Fantasy Hockey Life Ep. 424 New Jersey Devils with Trey Matthews

Trey Matthews of Pucks and Pitchforks is here to report on the New Jersey Devils. Jesse and Victor interview Trey about returning pros Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Stefan Noesen, Evgenii Dadonov, Dawson Mercer, Connor Brown, Ondrej Palat, Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey, Jacob Markstrom, and Jake Allen. In Cat's Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Mikhail Yegorov and Jakub Malek  In the Dynasty Dig, Victor breaks down Seamus Casey, Lenni Hameenaho, and Anton Silayev with the help of scouting reports from FHL Scout Puneet 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's
your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league.

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

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

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Fantasy Hockey Live. Jesse Severe back once again not only
by myself, but also with Victor Nuno, the smart half
of the operation. Victor Nunio, the Fantasy Hockey Doctor. How
you doing?

Speaker 4 (00:35):
I'm doing awesome, Jesse. I don't know if I can
always live up to that, Moniker, but I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
How are you good? Good? I can live up to
it as long as I fake it real well. But
in any event, Victor, here's the question I've got for
you today. Why aren't there more fantasy hockey ranks out there?
I feel like there's a couple. There's the athletic scott one.
Of course, our good friends at Dabber have some. Sometimes
there's some at fan tracks where people were affiliated with

(01:01):
I have my ranks up there. People may not know this,
but there's a site called Fantasy Pros that provides rankings
for a bunch of different sports, and they aren't dynasty ranks.
But I did contribute mine this year just to pitch
in that you can go if you look at a
consensus ranking of me and some guys from Yahoo and
Kelly Kirby from Fantasy Pros and stuff like that. But
it just seems like there's not many ranks out there, Victor.

(01:23):
Is it just because we're a smaller hobby or am
I hallucinating because I don't actually really go looking for
ranks here? What's going on?

Speaker 4 (01:34):
I think one of the things. First of all, I'm
blown away knowing that you have ranks out there that
I don't know about. I want to see those immediately.
Sorry about that.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
The second of all, I do think that one of
the things, and I didn't really know this since I
don't play that many other fantasy sports, but until relatively recently,
that the settings are pretty similar, like a fantasy football
has standard settings. And one of the things about in
hockey is that both the good and the bad is
that there are no standard settings. People will try to
say that, they'll try to claim that's nonsense. There are

(02:03):
no such thing as standard settings. Every league is a
bit different. There are some common categories, certainly, and there
are some relatively common setups, but they are all very
different and that is what makes it really hard to
put out ranks. So quite frankly, the best place to
look at ranks, and what I usually tell people is
just go look at your league. Look at the fan
track scoring. You can look at it for the last

(02:25):
three months for the year, whatever the case may be
last year. It's not going to be perfect, but that's
going to tell you the best of who the best
players are in your league, because it's otherwise you look
at some artificial rank and it's going to be going
to it might be nonsensical for your specific league, so
you need to do that. The Fantasy Hockey Geek is
another thing that I really enjoy that Dauber does. That
you can put in your individual settings and for the

(02:47):
most part, unless you have strange settings, you'll be able
to put everything you need in there. It'll crank out
a ranking based on his projections. That's the best that
I've found. But in general, yeah, there aren't a been
and I think that's why. It's because as if I
and people often ask me, why don't you make ranks
of like pros, and it's and even doing it for prospects,
it's so hard because it really just depends. And that's

(03:09):
why we often say on the show, if you're in
this kind of league, this guy is good, but he's
not as good in this other league, And unfortunately you
have to make all that qualifiers, which is both annoying
but also I think is what makes it fun, because
there are so many different types of leagues and guys
have different values in them, and when you know that,
you can take advantage of it and you can really
help you.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Also, making ranks is an awful exercise for anybody who
does it, because generally they suck. I'll link. We'll get
a link in the discord, primarily for people who want
to make fun of me. But yeah, it's interesting looking
at what some other people think. But yeah, Fantasy Hockey, Gee,
at least you can custom it because otherwise I'm in
there making ranks like I don't know. I guess I
could defend about anything I want because you didn't tell

(03:49):
me what the format was. But in any event, Victor, Yeah,
that's that is something maybe people could view from the discord,
which you can get into for free. Now I have
to remember to do it. You can get into for
free by email in this Fantasy Hockey Life at gmail
dot com. Get yourself a link and hop in or discord.
But there are other things people can get vick Er,
what are they?

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Lots of great bonus content Over at patreon dot com
slash Fantacy Hockey Life. You can get access to the tiers,
the ranks, the list, the player cards.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
They're super cool.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
Brandon has done such great work on them. We've refined
and curated over time. This is I think the third iteration,
and I think that they tell you a lot by
also being mostly pretty readable, So trying to hit that
balance of giving a lot of information but also not
being too busy. Some may argue that we didn't quite
accomplish that, but I like them. I think that they
tell you a lot, and they're really useful for figuring

(04:42):
out what you should do with your players and other
great stuff. You get patron casts, you get roster doctor help,
one on one help. I can help you with your
drafts or anything you need. One on one personalized, customized
help is part of the package there, So check all
that out over at patreon dot com slash Fancy Hockey Life.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Be right back to talk to our special guests. Welcoming
to the show for sign guests. Ready to talk some
New Jersey Devils with us. He's from Pucks and Pitchforks.
He's from Locked on Devils. It's Trey Matthew. How you
doing today, Trey.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
I'm doing great. How about yourself?

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Doing great? Doing great? Trey Matthews. Make sure I pluralize
that there. But to Trey, we want to talk to
you today a little bit about these Devils. I don't
know whether the Devils need a narrative for me, but
the way that I look back on this season to
some extent is it was before Jack Hughes injury and
after Jack Hugh's injury. And we'll get more into Jack

(05:41):
a little bit. But after the last game he played
and he went out March second, they went nine, ten
and one. The clock ran out at the last minute
on the Blue Jackets coming up, So the Devil's got in.
But this season in the Metro, you never want to
count out the Rangers, aisles and the Pens who dropped
through the floor. So the Deves were still okay. They
were back and forth all year. They never really went

(06:04):
on a positive run. I looked fifteen out of sixteen
of the teams that made the NHL playoffs last year
had at least one win streak of at least five games.
Last year, New Jersey never won more than three in
a row. To all this one might legitimately require a
reply scoreboard. Who cares? We made the playoffs. We made
the tournament, We had our chances, and the defense was

(06:24):
very good for the Devils last year. The special teams
were lead on both sides, and even this season was
their second highest division finish in fifteen years. But for
Devils fans that had that twenty two to twenty three
performance that was so great, it had to be a
little bit rough. What do you think the Devils can
do this coming year? In what did you make of

(06:45):
that season?

Speaker 2 (06:46):
To go off on your first point, Yes, you're right.
The Devils have not won more than three games in
a row in two seasons. They didn't win no more
than three in a row twenty twenty three twenty twenty four.
They didn't win no more than three in a row
last season. Yes, the big thing that this team needs
to work on is consistency and finding ways to go

(07:07):
on lengthier winning streaks because those points can be so
vital down the stretch of the season when you do
lose a vital component. So I think that's what the
Devils definitely need to focus on. I think, for the
most part, if the Devils remain healthy, they'll be all right.
Even before the Jack Hughes injury, you just knew that
this Devil's team wasn't gonna go that far in the

(07:30):
playoffs because they didn't show me anything that basically signaled
that they could hoist the Stanley Cup. And I knew
that they could handle themselves in the Metro. But my
problem is looking at some of those Atlantic Division teams,
like you look at the Panthers, who are back to
back champions, Maple Leaves, Lightning Senators are on the comeup.

(07:53):
That's what left me a little concerned. I think the
Devils are still going to be a playoff team this
upcoming season. Metro's not really all that strong. Barring anything
catastrophic happening, I think the Devils will still be a
top top three team in the Metro. But the thing is,
they really need to stop with the excuses saying, oh,

(08:14):
they're young, they're in experience. No, you don't want your
window to run out, because look what happened to the
Maple leafs. You would have thought that they would have
Mitch Marner for a lifetime, but Mitch Marner realized, you
know what, I'm probably not gonna win a Stanley Cup year,
so I'm gonna go to Vegas. So Maple leaves. While
they're still gonna be a good team, they lost a

(08:34):
vital component. Or I think a good example will be
Nico Heisher. He has two years remaining on his contract
before he becomes a UFA. Now I don't think Nico's
gonna leave. I think I'm eighty to ninety percent sure
that Nico is going to remain with the Devils. But
you still don't want to play with that ten percent.
If so, I think the Devils really need to take

(08:55):
some leaps forward if they really want to win back
some of their fan base.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yes, yeah, that's good stuff. And you already mentioned him.
We talked about him off the top. We'll start with
play by player here, and of course we're gonna start
with Jack Hughes, one of my absolute favorites, and he
had his fourth straight ninety point ninety plus point pace season.
Of course, he had that ninety nine points in seventy

(09:21):
eight games. A few years ago games played continues to
be the issue. He had sixty two games played again
last season after having as many of the previous season,
with seventy eight games played being his high. Still for
a while, he wasn't really bashing that much, either, but
last season four point two six block shots and hits
per game, ranking him one hundred and sixty was Maybe
that rank doesn't seem too exciting, but with all the

(09:43):
points that he gets, it's it's pretty attractive. And if
he can stay healthy, of course that's the big rub.
He can be just a super elite asset the trade.
What do you think can Jack stay healthy? Can he
hit the one hundred point mark, actually hit the hundred
point mark and not just pace for it. What do
we think about next season?

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, the one hundred point pace mark, Yes he can,
but the problem is health and that's been a big
problem for him for a decent amount of seasons. Back
to back seasons he's had season ending shoulder surgery. I
don't know what it's going to take for him to
stay healthy. He might need to get a different skating
coach so that way he can learn how to stay

(10:20):
on his feet, or he's gonna have to get stronger
in the gym. But those are discussions we've been having
since he first entered the league when he was a teenager.
And the thing about Jack is that, no, he's young
in terms of an average human, but when it comes
to NHL experience, he has a decent amount of games
under his belt. So it goes back to what I said,

(10:40):
the excuses are starting to wane a little bit, and
at some point you just got to show that you're
capable of so much more on the ice now to
go off your one hundred point mark. Yes, I don't
think Jack is in fact let me rephrase that Jack
is in fact capable of getting there. But I do
want to add in say this. I think Jessper Bratt's

(11:03):
chances of getting one hundred points in a season are
higher than Jax because one of Jessper's main strengths is
his availability. Jessper did have offseason surgery, but he appeared
in all but one game this year. The one game
he did not appear in was due to rest, and

(11:24):
he played in all the playoff games. I think Jessper Bratt,
with his main component being availability, I would honestly say
that his chances of reaching one hundred points, probably higher
than Jacks.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, man, let's talk about Jesper Bratt, because that is
an underappreciated fella. I think some may have questioned when
he signed a very big contract for a very long
term commitment, whether that made sense. But man, he's a star.
You're absolutely right. He was the high scoring player in
the team this year by eighteen points. That was even
more of a margin than last year fourteenth in the

(12:01):
NHL for eighty eight points. You talk about maybe he
could get to one hundred next year. He takes more
than a hit per game or throws more than hit
per game. Thirty four power play points was sixth in
the league. When he was on the ice, the Devils
went from an average league average offense to twenty three
percent above that market five on five. Yes, he did

(12:22):
play part of his time with Hughes, but maybe Hughes
played part of his time with Bratt. There is a
reason they gave him extreme offensive deployment because you could
do something with it. What makes this guy so special?
It sounds one hundred points, that's some great stuff.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
He plays a similar game like Jack. He is very fast,
he's a dynamic winger. He knows how to dish the puck. Now,
A lot of people have questions about Jasper's physicality and
him elevating his game during the playoffs, But when I
see during the regular season, I see a guy that
always gives Devils a fighting chance. Because offense is supposed
to be one of the Devil's main strengths. However, they

(12:58):
got shut out the second most times this past season,
so their offense took a step backwards for my liking.
But I think that came from just not getting enough
depth scoring. But when we focus on the top six,
Jessper Bratt, Nico hesher Jack Hughes, all of them compliment
one another. I just need all three of them to

(13:19):
stay healthy to give the Devils a fighting chance. Don't
underestimate Timo Meyer Stephan Nason one of the best net
front guys in the league. I think Jessper Bratt has
definitely surpassed a lot of expectations, And honestly, I was
perfectly content with him signing that lengthy extension. In fact,
I advocated for it because losing Jesper Bratt that's hard

(13:41):
to replace because of the type of point production he
is capable of, and and I think his future is
still very bright. I know he's closing in on ten
years of NHL experience if you could believe it, him
and Nico Hesher time flies. But I still think they
have a lot more service in the end to showcase.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
And Niko Heisher, the team captain, another excellent season, led
the team in goals above replacement for advanced metrics, he
was outstanding. Everything was above wider except strangely, the advanced
metrics didn't like his short handed defense, which that doesn't
jehab what I think is going on there. But offense
was up last year, defense fairly neutral. It was one

(14:27):
of his better Selkie finishes at fourth overall, even though
the advanced numbers didn't line up. But anyway, it didn't
line up the same way as some of his better times.
Scoring totals last three years have been very similar, around
four points per game and playing hard to get at
the very last minute and just missing it. He sure
goes into the penultimate year of his contract in his prime.

(14:49):
What do you expect for the upcoming season?

Speaker 2 (14:52):
First and foremost, with all due respect, I don't like
advanced analytics. I think it could make a good player
seem bad or a bad players seem good. I'm sure
if you look at the advanced alax for Andrea Pilot,
they would work in his favor. I focused more on
what I see from an eye, from an optics perspective,
and here's what I noticed from Nico Kischer. He was
used in all sorts of situations. Sheldon Keith even said

(15:16):
that he never gave Nico an easy shift. Nico on
the power play five on five, shorthanded, he special teams,
you name it. Nico is a glue piece for the Devils,
and when he went down with his injury around January,
you could tell that the Devil's offense didn't function. And
keep in mind Jack was still playing. Nico is just

(15:38):
a phenomenal two way player, one of the best centers
in the league, I would argue, and honestly, he deserved
to finish a little higher in the Selki Race. I
actually talked to a couple writers that actually gave Nico
a first place consideration, and everyone was just stunned that
he finished fourth, just outside the top three finalists. Nico

(15:59):
actually finished second in the Selky Race a few years
ago when the Devils had fifty two wins. He just
lost to Patrise Bergerron, and it was gonna go to
Bergeron because that was his final season in the NHL,
and at this point they might as well they renamed
the award after him. But digressing a little bit, Nico
one of the best two way centers in the league.

(16:21):
He holds the Devils together. And I don't care what
the advanced analytics say. Nico is used in all sorts
of circumstance, five on five special teams, you name it.
He's been given tough assignments to guard. Nico is is. Honestly,
I have no regrets with the Devils selecting him first. Overall,
he is the epitome of Devils hockey.

Speaker 4 (16:46):
All right, let's shift over to team Meyer. And it
was a bit of a struggle for MYO this Mayer.
This season. His goals per game were down, his points
per game were down, trust per game were down, point
power play points down. This was his lowest point total
since twenty twenty to twenty one one, prior to his
breakout season with the Sharks.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
And he should be in his.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
Prime, but the numbers are trending the wrong way. Six
more years at eight point eight million, where he remains
the highest paid forward on the Devils. So Trey, I
think the question is Meyer a prime bounce back candidate.
Can he get back up into that seventy plus point
pace range or is this the new normal for him
in New Jersey.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
Look, I'll challenge that a little bit. When Jack went
down with his injury, Meyer elevated his game come March
and we always jokingly say it's Meyer Madness as a
joke to March Madness. The thing about Timo is that
his role is a little different with the Devils. While
he was with the Sharks, he was the go to
guy on a rebuilding team. Now he's not the go

(17:42):
to option on a Devil's team because you got Jack Hughes,
you got Nico ky Scherre, you got jessper Bratt in
front of him. Meyer is a great power forward and
the Devil's offense offensive chances increase when he's out there
on the rink. So I think for Timo and I
think he's actually somewhat solid. And yes, you talked about

(18:03):
his average annual value. Look, you gotta play hardballs sometimes,
and if the Devils didn't give Timomyer that contract, you
could best believe there was someone else that was gonna
give Timo Meyer that type of money. NHL Network even
talked about it, so you got you gotta give a
little to get a little. So I think that the

(18:24):
Devils are just fine with Timo Meyer. I'm sure you
would like to see the point production a little higher.
I talked about it with some of my other colleagues.
I think Timo hasn't been given the best hand either.
He's playing on his off wing. He's not given a
big role on the power play. Once Jack Hughes went
down with his injury, you saw Timo Meyer be utilized
on the first power play unit and he performed really well.

(18:48):
So for Timo, it's just it's just a matter of
adapting to his new environment a little bit. He's still
even if he's not scoring, he still is a pest
in front of the net. The Devils beat the Rangers
in the two thousand and twenty three Stanley Cup Playoffs
in the first round, and Timo played a big part

(19:10):
in it. He didn't I don't think he recorded a point,
but he was being an irritant against the Rangers to
the point where I think he was getting an igor
schistikin's head. So Timo brings that sort of firepower to
the roster. Then come the next round, he elevated his game.
So I'm okay with Timo time.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
Can't beat Timo Time. There are so many relevant players
on this team. We're not going to get into all
of them one by one. So I'm gonna throw a
couple at you at the same time and maybe get
your take on which one of them is going to
be more relevant for our fantasy type fans who are
looking for points and stuff next year. Stephan Nason and

(19:51):
of Guinea Dadanoff for a couple of solid veterans who'll
be playing on this team. Among those two, what do
you think is the more likely guy to make a
bigger impact next year?

Speaker 2 (20:04):
So getting todnav or Stephan Nason, that's a tough one.
Look of getting to donnav He did put up twenty
goals last year, but here's my problem. If you notice
the Stars utilized him less as the season progressed and
in the playoffs, twenty goals is twenty goals, but to
donnav is rumored that this could be his final year

(20:26):
in the NFL, and I am a little concerned with
his speed because the Devils play a fast paced style
of hockey. I would honestly, this is gonna be tough.
I would honestly go with stephan Nason because I think
he's gonna be He's gonna be ulis on the top six,
he's gonna be put in power play situations, one of

(20:47):
the best net front guys in the league, and he
always is there to clean up the garbage for the
devils out in front. He had a career year last year.
He got off to a really hot start. I think
he was solid to start the year. He was solid
to end the year as well. Yes, he had stretches
in which he didn't really put up anything, but Stepan
it was a pleasant reunion. So call me crazy, but

(21:09):
I have more faith in Stephane Nason. Just give in
who his linemates will be hit, what the Devils might
ask out of him, and also his role on the
power play.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
And we'll make it even more complicated. We'll throw three
at a time, and they are very different types of profiles.
First you got Dawson Mercer, the twenty three year old.
Were waiting for him to break out, but thirty six
points last year, eighteen goals, eighteen assists. Then Andre Palatte.
He's thirty four in even fewer, twenty eight points in
seventy seven games, and then you got the thirty in

(21:44):
eighty two games from middle aged to thirty one year
old Connor Brown. Among this group, what do you think
is what you'd expect next year, Trey, I.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Have more faith than Dawson Mercer, just because I think
Mercer is going to be a big component on the
bottom six. Look, we'll look back to Mercer's twenty twenty
two twenty twenty three season, and I think what really
helped Mercer then was Nico Heisher was his linemates, and
I talked about how Nico is really good at being

(22:12):
the glue piece for Devils and getting the best out
of his teammates. Last season, I don't think Mercer was
given a good deck of cards because on the bomb
six you also had Nathan Bashan, Curtis Lazar, Eric Halla
guys that made it a little bit more difficult for
Mercer to really generate anything. Not to mention, Mercer is

(22:33):
playing center and he prefers to play the wing. But
given the center depth, I think the Devils are still
going to use him there. But for Connor Brown, I
can't deny he was pretty solid on the Oilers, but
think about who his teammates were, and think about who
his teammates are going to be now, and he's replacing

(22:55):
Eric Halla's role and Eric Kala. His goal was to
like work the dirty areas, help the Devils keep possession
of the park and score every now and again. But
I have more faith in Dawson mercer Andre Pallatt at
this point. He's a run his course.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Okay and moving over to the blue line tray. We've
got Dougie Hamilton. He is a folk hero on this show.
Dougie has been great for years in this league. Feels
like maybe he's moved down the pecking order. Maybe it's
because he has missed time a little bit in most
recent years. Dipped under twenty minutes on the ice per
game for the first time since twenty sixteen seventeen. Still

(23:40):
gets the leading power play role among the d despite
the rising young star who will be talking about next
For the second street year and the fourth time in
six years, he hasn't missed at least eighteen contests that's
going to be miss Last year, lower body injury ended
his regular season early, although he did come back for
the playoffs. His offense is never in question, but the

(24:01):
reliability and maybe some of the defensive wards had him
in some trade rumors over the summer. Also, of course,
a very big contract. Three shots will overhit over a
block per game and forty points to sixty four games
paced out very well. But is Dougie a potential trade risk?
And what do you think of this guy's role next year?

Speaker 2 (24:21):
No, Dougie, I would be surprised. I would be flabbergasted
if the Devil's traded him. Look, people look at his contract,
but I think Dougie was the person who put New
Jersey back on the map when he signed that big
contract a few years ago, and then New Jersey became
a hot spot when it came to free agency rumors

(24:41):
and getting back to being competitive. The Devils wouldn't be
in this position if it weren't for Dougie. If I'm
being completely honest, Dougie is not in trade rumors. And look,
I'm not saying he's a two way defenseman. Yes, he
does have his mistakes. Who led the defenceman in turnovers
Jonathan Coovi Savage, Yet Jonathan Covid Savage gets a slap

(25:03):
on the wrist. No one really talks about it. You
had that infamous moment where Sheldon Keith called out Covid
Savage after a game, but people defended Covid Savage, saying, oh,
he's good, he's this or that. And don't get me wrong,
I love Covid Savage. I said he was an underrated
get for the Devils. I'm just saying, if you want
to bash on Dougie, fine, but keep in mind, he

(25:24):
did not lead defenseman in turnovers. It was Covid Savage
and some of the other numbers. Look, I know, I said,
I don't like advanced analytics, but when look at some
other numbers, Dougie isn't the worst performing defenseman on the
Devil's blue line. I think it's I think his mistakes
are just way more magnified. He's a great offensive player.

(25:47):
He creates good chances for the Devils out in front
with his strong slap shot. I like Dougie, and I
don't think he's gonna be in any trade rumors. And plus,
you gotta ment I gotta mention this. John Thaankovi Savitge
is going to miss the start of the season, so
you already have a big hole that you need to fill,
and if you just trade Dougie for Cap, you just
made your defense all that much weaker. Because don't people

(26:09):
remember what happened a few years ago when the Devils
put all their trust in Simo Nemets and Luke Hughes
didn't go well.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
Indeed, let's talk about that young stud that was alluded to,
so of course we're talking about Luke Hughes. His second
full season showed some growth and some struggles. His point
pace went from forty seven to fifty one, but the
total time and ice and power play a time and
ice went down a bit. He ranks just fifteenth percentile
on Evolving Hockey defensive metrics. I know you say you

(26:41):
don't care so much about them, but clearly his offensive
impact was a bit greater. So under the hood, some
of his underlyings suggests that maybe he's struggling a bit.
In addition, his bash is poor, and that's something that
makes him hard to roster in fantasy leagues. Two point
eight to two bash per game, ranking him five one
hundred and twenty fifth, so points only pretty good, but

(27:03):
when you're cinding those peripherals not so good. So I guess, Tray,
do you think his hits and blocks will improve a
little bit or is he going to stay in that
low block shots and hit area And do you think
he can sustain that fifty ish point pace.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yes, he gets sustained that fifty ish point pace. He's
one of the best. He's one of the best offensive
minded defenseman on the Devil's roster. When it comes to
hits some blocks, that's not really his game. He usually
focuses more on stick work. And I've actually spoken to
Sheldon Keith about it when I asked him about Luke's defense,
and I think Luke knows how to position himself. He
knows how to use his stick to get possession of

(27:40):
the puck. He actually improved defensively last season and I
had to give him a lot of credit for it
because he really took some giant leaps forward. So I
think Luke, if you're looking for hits and blocks, you
might want to focus on like Brendan Dillon for hits
or Brett Peshi for blocks. That's not Luke's bread and butter,
but that's okay. He has good stick work. That's where

(28:03):
I think Luke does well.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
Defensively or sure, all right, let's give you a pickup
on defense here. Simo Nimitch and Seamus Casey both have
struggled to find staying power in the NHL. Nimach put
up four points in twenty seven games. Casey managed eight
points in just fourteen games, but both have some pretty
Both suggests that had some struggles with expected goals in

(28:26):
COURSI against. Not sure what's gonna happen there. Who do
you think has the better odds between Nemich and Casey
in terms of sticking in the lineup most of the season,
and who has a better chance to make a positive
impact going forward.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
That's a good question, Victor, And honestly, we're gonna have
to see what happens after training camp, because, like I
told you, Jonathankova Savage is gonna miss the start of
the season, which opens up a spot. So will it
be Shimo Nemet's, will it be Ethan Edwards, will it
be Seamus Casey. We're gonna have to wait and see.
If you're focusing strictly on points in offense, Seamus Casey

(28:59):
is your guy, because that's what Seamus Casey does. However,
here's the downside. He is five ft ten, He's an
undersized defenseman. He's really got to find ways to take
his defense to the next level. He's not gonna lay hits.
He's not really gonna put his body on the line.
Sheldon Keith even said it's easier to limit his ice

(29:20):
time because of his defensive inabilities. So I think all around,
you could focus on Shimo Nemetz because Nemitz has said
that he wants to focus more on defense as opposed
to offense. But I think his offensive game it'll get
there at some point, and we saw flashes of it
during the playoffs. But I think I think Seamus Casey,

(29:44):
if you're just focusing on points, you lean towards him.
But the more all around defenseman who has a better
chance of developing Chimo Nemetz. He's more of a project
but impact player right away racking up like offensive numbers,
Seamus Casey, don't underestimate Ethan Edwards.

Speaker 4 (30:03):
Good name and keep in mind, thank you. So let's
switch over to the goalies. New Jersey were ranked twelfth
and expected goals against for sixty and conceded the fifth
ranked actual goals per game. Following those numbers, it would
suggest that their goalies perform better than expected, and that
would be true, and a lot of that can be attributed,
of course, to Jacob Markstrum, who carried the majority of
the load at forty nine games played, although Allen certainly

(30:26):
did his part and thirty one games played actually had
more than double the goals save above expected than Markstrum,
but of course that's a little bit more of a
limited sample size. We also saw some Nico DAEs. We've
seen Nico DAEs here and there throughout the years, and
we saw six games of him. Not sure if we'll
see more this season. So I guess, Trey, what do
you think is going to be the split between these two?

(30:46):
Is it going to be similar to last year? And
what can we expect from the Devil's goalies this year?

Speaker 2 (30:51):
So Jacob Marstrum is going to be the starting goalie.
The only reason Jake Allen got more games played is
because Marstrom got injured for an extended period of time
at around a late January and he actually had to
miss four nations because of it. Jacob Markstrom is going
to be the go to guy for the Devil's final
year of his contract, getting up there in age thirty

(31:12):
five years old. What would his new contract look like?
He said, if Tom Fitzgerald calls his phone, he's gonna
pick up. I think he's still going to remain it
with New Jersey barring anything catastrophic happening. The Devils, I
would say, had one of the best goaltending tandems by
far in the league, because Mark Strum had three shutouts,

(31:34):
Allen had three shutouts. Dawes also recorded one shutout. The
thing about DAWs is that he has a lot of
great potential, but it's really hard to carry three goalies,
and the Devils can't send him down without him clearing
waivers and he's going to get picked up right away.
So that's definitely a big question that the Devils need
to figure out. Do they just want to keep DAWs

(31:55):
on the NFL roster and not risk losing him? But
one of the more underrated goaltending tandems in the NHL
that deserves a lot more credit. And I would argue
and say that Markstrom was a big reason why the
Devils were able to stay afloat or sneak away with
some of those wins, because for so long it's been
a revolving Door. When it comes to goalies, the Devils

(32:17):
have had trouble replacing that sort of goalie production when
Martin Brodor retired. We don't count the Blues here. We don't,
so we'll just say retired. But you got Corey Schneider,
Keith Kincaid, McKenzie Blackwood, Vtag Vanitchek, Akira Schmid. I could
go on. The Devils have had a tough time finding

(32:40):
that replacement, and I think they got something in Jacob Markstrom,
Jake Allen, Nico Dawes, Mikey Goov over at BU. He's
in the pipeline and I spoke to his head coach,
Ja Pandolfo, who has won two Cups with Marty. He
said he sees some similarities between your Goov and bro Door.
Not trying to put that kind of pressure on the kid,

(33:01):
but your go Off is a highly touted Devil's prospect
that was ranked number one in North America when he
was drafted last year.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
Thank you very much, Trey. This has been great information
on the New Jersey Devils. Where can people keep following
all your work?

Speaker 2 (33:19):
You can find me on X at Trey mat four.
You can listen to Lockdown Devils wherever you get your
podcasts from, available on YouTube and all podcasts streaming services.
You can also check out some of my written work
over at Pucks and Pitchforks, which is.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
Fan sided tremendous. Thank you so much for coming on trade.
People need to go follow your work and good luck
following those Devils this year.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
Thanks guys, Thanks you.

Speaker 4 (33:49):
Will.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
Since that's good fired pash, my goodness, walk with a cat?
What grap Now it's your weekly goalie talk with Kat Silverman,
Kat's Instincts.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
And once again for Kat's Instincts with Kat Silverman and
Vin Goldmeg. We're talking Devil's goalies and we got a
couple of good ones here. The first one Mikhail Yegorov,
one of our recent fans joined the discord and his
name Kat is all Hale McHale and it's a picture
of him and people are fanboying over this guy, and

(34:26):
I can see why.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
He's pretty interesting. We'll like to hear what you have
to say.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
Nineteen year old six foot five hundred and eighty one pounds.
He was drafted forty ninth overall back in twenty twenty four.
His d plus one season was pretty pretty interesting. After
improving his numbers with the Omaha lnswers from eight ninety
two to ninety twelve and nineteen games, he transitioned from
the USHL to the NCUBLEA midseason over to Boston University

(34:51):
and backstopped them all the way to the NCAA Final
before ultimately losing to the Western Michigan champs. He had
some pre pretty incredible games, in fact, I think stealing
some games for Boston University, so I could see why
there's some excitement there. His equivalency in the hockey prospecting
model didn't go up as much as you might think

(35:13):
because of the numbers being a little bit more pedestrian
last season in the USHL, but he's up to thirty
six percent chance of being in NHL or so. The
comps there are likely Whoso and Matt Murray, who you
could have a whole dissertation on Matt Murray and his trajectory.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
But he did.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
Really well in the NHL for a while.

Speaker 4 (35:31):
But Kat, what do your instincts tell us about michil.

Speaker 5 (35:33):
You He's an interesting one for me because he is
a lot of fun to watch play college hockey. Because
he's one of the sneakiest Russian developed goaltenders because he
plays I guess the best way to put it is,

(35:58):
he plays like a six foot a Canadian kid who
was raised with like the most textbook technique. He loves positioning,
he loves his angles. You never see him overslide and
make really weird saves. You don't see him allow really
weird rebounds. He almost halms the entire team down with

(36:23):
how he plays because he is so consistent with things.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
I am really.

Speaker 5 (36:27):
Excited to eventually see what he does at the pro
level with that, especially in the Devil's system. That is
an organization that he is the archetype of what they
used to love in goaltenders like he is what you
would have expected from the Corey Schneider era, and I

(36:50):
haven't seen them with a goaltender like that in quite
a while, so I'm really excited to see what he does.
I have a soft spot for the Devils and for
an organization that kind of pioneered the current era of goaltending.
It's been really frustrating to watch them just not click
in net, especially when it comes to their goaltending defensive relations.

(37:15):
We really haven't seen things mesh super well over the
last I don't know six or seven years, so I
would love to see what he is able to do
once he hits the pros. That being said, I am
trying not to say, hey, bring him to the Pros
right now, because I'd like to see him develop a

(37:36):
little more.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
But I enjoy it like he is.

Speaker 5 (37:40):
When I think of Devil's goaltending, He's what I picture,
So I'm excited to see what he's able to do
for them. I think he's a really good match for
what I picture in New Jersey.

Speaker 4 (37:54):
Oh, Hail Michale, that's what I heard you say.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
Sounds good.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
That's exactly what I said. Yeah, just with a lot
more words.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
Let's move out to the next guy. Jacob Malik twenty
three years old, six foot four, one hundred and ninety pounds,
drafted one hundredth overall back in twenty twenty one, just
completed his third season Aliga with Ilvez, where his JA
went down a little bit along with his save percentage.
Only one of those things is good if you're scoring
at home. Malex kind of flattened. He rose his equivalency
the first three years and then the last couple He's

(38:23):
come in in the high forties high to mid forties
in terms of his percentage of being in NHL aer
he there's a lot of guys who look like him
who are NHLers, like Calvin Pickard, Jack Campbell. You know,
I think Peter Rudaie is one who you know a
low level starter. Okay, what are your instincts tell us
about Malick?

Speaker 5 (38:40):
I I'm kind of curious to see what he's able
to do in North America because he had a fairly
seamless transition all things considered, from playing in check Yah
to playing in Finland, which I know in the past
I've talked about this, but for any of the listeners

(39:01):
who haven't heard me wax poetic about my appreciation of
teams using Finland as the gateway drug for goaltending development
for guys who are playing in leagues that are really lopsided.
I'm a huge supporter of it.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
I think that.

Speaker 5 (39:16):
For teams that don't necessarily have the space or want
to bring a goaltender over North America, immediately popping them
into Finland to give them a chance to plan on
a slightly smaller ice surface against a slightly more level
quality of competition is a really nice way to get
them adjusted when they're coming from Czechia, Slovakia, when they're

(39:37):
coming from Germany, if they're coming from Kazakhstan and they're
not playing for one of the high level Russian teams.
Even some of the KHL players who play for a
much lower team or don't have room in their depth chart,
sometimes they'll pop them over to Finland as well. So
it looks like that went really well for him. And

(39:59):
I would to say that he is probably North American ready.
I don't think that he is necessarily nhlready. I don't
think that anyone's expecting him to be. I would love
to see just a little bit more confidence in his

(40:21):
decision making because his timing looked pretty good, his depth
management looked pretty good, but nothing looked like it was
the elite tier. For me, there was nothing that stood
out as, oh, this is what will save him if
he is struggling to adapt to playing in the AHL.
So I'd like to see every uniform part of his

(40:41):
game elevated just a hair this year. That being said,
I don't think they necessarily need him to be nhlready,
so they've got time to see what he can do.
And he did have a nice consistent trajectory in Finland
playing for playing in Liga. So I don't think it's
international play was superstellar at any point in time, but

(41:04):
I think his finished play was good, so we'll.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
See how that goes.

Speaker 4 (41:09):
Thanks so much for giving us your instincts on the
New Jersey Devil's Goalies.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
Okat, Victor, there is something else we got to talk about.
Don't we have something special to give to the listeners.

Speaker 4 (41:23):
That's right, Jesse Dauber Hockey has generously given us a
couple of free copies of their amazing fantasy hockey guide.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
It's the Bible.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
It's the best.

Speaker 4 (41:31):
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, 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,

(41:53):
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 3 (42:00):
Will be back right after this dig the Dynasty dig
New Jersey Devils edition. The Devils are the number eighteen

(42:24):
system in hockey, and we have a couple familiar names here, Victor.
It starts with your no brainer. Who is it?

Speaker 4 (42:31):
Yeah, this is going to be Seamus Casey. Casey twenty
twenty two second round pick, forty six. Overall, he's definitely
a bit undersized as a defenseman five one pounds, right
handed d and fun fact, I share my birthday with him,
not birthday though, just birthday. This was his first pro
season and I would say it went pretty well. Eighteen
points and thirty HL games. Of course, he started this

(42:53):
season with that overseas trip in Prague against Buffalo Sabers
and he had a really nice goal, but overall eight
points in fourteen games, which was pretty good, but there
were definitely some hit and miss in terms of his
underlying metrics there. His FHL player card based on his
AHL time looks pretty colorful. There's a lot of looks

(43:14):
like a Christmas tree, almost some red and some green.
But overall the play driving not ideal. The bash really
low thirty nine percent. The shooting and some of the
expected goals numbers are good, but the some of the
other number is not so good, and so he's definitely
going to be a points only guy. The pyms are
low hit, some blocks are low, not too many shots,

(43:35):
so he might be a frustrating guy to roster. I
have him had a six point five to one to
fifty one percent chance of being a six out of ten,
so just above average. But let's find out a little
bit more about Seamus Casey form o FHL Scout.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
On the matter of Seamus Casey, we have FHL Scout
Poony who has this to say. Skating moves smoothly with
excellent edgework, especially when changing directions are cutting back. Not
the fastest in a street line, but makes up for
it with quickness and agility. Shows strong balance and mobility
which helps keep helps him escape pressure and keep plays alive.

(44:08):
Passing and handling handles the puck like a forward. Impressive
ability to carry and distribute cleanly, sees the ice well,
making smart breakout passes and creating offense through the quick
puck movement. Confident and creative with the puck under pressure,
often holding possession to open up plays and reads the
game fast. Makes good decisions, keeps the play flowing efficiently. Shooting,

(44:30):
has a decent shot from the point, can score goals
when given space, generates opportunities, but is more of a
setup guy than a pure shooter. Could improve shot accuracy
and power to become more threatening, and the IQ plays
with a high hockey IQ anticipates plays, reads the game
well on both ends, calm under pressure, rarely makes panic decisions,

(44:51):
controls the tempo from the blue line, dictating offensive flow.
For checking, not overlay aggressive, but uses good positioning and
stick work to disrupt plays. Relies on anticipation rather than
physical pressure to retrieve the puck, and could stand to
be more assertive and physical when for checking defense, strong
positional awareness and stick usage in the defensive zone. Physical

(45:13):
battles can be a challenge due to a smaller frame.
Willing to engage, but lacks the strength to consistently win
puck battles against bigger opponents, versatile enough to play on
his off side comfortably, and needs to get stronger and
tighten defensive footwork as he transitions to the pro game.
So the best asset elite puck moving scale paired with

(45:33):
smooth skating and excellent vision, and the best asset also
drives transition power play offense effectively transition and our power
play offense. I imagine if the transition was the power
play that too, But anyway, biggest concern size and physicality
limit his effectiveness in board battles and in front of
the net. Defensive consistency against bigger players remains a question.

(45:55):
The top tier outcome, he could be a top four
defenseman who handles key power play duties. That's because he
offers significant offensive upside as a playmaker and transition driver,
and if he approves his physical game, he can be
a strong two way presence. The median outcome solid middle
pair defender with some power play time on the second unit.
He brings transition offense, but with defensive limitations. Physical shortcomings

(46:20):
may cap his ceiling. Hence, a lesser role may be
better suited. Stylistic comparable think of him as a smaller
mobile offensive defenseman in the Mold Vatory Krug or Adam Fox,
but not as physical and uses positioning and skating to
make his impact. In the NHL rank King Mason Black
put Seamus Casey up against Cameron Reid. Seamus Casey is

(46:42):
still a cruising to victory on this one. Seventy eight
to twenty two percent, Victor. Is that the same way
you see these two?

Speaker 4 (46:52):
I think it depends on my team. If I'm a
rebuilding team, I think I might just go ahead and
take Cameron Reid. He's not as far down the funnel,
so there's more range of outcomes for him, and he's
definitely one of the better offensive defencemen this season that
we're available. There are questions about his all around play
and how much he's going to be able to hang

(47:13):
at even strength and defensively, which are the same questions
we're asking ourselves about Shamus Casey. So I think they're
pretty similar. It's a great comparison by Mason, and I
think that if I was ready to compete now and
I wanted someone who was practically in the NHL or
should be in the NHL this season, I'd take Casey.
But if I was okay kicking the can down the

(47:33):
road a little bit, and especially when you get into
roster crunch time and you're trying to fit guys into
your minders instead of your main roster, I think there's
a really good case for just wanting Cameron Reid here,
and I think that he has similar upside If you
look at the PNHL E between the two, it's actually
definitely favoring Casey as of now. But I think that
there's similar with Reid having an upward trajectory and Casey

(47:56):
going up and down. You look at the hockey prospecting
between the two, and Casey graduated the model at forty
percent chance of being a star based on his NCAA
and NHL time, and Reid started at twenty six percent.
So he's starting higher than Casey was in his draft
and Draft plus one season. But we'll see where he
goes from here. Based on his OHL time. If you
look at Kevin Reid's FHL player card, it looks much better.

(48:20):
Of course this is based on his OHL time, but
his transition game, his play driving all look much better.
His bash definitely a bit lower, better than Casey's, but
not great. His bash figures to be average, and his
pims are a bit better, a little bit better peripheral contribution.
His scoring looks great. We'll see if he can keep
that up. I have him at a six point twenty five,
so a little bit confident that he can be at
least above average. Looking at some other comps for Samus Casey.

(48:44):
Scott Morrow is one that he looks a fair amount alike,
and so we'll see if he can transition. Those two
should be hitting about the same time. Some other comps
are guys like Tristan Leno, Mike Matheson, Mike Green, Josh Morrissey.
So that's the range that Casey's in. Of course, those
other guys don't have the size and high problems that
Seamus Casey has. Looking at the j Fresh card ten

(49:05):
percent chance of being a start, eighty eight percent chance
of being an NHL are so a little bit more
a bit of optimism there from j Fresh.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Jesse Okay Victor And who is your need to know prospect?

Speaker 4 (49:17):
Neat to know is Lenny Jamanajo, twenty twenty three second
round pick, fifty eighth overall, six to one hundred and
eighty five pounds. He was in the LIGA this past year.
He's been there the past couple of seasons, but he
increases scoring from thirty one points in forty six games
to fifty one points in fifty eight games, including a
pretty strong playoff performance. He also was at the World

(49:38):
Juniors or the sorry of the World Championships for Finland
on the men's side, So that's some great experience, had
some decent production there, and he should be in the
NHL this next season. At least he's going to be
competing for a roster spot with some of the other
guys we'll talk about shortly, and he definitely has a
pretty good chance of making it. I say, looking at

(50:00):
his FHL player card from the league, the biggest issue
is his transition game. It's not super great. He's not
the best skater, and that's part of the issue for him.
His play driving was also below average, as were his periffs,
although the blocks and takeaways were part of that. But
the hits are actually pretty good. The hits and the
shots are pretty good. That gives him about seventy fifth
percentile of being a bachelor, a good bachcher, and his

(50:23):
pims are about average. So all in all, there's some
red in this card, but there's also some optimism. I
have him at a six point five to six, so
a little bit more than fifty percent confident that he
can be an above average roster player on your fantasy team.
But let's hear a little bit more about haminafo Haimingaho
from our Rachel scout Jesse.

Speaker 3 (50:45):
Punit says this of Hamanajo. He improved street line speed
and acceleration in recent seasons, addressing earlier concerns. Not explosive,
but moves with efficiency and good balance. Skating is solid
enough to keep pace, though not a game breaker on
foot speed. He's a reliable passer with smart decision making
and creating plays. Shows fashes of slick puck skills and

(51:07):
the ability to make pinpoint passes. He plays a well
rounded game with solid puck control, rarely making costly turnovers.
He has a lethal shot, particularly accurate and quick release
from the wing. Has proven to be a consistent goal
scorer at the pro level in Liga, and he could
increase shot volume to become more dangerous, even offensively. In

(51:28):
terms of hockey IQ, he plays with a high level
of IT and strong situational awareness. Reads plays quickly, makes
smart choices with and without the puck, calm under pressure,
rarely panics even in tight spots. For for checking, Hamanaho
is aggressive and involved. He uses his instincts to pressure
defenders and create turnovers. He's not a physical for checker,

(51:49):
but smart positioning helps him disrupt plays, and for checking
he shows good willingness to chase the puck and force
opponents into mistakes. On defense, Punie saw a defensive maturity
beyond Haminajo's years. With good positioning and awareness. He's responsible
in his own zone, contributing to team defensive structure, uses

(52:10):
smart ankles and stickwork to compensate for average physicality. Could
improve the physical engagement he has in board battles and
along the wall. So the best asset the lethal shot
plus the offensive instincts plus the strong hockey iq. He's
effective at scoring and sitting up teammates, making him a
dual threat. The biggest concern that skating is solid but

(52:32):
not elite, could limit his ability to consistently create separation.
Physicality and strength remain areas for growth, especially in North
American pro hockey, and the biggest or the top tier
outcome here the best we could see potential top six
winger with goal scoring ability in two way responsibility, and
that's because he fits in well as an offensive complimentary

(52:55):
piece who can chip in defensively, and if his skating
and physicality continue to improve, he could be a consistent
producer on the power play as well. The median outcome
middle six winger some secondary scoring and penalty killing ability.
That's because this might be the more realistic outcome for Hamanaho,
but he could be a reliable depth piece who can
contribute to offensively, but the limited ceiling without further growth,

(53:19):
he may need to carve out a niche role depending
on the team depth and usage. The stylistic comparable punit's
going to go with a two way smart winger like
Marcus Felino or Brandon Tannev, but with more offensive upside,
not a pure speedster, but uses his hockey sense and
shot to influence the game. Mason Black has this to

(53:41):
say about him and Ajo. He puts him up against
Jesse Keiskinen of the Detroit Red Wings draft class, and
in this case, Heimanaho is the big winner, sixty to
forty percent victory. Is that the same way that you
would do it? Actually? I believe yeah? Is that the
same way you'd rank?

Speaker 5 (54:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (54:01):
I think so. I definitely I'm Anaho a little bit better.
And looking at Kiskanen, you know, he was also in Finland,
and that's why this is a good comparison. His production
was pretty similar. He went from ten points and thirty
eight points thirty eight games to forty four points forty
six games for HPK in the Liga, whereas Hamenajo was

(54:21):
pretty similar to he was playing for a SAT and
had close to the point per game. I like his
production and his opportunity a little bit more. I think
he offers a little bit different package than Kis Kanen,
but I think these guys are pretty similar, and so
the reality is that I think that sixty forty or
fifty to fifty is probably pretty reasonable. Their hockey prospecting
looks pretty similar. They're both sub ten percent chance of

(54:44):
being a star. The FHL player card for Kis Kannen
also shows a lot of struggles with transition and play driving,
and some of his other numbers aren't as great. The
bash is a little bit better though. He blocks and
hits and shoots quite a bit more so Kis Kannon
maybe a better basher. Looking at some other comps for Haminahou,
there's one really good one. That's Igor Chinikov, who didn't

(55:07):
really have great equivalency until he turned into a more
adequate contributor at the NHL level, and I think he
could probably get there. Might take him some time as well,
but yeah, I think that's a reasonable comp. Looking at
the j Fresh card. There's definitely some more optimism here.
Twenty one percent chance of being a star, ninety four
percent chance of being an NHL or so that's some

(55:28):
pretty good optimism from Jfresh for Haminaho Jesse and.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
The keep your Eye on prospect Victor.

Speaker 4 (55:36):
Keep your eye on is Anton Salaiv Salaiya twenty twenty four,
first round pick, tenth overall. He's huge. Remember six seven,
two hundred and seven pounds, left handed d He's been
in the KHL the past couple of seasons and he
was in there's draft season and part of the question
concern was that he doesn't really score a lot. Ten
eleven points in sixty three games. Well, he followed that

(55:59):
up by scoring exactly one more point in the same
number of games. Is twelve points in sixty three games.
So that's the continued concern is that he just doesn't score,
when that's the unfortunate thing.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
He does bash.

Speaker 4 (56:10):
His hits, blocks, and shots figure to be ninety fifth percentile,
so that's pretty fantastic. Pims are sixty one percent. I
am convinced that he's going to play a lot. His
minutes should be good. His peripheral contribution should be good.
I'm just not sure that he's going to score a lot.
In fact, his shooting and passing numbers in the KHL
are really not great. But his transition and play driving

(56:32):
weren't that great either, So it makes me a little
bit concerned of what he's going to end up being like.
But I do think he'll get a good number of minutes.
Let's find out a little bit more about soya from
our FHL scout, Jesse.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
Punit says a SALAIAV for a six foot seven defender,
his mobility is ridiculous, great edgework, closes space quickly, rarely
looks stiff, excellent when defending the rush, smooth laterals, strong
backward pivots. He's still filling out that frame, so how
his skating holds up with added weight is something to monitor.
Stride lacks top endburst, but he has no issues keeping

(57:07):
pace and controlling transitions. He keeps plays simple. Celia's first
touch is clean and he moves the pucks safely more
than creatively. He shows confidence under pressure, can hold the puck,
skateboard checkers, and execute smart exits. Not a dynamic puck mover,
but there are flashes, especially when walking the blue line
or opening lanes. He handles well enough for his size,

(57:28):
but you're not drafting Intonsilaiya. For offensive deception shooting, he's
a volume guy more than a threat. Puts puts on
the net consistently, but the shot lacks a little bit
of bite. He needs to add power if he's going
to become a regular on the power play. He does
get pucks through traffic, which helps, but not into someone
who's going to score the way that he's going to

(57:50):
need IQ Hockey IQ. The defensive reeds are strong, anticipates
play well, especially in zone coverage and rush denial. Offensive
instincts still developing, can rush decisions or missbitter options under pressure.
Rarely rattled under dress. Shows good awareness with positioning and
pressure control. High defensive IQ average offensive vision for now anyway.

(58:15):
For checking punit says he's not usually indeed, but when
he pinches he does it with purpose. Times his engagements
well at the line, but he knows when to step
up and when to hold. He's physical when he needs
to be, but he won't shy away from contact to
disrupt plays defense. This is where Salaiev shines near impossible
to beat one on one when gapping correctly. His wing

(58:37):
span and feet just a race space. Uses his body
and stick with intent, and he's learned how to finish
physically without taking himself out of position. Strong along the
wall clears the net front leaves with control, not chaos.
He's already logging big minutes in the khell as an
eighteen year old, and that speaks volumes about his poise.
The best asset then elite shut down toolkit, size, mobility, physicality,

(59:02):
and poise give him a legitimate shot at becoming a
true top pair D. He's already handling pro minutes in
a tough league and excelling, and that's what projects him
to NHL play. The biggest concern, the offensive ceiling is
still a little unclear. He's not a natural play driver.
His decisions with the puck can be rushed. The shot
needs more pop. He'll need to show more confidence with

(59:25):
the puck to impact on the offensive side. There's a
real floor here, but whether he hits his ceiling depends
on how much his puck game evolves. The top tier outcome. Then,
as we said, Punite sees a strong top pairing demand.
The justification sayav can handle heavy minutes, close games anchor
the PK. Think twenty two plus minutes a night against

(59:47):
top competition with potential to chip in thirty to thirty
five points. If the offensive rounds out, the meeting outcome
something more like a middle pairing DMN. That looks like
the floor at this point. Why does that look like
the floor? Because Selai have can plain easy eighteen to
twenty minutes with strong matchups, zone starts and penalty kill usage.

(01:00:07):
The offense stays limited in this Samedian scenario. But because
he's a defensive specialist with physical presence and efficient puck movement,
he's always going to have a strong role on any
NHL team. Stylistic comparable somewhere between Jonah Siegenthaler and Adam Larsen,
with better feet and slightly more offensive upside. At his best,

(01:00:29):
he could grow into a poor man's Victor, headman, rangy
mobile and quietly dominant in his own zone and silia
the NHL ranking Mason Black, Let me first say this, Victor.
I've got to get an interjection in here on SLIEV
because I want you to know you're ready to have
your mind blown, Victor when it comes to comparing this
guy to other guys, you're ready to have your mind blown.

(01:00:51):
There is a certain extremely prominent fantasy site, extremely prominent
fantasy site that ranks Siliev as the number seven overall
prospect in hockey. In hockey, Victor, and Wow, I have
no idea. All I know is that last year I
took him in the second round of the tidy draft,

(01:01:12):
and I felt like I was on tilt and I'd
made a horrible mistake in the middle of the second round.
But there's some people who love Silia. Find them in
your leak and make trade with them. But Mason Black,
Mason Black might have found a more representative sample of
the universe when he put Silaiav up against Dmitri Simyshev
for a poll, and Simashev the mammoth. I'm not describing

(01:01:35):
his physicality. That's the team didn't even win that one
fifty three to forty seven percent. Victor. It's all about expectations.
What are yours in this matchup?

Speaker 4 (01:01:45):
My expectation would be to turn and run the other
way from these two. Is what I would most likely
do is that these are a great comparison. Again by
Mason he does such a good job with these but
these guys are pretty similar. Neither one I think is
going to score all that much, and the reality is
that he both Simachev and Selaiav figure to be good

(01:02:08):
real life defenseman. I'm curious that that site was for fantasy.
You said fantasy, right, not real life prospect ranking.

Speaker 3 (01:02:15):
Let's just say it's behind a paywall. But it may
be a site that rhymes with Shmoto Schmeier.

Speaker 4 (01:02:22):
I don't even know what that means, but okay, I
think that's wild. So yeah, find someone that loves you
as much as that site loves Salaya. That's that's my recommendation.
But yeah, I think both these guys, Silia and Shimyshev,
are going to be good real life defenseman. I'm not
sure they're going to be super valuable in fantasy. They
might end up being just those guys who are out

(01:02:43):
there a lot and just don't end up doing anything
in terms of contributing to your stats. Someone like Mark
Andre Vlasik marketwood Lasik comes to mind, or Nick Letty
was always a bit frustrating with as much as he
was out there and didn't contribute as much, or Cam
Fowler at times previous to this season. That's the they
might just be frustrating that they have some priffs because

(01:03:04):
they're out there a lot, but they're not going to
score a lot, like twenty to thirty points, and so
I don't even want to pick one. I guess if
I had to pick, I guess I would go Simyshev,
just because I don't think that they have the backlog
in Utah as much as they do in New Jersey.
But really I I would, Yeah, I would. Or maybe
I'll take Salaiev and trade him to someone who's reading

(01:03:25):
that set him along with that report Jesse of he's
the seventh ranked prospect defenseman. That's what I would do
looking at some other looking at the hockey prospecting for Salaiev,
there aren't a lot of amazing comps here. Oli Mata
is probably someone he looks a bit alike, and that's
probably a good comp someone who you know is a
decent actual NHL defenseman, but not someone you really care

(01:03:47):
about in fantasy. Looking at the j Fresh card for
Anti sala Of, twenty two percent chance of being started,
ninety four percent chance of being in NHL are pretty
pretty good optimism there for Jay Fresh on slab, which
tends to happen for these zuro and Russian guys. That's
it for our New Jersey Devil's dig. If you're a
patreon you can listen to my top ten prospect recap

(01:04:08):
on Patreon. And if you're actually doing any scotting with
us or helping out the show should be a damn
on Twitter, Discord or email us.

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
The right back there. Coolest of the show. Our show
is brought to you by fantracks dot com. A reminder,
our leagues are we are leagues that we play them
all on fantracks dot on it. We wouldn't mess with

(01:04:35):
anywhere else, but you should too, not just because they
sponsor us, but because it's the coolest place to play.
All the different types of scoring settings, customized eligibilities you
can do, slow drafts, rookie drafts, all those things are
available there. Fan tracks HQ also has some content on
fantasy hockey. You can read some articles there too, and
on the other sports. FHL's team deserves a shout. Victor

(01:05:00):
and I are so thankful that we have you guys.
The Tidy League Commissioner Duties, Tim has been leading the
way this summer Simon Ryan Crafts. They all do great
work as well. Tony and Patrick are o leed scouts,
making sure that you get the scouting reports on every
one of these team previews. Mike, Steven and Matt help
with the show prep, getting all of our stats and

(01:05:22):
numbers and everything ready to roll. Brandon helps with the website,
prospect ranks and visualizations. There's cool stuff going on there.
If you have skills you'd like to lend the show.
Victor would love to hear from you. Find him in
the discord, email or social media. We're also brought to
you by Dabra Hockey Dauber Prospects, Victors and editor. You
can follow his work there. I do a solo show

(01:05:42):
called Dynasty Sports Life where I talk about four different
Dynasty sports. You can follow us on social media. Jesse
Severe All One Word, The One, Victor All One Word
but with a one on Blue Sky and on X
Victor Nunio twelve, Fan Hockey Life, Rate and Review, Apple Pod, Spotify,
wherever else you get this. Thank you for listening. Until
next time, Keep living that fantasy hockey life.