NHL Off Season Deep Dives, BUF, CAR, CHI, SJS

NHL Off Season Deep Dives, BUF, CAR, CHI, SJS

What’s going on everybody? You’re listening to season 2 episode 40 of the points to point NHL recap show. I’m Pascal Prior joined by Mark Havlac. Mark, today we’re going to be doing another deep dives episode. I believe this is our second last of the season and then after next episode which will be our last of the season. We’ll do a big season uh season preview opener. Before we get going though on today’s episode, how how have you been, dude? Dude, honestly, the last couple days I feel like I’m been feeling a lot better. I’m kind of starting to feel the energy of hockey season around the corner. Like the O or like the CHL basically starting within the next couple days going to the the Kitchener Rangers home opener on Friday. So yeah, dude. I’m just I’m super pumped for hockey season. I I think I said this before like I feel like this is the first year I actually like might watch like a lot of the preeason just because I feel like it’s just been such a long summer. So I don’t know, dude. I I feel like I’m just at the point where I’m just ready to go for the for this season. How do How are you doing? Are you feeling the same way or are you still kind of keeping yourself occupied in your down time? Like I’m still keeping myself occupied, but I’m I’m all ready to go for hockey to be back. Like for me, I can really tell it’s getting close because it’s like when you’re driving around in water, like we got the two universities in the college, right? So it’s like all the students are back. You’re starting to we’re starting to get this fall weather. the leaves are starting to change a little bit, right? So, you got that going on. You got football back. So, the last two Sundays I’ve just been on the couch watching football all day and I’m like, “Fuck, man.” Like, I’ve I’ve missed this, dude. Like, as soon as we get hockey back and and basketball, it’s just going to be this every day, dude. Just sports all day, right? So, who’s your team in football? Or do you are you just more casual? football. I used to be a lot more casual back in the day, but when I went to school, it was like they were not harping, but they were pretty like you guys should really like try to like know every sport. So, I was like, “Okay, like I really got to dial more into football.” So, I had to I was like, “For me to dial into football, I’m actually going to have to like choose a team to follow, right?” So, I at the time they just drafted uh Justin Herbert from Oregon, and I’m a Oregon fan for for college football. So, I’m like, man, they got like sick jerseys. Like, Justin Herbert’s going to be a sick QB. So, I’m a Chargers fan. Oh, okay. I did not really expect that. Honestly, I’ve not been I’ve been trying to get more into football. I’m in like a a like a a pool this year. It’s kind of like a It’s dependent like you choose a different team every week and what they win or lose by depending if they’re the favorite or not is kind of like how you win or or lose or gain points. And it’s like if you pick a favorite and they lose, you you lose the amount of points they lose by and the spread. Like there’s kind of a lot of rules that go into it. So, I’m kind of trying to get a little bit more into football. I wouldn’t necessarily like say I have a team. Like I I kind of like am sort of cheering for the Bills. Like I like I like Josh Allen a lot to be quite honest with you. And I honestly like I always cheer for for Burrow too. I’m so disappointed he’s based watching uh that quarterback series on Netflix yesterday. Yeah, that’s pretty, man. I’m I’m so into it. I was really interested seeing like kind of like the work Momes puts in and uh Cousins and uh uh Mariota, I think it is in the in the first season of that. So, I’m starting to get a little bit more into football, dude. Honestly, like Sunday’s hockey is usually pretty light, so I feel like I’m probably going to watch a little bit more this season. The other thing too to really like get you down the footballs if you play in a fantasy football league like it’s the craziest football league because 90% of your players are playing on the Sunday, right? So it’s like and then they got that NFL red zone which is kind of like the frozen frenzy thing for hockey what they’ve kind of tried out there for the last Yeah, but they added commercials in now, didn’t they? Aren’t people pissed? People are pissed about that. It’s like they’re not even bad though. They just like pop it up on another screen for the commercial. It’s not that Oh, so it’s not even leaving the whole game like it like like the whole like it’s just like a little part of the screen. Pop it up like on a second. Oh, [ __ ] That’s not bad at all then. Not bad. But yeah, like for for fantasy it’s like if you play fantasy football, you’re just dialed because it’s like all day you got players playing in games and that’s the only day really of the week, right, where where you have that happening. So I’ve had the last two Sundays off and it’s been nice just watching, following my team, seeing how I’m doing. Let’s get started though on this um deep dives episode. We’re going to start off with the Buffalo Sabres and take a look at their draft. This is a team that um they did make a trade over the offseason, but we we can talk about that later. Really the the big news with Buffalo is kind of when is this rebuild going to be over? Because they’ve been rebuilding for feels like the past 20 years. Mark, starting off with their draft, how did you feel about about their picks? Uh yeah. I mean I feel like overall I I’ll kind of go through like each guy individually a little bit like I like I have with the other teams. I I feel like it was okay. I mean like they did have the ninth overall pick. Like I didn’t really um expect them to like go out and trade for like an immediate impact player. Like I don’t really know if anything like that was really available for them to do um or at least that would have been worth it. like it’s like it’s like I would if I were them I’d love to bring in like a Raquel or Rust if you could but I also wouldn’t be giving up like the ninth overall pick for them in my opinion right so um I I don’t really mind them picking redeem Murka you know I’m not super high on him uh overall but I think in accordance to like if there is something lacking in their prospect pool like it is a right-handed defenseman and you can obviously tell by them going out and making that trade this summer. I mean, he he is basically the best right-handed defenseman available in this year’s draft. So, if you don’t mind taking a swing on him at at ninth overall. I mean, you probably could have traded back and got him at like 12, maybe, but like also, would Anaheim have taken him at 10? I don’t know. Like, would Pittsburgh at 11? like there was a lot of interest in in him despite like I don’t think his ceiling is kind of as high as other people do. But like he’s a 6’6 defenseman who like he he like has a big shot but he’s he doesn’t really score much and it’s like I feel like he’s just not going to be a huge like offensive defenseman in the NHL. Like he has a lot of like comparisons to like Tyler Meyers and it’s like even now at this point in his career Tyler Myers like really isn’t that good defensively either. Like he’s kind of just like a guy at this point. So, I like I don’t love this pick, but I don’t really hate it either for Buffalo. Uh David Bedcowski, who they got in the third round. I kind of like this guy, dude. He was traded from uh Ashawa to Owen Sound in the Kobby Barlo deal. Um and he’s like a big defensive defenseman, right-handed shooting as well. I could totally see him being like a third pair defenseman this year. I went to like two days of Owen Sounds camp this year, and he was like one of the guys that stood out the most to me uh this off season. I didn’t really think he was going to go like third round, but like I mean kind of what I have seen so far from him like in camp and stuff, he looks pretty good. Like he had a pretty good summer, so I kind of like this pick for them. Uh Noah Leurge is like more of like a two-way defenseman from uh the QMJHL. I don’t really know if he kind of has much offensive upside. I actually skipped a guy Matos Jan Cuchar. I honestly have no idea anything about him. I couldn’t even find a hockey DB for him to be honest with you. Um Ashton Schultz um is a two-way centerman from the USHL. I feel like this was a pretty good pick. Like like considering it’s like a sixthrounder, like he had 39 points in 57 games in the US. The USHL is not really a high-scoring league. Like it’s like it’s the numbers aren’t really like flashy or anything, but I feel like it’s just cuz he’s like a small under undersized skilled guy, but I don’t really mind like taking that risk in in the sixth round. Um Melvin Noatne um kind of the same thing like he had a pretty good season um in uh Swedish Junior League last year. He was almost a point per game. Um and he’s going over to Moskegan in the uh USHL this year. Like I feel like he could have like went a little bit higher in the draft. I was kind of surprised he went that late. I don’t really know much about their next pick, Ryan Ruchinsky. Um and then they did pick two goalenders. Samuel Mallo is a a goalie from the QMJHL. He had a a pretty good season with Ruan Nanda last year. Um and then their other goalie of Guinea Proarov. I don’t really know much about him to be quite honest with you, but um he kind of had like like a 903 in the NHL isn’t really that impressive to me to be quite honest with you. Like a lot of Russian goalies have like stellar numbers it feels like. Um so I don’t really know how he’s going to turn out even as a goalie dude. It’s like unless I really like I’m watching them deeply. kind of hard to like predict their like what they could really can be unless I’ve I’ve kind of seen them a couple times. Like uh goalies are so weird, right? Like they could have a a bad couple years of development and then like they’re 21 years old and they figure it out and then they could be in the NHL by the time they’re 25, right? So I feel like it’s probably like one of the hardest positions to really uh like figure out when a guy’s like 18, 19 years old. So overall looking at their draft, what draft grade are you going to give them here? I’d probably just go with like a B. Like I mean I think MKA is like a solid pick for them and I like like I really like the Bowski and the Noatne pick. Um so like I honestly I’d probably give them like a B to be honest, but like it’s nothing really like I don’t think they hit any like home runs or anything like that, but they got like a couple of guy guys that I would like I could see like potentially being in the NHL maybe down the road. Yeah, I’m with you. I’m going to give them a B as well. I love their first two picks with the uh Bkovski kid and then Murka. Both right-hand shot defenseman. They’re both big like on their left hand side. They’re like in Buffalo. They’re they’re solidified there with that lane and power, right? And it really is going to be kind of finding guys to play on that right hand side. And I think maybe within this draft, you just found two guys that can play on your right hand side with maybe not both of them in your top four, but at least hopefully Murk in your top four and then maybe the other kid in on your bottom pairing, right? So that’s going to help out in Buffalo a fair bit in the in the future hopefully. So I’m going to give them a B on their draft grade as well. Let’s take a look at their lineup now going into the season. It’s actually pretty interesting and they got a fair bit going on for kind of a me team. The big news from the off season was um the trade that they made, right? They they bring in Katzel Ring and they bring in Don as well. And then there’s also been a lot of rumors about Bowen Byum and kind of what’s going to be gone on with him. First of all, let’s talk about the trade. How do you think the return was um getting Castle Ring and and Dylan back? Yeah, I um I I I I think that I I’m not as low on it as like other people are, but I I I also am not quite sure at the end of the day if if it is going to be enough value. Um I’m I’m really curious to see how Purka can play. Um he has been playing with some skilled players, right? But I’m kind of curious to see where they’re going to kind of slot him in. like are they going to break up like Gunther, Keller, and uh Culie? Like how does this really going to work for Purka? Like he did have a really good season last year and he’s had a really good last couple seasons, but he also kind of had some like shooting luck last year. Like to be honest with you, like if you if you were betting me right now, I would probably bet that Purk is not getting 28 goals again to be honest with you. I think maybe it’s a little bit less. So, it’s like I my thing is with Turka, it’s like not that I don’t think he could maybe be a point- per game player like in a season, but I I definitely don’t think he could be a consistent point per game player to be quite honest. So, so what I’m saying is like if they’re they’re getting a really solid player, but I’m not quite sold that he has like a lot more upside, I guess. Um, so I think maybe that’s why I’m a little bit higher on this. I feel like a lot of people don’t know about Michael Kessle Ring, and he didn’t play a ton of minutes last year with Utah, but the minutes he played were were really good to be quite honest with you. And they do kind of have a like a jam-packed right side with uh Jersey being healthy, Marino, like Maverick Lamaroo is kind of knocking on the door of becoming an NHLer. So, I always felt like Kessle Ring was kind of a guy that they could get rid of who also didn’t have trade protection. Um, I think he’s going to be a good partner for for power. I I I really do. Um, and I think he’s gonna develop into being a top four defenseman. Um, I just don’t know kind of what like the offensive upside is with him, but I think with him it’s like if he can become somewhat physical and like be shutting guys down, I think that’s what Buffalo wants. Like they don’t really need a guy to go out and get like 40 plus points a season from the back end. like they’ve got three other guys right now that that have got the potential to do that every single year. So, I I don’t want to say like he’s like a perfect player for them, but I think ideally when you’re looking at it, like people need to realize like Buffalo does have limited options compared to other teams because people have Buffalo on their trade list. Yeah. Right. And like the Kessle ring Kessle ring’s in a situation where he’s 25 years old on a contract where it it’s going to expire at the end of the next season. He’s going to be an RFA again. Like he didn’t have any trade protection, right? And this is kind of a a more of an up andcoming guy that Buffalo um that Buffalo apparently, dude, apparently they had their eye on him since like December. Someone texted Freriedman in like January and said, “I don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but I guarantee you in this calendar year, Michael Kessler is gonna be a Buffalo Saber.” I don’t know how the hell the guy knew. I don’t even know where he was from or what kind of source it was, but I think that Adams Buffalo Buffalo had their eye on this guy for a long time, right? And with with Josh Don, I think like I don’t really think he’s got like a high offensive ceiling. Like I don’t think he he’s going to be like what his dad was or anything, but I think he’s going to be kind of like a bump and grind like maybe like third liner can fill in on the second line. He’s got a pretty good shot. Like he could be like a like a 40 point a season guy maybe. Um and maybe provide some physicality. So yeah, like I ideally I I don’t think that the Sabres like I don’t think they won the trade. I would say they slightly lost the trade, but I also don’t think they did bad at all. Like I I don’t think this is a bad trade for them. I really don’t. See, I’m kind of with you on that, man. Like I love the two players that they got back in Castle Ring and Don. I completely agree with you. I think Owen Power and Castle Ring. That’s going to be a really good defensive pairing and it’s going to be a pairing probably for at least five, six seasons here in in the future for the Sabres. I like Don as well. Yeah, there’s not a a a crazy ton of upside, but he is going to be a consistent everyday NHL or playing most likely in in your bottom six if you are a team that’s really competing. The one thing that I look at the trade though and I kind of feel that Buffalo lost out on here is I think they should have gotten some sort of pick back, right? I just think if you’re giving up a a young player that’s a 30 goal scorer in the NHL, like that those are pretty hard to find around the NHL, right? If you’re giving up one of those guys, especially considering he had team control and he was an RFA, I would have at least liked to see them get some sort of pick back. And I’m not saying a firstrounder, but if they could have gotten a second or third rounder back in this year’s draft, I think that would have made the trade a lot more a lot more doable for me, right? And and that’s nothing against the players they got back. It’s just more that man, 30 goal scorers in the NHL, they’re they’re hard to find, right? They’re hard to find. You had one on your team. Yeah, I understand that he wanted out and it was public knowledge that he wanted to trade, but you still had the team like there was still team control in this scenario. So, yeah, there wasn’t restriction to where he could go. Like, for me, I just look at that and I’m like I I think just given that if Buffalo got a pickback, it would have been would have worked out a bit better for them. That being said though, I do like the two players they got back. I I really do like Castle Ring and I think he is going to be a massive help on that right hand side in Buffalo. I I Yeah, honestly like I I I think it would have made it feel a lot more like even if there was like maybe a third round pick. Honestly, even if it was a fourth, I would have been like, “Okay, like yeah, like I get what they’re they’re trying to do here.” The one thing I I would say back maybe that they were both thinking is it’s a hell of a lot easier to find like a scoring winger than it is like a right-handed defenseman like who’s young on a good contract. He’s making 1.4 million like like for next season, right? So, I wonder if that had consideration going into it and like Purka was owed a payday owed a payday like but I I do totally get what you’re saying. I probably would have felt better if there was a pick in there, but I wonder if just the valuation for right-handed defenseman right now is just through the roof. Through the [ __ ] roof. Yeah, I could see that for sure. Let’s talk about another guy who’s a defenseman. He is playing on the right hand side, but he is a left-hand shot defenseman. It’s Bowen Byum. Mark all godamn summer long. When’s Boone Byron going to get traded? Where’s he going? Who’s in on the Bowen Bum sweep stakes? At one point, I believe he was going to arbitration, but then he signed just before arbitration. Uh, correct me if I’m if I’m wrong there. So, he he signed a $6.2 million extension per season for for two years. That’s going to take him to UFA. So, Buffalo really kind of [ __ ] the Ben in my opinion with this scenario because now you went from having some control over Bowen Byum and and what are we going to do? Where are we going to trade him to? Now Bowen Byron can just [ __ ] sit this out for two seasons and and go straight to UFA and leave Buffalo and they could potentially get nothing back. How do you think they handle the um sort of scenario with him this summer? And do you think he’ll get traded at some point during this season? I think it’s it is really going to depend on how how obviously the Sabres are are one doing um in the standings and probably too personally how he’s doing. Like I feel like a situation where he’s kind of having an off year like they’re not the valuation for him is going to be even less. Like I really wonder if they were so focused on like attacking a current position in a trade that it made it limited. Like I like I think maybe they were probably looking for like a top six forward back or teams were more like we want to give you a future for him and like Buffalo is interested in making the playoffs not getting like a first round pick or like a good prospect. Um, yeah, I I I agree in the sense that I think they’ve kind of backed themselves into a hole here. Like it’s it’s not ideal at all. Like he hasn’t really like it’s I don’t think it’s ever been public that he’s asked for the trade. I don’t know if he’s ever like kind of like inched at it towards management at all. Um, but it it’s a it’s ideally like it’s just not going to be a great situation for him to even come back in two years when there’s already two left-handed defenseman. Um, you’re not really getting the opportunity to be a number one guy. Um, I I I just really wonder like the valuation in this trade if if it does happen. Like how I know there could be a different amount of suitors in there. The one thing I will say is I don’t think there’s going to be as many suitors maybe as people think considering like left-handed offensive defenseman. Like it’s not an easy position to find by any means, but like there’s only a certain amount of teams where I could say like Bowen Byron would step in and I would be like really comfortable like giving him the number one power play spot over like a guy that maybe a team already has, right? So, um I really wonder if the valuation for him is going to be like I wonder if people are going to be more like even underwhelmed in a trade than they were with like Purka and Kessler to be quite honest with you. Um and I just I don’t know what they can get back for him at this point to be quite honest with you. like he had a really good plus minus on a bad team last year, but he was playing with one of the best defenseman in the league and like he really didn’t have good defensive results either. And his offense is kind of just like it’s kind of like it’s good for defenseman, but it’s not like it’s not like something where it’s like super standing out, right? So, I just don’t know what what they can really get from him. And he does have injury history, too. Like I don’t think keeping him I think the longer they keep him the worse it kind of is for his valuation unless he’s playing unreal at the beginning of the year. See if I’m in Buffalo I think the ideal time to trade him is this year’s trade deadline cuz he’s he’s he he’s got a contract for two years. He’s making 6.2 million with a cap going up like next like after this next season. If you trade bow environment, you’re retaining 50% as the sabers, like I feel like you could get a a decent like not not a hall back, but I think you could get a decent return. Plus, the other thing is if you are like if you are retaining on that that that makes it where a lot more teams will be able to um be be in on on the bow and buy not sweep stakes, but I guess we’ll call it that, right? Because if if you’re a team that’s going to be making the playoffs, Byron at 3.1, you can kind of probably find a way to to fit them in there maybe on your second pairing where if you’re trading for the full 6.2, like that really limits the amount of teams that can can fit that in the lineup. Most teams that are going to be kind of fighting for a playoff spot won’t really be wanting to bring in Boone B at 6.2 for him to play on their on their second pairing. So I I think I still do think Buffalo kind of has kind of backed themselves into a hole a little bit here, but I think there is a way for them to potentially figure something out and get some sort of return here. I will say though though the one part about this that really doesn’t um Buffalo has no control over is as you mentioned it’s really going to be a lot of it is decided on on how is Bowen Byron playing. Is he having a good season or a bad season? Because if he’s having a bad season even at 3.1 like I don’t know how many teams you’re going to want to bring him in if you’re you’re fighting for Stanley Cup. Do do you think like do you think if if you’re a Stanley Cup winning or Stanley Cup contending team B at 3.1 like you’d be somewhat interested in or or not at all? Um I feel like it would definitely depend on the team. The thing with Byum is he’s won a Stanley Cup, right? And the best hockey he ever played was probably during that Stanley Cup run. He does have injury history though. And and the thing is is you’ll you’ll know I just think the investment that you would have to make into a trade with him knowing that you’d have to probably extend him. It really is going to depend kind of on the situation I feel like. Um I feel like most teams are would probably not be interested to be quite honest with you. Uh but also it could depend on if a team what if a team loses like a second pairing defenseman like for the season or something, right? then then maybe. But I I also just I it’s intriguing to bring him in at that cap hit, but I also just don’t know if the Sabres would be willing to retain to be quite honest. I think they might just look at it and be like, we think he’s worth this like, right? So why should we retain on it? Um, and like because the thing is with Buffalo, it’s like are they going to go the route of like they want they want futures or are they still going to go the route of like we want immediate help even if we’re like out of the playoffs, right? Like I I don’t really know exactly what their plan is moving forward in accordance to that like even at the deadline. Like think about it this year’s deadline like they were out of it and they still made like a hockey trade with Cousins and and Norris, right? Like and they gave up a second round pick. So, they’re in a confusing situation to me. He He’s so interesting to kind of keep an eye on moving forward because I I’m just so unsure about him, man. Like, I I I like his game, but there’s a lot of inconsistencies. There’s a lot of injury history. He’s still young. He’s a great skater, but I just don’t know how much opportunity there is out there for him right now to be quite honest with you. And I I mean it’s good for him that he’s going to be walking to UFA basically if he wants unless he signs a contract beforehand. But um I still kind of have a little bit of doubts about him, but I understand he’s a very young and he’s he’s he’s still a very skilled player, but um he’s had a lot of concussions too, right? Like that’s he took like almost a year off I think at some point to like kind of to to like kind of reset, right? So like those are kind of concerns for me. Let’s take a look at the rest of their lineup now. Um, Mark, I’m not a fan of this lineup to be honest. How do you kind of feel about it, though? I mean, like besides like the uh the trade they made, they they didn’t really do a whole lot, right? Like they’re bringing back Zuker, like Greenway’s coming back. Uh they bring in Justin Danforth for the fourth line. Um, Jack Quinn gets resigned. That’s a pretty good bridge deal for Jack Quinn. I feel like I wonder if he’s gonna like he’s kind of a guy I’m interested to see like is he going to have a pop off year this year? The thing is with them it’s like they’ve got so much young talent that hasn’t really popped or like that’s kind of expected to like are a couple of these guys going to pop like Benson like Yuri Koulique he kind of had a really good second half of the season last year. like how does Josh Don fit in this lineup? Um, but I really feel like if this team doesn’t figure out how to play proper defense, like it’s it’s like none of this is going to matter. Like I didn’t realize this last year. I’m pretty sure Buffalo was second or third in the league and five on five goals for last year. Yeah, I didn’t know I realized that either. And Columbus cuz Columbus was first. Columbus, the only team I think I I heard Columbus had nine more five on five goals than Buffalo and then the next team after that was 20 away from Columbus. Like they they both scored a lot five on five last year. They just couldn’t keep the puck out of their net, right? So I wonder how much of a a difference Kessler Ring makes. Dene, I think is an incredible two-way defenseman. It wouldn’t be an episode without the mic falling off. [ __ ] dude. We’re have to we’re gonna have to start stitching these together and make a end of season blooper. Can you hear me? Yeah, I got you still. Yeah, I think Dene, he’s an incredible two-way defenseman that that really doesn’t get enough credit for that cuz like he’s kind of had a couple consistent really good offensive seasons recently, but he shut he shuts guys down too and he’s he’s super physical. Um, but I I think like Lucinan overall I understand he doesn’t get a lot of help, but like the year before he also didn’t get a lot of help and he was great, right? So, it’s like I kind of have to judge it off of that and I didn’t think he was very good last year. So, I really wonder um if he’s going to rebound. Kind of two of his three NHL seasons haven’t been that good. But I’m also interested like they bring in Alex Lion who could be a decent backup, but you see a couple days ago they signed Gorgiev. Yeah, I did. There’s like no for Deon Levi anymore. It I really wonder if he’s going to be involved in a trade. Yeah, it’s it is really weird though. I I I was just like I’m like Gorgiev. Like dude, honestly, I would have been happier with them bringing back Rhyr. Yep. Like why Gorgiev? I don’t really understand. Are they just are they just like thinking he can have a huge year just because he’s done it before? Like [ __ ] man. I I I don’t really understand it to be quite honest with you. But um their goalending is going to have to be a hell of a lot better too if if they want any chance of getting in. I don’t really think that there’s an opportunity for them to get in. I think they’re just going to be a highflying offensive team and not figure it out defensively again to be quite honest with you. Um, and I could see them being probably like a bottom three team in the Atlantic again. Yeah, I think they’re going to be bond with the Atlantic again. They got a a lot of young players as you mentioned. Like it is going to be interesting to see who can take a step, who kind of doesn’t take a step. But the other thing that is interesting is they got a lot of guys that are on like one or one or two year deals, right, outside of their core. Like Alex Tuck, it’s like there’s kind of some question marks around him. Is he gonna be a Buffalo Saber past this season? Right. Jason Zooker, he he he’s got one one year left, right? It’s like, is he a guy maybe that will get traded at some point during the season if Buffalo’s not good? Cuz if they do that and one of one of those two guys gets traded or even both of them, like they’re going to have absolutely no veterans in the lineup and they already don’t have any in in the lineup, right? So, for me, I’m not too much of a fan of this Buffalo Sabres team. I think they’re way too young. Like, I would have loved to see them go out in the offseason, and I’m not sign like a a veteran that’s going to play in your top six, but even even get a veteran that’s going to play in your bottom six, somebody for the all these young guys to lean on a little bit cuz right now they got pretty much no veterans. It’s like, would you rather have like Peyton Kreps right now, we we have him slotted in here playing on their fourth line, right? I would way rather Buffalo go out and find some veteran player to play fourth line C than Peyton Kreps because to me it just doesn’t make too much sense having him down there instead of somebody who’s maybe going to be a little bit more effective there playing on your fourth line. Mark, what are you going to give the Buffalo Sabres overall offseason grade? See, the thing is it’s like I don’t think it’s that good, but I also like think it’s like he is limited on what he can do a lot, right? In the interest of like players actually coming to the team, but it’s like they also could have handled that buy situation a hell of a lot differently. I’m I’m going to go with uh a C minus. See, I was kind of debating what I was going to give them. I knew it was going to be in the C’s. I do like their draft, but I really don’t like everything else that they did outside of that trade. I I do like the trade, the two players they brought in, but I I do think they should have gotten some sort of pick back there. So, I think I’m going to give them I’m stuck between a C and a C minus. I’m going to give them a C. I’m going to give him a C. Just the grade and then the players that they did bring back bumps it up from a C minus a little bit for me. Okay, let’s take a look now at the uh Carolina Panthers. This is a team that during the actual season last year, man, there was a lot of stuff going on with them. Pretty pretty entertaining. Let’s start off by taking a look at their their lineup. Mark, how are you feeling about their lineup here? because honestly they didn’t do a a crazy amount here during the offseason. My question is how are you feeling about their lineup? You’re tuned into football, dude. You just called them the Carolina Panthers. Um Panthers. I am turned into I am turn tuned into football. The Carolina Hurricanes, pardon me. Yeah. I mean like they didn’t change a whole lot of their roster, but I feel like like they did still like kind of get a lot of business done too, right? Like even extensions like going they’re going to be starting next season, right? Um, I mean, the biggest move obviously is bringing in Nikolai Elers. Um, I I think he could probably pop in their system. Uh, I think it’s a really good ad for them in the top six. Like Fetchnikov to me kind of isn’t really getting it done at like a near first line level. Um, bringing in Kandre Miller as well. Like they they did give up a lot for him, I will say, to be quite honest with you. But it’s like they’re also using one of those assets from uh the Ranton and trade to go out and get uh a top four defenseman and KA Andre Miller. And you got to look at it in the sense of like it still makes them better right now despite on whether you think they win the trade or not. Like Kandre Miller is a better player than than Scott Morrow is right now. So um he’s a guy that I I honestly think he can fit into their system quite nice. I think he skates very well. I think if he can kind of develop a little bit of a mean edge and like maybe eventually be like a second power play guy like 30 40 points like it is a lot of money for him but I think with the cap going up and kind of how well he skates I don’t really think we’re going to like look at this as like a bad contract but I also don’t really think it’s going to end up being like a steal of a contract or anything along those lines. But I don’t really mind them bringing in Miller. I just kind of wonder like what the future is for Nikesh in there. like is he g he’s probably gonna have to be playing on the right side as as a left-handed shooting defenseman. There’s been talk about talks about him getting a chance on the first power play. I don’t really know if you do that right away with how kind of good Gostasphere has been on their power play. Um but like the other offseason moves, I mean, they don’t really affect the team until like next season. Jackson Blake resigns an 8-year deal at 5.1. Logan Stankovven also signs an 8-year deal. His is at $6 million. Um, I will be honest. I love this Logan Stankovven deal. I think halfway through this contract, we might be looking at it and being like, “Holy [ __ ] how the hell is this guy making $6 million right now?” Um, the Jackson Blake deal, I think this deal is going to be totally worth it. I’m not like as high on it as I am the Stankovven one, but I think that he’s a guy that could be a top six forward. He could even be like a really good third line piece. And I’m not really convinced in the future like 5.1 million for like a really good skilled third liner putting up like 40 to 50 points is really going to be that bad of a deal to be honest. So I think those are two some like tidy extensions by by Tulski to be honest with you. uh like he had 17 and 17 last year and he was playing like third fourth line minutes until he got promoted. Right. The second half year he he was stepping up a fair bit more and he was uh he was top five and expected goals against on the Carolina Hurricanes last year. He was like one of their best defensive forwards on the team last year on a team who really relies on like two-way uh like like relying on their two-way game a lot, right? And that’s kind of what uh Brenda Moore preaches. So, these are two guys they really like, right? And they see as hurricanes long term. They get their paydays. Honestly, I think these contracts were just going to look at them and be like, “Holy shit.” Like, people are like, “Yeah, like it’s more of like, yeah, they don’t have a star though and whatever.” It’s like, dude, but the way they’re setting up these contracts, like, buddy, they could go out and get like Capri off or something and pay him and overpay him. Like, the way they’ve been setting themselves up with these, right? Like I I I really like what Carolina did this off season, but at the same time I they they do they still don’t have a second line center and that’s a concern. It’s not like they can’t address it at some point. It’s not really like much has been available right now and like cockami can probably be a stopping gap for the regular season considering like the talent around him, but it’s been proven in the playoffs that it’s it’s not enough to to get them all the way, right? So, I think it’s something that’s going to have to be addressed throughout the season. The thing is, too, they still have another first round pick that’s not even theirs from the Randon trade. They’ve still got a pretty good prospect pool. Like, they there’s still things that they can do to go out and improve, right? Like maybe Nikesian doesn’t really work out and you use him as a trade ship. I’m not saying that like I like I’m not saying that I want that to happen or anything, but it’s like they will have options, right? Like they’ve committed to Slavven. they’ve committed to to to Kandre Miller. Like they have assets to go out and do something still. So, it’s like I’m not really that concerned right now because I think they have a lot of talent to at least like get them through the regular season. Yeah, as you mentioned, I really like the extensions that they handed out this year getting Stankov for eight years at six mill. Like I completely agree with you, dude. Like this might be the best contract in the NHL in in two or three seasons. We might be like when somebody’s getting paid $20 million and Logan Stanovven who is like 30 points less is making $6 million. We might be looking at this like holy [ __ ] Like that is a that’s a steal of a deal. The Jackson Blake one, I am with you on that. Like I’m not I’m not as big of a fan as the Stanovven one, but like the Stanovven one, that’s a hard like that’s a really high bar, right, that they set with that contract. I still do like the Jackson Blake contract. Like I agree with you. He’s going to be he’s going to be their everyday third liner. At some points he might be bumped up playing on that second line depending on how things go. Bringing back Taylor Hall I like as well. I I think Taylor Hall playing on the third line like that’s a good veteran player. He kind of rejuvenated himself after the deadline I felt like a little bit. And then the Kandre Miller one I like I I like that one a fair bit to be honest. Like I understand that Nikesian yeah he probably has to play on the right hand side right now but if you’re Carolina like you got your one two on the left hand side locked up for the next eight seasons and those are both going to be pretty good defensive players within this system that that Carolina plays right that man-to-man style. I really like what Carolina did here this offseason to be honest. I I think when you’re looking at Carolina and what they did this off season with their lineup, they’re maybe one of the very few teams that you can safely say I think they did get better. Like throughout these deep dives, we’ve been looking, Mark, we’ve been looking at a fair bit of teams and saying, “Eh, they didn’t really get better. They kind of stayed stagnant.” Or, “Yeah, no, like this team is a team that is different, but I wouldn’t say they’re better.” Looking at Carolina, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this is a team that that did get better here throughout the off season. Let’s take a look. Go ahead. I was going to say, yeah, I was going to say, yeah, I agree, but like like people might say like, oh, like no Burns, no Orlov. Like honestly, bro, I thought Orv was like the worst defenseman in that Florida series. He was absolutely terrible. Burns, yeah, I mean, he eats minutes. It’s going to be a decent loss, but I also think people don’t really realize how how good Nikesian could be if he gets an opportunity. And Miller, I think we haven’t really been seeing uh like a lot of positives from Kandre Miller the last year and a bit, right? He didn’t really have a good year. So, um I think there’s more to give with him and I think he’s still young and um I like you said with Slavven and Miller, I also just look at both them and it’s just like they’re both big guys with like active sticks and they skate so well, right? So, it’s like I think Miller could fit into the system so nicely and I think they see that he could be a tight player and like Brendan Moore could honestly I I would love to see like more of a mean streak from Kandre Miller because I think he could be a scary defenseman if he could figure out how to be like a more scary defenseman to play against. Yeah, I’m I’m all with you on that. Let’s take a look at their uh draft now. Not a whole lot of high picks, but they had a fair bit of picks here within this second and third round. Mark, how do you kind of feel that they made out at the draft? Yeah, I mean, I feel like every year I’m kind of like pumping Carolina’s tires at their draft because at the times I feel like they’re just getting such good value picks. Like they um they didn’t have a first round pick this year, did they? No, they had did second round picks cuz I’m trying to remember at the they made a trade to go trade down but they didn’t actually pick like they didn’t what I’m saying is they didn’t have a first and then trade out of the first right I don’t think that’s what happened this year with them cuz their first that they had this year it was part of the Miller trade right no because that trade was made on July 1st either way I don’t think that they they they had a first that they traded out of the the first round um their first pick was Charlie Serado um he played at Penn State last year. He’s actually going back. He’s going to be playing with Gavin McKenna. Um the thing with him, he’s a double overager, but like he had an incredible year in the NCAA. Like he was over a point per game. You know how I am with drafting over. It’s a pretty high pick for an overager. The one thing I will say though is Montreal made a very risky trade and they traded 39 and 62 for uh 34. And so Carolina used this like you know what I mean? They got an additional second round pick from this. So maybe they felt like they could have made that that move. Sorry 39 and 41 because they picked the goalie at 41 for 34. like like everyone was saying, I don’t know why Montreal did this, but watching their interviews, they love the Zerowski kid they picks and they thought he should have been a firstrounder. So, um so I mean I knowing that for Carolina, I don’t mind the Sorado pick as much. I’m kind of curious like how close they actually think he could be to the NHL considering like he’s a 20-year-old like over point per game season in the NCAA. Like maybe we’ll see him sign in the next season or two to be honest, you know what I mean? And maybe playing some games in the in the minors. their second pick of the draft, Simeon Froolov. Um, in my opinion, he was the second best goalie in the draft behind uh Joshua Ravensburgen. I think he’s got even a little bit higher of an upside than Pod Andre Anov. He’s super flexible. He’s big body, keeps his teams in games all the times. Honestly, he just has a type of style that I think he can thrive under a really good defense. Um I I don’t think I think that he’s probably like a top 10 goalie prospect in the NHL to be quite honest with you. I’m pretty high on this kid. I I just when Carolina picked him, I’m like here we go. Like this is another guy like this is going to be potential goalie of the future for him. I’m even higher than him than I was on Kachchov when he got picked. Um so I really wonder about Froolov like coming over in the next like three to four seasons. Um the next pick, we both love this guy, Ivan Ryabkin. He was picked 62nd overall. I think going into last year, he was talked about of maybe even being a top 10 pick. Yeah, we saw top five with some people at some point. He didn’t have the greatest showing in the first half of the season when he was in Russia in the MHL. I think that was a huge reason why he he came over to Moskegan. Um, but in 27 games though, 19 goals, 30 points, pretty solid. The thing is he is undersized. He’s 5’11, but he’s also built. Like he’s he’s 205. Sometimes it’s kind of like an effort thing from him. Um, but I think that there’s upside in this pick, dude. Like I think there’s a there’s a chance he becomes like a second line center, like even being picked like like 62nd overall who’s got some skill, right? So, I really like this pick. I was super surprised that he went this late. I think I had him going 30 second to be quite honest with you because I would have just taken the risk in the first round. Uh, Kerban Limitov. These honestly, as you can tell, they love taking Russian guys, like we were talking about with Washington last week, but Carolina’s another team that always goes for Russians. Kerbin Limitov’s like a big more defensive defenseman who skates well. He could potentially be maybe like a bottom pairing defenseman in the future. I don’t really know much about Roman Bows, but he’s a seems like a huge right-handed defenseman. Um, VGO Nordlin is like more of like a undersized skilled guy who really lit it up in like the J20 league this year. And then Philip Ecberg, he is super interesting, dude. He didn’t really have the greatest season in the OHL. I remember hearing about this kid when he was 15 cuz I think he was the youngest player ever to play in in a Spencin game. Either that or he was the youngest player ever to get a point. So, I was so interested in seeing his development, but he never really grew or anything. But um he was a guy that I felt like probably could have went like fourth round, maybe fifth round kind of after like the undersized skill guys go. I’d be probably taking a chance on him. I thought he was just going to end up going undrafted, but I was like of course Carolina gets him, right? So I kind of have my eye on him because he’s he’s a pretty skilled player who just didn’t really have a good season last year and I feel like he could like break out in the O this year. Mark, what are you going to give them for a draft grade? Honestly, without a hesitation, I’d be I’d be giving them an A. Yeah, I think I’m giving him an A as well. Like the Furov pick, that goalie dude. I think there was We all thought he was going to go to Columbus at 20 at one point. Like when it was kind of rumored that Columbus was like looking at taking a goalie and it might be one of the Russians, we all thought it was going to be Frolov, right? and then it wasn’t him. And it’s like this is a goal that could have probably gone in the in the first round, maybe early second round. And you’re getting him here at 42. I guess that is maybe I guess a bit early in the second round. But I love it for Carolina. Like as you said, this is a goalie that is probably going to be their goalie of the future. And then that Rykin pick like getting him at 62, dude, is I think it’s insane. Uh it is a a lot of um riskreward scenario here, kind of boomer bust, but as you mentioned earlier, like this was a guy that was projected to go top 10 at some points during during last season and you’re getting him at 62. I think it’s incredible value. I think they got incredible value here throughout um the draft. So, I’m going to give them an A as well. Well, you know who else was picked 62nd overall? Pardon me? You know who else was picked 62nd overall? Lelay Hudson. Hudson. Yeah, I knew you were going to say that. Mark, what are you what are you going to give their overall offseason grade? Um, I think I I I think I’m going to go with an A minus just because like I think the second round the second line center thing like like I just can’t like give them an A+ because like it they still have a gaping hole that they haven’t fixed. But it’s like with the draft and like they made really good moves around. I’m going to go with an A minus. But I just the second line center thing is just kind of keeping them away from doing that. See, I’m going to give them an an A. I’m going to stay at the same as the draft. I think I agree with you like the the second line center is something that does need to be addressed at some point here during this next season. But I think with the assets they do have picks and young players, I think they like there is a road for them addressing it. I’m just looking at it. It’s just I don’t know what options there really were for Carolina to do to address that second line centerman role unless they straight up overpaid somebody in free agency. Right. And I I rather have them kind of hold still than go out and pay Grahamlin $7 million or or overpay somebody to be their second line center. Right. What about a [ __ ] and emmy like trying to get him out and like bring someone else in like and just paying like more on top of it to bring that that was more my mentality like could they try to ship out [ __ ] and emmy and like get get something you know I just think if I don’t know I don’t know really if any teams would want to bring him back. It’s like he’s making just under five for five more seasons. It’s there’s not a whole lot of team wanting to take that money back. I like I I I don’t think it’s a good contract at all, but I also just feel like with the cap going up, like I don’t think it’s like an unmanageable deal, though. Like I feel like he’s like a third line defensive center. Like people, okay, like people look at him like he’s absolutely terrible. I think it’s because he’s had like one season of like 45 points and like he he has like had opportunities to like to put up more points as a skilled guy. But like I will say like his defensive game is not bad. like like I wouldn’t mind him being the 3C that much, but like that that was more my mentality. Like if if a team was interested in like a 3C like on a on a manageable contract like kind of like for the next it is a bit of an overpayment, but like to be honest like I don’t look at it and I’m like I don’t think it’s like a bottom 10 contract in the NHL. No, I I don’t think it’s bottom 10 either. I I agree with you. Like I could see maybe at some point a team being willing to take him on as a 3C. I just think I just think we’re still maybe like a season or two away from that, right? Yeah. I I just think if if right now if you were to trade Konami away from the Carolina Hurricanes, I got I got it correct this time. I think if you’re a team bringing him in, you’d probably want some sort of other asset back in that deal, right? where if you’re Carolina, I think it’s like, hey, just hold on to him maybe for a year or two. Like at some point, Stall’s going to be gone as well, right? So, hey, maybe they hold on to him and when Stall’s gone, it’s you you just bump him down to the third line, right? And at that point, it is a manageable contract to be having for your third line center. I just think for for right now, like five mil for your third line center is a bit high. Let’s uh take a look at the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, this is a team that made most of their um most of their headlines at the draft. Mark, how do you feel they made out at the draft? They had three first round picks, which was definitely interesting with them. Yeah, I mean, um they were pretty active, right? Like I think eight picks overall throughout seven rounds, three in the first round. Um, everyone was kind of wondering like who would they end up getting at number three. Uh, Anton Fondell falls to them. I think this is a good pick, dude. I think it’s a guy that uh, considering what else was on the board, there’s probably a couple guys around that I would have been interested in, too. Um, but there’s definitely question marks about like the second line center need for them moving forward. Like I understand Nazar is playing it now, like would he be better suited for the wing? It kind of just gives you options. Um, and I I think for Fondelle’s development, like I believe he will be going to to Hawks camp because he signed. Um, I’d probably send him back to Sweden for another year and then try to get him over next year. Um, if possible, unless he really blows you away at camp and you think that he can make a huge difference in the NHL uh, this season. Uh, but I I I really like this pick for them and um, he’s definitely one of the better prospects in the NHL, I I would say. and uh like he’s he’s 6’1, but he’s pretty built at the same time and he had he had really good numbers in Alenskin last year um despite I think he was injured for a little bit, but he’s got some high-end skill as well. Um Valk Neil um he’s a big guy, dude. Played in the US last year. Um he kind of like started tearing it up the second half and just started showing kind of traits in his game that he can be like a real power forward in the NHL. Uh, personally, would I have picked him here? Probably not. Uh, but I mean, I think they’re kind of taking the second half of the season um into effect a lot and probably just thinking he can continue to get better off of that. You know what I mean? Um, the next pick at 29, uh, Mason West. Um, I’ll be honest, I’m super indifferent about this pick. Um I I don’t really like it that much to be quite honest with you considering he’s a dual sport athlete playing um is it is he still playing high school football right now? High school football. Yeah, he’s a quarterback. He’s a big guy too at 66. Um he played in the USL last year for 10 games after high school. He had nine points. He only had one goal though. Um I don’t know, dude. I just I was hearing about this kid getting into the first round and I was reading more into his story and I was like, man, like is he really gonna quit football for this? Like you don’t see a lot. This doesn’t really happen with these dual sport athletes. Like they don’t want you playing other things. Like he gets picked and I’m kind of like all right. Like this kid’s got to commit to hockey. Like my mind I was like there’s no [ __ ] way the Hawks are letting him play football. Yeah. And he’s playing football. So I don’t know. I personally I don’t really like this pick. I don’t really know what his like offensive ceiling is considering like he’s not even playing hockey the first half of the season. Like it’s it’s it’s just very weird to me. The one thing I heard that like I wonder if the Hawks thought about was say this doesn’t work out and like say he goes the football route, he doesn’t sign with them because he’s a first round pick, they get a second round pick back in compensation. If you have if you draft a guy in the first round and he doesn’t sign a contract with you and like you lose his rights, you get a second round pick in the next draft after you lose the player. That’s how it works. That’s See, I get that. It’s just like, man, that’s four years down the road. I know. That’s That’s where I’m like, you They have a good prospect pool. They have a good prospect pool, but I just personally would have went a different route. I I I There was other guys on the board at the time. I would have [ __ ] went Ryabkin over him. Yep. I would have went Ryabkin. I would have even said, even though we just signed Spencer Knight, what? Oh [ __ ] I’ll take [ __ ] Ravensburg or Froolov. Why not? Like I would have much preferred to go a route like that than pretty sure available there. Yeah, Potter like um I think they just made a big risk with Nestrasil a little bit at 25. They probably could have got him later that I don’t know why they did it again to be quite honest with you. Um so I’m I’m gonna be honest. I’m not really that high on this pick at all. like at all. It’s like, dude, every drafted player has an edge on this guy until he starts playing hockey again. Yep. He’s not focusing on hockey right now, right? So, I don’t get it. If other teams were really willing to go that high on him, maybe there’s something I’m missing here, but I just I don’t think that the risk is worth the reward with this to be quite honest with you. Uh like I don’t see him being like an elite player in the NHL. like to be quite honest with you. So, I don’t know. Uh Nathan Bem, the next pick, uh this guy had like a [ __ ] great start to the season and it was even like in some people’s first round mocks. But, um he’s kind of just like a skilled guy who doesn’t like play that hard but puts up points. Probably a pretty good pick in the third round to be quite honest with you. Julius Sump is a is a double overager from the QMJHL. He had a really big season with Monton last year. Um he’s more of like kind of like a projection of like maybe like a fourthline center type of thing. Uh Parker Holmes, honestly really surprised this guy got drafted that high considering he had one point in the OL last year in 23 games. Um he’s going to be like a fourthline enforcer type thing, but um not really sure why you need to do that with a fourth round pick. Um Ashton Cumby, I don’t really know much about him. He was playing in the WHL last year. Just kind of seems like a big defensive defenseman. Um, and then their goalie, Ilia Canarski. He’s a double overager. He had really good numbers in the MHL last year. I think he’s going to get a shot in the KHL. Um, even though those are really good numbers, 938, like some guys have those numbers at 18 in the MHL, right? So, and some guys are already in the KHL 1920. So, I don’t really take too much stock into it, but it is a seventh round pick, so it’s it’s probably worth the risk to be honest. What are you going to give their uh draft grade here? Um, I’m gonna go with a C+. Really? I don’t like the two I don’t really love the two other first round picks to be honest. And I think as much as I like Fondell, like those picks, like they could have been used differently. See, I’m going to give them a D+ for me. Yeah. Wow. That for me it’s like in a year where you’re Chicago where like you really got to start ramping up this rebuild, right? Because like Baddard’s going to be coming off his ELC soon here. Like you just signed AAR. you really do want to start to ramp up this rebuild and you have three first round picks. And for me, it’s like one of those picks like the Fondell pick. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Fondell pick. My my grade doesn’t really go as much about that, but it’s like the uh the Mason West kid. I think that pick is a massive flop. Massive flop. I just don’t understand it, dude. I I never understood what the mentality is with this with him. And he he has like he he’s committed to play NCAA football as well. So, it’s like you’re going to have to like really change his mind here to get him to play in the NHL. And then if he does, it’s like as you mentioned earlier, he’s going to be a step behind all these other guys that are playing the whole season. This pick makes no sense. I think I think there’s probably 60 players in the draft that would have taken over Mason West in the first round. Oh, I was about to say I would have been way happier if they took him at 66. Yeah, I would have been happier with him. I would have been happier with Chicago taking like an Adam Bennak with his pick over Mason West to be honest. It’s like at least Adam Bak, he’s going to be playing a full year of hockey and you’re actually you like you can actually be saying in the back of your head like at some point like we actually there’s a good chance of seeing him in the NHL where like with Mason West I I think there’s like a 20% chance this kid plays in the NHL. Really? I see. I’m not even that low on that. I’m I’m more just like they didn’t have three. They they they traded into the first round to make this pick. Like they didn’t have three first either. Like they gave up assets to make this pick. Like I just I I don’t get it. Like I Yeah. And let’s just It just makes no sense. Like there were so many different routes they could have went with this dude. Like Yeah. I wasn’t even thinking of Colin Potter. Yeah, it’s like it’s just for me it’s like, okay, this guy’s going to play football. This guy’s going to play football all fall in high school and then he’s going to start playing in the He’s probably going to start playing in the USHL again like when? Like November, December? No, I think it’s I I heard it’s December or even the new year. Yeah, it’s like that. Like you invested a first round pick on this kid and then even like next season, what’s he going to do next season? Like is he going to be playing NCAA football? You know what I mean? And then like if it does probably and then if it does go down that route and then he doesn’t sign with the Blackhawks, it’s like you’re not look you’re looking at getting a second round pick back in four years. It just really does not make sense to me. Let’s uh take a look now at their lineup going into the season. Couple extensions here, Mark. The uh big one’s uh Frank Nazar. He signed for $6.59 million this season for seven years. How do you like that deal for the the Blackhawks? I actually think it’s pretty tidy business. Like this contract also isn’t even starting until 26 27. Um I think Frank Nazar is a very skilled player. Um, and I think he kind of started to pop near the end of last year and um, he led the world championships in in points with Team USA, too. So, um, I I just really wonder if it’s going to be winger or center down the road, but I think either or. I think he’s definitely going to be worth this contract to be quite honest with you. And I think if they get more of a supporting cast around like Nazara and Bedard, um, he could even pop a little bit more. like may maybe not the first thing is it’s like I kind of see that he might get like 50 points this year and then like even if if he gets like 60 the year after it’s like he’s probably already worth it. Yeah. Right. So it’s like I don’t even think like to me it’s like at worst I think like the first two years of this deal he’s not worth it and then he would be. But I don’t even I think that’s even a stretch. Like I think that’s I think he could honestly even be worth it right away like like in the first year of the deal. I mean I like I like this a lot for Chicago to be quite honest with you. And he gets security like after barely playing right. So yeah, I like the deal a fair bit and it’s going to help out like it’s going to help out Bard there having having him on the second line as well because it really has felt like Bard’s kind of up on an island in within that forward group where like having Nazar here for a full season now that’s going to help out. They’re going to be injecting some some youth it looks like in this lineup. So, kind of how do you feel about the rest of the lineup and and the youth that we’re going to see within this team? Yeah, I mean like they were they were pretty young last year, but I mean they they did bring in a couple pieces from like the NCAA at the end of the season. Um there could be a couple guys maybe getting a shot like I’m thinking like Nick Lardis from the OHL like maybe he get he scored 70 goals last year I think. like there could be an opportunity for him in the lineup. But um yeah, I guess the one thing I was more concerned about until a couple days ago was kind of like their veteran defensive core. I actually like the Matt Grizzlick PD PTO to be quite honest with you. I think like he had a 40point season last year. Um, it’s kind of like if they sign him and like I’d probably be giving a shot on the power play to like a Lev Shinov or like a Renzel, but if it’s like if that’s really not working, you kind of have a backup option and Grizzlick who has ran a power play. Dude, he took it over a tiny bit last year for Carlson and Latang just kind of when [ __ ] wasn’t going right and he played like kind of second power play and was still 40 points, right? Like I’ve always been a decent fan of Matt Grizzlick. defensive game has gone really downhill though since like probably a couple years into him being with the Bruins and he’s just he’s not really like an aggressive player like he’s not really like a playoff type player but to be honest for Chicago it’s not really like what what they need right like after losing Seth Jones they got a little bit younger and inexperienced on the back end so I I kind of hope this turns out to be a contract for him because I think that this could be a nice spot for him like we talked about with with uh Bowen Byum and like maybe there’s like not as many opportunities as people think out there for him being a skilled left-handed defenseman. Well, imagine Matt Grizzlick who’s couple tiers below him, right? Like in accordance to like valuation of a player, right? So, um I think this is a team where it could actually fit and maybe work and he can have a pretty good season. Um but yeah, I think that there will be some growing pains with this young team. Uh, but I I also think too, dude, that people are going to start to realize how good Sam Renzel could be because I think that he is going to be a really good defenseman in this league that people have not really kind of noticed yet. Like, he was like a a late first round pick a couple years ago. Um, he’s huge. He’s kind of like skinnier, but like he’s so good defensively and has like such good offensive flashes that like I honestly think that I I’m getting to the point, dude, where I I think that he might have a higher upside than Lev. And I I and I think that like I know it’s a couple years difference, but like I’d be kind of thrilled if Lebanon was developing kind of where Renzel was at this point. Like and I really think that it really depends how many points he kind of puts up, but I honestly think he’s going to be at least like a top five Calder pick this year. And there and if depending on the offensive season, he might even sneak into being a finalist. Okay, that’s that’s interesting because like I I do I do like this with Renzel kid a fair bit. I’m looking at their back end right now. Like it is pretty young, right? Like you got Vasic, you got Renzel, you got Levinov. I’m curious what’s going to happen with Korinski. Like that’s that’s a big question mark for me is what’s Chicago going to do with him? cuz like this is a guy who was in the NHL at one point, then he was getting sent down to the A. Like he was a first round pick, man. They they traded to breakout and this was part of the uh return for to break out, right? It’s like I mean he’s a seven seventh overall pick, dude. Like like what do you think what do you think’s going to happen with him here this season? I would probably try to go the route of moving him. Um like while value could still possibly be there. I also feel like he was very victimized to the uh whole NHL CHL agreement because he was drafted, tore up the CHL, was basically too good, went to the NHL, kind of was underwhelming, couldn’t get sent down to the AHL, and then last year he was in the AHL most of the year, right? So, um I feel like he really fell a victim to that and it probably has hurt has hurt his development. Um, but I also don’t feel that it’s like when I look at Korchinsky, like he his upside is probably being a top four guy, right? Like yeah, who has some offense, but I also don’t love the idea of having four top four defenseman like under 26, however old Velic is, right? like I I think that moving him out regardless if it’s for offensive help or defensive help could be an option for them considering they have a lot of young guys. Um and one other guy I’m really curious this year I feel like it’s kind of make or break at the beginning of the year with the Hawks is uh Lucas Riel. Feel like he really kind of hasn’t performed to expectations being a first round pick and I could totally see him being out the door at some point. Um, they’ve got a lot of young prospects, right? Like they’ve even guys that might not make like high-end NHL impact, I feel like they’ve like I feel like if they could create an entire team of just their prospects in three years, like they probably could do it. Like they have guys that could fill out every role, but it’s like you that’s not really how you build a team. You need experience. You need different different factors to be able to be successful, right? So, um, I’m really curious to see if they try to bring in some other some sort of other top six help. I understand they went out and got Burkovsky this summer. I really don’t mind that trade. I don’t like I don’t really like Joe Valeno that much to be quite honest with you. Um, and I think that there has been flashes in Burkovsky’s game at points in his career that maybe he could pop off for a good season. Um, but I still don’t really think it’s enough. Like I still think he’s kind of being hung to the wolves a bit bard, but um it’s not like I can’t see a couple of these guys maybe like is like is Ryan Donado like is he is is he is that it like is he a 30 and 30 guy or is he is he a 20 and 20 guy like like is that was that a career year? But also I will say 4×4 is not a bad contract for him. I don’t think at all. Like I like I I I really like the contract. So, there’s just still a lot of question marks about this team. I don’t really see them improving a ton, but it’s like I think ideally you just want as many of the young guys to develop as possible. Like just try to get better. Like there it’s like it’s like at this point it’s like we’re a couple years behind like Montreal. Like just try to score goals, try to get the young guys to get better, try to be in games as much as possible. Maybe you’ll get another high pick this year. I don’t know, right? Like, yeah, I’m with you on that. I think they’re going to be looking for a top five pick in next year’s draft. What are you going to give their overall offseason grade? It was really quiet for them. I felt like besides they they traded back for Laferdy and then they did the Burakovski for for Valeno deal. Um they extended Nazar next year. Um, Spencer Knight just got extended too, like starting next year. I think a three-year deal, which is not bad for him, I feel like. Um, like I I’d probably just go with like a B because like it was so like I thought it was like pretty decent. They definitely could have done more to get better, but like the contracts were super tidy. I think I have really no complaints about that at all. But I mean, they still kind of haven’t surrounded Baddard with enough talent. I think kind of Yeah, I’m going to give him a C. And C, I I just hold so much weight into the knots surrounding Bard with talent. It’s like I don’t want to say it’s hurting his growth, but like I don’t think it’s helping him. I don’t think it’s helping his his development. I I think it would be a lot better if like they at least had some sort of highskll player that could play with Bard. And I’m and I’m not saying like they have to be phenomenal, but like even like a a Taylor Hall dude like a Taylor Hall I think well they had him right and they traded him if you if you brought him back or just some sort of player like that. I just think that I just I just think that looking at their team, there’s going to be a lot of youth in here. And especially in the forward group, it’s like some of these young guys aren’t really surrounded by a whole much, right? No, that makes sense. Let’s move on. They are pretty young, right? And they are young, right? So, yeah, it makes sense to get Let’s go and take a look at the team that was picking one spot ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks in the draft. It’s the San Jose Sharks. They had a fair bit of picks here. One in the first, two in the uh second round, one in the third. I honestly was a pretty big fan of the way that the way they approach this draft. Mark, looking at their draft, they get Michael Misa at two. How do you feel about that pick and the rest of their draft? Well, I mean, it was a no-brainer. Like, after you after Matthew Schaefer gets off the board, you you take the next best player available. Um, I think obviously people are kind of like, whoa, well, they they they want Will Smith to be a center. Like, Mis is a center. Cabbrine is a center. I don’t know, man. I just think down the road you’ll figure it out and one of them plays the wing or [ __ ] one of them’s involved in a trade. I I I don’t know, right? Like like to be honest with you, like we talked about it with Seattle. Like I’m not worrying about that right now to be quite honest. Like this is a position that’s in need. Like Misa has shown better flashes at center, but like Will Smith also had huge flashes on the wing last year. Maybe it doesn’t work out for him at center. Like right like I I don’t really think I’m making that pick based on that because I think that’s really something you can regret down the road. Um I love this pick. Um, Misa’s obviously got a really high upside in the NHL, I think. Uh, probably to be a firstline center. Um, even though Celabbrini probably will be the first line center down the road, but having two first line centers seems like it’s a recipe for success with a lot of teams, right? So, um, 134 points last year and almost had a goal a game. Absolute no-brainer pick for them at number two. Their second pick of the first round, Joshua Ravensburgen. People were confused because they have Ascarov. Dude, I don’t think Joshua Ravensburgen is going to be making an NHL debut for at least five years anyway. So, I just think that they saw the value in the goalie at this pick and potentially down the road maybe they’re a tandem. Maybe it doesn’t work out with Ascarov. Maybe Ravensburg gets traded for someone else. But I think that they just looked at it and said he’s the best player on the board, best player available. He’s got a high upside. He’s a big goalie who moves well. He’s very athletic. Um, kind of plays very simple. I kind of have him projected to be uh like a starting goalie, probably like a top 15 goalie in the NHL in the future, maybe at his peak. Um, so I think this is a good pick for San Jose. Um, their next pick, the second pick of the first, sorry, the first pick of the second round, uh, Hoki Wang. Um, we’re pretty familiar with this guy. He played in the OJHL for the first half of the season. I think he’s committed to Boston University. Um, and then when the the CHL NCAA player agreement ch changed, he’s drafted by Ashawa. He played uh for the Generals near the end of the season. Um, definitely more of like a defensive defenseman, but like um he seems way more two-way because of how good he skates and he’s pretty good at moving the puck as well. Like I think there is a possibility that he could be like a top four defenseman, but I think like his um his offensive upside could be somewhat limited to the point that maybe he is a bottom pairing guy. But there was talk about him being higher than this. There’s talk about him being lower than this. I think if he actually produced in the OHL, he probably would have went higher. I don’t really mind this pick though. Like I feel like I kind of had him in like the 40s, but I think San Jose sees the value of him at in in the second round high here and definitely probably had them had him in the first round on their board. Um Cole McKenna, I like this pick a lot. I think I had him right at the end of the first round this year. He’s like one was one of the best like two-way players on the national development program this year who also kind of has like a scoring edge to his game. Um so I I think this is a pretty good pick for the Sharks. Uh Teddy Mutran played in the USL this year for the Chicago Steel. They were brutal to be quite honest with you. He still produced at a decent level. He was kind of projected to go higher earlier in the year and then dropped. So not a not a bad pick. Uh not too sure what the next pick, the Russian guy, um or Zack Sharp, the next guy, but it looks like Sharp’s kind of like an overager in college. Um Max His played in the BCHL last year. um he’s going to be playing in the WHL this year. He’s more just like a bigger grindy fourthline center. Um and then Richard Galant um is played the US national development program this past year. He’s kind of like an undersized skilled guy. Yeah, looking at this draft, they got a lot of pretty good value picks. What uh what draft grade are you going to give them? Um, A+. Yeah, I’m all with you on that, dude. I think you’re their first two picks, which as we’ve said time and time here again on this podcast, the uh earlier picks on the draft are the more important ones, so we hold more value in that. I think their first two picks with Michael Misa and Ravensburg were home runs. I I think is arguably the best possible value they could have gotten with those picks in this draft. And then the Wang pick. Yeah, maybe he did go a couple picks early, but honestly, dude, I’m a fan of this pick, man. He is a giant. He’s a great skater for his size. Like 6’6, 225. Oh, dude, he’s fantastic. I I would say outside of Schaefer, he’s debatably like the second best skater in the draft defenseman wise. Yeah. And and he’s he’s a solid 5 in and probably 200 lb if not more heavier than than Schaefer, right? And this is a guy too, right, that um uh like I don’t think he’s been playing hockey since he was a really young kid, right? So, it’s going to be interesting to see what his like development is because I feel like he’s one of these guys that is a late bloomer and he is he could be have have a big year in the um OHL or or with BEu next season. So, yeah, I’m going to give them an A+ here with this draft. I think they’re the arguably the best draft out of uh any NHL team. Honestly, dude, I was thinking that too. Like I think the only other team I gave an A+ to so far was Dallas, but obviously they didn’t really pick till the third round. But I’ll be honest with you, even the Cole McKenna pick like I put as much value into that as almost I do with like Rykin cuz I think McKenna could have been like a late first round pick to be quite honest with you. And Mutin is like he’s kind of like a solid like power forwardy guy and like he didn’t really produce last year but he’s also he’s going to Monton this year. So it’s like I really wonder if he’s kind of a guy that could pop off too. So, for me personally, it’s like I almost even look at the first five picks and I’m like I think they almost got value on all of them, which is which is really good in a in a draft. That’s one thing San Jose’s done phenomenal over the past couple years and it’s been the drafting. Let’s take a look at their uh lineup now. Not a uh not a whole lot going on here. They they bring in Skinner Michael Misa. he signed his ELC, so most likely he’ll be in the uh NHL this this season. Mark, how are you looking at their lineup and how do you kind of feel about it? Yeah, I think that I look at the Sharks and like regardless of them being bad last year, like I felt like they kind of had a whole different vibe than like the Hawks, right? Like they kind of had like a funner around the team vibe. Um, but I mean I I I if I were them, I would kind of want to be able to take some strides this year, but I also feel like that um Mike Greer made some decent moves that could kind of just fill some holes for uh like like the short term to be able to like get these young guys to play with some veterans. Like the Jeff Skinner deal, I don’t mind that at all. he could maybe be able to kind of rejuvenate himself if he’s playing with some skilled players. Um they go out and sign Adam Godet who almost had 20 goals last year. Like maybe he’s a guy who gets some opportunity and he can produce. Um the Kurichev deal, I’m really not high on Kurishv personally. I think maybe there’s something they see in him, but he’s kind of a young guy who’s got some NHL experience. Um, and then on the back end, like they did make a couple changes. Like they they have more experience now, which I would say is good, especially if like Dickinson and like potentially Muka Medulan or Jack Thompson is playing games like they bring in Clingberg. I actually like that to potentially I think I said that remember I said it like in the playoffs. I was like I think Clingberg’s gonna go to San Jose to run their power play. And then they go up, they sign Orlov, too. Um, they give him a little bit of a payday. Um, and then they claim Nick Lety off waiverss. So, like they do have like some experience on the back end. I wouldn’t say their back end is good by any means to be quite honest, but I mean they’ve got some guys that can kind of um can be around some of the young players that are back there, right, that are that are inexperienced. Um, I really they have a lot of guys that are expiring though at the same time. So it’s like they like like Lety Clingberg, Lilligrin and Ferraro are UFAS next year, right? So yeah, maybe you don’t get rid of all of them. Couple want to stay. I you really depends how the contract negotiations go and and obviously their play. And then you look at net, they they kind of get over that Gorgiev uh backup goalie and they bring in Nadulkovich who I I don’t really mind playing 40 games with with Ascarov to be quite honest with you and kind of push him. Nadulkovich is kind of like a riverboat gambler. I feel like sometimes he’s unbelievable and sometimes he’s like an AHL level goalie. Um, but I also feel that um it could be a good test for Ascarov and it could be able to give give him some starts. Yeah, I’m I’m looking at this team, dude. As you mentioned, like it is it is weird cuz like they are in a similar position to the Blackhawks like standings wise, but mentally and like the complete mood it is fully different, right? It’s like with San Jose last year points it was like you’re I was actually saying to myself like man like this is actually an interesting kind of fun team to watch with with Celibbrini you got Ekkund you got Smith to Foley even as well right where with the Blackhawks it was the complete opposite where it’s like man like Bard and that’s kind of it. And now like adding Misa having him in the the lineup most likely this year it’s like that’s going to be another interesting young piece you’re adding. you’re gonna have Dickinson most likely getting some some minutes at some point here in the NHL. Like I think San Jose, they are on that upwards trajectory and you are starting to see some of this growth with their young players and I think they did a good job this off seasonason kind of bringing in the players that they did surrounding these young players with some older veterans. as you mentioned like the decoy a lot of one-year deals here. We we probably will see some get traded here throughout the season, but they do have a good um kind of building block here going into the season. And if some guys stay, they’ll stay. if some guys get traded like we know San Jose like they they have very good asset management um within their trades and within their draft picks. Mark, what are you going to give their overall offseason grade? I think I will go with I think just where they’re at I and kind of what I would expect a team in this situation to do in an offseason like this when there’s still time away. I I I am comfortable giving them an A. I I don’t really think there’s much to look at and criticize here to be quite honest with you. considering people just need to realize that they’re not going they’re not expected to be a playoff team for a couple years here, right? And they need to fill holes and not have huge uh areas of their lineup where there’s young players, right? But they’ve done a pretty good job at filling those holes. They had a really good draft. Um and they still have a couple prospects on the way, too. I feel like that they haven’t kind of gone out and traded away to get more immediate help. So, I I have no issues giving them an A. I like what Mike Greer’s been doing, dude, with San Jose, to be quite honest with you. Yeah, I’m I’m all with you on it, dude. Like, I I love what they’ve done here this off seasonason with with the draft and also the players that they’re surrounding with these young guys. And as you mentioned, too, like they haven’t had to give up any of the these young players in their system to go out and get some of these guys, right? It’s like when you look at their system, you still got Quinton Musty, like he’s a very interesting prospect, the big kind of a a power forward type of player. Yada Casper Halton who man he with London last year in the playoffs especially like he was phenomenal for London in the playoffs last year, right? So it’s like you still do have these younger players in in your system that will be coming up at some point, but you’re not having to rush them because you’re surrounding the young players in the NHL with with good veterans. So I think I think San Jose did a phenomenal job this season. I’m giving them an an A as well. Just so you know too, I’m not too sure if you’re familiar with, but the the Kitchener Rangers goalie this year is one of their prospects. E, Christian Kersh, he was drafted in the fourth round in 2024. He’s coming over from the null. Um, I think he’s committed to go to school next year, but uh, with the agreement he they got him to come over and sign. He’s a big guy. He’s going to be replacing Jackson Parson. So, I’m kind of curious to see how he’s going to kind of develop as well. Like, I’ve never really been like high on him or anything, but you never know. you could have a good year and a good team and it kind of puts you in the right direction development wise. Yeah, it will be interesting if if he’s good, dude. It’s like, man, you got three goalies now in your your prospect pool that are all looking good. Overall, though, that’s going to wrap up uh today’s episode. Four more teams done with these deep dives. I think next weekend we have the uh final or next week we have the final four being Florida, the Rangers, the Jets, and the Ducks. and I will be getting my money glasses for that bet that me and Mark made earlier in the year with the muel gramling contract. So for everybody tuning in this weekend, uh thanks for tuning in and keep an eye out for more episodes. [Music]

NHL Off Season Deep Dives, BUF, CAR, CHI, SJS
S2 EP.40

On this episode of the Point2Point NHL Recap Show we do our offseason deep dives for the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. We take a look at their drafts, offseason roster movement and what their lineup may look like next season.

Buffalo Sabres-00:00-32:16
Carolina Hurricanes-32:16-51:30
Chicago Blackhawks-51:30-1:13:27
San Jose Sharks-1:13:27-1:28:32