February 7, 2025 • 52 mins
What if the future of the Carolina Hurricanes lies in the talents of their promising young prospects? Join me, along with our prospect guru, Nick Bass, as we uncover the rising stars making waves in the hockey world.
The podcast highlights the standout performances of Carolina Hurricanes prospects across various leagues in January, showcasing players making significant progress and showing potential for the NHL. The episode delves into key players like Justin Poirier, Joel Nystrom, Justin Robidas, Scott Morrow, and Bradly Nadeau, while also touching on notable mentions, emphasizing the depth and promise within the Hurricanes' prospect pool. We also bring the latest news on Alexander Nikishin as an honorable mention this month.
As the episode unfolds, we explore the potential impact of acquiring elite talents Mikko Rantanen, and Taylor Hall. We'll dissect the complexity of player contracts, the strategic integration of emerging stars, and the financial flexibility that keeps the Hurricanes on their competitive toes. The podcast teems with insightful discussions about the future of the franchise, and we invite listeners to share their thoughts or questions for Nick. Your engagement helps shape our hockey conversations, so be sure to subscribe to StormTracker for more updates!
Highlights:
• Justin Poirier aiming for 50 goals this season
• Joel Nystrom excelling in the Swedish Hockey League
• Justin Robidas leading the scoring for the AHL's Wolves
• Scott Morrow becoming a reliable defenseman
• Bradly Nadeau showing growth in his all-around game
• Honorable mentions include Ryan Suzuki and Lukas Mercuri.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, january was another great month for Carolina
Hurricanes prospects rightaround the globe, whether they
were in the American HockeyLeague, in the Eastern Coast
Hockey League, or playing inEurope or even the college ranks
.
They're really getting it done.
And, as usual, to talk aboutthe top five prospects of the
month for, in this case, january, I'm delighted to be joined by
(00:25):
our prospect guru, of course,nick Bass.
Nick, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hi, I'm happy to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, and you know, another big month for the
prospects.
The same guys seem to becontinuing to play well and
we're going to hear about acouple of new ones, I think this
month as well.
Kicking it off at number fiveis a guy that you like a lot.
He was, if you might recall, hewas the first 17-year-old to
(00:56):
produce 50 goals in the QuebecMajor Junior League since Sidney
Crosby, so this guy has got agreat pedigree.
He's off to a huge start.
He's got 36 goals and 30assists in just 45 games.
Of course that's Justin Poirier.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, he had a really good month.
He was a big reason for Drakkarwinning a lot of games because
he was primarily involved in alot of their production.
I still think he hits 50 thisyear.
It's gonna be really close, butit I think there's a better
chance than not that he doesstill hit 50 goals, which would
be the first time in a very longtime that a kid's gone back to
(01:36):
back 50 goals.
The one thing that will foreverworry me, at least right now, is
skating.
Realistically, I'm not tooworried about his size.
His size he's shown and he istold.
Whenever I was at camp prospectdevelopment camp in the summer,
he told me he doesn't, he hasno issue with his size.
He doesn't see it.
He sees it as an advantagebecause he can use his frame to
(01:58):
still just beat people, and hedoes consistently.
He'll have guys that are, youknow, a few inches taller than
him and he's still going aroundthem.
He's still bodying them off thepuck and maintaining possession
.
Um torre had a really goodmonth.
Uh, his shot is obviously hisshot.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's incredible and uh, yeah, it was a pretty good
month of january for him yeah,and I think I remember darren
york was a pretty complimentaryabout, uh, justin's shot of.
He said he can just score, andwe've seen that numerous times
in the highlights.
Yeah, so another great monthfor Justin and I'm kind of with
you.
I think he's going to hit 50again.
(02:35):
He's definitely tracking thatway, I think the last 13 games,
as you might have mentioned, hehad nine goals, so he's
definitely on a tear and helooks like he's going to hit
that 50 mark again.
In any case, coming in atnumber four is kind of a
newcomer to our discussions, toa large extent Defenseman.
(02:57):
He checks in at 5'9 and 160.
Sorry, 6'2, actually and 174,and that's Joel Nystrom Nystrom
playing with Fargestad in theSwedish Hockey League.
He's off to a pretty good start.
He's got 23 points his first 40games.
Can you tell us about Joel?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, nystrom, I'll still mess up that pronunciation
from time to time.
He's awesome, Nystrom, I'llstill mess up that pronunciation
from time to time.
Go ahead, he's awesome.
He's been in a very big rolewith Fargestad for the past
two-ish years.
He's kind of been fluctuatingas a top four guy, top pairing
guy.
He was really instrumental inthem going to the Champions
(03:39):
Hockey League final which iscoming up in a few days.
I will probably have somethingabout that, just to get
attention, because I think youcan't watch it for free.
Um, but he's awesome.
The offense is fine, is likepushing a lot further than
people expected, which is alwaysgood.
The defensive side was neverreally a worry.
Uh, he's a true two-waydefenseman.
(04:01):
His skating is unbelievable.
Um, another thing that Iremember about development camp
was that neistrom normally ledthese drills like skating drills
, because he would yeah, hewould show it.
He would do it perfectly thefirst time and then if somebody
needed help, they would just gohey, you do it and show him.
Uh, he's sick, um.
One note about that is uh,recently luke de kock did a
(04:24):
podcast with Joe and Joe, theirlocal media, in the Triangle and
mentioned that.
Yes, I've heard those guys.
Joel Nystrom will be in NorthAmerica next season.
His contract runs out withFarjestad after this season and
he will come over to NorthAmerica since he's already
signed an entry-level contract.
So expect him to play to belike a fringe NHL guy, but more
(04:44):
than likely play with the Wolvesnext year.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, nystrom, you know he and Noel Fronson another
one over there seem to bereally developing well and
quietly not hearing a lot aboutthem here in North America.
So you know he continues to addto that offensive mix of just
incredibly talented defensemen.
I don't know how they're goingto keep all these defensemen and
(05:10):
we're going to get a chance totalk about a few more during the
conversation today, but this isgreat news to see that Nystrom
is heading to North America.
The next guy up is a guy that Iam really excited about.
I think he's starting to make acase to be a potential NHL-er
at some point in the future andI think this is a bit of a
(05:30):
surprise.
A smaller player checks in at5'8 and 175.
He's been red hot with theChicago Wolves.
He's now got 31 points in 40games, so he's definitely on a
tear.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's justin robita yeah, justin robita is sick.
Um matt, and I talk about it alot, but we are just we're
gigantic fans of robita becauseit he's just an insane player to
watch.
If you ever get a chance towatch all those games, you will
see 93.
That it's the number he wearsand he's just everywhere on the
ice.
He's power play, he's penalty,he's one of the first penalty
(06:05):
killers.
He's, you know, top line centeras of right now, because suzuki
was was up with the hurricanesuh he was, and he was also
playing wing as well.
He's been everywhere and he'sbeen just exceptional, and I
don't think enough peoplerecognize that this is his first
season in the ahl last seasonat the echl level.
He he was doing great, he washaving an awesome season and
(06:27):
then got hurt like late january,early february, and cut his
season short.
Now he's playing in the ahl,he's fully healthy and he's top
I think I want to say he's topfive in ahl rookie scoring,
which for a player like him, whowas like a fifth, sixth,
seventh round pick, a laterround traffic and obviously his
smaller frame is not, you know,it's not typical of something
(06:50):
like that.
Um, and you know, man, I'velike, I've discussed in the past
of like he has a genuine nhlfuture as like a great bottom
six forward.
You can you can play him atcenter, you can play him a wing
because he's winning face-offs,but he's also doing great work
on the wing.
He has a genuine NHL future.
I doubt anything this year, butdefinitely within the next year
(07:13):
or two I definitely thinkRobitaille will play in his
first NHL game.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, and I feel the same way and that's why I kind
of started saying I think he'sgot a future in the NHL.
They did it right.
He went to the ECHL last year.
He got a chance to kind of cuthis teeth in a league outside of
junior and I think it workedwell for him and he is leading
the Chicago Wolves in scoringright now.
(07:38):
So I mean that's quite astatement for this youngster and
as you say and again I've seenthis repeatedly he's in all
situations.
He's good in the face-off Dodd,he's very strong killing
penalties and, of course, he'sdangerous on the power play.
And, as we watch a lot of thehighlights of Roby Dodd, he's
magic on the ice.
He sees the ice extremely wellfor a little man and I'll tell
(08:00):
you he's impressive.
So, and I'll tell you he'simpressive, so I'm hoping that
you know, as you look forward tosome of the challenges the
Canes are going to have.
One of them is center ice.
As we know, the development ofcenters hasn't been a hallmark
for the Canes in recent years.
So he's definitely got anopportunity, I think, to be in
consideration in the comingyears with the Canes.
(08:20):
So it's good stuff.
Next guy, of course, boy.
Not too much needed to sayabout this guy.
He's been on a tear withChicago as well and again, he's
a guy, that boy.
When you talk about this player, here's what McKean said about
him and I think it kind of saysit well he has sublime all
(08:42):
directions skating ability,crisp puck skills and a big shot
from the point.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
That's pretty easy to figure out who that guy is, and
of course that's scott mooreyeah, I just really quickly
wanted to touch on that, thatcenter comment, because, in
complete honesty, I don't reallythink it's fair.
Um, if we go back to 2020, theydrafted two technical centers
One was Panamara, who was tradedfor Gensel, and then the other
(09:11):
one was Mercuri, who's still incollege.
Yes, 2020, we had Robida, whois still a center, but also has
flexed out to the wing, nikitaKuzlitsov, who is in the second
division of Russian hockey andhas kind of fluctuated, but he's
also on the wing now and then v, like coivinan, who has traded
for genzel, but he also is nowjust a full time winner yeah
and then in the past two, pastthree drafts, it looks like they
(09:34):
haven't taken a single center.
So it's I wouldn't say it'snecessarily a development thing.
It's something that I'vedefinitely tried to talk about a
lot.
More is just that unless you'redrafting high in the draft,
unless you take it in like thefirst three pick, like your
first three picks, you're notgoing to get a center, you're
not going to get a good oneanyways, you're going to get a
guy that has a long shot.
But yeah, scott Morrow isawesome.
(09:58):
Obviously now he's with theHurricanes just for a little bit
of time.
I would assume.
He's taken over the blue linein Chicago.
He's been their number one guyall year.
He's averaging around 20minutes a night.
He's getting penalty kill time,he's getting power play time.
He's doing everything right andeverything is starting to mesh.
(10:19):
Everything is starting to cometogether.
The offense is obviously stillthere.
He's transitioning the puckreally well.
He's moving it, it crisply andhe's moving with the puck a lot
better.
The skating is still kind of eh, but it's definitely good
enough to get him.
Get him by at the nhl level andthe biggest thing is the
defense and recognizing plays.
Um andrew rinaldi had a greatuh video of just like the best
(10:43):
scott morrow you could imagine,which was him jumping play,
breaking it up, taking intransition, going around our
team left off who was the secondoverall pick last year, and
drawing a penalty.
It was the perfectencapsulation of what Morrow has
done a lot better this year, aswell as combining what he
already knows.
So yeah, scott Morrow has beenawesome.
I'm glad to see him get an NHLopportunity this year and you
(11:08):
know, if it's not this year he'sa full-time NHL guy.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
It's definitely going to be next year.
Yeah, that's going to make foran interesting situation on the
blue line for the Hurricanes,because if they've got Scott
coming in and it looks like he'sdefinitely getting closer and
of course, Alexander and Keisha,they're going to have two
low-cost guys on the blue whoare outstanding prospects.
You know, it's interesting.
Rod Brindamore, you know, whenwe're trying to figure out why
(11:30):
is Scott Morrow up with the team, and particularly when he was
due to go and play in the AHLAll-Star game, Rod Brindamore
said really what it is.
He's getting better.
I watched him from the start ofthe season to now his games and
he's getting better.
I watched him from the start ofthe season to now his games and
he's getting better and better.
And so we heard some of that inthe broadcast as well the other
night and they talked a littlebit about the fact that, uh, you
(11:53):
know just, the development ofscott this year has been just
incredible.
Uh, with some outstandingcoaching in chicago and this
kind of plays.
Back to something we've talkeda lot about too, nick, is is
having Chicago as an AHL youknow affiliate and a team where
they can actually send playersand have them grooming in the
second best league in NorthAmerica is fantastic and it's
(12:15):
really working well.
For Morrill, I think he'sshowing a lot different from
last year.
I don't know if you rememberwatching him in the two games he
played at the end of the seasonlast year, but this looks like
a different player and, ofcourse, as you mentioned, he's
always had the offensive skill.
Now he's building a very strongdefensive game as well.
So that's great news.
On Scott Moore, We'll have towatch and see how this plays out
(12:39):
and whether it's becausethere's a little break, or it
was a break with Chicago, orwhether or not the Canes are
thinking they want to see moreof Scott.
We're going to have to followthat closely as things go along,
and I'm sure that the folkswatching the Wolves, and
certainly the Wolves players,are hoping Scott's going to be
back there soon because he's ahuge part of their team.
(12:59):
One other thing I was going tomention about Scott recently
he's been teaming with DominicFensori and that's an
interesting combination.
I wanted to get your thoughtson that.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, I think it was because Ronan Seeley got hurt
for a game or two and they justput Fensori up because he had
him on the second pair.
Either that or just Fensori hasbeen playing incredibly and
they wanted to reward him.
Yeah, the pair as a whole hasbeen really, really, really good
.
Both of them have definitelyimproved their defensive games
(13:32):
to a level to where they canplay with each other and still
be really respectable.
It's like instant transitionthreat because Fensore's offense
is undeniable and his skatingis better than Moro.
So if Fensore gets the puckhe's elite in transition.
If Morrow gets the puck, he cantake it.
But both of their defensivegames have come around so much
to where you have the ability toplay them together and they've
(13:54):
been a really solid top pair inthe AHL.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, I mean that's an interesting thought when you
kind of reflect that bothDominic and Scott are
offense-first guys that's whatthey're known for and really
driving the offense.
I've always been impressed withDominic Pensori.
I think he's a guy that seesthe ice extremely well and it's
going to be exciting to seethose two together if they can
(14:19):
continue to have a chance to dothat because both of them are
outstanding talents and will bepressing for positions with the
Canes in the future.
Number one this guy just cameback from the World Juniors in
Canada.
Wasn't particularly excitedabout what happened.
Of course Team Canada wasknocked out, so it wasn't a
(14:42):
great situation for him, but hehas been on a tear of late, and
that's Bradley.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Nadeau.
Yeah, the biggest thing withNadeau has been his play off the
puck one.
He's seeing everything a lotbetter and he's making
anticipated moves toward places.
He and Ryan Suzuki had multipletwo-on-ones to which they would
score and especially on therewas a goal this past weekend
(15:11):
that it was a scott morrowbackdoor cross ice to nadeau and
it was just perfectly placedand the dough was in the right
spot and it went in the back ofthe net because he's a great
shooter as well.
Nadeau, with the puck on hisstick, is not just always and he
never has been a player that isjust I'm going to shoot the
puck as soon as I get it.
He's letting before the worldjuniors and kind of before this
(15:32):
little break.
Nadeau would not anticipatefully.
He would get the puck, wait asecond, think about what he
wanted to do and then tried it.
Right now Nadeau is.
His confidence is so high andhis ability is coming back.
They're starting to finallytranslate, maybe that he is able
to.
As soon as he gets the puck, heknows what he wants to do with
it and then obviously it'sleading to a lot more success at
(15:55):
the AHL level, seen by his goaltotal, his point total and,
yeah, his shot is just crazy.
Uh, it's something I don't seethat often.
Nadeau's shot is justunbelievable.
Yeah, i's something I don't seethat often.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Nadeau's shot is just unbelievable.
Yeah, I mean, I've seen some ofhis recent goals too, nick, and
he's picking corners likeincredible.
And, you know, obviously weknew that he could wire it when
he opens up on that left sideand fires.
But he's been showing adifferent skill and really
showing that he's got a goalscorer's touch.
So great to see.
He's rounding out his game.
(16:30):
He's getting confidence likecrazy right now.
And that seems to be kind of aninteresting development with
some of these guys in Chicago isthat, you know, after a half of
a season that they've, you know, had some pretty substantial
coaching and, I think, somegreat coaching in chicago, uh,
are really starting to to showwhat they can do and, of course,
(16:51):
they've been on a tear as ateam.
They've been playing extremelywell of latest as well.
So, uh, great to see all ofthat.
Um Nadeau, I think he's afuture Kane too, so we'll keep
watching him.
Looks like he's on track tomaybe 25, 30 goals this year, so
that's going to be a nicerookie season for him in the
American Hockey League for sure.
(17:11):
And I know you've got a goodfeeling about Nadeau as well, as
you've met him, and he's agreat guy too, a great young kid
.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Nicest kid, I swear, and his family is super nice.
Um, I think I've told thisstory, but I went for to go to a
umass main game last season.
Um, whenever nadeau, moral,mercury were all there and I got
to meet a lot of nadeau'sfamily because it was the last
(17:40):
weekend of the season or likesecond to last weekend.
I think it was their lastweekend of the season or like
second to last weekend.
I think it was their senior day, but they just brought in a lot
of family.
His family is just super niceand he himself is just a super
humble guy, like he knows whathe has, but he's not going to
just brag and show it off.
He's very just, down-to-earth,calm, just one of the nicest
(18:00):
people you'll ever talk to.
I can't speak highly enough ofNadeau as just a person and a
player.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, and that fits quite nicely with the Hurricanes
philosophy as well.
I was on a podcast recentlywith Shane Willis and he was
talking about the type of youngplayers that the Canes want, the
players they want on their team, and exactly what you're saying
about Nadeau is right on towhat he was saying as well.
(18:27):
That's great.
So let's take a look now at thehonorable mentions for the
month, and I know you've gotsome interesting ones.
First on the list, of course,is a guy that I was a little
surprised when he was sent downto Bloomington.
The AHL Wolves decided to keepRuslan Kazeev as the backup
(18:49):
goaltender and sent YannickPeretz down to Bloomington.
Peretz, of course, had playedin the ECHL last year with
Norfolk, so he knows that league, but he apparently has been on
fire.
What can you talk about,yannick?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, Well, I would say the Wolves keep Kazaev up
for the fact that you know thekid's fresh over from Russia and
sending him to a team thatmaybe has like one Russian and
not a lot in rural Midwest isprobably not the best thing.
Plus, you want the guy who's19-, 20, who just came over from
(19:26):
a junior league, to probablystay with the goalie coach they
have in Chicago.
I forget his name off the topof my head Stan DeBincky.
Yeah, you want him to get themost consistent coaching you can
from a guy like that there'snothing against Yanni Peretz as
well.
He's been stellar since going toBloomington this year.
I can't say I've watched a tonof Bloomington games just
(19:49):
because, you know, theopportunity has just never
arisen.
Sure, even if I wanted to.
I think they played their lastgame at like 1030 am and I'm in
class at that point.
I can't, I can't watch that.
So but Peretz has been reallygood and the ECHchl level is not
(20:09):
like it's not bad at all.
It's still a good league, it'sstill a very respectable league
and to see him in his secondechl season the year-over-year
growth is obviously a verypositive thing.
Um, I'd love to see him getback up with the uh wolves, but
at that same point.
If he get back up with theWolves, but at that same point,
if he's back up with the Wolves,that means there's probably
some goal issues at a higherlevel and honestly, I don't want
(20:31):
to deal with that again.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, I get it.
We didn't have a lot of funwith some of the challenges that
Gaines had in goaltending.
Yannick Peretz, to me, hasalways been very interesting.
I'd seen him in the you know,the Southeast showcase games
that you know for the prospecttourneys that he was in the last
couple of years and he lookedgood.
And, of course, he had atremendous career with
(20:57):
Quinnipiac.
He was outstanding when theywon the championship.
So he's definitely got, youknow, some capability there and
we just you know some capabilitythere and we're just, you know,
waiting to see how that's goingto play out.
I'm excited about him.
I'm not sure where he fits inthe Canes' future, but I do,
like Peretz, I think he's atalented goaltender.
Another one of the guys that Iwatched a fair bit in the Frozen
(21:20):
Four last year, the pre-series,was Lucas Mercury, and he's a
guy that I know you want to talkabout.
Lucas, to me, is a big guy.
He plays a heavy game.
He reminded me a little bitabout Jordan Stahl.
I've said that a few times.
He seems to be that kind of aplayer, but it looks like he's
adding a bit of an offensivetouch now as well.
(21:40):
What's going on with Lucas?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
He's gigantic, he's physical, he knows how to use
his body, he's doing everythingand he's been the 1C for UMass
for a little bit now.
He's getting around like 18, 19minutes a night and he's doing
incredibly well in those minutesWith Mercury.
I'm really interested to seewhat happens with him, because
(22:04):
this is the year the Canes haveto sign him.
They lose his rights in thesummer of 25.
Um, and there's definitely away I haven't mentioned this
besides, uh, someone else.
There's definitely a way forhim to get a, an entry level
contract, for the sole reasonthat the Canes' organizational
(22:25):
depth at center is so not there,they haven't drafted many, as I
mentioned earlier.
So there's definitely a way inwhich he gets signed and he's
definitely I think it's almostnot guaranteed, because nothing
is guaranteed but he's probablygoing to be a really decent AHL
player because with guys likehim, they're just big bodied and
(22:46):
they can skate decently welland if they know how to play
their role, there's always goingto be a role for them somewhere
.
So, yeah, mercury had a reallygood month of January.
Hopefully UMass does get out ofa really, really hard hockey
East and they make it to thetournament again, because I
think that's when you'll see thegear even get turned up again.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, as I say, when I watched him in the playoffs
last year I heard the FrozenFour games.
I thought he was very, verystrong.
So again, a player that bringssize.
He can skate.
He plays a heavy game.
He looks like he's pretty goodin the faceoff dot as well.
So again, a player that we'regoing to keep an eye on for sure
.
The next player we haven'theard a lot about this guy is
(23:36):
Alexander Paravolov.
Next on the honorable mentions,I want to say a couple things
about Alexander.
Corey Prondman of the Athleticssaid this about him Paravolov
can make a lot of good thingshappen with the puck.
He has excellent stick skills,showing consistent ability to
beat checks one-on-one andcreate inside the offensive zone
with a stick handling.
So he's a guy that's veryhighly thought of.
(23:57):
I read a number of differentreports on him when he was
drafted, I think in the thirdround.
He's a guy that a lot of folksreally liked.
What's going on with Alexander?
Speaker 2 (24:08):
I think for one thing now is just that he's healthy.
I had to pull up his things,but I mean he didn't play.
What is that?
39 games in 23.
He played I mean that's 25 or24 games last year and this year
he's played uh 34, so he'salready on pace to play his most
(24:33):
games in the past two years.
Um, health was is a big concern.
Obviously.
It's kind of tough to see guysthat just go down.
The skill is there.
There's no denying that he hasgenuine skill.
The thing is, can he stayhealthy and can the whole game
develop?
Because he's already been movedonce at the VHL level because
(24:57):
the coaches didn't trust him.
So with his new team he's doinggreat.
He has eight points in 13 gamesand that is including a game
today.
He's doing fine.
With the new team, he's doinggreat.
He has eight points in 13 gamesand that is including a game
today.
He's doing fine with the newteam.
Now it's just now a fact of canhe continue having success with
the team so that you know thecoaches continue to trust him.
I mean, I don't hate the kid,obviously, but I need him to
(25:22):
stay healthy and I need him tocontinue playing as he has, and
then people will be able to geta better read on him as a player
.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Sounds a bit like Alexander Rykov.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, similar story right.
Kind of Rykov still has beenhealthier than Pervailov over
the past few seasons, though,okay.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
But yeah, so we'll keep an eye on him.
Again, he's another one of thefine Russians that were drafted
a little later than some folksexpected, so we'll see how his
development continues in Russia.
Okay, the final person we'lltalk to on the honorable
mentions, he seems like he'sdiscussed almost every month on,
(26:05):
uh, some of our discussions,and that would be, of course,
ryan suzuki.
Suzuki's played very well.
We actually saw him get a cupof coffee with the hurricanes
playing a couple of games.
What can you tell us about ryan?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
uh, I kind of just there's not really much to to
talk with Suzuki anymore.
I mean, everybody knows theskill he has, the talent he has.
He's an exceptional playmaker.
He skates well, he defends well.
I mean, you saw he saved a goalat the NHL level with a
clearance.
He was now again small samplesize, but 57.5% in the face-off
(26:40):
circle, which you know, that'sdecently good, that's pretty
strong.
Not strong because circle,which you know, that's decently
good, that's pretty strong.
Not strong because he isgetting, you know, the
fourth-line matchup At the samepoint.
It's still not bad Anytime youhave a guy averaging over, I
think like 52, 53, is good forhis center.
I'm glad to see him get calledup.
That was the big thing.
(27:01):
That was a very not surrealmoment for me because that kind
of sounds vain.
But Matt and I and I keepcontinuing to say Matt and I,
because I talk with him a lotit's very easy for me to just
combine me and him, but we havejust discussed there comes to a
point where you have to try him,you have to give him a game
because he's healthy and he'splaying really well and I'm glad
(27:23):
to see him get that moment.
I think his parents wereobviously a lot happier.
His dad, rob, is hilariousbecause as soon as Suzuki got
called up and they said he wasgoing to play, he tweeted out a
little image that just saidHouse divided and there was the
Canadian logos on one side andthe Hurricanes logo on the other
.
I about lost it.
But Suzuki's good, I think he.
(27:43):
I would love to see him getcalled up again, but unless
Andrees happens, it's not goingto happen because they still
have Tyson Yost that is at theNHL level, just hurt.
So I'm interested to see thiscoming weekend when the Wolves
play again.
I want to see if he continuesto keep playing at that level
that I've seen from this pastyear and if he does, then I
(28:07):
think he's an NHL player.
I've said it a few times, but Ithink he showed he's an NHL
player.
It's just.
Will he get another opportunityto show that he's an NHL player
with the Hurricanes?
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Well, yeah, and interestingly enough they
decided to go with Juha Jaska atcenter for a number of games.
Well, tyson Jost has been out.
I was kind of hoping they wouldbring Suzuki up and they
finally did, and he got a chanceto play a couple of games.
As I mentioned, he didn't lookout of place.
(28:39):
He didn't really distinguishhimself, but he didn't look out
of place, so that was fine.
So we'll see, but he'sdefinitely having an outstanding
season in Chicago and we'lllook forward to seeing how he
continues to develop as well.
So, some interesting folks onthe honorable mentions this
month.
Yeah, any other folks, uh,before we talk about, uh, the
(29:06):
alexander nikishin watch um, Iguess I, um, I think I expanded
on it.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I haven't actually expanded on, but the wolves blue
line next year is going to bereally weird.
I think it's going to be maybenot drastically different, but I
definitely think it's going tobe different comparatively to
this year Because I would assumethere's a few changes that are
going to happen there.
Obviously it's not confirmed,but it's kind of a very badly
(29:39):
kept secret because you knowcontract run out, you have them
already on an entry levelcontract.
You know it's very easy.
So, and especially witheuropean players, they have to
play out the remainder of theircontract before they come over.
So nystrom will be in the ahlnext year.
Yeah, nhl, wherever, whateverthey can figure out.
Um, if you go off theassumption that scott morrow
(30:01):
gets a full-time job next year,he, he's not going to be there
anymore.
Right, and it kind of dependson their free agents and some
other things If VladimirGrudinin comes over this year if
another guy or two want to comeover this year.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
What about Noah?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Fronson, I doubt it.
Okay, I don't think that one'sgoing to happen.
I think he'll probably stay inSweden or try and find something
else, but I don't think.
AHL is happening, at least forthe next few years.
It's just going to look reallydifferent.
And then the only other guywould be the guy you just
(30:41):
mentioned, rykoff.
He's back with the AHL team andhis first game back from injury
he scored.
He's another guy I would fullyexpect.
Again, nothing's confirmed, buthe hasn't signed a new contract
with Tractor and his draft yearhe said when his contract's
over, he's coming over.
So I would you know if you'rewriting it down in pencil.
So I would.
I would you know.
If you're writing it down inpencil, I would say there's a
(31:05):
better chance than not.
Alexander Rykoff will come toNorth America next year.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
So he joined Gleb Trikosov on the on the walls.
That is true as a forward, ofcourse.
Yeah Well, I mean, you're goingto have probably three guys
will be back for sure, and thatwould be Alexei Himasomi,
dominic Pensori and, of course,charles Alexis Legault.
Those three guys should be back.
(31:33):
If they have Nystrom with them,that's a good starting four,
and you have to think the Caneswill have, you know, one of the
veterans.
Maybe Ty Smith will be back.
You know they'll have one ortwo veterans back there as well.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
So still a pretty interesting defensive core.
Yeah, I'm not denying that, Idefinitely think there's.
I don't think the top four isprobably just going to get
random and wild, because Idefinitely with the top four,
both Fensore and Seealy are bothrestricted free agents.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I forgot about Sealy.
Ronan Sealy, of course, yes,yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I would say it's going to look very much so
different than what we've allseen this year.
I'm excited about it, obviously, but also this decor they have.
Now.
That's being led by SpirosAnastas, who I see as a very
good coach.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
He runs the defense and he's been incredible this
year.
I just think it's going to looknot drastically different, it's
just going to look differentnext year.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, very interesting.
I know Andrew Rinaldi had anice piece on Coach Anastas the
other day, so it's kind ofinteresting.
Okay, so yeah, it's that timewhen we, uh, we talk about, uh,
the alexander nikishin watch,and I know that you had some
words on alexander this month aswell what can you tell us about
alexander nikishin?
Speaker 2 (32:54):
uh, he got hurt, he had a concussion, he missed two
games and he still ended upalmost a point per game.
I mean, what more can youexpect from him?
It's kind of I I have a bighopefully I get it done.
I don't know if I actually will, but I have a big piece coming
(33:14):
out, hopefully saturday aboutlike nikishin's whole, whole
journey and becoming the bestdefenseman in SKA history.
It's because it's no whitething at this point, it's you.
Again, nothing is confirmed,nothing is official and nothing
(33:36):
is done, but he still hasn'tsigned a contract.
And obviously, when you haveEric Tolsky, go on a broadcast
and broadly say, hey, this isgoing to happen.
But it is rare for any team tobring in a captain, nearly a
(34:07):
point-per-game player, in threeback-to-back seasons, if you're
counting this year, where he'stied for first in goals, he
leads the assist category forall-time defensemen by a wide
margin and he leads points byover 30.
It's rare that that happens andit's even more rare that he's
23 years old.
(34:27):
But somehow, someway, the teamhas lucked into the best
defenseman in a franchise'shistory and that defenseman is
23 years old.
Yes, it's insane, but yeah, hegot hurt, which kind of sucked,
but he was amazing this month.
(34:47):
I'm still going to throwcaution on anybody thinking he
would play this year, unless adrastic injury happens and SKA
maybe gets knocked out earlierand it would have to be just the
perfect storm of thingshappening, and I truly mean that
.
Again, if he does sign, I wouldsay next year is when you would
(35:11):
see him first play an NHL game.
I just highly doubt anythinglike that would happen.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Well, a couple of things.
So Tony D'Angelo, of course,left SKA during this period and
headed off to the Islanders.
Have you seen that?
Has that been a positive thingfor fornication?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
100%.
Yeah, it's been.
Also, left is going to be putin some heavy quotation marks
because you know there's been alot of good reporting on the
reasons why he left and that'sall I will say about that.
No, he's back on the top powerplay unit and the power play has
(35:53):
been dangerous.
Yes, as well, as he's just backto playing how he normally
plays and it's working outincredibly better.
He's point productions up andeverything.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Just to me, sks power play looks better now than it
was a few weeks ago, so I'm notcomplaining no, now an
interesting thing on on timing,and I know you feel very
strongly that we won't seealexander in a Canes uniform
this year.
But here's timing, just so we'reaware of it.
So SKA season will end on March22nd, so they would then go
(36:25):
into the playoffs.
Last year their playoff run wastwo rounds and lasted about
three weeks.
So if you took that as a bit ofa kind of guideline, that would
suggest that Nikishan would beavailable to come to North
America about the middle ofApril and that's kind of the end
of the season, the regularseason in North America.
(36:45):
So it's possible that he wouldbe available as the playoffs
started.
Now, as you say rightfully, itwould take a lot of things to
line up for him to actually seeaction with the Hurricanes this
year.
But I just wanted to leteverybody know exactly what
we're dealing with in timing andhow it might affect, kind of
you know, if he comes over atthe end of the year or not.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yeah, also with that, because everybody got a big
taste of it last year whenevermatthew mitchkoff was coming
over.
Right, it takes a while, evenwhen you know they finally get
contracts sorted and you knowtime expires and everything like
that.
It still takes time.
Visas take forever, planes takeforever, traveling takes
(37:31):
forever like mitchkoff was donewith his ska contract and all
that fun little stuff.
It still took him two to threeweeks to eventually get on a
plane to north america and aswell all khl contracts.
They moved it back.
They don't.
All khl contracts technicallydo not expire until may 31st, ah
(37:52):
, okay.
So again, I'm not saying itphysically can't happen, because
nothing is ever just fullyconfirmed or fully set in stone,
but it would still take justthe the.
It would take the world movingand moving a lot in the right
direction to even think about it.
That's why I I'm going tocontinue to say it, and I know
(38:14):
people are going to get mad atme, but unfortunately it's just
going to have to be a wait.
It's you know, we're finally inthe year that we're going to
see him play hockey in a Cane'suniform.
Can we just celebrate that factbefore we start?
It just got to calm down andgot to wait a little bit longer.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
No, and it's okay, and I'm not suggesting anything
different than that either, Nick.
The only caveat and I think youmentioned it is that if the
Canes have a significant injuryon the defensive core and
there's a way for them to makeit work, I would not be
surprised if they tried, Becauseof course, their plan, having
(38:54):
made a recent move, their planis definitely to go for the Cup
this year.
So yeah, we don't know,Anything can happen and, as you
said also, Eric Tulsky was alittle bit bullish about his
expectation of getting Nikitiansigned fairly quickly after he
has finished playing with SKA.
(39:16):
So we'll have to see A lot ofmoving parts.
At this stage, the Canes'defense is solid.
Don't see a problem there, butof course things can change too.
Yeah, I wanted to talk aboutone other thing before we
wrapped up, which was the recentmajor blockbuster trade by the
Hurricanes, and I know you'vehad some thoughts on that.
(39:38):
The Canes, of course you know,really shocked the world with
the deal to acquire MikkoRantanen from Colorado and, of
course, Taylor Hall, and gave upsome pretty good pieces in
Marty Natchez and Jack DruryThoughts.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Glad they didn't include a prospect.
That was my big thing.
But I mean, as people have seenover the past few I guess a
year, but maybe like past fewmonths, past few weeks they have
plans for these guys.
The organization is incrediblewith timing.
Timing is like their contract.
Timing is just insane, like youknow, if you're looking
(40:19):
directly next year, dmitryOrlov's contract runs out when
you can insert Alexander Nikitinyes, exactly.
You're looking at Brent Burns.
His contract runs out at theend of this year.
You can replace him directlywith Scott Morrow.
Their timing is insane Withthis.
I'm glad they didn't moveanybody because they obviously
(40:40):
see I mean they had today theysee Morrow as a big piece going
forward.
Right, bradley Nadeau is goingto be a big piece going forward
because he has legit 40 goalpotential, which is something
the Canes haven't had in a lot.
Well, haven't had in about twoweeks, because now they have
Mika Rantanen, obviously.
But getting it done when usingNatchez is, in my opinion,
(41:05):
better than trying to doprospects.
But obviously I don't think theAvalanche would have done
anything for prospects becausethey're obviously a very win-now
team For sure.
So I was happy with it.
Matt told a funny story about it.
But we were all just finegetting Taylor Hall.
We were like, yeah, taylor Hallis cool, I like Taylor Hall,
(41:27):
come to a new team that isn'tlosing all the time.
You get re-energized,revitalized, you're happy, and
then they go.
Oh yeah, it's also MikoRantanen.
We all just kind of went what.
We just kind of had, thismoment of like.
Does that actually say MikoRantanen?
Yeah, I mean, miko Rantanen'ssick.
(41:50):
I understand people are madbecause he's snakebitten and I
also know people are mad becausethey want Jacksonake thrown off
the top pairing as fast as theycan.
But um blake's like the perfectguy to play with rantanen,
because rantanen's a pure goalscorer.
Yeah, he's just a gritty goalscorer.
And you've seen the chemistryflash.
(42:11):
Yeah, with with blake and withaho.
He and bl Blake is a giftedplaymaker.
So it's just one of thosethings of you know he just got
here.
It's been five games.
You just got to relax Because Ihave seen some takes that you
know are just interesting.
But yeah, I'm glad they got itdone without a prospect and I
(42:39):
truly don't have any like maybeis that the right word, but I
don't have any.
Yeah, I think they'll sign them.
I don't think there should beany real worry about that.
I mean tolsky said they.
This situation is completelydifferent than and I think
people also just misconstrue jayagainst the densel situation
entirely, because the timelineof events again, this is what
from I've seen and what Iunderstand was gensel came to
(43:02):
them and said, hey, I want nineor eight years and I want nine
million.
If you meet that number I willsign.
And the hurricane said, okay,I'm gonna take my time and
figure this out.
And then you waited up untilthe second day of the draft and
then the canes came back to thetable and said, okay, we'll
match.
And then obviously then at thatpoint all the noise came out
(43:25):
that tampa was really interestedand they went yeah, I can go to
tampa, okay.
Well, now I'm just gonna go tothe market, see how it plays out
, and then you lose them.
This is completely different.
You know you have almost $40million going into free agency
and you know you got SebastianAjo, who is one of Miko's best
friends.
I think this situation isentirely different and I do
(43:49):
think eventually they do get himsigned just because they want
him.
Dundon has wanted a star foryears at this point and they
finally have one.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I don't think they're letting another one go I think
yeah, I tend to agree with youtoo, nick and, and I don't.
I don't see it as a concern onthe hurricane side they're
definitely going to come up withthe cash.
They've made that clear.
They've got lots of money.
Dundon's making lots of moneywith the cane, so they've got
the cash.
And they've got the of money.
Dundon's making lots of moneywith the Canes, so they've got
the cash.
And they've got the cap room,which was the major problem last
year.
Of course, with so many freeagents, both restricted and
(44:22):
unrestricted, that they had todeal with, it was just a
horrendous situation.
But I think the biggestchallenge and what we're going
to be watching will be you know,can Mikko have some fun and get
some goals and do what he doesbest?
I think that's just the bigthing.
He's just got to get a littlebit of a run going, he's got to
start to feel good about histeammates and, you know, just
(44:44):
start to feel like this is along-term home.
And, of course, we do know thatthe opportunity for the
Hurricanes is different thananybody else, which is an
eight-year deal, and that is abig advantage when you're Mikko
Rantanen's age.
So I'm like you.
I feel pretty bullish aboutthis.
I think it's going to cometogether quite nicely.
(45:06):
One other thing I was going tomention you mentioned Jackson
Blake and yes, there's a lot ofturmoil on Jackson these days.
I kind of go back and forth onwhether he should be on the top
line or not, but I have to saythis, and you said it rightfully
so he has been very effectiveon that top line.
In fact, the guy that has notbeen effective has been
Sebastian Ajo.
In my personal view, I thinkthe other guys have been really
(45:27):
effective.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
What I've noticed and it's a gigantic little fun
issue in the prospect world isthe lack of patience shown is
insane, because people wantinstant results.
They want everything now.
They want Miko Rantanen to justnot falter at all, losing, you
(45:50):
know, playing with NathanMcKinnon.
They want him to still just beon that pace and they want
Jackson Blake to be years beyondhis time right now.
They want him like three, fouryears in the future where he's a
much more polished and refinedplayer.
And you know it takes time.
These things are not, you know,they're not just like instantly
(46:12):
.
Oh I'm here, I'm still the same.
The exact same player playingwith the exact same archetypes
of player like sebastian ajo, isnot nathan mckinnon.
Yeah, these guys they're not.
They're not the same, but they,they just want everything to
just be right.
Blake has looked great on thetop line.
He's generating offense and thebig thing is he forces
(46:32):
turnovers at a extremely highrate.
It's multiple times a gamewhere he'll forecheck, he'll get
the puck in the offensive zoneand he has the playmaking
ability to get the puck away andget it to somebody that might
be willing to shoot.
Ie, Mikko Rantanen, and I knowthe big one is they want to see
(46:54):
Jarvis moved up and I'm notagainst it entirely.
I've got to get that out now.
I mean Rantan and Ajo Jarvissounds incredible, but Seth
Jarvis obviously playing thirdline, you know.
But Jarvis one, he's playingawesome, even on the third line.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
He's still playing great five-on-five and he's
doing great things at PK andhe's doing he's on the third
line.
He's still playing great fiveon five and he's doing great
things at PK and he's doing he'son the power play.
I had to be specific about that.
But um, with with Blake.
I mean I wouldn't even mindseeing Jarvis up there Cause
Blake in the same sheltered rolethat Svetchnikov had in his
(47:33):
rookie year where he gets toplay with Martin.
No can stall he goal thatSvechnikov had in his rookie
year where he gets to play withMartin Nukenstahl.
He gets two bigger guys to kindof help him and he still has
good offensive moments.
But at that same point Blake andRantanen have shown good
chemistry.
Off the jump, like Blake.
Is that goal that Rantanen justsmacked the post on.
That was going to be highlightreel and it was from Blake to
Rantanen, but since it didn't goin and it was from Blake to
(47:54):
Rantanen but since it didn't goin, people are just going to be
like, oh, why is Jackson Blakestill there?
It's like because Jackson Blakeis a good player.
I'm sorry it didn't go in.
Do you want the puck to justmagnetize to the back of the net
?
I don't know.
Blake has also just been agreat NHL player already and the
points aren't there, but he'sstill doing the right things.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Yes, he's still.
Well, he wouldn't be gettingthe opportunity if he wasn't.
Uh, Nick, I can assure you thathe wouldn't be getting the ice
time of Rod, and the crew didn'tthink he was, uh, you know,
deserving.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Yeah, and with that you know he's still five on five
.
Defense is his best attributeright now, his ability to force
turnovers is his best attribute,and his playmaking comes
secondary right now, because hejust doesn't want to make a
mistake and make a stupidmistake and that's fine.
It happens, they're young, he's21, I'm older than him.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
It sucks but you know what, when I was watching him
in his some of his collegiateaction, he was dominating like
he was incredible and and someof the things that I saw you
know at the collegiate action hewas dominating like he was
incredible and and some of thethings that I saw you know at
the collegiate level where hecontrolled the puck.
You know he, he was fearless,he would go anywhere with the
puck and you know he'd go end toend, he'd do anything and you
(49:08):
know he brings some of that same.
I think you know thatfearlessness.
Uh, he's been showing that thisyear as well, where he'll go
into the tough areas and he'llbattle and he'll, you know he'll
do things that uh players, youknow, at his stage as a rookie,
wouldn't even consider trying.
So you gotta like that, uh, yougotta like what he's.
(49:28):
You know what he's trying toget done out there and uh, and
we'll just have to see how thisplays out.
But uh, I'm like you.
I think blake has certainlyearned a a role with the Canes
in their top nine, whetherthat's on the top line or back
with the two dads, as SethJarvis would like to call Martin
, who can install.
Hey, before we wrap up anyclosing remarks, I'm trying to
(49:56):
think.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
I mean simon forsmark still hasn't signed, even
though he said he was close in aswedish newspaper.
Oscar voulet was supposed tomove to hockey, all svenskin.
He's been rumored with a movefor a few weeks now.
Uh, it still hasn't happened.
I don't really know what'sgoing on there so I i't know.
Fyodor Avramov finally playedthe past three games for his VHL
(50:20):
side and he scored today, sothat's fun and Andrei Krutov is
really, really cool, big fan ofthat so we're seeing some
positive signs with folks inEurope and in Russia.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
You know, we're seeing.
We're definitely seeing somepositive signs with folks in
europe and in russia.
Um, you know, we we're gettinga lot of information on the
folks here in north america, butit's great, great for you to,
you know, keep us tuned in as towhat's happening to some of
these players that we don't hearso much about.
That's great, nick.
As always, um, yeah, it's been,uh, it's been great talking
hockey as always, nick.
Uh, finding out about the topfive and then some of the others
(50:58):
.
That's always, I think, greatinformation for all Hurricanes
fans.
And thanks again for doing that.
For those of you listening orwatching, we really appreciate
you spending time with us.
If you like this episode,please press the like button.
If you have any comments orquestions for Nick, please put
them in the comment sectionbelow and we'll respond just as
(51:21):
quickly as possible.
And if you want to be alertedof future episodes of Storm
Tracker, please press thesubscribe and the bell buttons
and we'll alert you just as soonas they're available, as always
, nick and I thank you very muchfor joining us and we'll look
forward to getting together withyou real soon, right here on
StormTracker.
Well, january was another great month for Carolina
Hurricanes prospects rightaround the globe, whether they
were in the American HockeyLeague, in the Eastern Coast
Hockey League, or playing inEurope or even the college ranks
.
They're really getting it done.
And, as usual, to talk aboutthe top five prospects of the
month for, in this case, january, I'm delighted to be joined by
(00:25):
our prospect guru, of course,nick Bass.
Nick, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hi, I'm happy to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, and you know, another big month for the
prospects.
The same guys seem to becontinuing to play well and
we're going to hear about acouple of new ones, I think this
month as well.
Kicking it off at number fiveis a guy that you like a lot.
He was, if you might recall, hewas the first 17-year-old to
(00:56):
produce 50 goals in the QuebecMajor Junior League since Sidney
Crosby, so this guy has got agreat pedigree.
He's off to a huge start.
He's got 36 goals and 30assists in just 45 games.
Of course that's Justin Poirier.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, he had a really good month.
He was a big reason for Drakkarwinning a lot of games because
he was primarily involved in alot of their production.
I still think he hits 50 thisyear.
It's gonna be really close, butit I think there's a better
chance than not that he doesstill hit 50 goals, which would
be the first time in a very longtime that a kid's gone back to
(01:36):
back 50 goals.
The one thing that will foreverworry me, at least right now, is
skating.
Realistically, I'm not tooworried about his size.
His size he's shown and he istold.
Whenever I was at camp prospectdevelopment camp in the summer,
he told me he doesn't, he hasno issue with his size.
He doesn't see it.
He sees it as an advantagebecause he can use his frame to
(01:58):
still just beat people, and hedoes consistently.
He'll have guys that are, youknow, a few inches taller than
him and he's still going aroundthem.
He's still bodying them off thepuck and maintaining possession
.
Um torre had a really goodmonth.
Uh, his shot is obviously hisshot.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's incredible and uh, yeah, it was a pretty good
month of january for him yeah,and I think I remember darren
york was a pretty complimentaryabout, uh, justin's shot of.
He said he can just score, andwe've seen that numerous times
in the highlights.
Yeah, so another great monthfor Justin and I'm kind of with
you.
I think he's going to hit 50again.
(02:35):
He's definitely tracking thatway, I think the last 13 games,
as you might have mentioned, hehad nine goals, so he's
definitely on a tear and helooks like he's going to hit
that 50 mark again.
In any case, coming in atnumber four is kind of a
newcomer to our discussions, toa large extent Defenseman.
(02:57):
He checks in at 5'9 and 160.
Sorry, 6'2, actually and 174,and that's Joel Nystrom Nystrom
playing with Fargestad in theSwedish Hockey League.
He's off to a pretty good start.
He's got 23 points his first 40games.
Can you tell us about Joel?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, nystrom, I'll still mess up that pronunciation
from time to time.
He's awesome, Nystrom, I'llstill mess up that pronunciation
from time to time.
Go ahead, he's awesome.
He's been in a very big rolewith Fargestad for the past
two-ish years.
He's kind of been fluctuatingas a top four guy, top pairing
guy.
He was really instrumental inthem going to the Champions
(03:39):
Hockey League final which iscoming up in a few days.
I will probably have somethingabout that, just to get
attention, because I think youcan't watch it for free.
Um, but he's awesome.
The offense is fine, is likepushing a lot further than
people expected, which is alwaysgood.
The defensive side was neverreally a worry.
Uh, he's a true two-waydefenseman.
(04:01):
His skating is unbelievable.
Um, another thing that Iremember about development camp
was that neistrom normally ledthese drills like skating drills
, because he would yeah, hewould show it.
He would do it perfectly thefirst time and then if somebody
needed help, they would just gohey, you do it and show him.
Uh, he's sick, um.
One note about that is uh,recently luke de kock did a
(04:24):
podcast with Joe and Joe, theirlocal media, in the Triangle and
mentioned that.
Yes, I've heard those guys.
Joel Nystrom will be in NorthAmerica next season.
His contract runs out withFarjestad after this season and
he will come over to NorthAmerica since he's already
signed an entry-level contract.
So expect him to play to belike a fringe NHL guy, but more
(04:44):
than likely play with the Wolvesnext year.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, nystrom, you know he and Noel Fronson another
one over there seem to bereally developing well and
quietly not hearing a lot aboutthem here in North America.
So you know he continues to addto that offensive mix of just
incredibly talented defensemen.
I don't know how they're goingto keep all these defensemen and
(05:10):
we're going to get a chance totalk about a few more during the
conversation today, but this isgreat news to see that Nystrom
is heading to North America.
The next guy up is a guy that Iam really excited about.
I think he's starting to make acase to be a potential NHL-er
at some point in the future andI think this is a bit of a
(05:30):
surprise.
A smaller player checks in at5'8 and 175.
He's been red hot with theChicago Wolves.
He's now got 31 points in 40games, so he's definitely on a
tear.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's justin robita yeah, justin robita is sick.
Um matt, and I talk about it alot, but we are just we're
gigantic fans of robita becauseit he's just an insane player to
watch.
If you ever get a chance towatch all those games, you will
see 93.
That it's the number he wearsand he's just everywhere on the
ice.
He's power play, he's penalty,he's one of the first penalty
(06:05):
killers.
He's, you know, top line centeras of right now, because suzuki
was was up with the hurricanesuh he was, and he was also
playing wing as well.
He's been everywhere and he'sbeen just exceptional, and I
don't think enough peoplerecognize that this is his first
season in the ahl last seasonat the echl level.
He he was doing great, he washaving an awesome season and
(06:27):
then got hurt like late january,early february, and cut his
season short.
Now he's playing in the ahl,he's fully healthy and he's top
I think I want to say he's topfive in ahl rookie scoring,
which for a player like him, whowas like a fifth, sixth,
seventh round pick, a laterround traffic and obviously his
smaller frame is not, you know,it's not typical of something
(06:50):
like that.
Um, and you know, man, I'velike, I've discussed in the past
of like he has a genuine nhlfuture as like a great bottom
six forward.
You can you can play him atcenter, you can play him a wing
because he's winning face-offs,but he's also doing great work
on the wing.
He has a genuine NHL future.
I doubt anything this year, butdefinitely within the next year
(07:13):
or two I definitely thinkRobitaille will play in his
first NHL game.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, and I feel the same way and that's why I kind
of started saying I think he'sgot a future in the NHL.
They did it right.
He went to the ECHL last year.
He got a chance to kind of cuthis teeth in a league outside of
junior and I think it workedwell for him and he is leading
the Chicago Wolves in scoringright now.
(07:38):
So I mean that's quite astatement for this youngster and
as you say and again I've seenthis repeatedly he's in all
situations.
He's good in the face-off Dodd,he's very strong killing
penalties and, of course, he'sdangerous on the power play.
And, as we watch a lot of thehighlights of Roby Dodd, he's
magic on the ice.
He sees the ice extremely wellfor a little man and I'll tell
(08:00):
you he's impressive.
So, and I'll tell you he'simpressive, so I'm hoping that
you know, as you look forward tosome of the challenges the
Canes are going to have.
One of them is center ice.
As we know, the development ofcenters hasn't been a hallmark
for the Canes in recent years.
So he's definitely got anopportunity, I think, to be in
consideration in the comingyears with the Canes.
(08:20):
So it's good stuff.
Next guy, of course, boy.
Not too much needed to sayabout this guy.
He's been on a tear withChicago as well and again, he's
a guy, that boy.
When you talk about this player, here's what McKean said about
him and I think it kind of saysit well he has sublime all
(08:42):
directions skating ability,crisp puck skills and a big shot
from the point.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
That's pretty easy to figure out who that guy is, and
of course that's scott mooreyeah, I just really quickly
wanted to touch on that, thatcenter comment, because, in
complete honesty, I don't reallythink it's fair.
Um, if we go back to 2020, theydrafted two technical centers
One was Panamara, who was tradedfor Gensel, and then the other
(09:11):
one was Mercuri, who's still incollege.
Yes, 2020, we had Robida, whois still a center, but also has
flexed out to the wing, nikitaKuzlitsov, who is in the second
division of Russian hockey andhas kind of fluctuated, but he's
also on the wing now and then v, like coivinan, who has traded
for genzel, but he also is nowjust a full time winner yeah
and then in the past two, pastthree drafts, it looks like they
(09:34):
haven't taken a single center.
So it's I wouldn't say it'snecessarily a development thing.
It's something that I'vedefinitely tried to talk about a
lot.
More is just that unless you'redrafting high in the draft,
unless you take it in like thefirst three pick, like your
first three picks, you're notgoing to get a center, you're
not going to get a good oneanyways, you're going to get a
guy that has a long shot.
But yeah, scott Morrow isawesome.
(09:58):
Obviously now he's with theHurricanes just for a little bit
of time.
I would assume.
He's taken over the blue linein Chicago.
He's been their number one guyall year.
He's averaging around 20minutes a night.
He's getting penalty kill time,he's getting power play time.
He's doing everything right andeverything is starting to mesh.
(10:19):
Everything is starting to cometogether.
The offense is obviously stillthere.
He's transitioning the puckreally well.
He's moving it, it crisply andhe's moving with the puck a lot
better.
The skating is still kind of eh, but it's definitely good
enough to get him.
Get him by at the nhl level andthe biggest thing is the
defense and recognizing plays.
Um andrew rinaldi had a greatuh video of just like the best
(10:43):
scott morrow you could imagine,which was him jumping play,
breaking it up, taking intransition, going around our
team left off who was the secondoverall pick last year, and
drawing a penalty.
It was the perfectencapsulation of what Morrow has
done a lot better this year, aswell as combining what he
already knows.
So yeah, scott Morrow has beenawesome.
I'm glad to see him get an NHLopportunity this year and you
(11:08):
know, if it's not this year he'sa full-time NHL guy.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
It's definitely going to be next year.
Yeah, that's going to make foran interesting situation on the
blue line for the Hurricanes,because if they've got Scott
coming in and it looks like he'sdefinitely getting closer and
of course, Alexander and Keisha,they're going to have two
low-cost guys on the blue whoare outstanding prospects.
You know, it's interesting.
Rod Brindamore, you know, whenwe're trying to figure out why
(11:30):
is Scott Morrow up with the team, and particularly when he was
due to go and play in the AHLAll-Star game, Rod Brindamore
said really what it is.
He's getting better.
I watched him from the start ofthe season to now his games and
he's getting better.
I watched him from the start ofthe season to now his games and
he's getting better and better.
And so we heard some of that inthe broadcast as well the other
night and they talked a littlebit about the fact that, uh, you
(11:53):
know just, the development ofscott this year has been just
incredible.
Uh, with some outstandingcoaching in chicago and this
kind of plays.
Back to something we've talkeda lot about too, nick, is is
having Chicago as an AHL youknow affiliate and a team where
they can actually send playersand have them grooming in the
second best league in NorthAmerica is fantastic and it's
(12:15):
really working well.
For Morrill, I think he'sshowing a lot different from
last year.
I don't know if you rememberwatching him in the two games he
played at the end of the seasonlast year, but this looks like
a different player and, ofcourse, as you mentioned, he's
always had the offensive skill.
Now he's building a very strongdefensive game as well.
So that's great news.
On Scott Moore, We'll have towatch and see how this plays out
(12:39):
and whether it's becausethere's a little break, or it
was a break with Chicago, orwhether or not the Canes are
thinking they want to see moreof Scott.
We're going to have to followthat closely as things go along,
and I'm sure that the folkswatching the Wolves, and
certainly the Wolves players,are hoping Scott's going to be
back there soon because he's ahuge part of their team.
(12:59):
One other thing I was going tomention about Scott recently
he's been teaming with DominicFensori and that's an
interesting combination.
I wanted to get your thoughtson that.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, I think it was because Ronan Seeley got hurt
for a game or two and they justput Fensori up because he had
him on the second pair.
Either that or just Fensori hasbeen playing incredibly and
they wanted to reward him.
Yeah, the pair as a whole hasbeen really, really, really good
.
Both of them have definitelyimproved their defensive games
(13:32):
to a level to where they canplay with each other and still
be really respectable.
It's like instant transitionthreat because Fensore's offense
is undeniable and his skatingis better than Moro.
So if Fensore gets the puckhe's elite in transition.
If Morrow gets the puck, he cantake it.
But both of their defensivegames have come around so much
to where you have the ability toplay them together and they've
(13:54):
been a really solid top pair inthe AHL.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, I mean that's an interesting thought when you
kind of reflect that bothDominic and Scott are
offense-first guys that's whatthey're known for and really
driving the offense.
I've always been impressed withDominic Pensori.
I think he's a guy that seesthe ice extremely well and it's
going to be exciting to seethose two together if they can
(14:19):
continue to have a chance to dothat because both of them are
outstanding talents and will bepressing for positions with the
Canes in the future.
Number one this guy just cameback from the World Juniors in
Canada.
Wasn't particularly excitedabout what happened.
Of course Team Canada wasknocked out, so it wasn't a
(14:42):
great situation for him, but hehas been on a tear of late, and
that's Bradley.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Nadeau.
Yeah, the biggest thing withNadeau has been his play off the
puck one.
He's seeing everything a lotbetter and he's making
anticipated moves toward places.
He and Ryan Suzuki had multipletwo-on-ones to which they would
score and especially on therewas a goal this past weekend
(15:11):
that it was a scott morrowbackdoor cross ice to nadeau and
it was just perfectly placedand the dough was in the right
spot and it went in the back ofthe net because he's a great
shooter as well.
Nadeau, with the puck on hisstick, is not just always and he
never has been a player that isjust I'm going to shoot the
puck as soon as I get it.
He's letting before the worldjuniors and kind of before this
(15:32):
little break.
Nadeau would not anticipatefully.
He would get the puck, wait asecond, think about what he
wanted to do and then tried it.
Right now Nadeau is.
His confidence is so high andhis ability is coming back.
They're starting to finallytranslate, maybe that he is able
to.
As soon as he gets the puck, heknows what he wants to do with
it and then obviously it'sleading to a lot more success at
(15:55):
the AHL level, seen by his goaltotal, his point total and,
yeah, his shot is just crazy.
Uh, it's something I don't seethat often.
Nadeau's shot is justunbelievable.
Yeah, i's something I don't seethat often.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Nadeau's shot is just unbelievable.
Yeah, I mean, I've seen some ofhis recent goals too, nick, and
he's picking corners likeincredible.
And, you know, obviously weknew that he could wire it when
he opens up on that left sideand fires.
But he's been showing adifferent skill and really
showing that he's got a goalscorer's touch.
So great to see.
He's rounding out his game.
(16:30):
He's getting confidence likecrazy right now.
And that seems to be kind of aninteresting development with
some of these guys in Chicago isthat, you know, after a half of
a season that they've, you know, had some pretty substantial
coaching and, I think, somegreat coaching in chicago, uh,
are really starting to to showwhat they can do and, of course,
(16:51):
they've been on a tear as ateam.
They've been playing extremelywell of latest as well.
So, uh, great to see all ofthat.
Um Nadeau, I think he's afuture Kane too, so we'll keep
watching him.
Looks like he's on track tomaybe 25, 30 goals this year, so
that's going to be a nicerookie season for him in the
American Hockey League for sure.
(17:11):
And I know you've got a goodfeeling about Nadeau as well, as
you've met him, and he's agreat guy too, a great young kid
.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Nicest kid, I swear, and his family is super nice.
Um, I think I've told thisstory, but I went for to go to a
umass main game last season.
Um, whenever nadeau, moral,mercury were all there and I got
to meet a lot of nadeau'sfamily because it was the last
(17:40):
weekend of the season or likesecond to last weekend.
I think it was their lastweekend of the season or like
second to last weekend.
I think it was their senior day, but they just brought in a lot
of family.
His family is just super niceand he himself is just a super
humble guy, like he knows whathe has, but he's not going to
just brag and show it off.
He's very just, down-to-earth,calm, just one of the nicest
(18:00):
people you'll ever talk to.
I can't speak highly enough ofNadeau as just a person and a
player.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, and that fits quite nicely with the Hurricanes
philosophy as well.
I was on a podcast recentlywith Shane Willis and he was
talking about the type of youngplayers that the Canes want, the
players they want on their team, and exactly what you're saying
about Nadeau is right on towhat he was saying as well.
(18:27):
That's great.
So let's take a look now at thehonorable mentions for the
month, and I know you've gotsome interesting ones.
First on the list, of course,is a guy that I was a little
surprised when he was sent downto Bloomington.
The AHL Wolves decided to keepRuslan Kazeev as the backup
(18:49):
goaltender and sent YannickPeretz down to Bloomington.
Peretz, of course, had playedin the ECHL last year with
Norfolk, so he knows that league, but he apparently has been on
fire.
What can you talk about,yannick?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, Well, I would say the Wolves keep Kazaev up
for the fact that you know thekid's fresh over from Russia and
sending him to a team thatmaybe has like one Russian and
not a lot in rural Midwest isprobably not the best thing.
Plus, you want the guy who's19-, 20, who just came over from
(19:26):
a junior league, to probablystay with the goalie coach they
have in Chicago.
I forget his name off the topof my head Stan DeBincky.
Yeah, you want him to get themost consistent coaching you can
from a guy like that there'snothing against Yanni Peretz as
well.
He's been stellar since going toBloomington this year.
I can't say I've watched a tonof Bloomington games just
(19:49):
because, you know, theopportunity has just never
arisen.
Sure, even if I wanted to.
I think they played their lastgame at like 1030 am and I'm in
class at that point.
I can't, I can't watch that.
So but Peretz has been reallygood and the ECHchl level is not
(20:09):
like it's not bad at all.
It's still a good league, it'sstill a very respectable league
and to see him in his secondechl season the year-over-year
growth is obviously a verypositive thing.
Um, I'd love to see him getback up with the uh wolves, but
at that same point.
If he get back up with theWolves, but at that same point,
if he's back up with the Wolves,that means there's probably
some goal issues at a higherlevel and honestly, I don't want
(20:31):
to deal with that again.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, I get it.
We didn't have a lot of funwith some of the challenges that
Gaines had in goaltending.
Yannick Peretz, to me, hasalways been very interesting.
I'd seen him in the you know,the Southeast showcase games
that you know for the prospecttourneys that he was in the last
couple of years and he lookedgood.
And, of course, he had atremendous career with
(20:57):
Quinnipiac.
He was outstanding when theywon the championship.
So he's definitely got, youknow, some capability there and
we just you know some capabilitythere and we're just, you know,
waiting to see how that's goingto play out.
I'm excited about him.
I'm not sure where he fits inthe Canes' future, but I do,
like Peretz, I think he's atalented goaltender.
Another one of the guys that Iwatched a fair bit in the Frozen
(21:20):
Four last year, the pre-series,was Lucas Mercury, and he's a
guy that I know you want to talkabout.
Lucas, to me, is a big guy.
He plays a heavy game.
He reminded me a little bitabout Jordan Stahl.
I've said that a few times.
He seems to be that kind of aplayer, but it looks like he's
adding a bit of an offensivetouch now as well.
(21:40):
What's going on with Lucas?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
He's gigantic, he's physical, he knows how to use
his body, he's doing everythingand he's been the 1C for UMass
for a little bit now.
He's getting around like 18, 19minutes a night and he's doing
incredibly well in those minutesWith Mercury.
I'm really interested to seewhat happens with him, because
(22:04):
this is the year the Canes haveto sign him.
They lose his rights in thesummer of 25.
Um, and there's definitely away I haven't mentioned this
besides, uh, someone else.
There's definitely a way forhim to get a, an entry level
contract, for the sole reasonthat the Canes' organizational
(22:25):
depth at center is so not there,they haven't drafted many, as I
mentioned earlier.
So there's definitely a way inwhich he gets signed and he's
definitely I think it's almostnot guaranteed, because nothing
is guaranteed but he's probablygoing to be a really decent AHL
player because with guys likehim, they're just big bodied and
(22:46):
they can skate decently welland if they know how to play
their role, there's always goingto be a role for them somewhere
.
So, yeah, mercury had a reallygood month of January.
Hopefully UMass does get out ofa really, really hard hockey
East and they make it to thetournament again, because I
think that's when you'll see thegear even get turned up again.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, as I say, when I watched him in the playoffs
last year I heard the FrozenFour games.
I thought he was very, verystrong.
So again, a player that bringssize.
He can skate.
He plays a heavy game.
He looks like he's pretty goodin the faceoff dot as well.
So again, a player that we'regoing to keep an eye on for sure
.
The next player we haven'theard a lot about this guy is
(23:36):
Alexander Paravolov.
Next on the honorable mentions,I want to say a couple things
about Alexander.
Corey Prondman of the Athleticssaid this about him Paravolov
can make a lot of good thingshappen with the puck.
He has excellent stick skills,showing consistent ability to
beat checks one-on-one andcreate inside the offensive zone
with a stick handling.
So he's a guy that's veryhighly thought of.
(23:57):
I read a number of differentreports on him when he was
drafted, I think in the thirdround.
He's a guy that a lot of folksreally liked.
What's going on with Alexander?
Speaker 2 (24:08):
I think for one thing now is just that he's healthy.
I had to pull up his things,but I mean he didn't play.
What is that?
39 games in 23.
He played I mean that's 25 or24 games last year and this year
he's played uh 34, so he'salready on pace to play his most
(24:33):
games in the past two years.
Um, health was is a big concern.
Obviously.
It's kind of tough to see guysthat just go down.
The skill is there.
There's no denying that he hasgenuine skill.
The thing is, can he stayhealthy and can the whole game
develop?
Because he's already been movedonce at the VHL level because
(24:57):
the coaches didn't trust him.
So with his new team he's doinggreat.
He has eight points in 13 gamesand that is including a game
today.
He's doing fine.
With the new team, he's doinggreat.
He has eight points in 13 gamesand that is including a game
today.
He's doing fine with the newteam.
Now it's just now a fact of canhe continue having success with
the team so that you know thecoaches continue to trust him.
I mean, I don't hate the kid,obviously, but I need him to
(25:22):
stay healthy and I need him tocontinue playing as he has, and
then people will be able to geta better read on him as a player
.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Sounds a bit like Alexander Rykov.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, similar story right.
Kind of Rykov still has beenhealthier than Pervailov over
the past few seasons, though,okay.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
But yeah, so we'll keep an eye on him.
Again, he's another one of thefine Russians that were drafted
a little later than some folksexpected, so we'll see how his
development continues in Russia.
Okay, the final person we'lltalk to on the honorable
mentions, he seems like he'sdiscussed almost every month on,
(26:05):
uh, some of our discussions,and that would be, of course,
ryan suzuki.
Suzuki's played very well.
We actually saw him get a cupof coffee with the hurricanes
playing a couple of games.
What can you tell us about ryan?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
uh, I kind of just there's not really much to to
talk with Suzuki anymore.
I mean, everybody knows theskill he has, the talent he has.
He's an exceptional playmaker.
He skates well, he defends well.
I mean, you saw he saved a goalat the NHL level with a
clearance.
He was now again small samplesize, but 57.5% in the face-off
(26:40):
circle, which you know, that'sdecently good, that's pretty
strong.
Not strong because circle,which you know, that's decently
good, that's pretty strong.
Not strong because he isgetting, you know, the
fourth-line matchup At the samepoint.
It's still not bad Anytime youhave a guy averaging over, I
think like 52, 53, is good forhis center.
I'm glad to see him get calledup.
That was the big thing.
(27:01):
That was a very not surrealmoment for me because that kind
of sounds vain.
But Matt and I and I keepcontinuing to say Matt and I,
because I talk with him a lotit's very easy for me to just
combine me and him, but we havejust discussed there comes to a
point where you have to try him,you have to give him a game
because he's healthy and he'splaying really well and I'm glad
(27:23):
to see him get that moment.
I think his parents wereobviously a lot happier.
His dad, rob, is hilariousbecause as soon as Suzuki got
called up and they said he wasgoing to play, he tweeted out a
little image that just saidHouse divided and there was the
Canadian logos on one side andthe Hurricanes logo on the other
.
I about lost it.
But Suzuki's good, I think he.
(27:43):
I would love to see him getcalled up again, but unless
Andrees happens, it's not goingto happen because they still
have Tyson Yost that is at theNHL level, just hurt.
So I'm interested to see thiscoming weekend when the Wolves
play again.
I want to see if he continuesto keep playing at that level
that I've seen from this pastyear and if he does, then I
(28:07):
think he's an NHL player.
I've said it a few times, but Ithink he showed he's an NHL
player.
It's just.
Will he get another opportunityto show that he's an NHL player
with the Hurricanes?
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Well, yeah, and interestingly enough they
decided to go with Juha Jaska atcenter for a number of games.
Well, tyson Jost has been out.
I was kind of hoping they wouldbring Suzuki up and they
finally did, and he got a chanceto play a couple of games.
As I mentioned, he didn't lookout of place.
(28:39):
He didn't really distinguishhimself, but he didn't look out
of place, so that was fine.
So we'll see, but he'sdefinitely having an outstanding
season in Chicago and we'lllook forward to seeing how he
continues to develop as well.
So, some interesting folks onthe honorable mentions this
month.
Yeah, any other folks, uh,before we talk about, uh, the
(29:06):
alexander nikishin watch um, Iguess I, um, I think I expanded
on it.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I haven't actually expanded on, but the wolves blue
line next year is going to bereally weird.
I think it's going to be maybenot drastically different, but I
definitely think it's going tobe different comparatively to
this year Because I would assumethere's a few changes that are
going to happen there.
Obviously it's not confirmed,but it's kind of a very badly
(29:39):
kept secret because you knowcontract run out, you have them
already on an entry levelcontract.
You know it's very easy.
So, and especially witheuropean players, they have to
play out the remainder of theircontract before they come over.
So nystrom will be in the ahlnext year.
Yeah, nhl, wherever, whateverthey can figure out.
Um, if you go off theassumption that scott morrow
(30:01):
gets a full-time job next year,he, he's not going to be there
anymore.
Right, and it kind of dependson their free agents and some
other things If VladimirGrudinin comes over this year if
another guy or two want to comeover this year.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
What about Noah?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Fronson, I doubt it.
Okay, I don't think that one'sgoing to happen.
I think he'll probably stay inSweden or try and find something
else, but I don't think.
AHL is happening, at least forthe next few years.
It's just going to look reallydifferent.
And then the only other guywould be the guy you just
(30:41):
mentioned, rykoff.
He's back with the AHL team andhis first game back from injury
he scored.
He's another guy I would fullyexpect.
Again, nothing's confirmed, buthe hasn't signed a new contract
with Tractor and his draft yearhe said when his contract's
over, he's coming over.
So I would you know if you'rewriting it down in pencil.
So I would.
I would you know.
If you're writing it down inpencil, I would say there's a
(31:05):
better chance than not.
Alexander Rykoff will come toNorth America next year.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
So he joined Gleb Trikosov on the on the walls.
That is true as a forward, ofcourse.
Yeah Well, I mean, you're goingto have probably three guys
will be back for sure, and thatwould be Alexei Himasomi,
dominic Pensori and, of course,charles Alexis Legault.
Those three guys should be back.
(31:33):
If they have Nystrom with them,that's a good starting four,
and you have to think the Caneswill have, you know, one of the
veterans.
Maybe Ty Smith will be back.
You know they'll have one ortwo veterans back there as well.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
So still a pretty interesting defensive core.
Yeah, I'm not denying that, Idefinitely think there's.
I don't think the top four isprobably just going to get
random and wild, because Idefinitely with the top four,
both Fensore and Seealy are bothrestricted free agents.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I forgot about Sealy.
Ronan Sealy, of course, yes,yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I would say it's going to look very much so
different than what we've allseen this year.
I'm excited about it, obviously, but also this decor they have.
Now.
That's being led by SpirosAnastas, who I see as a very
good coach.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
He runs the defense and he's been incredible this
year.
I just think it's going to looknot drastically different, it's
just going to look differentnext year.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, very interesting.
I know Andrew Rinaldi had anice piece on Coach Anastas the
other day, so it's kind ofinteresting.
Okay, so yeah, it's that timewhen we, uh, we talk about, uh,
the alexander nikishin watch,and I know that you had some
words on alexander this month aswell what can you tell us about
alexander nikishin?
Speaker 2 (32:54):
uh, he got hurt, he had a concussion, he missed two
games and he still ended upalmost a point per game.
I mean, what more can youexpect from him?
It's kind of I I have a bighopefully I get it done.
I don't know if I actually will, but I have a big piece coming
(33:14):
out, hopefully saturday aboutlike nikishin's whole, whole
journey and becoming the bestdefenseman in SKA history.
It's because it's no whitething at this point, it's you.
Again, nothing is confirmed,nothing is official and nothing
(33:36):
is done, but he still hasn'tsigned a contract.
And obviously, when you haveEric Tolsky, go on a broadcast
and broadly say, hey, this isgoing to happen.
But it is rare for any team tobring in a captain, nearly a
(34:07):
point-per-game player, in threeback-to-back seasons, if you're
counting this year, where he'stied for first in goals, he
leads the assist category forall-time defensemen by a wide
margin and he leads points byover 30.
It's rare that that happens andit's even more rare that he's
23 years old.
(34:27):
But somehow, someway, the teamhas lucked into the best
defenseman in a franchise'shistory and that defenseman is
23 years old.
Yes, it's insane, but yeah, hegot hurt, which kind of sucked,
but he was amazing this month.
(34:47):
I'm still going to throwcaution on anybody thinking he
would play this year, unless adrastic injury happens and SKA
maybe gets knocked out earlierand it would have to be just the
perfect storm of thingshappening, and I truly mean that
.
Again, if he does sign, I wouldsay next year is when you would
(35:11):
see him first play an NHL game.
I just highly doubt anythinglike that would happen.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Well, a couple of things.
So Tony D'Angelo, of course,left SKA during this period and
headed off to the Islanders.
Have you seen that?
Has that been a positive thingfor fornication?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
100%.
Yeah, it's been.
Also, left is going to be putin some heavy quotation marks
because you know there's been alot of good reporting on the
reasons why he left and that'sall I will say about that.
No, he's back on the top powerplay unit and the power play has
(35:53):
been dangerous.
Yes, as well, as he's just backto playing how he normally
plays and it's working outincredibly better.
He's point productions up andeverything.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Just to me, sks power play looks better now than it
was a few weeks ago, so I'm notcomplaining no, now an
interesting thing on on timing,and I know you feel very
strongly that we won't seealexander in a Canes uniform
this year.
But here's timing, just so we'reaware of it.
So SKA season will end on March22nd, so they would then go
(36:25):
into the playoffs.
Last year their playoff run wastwo rounds and lasted about
three weeks.
So if you took that as a bit ofa kind of guideline, that would
suggest that Nikishan would beavailable to come to North
America about the middle ofApril and that's kind of the end
of the season, the regularseason in North America.
(36:45):
So it's possible that he wouldbe available as the playoffs
started.
Now, as you say rightfully, itwould take a lot of things to
line up for him to actually seeaction with the Hurricanes this
year.
But I just wanted to leteverybody know exactly what
we're dealing with in timing andhow it might affect, kind of
you know, if he comes over atthe end of the year or not.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yeah, also with that, because everybody got a big
taste of it last year whenevermatthew mitchkoff was coming
over.
Right, it takes a while, evenwhen you know they finally get
contracts sorted and you knowtime expires and everything like
that.
It still takes time.
Visas take forever, planes takeforever, traveling takes
(37:31):
forever like mitchkoff was donewith his ska contract and all
that fun little stuff.
It still took him two to threeweeks to eventually get on a
plane to north america and aswell all khl contracts.
They moved it back.
They don't.
All khl contracts technicallydo not expire until may 31st, ah
(37:52):
, okay.
So again, I'm not saying itphysically can't happen, because
nothing is ever just fullyconfirmed or fully set in stone,
but it would still take justthe the.
It would take the world movingand moving a lot in the right
direction to even think about it.
That's why I I'm going tocontinue to say it, and I know
(38:14):
people are going to get mad atme, but unfortunately it's just
going to have to be a wait.
It's you know, we're finally inthe year that we're going to
see him play hockey in a Cane'suniform.
Can we just celebrate that factbefore we start?
It just got to calm down andgot to wait a little bit longer.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
No, and it's okay, and I'm not suggesting anything
different than that either, Nick.
The only caveat and I think youmentioned it is that if the
Canes have a significant injuryon the defensive core and
there's a way for them to makeit work, I would not be
surprised if they tried, Becauseof course, their plan, having
(38:54):
made a recent move, their planis definitely to go for the Cup
this year.
So yeah, we don't know,Anything can happen and, as you
said also, Eric Tulsky was alittle bit bullish about his
expectation of getting Nikitiansigned fairly quickly after he
has finished playing with SKA.
(39:16):
So we'll have to see A lot ofmoving parts.
At this stage, the Canes'defense is solid.
Don't see a problem there, butof course things can change too.
Yeah, I wanted to talk aboutone other thing before we
wrapped up, which was the recentmajor blockbuster trade by the
Hurricanes, and I know you'vehad some thoughts on that.
(39:38):
The Canes, of course you know,really shocked the world with
the deal to acquire MikkoRantanen from Colorado and, of
course, Taylor Hall, and gave upsome pretty good pieces in
Marty Natchez and Jack DruryThoughts.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Glad they didn't include a prospect.
That was my big thing.
But I mean, as people have seenover the past few I guess a
year, but maybe like past fewmonths, past few weeks they have
plans for these guys.
The organization is incrediblewith timing.
Timing is like their contract.
Timing is just insane, like youknow, if you're looking
(40:19):
directly next year, dmitryOrlov's contract runs out when
you can insert Alexander Nikitinyes, exactly.
You're looking at Brent Burns.
His contract runs out at theend of this year.
You can replace him directlywith Scott Morrow.
Their timing is insane Withthis.
I'm glad they didn't moveanybody because they obviously
(40:40):
see I mean they had today theysee Morrow as a big piece going
forward.
Right, bradley Nadeau is goingto be a big piece going forward
because he has legit 40 goalpotential, which is something
the Canes haven't had in a lot.
Well, haven't had in about twoweeks, because now they have
Mika Rantanen, obviously.
But getting it done when usingNatchez is, in my opinion,
(41:05):
better than trying to doprospects.
But obviously I don't think theAvalanche would have done
anything for prospects becausethey're obviously a very win-now
team For sure.
So I was happy with it.
Matt told a funny story about it.
But we were all just finegetting Taylor Hall.
We were like, yeah, taylor Hallis cool, I like Taylor Hall,
(41:27):
come to a new team that isn'tlosing all the time.
You get re-energized,revitalized, you're happy, and
then they go.
Oh yeah, it's also MikoRantanen.
We all just kind of went what.
We just kind of had, thismoment of like.
Does that actually say MikoRantanen?
Yeah, I mean, miko Rantanen'ssick.
(41:50):
I understand people are madbecause he's snakebitten and I
also know people are mad becausethey want Jacksonake thrown off
the top pairing as fast as theycan.
But um blake's like the perfectguy to play with rantanen,
because rantanen's a pure goalscorer.
Yeah, he's just a gritty goalscorer.
And you've seen the chemistryflash.
(42:11):
Yeah, with with blake and withaho.
He and bl Blake is a giftedplaymaker.
So it's just one of thosethings of you know he just got
here.
It's been five games.
You just got to relax Because Ihave seen some takes that you
know are just interesting.
But yeah, I'm glad they got itdone without a prospect and I
(42:39):
truly don't have any like maybeis that the right word, but I
don't have any.
Yeah, I think they'll sign them.
I don't think there should beany real worry about that.
I mean tolsky said they.
This situation is completelydifferent than and I think
people also just misconstrue jayagainst the densel situation
entirely, because the timelineof events again, this is what
from I've seen and what Iunderstand was gensel came to
(43:02):
them and said, hey, I want nineor eight years and I want nine
million.
If you meet that number I willsign.
And the hurricane said, okay,I'm gonna take my time and
figure this out.
And then you waited up untilthe second day of the draft and
then the canes came back to thetable and said, okay, we'll
match.
And then obviously then at thatpoint all the noise came out
(43:25):
that tampa was really interestedand they went yeah, I can go to
tampa, okay.
Well, now I'm just gonna go tothe market, see how it plays out
, and then you lose them.
This is completely different.
You know you have almost $40million going into free agency
and you know you got SebastianAjo, who is one of Miko's best
friends.
I think this situation isentirely different and I do
(43:49):
think eventually they do get himsigned just because they want
him.
Dundon has wanted a star foryears at this point and they
finally have one.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I don't think they're letting another one go I think
yeah, I tend to agree with youtoo, nick and, and I don't.
I don't see it as a concern onthe hurricane side they're
definitely going to come up withthe cash.
They've made that clear.
They've got lots of money.
Dundon's making lots of moneywith the cane, so they've got
the cash.
And they've got the of money.
Dundon's making lots of moneywith the Canes, so they've got
the cash.
And they've got the cap room,which was the major problem last
year.
Of course, with so many freeagents, both restricted and
(44:22):
unrestricted, that they had todeal with, it was just a
horrendous situation.
But I think the biggestchallenge and what we're going
to be watching will be you know,can Mikko have some fun and get
some goals and do what he doesbest?
I think that's just the bigthing.
He's just got to get a littlebit of a run going, he's got to
start to feel good about histeammates and, you know, just
(44:44):
start to feel like this is along-term home.
And, of course, we do know thatthe opportunity for the
Hurricanes is different thananybody else, which is an
eight-year deal, and that is abig advantage when you're Mikko
Rantanen's age.
So I'm like you.
I feel pretty bullish aboutthis.
I think it's going to cometogether quite nicely.
(45:06):
One other thing I was going tomention you mentioned Jackson
Blake and yes, there's a lot ofturmoil on Jackson these days.
I kind of go back and forth onwhether he should be on the top
line or not, but I have to saythis, and you said it rightfully
so he has been very effectiveon that top line.
In fact, the guy that has notbeen effective has been
Sebastian Ajo.
In my personal view, I thinkthe other guys have been really
(45:27):
effective.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
What I've noticed and it's a gigantic little fun
issue in the prospect world isthe lack of patience shown is
insane, because people wantinstant results.
They want everything now.
They want Miko Rantanen to justnot falter at all, losing, you
(45:50):
know, playing with NathanMcKinnon.
They want him to still just beon that pace and they want
Jackson Blake to be years beyondhis time right now.
They want him like three, fouryears in the future where he's a
much more polished and refinedplayer.
And you know it takes time.
These things are not, you know,they're not just like instantly
(46:12):
.
Oh I'm here, I'm still the same.
The exact same player playingwith the exact same archetypes
of player like sebastian ajo, isnot nathan mckinnon.
Yeah, these guys they're not.
They're not the same, but they,they just want everything to
just be right.
Blake has looked great on thetop line.
He's generating offense and thebig thing is he forces
(46:32):
turnovers at a extremely highrate.
It's multiple times a gamewhere he'll forecheck, he'll get
the puck in the offensive zoneand he has the playmaking
ability to get the puck away andget it to somebody that might
be willing to shoot.
Ie, Mikko Rantanen, and I knowthe big one is they want to see
(46:54):
Jarvis moved up and I'm notagainst it entirely.
I've got to get that out now.
I mean Rantan and Ajo Jarvissounds incredible, but Seth
Jarvis obviously playing thirdline, you know.
But Jarvis one, he's playingawesome, even on the third line.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
He's still playing great five-on-five and he's
doing great things at PK andhe's doing he's on the third
line.
He's still playing great fiveon five and he's doing great
things at PK and he's doing he'son the power play.
I had to be specific about that.
But um, with with Blake.
I mean I wouldn't even mindseeing Jarvis up there Cause
Blake in the same sheltered rolethat Svetchnikov had in his
(47:33):
rookie year where he gets toplay with Martin.
No can stall he goal thatSvechnikov had in his rookie
year where he gets to play withMartin Nukenstahl.
He gets two bigger guys to kindof help him and he still has
good offensive moments.
But at that same point Blake andRantanen have shown good
chemistry.
Off the jump, like Blake.
Is that goal that Rantanen justsmacked the post on.
That was going to be highlightreel and it was from Blake to
Rantanen, but since it didn't goin and it was from Blake to
(47:54):
Rantanen but since it didn't goin, people are just going to be
like, oh, why is Jackson Blakestill there?
It's like because Jackson Blakeis a good player.
I'm sorry it didn't go in.
Do you want the puck to justmagnetize to the back of the net
?
I don't know.
Blake has also just been agreat NHL player already and the
points aren't there, but he'sstill doing the right things.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Yes, he's still.
Well, he wouldn't be gettingthe opportunity if he wasn't.
Uh, Nick, I can assure you thathe wouldn't be getting the ice
time of Rod, and the crew didn'tthink he was, uh, you know,
deserving.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Yeah, and with that you know he's still five on five
.
Defense is his best attributeright now, his ability to force
turnovers is his best attribute,and his playmaking comes
secondary right now, because hejust doesn't want to make a
mistake and make a stupidmistake and that's fine.
It happens, they're young, he's21, I'm older than him.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
It sucks but you know what, when I was watching him
in his some of his collegiateaction, he was dominating like
he was incredible and and someof the things that I saw you
know at the collegiate action hewas dominating like he was
incredible and and some of thethings that I saw you know at
the collegiate level where hecontrolled the puck.
You know he, he was fearless,he would go anywhere with the
puck and you know he'd go end toend, he'd do anything and you
(49:08):
know he brings some of that same.
I think you know thatfearlessness.
Uh, he's been showing that thisyear as well, where he'll go
into the tough areas and he'llbattle and he'll, you know he'll
do things that uh players, youknow, at his stage as a rookie,
wouldn't even consider trying.
So you gotta like that, uh, yougotta like what he's.
(49:28):
You know what he's trying toget done out there and uh, and
we'll just have to see how thisplays out.
But uh, I'm like you.
I think blake has certainlyearned a a role with the Canes
in their top nine, whetherthat's on the top line or back
with the two dads, as SethJarvis would like to call Martin
, who can install.
Hey, before we wrap up anyclosing remarks, I'm trying to
(49:56):
think.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
I mean simon forsmark still hasn't signed, even
though he said he was close in aswedish newspaper.
Oscar voulet was supposed tomove to hockey, all svenskin.
He's been rumored with a movefor a few weeks now.
Uh, it still hasn't happened.
I don't really know what'sgoing on there so I i't know.
Fyodor Avramov finally playedthe past three games for his VHL
(50:20):
side and he scored today, sothat's fun and Andrei Krutov is
really, really cool, big fan ofthat so we're seeing some
positive signs with folks inEurope and in Russia.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
You know, we're seeing.
We're definitely seeing somepositive signs with folks in
europe and in russia.
Um, you know, we we're gettinga lot of information on the
folks here in north america, butit's great, great for you to,
you know, keep us tuned in as towhat's happening to some of
these players that we don't hearso much about.
That's great, nick.
As always, um, yeah, it's been,uh, it's been great talking
hockey as always, nick.
Uh, finding out about the topfive and then some of the others
(50:58):
.
That's always, I think, greatinformation for all Hurricanes
fans.
And thanks again for doing that.
For those of you listening orwatching, we really appreciate
you spending time with us.
If you like this episode,please press the like button.
If you have any comments orquestions for Nick, please put
them in the comment sectionbelow and we'll respond just as
(51:21):
quickly as possible.
And if you want to be alertedof future episodes of Storm
Tracker, please press thesubscribe and the bell buttons
and we'll alert you just as soonas they're available, as always
, nick and I thank you very muchfor joining us and we'll look
forward to getting together withyou real soon, right here on
StormTracker.
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