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Guy Flaming, The Pipeline Show · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: All right, draft covers continuing here and joining us now
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Gee Flaming on the Beacon Plumbing hotline. He has a
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: long time host of the Pipeline Show, covering it all
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: from prospect to prospect, and it's been a while, but
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: great to have him back once again.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Gee, Hello, how are you sir?
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And when's the last time that you can recall maybe
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a draft with this kind of build up?
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: Well, first off, thanks for having me guys. It is
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: great to talk to you guys again. It's been a while.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: The draft for me is always exciting every year, but
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: with the amount of trades that we've seen this in
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: the past, I don't know, seventy two hours, it's crazy.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: I think the build up for this draft right now
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: is just the anticipation and the drama, like who's gonna
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: go where, Who's gonna make the pick at whichever spot
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: you're looking at. There's just so much uncertainty right now
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: that I think everybody's just waiting to see how it
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: all plays out.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: I think the uncertainty kind of feeds into the whole
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: machine of Hey, this is entertainment and it's an entertainment
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: based business, so I mean, hey, why not embrace it.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: This is how crazy it gets, This is how chaotic
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: it gets, and this is why we just love this
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: line of work and to seeing these kind of stories
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: unfold here. But you know, I think, and tied to that,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: there's still the potential that draft picks could get moved.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Kraken still have their seven draft pick
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and play as of this morning. So I want to
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: first dive into this draft class. First off, Gavin McKenna
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: consensus number one guy leading into today, and there's a
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: lot of WHL talent many are saying that could be
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: off the board in round number one. Gee, what's your
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: overall impression with this draft class? Right when you get
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: past guys like McKenna and even Evar Stenberg.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: I think this year, if you compared it to previous
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: years or most years, I would say the top end
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: is still really good, but it kind of peters out,
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: like I don't think it has the depth of most ears.
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: That said, I mean, you guys are picking top ten,
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: so you're happy with that at.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Least you know asterisks as of now.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: But you know, with Gavin McKenna, you say consensus number one,
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: I mean I've seen lots of people out there who
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: thinks Edenburg could go number one, although I do believe
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Toronto just from a marketing perspective, I think they have
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: to almost take McKenna and that's not going to be
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: a mistake.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: He's a really talented player.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: As for the Western Hockey League, I could see upwards
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: of seven or eight guys going in the first round.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: But I think this year, once you get past probably
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: fifteen or sixteen, it opens up. And I think we
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: say that for most years, but this year seems to
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: be even more of the case where you could have
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: a mix of the next forty guys in some sort
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: of combination, and whether that leads to five or six
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: guys out of the WHL or ten, it's I mean,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: it's totally up in there.
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: With the new rules around the CHL and the NCAA,
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: it seems like this CHL to NCAA pipeline is getting stronger.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: How do you think that affects the draft this year
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: or does it even in all as far as players
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: and where they go later on in their before they
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: get to the NHL.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest change this year is that now
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: when an NHL team drafts a CHL player, they've got
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: four years of control of that guy, whereas previously was
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: only two and for everybody else outside of the NHL
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: team's had four. Now that it's even I think we're
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: going to see a lot of the later round picks
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: coming from the Canadian Hockey League, whereas they used to
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: come from the USHL or Europeans. Because you had a
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: longer grace period, you could be more patient to wait
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: to see how those guys develop. Now you can do
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: that with guys playing major junior hockey. And I mean,
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: let's be honest, Major junior hockey is the best junior
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: hockey on the planet.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: So if you can have.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: That same sort of timeframe, I think we're going to
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: see a lot more players taken from the CHL in
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: the later rounds. And still they are the most the
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: league that provides the most draft talent in the early
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: rounds as well. So I just think it's probably gonna
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: be a record number of players taken out.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Of the CHL this year.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: I would suggest probably a record low out of the USHL.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: I think you're right though that pipeline, we're going to
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: continue to see now CHL players will probably play past
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: their draft year in the CHL for the most part.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Keaton Verhoffs and the Gavin mckennons and now line in DuPont,
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: they'll be the exception to the rule, but most guys
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: will play in the CHL until they're nineteen and then
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: go off to college hockey.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: I think it's a good pipeline that way.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: And it's you know, it's a lot different, boy than
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: when we were talking about you know, ten, fifteen, twenty
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: years ago. How things have really changed. It's been interesting.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I don't think we've seen it the evolution stop yet.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: I think we're only eighteen months into this new landscape.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: We'll see how the water's kind of settled a couple
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: of years from now.
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: You know, Gee, we're here in Seattle.
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: Yes, the Kraken are going into year six, but you're
• 4:50
  Speaker 6: still educating fans on how the NHL draft works. This
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: isn't the NFL where you're picking a guy in the
• 4:57
  Speaker 6: first two to three rounds and they're going to have
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: an immediate impact on the Seahawks or on.
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: The whoever's coming up in the fall.
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: As a draft expert, when you see this season past years,
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: what are some of the reasons why in your opinion,
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: some of the difference is why you're not seeing a
• 5:18
  Speaker 6: lot of the top five, the top three, the top
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: ten draft picks.
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: Going to the NHL right away.
• 5:26
  Speaker 6: Obviously you've got the AHL rules the last couple of years.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: We've explained this a lot the last few years.
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: But from your lips from a draft experts, a prospect
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: experts lips.
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: Why are what are the reasons why.
• 5:41
  Speaker 6: You don't see the immediate impacts in the NHL like
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: you do other sports.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: I think it's physical maturity. I think that's probably the
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: biggest reason. It's just I mean, guys are getting drafted
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: in the NHL draft at seventeen, eighteen years old, sometimes nineteen,
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: but they'll be physically immature, and then over the next
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: two three years, not only do they kind of grow
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: taller and start filling out, get broader, but demand strength
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: comes in and they start getting up to speed and guys,
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: most the vast majority of players at eighteen are nowhere
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: near NHL ready, so they need time to develop. And
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: you know, there'll be NHL teams who have made the
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: mistake of trying to rush guys because those contracts, the
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: entry level contracts are cheap and teams need those guys
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: as well, But I think the path for most players
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: is a longer development path through the CHL, through college
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: hockey now and even the American Hockey League.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: It's a good level as well.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: So I think that the right path for the vast
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: majority of players is get drafted, two or three years
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: more of junior slash college hockey, maybe another year of
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: pro hockey and the American Hockey League, and then you
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: might be ready for the National Hockey League.
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: So then when you look at you know, we all
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: know what McDavid and Crosby and McKinnon and all those
• 6:59
  Speaker 6: guys have. What are you looking for to say, Yep,
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: this guy can contribute Day one in the NHL three
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: months after they're drafted. And maybe outside of Gavin McKenna,
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: or do you even think Gavin McKinnon is in this category?
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: Is there anyone in this draft class that you're.
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: Saying they're gonna be, you know, come October whatever, on
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: an NHL blue line starting roster.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: I would think McKenna is probably that guy.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't watch the Swedes a whole lot,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: but I have our Stenberg apparently. I mean he's playing
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: against men all season. Yeah, so you can make the
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: argument that he's already playing professional hockey and should have
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: an easier transition to playing in North America at the
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: pro level. Albert Smith's the big defenseman from Latvia. He's
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: also playing against men over in Finland and played at
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: the World Championship and had success there. So I think
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: those are probably the three guys out of this draft
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: that might be the closest, and I would think McKenna
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: is probably a lock. Again, I think the marketing side
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: of that comes into play as well.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, where Toronto.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't think he's I don't think he's
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: necessarily too good for college hockey anymore. Like he had
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: a strong second half of the season, but his first
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: half you could see there was definitely a learning curve
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: for him to go from major junior to college at
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: that young of an age. So if he happened to
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: go back to Penn State, it wouldn't be a mistake.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: But I would be shocked if he's not in the
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: NHL where in a leafs Jersey come October. But for
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: the most part, I think it's just those three guys
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: that I think are that close right now to stepping
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: into an NHL roster.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Now, Albert Smith's story is incredible. I mean, moving away
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: from home at thirteen years of age, then consistently playing
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: against older talent until this day. The shot he has
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and you know, I even use this comparison, but he's
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: got the kind of swagger and we use these local
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: terms like Mike McDonald says, we did not care that
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: fits his game. That's a very intriguing part of this
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: here as Gee Flaming joins us right now on the
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Beacon plumbing hotline, but diving more into defenceman first off
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Keaton Verhoff one year WHL then goes NCAA. There have
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: been some Drew Dowdy comparisons with them, fair or unfair,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: but the potential with them franchise cornerstone. We say this
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: often right shot d who can shoot the pug play physically,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: do not grow on trees what you eat on him
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: heading into the draft.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: I really like him and he's a mature kid.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: I think it comes across when you have a conversation
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: with him, just how intelligent he is, like he recognizes
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: his strengths where he's weak. How much more development he requires,
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: you know, and I don't think there's a rush for
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: him to leave North Dakota. He's in a good spot there.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: That's a program that has a rich history of developing defenseman.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: So I think he's comfortable where he is. But as
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: a player on the ice, you mentioned this size, he's
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: got really a big shot. I think the knock on
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: him is his mobility. But he's still only he's seventeen.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: I don't know if he's even touched eighteen just yet.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: He's still really young. Put it that way, there's lots
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: of room for development, and he's gonna I think skating
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: is the one trait that we've seen from players over
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: the years that if you're at the junior collegiate level
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: and you're skating isn't your strongest point, it's probably the
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: one trait that you're able to improve on just by
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: practice and work and training. Maybe it's some mechanics tinkering
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: with your skating stride, those things can be addressed, but
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: your hockey IQ, your natural ability to shoot the pock
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: or to make plays think the game.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: He's got all of those things in Spain.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: So I think Keaton veras a very well rounded player
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: and one of the top defensemen for sure this year,
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: and there are a lot of good defensemen, and I
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: think there's a lot of similarity, more similarities between the
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: high end defenseman this year than differences. But he's definitely
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: one of the best.
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: YEA.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: The Cracker reportedly took him to dinner out in Buffalo
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: as far as the whole pre scout, pre first round
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: procedures here with this. Another name that's also popped up
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: as well along those same lines is Carson Carl's out
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: of Prince George in the Western Hockey League, And I
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: mean there's a case for a guy always who has
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: size and can play with the edge that he plays.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: One thing I heard about him from a source out
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: in Buffalo was medical concerns, but many are saying this
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: is a very very attractive pick also for a future
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: cornerstone defenseman. Gee, what's the case for him going up
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: pretty high in the draft.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: It's so well rounded.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: And as for the medical concerns, I know he was
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: banged up through the playoffs playing up in Prince George
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: this year, but I don't know if that's anything to
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: be considered concerned about long term. But maybe you know
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: something that I don't. Carl's as a player, he's just
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: so well rounded, like, he skates really well. He's aggressive physically,
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: also can rush the pot or move it. He's a
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: hard guy to pin down on a for check like
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: he's got some escapability on the back end. He's really mature,
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: he's strong, he's physically mature as well. So it might
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: be ahead of some guys in the class in that regard,
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: like Daxon rudolph Is.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, he might be.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: A player you asked me about, But when I compare
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: those two, I think that Carls is a little bit
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: further ahead in his physical maturity than rudolph Is.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Maybe that gives Rudolph.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: A little bit more of a longer runway and is
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: further away from being the finished prospect or product.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: So that's another way to look at it.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: But Carl's is just so dynamic, he's he's a really
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: strong player. I think he'll probably get taken ahead of Hrhoff.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: But again, they're they're all in that same sort of group.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: He based on, you know, the assumption that Seattle keeps
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: their seventh overall pick, and knowing a little bit about
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: Seattle and what they're looking for. By the way, I
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: loved your comment too on you know players that that
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: will that could make an immediate impact. I think teams
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: have to factor that in. Maybe Seattle has to factor
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: that in. Who do you think the Seattle crack and
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: pick at number seven? Again, assuming they keep that pick.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Well, you guys are in a better position to tell
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: me positionally where they're going. They've drafted a ton of
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: forwards and not have they drafted a defenseman in.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: The never never in the first round.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: So it's got to.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Be time, isn't it. I mean, eventually you have to
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: do that. I know they've drafted in the second round.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: I mean Blake Fidler. I do color for the Oil
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: Kings here in Edmonton, so I've seen Blake Fidler lots
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: over the last three years. But a high end defenseman,
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: they don't come around very often. So I would have
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: to think that that would be the choice for Seattle
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: this year. So if it's not Carl or Verhoff, if
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: they're gone, and then Daxon Ruff is probably that guy,
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: or Albert Smith's if he's still available.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: So it's it's got to be one of those players,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: wouldn't you think?
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: I would, I would think. So it's also from a
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: North American skater standpoint, a defense heavy draft. About sixty
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: percent of the top thirty two names at least on
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: NHL prospects are defenseman. So just by numbers alone, you
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: can predict that it's likely a defenseman. But you know,
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: I asked a question because I don't know that Seattle
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: wants to get a guy where they got to wait
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: four years before they start to have an impact on
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: this roster. I think they want a guy that's going
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: to be impacting either the blue line or the forwards
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: in the next one to two seasons. So I think
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: that that immediate impact does factor into the Seattle crack
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: and pick.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Well, then I would say Smith's is probably the closest
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: of the of the defenseman.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Carls would be up there as well.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: Like Verhoff is going to go back to North Dakota
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: this year, Carls is going to be playing at Denver.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: Daxon Rudolph is going to Denver. No, Carls is going
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: to North Dakota, Rudolf's going to Denver. So those guys
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: all play a year at college and then kind of
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: reassess and maybe they'll be ready to step in to
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: the National Occour League the year after.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: But Smit's.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: It sounds like he's probably the guy who could potentially
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: do it this coming fall.
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: You know, we talk a lot about the first round
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: and all these players that you're expecting to have an
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: instant impact. But I mean historically, if you get the
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: last twenty five thirty years, Pavel dot Su, Kenrick Zetterberg, Pavelski,
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: Peca Rene, Jamie, Ben Mark Stone, uh Connor Hellibook, the
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: list goes on and on and on, all of those
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: players were drafted in your third, fourth, fifth, after number one,
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: thirty one, forty.
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: What do you how important.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: Number one is is that mid round scouting? And what
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: determines why do those guys that are seemingly on a
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: Hall of Fame Stanley Cup path fall through the cracks?
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: And what does it take to get from from a
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: scouting standpoint, from an organizational standpoint, why are these these
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: guys falling through the cracks? And what do teams need
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: to do to hit on some of these third, fourth,
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: fifth round picks moving forward?
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Man, if I there's there's a lot to unpack in
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: that question, and if there was an easy answer, man, yeah,
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: sell it. And that might be wealthy for sure, But
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: I mean any every n team's got a scouting staff,
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: they go over all the same players across the world.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: It only takes one team to like a guy. And
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: maybe you've got a sleeper in mind, and somebody snipes
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: them right before your pick in the fifth round. You're
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: hoping you'd get them in the sixth round. It's and
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: quite honestly, the draft is just the start of it.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: Like you could have the best scouting staff in the world,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: but once you select those players, you got to develop
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: them too. So I mean the draft is just the
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: first step step after that. If you can't develop them,
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: if your farm system is weak, you don't have good
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: coaching on the farm team, those players are going to
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: suffer and they end up won't They won't end up
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: playing for you at the National Hockey League level. Just
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: because you can't draft or you can't develop well doesn't
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: mean you can't draft well. So they go hand in hand.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: But I mean I think you. I mean, a guy
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: like Zeterberg is a good example. Yeah, they're they're always
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: late round gems. I know nobody likes stockbout Vegas right now,
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: but Mark Stone was a late round pick. I mean,
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: that guy couldn't skate in junior hockey. That was the
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: knock on him as a Brandon weak kit. He can't
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: skate at the National Hockey League level, and he's carved
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: out a pretty darn good career for himself, hasn't he
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: at the NHL level. So there are always guys you
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: can find. There's going to be blemishes on players. It's real.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, some guys are just natural late bloomers. You
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: like a guy, you see something in him as a
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: seventeen to eighteen year old, but he doesn't really realize
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: his potential until he's twenty one, twenty two. But you
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: took a gamble on him in the sixth and seventh round,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: you end up looking like a genius. And let's be honest,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: I think a good tunk of it is probably just
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: good old fashioned luck as well.
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: Mark Stone going one hundred and seventy eighth overall to
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: Ottawa back in twenty ten.
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: My last one here for you. Gee.
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: If the kra can keep their seventh overall pick, we've
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: talked about the route they could go, which will probably
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: be on the.
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: Defensive side of the puck.
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: Last couple of years, you've seen Lane Hudson, You've seen
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: Matthew Shaeffer drafted into the NHL. They say all the
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: time that takes defenseman a little bit longer. Very rarely
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: are we going to see a defenseman drafted and then
• 18:09
  Speaker 6: playing in the following fall. What was it about those
• 18:14
  Speaker 6: two Hudson and Schaeffer specifically that that gave them the
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: ability to play early on, you know, in their development,
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: right after their draft year.
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: Compared to other defensemen that we've seen.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: I would say two things immediately jump out about both
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: of those guys. First off is IQ they're extremely intelligent
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: on the ice and their mobility. I mean, even if
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: they're young and they get caught out of position, they've
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: got the feet to get back into the play and
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: make up for their mistakes. So I think those two
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: things go hand in hand.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: I mean they're just super smart players and their feet
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: are elite. So I think those are the two things
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: for those two particular players.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Gay Hey, Finally, as they have been drafted or are
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: ready to be drafted, I have three names for you
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: out of the WHL because you've seen a lot of
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: these guys going through the circuit, heading into now and
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: heading into next season.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Where's the game?
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Each for Blake Fiddler, and then locally here nearby and
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Everett Julius Miett and potential draft pick Mattias Van Hannen.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: Well, I'll start with the two fins, because along with
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: Carter Barro, that was one of the best lines in
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: junior hockey this past season, just offensively powerful. Van Hannen
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: was always involved in the play. At the Memorial Cup,
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: he was exceptional as well. Yetnan suffered a little bit,
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: struggled a little bit on that big stage. But overall,
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: I think he's still a really solid prospect and can score.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: All three of those guys can finish. I think Carter
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: bar is a listen.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Obviously, he was a what was he thirteenth overall, eleventh
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: overall something like that last year to Detroit. And as
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: for Blake Fiddler, I'm a big fan of Blake Fiddler.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: I'm biased in that because he's an oil king.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: But when I saw him as a sixteen year old,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: he was big and lanky and moved really well, and
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: you could see the potential.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: And then he took a.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: Step that next year, which was his draft season, and
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: he was really really good.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: It was a big step.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't say that he's followed it up with as
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: big a step this year. I wouldn't say he's plateaued though, either,
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: but he took on more responsibility. He's still improving. I
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: think going to Denver is going to be interesting because
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: it's not just Blake Fiddler who's going to be a
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: freshman there next year, but Ryan Linn is going to
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: be there, who he didn't talk about. Another top end
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: defenseman for the draft this year. Ben McBeth, who plays
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: for the Calgary Hitman. He's going to be a freshman there,
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: and so is Daxon Rudolph. That's four freshmen, all top
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: end guys. I'm not sure how much ice time there
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: is to go around there, and that's not even including
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: their returning players for the Pioneers. So I'm interested to
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: see how it plays, not just for Fiddler in that case,
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: but for some of the other guys who decided to
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: go to the college route. You know, if he was
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: still in Edmonton, he'd be the number one guy on
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: the blue line, and he'd be the number one guy
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: in the power play, and he'd be playing penalty kill.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: He'd probably be playing twenty five minutes a night. It's
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: not going to get that in Denver, so I'm interested
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: to see how that's going to affect development for a
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: guy like that.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: All right, second round picker, looking forward to what happens
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: next here for him this next season. But gee, hey,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: appreciate this. Always a wealth of knowledge for prospects on
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the come up here heading into the NHL Draft and
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: heading onto the pros potentially after. But for folks who
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: are looking for more inside, tell them where they can
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: find your work and find you. Find you also online?
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate that. It's the Pipeline Show dot com.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Been around for twenty one years, twenty year, twenty two.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: We'll start in August and yeah, anywhere you get your
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: podcasts from, just search for the Pipeline Show. You can
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: also hear it weekly on Edmonton sportstock dot com as well.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: This's been great man, Thanks thanks for letting me catch
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: up with you guys.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: No, I appreciate you.
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: Thanks you recording Stu