Fantasy Hockey Life Ep. 426 St. Louis Blues with Mike Meyer

Mike Meyer of STL Sports Central is here to report on the St. Louis Blues. Jesse and Victor interview Mike about returning pros Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Dylan Holloway, Pavel Buchnevich, Brayden Schenn, Jake Neighbors, Pius Suter, Jimmy Snuggerud, Cam Fowler, Colton Parayko, Philip Broberg, Justin Faulk, Logan Mailloux, Jordan Binnington, and Joel Hofer. In Cat's Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Vadim Zherenko and Colten Ellis.  In the Dynasty Dig, Victor breaks down Jimmy Snuggerud, Tomas Mrsic, and Dalibor Dvorsky with the help of scouting reports from FHL Scout Grant 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
shit Kiss, your source of information and analysis to help
you win your fantasy hockey league.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Block off hot a step had on staylock Blocks.

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

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Fantasy Hockey Live back once again. Jesse Severe, Victor Nuno
the Fantasy Hockey Doctor. How you doing, Victor?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
I'm doing awesome, Jesse.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
How are you good Man? Good again? Summer Contemplations should
have the Jack Candy theme music from Saturday Night Live?
What is that deep thoughts with Jack Candy? That's a
thirty year old Saurday Night Live reference people. I hope
you enjoyed it, Victor. Here's what I want to know today.
How do Europeans do it? Because games start at like

(00:53):
the middle of the night. I don't understand how people
on that continent can follow the And yet we have
lots of listeners in Europe, and I suppose you can
record everything and watch it the next day, but that
would make me insane personally. It's every four years I
have to deal with this, or every eight years with
the Olympics. What the heck is going on? I'm supposed

(01:14):
to be at work. I'm supposed to be sleeping, and
suddenly there are sports on. How do you think they
do it? Victory? People are just wired differently than me.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Maybe I certainly think that's true, but also, yeah, I've
noticed that I've been lucky enough to travel to Europe
a couple of times in the last several years during
the NHL season, and it's I just feel completely disoriented,
like trying to figure out when I put my ads
in when the games are on. Typically there when you're asleep,

(01:44):
or sometimes if you wake up early enough then maybe
you'll catch the end of some of them. It's just
it's a real challenge, especially with goalie starts. If you're
not sure if this guy's playing or not, like I
feel like you really have to you might need to
draft and have rosters based on knowing that those guys
are actually going to play. I think back to the

(02:06):
Roupe a Hint situation a couple of years ago, when
it was like was he gonna play?

Speaker 4 (02:09):
Was he not going to play?

Speaker 3 (02:10):
And teams that don't announce their goalies in advance, like
you just can roster those guys on your team because
you just wouldn't know. You'd have to go to bed
before and set your roster before doing that, unless you
keep really strange hours, which I guess as possible. So
I just I think that, Yeah, if you're an NHL
fan and you're up, my hat's off.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Man.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
I don't know how you do it, because it's it
seems really hard. You can follow the stats and watch highlights,
but watching things live just seems incredibly challenging.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Victor knows, I drop like a rock at about ten
PM Central time, which sometimes screws with our ability to
an hours. So I would never make it, Victor, I
would not survive. I would be I would change. We
would have to change fantasy hockey life, the best ball
fantasy hockey life. That's the only way I could survive
in that situation. I'm glad I'm not there, but something

(02:55):
that's open twenty four hours a day, so you could
do this. If you woke up in the morning and
it's the middle of the night in America and there's
nothing going on in the fantasy hockey world, you could
still hop in our discord there's still probably people chatting
about hockey at that hour, and all you have to
do to get in there fantasy Hockey Life at gmail
dot com. Send us an email, We'll send you a link.
A couple hundred people and they're ready to talk fantasy hockey.

(03:17):
Start up your own conference. It's not Victor and I
like holding town halls in there. That's not how this works.
As a space we put out there for people who
would like to have opinions on fantasy hockey, not have
them exposed to the world necessarily, and not have a
bunch of knuckleheads jump on them and say, if you
don't use pims in your league, you're a big silly. Yeah.

(03:38):
The people on social media, they see things like silly.
We can't have that victory. We don't allow that kind
of behavior in our discord. But there are more things
that we can offer than just that. What are they Victor.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
We can offer you a whole bunch of extra bonus content.
Patron cast, we can offer you one on one roster
doctor helps help you with your drafts, access to all
kinds of cool bonus content, ranks, tiers, lists, and access
to one of the most fun leagues in the world.
I would say the Tier Dynasty of the Tidy. It's
a really fun league where you can wook your way
up year to year, depending on if you can get promoted.

(04:14):
And it's a really good bunch of two gms. It's
a good learning process and it's a very unique setup.
So it's a lot of fun and it's a perk
of being a patron of Fantasy Hockey Life. So check
all that out over at patreon dot com slash Fantasy
Hockey Life.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Be right back for our interview. Welcome to the show,
Mike Meyer, Saint Louis Sports Central STL Sports Central. Ready
to talk some Saint Louis Blues. How you doing today, Mike.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
Boys, I'm doing well. The adrenaline's running well, and that's
the weekend, beautiful weather outside, so I'm doing well.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
You don't need any You don't need any adrenaline to
be able to be on this show, Mike. Just maybe
a slight caffeinated beverage of Coca cola or something. You'd
be fine. No free ads, but you'll be fine. I
appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Fantasy hockey.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
It's good stuff, absolutely, and talking the Blues is some
good stuff, because my goodness, they were frisky last year.
They got in the playoffs via tiebreaker over the Calvary Flames.
Then they threw a heck of a scare into the
President's Trophy winners in Round one. They were the hottest
team in the league in the regular season at the end,
as far as I'm concerned. A twelve game winning streak

(05:29):
an overall nineteen four and two record after the Four
Nations break when you average out the whole season stats,
which is hard when we talk about how hot they
were at the end and getting into the playoffs, but
their penalty kill was a bit of a lower end
in the NHL. But they must have prioritized quality over quantity,
as they were twenty eighth in shots taken but eighth

(05:52):
in shooting percentage, so they were only taking the shots
they thought would go in. Dog on, It was the
heater at the end of the season to sign the
season to this year, or did the Blues just hit
the right streak at the right time.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
What do you expecting there, Mike boy, I'm hoping it's
a sign of good things here to come. Looking at
that record, I don't think anything like that is going
to be sustainable over a course here of an eighty
two game season, But I definitely think that with the break,
it gave the Blues a good chance Bill to just
rest reset here, especially underneath of coach Jim Montgomery, and
just gave them that chance, Bill to just say, Okay,

(06:24):
what do we need to be able to change and
be able to review a lot and then be able
to hit. Like you said, after the Four Nations break,
it just looked like a completely different team. So I'm
expecting a lot of really good things again, probably unsustainable
based on last year's record. Again, we're I think, looking
for a lot of really good stuff here to be
able to come.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Robert Thomas is one of the good things that I
think we could safe. We look forward to great season
once again, second straight over a point per game pace.
In that final twenty five game stretch I've already referenced,
he put up forty of his eighty one points in
those endpoints in the last twelve consecutive game, So forty
points in the last of what twenty five games when

(07:02):
I'm talking about He broke an ankle in October that
was supposed to cost him six weeks but was actually
more like four weeks. And as per usual, themo for
Thomas was playmaking, but he actually took two shots per game.
That's not wonderful, but it's more than the one point
five he was taken a couple of years ago. And
the shooting percentage is still excellent fourteen point eight percent.

(07:25):
Thomas is a force in the face off circle man.
His percentage climbed to fifty four point eight percent with
seven hundred and thirty three face offs one overall, safe
to say, even though he missed twelve games, it was
a career year for Thomas. Can he do it again?

Speaker 4 (07:39):
Mike boy, I like to be able to think so, Like
you said, eighty one points, twenty one goals, sixty six
in seventy games here, I think here it was he's
a clear playmaker here for the Blues. And you just
look at a team that adds a dynamic sniper here,
Jimmy Snugger here into the mix. You're seeing a couple
of other guys added into the mix here as well.

(08:00):
They're not going to have Zachary Boldouk here anymore. You'll
to play potentially up on that first line here, if
and whenever that they needed him to. But you're seeing
a guy who was really coming into his own reading
the ice here, really well, geling very well here with
all of his teammates, and underneath of this new system
here of Jim Montgomery's, I think eighty points here should
be a floor here for a guy here like Robert Thomas.

(08:22):
I wrote an article here not that long ago. Could
Robert Thomas actually flirt with one hundred points? And if
all things go well, I really think that you could
able to see another one hundred point player here coming
out of Saint Louis.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
I definitely agree with you there. And let's talk about
Jordan Kyru, the next guy we're going to talk about.
He had a seventy point pace in twenty four to
twenty five. Previously he had sixty seven, seventy two, and
seventy five point paces. Started the season mostly with Butchnevich
and Thomas, but end of the season finished which ten
and Holloway move around quite a bit. Thirty six goals,

(08:57):
thirty six assists, his blockshot and hits. We're at three
point ninety six per game, so a little bit on
the lower end, ranking him two hundred and eighteenth, a
little bit not as ideal for the peripherals, but decent
for points entering his third year of that eight million
dollar contract. So I think the question is where do
you think we're going to see Cayrou next season. Is

(09:18):
it going to be on that second line which Bennon Holloway,
or do you think he'll get back onto that top line,
And either way, do you think he can get over
that seventy point pace again, which he has been a
couple of times.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
Yeah, that's a great question, and right now, I think
that also depends on the success level here of the
aforementioned Jimmy Snugger rud here, as he's going to likely
take some steps here on the first line here with
Robert Thomas. We saw him have some really good chemistry
here with Thomas last year, and so if he can
able to play a sustainable rate here across an eighty
two game season, that's going to limit what a guy

(09:52):
here in Jordan Chiro.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Can be able to see.

Speaker 4 (09:54):
Now that's no knock here on that second line, because
he's going to have alignment here and Dylan Holloway that
saw really good chemistry here all of last season. A
guy who could really really keep up here with this
pace here offensively as well as just flying up and
down the ice, could he be able to see seventy points?
I think absolutely there's a little bit more mouths to
be able to feed here offensively here as well. He's

(10:16):
just gonna have to make the most here of it.
So he's going to find his time here on the
power play. He's going to have to be able to
make the most here of it. But anywhere from seventy
to seventy five points, I think you could absolutely be
able to see here from a guy like Jordan.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
Giroum awesome and the next guy, Dylan Holloway sixty seven
point pace after being off for sheated last season, played
the most of the season on the second line, pretty
great success. Twenty six goals, thirty seven assists. His bash
was five point zero nine per game, ranking him fifty
fifth of ball skaters. That's pretty fantastic stuff. He was

(10:48):
instantly noticeable by all fantasy gms because of that. He's
in the second and final year of that two point
two nine million dollars dollar contract, certainly making a case
for that to be a tremendous value and getting a raise.
He was a pretty good addition last season. So do
you think that Halloway takes another step here, Mike, or
do you think you can get over that seventy point pace?
Or maybe you are some of those numbers inflated. He's

(11:09):
going to regress a bit.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
I'm a little bullish on Holloway. I'm still projecting him
somewhere around that sixty five seventy points, a little bit
more cautious when it comes to his play. We saw
that one time performance, and so I'm a guy who's
a little bit more cautious when it comes to that breakout.
I want to see a little bit more sustainability here
with him. But again, he looked great here alongside here

(11:32):
of Jordan Cairo. But like I've mentioned here before, here
with Cairo, there's a few more miles bill to feed
here with Snugger Root, a guy we haven't even gotten
to Peu Suitor, not to mention Nick Bukes fed being
added here the mix here as well. He's a little
bit tougher able to predict here with Dylan Holloway. But
underneath of Jim Montgomery we're seeing some real sustainable growth,
but not hitting seventy points without some top line minutes.

(11:55):
It's going to be a little tough.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Pavel. Butchnaevitch has after a couple of years at a
point per game pace that he had earlier on. He's
settled into something in the sixties for the past two
and if that is a decline, it's not linked to
the linemates he's had because he's been with Robert Thomas
pretty much the whole time during Robert Thomas's peak at

(12:20):
this point, and Bushnevitch has been deployed a lot on
the power play. There were apparently some attempts to play
him center earlier in the season, but that did not
play out. Is Butchnevitch declining and are we expecting more
of these sixty point type seasons? Maybe I'm despoiled because
I think sixty point seasons aren't good enough for me,

(12:41):
whom I being all that's relative. Ninety nine point eight
percent of people who ever played hockey cannot play as
well as Pabul Butchnevich did last year. But he's still
he's shown that higher level of performance. So I'm just
asking the question, is there something I'm missing that suggests
actually the level of play was quite strong or just
generally we're with Pablo butch Navids these days.

Speaker 4 (13:03):
So I'm one that's up and down here with an
opinion here of Pavel butch Navitch, because as you've seen
there's been a bit of a regression almost every single
season here from Butch Navid since he joined the Saint
Louis Blues. With fifty seven points here last season. He's
still playing alongside Robert Thomas you mentioned here as well.
He played some time here at center here underneath of
Drew Banister, and I think that really really affected him

(13:25):
throughout the year, just he couldn't really be able to
get a good solid footing. There was a report that
came out here of Russia. There was a Russian article
that he didn't interview, where he stated that there was
a little bit of a lingering injury that he had
sustained here in the preseason that kind of just nagged
him all throughout the years. I'm hoping with a good offseason,
some recovery here from him, and just a consistency here

(13:48):
on the wing, that we could be able to see
him break back into that sixty sixty five, maybe even
flirt here with seventy. But again, that goes here to
the fluidity here with this lineup, which is where fantasy owners,
in my opinion, need to be a little bit more
aware when they're drafting Blues players that you could able
to see Jim Montgomery move players up and down the
lineup because a guy who's playing on the third line,

(14:10):
Jake Nabors, could be very well playing here up on
the first line if Pavel butch Naevitch is struggling. Same
thing here with Dylan Holloway. Butch Navig here is really
good for multi caat. But again, I just worry about
that consistency here with him. I'm cautiously optimistic that he's
going to move up, but people in Saint Louis here
know me as a little bit more of a of

(14:30):
a butch Navich hater as in terms of the optimism
here for his points.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
In terms of consistency, I cannot fauld braden Chen because
I've always worried about the beating this guy has taken
with his physicality over the years. But he has doggone durable,
even at thirty three years old, three straight years of
gold Star tenants. Five of his last six seasons he
did not miss a game. One hundred and ninety four

(14:56):
hits last year was his most in a full decade.
The face off percentage jumped well over fifty percent only
the second time in his career. Actually that he's had
the positive differential of positive versus negative that I saw.
Fifty points was a bit more than the year prior.
It's still a dip from those old scoring paces of
somewhere in the sixties that he had back in the day,

(15:16):
and seventeen thirty four average time on ice was his
lowest mark since twenty fifteen sixteen back in the Philly days.
He plays a lot of even strength minutes, but definitely
second power play at this point played little. Didn't have
very good stats either on the penalty kill. What is
Braden Sheen going to be for the twenty five to
twenty six Blues? What are you expecting, Mike.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
I'm expecting somewhere within that forty five fifty five point
range here for him. I think his days as a
sixty point player are likely over unless he came out
to find a different situation, and I don't see the
Blues moving on from him anytime soon. The Blues had
their chance to be able to move on here from him,
and they opt to able to keep him as the
club's captain. I don't see him getting moved here at all.

(15:59):
The biggest difference we're here right now is whether or
not Pugh's suiter Camil to rise above and take over
here that two C spot here from Shin. I think
that he's going to start the season out here in
the top six, maybe even getting some very valuable power
play time. But fantasy owners, I think are going to
really just love his production about a point to every

(16:20):
other game here or so, and just enjoy the multicat
stats here, just like his brother. Again, very bullish on
him here as well, forty five fifty points here in
total forum.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
And you've already mentioned Jake Nabers as a candidate to
rise up the line up. He got better again this year.
While his goals were down slightly from twenty seven the
year before to twenty two, this year, a twenty two
to twenty four forty six line featured more assists than
the first one hundred and twenty nine games of his
first three seasons combined, so forty six was a career

(16:56):
high in terms of points he got into all eighty
two games. Two outstanding features one is he throws a
lot of hits, more than two hits a game. His
shooting percentage also topped eighteen percent for the second straight year,
making you wonder if that might just be real, and
that's something that he's able to do. He played on
all kinds of different lines you talk about moving around,

(17:16):
but he had the right partners, healthy doses of Boushnevitch
of Thomas with some sheen thrown in. While it surely
isn't a surprise to hear his scoring took a jump
as the team win on its late season run, it's
great to see twenty one points in those last twenty
six games, followed by six in seven playoff games. Is
Jake Nabors now a top six stalwarts? Could we see

(17:38):
that late season pace that it was getting up to
something like sixty five plus point projected over a season.
Could we see that in the new year?

Speaker 4 (17:47):
I think absolutely absolutely. But the biggest thing here that's
working against him is going to be the people who
are playing up the lineup here in front of him
here in Dylan Holloway as well as Pavel Buchnevic. Any
of his success I think is going to be tied
to potentially their regression because there's a lot of mouse
build to feed here on that wing. And when you've
got a lot of mouse build to feed, it's going

(18:07):
to be taken here from somebody, and so as I
think a lot of folks here in Saint Louis are
hoping that Jake Neighbors going to work his way up
the lineup, that means then that you're putting somebody here
laka Buchnevitch like a Holloway here then on the third line,
and at that point in time, then you got to
figure out the power play, you got to figure out
the penalty kill. And so unfortunately, I think Jake Nighbors
is just going to end up finding his way as
the odd man out here more times than not. And

(18:30):
that's no knock here to Jake, but unfortunately there's a
little bit more offensive skill in some of the other
guys that are ahead of him in the lineup. So
I think he can, he has the potential to end
up doing it. But at the same point in time,
again bullish on some of those different projections here for him,
just simply due to the depth here on the wing.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
You mentioned Puce Suitor and yeah, he's coming new to
the team. He had twenty five goals and twenty one
assists last year. Darn good goal, but has not had
star performances throughout his career. But certainly has some good
things to recommend him, but it sounds like you're optimistic
about the role he might be able to take with

(19:12):
this team. What is Peuth Suitor going to be doing
with the Blues this year? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (19:17):
Absolutely absolutely, And that's where this is a lineup. And
I think in the system here in Jim Montgomery's and
his offensive output and what you're able to see here
from a guy here like Pus Suitor, you saw more
of a more of a middle six role here from him,
I believe in Vancouver, where as the situation could be
a smidge bit different for him when it comes time
here for here with the Blues, where you can about

(19:38):
to find him maybe getting that riser up into the
second line, maybe even a chance will to get here
in some power play one if he gets able to
chance to line up alongside here on the wing here
with the Robert Thomas, even alongside of like a Dylan Holloway.
I think you're about to see a lot more coming
here from him. But again it just depends that you're
here on the line mates. Last season, you were looking
here at a forty six or sorry, twenty five goals,

(19:59):
forty six point season here from him and I think
that's the floor coming for a guy here in PU Suitor.
I'm projecting anywhere from a fifty five to sixty point
floor here for PU Suitter.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Moving here to next season.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
And the young buck that you already alluded to here,
Jimmy Snugrud, we got to talk about him. After a
stellar third season at the University of Minnesota, where he
had fifty one points and forty games. He jumped into
the NHL. He had seven games both during the regular
season and in the playoffs, had four points. In each
of those situations. We saw some high end skill. We
saw some boneheaded mistakes that is probably expected for someone

(20:39):
trying to do a little too much early on in
their career. But there's so much potential there. Mike, what
do you think we're going to see from Snugger in
the season? Top line, top six? And if I put
the over under at fifty five, which you taking.

Speaker 4 (20:53):
I answered the first one here, I would be taking
the over here on a fifty five point campaign here
for him. The biggest knock here for Jimmy Snugger here,
in my opinion, is not going to be the consistency
here for him. I think it's just going to be
the longevity of the full grind of an eighty two
game season, plus all of the travel, plus playing up
against NHL level talent. So you're talking about a guy

(21:13):
who last season he played forty games here in the
NCAA regular season, scoring fifty one points, and then he
moves on does seven games here with four points here
in the NHL, and then seven games here as well
in the postseason, putting up two goals four points, consistently
played here with Robert Thomas and looked darn good doing
it here as well. So in my opinion, I think

(21:34):
that you're seeing well over fifty point season just simply
due to the line mates that he's going to be with.
And I think if he's going to consistently be here
with those guys, then he is he's going to rack
up those points here, just almost as a line driver
as well as just being at times a passenger. There's
some beautiful no look passes here from him, if you
can be able to look up some different plays here

(21:54):
from him. The guy just has eyes in the back
of his head at times, and the skill is undeniable
here from a guy here like Jimmy Snuggerd and I'm
not going to keep just trying to be the homer
here with him. I think most fans who watched Jimmy
Snuggero who can agree here with this. So it's going
to really depend here again on the deployment. But I
think you could safely say that it's going to be
over fifty points here for him and certainly make a

(22:15):
running here for Calder Trophy.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Slip forward to the blue line and a guy who
he surprised me as being the guy who was maybe
the star defenseman for this team last year, Cam Fowler
coming over during the big move the season. The long
time Anaheim duck and upper body injury robbed him of
most in November, and shortly after his return, he was
moved to Saint Louis's Jacob Truba made the move out

(22:42):
where the scoring performance for Fowler was the best of
his career. It culminated in the playoffs, where he had
ten points in the series against Winnipeg, five of those
in a RACKUS Game three that was Fowler's first home
playoff game since twenty seventeen. All this despite having is
lowest average TOM on ice since twenty fourteen slash fifteen

(23:03):
that's a long time ago. He got decent power play
tom on ice two minutes per game, although that was
also less than he used to get over the years
in Anaheim. How did Fowlers fit into Saint Louis and
is this a sustainable pace that could be repeated this year?

Speaker 4 (23:19):
Mike yeah, I think I think everybody was pleasantly surprised
here at the resurgence here from Cam Fowler. I believe
here if I looked here at my stature properly since
his acquisition, he was fifth among defensemen and even strength
points at twenty eight, eleventh in total points here in
the postseason, post trade, you're talking about one point three

(23:43):
I'm sorry, one point four to three points per game
here in the playoffs, paired on the top pair, paired
with you know here on top power play minutes. You're
talking about a top a fringe, top thirty defenseman here
in the league. I think he's going to be good
for forty four five points as long as he can
be able to maintain that strong even strength and power

(24:03):
play production. I don't think that it was a fluke.
I think that you're seeing the benefits here. Unfortunately, sorry Anaheim,
but you pair him with some good people and in
a good system, and a guy like Cam Fowler, regardless
of his age, is just gonna thrive and not to
be able to mention here his ability about to add
shot blocks. And this guy, he's you're talking about a
multi cap stud here in this and you might be

(24:26):
able to find if you're drafting him this year here
just on a just a yearly league, I think you'ren
able to find true value here from him. I hope
people aren't overdrafting him against some of those proven veterans
and against some of those younger legs, because at this
point you don't know where he might start running here
out of steam. But yeah, I think you're talking about

(24:47):
a guy who can be able to easily put up
a half a point per game pace here this coming season.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
And Colton Pereco continues to do very well well. He
led the team in average TWN on ice, crossed to
half point per game threshold for the first time in
his career. Actually, Pareco gets minimal power play points only
one last year, which really makes half point per game
pretty nice. If you can't get any of it on
the power player, you're not given that opportunity. He's got

(25:15):
some good even strength scoring. A knee injury took Parreko
out for a lot of that big hot streak at
the end of the season one month from March seventh
to April ninth, but he caught fire in the playoffs,
scoring six points in that series against Winnipeg. He even
played he played with coming shortly after a hurt knee.
He played forty two to thirty three in the final

(25:36):
game in that final double overtime contest, leading all the Blues.
I can't even stand up for that long. I'm not
even sure I could sit down for that long. What
do you think of Colton Pareko's year, Mike, and is
he going to remain a top paired defenseman for this team?
This year?

Speaker 4 (25:53):
Absolutely elated here from his production. I think this is
the type of production that you have seen Blues fans
wanting forever here at this point. The career high sixteen
goals I think are Unfortunately it's an outlier. I don't
see that happening here again. Could he flirt here with twelve, probably,

(26:16):
but again it goes back here to some different milesbild defeat.
He's going to remain a top pairing defenseman. That's just
a true testament here to just his true abilities here
in Saint Louis another multicat gem where you're looking at
a guy who's being able to put up one hundred
and twenty points one hundred and fifty blocks very easily
a save top forty defenseman here in fantasy, I'm projecting

(26:37):
him somewhere around that thirty two to thirty eight points. Again,
those goals are maybe a little bit more here of
an outlier, but Montgomery system is certainly good enough be
able to help unlock some of his offensive capabilities to
be able to put him above thirty points. And it's
something that we be able to see here on an
international level where you're seeing a guy like Colton perreco

(26:58):
unlock some of his offensive ability that are finally coming
here to Saint Louis.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
All right, And we got a little bit of a
points pick them between some of the other defensemen here,
Philip Broberg, Justin Falk and Logan Mayu one of the
newcomers here who I guess get your thoughts on what
you where you think he'll slid in I'm imagining on
the bottom pair. But we saw Broberg a bit also
coming over last season thirty five point pace. Fulk has
had some up and down seasons. Last season he was

(27:27):
at a thirty four point pace and mayu we only
saw seven games in the NHL, but he has had
success in the AHL and certainly has some abilities to
run a power play if they decide to let him
do that. So between these three, who are you picking
and how do you think they'll end up this season?

Speaker 4 (27:45):
I think it's hard to be able to go against
the youngster Philip Broberg here at this point. You're looking
at his point production, his ice time here hovering around
that twenty minutes here per game. Again, that may also
depend on the production here of a Cam Fowler, because
if Cam Fowler starts to falter here a little bit,
I think on that left side you can be able

(28:06):
to start to be able to see maybe a little
bit of extra ice time here. For Philip Broberg. It's
no knock here against Justin Falk, but I think that
he's just going to start regressing here just a smidge
bit more and maybe have a little bit more of
a limited isolated role here underneath the Montgomery system now
that he's got another weapon here in Logan may You,

(28:28):
may You certainly has the shot capabilities, certainly has the
playmaking abilities that I think we have seen in the
AHL and some limited action time here in the NHL,
and once he starts to get acclimated here to this system,
I think that his ability is a will to throw
the hits, be able to make the offensive plays. I
think Montgomery's going to find a new little offensive toy
that he can out to throw out there here ever

(28:49):
now and then, but I think Philip Broberger is going
to be able to take it. If I able to
pick here in an order, it would be Broberg and
then a close mixture here between Fulk and may You,
with edging out Falk.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
Indeed, I'm excited to see more bro Berg as someone
who watched Cam Fowler just not do well in Anaheim
for so many years. I'm just begging for a different
option on the power play. But I have to admit
he was way better than I would have thought in
Saint Louis, yeah, this past season, so they have some
good options, which is also always nice. Absolutely, let's talk

(29:24):
about the goalies. The blueser ranked fifth and expected goals
against for sixty, but conceded the twelfth ranked actual goals,
So that suggests that they performed a little bit worse
than expected, although if you look at the numbers, Bennington
for the most part did well at even strength and
so did Hofer relatively evenly. But on the power play
there was some issues with that. In terms of their performance.

(29:47):
And Bennington, of course, we should mention backstop Canada to
the Four Nations win. He did have a positive goals
save above expected. He's got two years left at six million,
and overall has been really pop as they've kind of turned.
He had a downward trend there for a while and
he's turned that around and that's been good to see.
Hoefer hadn't did not, wasn't able to outperform his coal

(30:09):
save above expecting. His delta fendwalk is a little bit negative,
but overall not terrible results in thirty one's games played.
And this is the first year of that three point
four million dollar contract. So what do you think we're
going to see between the split. I imagine we're still going
to see a heavy dose of Bennington and maybe they
can both outperform their expected numbers this year. What do

(30:31):
we think we're gonna see?

Speaker 4 (30:31):
Mike? Yeah, this is where it's gonna be really interesting
because Bennington. I'm gonna go back here just a smidge
here for a second. Bennington, he was solid in twenty
three twenty four. He had that nine to thirteen save
percentage twenty eight wins. But like you said, we started
all to see a little bit of a regression, and
that was including this past season where he fell to
a nine hundred save percentage, even though he still had

(30:53):
the twenty eight wins for the second straight season. I
think his aggressive style can cost him here at times,
whether that's his puck hin or his occasional chirping and
his occasional fights that he may lead to maybe just
a little of inconsistency here for him. He right now,
he's the clear starter here in Saint Louis. There's no
doubt here about that. But I think Hofer's emergence could

(31:13):
slightly reduce his role, just to smidge a little bit.
With Hofer showing a really good dose year of consistent
play save percentage wise, he didn't be able to play
that much better than Bennington. He had a nine to
zero four safe percentage here this past season. But he's
the future star. He's absolutely the future star here at

(31:34):
this point in time, and just because of that, for
his role remains a little bit limited here in fantasy.
I'm still projecting somewhere. Maybe it's not gonna be a
complete fifty to fifty split here for the two goaltenders,
but I could see somewhere around like a fifty five
to forty five type of a split here between the
two here of them. But at times last season, for

(31:55):
those who were paying attention, Blues fans were or at
times calling for Joel Hoefer to become the one a
over Bennington, and so Bennington starts a falter here a
little bit. I think that Jim Montgomery is very comfortable
and confident here in a goaltender here in Joel Hoefer,
that he can be able to take a bit more
here of the starts here and feel confident here in

(32:17):
that ability.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
All Right, That's been a great tour around the Saint
Louis Blue is a fascinating team in that incredibly rough
central division. Mike, I want to keep following your work
all year, but I don't know how. Why don't you
tell me, tell Victor, tell all the people out there
listening how they could be doing that and reading your work.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
I am.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
I'm most active here on Twitter, so if you want
to to, if you're on the tweets here, still follow
me m underscore Meyer three here on there STL Sports Central.
If you're a fan here of not just the Blues,
but anything involving Saint Louis Sports, feel free to able
to follow us there. If you're still here in the
in the prospect game, feel free will to follow me

(33:02):
here on substack. I've got a nice little page here
over there, Blue Notes Rising. Feel free will to take
a look here as I deep dive deep here into
the prospect game and give people live updates here as
all the prospects here are moving along in their journey
and their road to the NHL.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
All right, thanks so much for coming on today Mike
and talking Blues.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
I appreciate it, guys, appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
Will since then, well that's good fire pap, Oh my goodness,
grow long a with.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
A cat wet gram.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Now it's your weekly goalie talk. But Kat Silverman Kat's instincts.

Speaker 5 (33:46):
Time once again for Cat's instinct What's Cat silver might
have been gold mag We're talking Blues goalie prospects. We're
gonna start with medem Jorenko six four ninety six pounds
drafted in the seventh round back in twenty nineteen. This
was his third AHL season and it seems like things
are trending down for him in the AHL. So that's
time looking two grade. Looking at hockey prospecting, he graduated

(34:08):
last year in the model ending around thirty percent, so
there's not that many great comps for him. A bunch
of guys were a busts or of average replacement level guys.
So kay, what are instincts tell us about Charinko?

Speaker 6 (34:20):
I honestly thought that he was getting close to kind
of calling it quits in North America. Although the Blues
do have this tendency to wait until we think that
they have overcooked their goaltender, give it another two years
in the minors, and then bring them up to the

(34:41):
NHL level, and it has produced a couple NHLers so far.
Their success rate with that is higher than any other
team that does that. See how that goes. I don't
necessarily see anything about his game that really stands out
as a glaring weakness. Yes, I do think that sometimes

(35:02):
he can get goaded out of position a little aggressively.
I'm not really sure. I think has he gotten I
don't think he's gotten a chance to play. Yeah, he
hasn't gotten a chance to play in a single NHL game,
and he is turning twenty five this year. I think
they have to give him a look if they think
that he is still a part of their organization. I

(35:25):
think they have to give him a look this year.
They have to see if he can handle maybe a
little more structure behind an NHL defense, because that is
where sometimes he can get drawn out of position when
the defense in front of him really just crumbles. So
that could serve him well if he's not having to
deal with the inconsistency of American League defensive positioning.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
But I don't know.

Speaker 6 (35:51):
I'm very lukewarm on him, which I feel really nervousing
because I have said that about probably three different Saint
Louis Blues prospects so far, and all of them then
went on to play in the NHL. We'll see. I'm
sure they're overcooking him and then they're going to bring
him up and he's gonna be ready to start fifty games.
We'll see.

Speaker 5 (36:13):
In fact, I think they wait until you say that
about them to give them their shot, so this is
actually a good sign for the Blues goals.

Speaker 6 (36:21):
They wait until I say, I think this is his
last year. I think at this point they got a
cut Ties and they're like just kidding, and then they
bring him up.

Speaker 5 (36:31):
So it's the cat's over in boff. We love it.
Let's talk about the other guy, Colton LS six and
five pounds drafted back in twenty nineteen in the third round,
and it's his second straight HL season and he, on
the other hand, looked really good in his second both
of the stants. Last season was sixteen games, this season

(36:52):
quite a bit more forty two. He looks great. It
looks good in the playoffs is Unfortunately, his equivalency on
hockey prospecting looks terrible. That's because it ended with his
ECCHL time, which wasn't very good, and he's cut in
the corner since then. And also casanyone's wondering not related
to Dan Ellis, which I was wondering, Kat, what are
your instincts tell you about Hulton Ellis.

Speaker 6 (37:13):
I think he is another goaltender within the Saint Louis
Blues system who I assumed was finished and he is
still in their system, and that it's fascinating to me.
I truly, I don't think I've ever seen a team
over bake goaltenders like they do. I really love his
tracking game. I think he is one of the goaltenders

(37:36):
who was almost really well served by playing EHL time
so dominantly for a while. Some goaltenders it seems like
if they have inconsistencies with their physical technique, those bad
habits can get exacerbated when you put them in the ECHL,
where really just the level of consistency is all over

(37:58):
the place for the players that are playing in front
of them for the experience in front of them, and
then you see so much turnover in rotation where guys
are constantly getting called up and down between the ECHL
the AHL, and they getting loans to other teams, so
they really don't get a chance to develop a consistent
defensive strategy that helps them tighten up those holes in
their games. But he seems like he's one of those

(38:20):
guys who had a really solid technical foundation and didn't
have a bad attitude about it. So it worked out
really well in his favorite because he just got a
lot of reps behind some really bad defense and behind
a lot of changes and a lot of rotating casts,
got called up and down between the HL and the
ECHL multiple times, and his numbers just kept trending up,

(38:46):
which I think is really promising. And I don't know,
I watched some of his games last year and I thought,
what are they doing leaving this guy in the AHL?
Like what am I missing? He's not super spectacular at anything,
but there is nothing that he has in his game
that I think is actively bad, and if anything, his

(39:08):
positioning has tightened up so well that he plays not
a stylistic Roberto Lawongo game, but an energy Robertolongo game
where you really see the play of responding to the
energy that he is bringing in net, almost the if
a goaltender could be a captain type of energy from
the net, and that's something that especially with development teams

(39:33):
like the ECHL and the AHL, it's really nice to
have a goaltender that the rest of the team can
look at and trust and feed off of what they're doing.
So I think the Blues could use that, but I
don't know where they plan to keep them next year.
I'm really curious to see what the Blues end up

(39:54):
doing with their depth chart this season, just because I
think both Colton Ellis and Durenco look like they are
not in do or die mode, but they both look
like they are at the point where you're wondering why
they haven't been called up. So I don't know, we'll

(40:18):
see what they do. I think the Blues love to
play it a little cautious and worst case, there are
a lot of teams that could use the leadership that
Ellis has, So if the Blues really don't want to
call him up, they.

Speaker 4 (40:31):
Could trade him.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
Indeed, it'll be fun to watch. Thanks so much, cap
giving us certain stinct some of the loose golds.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
And Victor. There is something else we got to talk about.
Don't we have something special to give to the listeners.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
That's right, Jesse Dauber Hockey has generously given us a
couple of free copies of their amazing fantasy Hockey guide.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
It's the Bible.

Speaker 3 (40:56):
It's the best fantasy hockey guide out there, and we're
going to 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
appule 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

(41:17):
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 guy.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
We'll be back right after this.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Dig.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
The Dynasty digs Saint Louis Blues edition. The Blues have
the number thirteen system in all of hockey, and it
all starts out with a pretty good no brainer. Who
is it, Victor?

Speaker 3 (41:58):
Yeah, that would be Jimmy Snuggero twenty twenty two, twenty
third overall pick six, two hundred and eighty seven pounds.
He went back somewhat surprisingly, I think some would say,
to the University of Minnesota for a third season. Was
close to a point per game in his second season
after going over in his first season, and then he
went back over point per game fifty one points in

(42:18):
forty games as the captain there. They didn't go as
far as they would have Liken the Frozen four, but
he was everything for them. He also signed a contract
and played seven games with the Blues and the regular
season had four points, and then four more points and
seven more playoff games with the Blues, so all of
that was pretty awesome to see. Looking at his FHL
player card based on the NCAA time, you see a

(42:43):
whole lot of green here. As you might expect, he
was pretty impressive during that run, and his transition game
was great. His play driving was pretty awesome. His bash
figures to be pretty good. His hits some blocks are
just a little bit below average, but his shots are.
He's a volume shit so that helps a lot. And
his scoring looks to be pretty good. I have n't

(43:05):
had a seven point thirty eight thirty eight percent chance
of being a seven. That's pretty good, Jesse. Let's hear
what else is good about Snuggarwood from our FAHL Scout.

Speaker 2 (43:13):
FHL Scout Grant has this to say about Jimmy Snuggaroud.
The skating can be a bit clunky at times average
it best at this point, but it takes him three
to four strides to get up to speed. This could
be an issue in the NHL unless he improves it.
Passing in handling, Snuggarrood has above average passing and puck handling.
Stick handles well in traffic, looks to either shoot or

(43:36):
stick handle or shoot before passing in the offensive zone,
shooting great shot. He is strong on his feet, strong
on the puck, gets his shot off quickly, strong and accurate.
The IQ snuggar Rude scans pretty frequently, so he has
a good sense of where his teammates are before getting
the puck. Good anticipation confidence seems high bordering down Kacki,

(43:58):
so he's quite comfortable with the puck at all times
and has a low panic threshold. The fore checking Snuggarood
is strong on the puck, can out muscle opponents along
the boards or when the puck is in his feet.
His motor needs to be going at all times for
him to be an effective for checker. He'll need to
improve here a little defense. He's a little all over
the map defensively in his own end and needs to

(44:19):
move his feet a little more. His ability to win
puck battles will help him in this department as he
improves positionally. The best asset is shot by a mile.
He's going to score twenty five to thirty five goals
in the NHL with just it alone. The biggest concern
is the skating. He reminds Grant a little bit of
brock Besser, who has limits to his game. Snuggard is

(44:41):
a better skater and a bit more physically engaged than Besser,
but the ceiling might be similar the top tier role
or potential that Grant can foresee top six four who
plays power play one thirty goals or more, sixty points
or more one day. The overall skills package, shot passing, pucking.
Linard just too good to not get the opportunity in

(45:02):
the NHL. The media outcome here third line winger fifteen
to twenty five goals, thirty five to forty five points.
That's if he can't get the separation needed to get
his shot off on a consistent basis in the NHL.
In that case, he could have trouble reaching his potential. Again.
The stylistic comparable brock Besser slightly better passer, stronger on

(45:24):
the puck, better touch, better at puck Henley than Besser. Though,
and the final thoughts, snuggar Rood is capable of forty
goals in a point per game one day, but he's
going to have to clean up parts of his game
and improve skating to get to that peak. But Grant
thinks thirty thirty guy for sure, and the NHL rank
King Mason Black has this to say about Snugger roods

(45:48):
comparable or the guy he's up against, Yuri Koolich of
the Buffalo Sabers. Snugger Rude, unsurprisingly to me, comes out
ahead in this matchup fifty nine to forty one percent. Victor,
I gotta think you're gonna agree with that one, aren't you. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
I mean, I like both of these guys, so it's
a little hard to pick. But I do think that
Snugrud has more top line upside. I think someone asked
me recently, can he be a top line winger. I
think the answer is yes, most likely second line, but
he has that potential, whereas Kulick, I think that he's
more likely a middle sixer. I don't know that he
has that top end upside. And it's funny that one

(46:26):
of snuggroods comparables in the PNHL model is Robert Thomas,
someone that many people hope he plays with and then
he could get a lot of points that way. Kolick,
on the other hand, has quite a bit lower PNHL e.
You look at the hockey prospecting between the two and
it definitely leans Snuggrood as well. Nineteen percent chance of
being a star versus three percent chance, so it leans
that way as well. Looking at Kulick's NHL player card,

(46:49):
there's a little bit more red based on his agel
time sorry, his play driving a little bit subpar, His
bash at eightieth percentile not bad. He actually blocks a
lot and shoots a lot, but doesn't really hit, and
the rest of his numbers aren't super great. His six
point sixty seven is what I have him at in
my ranks. Looking at some other comparables for Jimmy Snugrud,

(47:11):
Marco Sturm is one that he looks a lot alike
in this model. Hopefully he's a little bit better producer
than that. I think he has upside beyond that. If
you look at his his j FRESH player card, five
percent chance of being a star seventy one percent chance
of being in NHL are so as usual a little
bit more pessimistic there, Jesse.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Yes, sir, who is the need to know prospect?

Speaker 3 (47:32):
The need to know is Thomas Mrschik. He is a
twenty twenty four fourth round pick, one hundred and thirteenth overall,
six foot z one hundred and seventy pounds. He played
in the WHL this past season for the Prince Albert
Raiders after previously being with Medicine Hat. And he was
close to a point per game last season when he
was with Medicine Hat, and he went over that this

(47:53):
season ninety points in sixty five games, so pretty good
stuff there. He is going to the nca Layer out
next season. He'll play for Colorado College, so that'll be
really interesting to see in this season. In his draftless
one season and the tracking data at Mitch Brown, there's
a lot of red here. Overall doesn't look that great
other than his transition game looks really good. His offense

(48:15):
not so good at just fortieth percentile, although his expected
goals and shots are high, his expected premier system passes
not as good. If you look at his FHL player card,
you see a lot of the similar issues that you
saw on MITG. Brown's tracking data for Murshik. The transition
game pretty good, especially when he carries in and out

(48:37):
and the play driving. Not expected goals, of course, you
are really low. Fenwick just below average priffs well, he
does do some of that. His hits are about average,
his shots are really good, so seventy eight percentile for
that and he pims quite a bit. Five point eighty
seven is what I have him at. Let's hear a
little bit more about Thomas Murshik from our FHL scout Jesse.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Grand back at it on Murcik Mersage is a quick
skater who has a good first few strides then tops
out it just slightly above average. Needs to improve his
or move his feet much more consistently and improve the
overall motor to be successful at the next levels. Passing
and handling average, and he can be guilty of forcing
the odd pass into coverage. He has decent hands in

(49:18):
tight but doesn't have the skilled set to be a
razzle dazzle type guy shooting. Mersich has a good quick
snapshot that he likes to take on his off wing.
He's able to find soft spots at the WHL level,
but will he at the AHL and NHL levels. The
IQ puck doesn't always follow him around, and he can

(49:38):
disappear for stretches, which connects him with the lack of
anticipation at times. He sees his teammates relatively well, but
he can force passes for checking. Quick skater who can
get in on the fore check and be physical, but
doesn't do it enough. He needs to use his motor
more often, as he needs something to fall back on
when the offense dries up a little. Defense, he plays

(50:00):
center and wing, but might be more suited for the
wing moving forward. Some of his defensive coverage pads are
suspect and can leave a man open for scoring chances against.
He needs to improve without the puck in his own
end to get much better defensively. The best asset right now,
it's the shot and the stick handling giving him success
in the DUB. He is a little above average in

(50:22):
both of these categories. Offense moving forward is the biggest concern.
Mercis is going to have difficulty maintaining his current role
as a top six forward who plays on the power
play one in DHL or NHL. He is more likely
going to be faced with changing his game to suit
a bottom six role if he wants to fit into
the NHL. The top tier outcome third line forward power

(50:46):
play two in his ceiling. That's because he doesn't possess
the elage, putt handling, passing, or skating skills necessary for
a top role in the NHL. Grant thinks he does
have the tools to be a good bottom six forward
if he works on the other aspects of his game
and the media outcome here, Grant's going with the top
six forward in the E the AHL. That's if he

(51:08):
continues to progress as an offensive to player but doesn't
work on defense, that might be where he ends up
stylistic comparable to er Mott if he changes game to
make the NHL. Mercage has a physical side to his game,
and Mersage is just nineteen years of age could develop
quite a bit in the next year or two. At
this point, he lacks the skill set to become a

(51:29):
top six NHL forward, and Grant believes he's going to
need to change his game to become a bottom six
forward or else he won't play in the NHL. But
that's not to say he couldn't put up fifteen to
twenty goals and or assists one day and play on
a third line. Anything above that is pretty unlikely and
NHL Rank King Tidy champion last year, Mason Black puts

(51:54):
Mrshik up against Luca Pinelli and Luke Panelli of the
Columbus Blue Jacket, wipes the floor with mister Mrisik. It
is sixty six two thirty four percent victor at two
to one ratio almost and Grant has this to say
about dallaboard of Orski. He has a fairly impressive first
few strides. Top speed looks to be about average. That

(52:16):
initial quickness might be enough to get him open in
tight spots. Passing and handling a little slough to process
while with the puck in one NHL game that Grant
was able to view that could just be nerves. He
does possess very good stick handling, moves the puck well,
and embraces driving play at the AHL level. The big
question will be if he can do that in the NHL.

(52:37):
The shooting Devorski possesses a good, quick, accurate shot that
he sometimes one times with authority. Currently it is probably
no more than an average NHL shot, so he's gonna
need some work at that level. He does have a
nice backhand shot when in tight the IQ great patience
with the puck seems to find open eyes easily. He

(52:58):
sees the ice well on the offensive zone and anticipates
where his teammates are. He protects the puck well and
likes to have the puck rather than defer to a
teammate the for checking his average. At best, he's not
a physical player for a two hundred pound forward and
is going to need to improve his strength on the
puck or battling for pucks defense. Like most young offensive forwards,

(53:19):
he can get lost defensively in his own end with
coverage on his defensive assignments. He will need to improve
this in order to earn a regular role in the NHL.
Having said that, he's little head defensively from most similar
offensive forwards at this stage, his puck handling and play
driving abilities then show up to be his best assets.

(53:40):
He can be that forward on his line who could
carry the puck or be the conduit on the power
play for scoring opportunities. But Grant's biggest concern is that
he fails to develop any further. Most of what we
hope he will become as a player is not yet
in his arsenal. Still needs to improve his skating, shot,
stick handling, defense, and strength for him to become a
top six forward. He's only twenty still, but he's got

(54:03):
a lot of work ahead of him. So the top
tier outcome that Grant foresees top six forward tier three
who can produce on the power play and even strength
sixty to eighty points one day. That's because he's got
the skill, the smarts, the opportunity, and the draft cloud
to get plenty of chances to succeed with the Blues
in the next two or three years. The median outcome,

(54:24):
though bottom six forward who plays twelve to fourteen minutes
per game struggles to break fifteen to twenty goals thirty
five to forty points. That's because he's a smart player.
But if he's not driving play, he's going to need
to rethink his approach to making instaining in the NHL,
and that's going to be building off defensive play. The
stylistic comparable Grant thinks maybe a little bit of Bohoorvat

(54:46):
in his game and the final thoughts Divorce is going
to have to raise his skill sets from average to
above average and skating, shooting, defensive play to make it
as regular in the top six with any NHL team.
Right now, at twenty, he's an above average stickhandler and
slightly above average passer. Patience is needed with him, but

(55:07):
Grant's not convinced he's going to get to that sixty
to eighty point level. Is that what you think?

Speaker 3 (55:12):
No, I don't think so. I think I would take
Murshik here, and I think that people obviously liking some
of the stats there for Pinelli, but the reality is
that he looked good in the OHL for that out
of sixty seven's, but I worry that he's going to
have a hard time transitioning to the AHL. He's still
five foot nine. Look at Pinelle, so he's definitely on
the smaller side one hundred and sixty eight pounds, and

(55:33):
I worry that he's going to struggle in that league,
whereas Murshik, he's six foot zero. I don't think he's
going to struggle as much. College will be pretty telling
for him, but I would definitely take Murshek here. The
hockey prospecting between the two, it also leams Murshik twenty
fourteen percent to eight percent, so nearly double. And looking
at the FHL player card for Pinella, you see a

(55:55):
lot more red and a lot of concerning colors here,
So I would definitely leave Murshik. Looking at some other
comps for him, looking looks like Valeriy Nachushkin is one
who might have some rhymes in terms of the production
and looking at the j Fresh player card, Thomas Mursik
two percent chance of being a star, twenty two percent
chance of being in NHL or Jesse.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Lastly, the need to know prospect or the keep your
m prospect victor.

Speaker 3 (56:23):
Keep your eye on is Dalibard Divorski twenty twenty three,
tenth overall pick sixty one, two hundred and five pounds.
He had his first season in the HL, primarily this season.
Remember he's had a very weird trajectory. He's Slovakian, but
he went and played in Sweden for a lot of
his development and then came to the OHL last season,

(56:45):
the previous season twenty three twenty four after starting in
the SHL, and then this season he was primarily just
in the AHL, so that was good for him. Hopefully
had some consistency and he did well. Forty five points
and sixty one games pretty good. He even got into
a couple NHL games at the end of the sea
in which was good to see. But overall it was
nice to see some sustained production in a very difficult

(57:08):
league of the AHL for Divorski. Looking at his FHL
player card for the AHL time, there's a lot of
red here, and especially in the transition game and in
the play driving. His priffs also very low. Passing wasn't great,
so there's a lot of struggles here, even though there
was some decent production. And that's part of my concern
here is that his off puck play has continued to

(57:29):
be a bit of a struggle for Divorski, and so
I'm not convinced that he's going to be able to
translate it as well. If he has others help him
with transition game and get the puck in and help
set up, then he can be a good offensive player.
But he's not necessarily a driver, which is part of
my concern and why I have him only at a
six point seventy four. I do think he can be
above average roster player, but I don't have him as

(57:50):
a seven or higher because of those off put concerns
and play driving. Let's hear a little bit more about
Divorski from our vigil scout Jesse.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
Mason Black the NHL ranking. Ooh, this is a heavyweight
match Dalla Boordowirsky against Quinton Musty. Victor. Quinn Musty loses
this one fifty eight to forty two percent. I like
both of these guys, but I have a feeling you're
gonna be surprised.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
I definitely like Musty better here, and so that's what
I'm going to take. It is interesting. I think that
Divorski certainly has a lot of offense, but I like
Musty's play a little bit better. So, for one thing,
he definitely has more bash. He hits and blocks and
shoots a lot, and his play driving number is better
in the OHL. We did see him a little bit

(58:37):
in the AHL, so it's good to get a little
bit of taste of that. But overall, I just believe
in Musty's telling a little bit better. Of course, there
are concerns about space in the San Jose roster. I
think Musty pushes his way up to at least be
a second liner, and he's someone who should get top
power play looks, even though it's getting a little crowded
up there. But yeah, I definitely like Musty better, and

(58:57):
I really worry that Devorski is going to struggle with
some of these play driving things, whereas Musty he has
some of those concerns too, but I don't know that
it's as obvious. Yeah, I'm definitely going musty here. Looking
at some of the other comps for Delaware Divorce, Ki
Jakob Vorchuk is someone who looks a little bit alike.
That would be a good outcome, certainly Willie ny Lander,
Theofleuri or some other ones. I don't think that his

(59:19):
upside is really quite that high. Looking at the Jfresh
card for Divorceki twenty three percent chance of being a star,
ninety percent chance of being an NHL or so. Pretty
good confidence there from Jfresh. That's all from our for
our blues dig. If you're a Patrion, you can listen
to my top ten prospect where you haves on Patreon.
If you're interested in doing any scouting or helping out
the show, shoot me a DM on Twitter, Discord, or

(59:39):
email us.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
Be right back to closing up the show. Fantracks dot
com is the place to play all your fantasy sports.
They got all the different options there. Don't take it
for me, fantracks dot com. Just go look. Try to
go start yourself a league, nine different sports, every different

(01:00:05):
customization you could want. Fantraks HQ's got fantasy content. They
got player rankings for hockey right now. They got other
articles and all the other sports do they have articles
for I just started playing in a college fantasy football
and get this college fantasy football. Now. The problem with
that sport is guys get scratched in the last minute.

(01:00:26):
You don't know it. So in that sport you can
set it up to say, if somebody gets scratched, here
is the guy who gets auto started in his place.
It's a neat little quirk of college Fantasy Football. FHL
is a team. I like to thank them, shout them
out every episode. The tidy leagues are cruising along. I

(01:00:47):
believe we've had our last one get through their dispersal draft.
The rookie drafts will be out probably by the time
that this show airs. They'll be kicking off. Timmy has
been the master of ceremonies. Ryan Emo Crafts are all
in there helping out making sure that things run. Tony
and Patrick Carr leed scouts, Mike, Steven Matt help with

(01:01:09):
the show prep these notes that we've got here. Brandon
helps with the website, prospect ranks and visualizations. If you'd
like to help the show, Victor can hear from you
in discord, email, social media. We're also brought to you
by Dauber Hockey and Dauber Prospects. Victor is an editor
there and produces work. I do a solo show called
Dynasty Sports Life. I talk about four different Dynasty sports

(01:01:31):
over there, including a little bit of hockey, but a
lot of philosophy things that might apply to hockey as
well as everything else. Follow us on Socials, Jesse Severe
and v one, Victor on Blue Sky and over on
X Victor Nuno twelve and Fan Hockey Life. Rate us
and review us. We'd love to hear from you. I
think we're still doing the thing where you can get

(01:01:52):
some Daber previews. Come see us, give us some ratings,
appreciate the love. It's that time of year to spread
the love. Thank you for listening to everybody. Draft is
coming soon. The season's coming sooner than you think. Until
next time, keep living that bantasy hockey life.