty goals, He's got built in
relationships here with previous Penguins teammates inthe crack and dressing room. I think
he's a great fit. Again,you may have to overpay for a guy
(46:00):
like Jake Ensel's well worth it thatwe'll do it for here once again.
Want to wish again all the besthere to Evan Pivnick Grant Theer on their
call and of the Coachella Valley Firebirdsagain in Game two tomorrow night. Big
thanks you to Grant for his conversationwith us as well Everett and Al,
my main men in the broadcast booth. Additionally, Scott Wheeler for the athletic
(46:20):
and giving us all we need toknow around pick number eight coming up in
next month for the NHL Entry Draftwhen the Kraken are due to select at
the Sphere in Las Vegas. Again. Catch this podcast on demand anytime via
the krack and Audio Network and theiHeartRadio app. Again, simply sign up
for free to get it at sportsradio kjar dot com. Again, Nick,
(46:42):
thanks to Grant, Fear, Everett, Fit's you, Al Konisky,
and to Scott Wheeler and certainly toyou for pushing play for overtime. I
Mike Benton, have a great one. You're home for the Kraken. Sports
Radio ninety three point three kjr FM
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