Fantasy Hockey Life Ep. 418 Colorado Avalanche with Meghan Angley

Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports is here to report on the Colorado Avalanche. Jesse and Victor interview Meghan about returning pros Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Valeri Nichushkin, Brock Nelson, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton, Cale Makar, Devin Toews, Brent Burns, Sam Girard, MacKenzie Blackwood, and Scott Wedgwood. In Cat's Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Ilya Nabokov and Trent Miner.  In the Dynasty Dig, Victor breaks down Mikhail Gulyayev, Sean Behrens, Max Curran, and Daniil Gushchin with the help of scouting reports from FHL Scout Tony and Patrick and X polls from NHL Rank King Mason Black. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email [e-mail] and ask to join our free discord. Join our Patreon at Patreon.com/fantasyhockeylife for rankings, bonus podcasts, in-depth prospect reports with video, show notes and more. Check out our YouTube for more prospect videos at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQPYVXp3foOcvh7344fjKmA. Listen and subscribe wherever podcasts are posted - and give us 5 stars! We want to be your best place to talk about the game of dynasty fantasy hockey

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life, presented by fan Tracks. Here
shit Qus, your source of information and analysis to help
you win your fantasy hockey league.

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

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Stay lock.

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

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Jesse Severe fan tracked Victor Nuno. Doc. How you doing today, Victor?

Speaker 4 (00:34):
I am doing great, Jesse. We're in the midst of
a long session of recording, but I haven't passed out yet,
so I'm just gonna keep going until I do.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Oh, we're gonna make it, Victor. We're gonna make it
after all. I love it. Yeah, No, we're going through it, Victor.
And I do think that people are going to appreciate
talking about this team fascinating. They were in on a
lot of excitement this year, the Colorado Avalanche, Victor. People
should be so excited by the time they listen to

(01:03):
this and by the time they think about the Avalanche,
and by the time they consider the prospects and the
goalies and all those things that they have no choice physically, mentally,
emotionally but to run to the Fantasy Hockey Life discord
and converse with their fellow fantasy hockey crazies on those topics.
All they have to do to get in. It's free.
Email is Fantasy Hockey Life at gmail dot com. Give

(01:24):
them a link. You can go play round talk with
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very relevant as you start thinking about your twenty five
twenty six leagues.

Speaker 5 (01:37):
What are they?

Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, so much good stuff in there. If you want
a comprehensive breakdown of all the prospects and their puckstud
rating which tells you not only the upside but the
probability of them getting it, that's what you want. You
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(01:59):
kinds of the cool perks like Patron cass and one
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I think we're over one hundred and all really passionate
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patreon dot com slash Fantasy Hockey Life.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
You right back talk Colorado Avalanche. Back to the show
and one of our favorite guests. We love talking with
her every year, Megan Angley of Gorilla Sports to talk
about the Colorado Avalanche. How you doing today, Megan.

Speaker 6 (02:42):
I'm doing well. How are you guys?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Outstanding? Outstanding? Ready to talk some aps. They had a
very good season. I don't have to tell you that, Megan. Eighth,
most Dandy's points in the league, sixth and goals third,
fewest shots on goal against. They retold their goaltending on
the fly. They traded for and away star forwards, loaded
up of the deadline, dealt their top prospect in passing,

(03:05):
rostered two first team All Stars, won a Norris winner.
They finished on a fifteen to five and two run
and if I remember right, a couple of those losses
even came at the end when the standings were pretty
well set, so the stakes were low. But it's very
tough for a recent Cup winning team to go out
in round one. In this case, it was arguably the
most exciting series of the playoffs, with that long awaited

(03:28):
return of the injured captain, the revenge of the star
of the end season NHL drama who I don't think
ever wanted to be the star of any drama, Miko
Rant And when it's all said and done, how do
you look back at this season, Megan, and what are
the Avs expect in the next.

Speaker 5 (03:44):
Yeah, it's been a difficult pill to swallow for the Avs,
but I think it's a good thing because you pointed
out the regular season results and there was a lot
of success that you don't want to completely discount in
preparing for the year ahead. But the exit for the
Abs in that Dallas series was really frustrating because you

(04:05):
dig into the process on a nightly basis and you
look at some of what they were doing in creating
chances and the intent was very good process wise, and
that's why the possession numbers five y five really favored
Colorado coming out of it. Obviously, there was a big
issue with the Abs and ability to convert on the
power play, but the story of that first round exit

(04:29):
is so much bigger than just the power play, and
it's looking at the way in which they did load
up at the deadline and on paper, the roster construction
was so sound, so it was tough to see so
many of the big name players that they already had
a part of their core and that they brought on
and gave up a lot to bring on not able

(04:50):
to show up when it mattered most. And some of
that is credit to Dallas having an incredible game plan
to shut down the Colorado Avalanche. Peach Boor told me
that eighty percent of their pre scout was how to
shut down Kill mccarr and Nathan McKinnon specifically, And so
when you key in on individual player performances, there is

(05:11):
some worthy context there too, Like I do think a
player like kil mccarr, it's hard to look at the
process behind what he was doing and have much criticism
at least the Norris winner for a reason. And I
think the bigger picture issue then is identifying what it
was about the spotlight being brighter in the postseason that

(05:33):
made it so that all of.

Speaker 6 (05:34):
These big name players struggled to show up.

Speaker 5 (05:36):
And I think the conclusion I come to at least
is you had a few too many players playing it
just a bit too safe and unwilling to take the
risks necessary in that series out of fear of making mistakes,
which is completely fair right, like Dallas is a team
that would make you pay for it, And so I
turned to the forward group specifically. Is the area of
Colorado's lineup that I have the biggest question marks around.

(06:00):
And some of those questions I don't have any concern
as to whether or not they'll be answered from players
like Nathan McKinnon, but a player like Gaber Landeskog, who
did make a huge difference in his return. I want
to see a full season of Landeskog and what that
does then for this forward group and a top six
that has now committed to Brock Nelson, who is the new.

Speaker 6 (06:19):
Guy on the block.

Speaker 5 (06:21):
What does a full season of brock Nelson look like?
And then the finally, the biggest question mark is what
comes next for Marty Netches. Because the rest of that
top six is pretty set, They've got a little bit
of work to do to round out the depth and
the bottom of the forward group. But the other areas
of the lineup I'm feeling pretty good about for the
Colorado Avalanche.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Let's start with that star Nathan McKinnon, another vintage season
at twenty nine years old, fourth and heart, first team
All Star, led the league and assists and shots led
all forwards in average time on ice. Heck, he missed
three games and still led all forwards in the league
in total time on ice. If you use the crude
point share stats over at Hockey Reference, McKinnon would be

(07:04):
the number sixty five skater of all time alright, already
in his twenties. Only catastrophe could keep this guy from
the Hall of Fame and frankly circling in on an
inner circle Hall of Fame type career if I were guessing,
but it was a lot of wear and tear. Can
this keep going for McKinnon? Is this going to be
what we can expect again next year or what do

(07:25):
you think comes next? Megan?

Speaker 5 (07:27):
Yeah, I think something I really appreciate about Nathan McKinnon
that he sometimes gets criticism for it is how well
he takes care of himself. And he came into this
last year with an emphasis on recovery. And I think
that I noticed a difference in the year that McKinnon had.
I think the other difference, too, was the four Nations.

(07:48):
It was clear to me that the players were more
invested in this tournament and format, and so I think
that had a little more were in tear coming out
of it, just not having that break like the rest
of the team. That resulted in him taking a little
bit of time off at the very end of the
season when they did experience some of those losses that
you talked about.

Speaker 6 (08:08):
And so what I see as.

Speaker 5 (08:09):
A player that wants to push for his personal best
every season, but also recognizes the value of Wanjevit. The
players that he admires most have had long careers and
that has been what has cemented their place in hockey history.
And I think that matters to McKinnon too, and so
I think he is recognizing where to be more conservative

(08:32):
and where to push himself in a really healthy way.
And I think that's where you look at aspects of
his game where he improved this last year and you
see that room for improvement that he pushes for.

Speaker 6 (08:42):
Just like in the face off dot, I think he really.

Speaker 5 (08:45):
Buckled down and became so much stronger at the dot
and it translated to better overall numbers down the middle,
especially once they did both throughout that position after the deadline,
and I think that was headed up by Nathan McKinnon
as a leader. I expect that from McKinnon in the
year to come then, just a player who continues to
round out every aspect of his game and become more

(09:07):
multi dimensional while still prioritizing things like rest in recovery.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Then you mentioned Martin Nachass, the big new addition to
the team last year. It's a tough blow to be
the guy remembered for being traded for Miko Rantan, especially
when it ended up as it did last year. But
my goodness, nay Chass is very good. Twenty six year
old got only thirty games with the Abs this year,
but put up a near point per game pace on

(09:34):
twenty thirty average time on ice, two point seven shots
and three quarters of a hit per game. His work
on the power play was just devastating in a good way,
as his points per sixty at the main advantage in
Colorado was the number eight rate among anybody in the NHL,
and it even strength he got to play with McKinnon
liken it until the last few games of the season.

(09:55):
He missed a couple of those with an upper body issue.
You talked about McKinnon as well. The Abs have one
more year of cheap Nachas, and by cheap six point
five million, and then they got to deal with a
slightly sub rant and in cost crisis. About a year
from now, what do you expect out of Martin Chos
as he continues to fit into this team and where
is he going to play in this coming year.

Speaker 6 (10:16):
I'm really excited.

Speaker 5 (10:18):
It is a contract year, no matter how you slice it,
If that means a future that continues on through Colorado,
which I still think is a possibility or not, this
is an important year for Niches to bring his very
best and he comes on the heels of a points
high season. This last year I think disrupted in part
because of a trade that required a little bit of adjustment.

(10:38):
The early returns of Neches in Colorado were so good
that I think a full length season of Netchees in
that top six with plenty of opportunity is only going
to translate to better results and production. And so the
power play is an interesting call out because you're absolutely
right it was. It transformed a stagnant and struggling power play.

(11:01):
Like before the ranton In trade, this was a struggling
top unit and it goes through roles in the regular
season that you don't overly panic, but it was leading
to a little bit of panic that this top unit,
made up of guys like cam lacar and Ranton and
McKinnon were struggling to convert and when nets Just was traded,
it offered something so different for that top unit that

(11:23):
required a little bit of adjustment. There was so much
more movement and rotation between the place that McKinnon ordinarily
played because of what netchus offers. His toolkit is pretty diverse,
and when he applied it, it gave them so many
more looks on that top unit. It was deceptive and
hard to counter. And that's where I want to see

(11:43):
Netch just step back into that place and pick up
where he left off, because I think he played it
too safe in the playoffs, and I think that was
one of those players that was afraid of making mistakes.
But I think that toolkit, the way that he moves
the puck through traffic and his ability to use that
speed to get to inner ice and be a little
bit deceptive. I don't think I saw enough of that

(12:05):
in the playoffs, but he teased that in the regular season,
and so I think he can be so much more
of an offensive weapon in that top six and on
that power play going into next year.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
The enigma Valerie Nishushkin. He is the reason that we
still have to talk about the Russian factor. I think
his issues have been chronicled over the years. His six
month suspension lasted into mid November, and then at the
new year he suffered an injury that kept him out
until late February. While he was out there, he was
excellent again forty three games and thirty four points, with

(12:40):
twenty one goals in that by the way, throwing over
a hit per game, taking almost three shots. He got
his first year first All Star vote. He was right
wing two on one ballot, which was the same number
of second place votes as Miko ran in the end
for the NHL All Star ballot. I don't know how
that happened. He's still big, physical, skilled. He's only going

(13:01):
to be thirty until late next season, which blows my mind. Actually,
can anyone predict what is going to come next with
this guy? And how many of those five remaining years
on the contract do you think he's going to be
an ab.

Speaker 5 (13:14):
That part's a little harder to say, But I don't
want to undersell what a huge step forward this last
year was for Valnachushkin. Obviously, availability concerns with respect to
like health injury related is still a bit of a
worry with val Nachushkin, but the availability in the playoffs
in that first round it stood out to me as significant,

(13:36):
and I hope that this is an important building block
to turn the page on those past chapters for Valonachushkin
and just go into next year, hopefully complete more of
a full season than we've seen.

Speaker 6 (13:47):
That'll be the biggest tell of.

Speaker 5 (13:49):
What's next for Valichushkin, because you're absolutely right when you
look at the impact on a nightly basis, it's there
when he's playing. It doesn't really take long for him
to shake off the rest between missing some time coming
back from injury. He comes back and he's a really
big impact player and it's all the things that you said,
huge power forward and that's another reason why you know

(14:12):
the performance in the playoffs on that second line with
brock Nelson, I wanted to see him be a little
bit more of a driver, and I think that was
missing from his game a bit. And I'm just happy
to have had a healthy Vonachushkin for the other reasons
in these playoffs that I want to see him build
on that going into next year because with Jonathan Duran

(14:34):
signing elsewhere, that top six is now counting on Gabriel
Landeskog being healthy, brock Nelson really settling into his role
as two s, and Vonichushkin continuing to be the Valdachushkin
that the ABS know and love. And so he's a
really important ingredient in what's going to make that top
six work and make it dangerous. And I'm really hopeful

(14:55):
that because he was able to stick in these playoffs,
that's actually a huge turning stone for Valma Chushkin.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
So many important offensive players on this team. Megan and I,
so I'm going to throw two of metcha and ask
you a pick them between two of them brack Nelson,
and I'm going to give you Gabe Landeskog. I'm sure,
I'm not sure if that came in the sheet with you,
but I definitely think he's worth discussing. But of course,
no regular season production versus brack Nelson, who was created

(15:23):
over there was some talk that maybe he was a
little bit less than what he used to be in
some of what we saw, but he certainly was very
proficient when he was an Avalanche last year. He's what
thirty three going on thirty four, Brack Nelson, Gabe Landeskog.
Who do you think is going to be the better
player for the Abs next year?

Speaker 5 (15:43):
If I'm evaluating just production, I think brock Nelson's going
to come ahead in the points total. I like to
measure other aspects of the game, and so I think
that the two way impact of Gabriel Landeskog. You saw
the immediate difference just in possession numbers when Landeskog was
to that second line.

Speaker 6 (16:01):
I think that's going to come away then.

Speaker 5 (16:03):
As a huge presence for in favor of Landeskog. But
I think that points total has more to give with
brock Nelson, who through this point has still been a
thirty goal scorer year by year, and I think that
the point's numbers, at least through the end of that
regular season, started to reflect that. And I think of
this as a dad to many young kids who had

(16:25):
just been traded from his team and needed to settle
down in Colorado, and now he has this extension ahead
of him to settle into a house here in Colorado
with his family and just have that one less thing
to worry about. Then starting this year out of training
camp in Colorado with a little bit of clarity on
what's going on in his life for the next couple

(16:45):
of years. So I think that's going to make a
huge difference in the on ice numbers for brock Nelson.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
Awesome. Let's move on to ar Terry Lekkinen, and he
had shoulder surgery in the off season, missed part of
the season to begin, but he still put up career
high twenty seven goals on a career best eighteen point
two shooting percentage. His share of the power play has
been declining for the past few years sixty seven percent
to fifty five to this past season fifty one percent,

(17:17):
but he's still managing to play big minutes twenty minutes
per game and mostly on the top line with McKinnon.
His block shots and hits bash is just over four
are just over three, sorry, and ranking him four hundred
and forty first is for skaters, so that part isn't
as exciting, but he still is looks like he's a
big part of this offensive team. But Megan, what do

(17:38):
you think Lecan is going to do this season? Will
he have a bigger role in the power play, maybe
get back to double digit power play points. What do
you think we can expect from lecan in this season?

Speaker 5 (17:48):
Yeah, I think that's the secret ingredient in that top
six that I expect to take another step forward, especially
in Jonathan drem no longer being a part of that
top six picture.

Speaker 6 (17:58):
I do think we can.

Speaker 5 (18:00):
Expect to see more McKinnon and Leacanon together on a
top line and that's going to obviously translate to some
pretty positive results for Lecanon.

Speaker 6 (18:09):
I even look at his impact.

Speaker 5 (18:10):
In the playoffs, and he was a player that I
think didn't get a lot of credit for some of
the intent behind what he was doing. He was on
the doorstep of so many high danger opportunities at the
NetFront that were just getting stopped by Ottinger, and a
great performance from him in that first round. And when
I look at the impact that Lacanan can have on
the heels of a career high goals this last season,

(18:31):
even having missed time at the start of the year,
I think that's just another step forward. Because there is
this emphasis on Lecanon being more of a full time
mainstay attached to McKinnon on that top line. I think
there's a lot of trust that's always been there, but
now in terms of the options or the competition, I
think there are fewer, and so that just puts a

(18:52):
lot of emphasis then on what Leacanon can do on
that top line. And then as far as the power
play goes, they bring in a new assistant coach to
head up the power play. So I'm excited to see
what kind of changes that might bring about because what
Lacanon is on that top unit is such a versatile
rover that obviously wants to establish himself at the NetFront.

(19:14):
So I think there's more room to give and because
of his familiarity there, there's probably going to be a
lot of trust, and I think that he's going to
earn a lot of favor in the eyes of a
coach trying to deploy him there. That will translate to
some pretty good results.

Speaker 6 (19:28):
But really that'll.

Speaker 5 (19:28):
Come down to whether or not Lacanan can execute and
convert on demand advantage. And obviously that history is there,
and I think the heightened opportunity five y five on
that top line with McKinnon is going to also help
make his case for more power play time with that
top unit. But given the year that he had, even
having this some time that's the guy that I'm looking

(19:50):
at to take another big step forward.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
All right, And that's there's so many forwards on this team.
Is there anybody else you could see having a huge
role getting a lot of points for this forward Core Megan.

Speaker 5 (20:06):
That's a great question, because the Ross Coulton of it all,
this is a player that once upon a time was
brought into be a three C with even this hope
maybe his ceiling could be a future to see, right Like,
they would just fill that position until ross Colton got
a little more comfortable there. And this last year, because

(20:28):
of that LCK and injury, we saw ross Colton playing
up in the top six, moved him to the wall.
They actually really liked him there, and he was a
point per game, a goal per game player there for
a little bit. It obviously wasn't sustainable. Some injury happened,
and then when he returned in the year settled down
a bit. He was put back in this third line role,

(20:48):
and in his own words, he experienced trouble that he
hadn't experienced yet before in his career playing alongside less
offensively minded teammates. And so what I'm curious to see
then is this is I think a player with a
really good and high ceiling that we haven't fully seen
tapped into in Colorado just yet. I think they need

(21:08):
to make some decisions around how they want to support
Raskolton in Colorado, because I think there's more for him
to give. I won't say it's in a top six capacity,
but if they really commit to some talent on that
third line, that's a player that I think can pick
up the pieces of what started as a really good
year for him this last year and just continue to build.

Speaker 6 (21:29):
On that more.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
Of all the upsets and surprises from this episode, the
biggest is that Victor let me ask the question about
Cale mccarr, because this is Victor's one of his absolute favorites,
and why not it should be everybody's favorite player. I
think he's been mccarr. That is, he won his second trophy,
second North Trophy this year, ninety two points one point

(21:52):
five blocks per game three shots. He was very high
in the Bing and Heart Vallani as well. His thirty
goals crushed at the runner up among defencemen this year
and mark the first time in thirty six years back
when Paul Coffee roamed the earth that we've seen that
type of a goal total from a Blue liner. Cale mccarr.
Is this the absolute peak for him? And what's next?

Speaker 5 (22:15):
Gosh, this question I feel like every year, because you know,
the season before this he had a career hiding points,
and by everyone's account, in his own, I should say
he had some periods maybe where he didn't feel like
he was quite out his best, and he still walks
away from that season with a new career hidden points,
and then he follows it up with this season that
we just saw.

Speaker 6 (22:36):
Somehow surpassing the year before it.

Speaker 5 (22:39):
And so I feel cliche saying yeah, I don't think
this is the peak for cal mccarr. I think it
continues to go up from here. And where I think
it goes up is not just a little bit the
boost in points each year. I think that he continues
to push himself in that way, but I think he
wants to be a more well rounded defenseman every year.

(22:59):
And I think he probably even sees that people talk
about the Norris Trophy is being awarded to the guy
who gets the most points, guy who scores the most goals.
I think that cal mccarr takes that personally because this
last year I think he took a step forward defensively
obviously ate up probably.

Speaker 6 (23:17):
Too many minutes on the.

Speaker 5 (23:19):
Penalty kill, which is why I think Brent Burns enters
the picture to help alleviate some of that. And that's
where I think we see this boost in kil mccarr's
game this next year, is with Brent Burns able to
eat up some of those big PK minutes, do we
just see cal mccarr become more unchained five to five
and more alive on that top unit that I was

(23:39):
talking about with the power play earlier. And so I
think the addition of Brent Burns has a direct relation
to cal mccarr having another step forward in this year
to come.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
The other most prominent defenseman on this team Devin Tay's.
When you saw mccarl last year, you were probably also
seeing Devin tas because he had only seventy six games,
But he and mccarr are still combined for the fourth
most time on ice for a defensive pair in the
league at five on five. That makes his individual impact
tough to isolate when you've got the Norris winner next

(24:13):
yea all the time in fantasy who cares he's one
of the top defensemen who's not the alpha on his
own team. Certainly he doesn't get the power playtime on
ice on the team. He and Sam Gerard get the
scraps that mccarr isn't out there for. But what should
we make of tays at this point in his career,
He's going to be with the team for quite a
while longer he's locked up. Is he pretty much going

(24:34):
to stay steadily in the type of role he is
right now?

Speaker 5 (24:38):
I think his role will remain very similar, but I
think in terms of production, I think it's all just
a little bit short of where he's been tracking in
the past seasons, and so I think it will actually
return to a little bit higher compared to this last
season going into next year. And where I think that
happens is similar to how I just talked about kill

(24:59):
mccarrying unchained and maybe alleviated of some tough minutes with
the addition of Brent Burns. I think that impacts DeVante's
as well. And I look back at the playoffs and
I got the sense that because the Abs were struggling
to convert offensively, there was a lot of attention on
to the back end, where a lot of their offense
runs through and there was this question of should they

(25:22):
unchain Taves and macar and perhaps distribute that offensive threat
more throughout the back end by having maybe Taves on
a second pair to give that second pair more of
an offensive chance. And I could see the addition of
Brent Burns, who I don't think is coming to Colorado
and is expected to play top or even second pair
minutes quite like what he was doing with Slaven in Carolina.

(25:44):
But he can hang with that caliber of talent and
that caliber of matchups. And so if the ABS wanted
to separate mccarr and Taves, which over the course of
a game Jared Benner blends the pairs anyways, so it's
not that controversial. I think that when you have that,
it opens up tapes for his game then to be
more isolated, the measure of his impact, to be more

(26:06):
isolated to whatever pair than he is being put on,
and I think that can give him opportunity or at
least help to elevate those around him in a way
that we didn't get to fully see this last year,
because as we know, Brent Burns has a bit of
an offensive flair himself. So I think that just makes
the bottom line of the production coming from the back
end bigger and better than Jess cal mccarr.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
The last question on the blue line I have for
you is can anybody else get to forty points? I
don't know. It sounds like you're pretty high on Brent
Burns coming in, and of course there's other very talented
defenseman with Colorado, the Girards and so forth. Who do
you think is got the best upside of the rest
of this defensive core.

Speaker 5 (26:47):
So I think individually, I don't know if Brent Burns
can get there, but my hope is that he can
help someone like.

Speaker 6 (26:53):
Gerard get there.

Speaker 5 (26:55):
And Gerard is the player that you look at the toolkit,
the puck move, the speed, the mobility, agility that Tornado
move it. He's so popular for right and so you
want to see that translate to some more production. It
doesn't necessarily have to be goal scoring, but you just
want to see the overall points pick up. And I
want to see Gerard then be the player that gets

(27:17):
to forty points this next year. I think he was
close to it too in the thirties, and so I
just want to see him have that kind of points
impact Because of everything about the style of defenseman he is.

Speaker 6 (27:28):
It's what he needs to be.

Speaker 5 (27:29):
And I think he's still capable of it with that toolkit,
and hopefully then the addition of Brent Burns just gives
them lots of options on that right side to help
bolster a guy then like Gerard opposite.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
Him great stuff on the blue line. Let's move over
to the goalies and the Avalanche for ranked fifth and
expected goals against for sixty two point thirty three, but
conceded the twelve ranc actual goals per game bit of
tail two seasons though for the goaltending as they started
with Alexander Georgiev Justice Eninin who both struggled and then

(28:03):
they were both moved for the Woods Mackenzie Blackwood Wedgwood
and definitely changed the tide. Blackwood started the year in
San Jose and played really well behind that poor defense,
and looked really good in Colorado eighteen point twenty seven
goals save above expected one point two eight Delta Fenwick,
He's in the year one of that five point two

(28:25):
five million dollar contract. And then Nashville or Wedgwood started
in Nashville, came over into in the spring and at
times he took over for Blackwood for at times when
he was playing well, and his goals save of expected
was over eight delta federal one point one nine. So
both of them performed really well and better than expected,

(28:46):
which was not true at the beginning of the year.
So that's why that number quoting the whole years is
a little misleading, because they did quite well. So I
guess the question is what do you think we can
expect from the Woods this next season? And again both
Blackwood and Wedgewood. I would imagine black Woo is going
to have the majority of the starts, but Wedgwood is
certainly no slouch as someone who can come over and
take some starts.

Speaker 5 (29:08):
Yeah, this is not even in my own words, but
in the words of Chris McFarland and Joe Sakik, the
area of the Abs lineup going into next year that
is the most solid and the most sound, and I'd
agree with that assessment. I think the part that isn't
always easy to measure is how a goaltender handles the

(29:29):
mental load, especially under the intense pressure of the playoffs,
and that was an environment that we had yet to
see Mackenzie Blackwood in, and he handled himself extremely well,
even earning a shutout in Game four, and game by
game over the course of the series. I think that
he corrected mistakes that he was experiencing early into games.

Speaker 6 (29:51):
And when you talk.

Speaker 5 (29:53):
About like the intensity and compete of a player like McKinnon,
I think that Mackenzie Blackwood is sneakly that in goaltend form,
he's pretty hard on himself, but in a productive way.
And so I just expect Mackenzie Blackwood to trend in
that direction with a full runway playing behind the Colorado
Avalanche going into next year, I expect that to just

(30:15):
get better. And then Scott Wedgwood, I think has really
embraced his role in Colorado and so stepping up when
called upon knowing that it's not going to maybe be
as regularly. It's not like a one bee kind of tandem.
He knows how to make those starts then out when
he gets them, and so I think that he demonstrated

(30:36):
very solidly that he can step up and be a
reliable and strong backup as needed as well. It just
makes the goaltending threat then very strong in Colorado going
into next year.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
Great stuff, Megan, This has been a good discussion of
the Colorado Avalanche. Why didn't you let people know how
they should keep up with all your work.

Speaker 5 (30:59):
Yeah, I'm on Twitter slash xs at meg Angli and
we'll have some articles and written in video content on
gorillasports dot net going in the next year.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Outstanding. Everybody should do that. Megan is one of the
best on the Colorado Avalanche. And thank you so much
for coming on to talk with us today.

Speaker 6 (31:19):
Thanks for having you guys.

Speaker 5 (31:22):
Thank you well.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
Since then, that's good fire pap, Oh my goodness, walk
with a cat? What gram Now it's your weekly goalie
talk with Kat Silverman.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
Kat's instinctime once again for kats and sakes with Kat Silverman,
the BEng Gold mag talking Avalanche goalies and we're talking
one of the really good ones, one of the top
prospects in the game. That's Ilia and the back off.
Ilia and the backoff. It's six one, one hundred and
seventy nine pounds. Drafted in the second round back of
twenty twenty four, finish his second season with Metal or Magnetigorsk.

(32:03):
His second his numbers were almost as good as the
previous season when he won the Gargan Cup. It was
a pretty awesome season he had there and he's now
twenty two, so he was drafted as an overager, so
he's a bit on the older side, which is nice.

Speaker 7 (32:16):
He can come over to.

Speaker 4 (32:17):
North America a little bit earlier, but it's not gonna happen.
Next year he'll be back on loan in the KHL.
Looking at his hockey prospecting numbers, he's been trending up
and up every season from twenty two to twenty six,
thirty fifty and now eighty one percent chance of being
an NHL or. There's a lot of really strong goalies
whose trajectory looks like this one, such is Nikolai hobby

(32:38):
bullin the Bulin Wall. I remember watching him fondly back
in his time. So, Kat, what are your interestings tell
us about Ilie Nabokov.

Speaker 3 (32:46):
I'm excited to watch him play.

Speaker 8 (32:48):
He is one of the most powerful young goalies. When
we talk about conditioning level for some of them, and
we talk about skill level for brothers, and we talk
about what they need to do to put it all together,
he seems like he's put it all together pretty well.
He's got really explosive movement. His skating is the really

(33:10):
strong which is nice because he is not super huge.
That's okay. We love a good undersized goalie. We root
for all of those. Always listed at sixty one, one
seventy nine, that's exactly the sweet spot for me. Do
want to see what the long term plan is there
for him with Colorado, because they, like you said, they

(33:31):
have him on loan back to the Cage all this year.
He looked in everything I watched ready for the Age,
all of the very least. So I would like to
see him making the move over to North America because
he does rely pretty heavily at the moment on enjoying

(33:54):
angle work when he's in the blue paint, so he
likes to really hinge himself off of his posts. He
likes to slide really aggressively. He likes to challenge shooters
a bit, but he likes to do it without staying
super flat.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
And flush, and that's something that.

Speaker 8 (34:11):
You have to reevaluate your timing when you come to
North America for that, just because the a surface is smaller.
So we'd like to see him making the move over.
Obviously Colorado feels differently, but I think we're hit the
point where you know, I don't know how much more
he can do over in the KHL, unless it was

(34:31):
something that he specifically requested, which if that's the case,
I think that's great. We love giving goalies whatever journey
they want to follow. Don't love what the Avalanche have
done recently where they bring goalies over from Europe basically
to put them straight into the NHL. And I would
like to see him come over, get a chance to

(34:53):
play in the AHL for a year, and then get
a chance to move over to the NHL because I
think he's a year or two away from being a
starter backup for them. He looks really fun.

Speaker 7 (35:07):
That's awesome.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
Yeah, I hope they do that too, give him a
transition year and then seems like sky's the limit for him.
Let's talk about Trent Minor, another guy in the system,
six one hundred and eighty five pounds drafted in the
seventh round back in twenty nineteen, just finished his first
full AHL season. He had eighteen games back in twenty
twenty three, twenty four in this past season thirty eight games,
twenty two wins, nineteen save percentage two one TWOJA really nice. Overall,

(35:32):
his numbers in the hockey prospecting don't look great. He's
trying to down and he actually graduated them all with
just ten percent chance of being an NHLer with not
a whole lot of good comps. Mike McKenna is probably
the only one who is listed as a bust in
this model, but based on what he's done more recently,
maybe there's some more optimism for Minor. Kad, what do
your instincts tell us about Trent Minor?

Speaker 8 (35:53):
I feel so strongly that he needs to be given
a better chance. I don't really know what's been going
on with Colorado with their goaltending over the last couple
of years. They keep drafting guys that I think are
really promising prospects, and then I don't know if they're
not hydrating them at altitude enough.

Speaker 3 (36:13):
I don't know what's going on there. Things just fizzle out.

Speaker 8 (36:16):
I don't want that to happen with Trent Minor because
I really want to feel vindicated that my Dustin Wolf
two point zero is NHL capable. I appreciate that they
gave him a couple of NHL games last year. They
didn't go super well. I don't think their goaltending has
been anything to write home about for the last couple
of years, so I don't think that was necessarily his fault.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
We will see how that goes.

Speaker 8 (36:36):
I think he's my favorite comp for him style wise
is Gonanti ronta type goaltender, although hopefully with fewer injuries.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
So I don't know.

Speaker 8 (36:48):
I would like to say that I feel really confident
about him, but it's really confident about Justice anonin and
they did not care for that analysis and booted him
from the system. We will see what happens with Trent Minor.
Maybe he needs to move to another organization.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
I don't know.

Speaker 8 (37:10):
They've got a weird depth chart right now where it's
hard to tell who fits in where for them.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
In terms of their long term plans.

Speaker 8 (37:19):
Like I was mentioning with Nabokov, they currently have Mackenzie
Blackwood signed through twenty nine thirty as their presumable starter,
and I don't know if that's why I would be
hinging all of my hopes on long term, and then
their backup is currently either Trent Minor Scott Wedgewood, so.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
I don't necessarily know if Scott Wedgwood is.

Speaker 8 (37:45):
My top choice for their long term backup for the year,
so I'd assume we're going to be seeing a lot
of Trent Minor this year, but then again, I don't know.
That's what I thought with Annon in two to three
years ago, and they kept him trapped in the minors
for a little longer than expected.

Speaker 3 (37:59):
So we will see. But I do really like Trent Minor.

Speaker 8 (38:04):
I think he's the player that I will hold on
hope for until he is stop signing ECHL contracts at
thirty five.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
I think.

Speaker 7 (38:14):
I love it, love to have that faith, and I
actually I wonder if what the Abs did this past
season might actually hurt some of their prospect development because
basically they didn't have a great plan and then they went.

Speaker 4 (38:25):
Out and hit the lottery with Blackwood and Wedgwood and
it was like, we don't need to develop goalies, we
can just trade for these guys, which is I do
that reinforces a solid strategy moving forward.

Speaker 7 (38:37):
But it worked out for them.

Speaker 8 (38:38):
It worked out for them, But it also it concerns
me when it comes to Tobakov and Minor just because
it feels very broken clock theory, where.

Speaker 3 (38:53):
A broken clock is right twice a day, But that
doesn't mean that you should leave it like that.

Speaker 8 (38:58):
You should probably change the battery and that of how
that felt, because they did spend their last couple of
years trading for goaltenders who had gotten not forgotten by
their other organizations, but the.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
Patients had run thin with other organizations.

Speaker 8 (39:12):
They had picked up Hunter a Musca from the then Coyotes.

Speaker 3 (39:16):
They had picked up Oh who did they pick up
before that?

Speaker 8 (39:20):
They had someone I believe it was two years ago
who really stressed me out to watch play, and I
am looking it up just to make sure that I
get a chance to see. They had Gorgiev, They had
Ivan Prospatov that was also in Arizona. Coyotes pickup Pavel
Francus was one that they had essentially just signed brought

(39:43):
straight to the NHL.

Speaker 3 (39:45):
He dealt with so many injuries for them that it
was worrying.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
So yeah, I.

Speaker 8 (39:49):
Don't really know what they're doing. Hopefully Yonis Johnson. That's
the one that I am the most worried about them
trying to replicate.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
Because he was so bad to watch. But yeah, we'll see.

Speaker 8 (40:04):
I'm looking through. I just did a quick deep dive
to see when the last time they had a homegrown,
home developed goaltender play.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Consistent games for them, and it predates.

Speaker 8 (40:16):
Their twenty twenty two seasons, so we'll see how that
goes for them. I'd like to see them succeed. I'd
like to see Trent Minor succeed. I'd like to see
Ilianabakov succeed. I don't like the way that they've been
operating with their goaltenders, so it will be interesting to
see if that was a holdover once they moved beyond
the Varla mal Era and if hadn't looked at the

(40:39):
same strategy again.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
So we'll see how that goes.

Speaker 4 (40:43):
Indeed, best of luck to bock Off and Minor, and
thanks caav for giving us your instincts on the Avalanche goalies.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
Victor, there is something else we got to talk about.
Don't we have something special to give to the list.

Speaker 4 (41:01):
That's right, Jesse Dauber Hockey has generously given us a
couple of free copies of their amazing fantasy hockey guide.
It's the Bible. It's the best fantasy hockey guide out there,
and we're gonna give it away to some of our listeners.
All you need to do is leave us a recent
from the time you hear this five star review on
apple Pad podcasts or the podcast app of your choice

(41:22):
and then send it to me Victor a screenshot with
your name or a way to identify you and your
most recent five star review, otherwise I don't have a
way to track who it was. And then we'll select
a couple of the winners from all those who enter
and get you your guide.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
We'll be back right after this dig The Dynasty Dig
Colorado Apps Edition vicker Hey the abs A lot going

(42:02):
on at the pro level, not so much at the
prospect level. Number twenty six system. The first we're gonna
talk about your no brainer? Who is it?

Speaker 4 (42:12):
No brainer? Is Mikhil Gulyayev twenty twenty three, thirty first
overall pick five to eleven hundred and eighty three pounds.
He is an excellent skater, good two way guy. I
think there was thoughts that he could be more of
an offensive guy. I'm not sure that's really the case.
He's had two full KHL seasons now and he has

(42:33):
twenty seven points in those one hundred and thirty one games,
so I'm not sure that he's really gonna be a
score I think that he's going to be a good
two way guy, but that's a little bit of the concern.
There but there's some interest and some possibility that he
has a little bit more to give. There is some
tracking data hear from his MHL season, but I'm not

(42:54):
sure how relevant it is, but at the time he
was showing a lot of creativity slot passes and transition game.
Looking at his FHL player card, I have him as
a five point one two, just twelve percent chance of
hitting that average player in terms of fantasy, I think
will be more valuable to the NHL team. And part
of it, too, is that some of his bash. I mean,

(43:14):
his bash is probably going to be okay, close to average.
He's a little bit above average for shots, his hits
are very low, and his blocks are good, so all
in all, he'll probably be just above average in terms
of that. Let's find out a little bit more about
Gulia from our FATL scout, Jesse.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
Patrick has this to say about Guliayev. His skating is
world class, great speed, acceleration, lateral movement, ability to change
direction the passinger, and handling well the handlings of strength.
He's able to transport the puck up the ice in transition,
makes simple passes, but shied away from any that push
the edge. In Patrick's viewings for the shooting Mikhail as

(43:55):
for want of a better description, an okay shot can
change position to get his wrist shot, but often lacking
in strength, not dangerous, but will occasionally find an opening.
The IQ average doesn't panic and is okay with anticipation,
but the vision lacks imagination. It's not dynamic for checking,
doesn't venture into the zone all that often. Defense lacking

(44:19):
in any physicality whatsoever, good with closing gaps and taking
away space from forwards and maintains good position in front
of the net, but can be pretty passive in the zone.
So the best asset was McHale's passing. The biggest concern
lack of physicality on defense, along with the end zone
defensive play the top tier outcome that Patrick can foresee

(44:39):
as a third pair defenseman with time on power play too.
That's because there's enough parts of the defense that are
lacking and the offensive potential doesn't seem to have translated
well enough to the KHL. The median outcome NHLAHL tweeter
mostly in the AHL or a seventh D man and
the justification there the D defense doesn't seem to him

(45:01):
improved much. Perhaps the offense translates even less than it
appears as well. The stylistic comparable Kevin Schattenkirk and the
NHL ranking Mason Black has this to say. He puts
Mkil Guyayev up against Adam. You're a check. There's a
name we haven't talked about in a little bit, but
you're a check. Cannot hold serve with Mikhil Guyayev, who

(45:24):
wins fifty three to forty seven percent victor. Is that
how you see it?

Speaker 4 (45:30):
Both of these guys are a little bit less than exciting.
I think with your check, it's just still a bit
more of an unknown. I probably would take your check
because Ghlaya has shown us who he is. He's a
strong transition guy, two way good defensively, not a whole
lot of offense. You're a check. I don't know. I
still don't know that we know because he had injury

(45:53):
plagued draft season, drafted partly on bloodlines and what he
accomplished when he did play, and then this season he
was an the OHL but also did not play that much,
just twenty seven games for Brentford and was not even
half point per game. So it's is there more there?
Does he just need more games and not really sure.
So I would probably take your check just because there's

(46:15):
less known and there's the potential that he could still
show us more. And so that's basically the extent of
my reasoning of why I would take him. But if
I was an NHL team, I would one hundred percent takely.
I have no questions asked. His equivalency in the Hockey
Prospecting Model is very high, eighteen two to seventy five
to sixty nine percent. I'm not sure why Byron's so

(46:36):
high there because just because it's an he's early in
his development and his playing in the KHL, but he
doesn't really have a lot of points to support that theory.
Your check was started at two percent and went down
to one percent chance of being a star, so very
low percentage is there for year check, and I have
him as a six point four to five, so as
you can see, I have a higher upside but also skeptical,

(46:59):
less than fifty percent chance that he gets there, but
a little bit higher percentage, and that's partially just based
on what he did previous to this year, not necessarily
this year, because he didn't do a whole lot of
convincing this year. His bash should be pretty good, a
little bit above average. Looking at some other comps for Gliayev,
there's really only three Ryan Murkley, Scott Needemeyer, and Michael Dilzato.

(47:20):
This is in the Hockey Prospecting model, so as a
wide range there of like average NHL producer, superstar, hall
of famer, and guy who never made it. So I
guess I'd have to say he's probably most like Delzato.
But I remember Delzatto having pretty good bash Jesse, if
I remember correctly, and I don't think that Goliav is
going to be that guy. So looking at the j
Fresh model, four percent chance of being a star, seventy

(47:41):
percent chance of being an NHL or so, quite a
bit more pessimistic on Glia of Jesse.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yes, sir, who is your need to know prospect?

Speaker 4 (47:50):
Victor you need to know is going to be Sean
Baron's twenty twenty one sixty first overall pick five, ten,
one hundred and seventy six pounds, he tore his ACL
and missed his entire pro season after a productive career
at Denver. That was so disappointing. We were all so
looking forward to seeing what he could do in his
first pro season. Had a couple of games at the
end of last season after the Frozen Four with the

(48:12):
Colorado Eagles and looked pretty good and then we didn't
get to see anything, so that was really frustrating. You
heard from Meghan about him, and we're excited to see
what he can do this year being fully healed. Looking
at the tracking data from the previous season with Barons,
he looked great at the at Denver. His defense is

(48:32):
the best part of his game, which is why I
really think he can translate what he's doing. His offense
is also pretty good. His transition game needs some work,
but overall he should not have a huge issue transferring
to the NHL. Let's find out a little bit more
about Sean Barons from our FHL scout though Jesse.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
HL scout Patrick says this about Barons and above average skater.
Used his edge as well, utilized it along with his
speed in multiple parts of his game. Barons is able
to make very good outlet passes and diagonal passes that
find teammates in good positions and with his handling, able
to transport the puck into the offensive zone or set
up teammates or go for a scoring pass. Sean has

(49:17):
a quality rist shot that serves him well and close
and finds angles from the point to get shots on
net for the hockey IQ. He reads the play well
allows him to be in the right places, whether it's
in the defense of her offensive zone. He has good
sight when deciding when to pass and shoot. Barons actively
participates in the fore check by keeping pucks in the
zone or throwing pucks around the boards. On defense, uses

(49:41):
his skating and stickwork to maintain good position when defending
the rush. Uses his body for checks along the boards
and to box out in front of the net. So
the biggest asset passing and handling. He does a good
job of passing to teammates when they're in good positions
to move with the puck or take shots. The biggest
concern lack of size, which causes issues on defense. The

(50:02):
top tier outcome that Patrick can foresee second pairing power
play two. That's because of the solid offensive game that
can develop well defensively with good offense. But the median
outcome third pair defenseman thirty points. It may not be
enough at the higher level without the offense translating more,
maybe a slightly less lesser Tory Krug on the rise

(50:23):
in here and the NHL ranking, Mason Black is going
to put Sean Bearns up against Christian Cairou, and Christian
Cairou wins this one victor sixty three two thirty seven
percent to Christian Cairo appearance. What do you think?

Speaker 4 (50:41):
Yeah, I mean it's interesting. Kyrou is such has been
such an interesting case study as being literally as old
as you can be. For his draft class, he was
always on the middle of the older side, dominated the
OHL a bit, and then when he transitioned to the
AHL as a bit of a rough transition, and he's
been a little bit better this past season. But I
don't know. I still feel like even though Baron's is smaller,

(51:03):
I think his game is more translatable because Kyriu has
always been more offensive and has learned to be a
little bit better defensively. But his offense I don't think
is good enough to dictate that much playing time without
being better defensively. So I think that I would take
Baron's here. His pn achily is also better, his hockey
prospecting percentages are better. I have a little bit more

(51:26):
faith in him in my model. So yeah, I'm going Barons.
That's probably surprising to some, but I just can't wait
to see a full pro season from him, and I
think he's gonna do well. Looking at some other comps
for Barons, Philip Pronik is one reasonable comp. There's some
other ones here that I think are too lofty, like
Treli McAvoy and Adam Fox, but I think Kronik could

(51:47):
certainly be reasonable. I don't know that his bash will
be as good, but I think the scoring upside should
be similar. And then looking at the j first model,
just one percent chance of being a star, twenty two
percent chance of being an NHL as usual as we
know and love from our J Fresh friend, very pessimistic Jesse, Oh.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
J Fresh. All he loves is the MHL and B
chow and I appreciate him for it. Who are we
going to keep our eye on Victor in this system?

Speaker 4 (52:18):
Yeah, here's an interesting one. Maximilian or Max Kuran. He
is a twenty twenty four fifth round pick. He's a
six to three hundred and eighty seven pounds center wing.
He plays in the dub and he was in He
was with the Tri City Americans the past two seasons
and he went off for seventy four points in sixty

(52:40):
five games this past season, in his first in his
draft season, he was under point per game, so that
was part of it, so big jump. He's gonna be
with the Edmonton Oil Kings next season, so hopefully that'll
continue to show some positive production. We'll have to wait
and see what One thing I do like about him
is that he's in August twenty seventh birthday, so literally
two weeks before being eligible for the following draft, And

(53:02):
if he had the output he had this past season
in his draft season, he would have gone way way
earlier than the fifth round, probably a third, second or
third round guy, So keep that in mind. Looking at
Bitch Brown's playing tracking data, it doesn't look great. His
transition game is really good, but his expected goals and
his primary assists and goals are low for a tracked prospect,

(53:24):
and his defensive metrics are also not great. So some
things like pace and handling and transition are good. Shooting, passing,
physical and translatability all not looking so good for Koran
and or Kuran. Looking at my FHL player card, I
don't have the highest grade on him, but I do
think that he's someone who he shoots a lot, and
his bash should be a little bit above average. But

(53:45):
I'm eager to hear what Patrick has to say about
Koran because I think that there is maybe a little
bit more hidden here than we have been giving him
credit for.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
And Patrick back for round three with Koran and above
average skater plus speed, good agility, average passing and handling,
able to use this along with his skating to transport
the puck through the neutral zone and set the stage
for end zone cycling. Max's gets shots on net, but
they're lacking in placement and deception, which hinders him and
will be even more the case at higher levels. Current

(54:19):
has an average IQ and is able to move some
maintain poise and as okay vision, but isn't above average
or elite for checking. While he attempts to keep the
cycle going, this part of his game is not as
effective as it could be. Defense Max is a dedicated
defensive forward, skates back hard, helping with odd man breaks
or stopping offense in the D zone. So the biggest

(54:42):
asset skating, the biggest concern lack of dynamic play or
higher end skill, So the top tier outcome there. Bottom
sixer good skater playmaking ability, dedication that could be enough
for a lower role in the lineup, and the meetiing
outcome something more like a good ad. There's some skill there.
The skating's good, but it's not a high level of skill.

(55:05):
Thomas Placanic is the comparable that Patrick would offer. In
the NHL rank King Mason Black puts some ex Curran
up against Ethan Procession and what happened here? The duck
way over mister current sixty six to thirty four percent.
What do you think?

Speaker 4 (55:25):
Yeah, this is a tough one. Both these guys are
well down the list, but hey, that's why you're listening.
I think that I probably would go Procession. I like
that he So both these guys are actually really late
draft dates. He's a July birth date, Karen is an
August birth date, and both had stronger production. I think
Karen's actually a little bit stronger in the WHL. So

(55:46):
I don't know. I think that there's a little bit
more bash from Procession though, So I think that's a
nice little peripheral floor, and so I would take him.
Looking at the hockey prospecting between the two, it's pretty
low for both, but Max has a ten percent chance
of being a star and procession four percent, so I

(56:07):
guess a little bit higher for Koran. Some other comps
for Karan, guys like David Bachis, Tommy Novak, Fraser Minton.
That's probably a good realistic outcome of who he could
be like Fraser Minton, which would be great for the apps,
maybe not so exciting for you in fantasy. And then
looking at the top down hockey model Max Karan two
percent chance of being a star, thirty percent chance of

(56:28):
being in NHL are a little bit more pessimistic as usual,
and I would expect that for this player, who's definitely
a depth option Victor.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
As if those three prospects weren't good enough, we have
a he got traded too late to make the episode prospect.
Who is that?

Speaker 4 (56:45):
Yeah, that's gonna be Daniel Gushan. We've talked about Goushen
before on the show when we talked about San Jose,
he just wasn't good enough to make the cut in
terms of discussing him. He was pretty exciting at one
point when their prospect pool wasn't as deep, But now
it's a bit deeper, so we cut gushin, but now
we get to add him back because he's going to
Colorado and he's going to be a little bit more

(57:08):
favored there. To remind you, he's a twenty twenty third
round pick. The kid was five foot eight at the time.
He's still five foot eight, one hundred and sixty five pounds,
so the height is definitely a bit of an issue
for him. He's now twenty three and spent his third
full season in the AHL with the Bearkuda. His scoring
has been good since the first season and nearly point
per game in the last two seasons in the NHL.
He got into twelve games this season into the NHL

(57:31):
with the Sharks, only had one assist and really didn't
look that good. That was part of the issue, and
I think that the Sharks really thought that they weren't
sure that he was going to stick as an NHL
or so might as well give the young man an
opportunity to shine somewhere else, And that's what he got.
They got Oscar Alawison back, who I think has a
higher floor and someone that might be able to fill
a bottom six role, and that they're a little bit

(57:52):
more confident with their floor. If Gushin hits his potential,
which he probably has a better chance of doing in Colorado.
Then the Sharks could end up looking a little foolish
on this, but I think they were trying to do
him a favor as well, and they just don't have
the roster spots for Gushin, so we'll see what happens.
Looking at his FHL prospect card, Gushen has some things

(58:14):
that look really good. His shooting, shots, scoring chances, expected
goals all that look really good in the AHL. His
assists look pretty awesome. Some of the other tracking data
for passing doesn't look as good. His priiffs also not great.
His blocks are close to average, his hits are a
little bit lower, but his shots are really high, so
his bash is projected to be pretty good just based

(58:35):
on those numbers and some of the other play driving
numbers we just didn't have data for, so we'll have
to skip that part. Let's hear a little bit more
about Gushen though. From my HL scout, Jesse.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
And Tony has this to say about Danil Gushin. He
is a good skater, quick and agile, positive passer, able
to handle the puck extremely well, A tricky shooter, able
to get his shot off for himself or pass it
to a teammate. The IQ positive vision and anticipation, zero panic.
He exhibited four checking most of the time and was

(59:06):
observed doing back checking on defense, so the best asset
tenacity getting the puck. Unfortunately, the biggest concern is his
size and if he could stand up with the physicality
of an NHL season. So the top tier outcome would
be tier two middle six type of player because of
that tenacity at both of them the ice, along with
shooting and passing to the puck power play one time

(59:28):
he could reach that outcome, but the more likely median
outcome tier three bottom six, and even then his lack
of hits and physicality could limit that time and give
him spotty power play opportunity. He reminds Tony of Brendan Gallagher,
but a better skater, and Tony thinks he could be
a very effective player with his skating, vision, tenacity and shooting.

(59:51):
It's only the lack of physicality that could hold him back.
And the Lord Stanley champion Mason Black put out the
poll Daniel Gushchin versus Ryan Suzuk, and Guchen won's this
one big seventy two to twenty eight percent over the
former first round hyped Suzuki victor. What do you think?

Speaker 4 (01:00:11):
I think the people got it right this time. I
definitely would take Gushen. I think the upside is more,
but also frankly, I feel like the floor is higher
with Gushin. Ryan Suzuki. I know people might be excited
about him because he is Nick Suzuki's little brother and
Nick Suzuki last I checked. Looks at notes, Nick Zuzuki
pretty good NHLer. Ryan Suzuki though not so sure. And

(01:00:33):
even though he has had pretty successful HL seasons, including
fifty nine points in sixty nine games for the Chicago
Wolves this past season, a lot of his underlying numbers
just really don't look that good. And in the couple
of NHL games that he's gotten so far to this day,
he didn't really look very strong. Of course, that's a
very small sample size, and I think he deserves a
little bit more of a shot. But looking at some

(01:00:56):
of his numbers, if you look at his FHL player card,
there was a lot of orange and red all over
the place, including a lot of his play driving numbers,
a lot of his transition game. It's just not very pretty.
There's not a whole lot that he does that is
going to be super exciting, including the fantasy managers. His
bash is pretty low. He does take and win a
lot of face offs, whatever that's worth, But the rest

(01:01:16):
of it, I'm not sure there's a whole lot to
write home about, and I think some of his points
might be a little inflated. So I have him at
a four point thirty six. I don't think that he's
going to be as exciting, and frankly, I think the
ceiling and floor is higher for Gooshin. Even though he
is a smaller player Ryan Suzuki not super big al will.
He is a little bit taller than his brother. He's

(01:01:37):
six foot one, one hundred ninety six pounds, so definitely taller.
But I'm still taking Gooshen here in this hole. Looking
at the cocky prospecting between the two, they're actually pretty similar.
They graduated the model at three percent chance of being
a star, and their strongest HL seasons have come after
they've graduated the model, so doesn't really get reflected there.

(01:01:59):
Looking at some otherms fro Gooshion, he actually looks a
lot like Andre Kuzmenko, who has certainly had an up
and down NHL career, but we've seen flashes of brilliance
and fantasy relevant. So in the right position, right situation,
maybe Gooshen can do that too. And you can't imagine
a better situation than what he's walking into in Colorado,
because quite frankly, they need some high end talent. You know,

(01:02:22):
they lost Juanne, they lost Coyle, they've lost some of
their other forwards, certainly Rontinan. I think Gushan is going
to get a shot. He might even get a shot
in that top six, and certainly if he plays well
then he could make a name for himself. So I
like the move for Gushin and I think that I
would definitely take a low key flyer on him if

(01:02:44):
you can by on him, as long as it's not
going to cost you too much. Don't lose your mind
on it, because he's still a bit of a long
shot to be an impact nhlor, but he certainly has
the skill. Looking at the j Fresh card, just three
percent chance of being a star for Gushan fifteen percent
chance of being an NHLer. I think the odds are
a little bit more than that Jesse, But that's all
for the avalanche dig If you're a Patreon. You can

(01:03:05):
listen to my top ten prospect recap on Patreon, and
if you're interested in doing any scouting with us or
help out with the show, shoot me a DM on Twitter, Discord,
or email us.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Do right back forth before we get out. Fan Tracks
is the place to play your fantasy hockey. You can
move leagues over there, start your new leagues, nine different sports.
You could be playing most options for scoring, salaries, contracts,

(01:03:38):
and everything else. We got slow drafts going right now,
rookie drafts, and I'm telling you it's the only place
to fly. Fan Tracks HQ lots of fantasy content, articles
on fantasy hockey and all the other fantasy sports. FHL
is a team. We'd like to thank the whole crew

(01:03:59):
for what they do. Timm Ay is a madman. He's
working around the clock on those tidy leagues. I keep
calling him a madman. I wonder if that's offensive. I
don't know. All I know is that Timmy is my hero,
and crafter Ryan Simo are great with the tidy leagues
as well. The new season is a coming, if it's

(01:04:19):
not already here. Tony and Patrick are lead scouts here
Lil Patrick today, Mike Steven and Matt are helping prepare
these show episodes. A lot of work going on behind
the scenes. Brandon helps with the website prospect Ranks visualizations. Boy,
if you're not checking out some of the stuff that
we got going on there, you better get with the program.

(01:04:41):
Check out Victor's x feed and you can see some
of the visualizations that we put up, or just you know,
come into the discord. We got the ADP project going
right now. If you're trying to figure out what to
do in your rookie drafts, as far as what order
rookies are going in a fantasy draft, We've got stats
me together from people who are contributing their drafts and

(01:05:04):
therefore getting to participate in looking at what is there.
Daber Hockey Dauber Prospects sponsor the show. Victor is an
editor over there and you can follow us work. I
do a solo show called Dynasty Sports Life. I talk
about multiple different Dynasty sports, little college football going on lately,
little baseball going on lately, all kinds of cool stuff.

(01:05:27):
Follow me. Follow Victor on social media at Blue Sky,
Jesse Severe or the one Victor at x on X,
at fan Hockey Life at Victor Nuno, twelve Bright and
Review US Apple Pods, Spotify, wherever else you get your pods.
Thank you for listening once again, and until next time,

(01:05:47):
you know what to do. Keep living that batasy hockey life.