@HotTakeHockey Top 16 NHL Mock Draft!

@HotTakeHockey Top 16 NHL Mock Draft!

i just want to ask you about how you kind of started who you are you know what got your passions into hockey and then we’ll go into the mock draft and then the one clip about Lordis and Vaner my name is John Averos host of Hot Take Hockey uh doing a bunch of different stuff uh so it’s kind of just started me going to a sport media university program in Toronto uh the time was Ryerson University now it’s Toronto Metropolitan University so I did a lot of productions in the old Maple Leaf Gardens so uh basically built up kind of my knowledge there and then started a YouTube channel with a couple buddies then kind of uh started YouTube on my own uh in 2019 and uh yeah started doing a lot of live streams videos uh from playoff content world juniors draft uh free agency trade deadline were big days for me so uh you guys probably over the years have maybe seen something from Hot Take Hockey on YouTube uh of course I I think we all know hockey can be niche uh but uh definitely YouTube’s kind of been my main uh platform for content uh for the hottake hockey brand uh but then yeah now fast forward the last couple years uh I mean well the last few years been doing a lot of stuff in the OHL uh from playbyplay to hosting right in in arena so uh now I am the uh in-game host in arena host for the Brford Bulldogs been for the last couple seasons uh after being with a couple different OHL teams before but have found a consistent home with the Bulldogs uh super grateful to uh prior under Michael Anlau now under the Heman family uh so that’s been really cool and uh doing a bunch of different things uh also I’m a content creator and streamer for Bleacher Report so I do shows throughout the week um and then I also work full-time in broadcast uh and venue uh that industry so uh yeah I mean I I’m probably forgetting something in there oh I also work for the Leafs in in terms of their crew uh their game day crew so uh that that’s also big uh but yeah so that it’s a lot of hockey every day uh definitely living the dream in that aspect and continue to build and uh big shout out to to Anthony doing great stuff and I definitely love talking uh prospects and and working in the OL as well uh I spent a lot of time in arenas whether it was hosting for the Bulldogs and watching the games or or traveling the other OL uh games so definitely very heavy on the CHL side uh but it’s always fun to talk prospects in general as well so it sounds like you’re a homebody and you’re just getting started a little bit uh what a resume right there that was awesome i saw your stuff with uh Open Ice Bleacher Report i mean you are fabulous there um obviously Brford is awesome they’ve had players like Jacob Bryan Nick Lardes Vanacker so I’m going to ask you about those a little later on but yeah I’m going to link everything that you do in the description and I hope that everybody that is watching this definitely checks out all of your stuff because that resume is absolutely loaded i can’t wait till you’re an NHL GM or whatever you’re doing because the sky is the limits there but obviously you are a very busy man and I don’t want to take up more of your time so we’re going to do a top 16 NHL mock draft because it’s obviously mock draft season the NHL draft is coming up very soon i mean it’s it snuck up really quickly on me but I’m going to have you be the odds so I want you to just kind of have the Blackhawks pick at three that was kind of the main plan for my supporters out there that definitely want to have your the obviously the Blackhawks jersey behind you but who do you think the Islanders are going to take with the number one pick okay so for the Islanders I’m going to go Schaefer i think for a while it was that kind of dream to get to get Hagens potentially but um I think for me and I’ve heard a lot of stuff that there’s a possibility that the Islanders can can get creative so uh I’ll just kind of preface that my mock and what I’ll end up posting on my channel for the first two rounds it’s with the assumption that everything’s going to stay the same not that there’s going to be trades and things like that because I think that’s so hard to predict so I mean we could talk about speculation of trades and maybe pick swaps things like that uh but we’re making the prediction based on how it is uh so I do think the Islanders can get another selection maybe in the top 10 we’ll keep an eye on that uh but for now I think they’re just going to stick with Schaefer it’s the number one defenseman i think there’s a bit of a gap from the one to the next defenseman on the board um I also think watching Schaefer when he was healthy there’s not many defenseman like him i mean I think the defensive game will grow i think like we’ve seen time and time again I mean I I see kind of spurts of little different things i see spurts of like a Hastkin and I see spurts of an Eric Carlson so I I I see a lot of different aspects of Schaefer’s game but I think at the end of the day the Islanders whether they want to commit to Dobson longterm or not um I think Schaefer is their guy at number one i mean I think it’s going to be Schaefer too i got to talk to him multiple times throughout the season we had a sit down and he said Kale Mar was his player comp as well as the assistant at Iriott said that Kale Mar was his player comp at the combine though he actually told me that it was Miro Hiskin so I do like that Miro Hiskin i’ve heard Drew Dowy as well i think this guy’s a top pair elite defenseman and I really like that pick and I think the Islanders are going to smash that pick obviously today we’re hearing that the from Cal that or Islanders player that they might go and shock the world here so who knows maybe it’s Misa maybe it’s a Haggins i have no idea i don’t think it’s going to be a Haggins but for the number two pick I think San Jose is going to run to their cell phone and pick Michael Misa michael Misa is just kind of that guy that produced so well in the OHL um point totals of John Tavvarez and Patrick Kane this guy is just elite skater in my opinion has really great offensive upside i think that he’s a more versatile left-wing center option and if you look at that San Jose top six it’s absolutely just mega there’s so many players in that i mean William Quinton Musty Igor Chernov which I think would be a fantastic fit on Misa’s line when they destroyed and sagen all together so I think Michael Misa is just the number two pick no I love it u and yeah I think it’s it’s very dependent on what those two teams do for Chicago’s pick uh so my conversation is two things and I know we’re going to talk about Lardis at some point but uh Misa and Lardis buddies there’s also like a lot of combinations there of like the Oakville guys and guys in the GTA and the Greater Toronto area so um I think Kyle Davidson I’ve seen him around the OHL rink so many times i think if Michael Misa is available at three it’s like a no-brainer it’s not even a conversation they’re not looking anywhere else uh that’s with 100% confidence from me so I’ll put that out there uh if Misa’s off the board and Schaefer off the board like I expect there are only two guys I think Chicago should be looking at and I’m I’m very like strict on this for for a few reasons uh my go-to right now which I’ll put on the board is Anton Fondell i know a lot of Blackhawks fans and people have kind of been saying Fondell so that’s not a surprise but the other one for me is Porter Martone i know there’s been conversation of Marone falling and I know there’s been conversation of Chicago picking a different kind of center but I’ll put it this way chicago’s one-two punch as it stands and I know I don’t have to tell you this Anthony the one-two punch as it stands right now is Bernard Nazar we just watched the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup fondell his own comparison to himself and kind of what’s floating like around is like the Bararkov type and I just look at what Florida just did and winning the Stanley Cup back toback they had Bararkov and Mini Barkoff and Anton Lindell and I think Fondell could be the craziest one two three punch with Baddard Nazar and Fondell i think that’s the only reason you would pick the center here or the option of the center i think Fondella maybe there’s some again we’ve seen Nazar on the wing as well but I think Chicago wants him to be that center um but the reason I go Martone and I watched him very closely this year I just think the size with the dynamic ability with maybe the shot potential next to Bernard uh so I think for me you have Lardis coming you have guys that have that shot uh but for me I think Porter Martone with that frame uh could be a perfect fit for Chicago so I think if you go the route that I think they’re going to go Fondell makes sense but I don’t think swaying away from that uh to a different center makes sense for me so I think it’s Fondell or Mone i’m going to go Fondell uh for the sake of the fit I just talked about and winning a Stanley Cup i completely agree with you i asked actually a beat reporter that I just had on today that I uh clipped the video and I sent it out so definitely check that out ben Pope who’s the Blackhawks beat reporter he actually asked Anton Fredell who his other comp was other than Bararkov he said Copitar obviously Copitar was a really good leader for those uh Kings teams whenever the Blackhawks had to play him in the 2010s as well as Porter Martona skating is a lot overblown i’ve watched this guy i asked Chris Peters over the last four years he’s gotten so much better at skating it’s his first three strides i I always compare him to an oldtimey car where it takes a little bit to get going but he gets you to point A to point B he’s not a slow skater and this guy’s hands vision and and absolute sniper is just all activated if you’re playing shell i mean this guy is the kind of guy you want with Conor Bard he said he was the best player under 23 in the NHL when I asked him that and he kind of chuckled cuz he wants to come to the Blackhawks in my opinion it would be the perfect fit so I do hear Fondell probably will come to Chicago and I kind of have a uh Marcus Krueger interview that I’m going to be debuting uh because his agent is awesome over there at CIA but for number four Utah everything I’ve hearing is Brady Martin and now the odds are Brady Martin but I don’t want to pick Brady Martin number four because I think it’s just so high even though I like Brady Martin’s game he’s a bull 170 lbs but can hit like he’s 400 lb looks like he’s on the biggest loser when he’s out there the thing is Utah I think is going to go with Caleb Dorier if he’s on the board though just because like this guy had two bum wrists playing in the Q this year i think that in the mem Cup he showed really great prowess but this guy I asked multiple people they said he’s been hurt since November he actually had a six he had a faceoff percentage in the 60s this year which was the highest out of anybody cole Reyn I think was number two and he was in the 50s but the thing was he was playing wing for most of the year because of that wrist injury i think that it actually hurt him in game three at the MEM cup because there was a huge difference those first two games i think he reagravated it after i think this guy is one of the best defensive forwards in the entire class has a lot of upside and and for the last four years he’s always been that guy in this class so I’m going to go D Norier here even though it’s probably going to be a tradeown for Martin but obviously there’s not going to be any trade downs do you think that if you were picking and you had the Utah GM spot which it should have been the Yetis but it’s the Mammoth who would you pick here um Martin or Dorier or somebody else i just want your opinion yeah I would pick Haggin i wouldn’t even overthink it like I think I mean you think they also had dinner with Haggin like I think they’ve looked at him quite a bit um you know what like I think someone else talked about this like the Logan vibes of like overthinking it just like looking at the skill set like everything that Hagens provides i just I don’t get it like when I see some people having him fall as like late as like 8 nine I’m like what are we doing here like what are we doing this kind of skill set doesn’t come around often after Schaefer and Misa i think just pure skill this the overall skill set what are we doing it’s James Haggin why all year round all like we’re talking about Haggins number one and then I understand Schaefer jumping him i I completely understand Schaefer jumping him don’t get me wrong uh but to me Haggins is the third best prospect at least in this draft um so I like I said I I think Chicago not picking them is for the obvious reason we just talked about uh it’s it’s the it’s the fit and I think Fondell’s uh skill and overall uh kind of arsenal is not too far off i think it brings a different element um and I think Barton would bring a different element so um I’d go Hagens at at the Utah spot um so I’m going to go Haggins at the Nashville spot i think Nashville’s been begging for a first overall pick for the longest time they haven’t gotten it well they get a gift they get a guy that maybe in a different year as a first overall pick and I know there’s been conversation around this draft not being as solid and there’s a lot of question marks in this draft i get all that i understand uh but if Nashville got told 6 months ago 12 months ago that they were going to get James Hagens in this draft they would be through the roof i think there’s been a lot of conversations of of his stock versus guys that have I mean you just mentioned do a I mean he had a great year and also yeah those conversations of his tail status along with um kind of that those other uh abilities in terms of the faceoff dot so you know what I I’ve I’ve had a lot of rumors of what Philly is going to do uh so I’m curious to go see where you’re going to go with this but uh Nashville uh to me if Haggins is there I think you got to go Hagens haggins i’m going to spoil a little bit of my rankings but he’s my number three player in this entire class and I have no idea why to your point people are having him o you know behind six or seven or eight i just think that would be an absolute steal if obviously he’s there at seven I think a team is going to try to trade up for him this guy’s an elite talent a really good skater great playmaker if you’re going to get someone like Justin Carbono who’s going to go to maybe play his the Ryan Leonard role next to him th those two are just going to have an absolute incredible year i think that James Haggins played really well in the NCAA playing against 22 to 25 year old men i think that kind of gets overblown and overlooked a little but for Philly at six I’m going to go with your guy Jacob Bryan i think Jacob O’Brien is going to be the pick here based on some of the things I’ve heard but especially at the combine I didn’t realize how much that they like this guy everybody like that I talk to they always say he’s not a power play merchant i completely agree this guy just has a superpower when he has space and time i mean that just kind of adds to his game him and Mitchkov on the power play even if they’re not on the same line if they are that’s incredible but this guy was the best player in Brford this year obviously you know and Nick Artis scored 72 goals so how good does this guy have to be and they didn’t even play on the same line it was mostly power play so he the passes I asked him about this how are all your passes always flat and he’s like it’s just something that I’m like you’re born with it i was like that’s a great answer this guy he’s he’s awesome like he has the confidence i think he has the upside he’s very raw too but he still was so point productive in the OHL this year i think that this guy’s an absolute steal and I can’t believe we can get him at six i think the Chicago Blackhawks are having conversations about potentially picking this guy at three maybe having a Brford line with Lardis and Vaner i I absolutely love Jake O’Brien i I want your opinion on this though yeah for sure yeah you know what i’m not going to lie my the channel name is Hot Take Hockey i’ve been debating on the hot take of uh OB going to Chicago at number three but um I’m trying to be unbiased and and just analytical and and and just evaluate where Chicago’s at um I like I said I think it’d be it’d be so hyped to see Obie go number three but yeah you know what i think you could make the argument on on part of Misa’s game but beyond that like Obie is the is this guy at the top of the draft that he’s got eyes at the back of his head like just watching him throughout the year uh his vision uh his IQ is just top of top and I think uh what Philly would be getting here is an absolute uh overall facilitator he makes everyone around him better and I also think what he was doing at such a young age i think people kind of were forgetting sometimes like not even just this year but like the year before he like as 16 17 he he was looking dominant in so many games against matching up against 19 and 20 year olds so um I think Jake O’Brien for me at the Philadelphia spot is pretty guaranteed in my opinion unless the only curiosity I have is if Hagens falls there i just wonder i mean again it’s it’s going to be that situation where if Hagens falls past Utah it’s just going to be like a bait the rest of the way it’s like it every team is going to be baited into seeing if they’re going to pick Hagens uh because I think 2 3 months ago when these teams were evaluating and trying to figure out who they were going to select they didn’t even think Hagens would be there right so I think that’s kind of changed so it’s going to be kind of a bait in that sense i’ll also give you a little bit of the intel i think this is me cheating a little bit because I’m in the building all the time but the amount of times I ran into either Dan Brier Keith Jones or one of the Flyers upper management is insane like Anthony I’m not even lying with you like again I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this but like so many times I saw those guys watching the Bulldogs this year Keith Jones and Daniel Breier and I’m telling you right now they were watching Jake O’Brien so um yeah like probably five six seven times seeing these guys and and there was a couple games there where I was like O’Brien stepped up and on like on the right night kind of thing so um I think the Flyers are I mean I think you confirmed it i’ve heard from a lot of other people that either went to the combine or have kind of talked to people around uh the Flyers are very much on the Jake O’Brien train so um unless Chicago does the crazy thing which I would love or uh Philadelphia sees Hagens on the board I think O’Brien’s going to Philly yeah and I love that intel and I want to shout out Colin Ward who is one of my guys over there in Brford because he actually said Stevie Y was over there three times watching uh Jacob O’Brien there too so that can also be an interesting tradeup uh just for my little intel that I have i know that you’re locked in but yeah I think front office people were locked in on this guy this year it’s a lot more than the social media members and the people online this guy is legit uh has a lot of fans in building so I love that intel that was absolutely awesome and I think if he ends up at seven which is your next pick I think Boston will definitely snag Jake O’Brien so I think that the most Jake O’Brien falls might be seven there but who do you think is uh your pick for number seven yeah this one’s interesting uh a bit of a spoiler for my mock um I have Dayo going to Boston at seven if certain things like I know you already mentioned it like there’s been so much uh buzz around Utah taking uh Martin so uh sometimes like when I’m doing my mock versus like the rankings when we’re talking about like you could have your rankings pretty solidified like a month or two ago right like nothing’s really changed from a month ago unless the guys were part of the memorial cup which uh I guess yeah I mean he was DOA uh obviously went on the run but I yeah for me like I think if Brady Martin’s here um I think the Bruins it’s the Bruins type of player right so um I know some people have talked about like Brady Martin falling maybe if if Utah doesn’t pick him um and maybe he falls to like a Buffalo or Anaheim uh but I’m going to go uh Boston picks Brady Martin and kind of kind of what you said i think Boston would be looking at those other guys and maybe they do trade down in this scenario uh but I think uh looking at Boston if O’Brien’s not on the board Heagen’s not on the board DOA is not on the board uh I’m going to go uh Brady Martin at number seven uh because the guys that he described himself as uh whether Tom Wilson or I think he mentioned Sam Bennett Matthew Ny you could probably I know he’s he’s bigger than Brad Marshon but uh just that rat behavior uh it seems like Brady Martin wants to kind of mirror that a little bit so I’ll take Boston selecting Brady Martin what a perfect time to be uh have Sam Bennett as your comp hey I mean I think I think that was some good marketing by him as well to to get him selected so I’ll give the kid some credit when uh some GM got mad at him that he said Tom Wilson was his favorite player and he laughed he was like “But this guy’s a farm kid.” I mean like I said coming in 170 lbs but he plays so much bigger i think that like you said Dorier at seven and Martin at four these could be flipped so it’s just depending on what your board is but like I said I had him 11 I think on my uh rankings two months out and he didn’t really do anything on other than everybody’s the whispers had come out so yes it’s always weird to get to this point cuz Marton is still on the board and I always put redeem Murka here if Martin I mean before Martin entered the top eight but I have to go with Marton because it’s just best player available and I can’t stand seeing him still on the board i love Marton’s game i’ve talked to so many people from his camp like I’ve talked to him this uh for a very long time this year and it’s just like I can’t do it marton is just 63 he plays more of a softscale type of game he is trying to learn how to play more physically and if he goes to the NCAA which I don’t know where he’s going actually it’s going to be one of those weird spots but he’s going to be able to skate four times a week and talking to Chris Peters like I said at the combine he said this guy’s skating has gotten so much better in the last four years so it just kind of goes to show this once he gets into an NHL building with NHL coaches it’s going to be completely different type of player with Martone obviously I’ve said his vision is very underrated very good shot i think his playmaking would be fantastic near with Connor Bernard but obviously I don’t know if that’s going to be the direction they go i think Seattle just comes here and just picks up the best player available anthony right what you were right on the hit the I would say you hit it right how I was going to say it i think uh I’m laughing because everything you said there is kind of my mindset like uh for me is above DOA above Martin and maybe that’s above the day part is is my CHL bias and OHL or sorry more specifically OHL bias over uh over the other leagues but um in the CHL I just think for me as you said is a different specimen um I think if he falls past eight uh there’s going to be some massive regrets from some teams so um sorry I was just laughing because everything you were saying there was just exactly how I was feeling on the situation and what you said before is exactly how I feel so again a little bit of a spoiler alert uh I have Marton and Murka actually falling into these exact spots for my mock uh again rankings are very different i’m just trying to go based on what I actually think is going to happen uh so I actually do have Martone going to Seattle at 8 i disagree with him following that much but I I just have this weird feeling about the situation and then I have this Sabres taking Murka um I think it’s one of those situations where it’s the worst kept secret in hockey the Sabres need a right shot defenseman um and Murka falls right there and it’s and you know what I do always say in the NHL draft take the best player available um obviously under certain circumstances like we’ve talked about Chicago and maybe other teams uh you sway slightly away from that uh but you take the best player available and I don’t think it’s farfetched to say Murka is the best player available here uh maybe you could argue a couple spots later but I think he’s the second best defenseman in this draft i think the size with a bit of the mobility uh you don’t see the mobility too much with a guy of this size and I think the right shot whether you agree with it or not is still the unicorn in the National Hockey League on the defensive side so I I think if Buffalo gets Murka here the only other guy I could see them maybe taking in terms of just like the style of play and the fit would be McQueen here but I think you go defenseman i think you go the right shot guy and I I think he would be a good fit long term next to power or Dene so uh Murka to Buffalo is my pick uh I think if somehow Marton falls to the Sabres Buffalo fans plan the parade not for the cup just plan the parade for getting a guy that good at number nine uh but Murka would still be a good pick you said most of the same things I was going to say for the Martone pick because Murka would be who I slot here obviously right-handed defenseman i do not think that they take Jackson Smith or Kahan Herson uh Murka called himself uh Maurice Cider because he believes that he has so much untapped potential offensively too i think that that’s a awesome comp but I you know he wants to be a quarterback too of a power play he is truly 66 and a quarter this guy has phenomenal just offensive ability that is in my opinion untapped like he said i think really good defensively too he’s been playing against men in the Czech league since he was 16 even played against Joerger when he tried to hit him and he’s just so elusive that he couldn’t do it he’s very funny me and him uh had a 45minute interview and he just me and him vibed very well it was just really easy actually someone in the elevator at the combine was like your interview with Murko was awesome i’m like who i even turned I’m like are you looking at me are you talking to V but Murka is awesome i think that this would be a phenomenal fit obviously Sabres have an abundance of left-handed defenseman i think Anaheim at 10 would love to try to get Murka but I think Pat Verbique at 10 is probably going to love a player like Victor Ecklan here to try to team up with uh Leo Carlson i think that McQueen could go here because he’s a right-handed right-handed 65 center and you can’t build those in a lab i mean his player profile is absolutely incredible so it’s between those two players but they also just took Becket Senica and I feel like you know maybe you know I I I think Ekkan might actually be the follower in this class just because of his size even though he plays bigger than 170 so I’m going to take McQueen here we have to run on names that start with M in this kind of a top last four but yeah like I said McQueen is somebody that is 6’5 right-handed center the back injury he said was misdiagnosed he actually did pull-ups and he also did bench press which was awesome to see he had back pain for the last 30 days at the combine so fast forward to today that’s probably a little over 40 days i think that this guy is going to be an absolute steal if he hits i think he had four goals in the first first game of the season and people were kind of calling him top three pick after that just recency bias he obviously had the injury people were calling him Kaden Lindström a little bit but it’s a different injury i think that he’s a really good skater he has a lot of soft skill he’s not going to be a power forward most of the tall guys at the top aren’t power forwards in this class but I think McQueen has really good upside um what is your take on McQueen do you would you rank him lower because of the back injury no I’m I’m right there with you i think uh yeah my logic is uh you know the saying in poker is like sometimes play the play the player not play the game um and for me I’m kind of playing the player a little bit like I think about the Anaheim Ducks uh management and I think uh Pat Verbique kind of what he’s always talking about and kind of what he likes um and I just think if he looks at Roger McQueen available on the board it’s going to be like one of those things it’s like it’s the urge it’s like too hard to pass up on um I also think that Getslaugh comparison was floating around as well and just like those two things combined if he’s on the board it’s it’s hard for me to go against McQueen at that spot so again these last three spots are a little bit of a spoiler towards my mock draft and what I’m doing but um yeah I think for me uh the Ekkan one is like that fit next to Carlson but uh it might honestly be a better fit in terms of the roster construction because right now you have Carlson and McTavish’s one too so uh for me it’s that internal debate but like I said I think that’s too hard to pass up for for for Beak um the only other thing I’ll say is if Ecklund so yeah like I’m going to pick next year but if Ekkund gets picked here I think McQueen is the lock to Pittsburgh just the way Pittsburgh’s talked about him um and I think that I mean McQueen also had talked about it with a few of you guys as well just talking about his interactions with Pittsburgh so I just can’t see McQueen falling past Pittsburgh so to me McQueen’s going to Buffalo Anaheim Pittsburgh i think that’s kind of the range for him probably i think we’d be pretty surprised otherwise um so I I’m on that lens um and then I actually Pittsburgh uh I’m actually going to go with Jackson Smith uh I think uh there’s a couple reasons i think Pittsburgh if they don’t get McQueen I think going defenseman makes a lot of sense i think going on the left side also makes a lot of sense um I think uh Kashan Aerson might be intriguing just because of the physical nature like he he brings a little bit more of that explosive nature um so I’m I’m kind of on the back and forth here what does Pittsburgh really want um if they like the physicality and like they like the specimen aspect of McQueen maybe they’re looking at more physical guys to kind of join their prospect pool uh but the thing that actually maybe switched me to Jackson Smith and not to say that it’s it’s too far to go watch Kashan Hson uh but Jackson Smith just committed to Penn State uh that’s just a quick drive for Kyle Dubis or anyone in the Penguins organization uh to go watch Jackson Smith this year so uh not to say that would be like the differencemaker on making this decision uh but it’s not too bad to have one of your prime prospects um that close to you and be able to monitor him as you’re developing him in your system so uh that was something that I when I was going back and forth here if McQueen does get selected by Anaheim I was going Smith or Hes here and that was maybe my driving factor for Smith i also like Smith’s just overall game it feels like just smooth skater i think the two-way game is there um I I think if they feel the offensive ceiling is similar with HSN I think the only difference that you’re getting with HSN is more of that explosive physicality uh some of the hits that HSN laid this year uh were were incredible so obviously the scouts have their eye on him um as well first thing on Kan Hson 26 goals in the OHL this year absolutely can just hit like a rock and his physicality is just incredible with that defensive play i don’t know how translatable it is but I still think that 26 goals is 26 goals jackson Smith I think has more of an offensive prowess in his game but the thing is it’s just like he’s 6’3 he’s going to Penn State like you said maybe team up with uh Conor Bernard Cousin coming in but shout out Jackson Smith and his family because they paid for my tab at the bar and I’ve never even interviewed uh never even interviewed him but his uh one of his family members is a huge fan of me and came up to me twice at the combine and uh we started talking after too so really great family and they actually pumped the brakes on Penn State at first because he hadn’t committed and then uh they went to go see him on the Saturday of the combine they went to go actually after the combine in the V2 test to Penn State and that’s when they kind of committed so you know good on them i think Jackson Smith’s going to have a wonderful year in the NCAA build that muscle so I love the fit and I love that you get to watch them closely too if you get to go to those games but for the Rangers pick this is a weird one because they have 48 hours before the draft to say if they want to give this pick to uh Pittsburgh or not and they just traded Krider so for me it’s to the number 12 overall pick and if it’s the Rangers pick I’m going to say Kahan Herson but if it’s not I will like to say just Lynen Lakovic here i really like Lyndon Lacovich i think that his game just would go in so well with either the Rangers or the Penguins but I’m gonna say this is the Rangers pick so I’m gonna give him HS but I just wanted to give that give uh the audience a little bit of what I would be thinking but Kahan HS like we just said lays the body can score very well i think that he is a really good underrated shot in my opinion and he’s just somebody that you watch in the playoffs and you’re like that kid could play in the playoffs he’s kind of built more for the playoffs whereas some of these other defenseman that go before him might not be and he also I think has a higher floor than usual i think he’s definitely going to be a third pair defenseman one day like that’s not somebody you draft at 12 but I think that’s his minimum floor like he will get to the NHL based on his size profile what do you think about HS there yeah no I’m with you i think that scares some people but it really shouldn’t because like there’s some prospects that are really boomer bust and sometimes their game doesn’t translate but I think the physical nature of Hes like the high risk profile in terms of like like he does make the mistakes he is a bit of like sometimes he gets out of position when he gets into those open areas or offensive areas uh like you said I think the defensive aspect with the physicality um I I I think with the right development that’s I’m with you honestly that’s I think there’s some guys here I’m worried about that floor uh aterson’s not one of them um and actually I’ll go into the next guy where I I I think based on how you talked about him you’re high on him but I’m really curious how he kind of uh plays into this draft because of our last four spots we just talked about uh but I’ll go Ekkan to Detroit um it’s kind of that uh it’s it’s a trend of what Detroit’s done in the past but also I just think it’s one of those spots where Detroit’s made some mistakes in the draft uh in recent years um I also think if you’re at 13 basically the midpoint of the the first round uh why overthink things like I think this you could argue this guy is a top seven talent in this draft he falls this much uh to me asset management is everything you have a 13th overall pick you have a potential top seven talent falling that fall far far um I I think for me if they wanted to go another pick it maybe be Carter Bear here just because of the type of player um I like Bear’s comps quite a bit i also just like his his energy in general so uh if it’s not Ekkan for me it’s probably Bear uh but uh I think Ekkan to Detroit makes some sense also because of the the trends of the past too i think this is a total Stevie Y pick i think that Victor Ecklan is not afraid to get into the middle of the ice he will make like take a hit to make a play he was driving play on Anton Frenel’s line for most of the year playing against men and he was 161 lbs for most of the year he said that he bulked up after two obviously his brother is a star for the Sharks William Ecklan but I think that Victor Ecklund does not look 5’11 170 lbs even on the ice so I would love this for Detroit i think Columbus would kind of be upset but I think that Columbus has their eye on Lynden Lacovic here i think that Lyndon Lacovic said that they went out to dinner at the combine as well as he met with them multiple times this season for Columbus i think Lyndon is awesome i’ve talked to him multiple times uh over the course of the year he actually yesterday he uh followed me on Tik Tok so I just started a Tik Tok i went from like five followers to like 350 uh within the last like two weeks cuz I’m just posting all of my scouting combine reports or uh counting like clips and like Lyndon Lacovich has been liking every single one so shout out to him that doesn’t move him any way but his agent said that it’s anywhere from 10 to 20 uh from where he believes he’s going to get picked and I feel like that’s right in the middle like near Columbus i don’t know if Vancouver is going to keep their pick but that’s for the next one but Lyndon Lakovich is very soft skill he had a growth spurt similar to Beck Senica or Riker Lee kind of gained six inches and you know he plays like a 510 forward that just happens to be 6’4 a lot soft skill like really great hands really good score uh when M when Seavoy actually got traded to their team last year and uh with Moojaw they couldn’t lose a game he said he they were playing Fortnite till like 3:00 a.m and they would beat teams four to one like uh this year was a little bit different he is obviously now on a a retool rebuilding moo team and he says that he’s going to be with them until you never know what happens in the middle of the season but this kid is a captain for a reason he’s really good leader i really like everything about Lynon Lacovich yeah no I like it i think that range is pretty accurate i think um I actually ironically I think I have him going to Columbus just at the 20 spot in my mock uh so I think uh yeah I think between you and I I think uh people take a chance at Lacovich going to Columbus cuz the the likeliness is looking uh looking pretty good um yeah no I I think uh I think probably in terms of the guys that we’ve we’ve put on the board so far uh probably the guy that I’ve I’ve at least or scouted or or kind of tracked uh the least amount uh but from what I’ve seen I think the sky the size and the pure skill um the blend is is rare and I think I think that’s going to be the attractive part for Columbus here uh Vancouver I’ll kind of go what I talked about before uh like I said I just I see him as a top 15 pick i think his comps make a lot of sense um I think it it gives me a little bit I know some people have put this out here already but um connect me vibes so I’m gonna go Carter Bear um I think you already knew where I was going there uh but yeah no I I just think I think for me uh the the Canucks are looking for a little bit of that identity uh switch and I think Carter Bear would be uh definitely a piece in that right direction um I think tenacity I think the energy as I said um I I think uh the goal scoring obviously as well so I think put that all together I think Carter Bear for me should be a lock for a top uh 17 pick i just I think if Montreal gets two cracks at it they shouldn’t pass on Carter Bear twice um so beyond that I just don’t see him going any further than that so we’re at 15 i’ll go Canucks take bear i think that this is going to be his range the lacerated Achilles he actually was not wearing a boot at the combine i asked him about it right after the injury as well like a week after cuz I got an opportunity to interview him and he is such a downto-earth grounded person um I think that his player comp was Brandon Hegel he watched Gallagher as well a lot of Brandons and Brendan’s but I feel like Carter Bear is just one of those players that you want on your team in the playoffs he’s a lot of hard skill tenh tenacious he’s going to give you that intensity he wasn’t the like he’s not a colander skater so I feel like the lacerated Achilles isn’t going to affect him long term as much as it would someone else and also he’s skating and doing offseason activities this year if it was a true full tear and he didn’t dodge a bullet with this injury he’d be out maybe 8 12 months in my honest opinion i mean I went to nursing school but I kind of flunked out of that one so I don’t talk about medicals for me i have a finance degree but nothing uh medical but I just feel like he would be out a lot longer so I really like that pick i do not think Montreal will allow him to leave the draft without Carter Bear if he makes it to 1617 but at 16 that was my pick for Carter Bear but I’m going to go Justin Carbono somebody that I think has the best shot in the entire draft he can shoot from anywhere shout out Link from New A hockey cuz he put me on early in the season i think he could be going to the NCAA level but they did just trade three first round picks to try to get him a teammate and Bill’s on and who I also really like um so you never know what’s going to happen if he leaves the queue he is he is just one of the best scorers in the entire draft he is somebody that I feel like could score 20 goals on James Hagen’s wing so you know could he go top 10 i think he could but this is a deep draft in my opinion uh do you would you have picked Carbono here at 16 yeah so I literally have Carbono at 16 in my mock so I mean I’ll put it this way like he’s he was the highest scoring teenager in the queue right so um I think uh the highest was 20-year-old so I think he was the highest scoring teenager and I think uh I mean we just tal like back toback I know it’s different leagues but uh when you’re scoring 40 plus goals in 50s something games uh don’t overthink it right like so uh you know what I think you can have the debate of the the talent level and the the competitive level level in these leagues but uh I think I’ve watched some like the tape of Carbono like I mean you said it right Bearer scores different type of goals that a guy like Carbono Carbono is the release and the shot uh Bear scores in different type of ways uh just to kind of compare those the last two picks but uh Carbono I’m I’m with you when you just look at pure release pure shot uh Carbono uh and I mean the hometown aspect too for the Montreal Canadiens I think uh it’s it’s not a bad selection at 16 let’s put it that way i completely agree with you and I love that Carbon is one of those players that I think I think Fondelle might have the second best shot but it’s not as heavy but Carbono is just a sniper too uh so yeah that was the end this is our mock draft top 16 thank you um for all of the information you gave if anybody uh has a disagreement please comment down below but I feel like we probably had a very similar mock draft based on we kind of think this draft similarly which I’m glad for it’s always great to uh you know just have somebody think about the draft similarly as you but before you hop off I want to ask you about Nick Lardis and Vaner because obviously with the Bulldogs they had really good seasons merrick Vaner was a number one a first round pick at 27 last year lardis was 67 or 66 I believe to the Blackhawks in the third round in 2023 so can you tell me about those two players and what you think their upside will be with the Blackhawks for sure uh yeah no I think uh again I’m biased for sure i’m not going to deny that uh but yeah I’ll start with Nick uh just I mean the the type of goal scoring season he had uh haven’t seen in the OHL since John Tvarez um I think uh it was I mean it was a treat to watch i’m not going to I’m not going to sugar coat it obviously it ended in a in a brutal way with uh the injury against the Generals uh that was heartbreaking for the whole team and everyone involved uh so uh yeah with Nick I I think there’s a couple things and I I don’t think Nick would be offended by me saying this but I I think in his overall game on his on his five on five game there’s probably some things he wants to improve but I think we did see some improvements this season in that aspect i think he was uh creating a lot more himself and I I think as the season went on and this is sometimes the ironic part in the game of hockey is when you’re forcing it and looking for the shot opportunities or or trying to force the scoring opportunities so much uh it actually doesn’t go your way it’s predictable it’s something that the defense can read uh versus what Nick actually started doing as the season went on and his scoring got better and the Bulldogs got better because of it was he was okay with laying off the puck feeding the puck uh whether it was the Van uh or or Obie on the power play uh or Patrick Thomas five on five uh a great linemate to have captain of the team uh I think they actually ended up working together and realizing hey Nick if you give me the puck I’ll give it back to you and I think Nick started realizing as that as the season went on so the maturity aspect the five on five aspect I think Nick started to realize that if he actually can give the puck up and create space for himself then he’s uh able to but he’s able to actually get the puck back but I also think Nick individually this skill set um is pretty ridiculous i think uh what he can do with the stick uh it’s not just a shot um again I’m I’m a little biased here but it’s it’s a little money magic with a stick in and the fake ability i think it’s a lot of like kind of a a positionally behaved uh player who who does things to kind of manipulate uh what he’s about to do versus uh what he ends up doing so I think that’s a big part of Nick Lars’s game too is uh kind of that manipulation with his stick but also his body language i think that’s the best way to put it um and then he also uh scored in a lot of the similar ways uh which was uh kind of that money spot at the top of the circle uh obviously we’ve seen it time and time again in the NHL on that right side uh but Nick does it from the left side uh so uh or sorry we’ve seen on the left side with the right shot sorry of Stamp Coast and OV all those guys i meant to say with the left shot on the right side from Lardis um so we’ve seen that time and time again uh to switch to Vanacker uh dog on the puck he is a he’s a bulldog he is a bulldog very much so uh Delhigh native so uh basically playing for his hometown team uh and a dog on the puck so you’re getting two different players you’re getting the snipe uh pure skill set uh kind of the guy with the money hands versus Van’s going to drive the net he’s going to create space but the speed uh to me is electric watching Van when he came back from his injury it really took some time to kind of get his feet under him and then and really just find that pace again in the OL uh but once he did uh you could tell it was just it was a guy that that was playing with sometimes little boys uh on some nights because uh he had used his frame he would drive the net and uh actually in the when it got to the playoffs uh that was a big part too that Van was able to create some space for himself um and score some big goals so um I think for Vanacher you’re getting a different type of player than Lardis obviously both Bulldogs uh but uh for me Lardis is very much and again I hope he doesn’t get offended by me saying this but I think he’s he’s very much the higher risk ceiling where kind of what you were talking about with HSN I think Vaner has the safer floor i think Vaner is that kind of guy that you want as your future third line guy uh to basically be that two-way five on five forward guy that can drive the net uh where Lardis I mean the ceiling is however he wants it to be i think in some aspects of his game if he can uh polish it up uh you’re talking about a guy that could spend a lot of quality time on the power play and in the top six with Connor Bernard um obviously there’s some stuff he’s got to polish up and I don’t want to get Blackhawks fans too excited but that’s the ceiling for Nick Lardis uh Vaner for me is probably the safer floor in just some of his aspects in his game that was absolutely awesome and I’m fired up as a Blackhawks fan i can’t wait till Lordis and Vaner come here but thank you so much i had such a blast this was awesome i’m going to link everything you do in the description because it’s a loaded resume over there but thank you so much this is the Hot Ones video so you can say anything that you want right now there’s a camera here here and here uh the floor is yours awesome no Anthony I appreciate that big time uh yeah like I said I definitely follow the OHL uh the closest this year just by default but also just uh location passion all that good stuff one guy that we didn’t mention uh that I want to give a shout uh Jack Nesbbit i think he’s gonna be a riser in the draft just his size looked really good in the OHL talk prospects game so I wanted to give him a shout uh but uh yeah in terms of the stuff I got coming uh this is actually gonna be my first year doing a a full uh two round uh mock draft um and I actually relied heavily on reaching out to people and I probably should have reached out to you if we connected sooner just on uh kind of your feedback and who you’re talking to but uh no it was kind of interesting cuz usually I only have the bandwidth to really scout the first round the top 30 to 32 prospects or like at least what I kind of figure to happen uh this year I was challenging myself so I was like texting a bunch of people just talking to people uh trying to figure out prospects that I think could fall into the second round and and and player fits uh even just trying to figure out who’s scouting who so um this is the first year I’m actually doing top two rounds top 64 mock draft it’s not necessarily the most uh I would say like educated rankings because my rankings I I cap myself at 32 i think that’s uh that’s good enough but uh yeah so that that’s kind of what I’m doing leading up live streaming videos for the draft free agency all that good stuff um it’s kind of my time to focus a little bit more on YouTube ironically with the season over because during the season I’m just jumping from arena to arena and traveling and doing so much different stuff where now is kind of the time where I’m still doing some traveling but also uh get to kind of do some streams for the big days which is draft free agency um and things like that do some reactions so Anthony thanks for having me on i really appreciate it and uh we got to do another collab maybe uh uh following the draft for sure for sure i’m definitely in uh thank you so much this was awesome and like and subscribe below

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Summary

In this conversation, John Viveiros shares his journey in hockey, detailing his experiences in sports media and his current role in the OHL. The discussion transitions into an in-depth analysis of the upcoming NHL draft, focusing on potential picks for various teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks, Islanders, and others. The speakers evaluate top prospects, their skills, and how they fit into their respective teams. The conversation concludes with insights on players like Nick Lardis and Vanacker, highlighting their potential in the NHL.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to John Maveros and His Journey in Hockey
02:20 The NHL Mock Draft: Predictions and Insights
04:36 Analyzing Top Prospects: Schaefer, Misa, and Frondell
07:44 Chicago Blackhawks’ Strategy: Who to Pick?
10:39 Utah’s Dilemma: DeNore vs. Martin
13:41 Jake O’Brien: A Rising Star in the Draft
16:30 Final Thoughts on the Draft and Prospects
21:18 Draft Insights: Marton and Mirka’s Potential
24:31 Analyzing McQueen’s Fit and Potential
27:18 Pittsburgh’s Draft Strategy: Smith vs. Acheson
31:11 Rangers’ Pick: Acheson’s Playoff Potential
32:37 Eklund’s Value and Detroit’s Draft Strategy
37:02 Carter Bear: A Tenacious Player for the Canucks
38:22 Carboneau’s Scoring Ability and Draft Position
45:16 Future Prospects: Lardis and Vanacker’s Upside