Fantasy Hockey Life Ep. 413 Washington Capitals

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here's shits,
your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey leaguer.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Block off hot, a step hit on, staylock.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Here's your hosts, Jesse Sovier and Victor Nuno Fantasy Hockey.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Live once again. Jesse Severe, Victor Nuno back in the
place to be ready to talk fantasy hockey.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
How you doing, Victor, I'm doing awesome, Jesse. Yeah, back
from the draft and ready to get back into the
team preview episodes and yeah, this is a great one
to do that with. How you doing, my friend doing great?

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Doing great? Yeah, I hope everybody's enjoyed these draft episodes.
Rookie drafts are still a little ways away. It's always
time to keep thinking about the teams and keep preparing
for the big show. And every other podcast, Victor I've
noticed is going off the air. Every hockey podcast has
is off the ear. They cleared out for us, Victor.
Everybody just clear out led Victor Cook. That's how this

(01:07):
is going to go for the rest of the summer.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
Hey, I'm good with that. That's sound good.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Since everybody else has disappeared, the only place left in
the world that is discussing hockey is our discord, the
Fantasy Hockey Life Discord. Don't check my notes, just assume
I'm right. You can get a link to that. We've
been getting lots of links request lately, so people are
popping in Fantasy Hockey Life at gmail dot com. Come
on in, it's free. People are talking fantasy hockey there,

(01:33):
and there are other things that people can enjoy. Victor
tell them what they are.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, there's a bunch of bonus content over on Patreon.
One of the best things is getting access to the website,
which has player cards, it has tiers, ranks, lists, all
kinds of great stuff. We're also going to be collecting
our average draft positions for your fantasy draft, so send
those in. In the past, it has been a patron
perk and will continue to be. But anyone who donates

(02:02):
or contributes to this, I'm going to set up a
channel in the discord so you can have access to
it as well, and you can benefit from that service.
So it's going to be great. The other thing that
you want to get in on is the tidy, the
Tier dynasty, so we are taking new teams for our
bottom division you can join, you can screat fun, do
your dispersal draft, and work your way up towards the top.

(02:25):
It's a really fun league and a lot of great
stuff content we've talked about on the show. So all
of that is available over on patreon dot com slash
Fantasy Hockey Life.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, get in your folks. You will be drafting. You
will not be necessarily taking over an orphan team. I
believe that it will be drafting from scratch for the
people who are coming in at this point. Don't feel
like I don't know what team am I taking over.
You probably be drafted from scratch to this point, and
that's a startup man. That is a lot of fun, Victor.
What else?

Speaker 5 (02:54):
A lot of fun is talking to Washington Capitals, which
do right after this break, welcoming to the show, Dan
Homie of Locked On Capitals, Ready to talk some Washington Caps.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
How you doing, Dan, I'm doing good, gentlemen. How are
you good? As is known to Victor and our listeners,
I consider myself a Cap supporter, so it's good to
be talking Capitals today. But I got to say, this
was an extremely improbable season to me, and I think

(03:29):
that single handedly probably the capitals are going to ruin
several franchises who are going to think that this is
a replicable process by which they can rebuild on the
fly and not go into probably a proper tank. The
fact that they were able to do this one step back,
three step forward retool coming off a season before where

(03:50):
they snuck into the playoffs with an eight seed with
a horrible gold differential, and then they were the Eastern
Conference one seed, the President Trophies runners up, and a
lot of things broke right. Trades, prospect arrivals, breakthrough growth.
There were, of course, so Nicholas backs from Tgo. She's
careers effectively ended. That cleared up a lot of cap room.

(04:11):
Sad to see those guys go. And we'll talk about
Ovechkin here in a couple of minutes, but suffice it
to say there was a lot of national attention on
this team throughout the winner. And it felt to me,
and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it
seemed like the momentum maybe waned a little bit right
as they got to the playoffs and it was a
little bit tough. They made it through that first round fine,

(04:33):
but then I don't know, it seemed like maybe they
peaked a little bit earlier in the season. But anyway,
is this the Washington Capital sort of a transformed team
ready to be a juggernaut again this year or is
this going to be a plexiglass principal thing where the
Caps had such a big breakthrough but they're going to
have to slide back a little bit before whatever happens

(04:54):
long term.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Well, listen, I think they want to hit the ground running.
And like you alluded to there are talked about, is
that they did the unprobable thing making it to the playoffs,
the first team to clinch a playoff spot, the last
team to clinch one the year before that, winning the Metro,
winning the Eastern Conference. They did it the risky moves
that Brian McClellan talked about the summer before, talking pure

(05:18):
Luke Dubois and a lot of people going, man, what
are the Capitals doing here? Taking a bite out of
that eight year contract from the Kings, and then Chickrin
and Logan Thompson that I'm McLellan came out swinging, and
to be clear here he said that he was going
to be active. I had no idea that he was
going to be that active, but you saw a lot
of players take a step forward. But now, like you

(05:39):
talked about, is can you duplicate that. You see some
teams out there that continue to get better. I'm talking Panthers,
I'm talking Golden Knights. But you take a look at
the Capitals. We're entering into ostensibly the last season of
Alexevechkin as a Capital, and at free agency here we
saw a lot of key departures and as we found
out today, the Capitals did not win the Nikolai Eeler's sweepstakes.

(06:03):
A little bit of hope has dashed for me there,
a little bit. But to this is a young and
up and coming team that it's going to be interesting
to see the tactic that newer Ish GM Chris Patrick
wants to take. Is he gonna take a page from
Brian McClellan and try to make some big moves. I
guess what we've seen thus far is we haven't seen
a whole lot of that. We've seen some depth moves.

(06:23):
We've seen some moves to help restock the pond down
in Hershey. But I think you're going to start to
see the youth take a step forward this season. I'm
talking Leonard I'm talking Andrew Crystal, maybe a bit further
out Ilia Protus Cole Hudson, these kind of guys that
we take a look at the Capital's organization. For the
longest time, it was revered as one of the older

(06:44):
team's roster wise in the NHL. It seems like they're
flipping the script. And they're doing that because Nick Baxter
and went on the LTI our last season and tj
Oshi and Koozy got Delta to town that I think
this whole thing got fast tracked based on something that
I don't think that they really planned for. So they're
going to try to duplicate that this season. But it's

(07:06):
interesting you do see teams around the NHL that are
trying to take a page from that book see Bruins,
see Penguins that today say hey, the Capitals did that.
I think we can do that too. But as far
as the Capitals are concerned, I want them to take
a step forward, but a bit concerned that they might
take a step back, just because as we record this
in July, they haven't taken any big swings. There's been

(07:29):
some big extensions, but there has not been any key,
big time acquisitions.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, definitely will Yeah. The Penguins are Yeah. The Penguins
bruds are definitely two teams I'm thinking of that may
have this backfire on them, but we'll see. Anything could happen.
The easiest question in the world. I'm starting with Alex
Slovechkin today because we usually start from the top here.
It's not long. He did it? Can he do that

(07:57):
for another year? Dan us In.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
The one thing that Tom Wilson and John Carlson and
Tgoshi before that is they said, never doubt the big man.
If you take a look back to last season, got
off to his slowest start and the goal scoring department
had what like eight or nine goals. At the All
Star break, went out to Dubai, rode around on a
camel and came back and just lit it on fire.

(08:20):
That going into this season thirty nine years old, there
are some questions for me what kind of player he
was going to be, but put up some big goals.
Forty four goals at thirty nine years old. Seems to
be aging like a fine wine.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
He does have.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
This next season is his final contract under season and listen,
I think that this is going to be this is
going to be his final season. I know that to
some people, some Capitals fans looking at this, say he
might sign an extension. And to that, I say, for
what he caught in passed Gretzky, his trophy case is
full of all of his accomplishments, that he did some

(08:55):
great things this season. But I think I don't. I
think he's going to be able to ACCOMPLI plish something similar.
Initial projection for me is that he will score I'm
going to say around thirty goals this next season. I
do expect him to take a step back. But and
I say that because going into the fall in September,
he's going to be forty years old, and as the

(09:15):
adage goes, father time is undefeated.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
Yeah, for sure, a little bit on the younger side.
We'll go to Dylan Strom the next guy, and he
certainly solidified his role as the Capitol's first line center
and Aveskin's primary setup man with his first point per
game season. He's an efficient scorer, but his relatively low
shot at hit rates make his upside in multi category
leagues a little bit lower. He also has some pretty

(09:39):
poor defensive metrics, even though he drives offense really well.
He has three more years at a very reasonable five million,
making him a steal in CAP leagues if he can
continue to be a point per game player. So, Dan,
do you think Strum can continue to score at that
higher rate or will he regress a little bit along
with Avetchkin.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Honestly, I think he's going to actually do better than
he did last year. And I know that I saw
those advanced metrics as well. But he was tasked with
big things this last season, taken over from for Nick Baxtrom,
playing on that first line for Alexevechkin quite a thing
to take over, and he did a great job doing that,
finished with twenty nine goals fifty three assists in eighty

(10:19):
two games. Played a lot till there a guy that
was put on the scrap heap by the Chicago Blackhawks.
You got to think, to a certain extent, they're kicking
Themselve over that. But I think he has played very
well a part of the next wave. And when I
say next wave, he's not the youngest guy on the team.
But there is going to be a change. You can
expect to see Carlson and Ov step away here soon.

(10:41):
That you need guys that have experience, like Dylan Strome
the ultimate competitor, and like I say, there's a reason
that he was tasked with being playing on that first
line with Alexovechkin. I continue to see him get better
and I actually think his numbers are going to get
even that much better. And an unsung u is the
leader of this team, Spencer Carberry the guy that's pushing

(11:03):
the bottons, pulling the strings, putting the players in the
right spot, and that I think to a large extent,
that is why you have seen him play that great.

Speaker 4 (11:12):
Speaking of players who played great last season, Alexi protests,
holy cow, this guy was the breakout player of the
year for the Capitals, maybe even across the league. He
was outstanding. He also put up really good two way metrics.
At least he was a little bit above average defensively
and pretty outstanding offensively at even strength on the penalty kill.
On his way to thirty goals and sixty six points,

(11:34):
he had very little power play time, which is a
single power play point all season. He did shoot pretty high.
He went up from eight point eight percent to twenty
one percent, so there might be some regression there, but
he's on a steal of a contract in cap leagues,
and if he can continue to do at least as
well as last season and maybe even bump up those
power play point numbers. He could have a pretty monster season. So, Dan,

(11:56):
what do you think Protests can do next season? Will
he earn that power play time he keep that points up?
What do you think?

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, take a look at him putting up career numbers
as last year thirty goals and sixty six points to
knocking it out of the park. Another player I expect
to see taking a step forward. If you take a
look at where he slotted in. Oftentimes he is playing
on that first line with Strom and Alexovechkin. And listen,
a guy just a couple of years ago, few years
ago here that he played that well in training camp

(12:25):
that he earned a spot. There was never any big
plans for him to do anything, but he played so
well that they couldn't send him back down to Hershey,
he was just playing that well. Like I say, you
continue to see his game grow and grow.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
Thirty goals.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
If someone had Alexei prod Is scoring thirty goals on
their Bengo card to start the season, I want to
see receipts. Because the projection for him was that he
was going to play on that third line, but he
just played so well. He dominated that That is why
he's in that position. I do expect him to get
to get some more power play time, but to a
big picture, I expect to see his game continue to grow.

(13:02):
It was the high water mark of his career. And
that's not hyperbole. That is quite an accomplishment. Thirty goals
twenty three twenty four to six goals twenty two to
twenty three, four goals and in thirty three games in
twenty one to twenty two three goals, So to jump
from six and that was in a seventy eight game
games played in that season to thirty. My that is

(13:23):
quite an accomplishment. And he's that guy. He's that big guy.
He's the big guy with a big frame, but is
not intrinsically a tough guy. I think that to a
certain extent, the Capitals were culping that he would have
some of that physical flare, that toughness. But he is
a great skater, a great goal scorer. His younger brother,
Ilia Protis Is is lighting it on fire as well

(13:44):
that he will be joining the Capitals here I think
in the relative near future as well. But as far
as Protus is concerned, the proofs in the pudding. You
see where he slided in, oftentimes playing that first line
that I expect to see his game even get bigger
and better this next time season.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
One major win win trade last off season, Pierre Luke
Dubois for Darcy Kemper. Both guys really thrived in their
new environs and PLD coming into Washington the twenty six
year old in some ways, it shouldn't have been too surprised,
and he put up basically the season that he did
two times in Winnipeg as far as his scoring was concerned.

(14:22):
But after La he was really buried to the point
I remember last offseason there was talk of him being
waived or stretched before the trade happened or all he
proceeded to do was put up the best goals above
replacement on a one seeded team. He was the best
in the advanced metrics for the Caps last year, and
he centered Connor MacMichael and Tom Wilson for the bulk

(14:44):
of the season. We'll get to those gentlemen. But a
stretch with Protas coincided with Protas his best part of
the season. Actually, if you look at some of the
with or without yous, and Duboy ended up getting Selky Bolts.
I guess the question I would have on du Blis
He doesn't shoot the puck a whole lot, which might
be nice for a guy who shot fourteen percent last
year to do a little bit more. But can du

(15:05):
Bois be as good next year as he was this year?

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, that's the question, isn't it. I remember last summer
that was the big swing that former GM Brian McClellan made,
and it was a deal that sent peer Luke Dubois
out to the Kings for Darcy or excuse me at
PLD to the Capital's Darcy Kemper out to the Kings
and listen, Darcy Kemper just never fit in with the Capital.
So I think a lot of Capitals fans were happy

(15:30):
to see him go on to the next one. But
peer Luke Dubois was met with a lot of skepticism.
What are the Capitals doing taking a bite out of
that eight year contract? A guy that's a cancer in
the locker room, a guy that mails it in, he
only plays when he wants to play. I didn't see
any evidence of that. I guess I would say that
I would like to have seen more from him in
the playoffs like a lot of other Capitals, but to

(15:51):
put up twenty goals is quite an accomplishment for him,
and his leadership is the big thing as well. As
you saw Connor McMichael's game grow by leaps and bounds,
and that was due, make no mistake about it, because
Peer Luke Dubois was the guy at the center on
that position. But putting up twenty goals the season before
putting up sixteen to twenty seven, which ties his high

(16:12):
water mark with the eighteen nineteen season that I'm I
was pleasantly surprised because some of my fellow Locked on
hosts were laughing, they were jeering people, or like, what
are the Capitals doing that? I was That's the one
thing when I talk about the next season for the
Capitals and what they're going to be like, I don't
know what kind of moves are going to come between
here and there. What kind of Peer Luke Dubois esque

(16:34):
type of deal does Chris Patrick have up his sleeve?
But as far as peld is concerned, pleasantly surprised, can
he continue to keep going with that? I guess that
is the question a lot of these contracts, they age
like a cart and of milk. I'm not necessarily in
love with Logan Thompson signing that lengthy of a contract
knowing that it's going to be diminished returns after a while.

(16:54):
But living in the here right now, I like the
peer Luke Dubois deal and expect him to take steps
forward or at least maintain what he did last season.
And there's some questions on Connor McMichael if he's going
to be that third line center, but if he continues
to be that second line left wing, I expect that
here Luke Dubois is going to continue to make that

(17:15):
a knockout second line, with most likely Tom Wilson playing
on that right line again. But I do expect his
goal scoring pace to continue. And it's the leadership, it's
the goal scoring. And I hear what you're saying about.
He got off to a slow start in the goal
scoring department, got quite a few assists, but really turned
it on in the latter part of the season, as
evident by the twenty goals that he did score that

(17:37):
I do expect him to continue to knock it out
of the park because last season with forty six assists.
That was the high water mark in his career as
far as assists are concerned, and also in points sixty
six points was the high water mark or is the
high water mark of his career so far. That is
good growth and a good return for the Capitals. A

(17:57):
deal that sent Darcy camp who found a great home
with the Kings and put the Kings in a pretty
good position, just didn't work out with the Capitals and
return the Capitals got that second line center stability that
they've been looking for years. Players have come and gone
that have tried to fill that hole. In talking kuznets Off,
who has more issues than readers digest, he ended up

(18:20):
going out to Russia and now wants to come back
here that I'm glad that it's pure Loup Dubois in
the mix instead of if Genny kuznets Off.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, for sure, and you mentioned him Tom Wilson, there
is still reason in my mind to sweat that long
contract that he's still got ahead of him all those years.
But Tom Wilson, in another excellent season thirty three goals,
second on the team, continues to pile up the hits.
Didn't even get suspended once hey put up the little
this many days since our last incident. Signed very valuable

(18:50):
to us fantasy types, of course, with all the perferal
value he gets out of those hits, but he really
seems to have settled into his veteran leader role on
the team very well to remember for a lifetime, having
the primary assist on number eight ninety five. What did
you make of Tom Wilson's year this year? And can
he repeated he is the.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Heir apparent to be the captain of the Capitals when
Alex Evechkin hangs up the skates, And you're right, he's
matured a lot. When he first entered the league, he
was getting suspended, faced all kinds of punishment because he
was that tough guy. He was the guy that felt
like he needed to answer the bell to every fourth
liner call up that wanted to make a name for himself.

(19:31):
You think you're tough, you're going to have to fight me.
And one of the things he said is he realized,
as he's matured, is that he's better served on the ice,
of course, than he is in the penalty box. That
he doesn't have to answer, like I said, to every
guy that's trying to make a name for himself as
a tough guy. Rempy, I'm talking to you that you
don't always have to indulge in those kind of fights.

(19:51):
That he is a legitimate goalscorer. He is a unicorn
in the modern NHL, and he gets a lot of
flak around the metro to in the NHL at large
that he's just this Ryan Reeves tough guy. But take
a look at his numbers. Is Reeves putting up thirty
three goals? Are any of these is Rampy putting up
thirty three goals? These kind of guys that he is

(20:12):
a leader, he's a tough guy, and he's the guy
that is going to be the leader of this team
for years to come. And he's been annoyed that I've
talked about that for years and the current captain, Alexevechkin
has said as much as well, as he's the guy
he's going to be the captain of this Capitals. But
if you take a look at him, another guy that
continues to put up big numbers, thirty three goals the

(20:35):
high water mark in his career, that he continues to
just keep knocking it out of the park. And if
the thing of It is with Tom Wilson that I
really like about it is he he's to the point
in his career that he doesn't necessarily need to drop
the mits. He can just skate into the vicinity of
a fight and kind of disperse, just like with him
coming into the area that sometimes those fights are diminished.

(20:58):
But I think that his game has ow. You didn't
see as many fights from him this last season. He'll
drop the mits if he feels like one of his
teammates is getting knocked around a little bit, but a
big picture, He's got other guys on the team that'll
do that from time to time. Dylan mcklrath is one
of the tough guys on the team that I think
the capitals are structured in a way now that he

(21:19):
doesn't have to be the guy that's fighting all the time,
just in the same way that Alex Ovechkin in his
younger day dropped the mits a whole lot more and
Tom Wilson was the guy to take over the reins
of that. Now Tom Wilson is getting to the point
of his career that he.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
Doesn't have to.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
But talking about the contract, I'm loving it, and I
know I'm looking I'm saying that with Capitals colored glasses on.

Speaker 3 (21:39):
There was a.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Lot of angst among CAP's nation about is there the
possibility that Tom Wilson tests the open market and leaves.
He said all the right things that he wants to
be a capital forever. But of course he's going to
say that right that. He's not gonna say, I'm going
to test the open market and see, you know what
the market brings. He's not Connor McDavid at the end
of I say that hyperbolically here, but I think that

(22:03):
Tom Wilson is a true capital. He could have gone
somewhere else and got paid a whole lot more because
everyone around the NHL doesn't like him. But there's not
one of the other thirty one teams in the NHL
that if they found out that their team acquired Tom
Wilson wouldn't be the first person in line to go
out and buy his jersey. He's that kind of player.
He's the heart and soul. He is the heartbeat in

(22:26):
a lot of ways of this team. And that's not
something that's easily quantifiable. If you want to just take
a look at the metrics, they'll speak for themselves. But
the things that aren't as easily quantifiable, like leadership and
good mentor for some of the younger players on the team.
That is what truly makes him a diamond in the rough.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
Absolutely, Connor McMichael one more guy. He's become a top sixer,
a good top sixer, and I guess you'd say this
is his breakout season. Is his points nearly doubled from
thirty three to fifty seven even strength defense O Connor
continues to be not so great at least in the
advanced stats, but he's frequently part of excellent offense for

(23:06):
the team, and so things are turning up. How much
more upside is there for Connor McMichael and will it
be at winger center?

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Listen, I've been drinking the Connor McMichael kool aid for
quite some time here. I knew that he just needed
to be given the proper opportunity and he would take
it to the next level. And he did that under
the previous head coach of Peter Love. The mandate for
this team has changed. When Peter Lovuolet was here, the
mandate was to get as much as you possibly can

(23:35):
out of that rock.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
The red era.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
I'm talking Ovechkin and Carlson and Baxter Minoshi, and that
only went so far. And I think that for Peter Lobolett,
his mandate was to get as much out of that
twenty eighteen cores as possible. That failed, they missed the playoffs.
And when Spencer Carberry came in here that ushered in
a whole new mindset. It entered in a whole level

(23:59):
of optimism. And one of the players that benefited the
most from that is Connor McMichael. We know that to
Spencer Carberry was the head coach for the Bears and
also the Echl Sting Rays for the Capitals as well,
and the youngest coach in the NHL at the time,
great rapport with the young players, and it was his utilization.

(24:20):
It was Spencer Carberry having faith in him. Again some
of the things that aren't as easily quantifiable that I
think that he was leading with confidence and it's one
of the things that I said all season that it
was confidence, and he came out and said it at
the end of the season that I was playing more
confidently by the end of the season, and a younger
guy in the league when he first got his start,
he had some call ups he got sent down to Hershey,

(24:43):
but he continued to work on his game. He was
the guy that was a bit of a smaller guy,
got pushed off the puck rather easily, put the work
in and when Spencer Carberry was here made the Capitals
his forever home. There's no thought that Connor McMichael is
going to get sent down to Hershey or something like that.
He is legit guy here and you know that confidence.
And also, like we spoke of earlier, playing on that

(25:05):
second line with a great leader in Pere Luke Dubois,
that the proofs in the pudding. There twenty six goals
on the season, that's the high water mark for him.
I know that he's only been in the league since
the twenty twenty twenty one season, but quite a jump
from eighteen goals to twenty six thirty one assists, fifty
seven points. And to answer your question, I think that

(25:26):
what happens between now and the start of the season
is going to determine, you know, where he's going to be.
Is he going to be that third line center that's
his native position, that's where he wants to play, or
is he going to be that second line left wing?
Are the Capitals going to go out and address that
third line center position. The most glaring weakness of the

(25:47):
Capitals this past season was the third line in general,
but to drill down on it more specifically, was the
third line center position. They brought Lars ellerin. That was
not Lars Eller of twenty eighteen. That was not the
guy that scored the goal in the Stanley Cup. Connor
McMichael got a kick at the can in the playoffs
and I like his game and when you see him

(26:08):
play at the center position, you can tell that is
where he is most comfortable going into camp in the fall.
Hendrick slap here another guy that's going to be battling
for a spot on this team.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
How many times?

Speaker 2 (26:20):
How many years are they going to try to retread
the Hendricks LaPier Tiger. But Connor McMichael is the front
runner for that third line center position. When you take
a look at the moves, I had high hopes that
it was they were going to be they were going
to land eelers.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
Not the case.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
There's also Jack Rosslovic talk out there. I think that
he is the front runner, like I said, for that
third line center position. And big picture thirty thousand foot view.
Capitals fans were all caught up on on eelers and
is it going to be Jack Rosslovic or fill in
the blank free agent out there is they might have
the right guy in house. Maybe an easy fix you

(26:54):
can put Andrew Krystal at that second line left wing
and Connor McMichael at the third line center and ostensibly
on paper in pencil as I write this in July,
I think would be a really good fix. That's how
I have it sketched out. I think that a lot
of the different players that were available are already being
spoken for. They're going to the Golden Knights are getting better,

(27:15):
the Hurricanes are getting better, and the Panthers continue to dominate.
That the Capitals might be really getting ways deep into
going young this year that they might not go out
and get that veteran at the end of the day.
So I think that Connor McMichael is going to be
a big piece in that. I have him penciled in
at that third line center position. Like I said, with
Andrew Crystal playing that second line left wing, I guess

(27:37):
it remains to be seen. Maybe Hendrix's lop here will
just surprise everyone and say, look at me. It's not
only that we could go into the weeds here, there's Mirshnishenko.
There's all these different kind of guys that are vying for.
But I like Connor McMichael's game, always loved his game.
I knew that all he really needed was the proper
opportunity and he has had that under Spencer Carberry.

Speaker 4 (27:58):
Oh yeah, great stuff on him, and we're going to
switch to one of the younger guys, Ryan Leonard. Of course,
Leonard made the jump from Boston College after finishing his
second straight thirty goal season, getting in nine regular season
games and eight playoff games with the Capitals. He had
some good expected numbers, but the actual production wasn't quite there.
He had one empty net goal and a playoff assist

(28:19):
that was pretty nice. He did stay involved with the
game with a good shot at hit production given his
ice time. But of course we want to know what
his opportunity and role is going to be next season.
So Dan, what do you think that is going to
be for Leonard next season? Where do you think he'll
fit in the lineup and will he get more minutes?

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Where I have him penciled in, is going to be
that third line right wing That's what we saw from
him at the tail end of the season, and I
guess it depends on what we see out of him
out of camp. I think that if he takes his
game to the next level, he could bump up in
the lineup a little bit. There was a lot of
hope around Capitals fans towards the tail end of the
season that we saw what he did in back to
back seasons at Boston College putting up thirty goals, that

(28:58):
we want a taste of that the Capitals right now,
what kind of injection offensive injection would that give to
the Capitals and the playoffs? As it turns out that
wasn't the case. It was jumping out of the frying
pan into the fire. Going from the NCAAA to the
NHL is not always a seamless transition.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
And what did he do?

Speaker 2 (29:16):
He put up one one empty net goal is what
he put up in his short, short snippet with the
Capitals towards the tail end of the season. Now I
understand why the Capitals did that. Boston College had wrapped
up their season and the Capitals are all in on
the future and his figures to be a key part
of that future. But maybe that was a bit unrealistic

(29:38):
to expect that kind of great production from him. But
next season, he's going to have a full camp and
I expect him to be on the team all season long.
There's not going to have to be any concern about
if he's going to get any playing time. I think
the Capitals are fully vested in him picked eighth overall,
that he's there in the twenty twenty three season, that

(29:59):
the capitals were right for him. Last year, Former GM
Brian McClellan said, whenever he's ready, just I'm ready to
put him in there. But he wanted to battle for
one more title at the NCAA level, plus dominating on
the world stage. So I expect him to take steps
forward again penciled in, I think that he is going
to be third line right wing. But again, what do

(30:19):
we see in cam from him. I'm always surprised, but
I think the ceiling for him is high. He has
some of the similar characteristics and attributes. I guess you
could say to Tom Wilson relatively speaking, in a lot
of ways, I think his skill set is better than
Tom Wilson's, but he does bring a bit of a
snarl a great skater, got a good release that I'm
loving his game. And going back to twenty twenty three,

(30:42):
there was a lot of names circled there, Metve Mishkoff,
I remember the Capitals. Were they going to land him
or Benson? There was other a lot of names associated
to the Capitals. But big picture, looking in the rearview mirror,
I'm happy that they selected Ryan Leonard because he was
the player that available and the best player available that
I think that his game is going to grow and
he is a part of that next wave and I

(31:03):
expect him to take big steps forward. How much I
don't know. I don't even want to really shoot a.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
Dart at the wall.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
As far as goals expected, because of such a small
sample size, I know what he did at Boston College,
but it's really hard to speculate at this point how
many goals he all put up for the big team,
the Capitals.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
Well, let's flip over to the blue line. Dan and
John Carlson continues to age pretty gracefully, putting up the
second most assists on the team at thirty five years old,
continue to be the highest scorer, the highest minutes demand
this year, and spent the second half of the year
basically partnering with rasmussandin who will come up a little
bit later in the show, he had a very positive

(31:42):
impact on even strength and power play offense. So we'll
be talking about the elephant in the room with Carlson
in what role he's going to have in terms of
a certain other defenseman who's definitely had himself a great year,
But could we get another similar year out of Carlson
his last on that long time track that he was
on in twenty twenty five twenty six, you did see.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
A bit of diminished returns on him, I guess I'm
going to say in the playoffs. But as far as
John Carlson is concerned, number seventy four is one of
the greatest to ever lace up the skates for the Capitals.
On the blue line, a minute monster routinely plays over
twenty twenty five minutes a night, and they did their
best to try to fix that by bringing in Chikrin

(32:25):
and different guys to try to alleviate some of that pressure.
But the thing of it is, you can put anyone
out of the ice and put him out there on
a lot of minutes, but if you want quality minutes.
In a lot of ways, look no further than John Carlson,
the key piece on the Capitol's blue line first season
for seasons and seasons there. But what's an interesting thing.
We are entering into a contract year for John Carlson

(32:48):
and the Capitals were non committal, and John Carlson was
noncommittal about coming back to the team. He didn't know
what direction the team is going. Are they going full
on youth movement or do they want some skilled veterans
around to enter the team. As far as his points
in his production, I think that it is sustainable. But
at what point are we going to see a dip?

(33:08):
In a lot of ways, I think that the Capitals
held on to Nick baxterrom and Tgoshi for too long.
They spent the last season under contract on the LTI R.
What kind of return could the Capitals have gotten on
those two players had they traded him three four years ago?
It was unthinkable back then. So the same thing for
John Carlson, and is a bit of a hard topic

(33:30):
for me to talk about because oftentimes I get grief
from Capitals fans on it is if there is no
plan for John Carlson to come back to the team
say that they have no big picture of seeing him
come back, no extension, Then why not trade him to
get some kind of return, because if he makes it
to next summer, the Capitals.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
Get zero and it still holds value. Do we want
to wait?

Speaker 2 (33:52):
And I say we when I'm talking to a Capital's
guy here to Capitals fans. Did the Capital's organization do
they want to wait to a point that all of
a sudden he faces a major injury in his kind
of sideline for the rest of the season and is
diminished goods? Or would it be more advantageous to move
him now while he still holds value. Now that's tough

(34:13):
because they're finding a guy like John Carlson isn't plug
and play. There are prospects in the pipeline. Vinnie i Orio,
of course we've heard about for years and years, and
Cole Hodson and Ryan Chesley, these guys. How many of
these guys are nhlready making it to the postseason. We
were told the whole time that you know, the defense,
the blue line has just this over abundance of talent.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
But who did they reach for.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
They reached for Alex Alexiev And let's say he left
a lot to be desired that it is a tough
thing to look at with John Carlson is I know
what he means to this team, big minutes, big points,
is involved in pretty much every aspect out of the
ice that he's not an easy replacement, So I understand
the reluctance to want to move on from him. I expect, say,

(34:57):
going into next seasons he's on the Capitals all see
and I expect, similar to what we've seen from him
his entire career, great things. But with that I still
hold true to I think the Capitals would be better
off trading him to try to get some kind of
value for him somewhere, because to say he makes it
through the end of the season, what are they going
to sign him to some piecemeal one year, two year

(35:19):
deal here band aid together. I think we're past that.
I think that the Capitals are involved in a youth movement.
I think he's been a big contributor, But at this
point I would like to see what kind of return
we can get for John Carlson and give him a
shot at trying to make it to the playoffs or
a stay on the Cup somewhere else, and the Capitals
can try to bolster either an NHL ready player or

(35:39):
their prospect pool.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Yeah, modified no trade clause, so Johnny, you have to
sign off on that, but we could write, we could
see could happen Jacob Chickrin. That was quite a thing
to have happened. The trade for Chickrin feels to me,
feels like the thing that turned the Capitol season in
some ways, to come in with the guy that talented
above what would have been. Only Cale mccarr and Zach

(36:03):
Warinsky among defensemen, scored more goals than Jacob Chickern's twenty.
It was a career year for the twenty six year
old forty seven points in seventy four games, and the
Caps rewarded him an eight nine extension that started two
days ago. In a nine year career. His only prior
playoff experience was a cameo in the bubble for Arizona,

(36:24):
so it was really his first taste getting to that level.
And it's just a question of his chicker in the
heir apparent to Carlson and what are you anticipating for
Chicker in the year to come.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
I do expect him to take on a bigger role,
and for sure, that was a move that was the
energized the Capitals, and he had been on the Capitol's
radar even before he went to Ottawa. Just didn't work out,
but definitely bolstered the Capitol's blue line. A guy that
is good defensively and a guy that's good offensively. And
oftentimes you can find a defensive player that's what he's

(36:57):
good at. But to find a guy in the blue
line like Jacob Chickrin that can actually find the back
of the net with twenty goals, that's quite an accomplishment,
Like you talked about, do you understand see the trend
going with all the players that we've talked about tonight
putting up career numbers, They got a whole lot better
last season. I expect that going into next season and

(37:18):
he very well could be that air apparent for the Capitals.
Now you hear different things. I talked a bit to
the guys from Locked On Senators and he didn't really
fit in with the Senators and for whatever reason, and
just obviously took a step forward with the Capitals for
whatever reason. Sometimes it's a change of scenery, a change
of zip code. But in any event, he found his

(37:39):
place and he was rewarded with a very long contract,
and I'm always a bit skeptical and a bit reluctant,
and I know I have absolutely nothing to say about it,
but when you see a player sign that lengthy of
a contract, you're like, Wow, that's going to be good
for like maybe the first three years or so, But
what is that going to look like on the back
end of that. That's the hard part. That is just

(38:01):
that's a part of professional sports nowadays. You take a
look at all the deals that were signing, you take
a look at Marner's deal, just all these guys, it's
unless you're a young guy trying to make a name
for yourself, it's their lengthy contracts. So I think Chickrin
is deserving of it. And if there was any reluctance
going into the season, former genem Brian McClellan said, we
want to see how he fits in here, and did

(38:22):
Chickrien says, I want to see how I fit in
with the Capitols, And it was like both of them
didn't want to say I love you on the first date,
that you don't want to be that guy. But Chickrin
there was in my mind, they're like, okay, he's been
good for a quarter of the season, He's been good
for half of the season, but how long can this
keep rolling? And he just kept getting better throughout the season.

(38:43):
Now we're there defensive gaffs that I saw for sure,
But you can talk about that with any of the
different players out on the ice. We see that with
saying Dean from time to time as well. But if
there's a guy in the blue line, I'm going to
push my chips in on. It's a guy like Chickrin
Sound defensively has been huge and puts up big points.
I'm loving it. I signed off on that, and I

(39:04):
did a podcast after it with quite a bit of
optimism that if there was a guy that is deserving
of a lengthy contract, like I say normally against it,
I think that he was definitely deserving of it, all right.

Speaker 4 (39:15):
Moving on to Rasmus Sandein, the twenty five year old
defenseman had pretty good two way metrics, playing a top
four role primarily with John Carlson. He played a minor
role in both special team units and had decent but
unspectacular production with thirty points in eighty two games, right
in line with his career numbers. He doesn't really shoot,
her block that much and has doesn't shoot, but has
fairly average hits and blocks. So I guess the question

(39:38):
Dan is, with Carlson maybe not taking his prominent role,
do you think Sandein can step into a little bit
more of that production or is it all just going
to go to Chickrin? So what does the future hold
for Sandein in Washington?

Speaker 2 (39:51):
I think he's going to continue to take steps forward
as well, and I think that he found his way
with the Capitals that wasn't a good fit for Toronto
and they were trying to get more out of him
than they really could. And at times we saw him
on that first pairing with John Carlson's in a lot
of ways. Sometimes he plays better on that second where
the limelight isn't shine squarely on him, but he's recognized

(40:13):
his game. He said in an interview that when he
first started in the league, he tried to emulate Eric
Carlson and he realized that he might be a guy
look up to, but that's just not the kind of
player that I am. When we talk about players that
are going to be the faces of the future on
the blue line, Rasmus Sanding is definitely in the mix
there as well. So you take a look at him.

(40:36):
He is a guy that you know what to expect
on a night in and night out basis as sometimes
you see these guys go alter and you're like, what
kind of performance are we going to get out of
this guy or that guy? Nine times out of ten
you know exactly what you're going to get out of
Rasmus Anddeing and again he is going to be that
guy for the future for sure, and I expect his

(40:57):
game to grow as well. But Toronto's loss, I guess
I'm going to say, is the Capital's gain and just
a big piece for the organization.

Speaker 4 (41:06):
Nice love to hear that. Let's shift over to the
crease the goalies. The Capitals are ranked twentieth and expected
goals against per sixty, but conceded the fifteenth ranked actual
goals at five to five. So that tells us that
their goalies performed above expected, which is true, and both
of them had a pretty good season. Thompson's first with
the Capitals that's being traded with Vegas. He put up

(41:29):
incredible twenty three to two and three record through January
before slowing down a bit and getting hurt towards then
the regular season finished fourth in VESNAV voting twenty five
goals save above expected one point three nine Delta Fenwick.
Really nice. So you mentioned the contract, you're one of
a five point eighty five million We'll see how that
rounds out towards the end. But clearly a good first season.

(41:49):
Charlie Lingern not quite as impressive as the previous season
he did. He started out splitting starts with Thompson before
taking more of a backup roll and tell Thompson's injury
than he finished out with a little bit more his
goal save above expected five point four to nine and
point three six Delta Fenwick. He actually struggled to helpperform
the protection just a little bit, but overall he had
a pretty decent impact. So do you think we'll see

(42:11):
the same splits next season, Dan, with Logan Thompson taking
the majority of the share and Lincren's felling into more
of a backup And do you think they can be
as effective as they were this season?

Speaker 1 (42:21):
I do.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
I think it's going to be a one B situation
and I know in a lot of ways that semantics
what worked well for the Capitals and kind of modern
hockey is to alternate. Oftentimes, some of the older coaches
in the league, they like to continue to ride the
hot hand, right I'm thinking like Broader back in the
day where it was just what's going to be him
out in the net on any given night. But I
think that if you can, if you have a great tandem,

(42:44):
let me preface it that way, then I think the
best thing to do is to alternate. I know that
a lot of teams don't have that luxury, they don't
even have really a great starter. But I think that
Logan Thompson caught me by surprise. I guess I'm going
to say that when I found Darcy Kemper was going
I went out to LA I thought it was going
to be Charlie Lingern and at the time number three
in the organization, Hunter Shepherd. But Brian McClellan looked at

(43:07):
that thirty thousand foot view and goes, I don't know
if I trust that Charlie Lingern was good at a
vacuum and two seasons ago in December and then the
following season got the Capitals to the playoffs. But am
I going to put all my eggs in the basket
of a Charlie Lingren Hunter Shepherd tandem Hunter Shepherd knocked
it out of the park all the way from UMD
all the way up.

Speaker 3 (43:26):
To the Capitals.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
But he didn't do that.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
He took a flyer.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
I guess you could say on Logan Thompson a guy
that is familiar to the Capital's organization. And I think
that Logan Thompson liked the idea of coming to the
Capitals because he could get that opportunity to be the starter.
And I think that to a certain extent, there was
a little bit of and I don't know if it's
bad blood or just as sarcasm. I guess I couldn't
get a good read on it. Is that to the

(43:51):
Vegas Golden Knight said that the goalie is for the
Golden Knights get a lot of credit, but.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
It's not really them, it's the defense.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
And he wanted he mentioned and he said when he
came to the Capitals, he wanted to prove that he
is a great netminder and just ran away with it. Now,
if I'm going to be accurate about Logan Thompson, he
is a great netminder, there is no doubt. But towards
the tail end, of the season. There were some questionable
things about when he was getting rattled, and when I
say rattled, when he started allowing a lot of goals,

(44:21):
that all of a sudden there was an injury that
would pop up, and the injury wasn't always real apparent
like he said, he got his bell rung, but when
you watch the videos, he was reaching for his legs.
An interesting character. I don't want to go into conspiratorial waters,
but just an interesting observation that I made was lights
out for the Capitals all season. Charlie Lingren was Okay,
let's guess what I'm going to say that I thought

(44:42):
the Capitals could definitely have been all in on Logan
Thompson and the Capitol's goalie pipeline from the NHL all
the way down to the ECHL and prospects and overseas
is jam packed with some really great talent, some more
NHL ready than others. But Logan Thompson and Charlie Lingern
were the guys to get the Capitals over the hump.
If it was not for them, the Capitals wouldn't have

(45:04):
made it to the playoffs. Now, would be clear here
When I say they, more specifically, I mean, Logan Thompson,
as he was the guy towards the tail end of
the season was carrying the bulk of the mail that
I think put the Capitals in the playoff picture. Is
it sustainable?

Speaker 3 (45:17):
That's the big thing.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
Logan Thompson was rewarded with a six year extension based
on one season's performance, and I get that the Capitals
were concerned that he was going to get away and
he was going to test the open market, and there
was still some bitterness and a sour taste in their
mouth after that Samsana Vanchek tandem that I think that

(45:39):
they were looking for stability and they had that in
Logan Thompson and to a certain extent, Charlie Linger. And
so Logan Thompson is going to be an interesting study.
Can we continue to see that from him in season two?
I got a bit of a question mark for me.
I know, he put up good numbers. I know for
large swaths of the season he was in the conversation
for the vesna then got in so that kind of

(46:00):
derailed his progress. But that's going to be an interesting
one to watch. And Charlie Langren, who has big pictures,
stepped in admirably when Logan Thompson has gone down, but
with the Hunter Shephard going out to Ottawa and Klay
Stephenson the parent number three in the organization, that it's
going to be interesting that Charlie Linkren signed a three
year deal and the Capitals didn't want to come out

(46:23):
and name a number one starter, but one Logan Thompson
gets a six year deal and then once a while
and then Charlie Lingerton gets a three year deal. You'd
see the lay of the land and understand who's the
number one in the organization. But I feel confident. I'm
going to say I think it's serviceable. Is there a
better tandem in the NHL. Absolutely, But I think it

(46:44):
is the best the Capitals have right now, and maybe
I need to put more faith into it. They won
the Metro, they won the Eastern Conference, they made it
to the second round for the first time since twenty eighteen.

Speaker 3 (46:54):
That I think it's good.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
I think it could be better, But again, I want
to observe and see how Logan Thompson does in the
second year of this deal. I think that I'll have
a lot more faith in him if we can continue
to see what we saw last season, this next season
and Charlie Langern, I think I have a pretty good
idea of who he is. He is a good tier
two I'm going to say, slightly above average netminder. I

(47:19):
think that he probably could get a starter job somewhere
else in the NHL.

Speaker 3 (47:22):
But he's not going to.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
Set the world ablaze either with his play in net
as well. I guess I would say, all right, Dan,
this has.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
Been a great tour around the Washington Capitals. Why don't
you let people know how they can keep up with
you all year round?

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Yeah, so you can find me over on Twitter. It's
at Dan Caps two and eight. You can find the
show on Twitter. It's at Locked on Caps. Of course,
you can find the podcast wherever you find your podcast,
serious XM, YouTube, Amazon channels, wherever you find podcasts. That's
where you can find Locked on Capitals, available five days
a week.

Speaker 3 (47:57):
All right, thanks so much for coming on and luck
following those caps this year.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Thanks for having me guys.

Speaker 3 (48:03):
Al right, well since then, that's good fire. Oh my goodness,
roll long with a cat what gram? Now it's your
weekley Goalie Talk with Kat Silverman. Kat's Instincts.

Speaker 4 (48:24):
He's joined once again by Kat Silverman NGL mag and
we're talking Capital's goalies and it is bleak. Kat, it
is not a great system. We're going to do our
best to find someone we're talking about, and the only
one I could come up with is Garren in New Yorkland.
He's twenty three years old, six two hundred and seventy
four pounds. He was drafted one hundred and seventy ninth

(48:46):
overall back in twenty twenty. He has had big improvements
in his numbers in his second season the ECHL. He
had a couple wins in the AHL. I know it
doesn't sound impressive, but this is where we are. He
did end up having some pretty decent numbers there in
the ECCHL. His hockey prospecting equivalency looks awful. He graduated

(49:07):
the model at five percent chance of being an NHLer.
The only guy who was even notable as a comparable
is passing Norman and who is a backup drafted way
back in two thousand and one. So it doesn't look great.
But is there any hope that Yorkland is at least
an NHL backup or maybe even a one B.

Speaker 6 (49:30):
I think it's possible.

Speaker 7 (49:31):
I really don't know what the Capitals are doing there,
because I think their prospect system looks pretty bleak, and
if we're being totally honest, I think that the guys
they've been signing at the NHL level in net has
been a little confusing for a team that used to
be known for kind of goaltender hoarding, grabbing a bunch
of really good guys, developing them within one of the
best systems in the league, and then offering them.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Up for gold.

Speaker 6 (49:54):
Essentially.

Speaker 7 (49:55):
Yeah, I think he when he got drafted, I was
a pretty big fan because he did play in a
very defensive minded league he played.

Speaker 6 (50:05):
He played in the WHL, which.

Speaker 7 (50:08):
By and large tends to be the league where you
see the most consistent goaltending success come out of out
of the COCHL. He for playing in such a defensive
minded goaltending behaven, he was a little more exciting, almost
to run it.

Speaker 6 (50:25):
Back to the Mets so Guard comparisons.

Speaker 7 (50:27):
He did have a little bit of that Mad so
Guard excitement to his game, but he clearly didn't have
the control, and as the last few years have gone on,
he's had to really add some consistency and some control
to his game.

Speaker 6 (50:39):
Had to slow his movements down and almost strip it
down to the.

Speaker 7 (50:42):
Basics a little bit, because he is really good at
making those emergency saves, and he wasn't quite as good
at making just the boring routine saves without over exerting himself.

Speaker 6 (50:53):
And it looks like he's he's getting better at that.
But at this point, I really don't know what washing doing.
I hope they figure it out.

Speaker 7 (51:02):
I think they're probably just and it may even be
to get a little crazy with a conspiracy here. I
think they might be holding off on wasting valuable assets
on drafting a goaltender really high or trading for really
good young goaltender until they are out of their aw

(51:24):
Vegkin window, and then they'll start from scratch in a
new era all at once, instead of because goaltending does
require a ton of resources.

Speaker 6 (51:34):
That's the best guess I have for what they're doing.
They might just.

Speaker 7 (51:38):
They might be playing a game of three D chess
while the rest of us are playing checkers. But I
don't necessarily think that garn BORKLND is the answer, although
it would be very happy for him if he is.

Speaker 4 (51:51):
Yeah, that would be great. I feel like they should
just corner the market on lefty goalies because that's what
they have right now in the NHL, and they should
just only crew.

Speaker 6 (52:04):
I think that would be delightful. I think that would
really confuse their defense.

Speaker 4 (52:09):
Yeah, that's true. Maybe confusion is what they're going for it.
As you know, thanks so much for giving us your
instincts on the Washington Capitals goalies.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
Will be back right after this. Dig the Dynasty Dig

(52:37):
Washington Capital's edition. The Caps have risen in the prospect
ranks to the point where they're your number seven in
all of the National Hockey League, and starting with your
no brainer, you can see why. Who is it?

Speaker 4 (52:50):
Yeah, the no brainer is Cole Hudson. That's right, Cole Hudson.
He is the younger brother of Canadian star defenseman and
Older Trophy winner Lane Hudson. He was drafted in twenty
twenty four, forty third overall. He's five ten, one hundred
and sixty five pounds, and he had his first year

(53:13):
over at Boston University actually matched his brother's production forty
eight points in thirty nine games. Pretty incredible stuff. He
also became the first defenseman to lead the World Juniors
in scoring with eleven points. And seven games, including a
pretty ridiculous goal in the gold medal game. I believe
it was, and when it looked like the Americans were

(53:36):
not gonna be able to pull it off, so he
was pretty clutch at the right time, really made a
big difference here. He also had two assists and a
plus three, so he was everything. He is a pretty
fantastic talent. If you look at his age two, he's
a lot younger than Lane was at the same time,
so that production in college is a little bit more

(53:56):
impressive to me. So there's a lot to think about there,
and can he be gey as good or better than
his brother? I think the answer is probably yes, which
is pretty crazy considering what Lane just today. This past season.
He looked at Mitch Brown's tracking data and Cole Hudson
has a ninety eight percentile overall. His offense is ninety
six percentile, his transition is ninety seventh percentile, his defense

(54:18):
is ninety fifth percentile. All in all, it's just incredible
all up and down. The main thing that he is
not as good at, just in general, is shooting. His
shots P sixty are pretty low, his expected goals are
pretty low, but the expected primary assists and slot passes
are way up there. He's definitely more of a playmaker
as you might expect from a defenseman. But we saw
him scoring goals in that tournament. We saw him when

(54:40):
the team needed it, he was there. He helped put
the puck in the nets. You love to see that.
Looking at his Fantasy Hockey Life player card, at least
in college, he is still shooting in one hundred percentile,
even though his shots per sixty aren't as good, and
his hits are actually way better than you would think
seventy eighth percentile for hits and average for blocks, so
overall his bash should be really good. We know Lane's

(55:01):
bash hasn't been quite as good in the NHL, so
Cole is definitely a little bit feisty here. He's got
a little bit more of that peripheral floor and I
think the same amount or more points upside, So that's
pretty awesome to think about. I have him at as
a seven point seventy five, so seventy five percent chance
of being a seven out of ten, which is pretty great.
But let's hear a little bit more about Cole Hudson
from our FHL scout.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
Jesse FHL scout. Patrick has this to say of Cole Hudson.
Excellent skater, fast, good lateral movement, very capable passer and handler,
able to handle it well in space, tight and transporting
it up the ice. The passing is imaginative and sharp shooting.
Cole has a good wrist shot that he consistently gets

(55:42):
on net and is able to shoot well and closer
as well. IQ. Hudson the younger has a very high
hockey IQ. He is able to see a path through
defenders on the rush, knows when to jump in, is
generally poised with the pocket, can see the play well
for checking. He joins the rush. He sneaks down low
when it's a small choice, a smart choice. Patrick says

(56:02):
that Hudson's defense is somewhat lacking. Can break a play
up in the neutral zone, but also has trouble with
gaps and timing. His plan in the wall needs work
as he loses battles or panics and throws pucks up
the board, sometimes to the other team. The best assets then, skating, passing,
handling IQ all very good, but Patrick's going with the

(56:23):
passing and handling and the biggest concern is the defense.
Unless there's a market improvement next season. He's going to
need another college season or time in the AHL. The
top tier outcome second pair power Play one. The offense
and the hockey IQ are undeniable, but the defensive deficiencies
aren't likely to be fully eliminated, and the median outcome

(56:43):
third pair power Play two. If the defense isn't improved,
he could have a sheltered role and get to power
play two. The style istic comparable Quinn Hughes or Lane
Hudson As a young defenseman, both Hughes and his brother's
defense were somewhat lacked as well. Our friend Andy Ultimate
Lord Stanley's Tidy Champion, the NHL rank King himself, Mason

(57:07):
Black put out the poll Cole Hudson versus yesterday's favorite
Olin Zelweger, and unsurprisingly, Hudson in a route seventy four
to twenty six percent. Victor. Is that how you rank him?

Speaker 1 (57:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (57:21):
I think so.

Speaker 4 (57:22):
Sorry to say. We love Salweger, We led him for
a long time, but he has really struggled to make
an impact in the NHL so far. And maybe that's
a bit of the Anaheim issue in terms of their
difficulties emerging from the Rebuil that they had undergo. I
still have faith that Zelweger can get there and be
an impactful player. He's only had eighty eight NHL games,

(57:44):
so there's still plenty of time for him. But yeah,
I think that it's absolutely Cole Hudson. In fact, I'm
not sure that there are many prospects that I would
take out of Cole Hudson. He's just that fantastic. In fact,
I was just looking at my prospect right thanks just
to see who would I consider taking ahead, and right now,

(58:07):
looking at all the fencemen who I still have in
my ranks, Cole Hudson is coming in at number seven,
only behind Lane just because he's done it at the
NHL level, Zamprek, Alex Nikishin, ze Wulliam, Matthew Schaeffer, and
Axel sandein Pelika. So that's pretty high praise for Cole Hudson.

Speaker 7 (58:26):
And not to.

Speaker 4 (58:28):
Say anything bad about Zeedworg because I still have a
lot of faith in him. But it's definitely Cole Hudson here.
His trajectory is sky high, so you love to see that.
Look at the hockey prospecting between the two and it's
actually pretty similar. Selweger graduated the model at eighty eight
percent chance of being a star. Cole Hudson is there now,
but only in his Draft plus one season. Zelweger took

(58:49):
till his Draft plus three season to get there, so
definitely got there a bit quicker. You look at some
other comps for Cole Hudson, and you got some Bobby Orr,
you got Phil Housley, Ryan Ellis, So all of those
seem like possible outcomes, with Ryan Ellis being the more
reasonable one and Bobby or Phil Ousley being a little
maybe far fetched, but I could see it. Looking at

(59:13):
I just wanted to compare Cole to Lane, and you
can see that the star potential for Cole Hudson is
almost to where Lane was in his Draft plus two season,
but already in his Draft plus one season. So that's
why I think there's a pretty decent chance that Cole
is actually better than his brother in terms of his
fantasy output. And you look at the top down Hockey

(59:34):
model and Cole Hudson has a seventeen percent chance of
being a star, one hundred percent chance of being an
NHLLL er. So that's pretty great from the usually a
little bit more pessimistic model Jesse.

Speaker 3 (59:45):
Yes, sir, all right, that is going to do it
for Cole Hudson. Who is your need to know prospect?

Speaker 4 (59:52):
The need to know is Andrew Christall. He's the twenty
twenty three fortieth overall pick five and eighty three pounds.
Cristal was close to make in the Capitol's opening nine
roster last season before being sent back to the WHL.
He responded by scoring a WHL leading one hundred and
thirty two points in fifty seven games where he's split
between Colowna and Spokane, and added another forty one points

(01:00:13):
in nineteen games with the Spokane Chiefs. All in all,
is pretty awesome season for Christall, and he certainly is
going to be looking at making the team this year
out of camp, and we already heard Dan allude to
they might have some big plans for him and maybe
even playing in the second line. And we know that
he's got a lot offensive talent. Looking at the tracking

(01:00:34):
data from Mitch Brown, you can see ninety ninth percentile
for offense, eighty eighth for transition, and just nineteen percent
for defense. That's really going to be the issue. It
continues to be an issue. It was an issue in
his draft season. He hasn't really improved his off puck
play that much, which continues to be a bit of
a concern. In the right situation, he certainly can excel

(01:00:54):
in the NHL, but there's concerns that he's not going
to be able to do that because of his issues.
That remains a problem. You look at the rest of
the tracking data of the defense, the off puck assists,
the proactive contact, the boards battles. These are all his
major weaknesses and that's going to be a problem for
him in the NHL. Looking at his FHL player card,

(01:01:14):
one hundred percentile for hits, twentieth percentile for or sorry,
one hundred percent out for shots, twentieth percentile for hits,
thirtieth percentile for blocks. So all in all, his bash
might be okay, but mainly just shots. I have him
had a seven point thirty seven thirty seven percent chance
of being a seven, So there's I still have some
pretty good confidence that he can get there, but I'm

(01:01:34):
a little bit more skeptical. That's why the percentage is
a little bit lower. Let's hear a little bit more
about Andrew Christal from our FHL scout Jesse.

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
Patrick says the skating is slightly below average. He's somewhat
lacking in pace, but he has good edgework which he
puts the good use in his lateral skating. Passing and
handling excellent adapted delaying his passes to the right moment,
very skilled at handling the puck. Shooting plus shot good
one time. He has a quick release on his wrist
shot and able to place it well. IQ very high.

(01:02:06):
He often appears to be thinking at least one step
ahead and shows no sign of panic. Has the vision
to carry out what he anticipates. Patrick says this high
IQ allows him to be in the right place and
uses stickwork to steal pucks in the zone. As per
his fore checking defense, he needs to work on defensive involvement.
It's still a shortcoming based on his inconsistency. So the

(01:02:29):
best assets, well, He's got several, but the best is
the hockey IQ and the biggest concern the skating or
the defense. But at this point Patrick's more concerned about
the defense. The top tier outcome line one powerplay one,
while there are some questions about the ability to translate it.
The high end offensive toolkit gives him a high likelihood

(01:02:49):
of playing first or second line and power play one
the fiftieth percentile outcome line three if he makes the
NHL or a high end ahller. That's because of the
skating an incomplete two hundred foot game hold him back.
He could still adapt well enough to be a good
third liner or do really well in DHL. The stylistic

(01:03:09):
comparable called back to the first part of the show,
Nikolai Eeler's, but with lesser skating and Victor the NHL ranking.
Mason Black he put it up for us. He told
us who we should compare Andrew Christal to, and he
picks Consta Helenius of the Buffalo Sabers, and Christal probably

(01:03:30):
unsurprisingly comes out ahead of Hellnius. I actually thought it
probably would be more than sixty one to thirty nine percent.

Speaker 4 (01:03:35):
But what do you think, Victor, Yeah, this one's tough.
I do like christall for the upside more, but Constant
Helenius has a much much better floor. You heard about
some of the concerns. I talked about it a little
bit with Christal. There's a chance that he's just not
an NHL or that he doesn't improve his off puck

(01:03:56):
game that he doesn't. He's a bit of a defensive
liability out there and he can't be trusted and then
he loses faith and bounces around teams. I think there's
a very real possibility that happens. Consta Helenius is going
to be an NHL er. I don't know that he's
going to put up a lot of points, but he's
someone that the coaches are going to trust, They're going
to put him out there, they're going to give him minutes,
and you know he's going to play. So if you

(01:04:19):
want that security, then I would go with Helenius. If
you're looking for that more boom Bus pick. He was
a boombus pick when they drafted him. He still remains
that way because of the lack of the B game
and the last lack of the all around defensive effort
and ability in those areas. So it's a little bit
more risky. But I would take Christall if I wanted

(01:04:40):
to swing on upside, because he definitely has way more
upside If you look at the hockey prospecting between the two.
Christal has maintained his probability of being a star at
around fifty five percent. The last few seasons, his NHL
OR probability continues to grow up to eighty two percent.
Hellnius has trended down a little bit, but he's been
in the AHL, He's been in much tougher leagues this
whole time, and so his star potential is forty two,

(01:05:01):
which is still pretty similar, and his NHLR probability is higher.
So that kind of tells a lot of the story
as well if you look at some other comps for
Andrew Crystal there. I think one of the things some
of the scouts have said all all along is that
there aren't a whole lot of guys that look like
him in the NHL, and that's kind of part of
the problem. I think Mark Roberto is one of the
guys that he looks like in this model, and I

(01:05:22):
think that's probably a good comp a guy who had
certainly a lot of offensive skill, who certainly could produce,
but also struggled in some areas of the game. And
so it worked for Roberto, it might work for Christal,
it also might not. Looking at the j fresh card,
thirty three percent chance of being a star eighty eight
percent chance of being an NHL are pretty good numbers
there from the Jfresh Model Jesse.

Speaker 3 (01:05:45):
And Victor, who is the keep your eye on prospect.

Speaker 4 (01:05:50):
Yeah, I love this guy, Ilia Protest, that's Alexi Protest.
His little brother Dan did mention him briefly in passing.
This kid is also huge, six five one pounds. The
Capitals drafted him seventy fifth overall back in twenty twenty
four this past draft, and he went from Des Moines
being just under a point per game last season to

(01:06:11):
the Winsor Spitfires where he totally blew up went over
two points per game, was fantastic in the playoffs. And yeah,
he took that big LEMP that his brother seemed to
take because almost like they took it at the same time.

Speaker 6 (01:06:24):
It was.

Speaker 4 (01:06:24):
It was hilarious and heartwarming for the Protest family to
see that happen. You don't really usually see that big
a production when you're going to a harder league. He
also went to the AHL and traveled with the Hershey
Bears for their playoffrun, but he didn't get into any games.
He could be in the in the AHL as early
as next season, I believe, since he started in the USHL,

(01:06:47):
that is an option for him. We'll have to see
where he ends up, but he definitely had a huge season,
only behind Michael Misa in terms of productions. That's pretty
fantastic stuff. You look at Mitch Brown's tracking data, he
has a lot of things really well, especially for a
first time first year OHL player, sev seventy eight percent
out for offense, seventy percent out for transition in fifty

(01:07:09):
four per defense. He doesn't shoot a whole lot, some
of his controlled entries aren't great, and his defensive course
he who wasn't great. All in all, pretty solid numbers
for such a young player. Also, I don't think I
mentioned this, but he is extremely young for his draft class.
He's a July eighteenth birthday, so he was seventeen his
whole draft season and eighteen all of this season, so
he remains really young for this whole process. In a

(01:07:31):
few more years is still all leaven out, but for
now he's still a lot younger and less developed than
these other players. So the fact that he had such
a massive output in production was pretty great, and I
think this guy's the limit for him. Looking at his
FHL player card, he's a seven point five to four
in my ranking forty five percent chance of being a

(01:07:52):
seven if you're scoring at home. Yes, that is higher
than Andrew Christal. I have more faith and protests being
able to figure it out. Just look at what his
brother did. He's got the perfect roadmap ahead of him.
He shoots one hundred percent tile for the ohl. His
hits are a little bit lower, just thirtieth percent tile,
and his blocks are seventeh percent miles. Over All, the
bass should be good somewhat surprisingly, actually driven more by

(01:08:14):
the blocks than by the hit. So that's interesting. Let's
find out what else is interesting about Ilia protests From
our fatl scout, Jesse.

Speaker 3 (01:08:21):
Our Mantoni has this to say about Ilia protas. His
skating is probably the weakest part of his game. Not fast,
but it is adequate. He has quick passes, he anticipates
where to go with the puck, gets there effectively and quickly.
Ilia has a good shot. He's able to get away
that shot while shielding the puck from his opponents. A

(01:08:42):
high hockey IQ has Ilia protas, and he's able to
anticipate where to go with the puck. For checking, Tony
saw some Ford checking Familia by using his size to
his advantage. The defense was good. Again using his size
in anticipation to help him get the puck back for
his team, and the best asset his ability to keep
the puck away from the opponent's biggest concern the skating.

(01:09:05):
It's going to need to improve in order for Ilia
Protess to progress in his career. The top tier outcome
for Tony, he says, probably about a tier two with
his anticipation, using size, good passing, He's a middle sixer
with some power play time. Does want to say that
while Iliat uses his size, it's not really in the

(01:09:26):
way of hits. He kind of leans on people or
outpositions them. Not a ton of bash anticipated from ilia
The median outcome if the skating doesn't improve and he
does continue to improve in other aspects, he's probably a
fourth liner or twelve to Ford with limited playing time
and the stylistic comparable, we're going right to Alexa Protas.
The final thought, I think why they drafted him Washington,

(01:09:50):
that is, they see a possibility for Alexey. Part two
and the NHL ranking. Mason Black decides to put Ilia
Protas up against Wiam green Tree La King's prospect and
probably on surprising at this point, Protas in a big
victory here seventy five to twenty five percent Victor. Is

(01:10:10):
that how you compare the two?

Speaker 4 (01:10:13):
Definitely, I love me some Ilia Protests and green Tree.
He had. These guys were teammates for Windsor, and they
both had really strong seasons. Protests out pointed him by
a little bit, by about five points, I think. And
both these guys were recently drafted, so that's a fun

(01:10:34):
competition for them playing on the same junior team but
being drafted to different NHL teams. And yeah, I definitely
am liking Protests a little bit more. He gets more
of the bump because he improved his scoring by a lot.
Green Tree scored a fair amount last season and then
wasn't able to increase it by a ton. He did
increase it, just not as much as Protest did, so

(01:10:56):
that was part of the jump there. I do so
like green Tree, but I like Protests a lot more.
I think he's got a lot more pro habits and
is going to fit in quite nicely with the Capitals.
In a couple of years, the star potential for Ilia
Protests went from three to fifteen percent, which is pretty
unusual to raise your star potential that much in one season.
Green Tree State steady at twenty four percent chance of

(01:11:18):
being a star, so that's interesting, So a little bit
higher for green Tree, but I still believe in protests
a little bit more. Part of the reason he was
so low in his initial star potential is that his
draft minus one season was for a U eighteen U
seventeen team in Belarus, which doesn't really have an equivalency,
so he got nil for that and then was just

(01:11:41):
based on his USHL production, So that's part of it
for him. Looking at some other comps for ilia protests,
Patrick Bergland is one that he looks a fair amount
like and he was an average producer and I think
he can do that. I think he can do at
least as well as his brother, So there's a little
bit more upside there than maybe is being shown. And
in terms of his Jfreshcar twelve percent chance of being

(01:12:02):
a star, ninety four percent chance of being an nlhler,
I think he's pretty much a Locke based on what
his brother has done. So yeah, that's pretty exciting. That's
it for the Washington Capitols dig. If you're a patreon
you can listen to my top ten prospect recaps on
Patreon and if you're interested in doing any scouting, shoot
me a DM on Twitter, Discord, or email us.

Speaker 3 (01:12:20):
Be right back to close off the show.

Speaker 1 (01:12:30):
Before we leave.

Speaker 3 (01:12:31):
Fantracks dot com is the place where you could play
all your fantasy hockey and other fantasy sports. Ten different
fantasy sports, dogun it and we have you just have
to shout them out, just have to promote them because
that's where we play all our leagues. That's where I
play almost every single one of my fantasy hockey leagues
because frankly, after getting into that interface, I just don't

(01:12:52):
want to play anywhere else unless I'm forced to other
people who I can't convince. But it's really the only
place to play dynasty as far as I can tell you.
And fantrakshq has lots of fantasy content articles on fantasy hockey,
other fantasy sports. There's a whole FHL team that I'd
like to think that we'd like to think. Crafts are Ryan,
Simo and and Timm Ay are the commissioner team for

(01:13:15):
the Tidy Leagues. Tony and Patrick are lead scouts. Mike,
Steven and Matt help with the show, prep Brandon with
a website, prospect ranks, and visualizations and if you have
skills you'd like to lend to the show. Victor would
love to hear from you in discord, email or social media.
We have a little spurt of people joining up in
the tidy leagues now again is your chance to get

(01:13:35):
in here. As you've heard us promote recently, you got
to join up as a patron, but otherwise you can
get yourself in. We're forming a new league right now,
basically a brand new set of managers. We're going to
start up a new level of this thing, and we'd
love to have you be a part of it. So
just join up. Let us know. We're also brought to
you by Dauber Hockey, Dauber Prospects, victors and editor there.

(01:13:57):
You can follow those work there. You can see these episodes.
They get posted when they come out on daberhockey dot com,
which that's a great honor. Dabra Hockey's one of the
best in the business. I do a solo show called
Dynasty Sports Life. I talk about four different Dynasty sports
over there and the inter relationship with them, strategy, all
that type of stuff. Social media, you can follow us

(01:14:20):
Jesse Severe on Blue Sky Fanhockey Life on x Or,
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on x rate and review, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever
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next time, Keep living that fantasy hockey eat life.

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