December 8, 2025 • 41 mins
In the latest episode of The Journey, Victor ventures to Sweden and Russia for prospects on the way. Jesse asks him about Anton Frondell, Ivar Stenberg, Victor Eklund, Milton Gastrin, Herman Traff, Roman Kantserov, Yegor Surin, Alexander Zharovsky, Mikhail Ilyin, and Matvei Korotky. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email fantasyhockeylife@gmail.com 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
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life presented by fan Tracks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here's ship Kiss.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league. Block off hot A step hit on,
stay Lock. Here's your host, Jesse Sevier and Victor Nuno
Leanna C Hockey.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Live once again.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Jesse Severe, Victor Nunio in the place to be at
about this time, Victor, how you doing today?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I am doing awesome, Jesse, except I recently suffered a
really terrible loss in one of my leagues. You probably
experienced this before, and actually it just it kind of
leads me into shouting out one of our sponsors of
fan Tracks for the show, because in one of my leagues,
I got the second most amount of points by about
(00:55):
thirty and I lost to the team who did even
like we both absolutely destroyed the rest of the league,
but happened to be playing against each other. And I'm
sure people have experiences. It's not fun, but I wanted
to mention and you have a league, you designed the
league that has this. The Decel League has a cool
(01:16):
feature where you play against another team but also against
the league median, which I think is a really good
way to correct for this. Because if you have, like
for me, if I had this really good week, but
I happen to be losing to the team that's just
slightly better the only team. At least I get a
win against the league median, and I think that helps
correct for some of these lucky wins. Like there were
(01:37):
times in this same league where I lucked out a
win that I probably shouldn't have had, and we were
both under the league median, So in that case, I
would have been one and one. In this case where
I lost but beat the league median, I would have
been one and one, And I think that helps overall
even out the standings in terms of who are the
actual good teams and who aren't. So that's how I'm doing,
Jesse struggling with being at peace with that, but also
(02:01):
I'm happy that a lot of these other leagues have
some good solutions that I think.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, when you started by saying you recently suffered a loss,
I was like, well, Victor, are we gonna have real
world tragedy here? I was concerned, I'm lucky luckily it
was a fantasy loss, And yeah, I agree. Actually, as
we sit here, it's I'm playing the top team in
Diesel Hockey this week, and you know, no big deal.
(02:27):
We're the top two scoring teams in this matchup. I
think I'm going to win, just barely, but it is
kind of nice to know the top two scores for
the week are happening in one matchup, and either way,
we're both gonna get at least, you know, at least
the loser point out of this thing. So yeah, it's
good stuff. I like that feature. I like that you
(02:48):
can play multiple matchups at once. But you know, I
could go on about fan tracks all day, Victor. Instead,
I think we should go on about prospects all day
and right.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
After this, it's exactly what we're gonna do, Victor.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
We are recapped with some of the guys you've recently
covered in your excellent column, award winning column. Maybe not yet,
but eventually it will be the journey, which today we're
going to talk about some guys over in Sweden, over
in Russia who are off to some hot starts and
what you're seeing there. The first guy up, we've name
checked him on recent episodes, but Anton belle Or maybe
(03:30):
we haven't real recently, but he was one of the
hotness in last year's draft he was taken number three.
He was taken out of Chicago. He was kind of
the centerman that was desired right there at the top
of the draft. And he is up in the Swedish
Hockey League BIGS the full SHL from Hockey all Svenskin.
He's part of that Jury Gardens system and you know,
(03:53):
nine goals in twenty three games with fourteen total points
is a pretty respectable performance so far. Anton Frondell, we're
going with the Mason Black NHL rinking poles is the
number three pick from last year, who is going up
against Jake O'Brien of the Branford Bulldogs Juggernaut that's happening
(04:14):
there in the OHL this year. Jake O'Brien centerman for
the Seattle Kraken, and Frontell is winning this one pretty
considerably in the poll, a lot of votes and Frondell
comes out ahead seventy nine to twenty one percent. Brondell
definitely a highly touted prospect and apparently not forgotten over
(04:37):
Big Jake. What do you think of this one?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, well, both these guys are guys that you want,
and there will be some polls later where that isn't
the case. And If you remember hockey prospecting, Byron famously
ended with Frondell as his top player in last year's draft,
and at the time it was it was pretty spicy.
A lot of people were like, whoa really, that seems
like a bit of a stretch, and he ended up
(05:00):
going a little higher than maybe some people thought. But
so far this season, Frondell is doing everything he can
to prove that. You know, he was definitely someone that
maybe should have gone that early. He was often a
little bit more of a hot pace at the beginning
of the season. And I think you also had to
take an account that Drew Garden's got promoted and so
(05:21):
now in the SHL compared to hockey Eels Fenskin, all
of that is something to think about. But he is
a goal scorer. I think these players are just fundamentally
very different. So in terms of what you want, Frondell
is going to be someone who probably scores more. He's
got a really good shot, he's got a quick release
and all that. He's not someone who is going to
bash a terribly large amount, but he's going to get
(05:44):
a lot more than Jacobrien, who basically doesn't do anything.
He doesn't shoot hit block. What he does is mostly
good assists and so think of like Alex Weinberg, but
like a lot more scoring than that, And that's basically
what you can have with Jacobrien. You know, maybe like
a Dylan Strom at his best, someone who doesn't really
bash a lot, but could get you know, point per game.
(06:07):
So I think it depends on what you want there.
I do think that the points upside is higher for Jacobrien,
but the all around upside for Frondell in terms of
in your fantasy league, is probably going to be a
little bit higher depending on what categories you choose. If
your points only league, then I think you take Jacobrien
and it's not even a question. But if you count
(06:29):
a lot of peripheral stats, I think they're going to
be pretty close. But I would probably lean Frondell just
because I think he does a lot more to stay
engaged and unless it really works out for O'Brien, he
becomes that top, you know, playmaker all situations kind of thing.
I think it's going to be tough for him to
have the value that is going to make him worth
it on your roster. Plus, we see Berkeley Cadden already
(06:51):
breaking into the League. I think Berkeley Cadden is probably
a slightly better similar version to Jacobrien who shoots a
little bit, who shoots more, but it's still an excellent playmakers.
So the other issue is at Seattle needs finishers. They
have some pretty good playmakers now, but they don't really
have finishers. So Jared McCann can't finish everything, and you know,
(07:11):
not Johnny Newman who has a really good shot but
struggles to move like. They just need some some guys
who can finish a little bit better, and so that's
a bit of a concern. I try not to think
about the whole context in terms of these players, but
it clearly is going to matter here for the Kraken
because I don't see them making a lot of changes
in that way, and I don't really know how they
can with all these free agents being locked up before
we even get to the free agency of twenty twenty six,
(07:32):
so it might be hard for them to improve much. Jesse,
but this one's pretty close. I think I would take
Frondell just based on the all around production. But O'Brien
if it's some points only kind.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Of well, next Victor. I know we name checked this
guy last week. As a competition in a vote with
one of our players, and that was the var Stenberg,
who is really moving up in the talk about the
twenty twenty six an Echell Draft. He's definitely a consensus
top three pick. I mean, wouldn't be surprised at this
point if people are talking about him as a number
(08:05):
one pick at some point. And yeah, he's certainly also
having an excellent season this year. As you said, these
are the hot starters, and there's nothing better than showing
up in for Londa in the FHL and having almost
a point per game in your draft year, which is
kind of unheard of. So he's playing over for Londa
twenty two points in twenty three games, and up against
(08:29):
Keaton Verhoff in this one, who's moved from the WHL
to play for the NCAA's North Dakota team this year
and will also be part of the twenty twenty six
entry draft. Right now, really a tight one, Victor ivar
Stenberg versus Keaton Verhoff. Verhoff is just a little bit behind.
(08:49):
I know he's also one of the top prospects here,
but I'm kind of surprised that this one is so
close given what the buzz is around Stenberg. What do
you think of this poll and what do you think
of these.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Play I think I would like one of each of them,
actually is what I think they're They're both really strong,
as you said, so it depends on what you want.
I think that Stenberg is probably going to be the
first or second best winger available, and Verhoff is probably
the best defenseman available, So, you know, depends on what
(09:20):
you want. You know, you could probably just decide based
on that they're both elite. I think Verhoff is good,
is you know, clearly a really good real life defenseman.
Is he going to be an elite fantasy asset? It's
hard to say, but he's looking great already in his
NC DOUBLEA to debut a lot of his transition data.
It looks really good. Some of his play driving doesn't
(09:42):
look amazing, but again, difficult league that he's jumping into.
He's also a really young for his draft class at
June nineteenth, so he'll be eighteen just before the draft.
But playing as a seventeen year old in the NC
double A. We've seen a few do it, but it's
really hard. It's even harder for defensemen, and so that's
asking a lot and I think he's more than holding
(10:02):
his head above water right now with ten points in
fourteen games for North Dakota and a lot of his
underlying numbers look good. Some of them look a little
bit underwater, but that's okay considering the context. I think
he has all the potential in the world. He's probably
probably going to make the U twenty World Unior Championship
team for Canada, depends on who else gets released from
(10:23):
their NHL teams. But that's a pretty big feather in
his cap. You know, we saw Schaeffer recently do that,
but Stenberg, as we talked about last week, he has
just tremendous points upside, rivaling Gavin McKenna. I think there's
going to be a situation where we look at this
five years down the road and we say, actually, ever
(10:43):
stenbar was better, and he might even be a better
fantasy asset. His bash is not really great though, he
doesn't really do that much in terms of hits, blocks
and shots, but he's driving a lot of really excellent
play in the SHL, especially with his Fenwick and expected goals,
which is no small task. And his play away from
the puck I think has been really impressive, especially as
(11:05):
those questions continue to be asked about Gavin McKenna. So
I think the answer is both of these. Who has
the more pure upside? I think it's probably of our Stenberg,
you know. But if you're staring at this decision come
next Fantasy draft, and you really need a high end defenseman,
then I think it's perfectly within reason to go with
Kean Verhoff here, because I don't think they're that far apart.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
All right, mixed up, we're gonna go. Let's go back
to the old days, way back in the past, to
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
That drive.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Victor Eckland was a first round steal for the Aisles
in twenty twenty five, taken in the mid round when
a lot of guys had kind of slipped. He's playing
with Stenberg now over in the Chure Gardens, I do believe,
and so he's getting some good experience in there. He's
a left winger nineteen years old. And let's see right now,
(11:56):
this year, so far Victor Ecklund has he's got eleven
goals in twenty three games or eleven points to twenty
three games, and he's definitely playing for the international U
twenty games for the for Sweden. He's going up against
the guy who has taking three picks in front of
him in last year's draft, Carter Bhar. And despite the vact,
(12:18):
Carter Bher was picked first by the Red Wings, Victor
Ecklund is being picked first by most of our respondents
seventy six percent of them, to be specific to twenty
four percent for Carter Bhar. Victor, what are your thoughts
on Victor Eckland Carter Bhar.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, this is a good one. I mean I like
both these guys. I think Eckland has more scoring upside.
Although Bear did do really well in WTL last season,
but this season he also, you know, he was injured
late last season and so that affected his return to play,
which he's now back with Everett. But he apparently he
(12:55):
hasn't quite looked himself, although he's doing fine in terms
of his scoring twenty four points in twenty games, though
he was well over a point per game in his
draft season, so this represents a little bit of a
dip in his equivalency, which is represented in hockey prospecting.
I think Eckland's numbers were a little bit depressed last
season too, based on the hockey else Finskin, and he
was generating a lot more chances and he got credit
(13:17):
for but because of the low equivalency of that league,
his thirty one points in forty two games didn't look
that impressive. This season, he's right around half point per
game in the SHL. I think he just has a
lot more to give than maybe what some people realize.
I think Victor Eckland's upside is a little bit more.
Both these guys actually bash a lot. You know, they're
both in the well Carter bar is in the ninety
(13:39):
six percentile for bash, Eckland in the eighty fifth percentile.
So we mentioned that at the draft last season. He's
a bit more bashy than his older brother William is Victor.
So that's something that you get a little bit more
of a perferal floor. Plus, I think the scoring is similar,
if not maybe even a little better for a Victor,
So that's kind of interesting. I do I would take
(14:00):
Victor in this case, though, I think that he has
a little bit more scoring upside, and he's got that
strong peripheral floor. I think Bear is clearly, you know,
tenacious and aggressive enough to play in the NHL, But
I think he might be more of like a middle
six kind of option, where I think Victor Eckland has
more top six upside, So I think I would lean
(14:20):
Eckland in this case, but they're somewhat close.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I would say Jesse, well, very good. Next, we're going
to move on to Milton Gastron, a Washington Capitals. The
Washington's been kind of sneaky in that second round. Wasn't
Wasn't Hudson a second round pick for them a couple
of years ago. Well, anyway, this is the number thirty
seven pick for the Caps just last year in twenty
twenty five. He is known for his playmaking. He didn't
(14:45):
do much in a few games in the SHL last year,
but he's an all Svenskin now and we'll see it
should be should be a good year from him. He's
already producing a bit here early on. He's up against
David Edstrom in our NHL rank King Pole, who was
drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights and then traded, of
(15:06):
course to Nashville some time back, and Gastrin apparently is
appreciated more than Edstrom. A. Gastron of course also forward.
He is the winner of our poll sixty to forty percent.
Victor tell us a little bit more about Milton Gastrine
and whether this is an accurate way for us to
(15:26):
view him.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Now, Yeah, I like Gastrin a lot. I think that
he was one last season who we said, you know,
looked looked really good in his role and at the
JA twenty and we'll see what he does when he
plays in the next level. And so far, so good.
He's been pretty good. He's raised his star potential from
two to seven percent in the hockey prospecting and you know,
(15:48):
he's someone who I could definitely see raising that even more.
He's a June second birthdate, so he played all last
season as a seventeen year old, this season as an
eighteen year old, and so I think he's got a
little bit more to give. He's an extremely creative player.
But both these guys probably have limited upside just in general.
I think they're kind of more depth options. But I
like the trajectory that Gastron is on and I think
(16:11):
that he has a little bit more upside. Edstrom, you
may recall, was part of the package that was sent
to Nashville for yao Arslava Scaroff, which is looking worse
and worse for Nashville as we go along. They got
Magnus Crona who doesn't even seem like an NHLer. They
got David Edstrom, who will talk about in a sec,
(16:31):
and a twenty twenty five first round pick who they
got Riker Lee with which I think is, you know,
he's certainly a guy who has some potential, but a
scar off being a volume starter for the Sharks looking
pretty good is looking good for them anyhow. David Edstrom
is someone who he's kind of looking like a tweener,
like I'm not even sure he's gonna be an NHL
(16:54):
or he's looking like someone who might not even you know,
provide them much support in the middle. His AHL production
so far six points in sixteen games. He was loaned
over to the SHL all last season, so he didn't
get any He got into a FEWHL games at the
end of the season, didn't do much, and he was
right around half point per game in the SHL. So
(17:16):
a fine, but he you know, he's that's fine, But
it's just he looks like he's kind of a tweiner,
Like he's probably good enough to play low level pro,
but I'm not sure that he's going to be an
impact in the NHL at which means he's not going
to be an impact for your fantasy league. So I
would definitely take Milton Gastron in this poll. But again,
these guys, both of them probably not shame.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Edstrom was a guy I really liked when he came
over to Nashville, I know when I was doing some
Nashville scouting, but it sounds like it's not working out
right now. Moving on to the next prospect up for
discussion today, Herman Traff of the Anaheim Ducks is was
the number ninety one overall pick in the third round
back in twenty twenty four for the Ducks. He's a
(18:00):
big winger. He's blowing up in the ALLSVENSKN this year
with twenty three points in twenty two games. Of course,
playing a little bit lower level, a little bit older
than some of the guys that we're talking about, but
that is some that's some fancy cooking. We like that
from a nineteen year old who is coming into his
own over there. Of course, Anaheim definitely a franchise on
the rise. He is going up in the NHL ranking
(18:22):
poll against Kieran Walton, who is a Sudbury Wolf and
who is completely blow enough his point scoring. He was
taken three rounds later than Traff in the same draft,
so Kieran Walton is he's got the attention of the voters.
There's a little bit of a smaller sample of votes
on this one, but Walton wins sixty three to thirty
(18:44):
seven percent in this poll.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Victor, what do you think both of these guys are
more depth options? I don't think either one of them
are super exciting. Walton was doing really well the last
couple of seasons, really kind of coming out of nowhere
as a six round pick to have some cachet, even
got some HL games this season. They put an a
on his sweater in Sudbury and he's been still really good.
(19:09):
But his equivalence, he actually has tracked down a little
bit based on not being quite as dominant as he
had been. It's still going to be a super long
road for both of these guys. At least Walton has
a the size figured out, you know, six six two
and twelve pounds like, he's not gonna he's on inter size.
He's not gonna have an issue with that. And Traff
has good size too, so that shouldn't be a huge issue.
(19:30):
But I think that I would take Traff here just
because he has he's younger and has a little bit
well actually their their similar age. But Walton, you know,
playing in the OHL, he can't really do anything about
that because he's still in the bound by the CHL
NHL agreement. But Traff doing what he's doing already at
the hockey heals Fensken level is pretty impressive, going over
(19:53):
point per game, and his improvement has been relatively recently
after being just drafted last season. So I think that
both these guys are They're gonna be a long ways away,
but I would probably take Traff here. I also just
kind of believe in the Ducks drafting and developing a
little bit better than the Winnipeg Jets. But that's, you know,
(20:14):
maybe a minor point. Looking at the Fantasy Hockey Life
player card between the two, there's some pretty good tracking
data for Traft. He Also, both these guys actually have
really good bash block shots and hits, so that should
be a pretty nice peripheral floor for the two of them.
But yeah, this one's closed. I think I would lean Traft,
though Jesse.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Well very good Victor. That is mister traff. We'll see
what comes of him, but for right now, let's take
a quick break, come back on the other side and
talk more prospects.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Victor, we're moving.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
From Sweden to Russia in this part of our discussion,
but before we do, you have some things to tell
the people.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
I sure do. Just wanted to let you all know
that you can join the Patreon and get bonus content,
get access to a lot of really cool stuff like
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You can get Patron Priority channel in the discord, get
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(21:24):
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gets you some gul services.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Let's move on to talk about our next prospect. Roman Canceroff,
who is a Chicago Blackhawks prospect. He's twenty one. He's
already in this fourth year in the KHL if you can,
if you can believe that, and he is a third
full time. He had a cameo before that. He's up
over a point per game this year and it's wearing
(21:53):
an A on his chest in the KHL. That's pretty
impressive for a guy who there's some threat to him
going to the NHL.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Well.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Now, on the other hand, for cancer Off, he is
on the smaller side. He's only five to nine, so
you got to worry a little bit about translation to
the North American game. But hey, he is thirty enough
in the KHL, He's played over twenty minutes multiple times
in recent games, and the NHL ranking pole is going
to put him up against Billy Coyvenan, who is NHL
(22:22):
contributor and right now, Roman cancerrov the unknown is much
more highly loved than the known of coiven In, as
cancerov In a pretty heavily voted pole is seventy eight
to twenty two percent ahead of coiven In. Victor, what
do you think of this comparison between prospects.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Well, as you mentioned, coiven In is playing in the NHL,
getting NHL games right now, So if that matters to you,
if you're a competitive team and you want to be
able to get them get him in your lineup, then
maybe you lean that way just based on NHL proximity.
I do think Cancerah has a better opportunity to be
(23:03):
a pretty significant contributor. He's someone who has, as you mentioned,
absolutely killing it in the KHL, and he has been undersized.
But if you look at this is why I like
having the vetas yaka Life Skater cards, because you can
see that he's actually winning seventy two percent of his
puck battles. That's not something that a small winger who's
(23:25):
shy of contact is going to do. He also is
hitting fifty six percent for the KHL, which is great.
His shots and blockso aren't that good, So his bash
is actually a little bit low. But he's driving play
really well. He's got really good, pretty good transition data.
His loose puck recovery and takeaways all look really good.
So it's not like he's just on the perimeter. He's
(23:48):
actually getting to the dirty eras he's actually separating people
from the puck and winning puck battles. All that matters
a ton. So I think he has some pretty good upside,
especially with Chicago, you know, advancing their rebuild window and
some of their younger players taking big steps right now.
I think he could be part of that conversation. So
(24:08):
I think it's going to be he's going to be
one of the players you definitely want to be adding,
and just based on upside, I'm definitely going with Roman
cantcerf here, but I could see a situation where you
want to take kaven End just because of the proximity
to the NHL, So I think that's something to be considered.
(24:30):
You mentioned you mentioned the situation with him potentially leaving,
and he is under contract at least through this season,
so he could come over at the end of the season.
And we tend to see ice time get monkeyed with
opportunity when players potentially could leave. So we'll see if
that happens. Right now, we don't know. We haven't had
(24:51):
any formal announcement of where he's playing next year, but
I think it's reasonable to suspect he might come over,
and that way, the proximity is pretty similar for both
of them, but being over a point per game in
the KHL.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Another fellow who's over there there, Swing of the Nashville Predators.
I remember again, I was following Nashville Predators prospects pretty
closely for Dabra a couple of years ago, and this
guy showed up at the Predators camp and just blew
up and really impressed some people, but unfortunately is still
over there at KHL playing under contract. He's big, he's
(25:25):
got a motor, he's getting full time minutes. Over in
the KHL this year is Surin, and yeah, he's he's
sixty two, one hundred and ninety eight pounds. That's that's solid.
That's some solid, solid winger right there. And over at
Locomotive Yaroslav he has got forty twenty four points in
(25:45):
thirty three games. That's a big jump over what he
was able to do in the KHL last year. So
the progress is moving unabated. Surin is in this poll
up against the guy who was drafted much earlier. Surin
was was a first round pick in twenty twenty four
of the Preds and Carter Maser was a third round
pick of the Detroit Red Wings back in twenty twenty one.
(26:09):
Is playing in the AHL and doing a reasonable job
for a guy who's already coming up on twenty four.
So his time to impact is, you know, the funnel
is he's further down that funnel. Let's put it that way,
and your sorin goes up against major in an NHL
ranking pool. Surin wins this one in a landslide eighty
four to sixteen percent Victor. What do you think?
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Yeah, I'm definitely taking sur In here. I think he
has a lot more skill, a lot more upside to him,
and the fact that he's doing so well in the
KHL right now as a nineteen year old, it's extremely impressive,
especially as a young birthdate. His contract situation is a
little bit different. He has this season and next, so
he won't be eligible to join the Predators or the
(26:56):
AHL until the twenty seven to twenty eight season, so
a little bit longer wait, but he probably needs it.
He he has a little bit still to round out
with his game and hopefully improve his scoring a little bit.
But overall, right now, it all looks really green in
terms of his player card, because the transition data, the
(27:16):
play driving, all of it looks excellent. Even his bash
he hits a lot, He shoots a lot. His blocks
are a little bit on the low side, but overall,
eighty nine percentile for bash is pretty impressive. So you
love to see all of that. And I think his
you know, I have him at a six point sixty five.
His puck stud rating. Haven't talked about that too much,
but that's above average player and I think that he
(27:38):
could get there. His fantasy hockey er, sorry, his hockey
prospecting star potential is at forty six percent, way higher
than Carter Mazer's, and I think that, you know, that's
a that's a pretty healthy star potential based on his
KHEL time, and I think that he has a reasonable
chance of hitting it. His NHLO probability is eighty one
percent there, Maser. You know, he's someone who has some
(27:59):
decent production as an HL scorer. Last season, he's had
some injuries that's limited him. He had just twenty games
last season, fifteen points in those twenty games, he had
one NHL game, and right now he's looks like he's
coming back six points in five HL games, So that's
good to see. But I still think he's going to
be in a more of a depth score, maybe a
(28:20):
third or fourth liner who chips in some points here there,
But I don't know they he'll be more than you know,
a thirty point kind of guy, a real depth score.
So I definitely taken yegor sir in here, Jesse, and
I don't think it's that exact.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
So he'reing that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I kind of agree with the.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Pollar here in our Diesel league. Next, we've got Alexander Zarovski,
who is a prospect for the Montreal Canadians, who was
drafted early in the second round last year, a puck
handling savant from Russia who had a very is having
a very strong first year as a full timer in
the KHL. So I'm sure the Canadians fans are excited
(28:59):
about that. When have the Canadians ever had luck with
Russian prospects? Oh, that's right, Ivan Dematov. He is up
in the NHL ranking poll against Braden Kots of the
Vancouver Canucks. And I don't know about this one, Victor Nucks.
The Canucks are starcross this year. Man, They're they're having
a rough year. And Kots, I mean, Kots is good,
(29:20):
He's even had some time in the NHL, but he
does not come out ahead in this poll against the
as yet unseen in North America Djerovsky and wins. Djurowski
does Overcoots sixty seven to thirty three percent.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Victor, What say you too? Passionate fan base is here
who always think their prospect is the best of anyone else,
So how could you How could you not upset one
of them. I'm sure someone's going to be upset with
whatever I say here, but the reality is I think
I would take Zorovsky. I do think that what he's
done has been really impressive. He's increased his star potential
(29:58):
from nineteen to fifty percent, which is incredible based on
his KHL performance so far this season, and eighteen points
in twenty two games is record. This for Salavat you
love pretty great. I got to see bradon Kots play recently,
and I think he's great. I mean, he's hard nosed.
You know, he's not the biggest guy, but he plays
really tough and hard and I think he's got some
(30:19):
skill there too. He's got a really good one timer.
He had an incredible one time goal from the OVI
spot that was pretty impressive. But he also scored in
different ways. He made everyone around him better and so
you like to see that. Seattle isn't the most dominant
team last year, but we saw him power as a
draft eligible his team to you know, a playoff spot
(30:39):
which they really had no business being in. So I
really like him. We saw him get some NHL games
already this season did kots when they were really starved
for some players, and so he has increased his star
potential from twelve to eighteen percent. But overall, I still
think that Zorowsky has a much better potential to score.
(31:03):
Kotso is going to have bash for days. His bash
is clucking in at ninety two percent, and the main
thing he doesn't do that much is hit, But he
shoots and he blocks a lot. He hits a fair amount.
He's pretty physical. But Zerovski a little bit lower fifty
percent out for bash. But I just think his scoring
upside is much much more and what he's doing in
(31:24):
the KHL is just super impressive. So I would definitely
like to have Zeroski on my team.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Could never never try to pride something away from your
neighborhood ABS fan, my friends. That's that's not going to
end well. Moving on, our next prospect up mkill Ilion
of the Pittsburgh peng Whenever I hear it Ilion, I
think it's like something the Beastie Boys would say, you'd
be Illion man. So Mikhail is over there playing for
(31:50):
the Pittsburgh Penguins, but not really because like the prospects,
we're talking about in this half of this episode. He's
actually in Russia. He's playing in the case DHL on
his fourth year there. He was a twenty twenty three
pick and is doing doing very well on the KHL
loaned up from below. He's got twenty four points in
(32:10):
thirty two games up in Severn Stop and actually last
summer signed his entry level contract for the NHL, so
that would suggest he's maybe not that far from coming
over to North America. He is forward and not yet
twenty one years old. He's going up against Brendan Oathman
of the New York Ranges. I think we just talked
(32:31):
about Oathman a couple of weeks ago. Either that or
Perro My mind blurs, but anyway, one of these good
Rangers winger prospects. I think in Openland's case, maybe it's
time for him to move and try something else. But
Ilian Oathman is the matchup. Ilion comes out ahead again.
The unknown mystery man comes out ahead of the guy
who we've been watching a little more closely in the AHL,
(32:53):
who hasn't seemed to break through yet and is a
little bit older. Ilian fifty six percent, forty four percent Victor.
What do you have to say, well, I.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Really hope they do move on from Brenan Authman because
he's not getting the opportunity that he needs to. We've
talked about how the Rangers have really struggled to develop
their prospects and give them the right opportunity, and I
think Authman is a pretty clear example of that. You know,
we did see Will Cooley pass him on the depth chart.
I think there's a similar player. I've talked about that before.
(33:25):
He had a really Authman had a really excellent first
season in the AHL, and then they kind of brought
him up and didn't really give him the right role,
kind of regress his development a bit. Last season, he
had some injuries and was mostly in the NHL or
sorry AHL. This season, he just got one NHL game
and he's been back in the minors, and I just
(33:45):
think he needs to get a different opportunity. I think
he could be a Will Cooley type for a different team.
So we'll just have to wait and see if that happens.
I do think that Mikhail Illen probably has more scoring
potential than does Authman at this point, you know, he's
doing pretty well in the KHL. It'll be interesting to
(34:05):
see when he comes over. But I for just the
actual point scoring, I would take Illen. But you know,
in terms of the bash, which Othman is pretty great at,
I think that you would like to see that, and
if he can get the right opportunity on a different team,
it may end up working out really well for Othman.
And he is like he could get traded to a
different team and be in the NHL right away and
(34:27):
actually be producing for your fantasy team. So that's something
to consider. It just takes the right move. Maybe it's
the kind of thing where you keep him on your
watch list and if he gets traded, you add him
right away because he might be in free agency, or
he might be just languishing on someone's roster right now
because they don't know what to do with him. So
it might be a decent, low key speculative ad to
(34:47):
get Othman. But if you're in a team that in
a situation that just favors upside, I'd probably go with Ellen.
But I still think he's probably a bit of a
long shot at this point. So a fifth rounder who
is doing pretty we well in Russia but not well
in the doors opportunity for the definitely a lower key
will probably be able to.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Tell how much they value him, how much leeway they'll
give him if he comes over. The last guy we're
going to discuss today matt Vey Karake of the Saint
Louis Blues. He was a late twenty twenty four pick.
Kind of a pretty pretty exciting the fact that we've
got somebody who we're talking about in these kind of
terms who was drafted as low as the seventh round.
(35:27):
You're near the end of the twenty twenty four draft.
He's putting up great numbers in the KHL this year.
He's got fifteen points in his first twenty games. However,
I will say he is now injured in you know,
there's there's a mysterious Russian cover up of his of
his injury, well, I don't know. It's a lower body injury,
so say the Blues people, But we don't know exactly
(35:48):
what's going on there. Hopefully he's not far from coming
back and playing some more games. But Karake is up
against Nathan Bame of the Chicago Blackhawks, who was drafted
in the third round last year. Playing out in cam Loops,
a little bit easier place to get into and watch
some games, I imagine that's Scott Saint Pete right now
and Bame is he wins pretty handily in the NHL
(36:10):
ranking poll, seventy one to twenty nine percent.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Victor.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
It's a Blackhawk against the Blue. You know, let's let's
get every let's get the hatfields and McCoy's on this
one because it's going to be a rivalry. But which
one of these guys you like better?
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yeah? I think I like Bem better, but I think
that they're pretty similar. Both are raising their stock and
so you love to see that. Karake definitely has a
ways more to go as a as a really late pick,
seventh rounder, and you know, he has gotten pretty good
production this season fifteen points in twenty games before that injury.
(36:46):
As you mentioned, that is just one season, though at
decent production. The previous season he played a lot in
the MHL but did get some KHL time. He just
had nine points, So we're talking about small sample size.
I think I trust the what Bem has done. I mean,
he was drafted in twenty twenty five after a pretty
(37:07):
strong draft season, just over point per game. In fact,
I think we talked about him on one of the
draft episodes as someone who I thought could take another
big step. And of all the guys after round two,
who is someone who I had most interested? And he
was definitely one of them. I like what he's done.
He's improved his point scoring even more with the kamalospracers.
(37:28):
I mean he's at about one point five points per game,
so you like to see that increased his his NHL
equivalency in hockey prospecting and looking at his player card
on Fantasy Hockey Life, he's got really good transition data.
His play driving is pretty good. Some of it is
a little bit leaves a little bit to be desired,
but he's winning more battles than he's losing. He's pretty
(37:49):
good on puck recovery and takeaways. And his bash is
pretty good mostly based on his shots, but his hits
are a little bit above average. So he's got a
decent peripheral floor at seventy seven seventy eight percent bash,
which is nice to see. Karake also has pretty good bash.
I just worry a little bit more about that being
a small sample size. Propping up KARAKEI definitely something I
(38:10):
noticed when I was looking around the leagues and writing
about who was being propped up in Russia. So you know,
if Karaki is someone who you can add, as you
pointed out, you know, probably available in a lot of leagues.
So if he's someone you could just grab for free,
then that's probably worth it. But you know, if you're
having to spend an asset for one of these two
and having to choose, and I would probably yeah, that
(38:31):
seems to be how it goes both of them.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, guys, whoul d the NHL draft, it's always interesting
to see how long they perform in lower levels before
or not even lower levels KHL, how much performance they
can get before they get snapped up in an open
open free agent ads league. Victor, before we get out
of here, anything you want to any other words of
(38:55):
wisdom you have for the people, Well, I hope.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
You're reading and enjoying the articles at the Journey via Daber.
If there's something you want me to write about, let
me not sing. As we get closer to Wild Juniors,
we'll cover a lot of that content and we'll certainly
be discussing that on the show. But if there's something
in particular you're interested in, or have an interesting topic
that you would like me to write about, then let
me know, always open to ideas and definitely check it out.
(39:20):
It's a free article at dauber, so no even.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Make you request people. That's good stuff. Thank you, Victor,
and we'll be right back, you know. Before we get
out of here, I want to remind you are shows
brought to you by fantracks dot com. That's where you
(39:42):
play fantasy sports. That's where we play all of our leaks.
Frankly that we can you know, talk people into because
it's got all the options. It's got the customization, it's
got the different rules, the different scoring settings, you can
pretty much customize everything. Slow drafts, I'm in a right now.
We had an eight hour clock. We decided a little
(40:03):
bit later on this is a baseball draft to take
it down to six hours. It pauses overnight, all those
types of things. You can't do that with a lot
of platforms, but you can do it.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Fan Tracks.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
The fan tracks also has fantasy content. There's good articles
kicking out there about maybe some streamers, maybe some goalies,
that type of thing. Just look for the articles over
on the right hand column of your fan Tracks team page.
FHL is a team we think our Fantasy Hockey Life
Crew Tim Ryan, Simo Kratz, the Tidy League's commission leadership team,
(40:38):
Tony our lead scout brand and helps the website prospect
ranks and visualizations. If you've got skills you'd like to
lend the show, Victor would love to hear from you
in the discord, email, or social media. We're also brought
to you by Dauber Hockey Dauber Prospects. Victor is an editor.
That's where he writes this column, The Journey. I do
a solo show called Dynasty Sports Life. I talk about
(41:00):
four different Dynasty sports. You can follow us on social
media over on Blue Sky Jesse Severe or The One
Victor The One Being a Number, or on x Victor
Unio twelve or fan Hockey Life, Rate and Review, Apple Pod, Spotify,
wherever else you get your podcast. Thank you for listening
(41:20):
to this episode and until next time, keep living that
fantasy hockey life.
Welcome to Fantasy Hockey Life presented by fan Tracks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here's ship Kiss.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Your source of information and analysis to help you win
your fantasy hockey league. Block off hot A step hit on,
stay Lock. Here's your host, Jesse Sevier and Victor Nuno
Leanna C Hockey.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Live once again.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Jesse Severe, Victor Nunio in the place to be at
about this time, Victor, how you doing today?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I am doing awesome, Jesse, except I recently suffered a
really terrible loss in one of my leagues. You probably
experienced this before, and actually it just it kind of
leads me into shouting out one of our sponsors of
fan Tracks for the show, because in one of my leagues,
I got the second most amount of points by about
(00:55):
thirty and I lost to the team who did even
like we both absolutely destroyed the rest of the league,
but happened to be playing against each other. And I'm
sure people have experiences. It's not fun, but I wanted
to mention and you have a league, you designed the
league that has this. The Decel League has a cool
(01:16):
feature where you play against another team but also against
the league median, which I think is a really good
way to correct for this. Because if you have, like
for me, if I had this really good week, but
I happen to be losing to the team that's just
slightly better the only team. At least I get a
win against the league median, and I think that helps
correct for some of these lucky wins. Like there were
(01:37):
times in this same league where I lucked out a
win that I probably shouldn't have had, and we were
both under the league median, So in that case, I
would have been one and one. In this case where
I lost but beat the league median, I would have
been one and one, And I think that helps overall
even out the standings in terms of who are the
actual good teams and who aren't. So that's how I'm doing,
Jesse struggling with being at peace with that, but also
(02:01):
I'm happy that a lot of these other leagues have
some good solutions that I think.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, when you started by saying you recently suffered a loss,
I was like, well, Victor, are we gonna have real
world tragedy here? I was concerned, I'm lucky luckily it
was a fantasy loss, And yeah, I agree. Actually, as
we sit here, it's I'm playing the top team in
Diesel Hockey this week, and you know, no big deal.
(02:27):
We're the top two scoring teams in this matchup. I
think I'm going to win, just barely, but it is
kind of nice to know the top two scores for
the week are happening in one matchup, and either way,
we're both gonna get at least, you know, at least
the loser point out of this thing. So yeah, it's
good stuff. I like that feature. I like that you
(02:48):
can play multiple matchups at once. But you know, I
could go on about fan tracks all day, Victor. Instead,
I think we should go on about prospects all day
and right.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
After this, it's exactly what we're gonna do, Victor.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
We are recapped with some of the guys you've recently
covered in your excellent column, award winning column. Maybe not yet,
but eventually it will be the journey, which today we're
going to talk about some guys over in Sweden, over
in Russia who are off to some hot starts and
what you're seeing there. The first guy up, we've name
checked him on recent episodes, but Anton belle Or maybe
(03:30):
we haven't real recently, but he was one of the
hotness in last year's draft he was taken number three.
He was taken out of Chicago. He was kind of
the centerman that was desired right there at the top
of the draft. And he is up in the Swedish
Hockey League BIGS the full SHL from Hockey all Svenskin.
He's part of that Jury Gardens system and you know,
(03:53):
nine goals in twenty three games with fourteen total points
is a pretty respectable performance so far. Anton Frondell, we're
going with the Mason Black NHL rinking poles is the
number three pick from last year, who is going up
against Jake O'Brien of the Branford Bulldogs Juggernaut that's happening
(04:14):
there in the OHL this year. Jake O'Brien centerman for
the Seattle Kraken, and Frontell is winning this one pretty
considerably in the poll, a lot of votes and Frondell
comes out ahead seventy nine to twenty one percent. Brondell
definitely a highly touted prospect and apparently not forgotten over
(04:37):
Big Jake. What do you think of this one?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, well, both these guys are guys that you want,
and there will be some polls later where that isn't
the case. And If you remember hockey prospecting, Byron famously
ended with Frondell as his top player in last year's draft,
and at the time it was it was pretty spicy.
A lot of people were like, whoa really, that seems
like a bit of a stretch, and he ended up
(05:00):
going a little higher than maybe some people thought. But
so far this season, Frondell is doing everything he can
to prove that. You know, he was definitely someone that
maybe should have gone that early. He was often a
little bit more of a hot pace at the beginning
of the season. And I think you also had to
take an account that Drew Garden's got promoted and so
(05:21):
now in the SHL compared to hockey Eels Fenskin, all
of that is something to think about. But he is
a goal scorer. I think these players are just fundamentally
very different. So in terms of what you want, Frondell
is going to be someone who probably scores more. He's
got a really good shot, he's got a quick release
and all that. He's not someone who is going to
bash a terribly large amount, but he's going to get
(05:44):
a lot more than Jacobrien, who basically doesn't do anything.
He doesn't shoot hit block. What he does is mostly
good assists and so think of like Alex Weinberg, but
like a lot more scoring than that, And that's basically
what you can have with Jacobrien. You know, maybe like
a Dylan Strom at his best, someone who doesn't really
bash a lot, but could get you know, point per game.
(06:07):
So I think it depends on what you want there.
I do think that the points upside is higher for Jacobrien,
but the all around upside for Frondell in terms of
in your fantasy league, is probably going to be a
little bit higher depending on what categories you choose. If
your points only league, then I think you take Jacobrien
and it's not even a question. But if you count
(06:29):
a lot of peripheral stats, I think they're going to
be pretty close. But I would probably lean Frondell just
because I think he does a lot more to stay
engaged and unless it really works out for O'Brien, he
becomes that top, you know, playmaker all situations kind of thing.
I think it's going to be tough for him to
have the value that is going to make him worth
it on your roster. Plus, we see Berkeley Cadden already
(06:51):
breaking into the League. I think Berkeley Cadden is probably
a slightly better similar version to Jacobrien who shoots a
little bit, who shoots more, but it's still an excellent playmakers.
So the other issue is at Seattle needs finishers. They
have some pretty good playmakers now, but they don't really
have finishers. So Jared McCann can't finish everything, and you know,
(07:11):
not Johnny Newman who has a really good shot but
struggles to move like. They just need some some guys
who can finish a little bit better, and so that's
a bit of a concern. I try not to think
about the whole context in terms of these players, but
it clearly is going to matter here for the Kraken
because I don't see them making a lot of changes
in that way, and I don't really know how they
can with all these free agents being locked up before
we even get to the free agency of twenty twenty six,
(07:32):
so it might be hard for them to improve much. Jesse,
but this one's pretty close. I think I would take
Frondell just based on the all around production. But O'Brien
if it's some points only kind.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Of well, next Victor. I know we name checked this
guy last week. As a competition in a vote with
one of our players, and that was the var Stenberg,
who is really moving up in the talk about the
twenty twenty six an Echell Draft. He's definitely a consensus
top three pick. I mean, wouldn't be surprised at this
point if people are talking about him as a number
(08:05):
one pick at some point. And yeah, he's certainly also
having an excellent season this year. As you said, these
are the hot starters, and there's nothing better than showing
up in for Londa in the FHL and having almost
a point per game in your draft year, which is
kind of unheard of. So he's playing over for Londa
twenty two points in twenty three games, and up against
(08:29):
Keaton Verhoff in this one, who's moved from the WHL
to play for the NCAA's North Dakota team this year
and will also be part of the twenty twenty six
entry draft. Right now, really a tight one, Victor ivar
Stenberg versus Keaton Verhoff. Verhoff is just a little bit behind.
(08:49):
I know he's also one of the top prospects here,
but I'm kind of surprised that this one is so
close given what the buzz is around Stenberg. What do
you think of this poll and what do you think
of these.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Play I think I would like one of each of them,
actually is what I think they're They're both really strong,
as you said, so it depends on what you want.
I think that Stenberg is probably going to be the
first or second best winger available, and Verhoff is probably
the best defenseman available, So, you know, depends on what
(09:20):
you want. You know, you could probably just decide based
on that they're both elite. I think Verhoff is good,
is you know, clearly a really good real life defenseman.
Is he going to be an elite fantasy asset? It's
hard to say, but he's looking great already in his
NC DOUBLEA to debut a lot of his transition data.
It looks really good. Some of his play driving doesn't
(09:42):
look amazing, but again, difficult league that he's jumping into.
He's also a really young for his draft class at
June nineteenth, so he'll be eighteen just before the draft.
But playing as a seventeen year old in the NC
double A. We've seen a few do it, but it's
really hard. It's even harder for defensemen, and so that's
asking a lot and I think he's more than holding
(10:02):
his head above water right now with ten points in
fourteen games for North Dakota and a lot of his
underlying numbers look good. Some of them look a little
bit underwater, but that's okay considering the context. I think
he has all the potential in the world. He's probably
probably going to make the U twenty World Unior Championship
team for Canada, depends on who else gets released from
(10:23):
their NHL teams. But that's a pretty big feather in
his cap. You know, we saw Schaeffer recently do that,
but Stenberg, as we talked about last week, he has
just tremendous points upside, rivaling Gavin McKenna. I think there's
going to be a situation where we look at this
five years down the road and we say, actually, ever
(10:43):
stenbar was better, and he might even be a better
fantasy asset. His bash is not really great though, he
doesn't really do that much in terms of hits, blocks
and shots, but he's driving a lot of really excellent
play in the SHL, especially with his Fenwick and expected goals,
which is no small task. And his play away from
the puck I think has been really impressive, especially as
(11:05):
those questions continue to be asked about Gavin McKenna. So
I think the answer is both of these. Who has
the more pure upside? I think it's probably of our Stenberg,
you know. But if you're staring at this decision come
next Fantasy draft, and you really need a high end defenseman,
then I think it's perfectly within reason to go with
Kean Verhoff here, because I don't think they're that far apart.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
All right, mixed up, we're gonna go. Let's go back
to the old days, way back in the past, to
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
That drive.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Victor Eckland was a first round steal for the Aisles
in twenty twenty five, taken in the mid round when
a lot of guys had kind of slipped. He's playing
with Stenberg now over in the Chure Gardens, I do believe,
and so he's getting some good experience in there. He's
a left winger nineteen years old. And let's see right now,
(11:56):
this year, so far Victor Ecklund has he's got eleven
goals in twenty three games or eleven points to twenty
three games, and he's definitely playing for the international U
twenty games for the for Sweden. He's going up against
the guy who has taking three picks in front of
him in last year's draft, Carter Bhar. And despite the vact,
(12:18):
Carter Bher was picked first by the Red Wings, Victor
Ecklund is being picked first by most of our respondents
seventy six percent of them, to be specific to twenty
four percent for Carter Bhar. Victor, what are your thoughts
on Victor Eckland Carter Bhar.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, this is a good one. I mean I like
both these guys. I think Eckland has more scoring upside.
Although Bear did do really well in WTL last season,
but this season he also, you know, he was injured
late last season and so that affected his return to play,
which he's now back with Everett. But he apparently he
(12:55):
hasn't quite looked himself, although he's doing fine in terms
of his scoring twenty four points in twenty games, though
he was well over a point per game in his
draft season, so this represents a little bit of a
dip in his equivalency, which is represented in hockey prospecting.
I think Eckland's numbers were a little bit depressed last
season too, based on the hockey else Finskin, and he
was generating a lot more chances and he got credit
(13:17):
for but because of the low equivalency of that league,
his thirty one points in forty two games didn't look
that impressive. This season, he's right around half point per
game in the SHL. I think he just has a
lot more to give than maybe what some people realize.
I think Victor Eckland's upside is a little bit more.
Both these guys actually bash a lot. You know, they're
both in the well Carter bar is in the ninety
(13:39):
six percentile for bash, Eckland in the eighty fifth percentile.
So we mentioned that at the draft last season. He's
a bit more bashy than his older brother William is Victor.
So that's something that you get a little bit more
of a perferal floor. Plus, I think the scoring is similar,
if not maybe even a little better for a Victor,
So that's kind of interesting. I do I would take
(14:00):
Victor in this case, though, I think that he has
a little bit more scoring upside, and he's got that
strong peripheral floor. I think Bear is clearly, you know,
tenacious and aggressive enough to play in the NHL, But
I think he might be more of like a middle
six kind of option, where I think Victor Eckland has
more top six upside, So I think I would lean
(14:20):
Eckland in this case, but they're somewhat close.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I would say Jesse, well, very good. Next, we're going
to move on to Milton Gastron, a Washington Capitals. The
Washington's been kind of sneaky in that second round. Wasn't
Wasn't Hudson a second round pick for them a couple
of years ago. Well, anyway, this is the number thirty
seven pick for the Caps just last year in twenty
twenty five. He is known for his playmaking. He didn't
(14:45):
do much in a few games in the SHL last year,
but he's an all Svenskin now and we'll see it
should be should be a good year from him. He's
already producing a bit here early on. He's up against
David Edstrom in our NHL rank King Pole, who was
drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights and then traded, of
(15:06):
course to Nashville some time back, and Gastrin apparently is
appreciated more than Edstrom. A. Gastron of course also forward.
He is the winner of our poll sixty to forty percent.
Victor tell us a little bit more about Milton Gastrine
and whether this is an accurate way for us to
(15:26):
view him.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Now, Yeah, I like Gastrin a lot. I think that
he was one last season who we said, you know,
looked looked really good in his role and at the
JA twenty and we'll see what he does when he
plays in the next level. And so far, so good.
He's been pretty good. He's raised his star potential from
two to seven percent in the hockey prospecting and you know,
(15:48):
he's someone who I could definitely see raising that even more.
He's a June second birthdate, so he played all last
season as a seventeen year old, this season as an
eighteen year old, and so I think he's got a
little bit more to give. He's an extremely creative player.
But both these guys probably have limited upside just in general.
I think they're kind of more depth options. But I
like the trajectory that Gastron is on and I think
(16:11):
that he has a little bit more upside. Edstrom, you
may recall, was part of the package that was sent
to Nashville for yao Arslava Scaroff, which is looking worse
and worse for Nashville as we go along. They got
Magnus Crona who doesn't even seem like an NHLer. They
got David Edstrom, who will talk about in a sec,
(16:31):
and a twenty twenty five first round pick who they
got Riker Lee with which I think is, you know,
he's certainly a guy who has some potential, but a
scar off being a volume starter for the Sharks looking
pretty good is looking good for them anyhow. David Edstrom
is someone who he's kind of looking like a tweener,
like I'm not even sure he's gonna be an NHL
(16:54):
or he's looking like someone who might not even you know,
provide them much support in the middle. His AHL production
so far six points in sixteen games. He was loaned
over to the SHL all last season, so he didn't
get any He got into a FEWHL games at the
end of the season, didn't do much, and he was
right around half point per game in the SHL. So
(17:16):
a fine, but he you know, he's that's fine, But
it's just he looks like he's kind of a tweiner,
Like he's probably good enough to play low level pro,
but I'm not sure that he's going to be an
impact in the NHL at which means he's not going
to be an impact for your fantasy league. So I
would definitely take Milton Gastron in this poll. But again,
these guys, both of them probably not shame.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Edstrom was a guy I really liked when he came
over to Nashville, I know when I was doing some
Nashville scouting, but it sounds like it's not working out
right now. Moving on to the next prospect up for
discussion today, Herman Traff of the Anaheim Ducks is was
the number ninety one overall pick in the third round
back in twenty twenty four for the Ducks. He's a
(18:00):
big winger. He's blowing up in the ALLSVENSKN this year
with twenty three points in twenty two games. Of course,
playing a little bit lower level, a little bit older
than some of the guys that we're talking about, but
that is some that's some fancy cooking. We like that
from a nineteen year old who is coming into his
own over there. Of course, Anaheim definitely a franchise on
the rise. He is going up in the NHL ranking
(18:22):
poll against Kieran Walton, who is a Sudbury Wolf and
who is completely blow enough his point scoring. He was
taken three rounds later than Traff in the same draft,
so Kieran Walton is he's got the attention of the voters.
There's a little bit of a smaller sample of votes
on this one, but Walton wins sixty three to thirty
(18:44):
seven percent in this poll.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Victor, what do you think both of these guys are
more depth options? I don't think either one of them
are super exciting. Walton was doing really well the last
couple of seasons, really kind of coming out of nowhere
as a six round pick to have some cachet, even
got some HL games this season. They put an a
on his sweater in Sudbury and he's been still really good.
(19:09):
But his equivalence, he actually has tracked down a little
bit based on not being quite as dominant as he
had been. It's still going to be a super long
road for both of these guys. At least Walton has
a the size figured out, you know, six six two
and twelve pounds like, he's not gonna he's on inter size.
He's not gonna have an issue with that. And Traff
has good size too, so that shouldn't be a huge issue.
(19:30):
But I think that I would take Traff here just
because he has he's younger and has a little bit
well actually their their similar age. But Walton, you know,
playing in the OHL, he can't really do anything about
that because he's still in the bound by the CHL
NHL agreement. But Traff doing what he's doing already at
the hockey heals Fensken level is pretty impressive, going over
(19:53):
point per game, and his improvement has been relatively recently
after being just drafted last season. So I think that
both these guys are They're gonna be a long ways away,
but I would probably take Traff here. I also just
kind of believe in the Ducks drafting and developing a
little bit better than the Winnipeg Jets. But that's, you know,
(20:14):
maybe a minor point. Looking at the Fantasy Hockey Life
player card between the two, there's some pretty good tracking
data for Traft. He Also, both these guys actually have
really good bash block shots and hits, so that should
be a pretty nice peripheral floor for the two of them.
But yeah, this one's closed. I think I would lean Traft,
though Jesse.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Well very good Victor. That is mister traff. We'll see
what comes of him, but for right now, let's take
a quick break, come back on the other side and
talk more prospects.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Victor, we're moving.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
From Sweden to Russia in this part of our discussion,
but before we do, you have some things to tell
the people.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
I sure do. Just wanted to let you all know
that you can join the Patreon and get bonus content,
get access to a lot of really cool stuff like
the access to the website and the player cards, the ranks,
the tiers list, all kinds of cool stuff. Patreon casts.
You can get Patron Priority channel in the discord, get
access to roster doctors, and a bunch of extra attention
(21:24):
and personalized help. All that's available through patreon dot com
slash Fantasy Hockey Life, and it supports the show and
gets you some gul services.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Let's move on to talk about our next prospect. Roman Canceroff,
who is a Chicago Blackhawks prospect. He's twenty one. He's
already in this fourth year in the KHL if you can,
if you can believe that, and he is a third
full time. He had a cameo before that. He's up
over a point per game this year and it's wearing
(21:53):
an A on his chest in the KHL. That's pretty
impressive for a guy who there's some threat to him
going to the NHL.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Well.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Now, on the other hand, for cancer Off, he is
on the smaller side. He's only five to nine, so
you got to worry a little bit about translation to
the North American game. But hey, he is thirty enough
in the KHL, He's played over twenty minutes multiple times
in recent games, and the NHL ranking pole is going
to put him up against Billy Coyvenan, who is NHL
(22:22):
contributor and right now, Roman cancerrov the unknown is much
more highly loved than the known of coiven In, as
cancerov In a pretty heavily voted pole is seventy eight
to twenty two percent ahead of coiven In. Victor, what
do you think of this comparison between prospects.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Well, as you mentioned, coiven In is playing in the NHL,
getting NHL games right now, So if that matters to you,
if you're a competitive team and you want to be
able to get them get him in your lineup, then
maybe you lean that way just based on NHL proximity.
I do think Cancerah has a better opportunity to be
(23:03):
a pretty significant contributor. He's someone who has, as you mentioned,
absolutely killing it in the KHL, and he has been undersized.
But if you look at this is why I like
having the vetas yaka Life Skater cards, because you can
see that he's actually winning seventy two percent of his
puck battles. That's not something that a small winger who's
(23:25):
shy of contact is going to do. He also is
hitting fifty six percent for the KHL, which is great.
His shots and blockso aren't that good, So his bash
is actually a little bit low. But he's driving play
really well. He's got really good, pretty good transition data.
His loose puck recovery and takeaways all look really good.
So it's not like he's just on the perimeter. He's
(23:48):
actually getting to the dirty eras he's actually separating people
from the puck and winning puck battles. All that matters
a ton. So I think he has some pretty good upside,
especially with Chicago, you know, advancing their rebuild window and
some of their younger players taking big steps right now.
I think he could be part of that conversation. So
(24:08):
I think it's going to be he's going to be
one of the players you definitely want to be adding,
and just based on upside, I'm definitely going with Roman
cantcerf here, but I could see a situation where you
want to take kaven End just because of the proximity
to the NHL, So I think that's something to be considered.
(24:30):
You mentioned you mentioned the situation with him potentially leaving,
and he is under contract at least through this season,
so he could come over at the end of the season.
And we tend to see ice time get monkeyed with
opportunity when players potentially could leave. So we'll see if
that happens. Right now, we don't know. We haven't had
(24:51):
any formal announcement of where he's playing next year, but
I think it's reasonable to suspect he might come over,
and that way, the proximity is pretty similar for both
of them, but being over a point per game in
the KHL.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Another fellow who's over there there, Swing of the Nashville Predators.
I remember again, I was following Nashville Predators prospects pretty
closely for Dabra a couple of years ago, and this
guy showed up at the Predators camp and just blew
up and really impressed some people, but unfortunately is still
over there at KHL playing under contract. He's big, he's
(25:25):
got a motor, he's getting full time minutes. Over in
the KHL this year is Surin, and yeah, he's he's
sixty two, one hundred and ninety eight pounds. That's that's solid.
That's some solid, solid winger right there. And over at
Locomotive Yaroslav he has got forty twenty four points in
(25:45):
thirty three games. That's a big jump over what he
was able to do in the KHL last year. So
the progress is moving unabated. Surin is in this poll
up against the guy who was drafted much earlier. Surin
was was a first round pick in twenty twenty four
of the Preds and Carter Maser was a third round
pick of the Detroit Red Wings back in twenty twenty one.
(26:09):
Is playing in the AHL and doing a reasonable job
for a guy who's already coming up on twenty four.
So his time to impact is, you know, the funnel
is he's further down that funnel. Let's put it that way,
and your sorin goes up against major in an NHL
ranking pool. Surin wins this one in a landslide eighty
four to sixteen percent Victor. What do you think?
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Yeah, I'm definitely taking sur In here. I think he
has a lot more skill, a lot more upside to him,
and the fact that he's doing so well in the
KHL right now as a nineteen year old, it's extremely impressive,
especially as a young birthdate. His contract situation is a
little bit different. He has this season and next, so
he won't be eligible to join the Predators or the
(26:56):
AHL until the twenty seven to twenty eight season, so
a little bit longer wait, but he probably needs it.
He he has a little bit still to round out
with his game and hopefully improve his scoring a little bit.
But overall, right now, it all looks really green in
terms of his player card, because the transition data, the
(27:16):
play driving, all of it looks excellent. Even his bash
he hits a lot, He shoots a lot. His blocks
are a little bit on the low side, but overall,
eighty nine percentile for bash is pretty impressive. So you
love to see all of that. And I think his
you know, I have him at a six point sixty five.
His puck stud rating. Haven't talked about that too much,
but that's above average player and I think that he
(27:38):
could get there. His fantasy hockey er, sorry, his hockey
prospecting star potential is at forty six percent, way higher
than Carter Mazer's, and I think that, you know, that's
a that's a pretty healthy star potential based on his
KHEL time, and I think that he has a reasonable
chance of hitting it. His NHLO probability is eighty one
percent there, Maser. You know, he's someone who has some
(27:59):
decent production as an HL scorer. Last season, he's had
some injuries that's limited him. He had just twenty games
last season, fifteen points in those twenty games, he had
one NHL game, and right now he's looks like he's
coming back six points in five HL games, So that's
good to see. But I still think he's going to
be in a more of a depth score, maybe a
(28:20):
third or fourth liner who chips in some points here there,
But I don't know they he'll be more than you know,
a thirty point kind of guy, a real depth score.
So I definitely taken yegor sir in here, Jesse, and
I don't think it's that exact.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
So he'reing that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I kind of agree with the.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Pollar here in our Diesel league. Next, we've got Alexander Zarovski,
who is a prospect for the Montreal Canadians, who was
drafted early in the second round last year, a puck
handling savant from Russia who had a very is having
a very strong first year as a full timer in
the KHL. So I'm sure the Canadians fans are excited
(28:59):
about that. When have the Canadians ever had luck with
Russian prospects? Oh, that's right, Ivan Dematov. He is up
in the NHL ranking poll against Braden Kots of the
Vancouver Canucks. And I don't know about this one, Victor Nucks.
The Canucks are starcross this year. Man, They're they're having
a rough year. And Kots, I mean, Kots is good,
(29:20):
He's even had some time in the NHL, but he
does not come out ahead in this poll against the
as yet unseen in North America Djerovsky and wins. Djurowski
does Overcoots sixty seven to thirty three percent.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Victor, What say you too? Passionate fan base is here
who always think their prospect is the best of anyone else,
So how could you How could you not upset one
of them. I'm sure someone's going to be upset with
whatever I say here, but the reality is I think
I would take Zorovsky. I do think that what he's
done has been really impressive. He's increased his star potential
(29:58):
from nineteen to fifty percent, which is incredible based on
his KHL performance so far this season, and eighteen points
in twenty two games is record. This for Salavat you
love pretty great. I got to see bradon Kots play recently,
and I think he's great. I mean, he's hard nosed.
You know, he's not the biggest guy, but he plays
really tough and hard and I think he's got some
(30:19):
skill there too. He's got a really good one timer.
He had an incredible one time goal from the OVI
spot that was pretty impressive. But he also scored in
different ways. He made everyone around him better and so
you like to see that. Seattle isn't the most dominant
team last year, but we saw him power as a
draft eligible his team to you know, a playoff spot
(30:39):
which they really had no business being in. So I
really like him. We saw him get some NHL games
already this season did kots when they were really starved
for some players, and so he has increased his star
potential from twelve to eighteen percent. But overall, I still
think that Zorowsky has a much better potential to score.
(31:03):
Kotso is going to have bash for days. His bash
is clucking in at ninety two percent, and the main
thing he doesn't do that much is hit, But he
shoots and he blocks a lot. He hits a fair amount.
He's pretty physical. But Zerovski a little bit lower fifty
percent out for bash. But I just think his scoring
upside is much much more and what he's doing in
(31:24):
the KHL is just super impressive. So I would definitely
like to have Zeroski on my team.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Could never never try to pride something away from your
neighborhood ABS fan, my friends. That's that's not going to
end well. Moving on, our next prospect up mkill Ilion
of the Pittsburgh peng Whenever I hear it Ilion, I
think it's like something the Beastie Boys would say, you'd
be Illion man. So Mikhail is over there playing for
(31:50):
the Pittsburgh Penguins, but not really because like the prospects,
we're talking about in this half of this episode. He's
actually in Russia. He's playing in the case DHL on
his fourth year there. He was a twenty twenty three
pick and is doing doing very well on the KHL
loaned up from below. He's got twenty four points in
(32:10):
thirty two games up in Severn Stop and actually last
summer signed his entry level contract for the NHL, so
that would suggest he's maybe not that far from coming
over to North America. He is forward and not yet
twenty one years old. He's going up against Brendan Oathman
of the New York Ranges. I think we just talked
(32:31):
about Oathman a couple of weeks ago. Either that or
Perro My mind blurs, but anyway, one of these good
Rangers winger prospects. I think in Openland's case, maybe it's
time for him to move and try something else. But
Ilian Oathman is the matchup. Ilion comes out ahead again.
The unknown mystery man comes out ahead of the guy
who we've been watching a little more closely in the AHL,
(32:53):
who hasn't seemed to break through yet and is a
little bit older. Ilian fifty six percent, forty four percent Victor.
What do you have to say, well, I.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Really hope they do move on from Brenan Authman because
he's not getting the opportunity that he needs to. We've
talked about how the Rangers have really struggled to develop
their prospects and give them the right opportunity, and I
think Authman is a pretty clear example of that. You know,
we did see Will Cooley pass him on the depth chart.
I think there's a similar player. I've talked about that before.
(33:25):
He had a really Authman had a really excellent first
season in the AHL, and then they kind of brought
him up and didn't really give him the right role,
kind of regress his development a bit. Last season, he
had some injuries and was mostly in the NHL or
sorry AHL. This season, he just got one NHL game
and he's been back in the minors, and I just
(33:45):
think he needs to get a different opportunity. I think
he could be a Will Cooley type for a different team.
So we'll just have to wait and see if that happens.
I do think that Mikhail Illen probably has more scoring
potential than does Authman at this point, you know, he's
doing pretty well in the KHL. It'll be interesting to
(34:05):
see when he comes over. But I for just the
actual point scoring, I would take Illen. But you know,
in terms of the bash, which Othman is pretty great at,
I think that you would like to see that, and
if he can get the right opportunity on a different team,
it may end up working out really well for Othman.
And he is like he could get traded to a
different team and be in the NHL right away and
(34:27):
actually be producing for your fantasy team. So that's something
to consider. It just takes the right move. Maybe it's
the kind of thing where you keep him on your
watch list and if he gets traded, you add him
right away because he might be in free agency, or
he might be just languishing on someone's roster right now
because they don't know what to do with him. So
it might be a decent, low key speculative ad to
(34:47):
get Othman. But if you're in a team that in
a situation that just favors upside, I'd probably go with Ellen.
But I still think he's probably a bit of a
long shot at this point. So a fifth rounder who
is doing pretty we well in Russia but not well
in the doors opportunity for the definitely a lower key
will probably be able to.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Tell how much they value him, how much leeway they'll
give him if he comes over. The last guy we're
going to discuss today matt Vey Karake of the Saint
Louis Blues. He was a late twenty twenty four pick.
Kind of a pretty pretty exciting the fact that we've
got somebody who we're talking about in these kind of
terms who was drafted as low as the seventh round.
(35:27):
You're near the end of the twenty twenty four draft.
He's putting up great numbers in the KHL this year.
He's got fifteen points in his first twenty games. However,
I will say he is now injured in you know,
there's there's a mysterious Russian cover up of his of
his injury, well, I don't know. It's a lower body injury,
so say the Blues people, But we don't know exactly
(35:48):
what's going on there. Hopefully he's not far from coming
back and playing some more games. But Karake is up
against Nathan Bame of the Chicago Blackhawks, who was drafted
in the third round last year. Playing out in cam Loops,
a little bit easier place to get into and watch
some games, I imagine that's Scott Saint Pete right now
and Bame is he wins pretty handily in the NHL
(36:10):
ranking poll, seventy one to twenty nine percent.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Victor.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
It's a Blackhawk against the Blue. You know, let's let's
get every let's get the hatfields and McCoy's on this
one because it's going to be a rivalry. But which
one of these guys you like better?
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yeah? I think I like Bem better, but I think
that they're pretty similar. Both are raising their stock and
so you love to see that. Karake definitely has a
ways more to go as a as a really late pick,
seventh rounder, and you know, he has gotten pretty good
production this season fifteen points in twenty games before that injury.
(36:46):
As you mentioned, that is just one season, though at
decent production. The previous season he played a lot in
the MHL but did get some KHL time. He just
had nine points, So we're talking about small sample size.
I think I trust the what Bem has done. I mean,
he was drafted in twenty twenty five after a pretty
(37:07):
strong draft season, just over point per game. In fact,
I think we talked about him on one of the
draft episodes as someone who I thought could take another
big step. And of all the guys after round two,
who is someone who I had most interested? And he
was definitely one of them. I like what he's done.
He's improved his point scoring even more with the kamalospracers.
(37:28):
I mean he's at about one point five points per game,
so you like to see that increased his his NHL
equivalency in hockey prospecting and looking at his player card
on Fantasy Hockey Life, he's got really good transition data.
His play driving is pretty good. Some of it is
a little bit leaves a little bit to be desired,
but he's winning more battles than he's losing. He's pretty
(37:49):
good on puck recovery and takeaways. And his bash is
pretty good mostly based on his shots, but his hits
are a little bit above average. So he's got a
decent peripheral floor at seventy seven seventy eight percent bash,
which is nice to see. Karake also has pretty good bash.
I just worry a little bit more about that being
a small sample size. Propping up KARAKEI definitely something I
(38:10):
noticed when I was looking around the leagues and writing
about who was being propped up in Russia. So you know,
if Karaki is someone who you can add, as you
pointed out, you know, probably available in a lot of leagues.
So if he's someone you could just grab for free,
then that's probably worth it. But you know, if you're
having to spend an asset for one of these two
and having to choose, and I would probably yeah, that
(38:31):
seems to be how it goes both of them.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, guys, whoul d the NHL draft, it's always interesting
to see how long they perform in lower levels before
or not even lower levels KHL, how much performance they
can get before they get snapped up in an open
open free agent ads league. Victor, before we get out
of here, anything you want to any other words of
(38:55):
wisdom you have for the people, Well, I hope.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
You're reading and enjoying the articles at the Journey via Daber.
If there's something you want me to write about, let
me not sing. As we get closer to Wild Juniors,
we'll cover a lot of that content and we'll certainly
be discussing that on the show. But if there's something
in particular you're interested in, or have an interesting topic
that you would like me to write about, then let
me know, always open to ideas and definitely check it out.
(39:20):
It's a free article at dauber, so no even.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Make you request people. That's good stuff. Thank you, Victor,
and we'll be right back, you know. Before we get
out of here, I want to remind you are shows
brought to you by fantracks dot com. That's where you
(39:42):
play fantasy sports. That's where we play all of our leaks.
Frankly that we can you know, talk people into because
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We had an eight hour clock. We decided a little
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Speaker 3 (40:12):
Fan Tracks.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
The fan tracks also has fantasy content. There's good articles
kicking out there about maybe some streamers, maybe some goalies,
that type of thing. Just look for the articles over
on the right hand column of your fan Tracks team page.
FHL is a team we think our Fantasy Hockey Life
Crew Tim Ryan, Simo Kratz, the Tidy League's commission leadership team,
(40:38):
Tony our lead scout brand and helps the website prospect
ranks and visualizations. If you've got skills you'd like to
lend the show, Victor would love to hear from you
in the discord, email, or social media. We're also brought
to you by Dauber Hockey Dauber Prospects. Victor is an editor.
That's where he writes this column, The Journey. I do
a solo show called Dynasty Sports Life. I talk about
(41:00):
four different Dynasty sports. You can follow us on social
media over on Blue Sky Jesse Severe or The One
Victor The One Being a Number, or on x Victor
Unio twelve or fan Hockey Life, Rate and Review, Apple Pod, Spotify,
wherever else you get your podcast. Thank you for listening
(41:20):
to this episode and until next time, keep living that
fantasy hockey life.
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