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Top 10 Centers for 2025-2026 · Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast

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Barbara Bound Bound Banger Management Fantasy Hockey
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podcast. Woo, woo.
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That's it. Yeah, that's it.
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I can see you staring at me going.
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Easy. Today I was so ready for like.
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Like something different? Today alright, I'm trying to be.
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Polite. Yeah, yeah, for now.
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For now, for now that I'm all comfortable and thinking it's
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just going to be a simple woo to follow.
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It's. I don't want to annoy the
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listeners too much or just get to it already.
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So no, you're thinking about my woos and they're just talking
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about hockey. Do you think they skip like the
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first? Like, absolutely.
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Anyway, oh God, I don't even think I want to know.
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Even if you hate it, it's not going anywhere.
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So kidding, kidding, kidding. We appreciate your feedback.
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Alrighty everybody, welcome into Bangor Management, the fantasy
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hockey podcast with Jake, Josh, and Simple Woo Kevin.
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Woo. This is a really, really fun
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episode. Today we're going to be going
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over our top 10 centres for the 20252026 fantasy hockey season.
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I mean, this is just amazing because in bangers leagues,
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especially centres types tend to be the most important position.
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I would say if your league has faceoffs, absolutely.
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And even if not, I mean to have like a dual eligible players
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often find it centre left wing, centre right wing.
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So these guys are the real peer centres.
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That's that's what we kind of did for our selection.
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Nevertheless, I think it's going to provide a lot of value and it
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was really tight making this list.
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It took awhile, but I think we delivered it and you'll let us
1:54
know what you think in the comments before we dive in.
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Yes, alright, thank you out of. Rest yeah, that was pretty
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impressed. All the things.
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Did I? I did, I said.
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I said all of it. OK.
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Shall we start with our? Honorable.
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Vegetable Mansion. How many top 10s are we gonna
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have to do before Kevin realizes?
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That I did it. I did it.
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What are you complaining about? All right, and honorable
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mentions we've got Sebastian Aho, Macklin, Celebri, Nick
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Suzuki, Mark Shifley and Nico Hischer.
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So I wanted to say when when Jackie was saying how you know,
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senders like the most important position and they're just like
2:54
some of the best players. All true.
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But one other thing with centre is it's also the deepest
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position. So you get kind of tempted early
3:01
on in the draft by grabbing some of these big name centres, but
3:04
then you get later in the draft and there's these great guys
3:06
still left, but you can't take them because you filled up on
3:08
centre. And that's what leads to having
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such a stacked honorable mentions.
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Like the fact these guys didn't make the top 10 is kind of
3:13
crazy. Yep.
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Yeah, we had a big debate. Over.
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I was also gonna say like how our big home league, sorry my
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voice cracked, I just hit puberty, but our home league is
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14 teams, 2223 rounds. So we're starting basically four
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of every forward position. So we're starting 4 centres.
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We usually have a util spot when we don't have 14 teams that were
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at 12. But I mean we're filling up on
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these centres and we have face off windows category as well.
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So we're very knowledgeable when it comes to the centres and
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whose valuable and kind of mixing and matching priorities.
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But yeah, I'm very excited for this list.
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There's a lot of guys I love to have on my team because I don't
3:54
want on my team. Well, there's a lot of there's a
3:58
lot of other don't want, but there's definitely tears.
4:03
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
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And to be fair, though, I mean like you may want to fade some
4:06
of these guys at their cost. Right.
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Yeah, that's also the. Question Yeah, it's not to say
4:11
that this look the top ten of the top 10, but some of these
4:14
guys are maybe even going rounds higher than someone ranked lower
4:18
than them on the list. So there's a world in which you
4:20
can get a steal on some of these players.
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I mean, most of them are pretty stacked, especially once we get
4:24
to 1-2 and three. But for the honorable mentions,
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I mean, there's a lot of debate. I mean, I guess let's go over
4:30
them. And we're taking into account
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fingers, and I mean, maybe a slight taking into account of
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face off wins, too, I would say yeah.
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But bangers are definitely influencing this this list I
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think. Yep.
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So let's do it #10. All right at #10 of.
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The renewal mentioned. Yes.
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Will mentions we honorably mentioned them.
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I just wanna, I don't know. Out of the honorable mentions,
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yeah, I was gonna. Say, that's what I wanted to
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just go over real quick, OK, whoever is your favorite.
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Michael free for me. I think he was on this top ten
5:08
at various points in the preparation process, but.
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I got outvoted. That's tough, right?
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Because honestly, I think we're all super high on Macklin this
5:16
year. I think in our league
5:17
specifically and probably in a lot of leagues out there, he's
5:19
gonna be like a third round pick, maybe a fringe second if
5:22
you know, you play in face off leagues and depending how deep
5:24
your league is. But he's he has super high
5:28
ceiling this year. He could hit four shots a game
5:31
and over a point per game, but you know, there's still some
5:34
uncertainty. We haven't seen him do it yet.
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So you have to take that into account when there's guys on the
5:38
table that are more proven. So you have to bump him down a
5:42
little bit. I think him with the number 10
5:44
spot we have is like super close.
5:46
Sophomore slump is a thing also like let's not forget.
5:49
That not for him. Yeah, he's my guy too.
5:54
The next Suzuki also I think is going to have an amazing season,
5:57
very similar to our number 10 guy.
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Actually, yeah, that's basically the same.
6:01
Yeah. But I do think #10 has a little
6:02
bit of an edge. But those are my two favorite
6:05
from there. Yeah, my favorite, definitely
6:07
Cabrini, I had him at #10 over the guy we're about to mention
6:10
so we could, we could discuss that when we get to #10 All
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right, so at #10 you don't have to do it again, Kevin, cause.
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Thank you, I wasn't going to have.
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To clean my throat of the Saint Louis Blues.
6:21
Robert Thomas. Last year he had 1.16 points per
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game .27 power play points, two shots on goal, 10 faceoff wins.
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Huge. I I think that the Blues are
6:32
gonna be really good. We spoken a lot about having Jim
6:35
Montgomery from the beginning of the year and how that's gonna
6:38
positively affect all their players this year.
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I'm really, really excited about him.
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I probably vouch for him the most.
6:43
We were talking about this before the podcast started, that
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I've been the biggest fan of Robert Thomas for the longest
6:50
time and he's just one of those guys that his shots hover around
6:56
too, which I don't love, but he is the best player on that team.
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He's their centerpiece. I think that the Blues are
7:01
gonna. Be I mean much is right there.
7:04
That's true for bangers leagues. Holloway is an absolute stud.
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But I think like IRL, like this team runs through Robert Thomas
7:11
and he's one of the most underrated players.
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Why? I think I would choose him over
7:15
celebrities simply because the Blues are better.
7:17
The Blues are gonna score more and he's gonna get so many
7:22
assists because that's his thing.
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It's not a goal scorer. But I really think he's going to
7:27
be amazing this year and I'm very excited to see what they
7:30
bring to the table. Yeah, I mean, I was going to say
7:34
the main the main issue with Robert Thomas is the fact that
7:38
he doesn't have any category coverage and his shot volume is
7:40
obviously lower than you would like, right?
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Like two shots is not elite at all.
7:44
There's a lot of guys on waivers that hit two shots a game.
7:46
So you're really getting him for his points threshold, his power
7:49
play production. And if you're in a face off Lee,
7:50
he's one of the best. Like there's not many guys that
7:52
average over 10 faceoff wins the game and that are like elite as
7:56
a fantasy asset. So he's one of those guys, I
7:58
think he could hit like over 90 points, probably like 95 points
8:03
this year. And he's honestly one of the
8:05
most underrated guys because nobody talks about him if you're
8:08
in like default Yahoo leagues, Like he gets drafted away later
8:10
obviously because there's a lot of centre depth.
8:12
But he's just one of those guys that is quietly like a fantasy
8:15
monster when it comes to points, and you don't even think about
8:18
it. Yeah, the cutting recovery is
8:21
why is so low on this list. But I think like if he has two
8:25
shots a game in 95 points and Celebrity gets four shots a game
8:29
and 80 points, who would you rather?
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It's still close, right? Like those extra two shots, the
8:34
game probably pile up and are more impactful than those extra
8:36
15 points over the season. It's tough, honestly.
8:39
That's like the line is so thin between who I want between those
8:42
two guys. Yeah, I will say tiebreak, yeah.
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I I agree that first of all, he's amazing, definitely
8:48
deserves to be 10 or 11, so 10 or honorable mention.
8:52
I agree that he's extremely underrated.
8:54
He's like, you know how Barkov like let's say like 2-3 years
8:57
ago was like that criminally underrated centre that just like
9:00
puts up numbers, but some have one forgot about him.
9:02
Obviously now he's like kind of shifted over.
9:04
I would say he's overrated Vargo, but he's just very.
9:06
Well, people know he's. Yeah, exactly.
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So Thomas is kind of like that where he's like putting up these
9:11
great numbers but just doesn't get the respect that all these
9:14
other centres does. So I fully agree with him being
9:16
underrated. He's great, especially in face
9:18
off wins leagues. As we mentioned, hitting double
9:19
digits faceoffs is huge. But I will say my main arguments
9:23
for celebrity over Thomas, but I got outvoted so that's fine and
9:25
I'm over it. But my main argument is 1 the
9:29
shots on goal, I think four shots on.
9:30
Like if he double s the shots on goal versus Thomas, which is
9:33
like feasible, then I think that's worth more than 15 extra
9:37
points. And also Saint Louis splits
9:39
their power play time and too. So even though Thomas is still
9:42
gonna put up great points, he's gonna put up power play points.
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That's definitely going to be a cut versus celebrity who's on
9:47
the Sharks where it's only going to be power play one playing the
9:49
entire time. So I would expect celebrating to
9:51
get more power play points and more shots than Thomas.
9:54
But Thomas got more points and face off wins.
9:55
So I guess it's a bit, you know how you're building your team,
9:58
but I'd go celebrating. I prefer those cats, but I think
10:02
that it could go either way. The issue is, though, it's
10:04
celebrity, is that obviously we love him as a player and we
10:06
think he's going to be a monster for years to come.
10:08
But this upcoming year, there's still a lot of uncertainty,
10:11
right? Like we're talking about we're
10:13
giving him 80 points as if it's nothing, but realistically he
10:16
could hit 7075 and if Thomas hitting 95120 point gap and if
10:20
celebrity his 3.5 shots a game, which is still elite, it's not
10:24
4. We know Robert Thomas is a good
10:26
for two shots a game and over 90 plus points.
10:29
So we kind of know at this point he's done that before.
10:32
That's what we're expecting from him or so.
10:33
We're still uncertain with how high the ceiling is in year 2.
10:36
I think that's why I give the edge, Roberts, just because it's
10:39
a little safer at the end of the day, yeah.
10:44
Yeah. Yeah, let's move on to #9 But
10:48
that was that was a good discussion and debate.
10:50
Hey, listeners could be the judge of who they're going to
10:53
pick. It's a preference thing in a
10:54
risk tolerance thing, yeah. Higher floor.
10:57
I like taking risks. I also like taking your risks,
11:00
but also taking risks in your second and third round is even
11:05
riskier than if you're doing it in like the fifth or sixth
11:07
round, you know? Per share.
11:09
Alright #9. Alright, at #9 of the New
11:13
Jersey, New Jersey Devils, we've got Jack Hughes, Jacques.
11:19
Everybody's fantasy team named last year that had him on their
11:21
roster. Last season he had a 1.13 points
11:25
per game, .44 power play points per game, 3.7 shots, and a
11:29
measly 4 faceoff wins. But he is dual eligible on Yahoo
11:33
so don't worry about it. I mean this, this to me is such
11:40
a really difficult pick to make at his cost because of the
11:45
injury history. Already missed 20 games over the
11:48
past two years, but the year that he got closest to playing a
11:51
full 82 was in 2020220378 games. 99 points for Jack Hughes.
11:57
I mean, again, another centerpiece on their team is
12:01
talismanic, as Kevin likes to say, Yeah.
12:04
Come. Tales, my favorite.
12:05
Word then yeah, he's one of the tallest manicurist guys in the
12:09
league. That's definitely not a word.
12:11
But yeah, I mean, look, we've spoken about drafting and having
12:18
it based basing your picks on injuries is a really difficult
12:22
thing to do, especially if it's like, oh, if this guy gets
12:24
injured, then he's spot on power play one, right?
12:27
But when it is the guy who has so much injury history, do you
12:30
fade Hughes at his cost this year or what do you guys think?
12:35
I think it's tough to take into account entry history because
12:38
I'll give you an example of a time it blew up in my face.
12:40
I've had I've been a Warenski truther for about four years and
12:45
every year I would draft him and he'd be injured for half the
12:47
season. And then the one year I don't
12:48
draft him and Jake grabbed him super late last year and he ends
12:51
up being like a Norris candidate.
12:53
So I think that injury history, people could overthink it,
12:57
assuming that the guys coming into the season fully healthy
12:59
and doesn't have lingering issues.
13:01
I like to treat it as if, you know, it's a clean slate.
13:05
But let's say you've got, you know, two guys who are perfectly
13:08
equivalent in your mind and one has the industry history and the
13:10
other one doesn't. Then yeah, you know, use it as a
13:12
little like type in the scale of the other guy.
13:14
But I don't like overthinking injury history like that cuz
13:17
it's so random year to year. I think it depends also on the
13:20
type of injury as well, right? It's like a broken bone or
13:22
something. Like that's not something that
13:24
you can predict or that you should have like lasting
13:27
effects. If it's muscular, then that's a
13:30
different question. Like if we're talking about
13:32
football, football has so many injuries.
13:34
We just had so many fantasy football drafts.
13:36
But like Christian McCaffrey is notorious for being either like
13:40
a trap or like a gift from God because he's either like the
13:43
best player in fantasy or he misses the whole season and just
13:46
like always every year. So it just depends on your risk
13:48
tolerance for fantasy. I think Jack Hughes is an elite
13:51
player because there's not many players are hovering around the
13:53
four shots per game volume, right?
13:55
And we know that he has it in his back to hit over 100 points.
13:57
He got he was at 99 when he played mostly healthy season.
14:01
I mean when you look at the. Games like it's 100 points for
14:04
sure. You look at like the injury last
14:06
year and it was such a fluke, you know, like it was end of the
14:09
game. I think it was something with an
14:11
empty net and him and Michael were racing for it.
14:13
Yeah, Michael is not a dirty player.
14:14
They're literally friends off the ice.
14:15
You know, it was like they Scott skates got like caught up,
14:18
tangled up with each other. He crashes into the boards,
14:20
boom, he's out for the rest of the season.
14:21
You know, like that's such a freak like accident.
14:23
It's not like another thing is like, so one is if it's
14:26
lingering, right? Like, you can look at, like,
14:27
Yoshi, who we've spoken about, right, where that could be like,
14:30
that's a serious concern going into the season is his surgery.
14:32
Right? But if he's, like, fully
14:34
healthy, he also look at the type where it's like, let's say
14:36
he's the type of player who always puts himself in dangerous
14:38
situations and then he keeps getting injured.
14:40
Then, yeah, you can look at the injury history and be like, OK,
14:42
he's just very, like, risky. Yeah.
14:44
But it's just like freak accidents that just keep
14:46
happening. Then I don't like thinking about
14:47
it too much. Are you think of this that would
14:49
bark as well? Like I have bark off on my
14:51
rosters like almost every year. I think last year was the first
14:54
year in awhile I didn't have them on my team and Marco was
14:57
the Torias for like I watch almost every game and it's like
15:01
he just comes into knee on knee contact like once every like 20
15:05
games and whenever it happens, like you hold your breath and
15:08
then he ends up missing. If this is only like a week.
15:11
No, you think it's a week, but it ends up being mostly two to
15:13
three weeks or like he avoids like the major season injury,
15:17
but he misses like a month or 4 weeks or something.
15:20
So it's it's just tough. And it's not like he has knee
15:23
issues is he's just guys are hitting him in the knee and it
15:26
sucks. So yeah, sometimes you can't
15:28
predict it, but I think Jack Hughes, you'd be higher if we
15:31
knew he was going to play a full healthy season.
15:32
I think we're breaking in the injury at this point.
15:34
He's gonna be like a second round pick in most leagues and I
15:36
think, I think he'll deliver. Like an early 2nd.
15:38
Like I expect him to go at the turn.
15:40
Really. That's crazy that our our number
15:42
9 is like a second round pick. That just shows that the next
15:45
eight guys are all going to be pretty sick, too.
15:47
Yeah, yeah, I do think this next guy is actually going to go
15:51
lower than Hughes. Can I give you 1?
15:53
Would you rather yes. That's not gonna be another
15:55
Centre Jack user or Nylander. Cues.
16:01
Yeah, same. Old OK.
16:03
Here's it. I love Hughes.
16:06
I've always thought he such a great player.
16:08
Like it's it's one of those things that I want him to
16:10
succeed. I think he's.
16:12
I grabbed the speakers NHL with like one of my panic picks that
16:15
I like you know, someone snipe me right before I didn't know
16:17
who to pick and I picked just because Jake had been nonstop
16:20
talking about he was like he was like he was in the first round
16:23
and this was like fifth round like 2 years ago or something.
16:25
I'm like alright well you won't shut up about him so just ruined
16:30
then I'll ruin his too and. Also not the year he got 99
16:33
points though. It it was, yeah.
16:36
Yeah, there you go. There you go.
16:38
Josh looked out. To be a first round pick that.
16:40
Year. Yeah, he did, yeah.
16:41
Yeah. And yeah, listening pays off.
16:44
Let's not forget how good the New Jersey power play was last
16:47
year as well, right? And he missed part of the
16:49
season. But we saw yes for Brad beat
16:51
just like in the league player and it was because how could
16:53
that power play was and it was more for me in my head, I was
16:56
just like, you can't keep getting away with this like it
16:58
shouldn't, it shouldn't. Be like they can.
17:01
They're that good, yeah. I think this is gonna be a great
17:03
team this year. And they absolutely do not split
17:06
that power play like the power play on the power play 1 so.
17:09
No, Yeah, there are some questions on the power play, but
17:12
Hughes is not one of them. I mean, there's the question of
17:15
Dougie versus Luke, and there's the question of Meyer.
17:18
Ever gonna crack it? I'm sorry.
17:19
Yes, this. Is part of use technically,
17:23
Yeah. Yeah.
17:24
Alrighty, let's go to number 8 #8.
17:28
All right, at #8 we've got Kevins literal father.
17:32
He's my dad. Alexander Barkov over the
17:35
Florida Panthers I have. His jersey in my closet and I
17:39
taped with like, you know, like just black tape.
17:41
I put daddy ahead of the bark off so it's.
17:43
Daddy Barkoff, he keeps getting kicked out of the arena.
17:46
He doesn't know why. It came like that.
17:54
Yeah, so last year he had a 1.06 points per game .42 power play
17:58
points, 2.2 shots, 9 face off wins and 1.3 hits.
18:03
He does it all. He does it all.
18:05
He was such a good pick last year at value and he was I think
18:09
it's gonna be the same thing. Like, I mean, we were doing a
18:12
few would you rathers last week and I was like, why didn't you
18:14
ask about Barkov? Was like, yeah, he's going way
18:16
later. So I don't know why ADP doesn't
18:18
technically adjust at this point to how elite of I guess he's
18:23
still underrated. Like he's like Robert Thomas,
18:27
but still. He's like fantasy underrated,
18:29
not in real life underrated, but but yeah, somehow still like, I
18:34
mean, he goes usually around 3 or 4, but he usually provides
18:37
like Round 2 value. So yeah, exactly.
18:39
I wonder how the extra value is huge.
18:41
Because he's honestly like low key a great goal scorer and also
18:45
like his power play production is just monstrous.
18:47
It's just like every point on the power play goes through him,
18:50
which is great to have when you're you have him on your team
18:52
and you're watching Florida Panthers play.
18:54
If you're looking at his category coverage, it's
18:55
definitely not elite. Like he is obviously one of the
18:57
best faceoff takers in the league, but he shares face offs
19:00
with Reinhart sometimes. So that's why his kind of like
19:04
ceiling for Facebook has dipped below double digits recently.
19:07
But his shots are not like super elite, but he does hit a little
19:12
bit, which is nice. It's mostly honestly this point
19:15
in the power play and I think the big thing with him is like
19:17
he misses over 10 games a season kind of consistently.
19:21
So you kind of make that into, I think his price, his projections
19:24
are lower just because I think people are putting him in for
19:26
like 70 games instead of 80 or 82.
19:30
The one time we played a full season, 96 points in 82 games.
19:34
He has in his bag. It's crazy.
19:35
And yet in people's mind, like we talked about him versus like
19:38
Hughes, who we just spoke about, right?
19:39
You think of Hughes, you're like, this guy can easily crack
19:42
100. You know, you think Barkov.
19:43
And for a lot of people, like they're like, I mean, I guess,
19:46
but I don't think so, you know, like he's so great at so many
19:48
other things, but he's not say the point guy and then you're
19:50
like, no, he could totally do it and he'll provide the good cat
19:53
coverage. Obviously the shot is the one
19:55
like big downside. Buddy chips in with the hit, so
19:57
that makes up for it. And the power play points is
19:59
huge. Does he go below Thomas in most
20:02
drafts? No, I think Thomas is.
20:05
Moderated Thomas is more on the road, but honestly, they're
20:07
closing in. They're close in ADP.
20:13
Yeah. I mean, we all love Barkov here.
20:15
I think everybody loves Barkov, yeah.
20:17
He will, he'll have a stretch where you know he's on your team
20:20
and he just like wins you his week, wins you a week single
20:23
handedly because they scored like 5-6 power play goals in a
20:27
few games and he had a monster night.
20:30
It just feels like he's always a shooting for a 2-3 point night
20:33
and then the only thing is it just kind of balances out with
20:35
the time he misses. I have the reason why do.
20:38
You do you think that Kuchuk being out for like the first
20:41
half of the season effects Barkov?
20:43
Not like significantly or anything.
20:45
Not at all. He plays, he plays on.
20:48
I know even strength, they don't play together, so that's not a
20:50
question, but what about like the power play?
20:52
I'm not worried. This is talented, guys.
20:54
You have to like big brain that to my to get to that conclusion
20:59
where it would affect him because technically if the
21:01
trucks there, then the second line gets a little bit more
21:03
difficult mashups and then barcode would have easier
21:06
mashups. But in practice, like I think
21:08
he's still going to be a point for game player because his line
21:11
is his line. It's not like it's not like it's
21:13
Reinhart. If it was Reinhart, I would
21:15
think it's more of a problem. But for now, I mean, yeah.
21:19
So I I really don't think it's gonna make such a difference.
21:21
This could be his best year yet, I find.
21:26
Because honestly, with all the like, technically they've been
21:30
random injuries, right? And we've spoken about how this
21:32
is not the type of thing that's gonna actually affect him this
21:35
year. Similar with Hughes that we were
21:36
talking about. Look, if he plays the past five
21:41
seasons, he hasn't six seasons, he hasn't played a full season.
21:43
Maybe he's due for a full season.
21:45
You know, like think about it that way and and same with
21:49
Hughes. Honestly, if that's the case, I
21:50
think both these guys are going to be way better, like way more
21:54
highly looked at next year than this year.
21:57
Yep, we'll see. We'll see.
21:59
He doesn't feel like a flashy pic, but he always delivers.
22:01
Oh yeah, that's exactly it. Yeah, 100%.
22:05
OK, let's move on to. #7. Nice.
22:09
There you go. You are right on, right on queue
22:10
there. I like it.
22:12
We're getting. There we finish each other.
22:14
Sentences. I was gonna say it's only taken
22:19
This is our, I think 8th top ten of the off season and we're
22:23
finally getting it. Alright, but.
22:27
Only only 7 times, you know. All right, at #7 we have one of
22:34
the goats of all time. That's true, yeah.
22:38
Probably from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
22:40
Sidney Crosby. Last year he put up 1.14 points
22:44
per game .34 powerfully points, 2.8 shots, 13 faceoff wins.
22:50
He's 38 years old. He's got an absolute dumpster
22:54
fire of a team around him. He's gonna.
22:56
He has pretty much no support. Sorry to the husks of former
22:59
great players who are surrounding him, and he doesn't
23:02
even need it. And he's still putting up these
23:04
crazy numbers. Like is this guy ever going to
23:06
stop? This is why he's the greatest of
23:09
all time. All time he's just insane like
23:14
he's is he the best face off when like player in the league
23:18
probably for how much he takes them.
23:21
His stats are just always elite. I feel like he always hovers
23:24
around being a first round pick in fantasy because people have,
23:27
I mean, he has a name value just keeps delivering year year on
23:29
year on year. Ovechkin, Who I'm kidding, but
23:33
you, I think he'll give great value in your fantasy leagues if
23:39
you win the plus minus league. I think that's where he's quote,
23:42
UN quote the least valuable because Pittsburgh is and he's
23:47
gonna be on the ice the whole game.
23:49
So he'll he'll probably be on the ice for a lot of goals
23:51
against the But what it was just an acronym for something else.
24:00
Yeah, absolutely, always. Super sucks.
24:06
Always super bad but. Good.
24:09
Nice. Yeah, yeah, No, he's definitely
24:11
he's definitely like a face off wins, kind of like cheat code
24:13
because he's the best at it while also just being elite at
24:17
everything else. So it's not a no cost to having
24:20
on your roster. But he still know when you face
24:21
off wins any week that Pittsburgh has four games and
24:24
you have Crosby, your winning face off wins pretty much.
24:28
Yeah, and no one's heard about the age?
24:30
No, he he's, he's a Josh is, he's smiling, grinning through
24:34
his teeth. But I mean.
24:36
I was gonna say actually, cause I'm the biggest, like you know,
24:38
this is the year they don't do it specifically.
24:40
Like I've said that question a lot.
24:41
You know, I am the biggest ageist, but for some reason I
24:45
don't, I'm not as worried about Crosby as I am about OVV.
24:48
I don't know why. I know it's literally like one
24:51
year difference. So it's not because of that.
24:53
I I don't know what it is. It's not like either of them has
24:55
slowed down at any point. But but in my mind, and it's not
24:59
even like, well, I guess with Crosby, we've seen him do it
25:02
with absolute garbage teams, right?
25:04
Whereas Ovi, I feel like he's always like last year, like he
25:06
did it again, but like the whole team was really good.
25:08
And so since I believe the team regressing, I see him regressing
25:11
a bit. Whereas Crosby, like, started
25:13
from the bottom and they're still at the bottom, you know,
25:15
So what's going to change? Any chance Crosby gets traded at
25:18
the deadline? That's what I was gonna.
25:19
Say chance on the case. The only people who say Crosby's
25:23
gonna get traded are reporters who want to get clicks on more,
25:27
more of the things. And they all mention the Habs
25:29
because that's the easiest way to get clicks.
25:30
And Avalanche Colorado. Yeah, exactly.
25:33
Because they're buddies like McKinnon and Crosby.
25:35
It's not gonna happen. He's gonna retire a Penguin.
25:38
It's fun to talk about. It's fun to dream about having
25:41
him on your team, but it's not gonna happen.
25:43
We have a, we have about 7. Go somewhere realistically he
25:47
could finish as high as like being the 5th best centre in the
25:49
league. He has a ceiling to be even
25:51
higher depending on on the year and depending on if the guys
25:53
ahead of him have a less, let's say less good years.
25:57
But yeah, I feel like he's just the type of pic that you make
26:00
and it may not be the best pick at value, but it's not going to
26:05
be a bad pick and it won't take you a year and it will be a good
26:07
foundational piece for your roster.
26:10
And he's fun to own. He is fun to own because, yeah.
26:13
And honestly, for watching the Penguins like there's nothing
26:15
else to watch besides Sidney Crosby, it's also Sidney Crosby.
26:19
Like, yeah. And I don't have any loyalties
26:22
towards like watching players for fun or whatever.
26:24
I'm way more like look at the numbers.
26:25
But I think his numbers are just back up, like the talent and the
26:29
production that he's able to deliver.
26:31
He's gonna be great. Second round value.
26:33
Do we think that they can be a little bit less?
26:35
Bad. Yes, we think they can be a
26:37
little bit less bad, but I. Think they're gonna be?
26:39
Worse. Really, I think they're gonna
26:41
sell all their remaining, he says.
26:43
By the deadline, I think. Raquel, some pieces.
26:45
Obviously is gone. Yeah, but our goaltending is
26:48
shambolic. Tommy Novak and Rutger Mcgarty
26:51
are like, not bad players. And I don't know who Ville
26:54
Koivunen is. It's like Walmart Saku Koivu, I
26:58
guess. Yeah, but he's on there.
27:01
He's listed on their power player right now.
27:02
I don't know some players like that though.
27:04
And don't forget Sheila was a monster last year in the AHL.
27:08
Playoff just starting goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
27:10
Yes, actually, I wholeheartedly believe that's gonna happen and.
27:13
Top 10 signings of the season. Yeah, yeah.
27:17
No, but that's it. I mean, how can they keep him on
27:19
this team if they're going to be so like, like, I mean, you just
27:23
think it's like this is it? Like they're just gonna be bad
27:25
now, you know what I mean? Like.
27:27
Yeah. But why would you wanna stay on
27:29
the roster if he knows? He's definitely had intense
27:33
conversations with the management on what the plan is,
27:36
what they want to do, what his future looks like on the team
27:38
and like what direction the team is.
27:39
We know they're in the rebuild, like they're not competing right
27:42
now. We saw last year they tried to
27:43
do it and it was a disaster. Why would he stay on this team
27:47
if he knows like every single one of his?
27:49
Friends of his legacy he he wants to retire.
27:52
He wants to be a lifelong Penguin.
27:53
I know, but just nobody, nobody would hate him if you left and
27:55
went and got another Stanley Cup somewhere.
27:57
Else it's not about like if people would hate him or not.
27:59
It's about what he wants himself.
28:00
He, I think he loves playing there.
28:02
Not only does he wanna stay on the Penguins, he wants to keep
28:04
playing with Letang and Malkin, you know, like they're all of
28:07
them. No one's taking those contracts
28:08
like they're, you know, they're there to stay.
28:11
And Crosby, yeah, they're all, they're all in it together until
28:15
the end. I think you could've been the
28:16
longest. 30 in the in the future, right?
28:19
Because you could sell those guys for like 2 contenders and
28:21
get like any type of future assets like Pittsburgh, what's
28:25
gonna happen? They're gonna sell Raquel.
28:26
They're gonna sell Russ. They'll get like maybe at first
28:30
at the deadline, maybe a second or like a a prospect that hasn't
28:33
panned out yet. And then just Crosby, Letang and
28:35
Malkin are all off the Ross. And then what are you stuck
28:37
with? You know, you could say though
28:39
that like, like having Crosby there to mentor the young guys
28:42
is more valuable than like the first round picks that you would
28:45
get in return. That's fair.
28:47
So it doesn't necessarily just screw them over by keeping.
28:49
Him you also need like a prospect pool and guys coming
28:52
up. Especially young guys like JQ
28:56
mentioned, they're gonna keep tanking, so they're gonna keep
28:57
getting high picks. It takes some time.
28:59
It's not like a big rush, obviously.
29:01
Like, from a finance perspective, in an ideal world,
29:04
ignoring the emotional part of it, you want them to trade him
29:07
to get the value while you still can.
29:08
But I think there's a lot more at play than that.
29:10
And I think he's gonna be a lifelong Penguin.
29:13
And yeah, I think he's gonna be providing fantasy value until he
29:16
retires. The good news with Crosby is
29:18
that as if and probably won't, but if he does get traded, he's
29:22
not one of those guys that mid-season he gets traded, he's
29:25
not going to adapt. He's just not good.
29:27
He's legendary and if he stays on the Penguins, even if they
29:30
are bad, 90.4 so I mean. He's 90 points and three shots a
29:37
game and be a leader, face off wins and be did the power play
29:40
and that's what you want in a guy that you're drafting in the
29:42
second round. Yeah, for sure.
29:45
Let's go to. Number six.
29:48
I love this one. This is my boy from last year.
29:51
Got him in the fourth round. Everyone said I was crazy and
29:54
here we are now so. Nobody said that was crazy.
29:57
Nobody made. A call.
29:58
I have recordings of our. Show the recordings.
30:01
Show the proof. Sorry you have the recordings,
30:05
the unreleased post draft episode we did last year where
30:09
you and Jackie ripped into me for this pic.
30:10
There's no way I ripped into. I also think I refused to
30:13
believe I ripped into you for selecting Jackal.
30:16
Before at least the files. OK, moving on at number six of
30:27
the Vegas Golden Knights, we've got Jack Eichel last year put up
30:31
1.22 points per game .44 power play points, three shots, 7
30:35
faceoff wins. He had a massive breakout season
30:39
last year if you consider a breakout when it's already an
30:41
elite player, but he got 94 points last year and he had only
30:45
broken 80 points once before in 2018.
30:47
So this is 14 plus points more than any other season than 2018.
30:53
So not only did he have a crazy breakout season, they now add
30:56
Marner as well on his wing and he's shown in the past that he
31:00
can be a four plus shots per game, shots per game guy.
31:03
I think this is gonna be one of the best picks of the draft this
31:05
year. Hmm, I I just think for him it's
31:09
all about the cost and he's if you have to take him in the
31:12
first round, I think I think it's worth it, honestly, like
31:16
giving the guys who he performs in next to like there's not many
31:19
guys that are shooting that level, getting that power
31:22
production and also like that point threshold.
31:24
And you know, as long as he's healthy, he's going to hit all
31:27
of those metrics. And now he has a star winger and
31:30
mark. That's like an upgrade on Mark
31:32
Stone. I, I think, I think it's a super
31:35
high seeding. I think Vegas wants to do well
31:37
this year. I expect big things from Jack
31:40
Eichel. You're not gonna get him in the
31:42
fourth round this year like you did last year, Josh.
31:43
But I wonder, is he one of your favorite first round picks if
31:47
you're drafting like, you know, after pick 10 let's say.
31:50
I was gonna say as a late 1st rounder, he is definitely one of
31:53
my favorites. Like I'd be.
31:55
So I'm I'm honestly wondering that if people might overhype
31:58
him because of the Marner edition and he might go like
32:00
even earlier than that. Yeah.
32:03
So it's tough. But if he drops to you like late
32:05
round one, I'd be super happy grabbing him.
32:07
Honestly, get grabbing Eichel Marner on like the turn and
32:09
having that. Yeah, that's a fun season ahead.
32:12
Of it could be a lot of fun. Yeah, I don't necessarily know
32:18
if he's gonna do better than he did last year, but even if he
32:20
does as well as he did last year, like he's good.
32:23
Like I think at this, like I don't think he's gonna be like
32:26
115 point player. Like I don't think he's that
32:29
elite. I think he's like a second tier
32:31
amazing player in the NHL and where you're picking him, that's
32:34
great. Like no one's unhappy with that.
32:36
He'll definitely return on your draft day value.
32:38
But as you mentioned, people will reach.
32:40
I wouldn't wanna be one of those people who does reach.
32:42
But if it's like you said, 14 team league pick 12, I think I'm
32:48
at ease taking him there. How many players get more points
32:52
than tackle this season? Is it?
32:54
Is it more or less than 10? I'd I'd say that's like a pretty
32:59
good sweet spot. What are you ranked last year in
33:02
in point totals? He was last last year, I think
33:06
he was at 9094 points. But for how many people were
33:10
ahead of him last year? I think this year there's
33:14
probably like 6 or 7 guys that I'm confident get more points
33:19
than him. Yeah, so last year here ranked
33:21
#8 and I think that's pretty reasonable.
33:24
Like, you know, a guy like Panarin was lower than him.
33:27
It wouldn't be like, I wouldn't be surprised if Panera got more
33:30
ranting into on three different teams, and one of those being
33:34
Carolina doesn't count. So yeah, I mean, I think he's
33:37
going to get somewhere between 8:00 and 12:00 in that range,
33:40
which with his shots, with his face offs is great.
33:43
But that's what I'm saying. He was the 8th most, most points
33:46
in the league and like this year, his situation just got
33:49
better. Yeah.
33:50
So let's say he does, he's the 8th top scorer in the league
33:54
again, like, and you can get him in something.
33:56
He'll go in the second round, I'm sure.
33:58
Isn't that crazy value when you think about it because obviously
34:01
there's a lot more that goes into a fantasy asset value
34:04
overall besides just points. But it's not like he's a scrub
34:07
at the other categories. Like he's a stud and shots as
34:09
well. He's a stud and power play
34:11
production. There's really has no weaknesses
34:14
besides obviously hits and blocks are not as specialty, but
34:17
he's not supposed to deliver in those anyways so.
34:18
Yeah, second round. Get him in the second.
34:20
Round. Yeah, exactly.
34:23
Absolutely. I just mean, the Marner news
34:26
doesn't necessarily make me think that it's like worth
34:29
reaching on him at like pick 8, you know?
34:32
What I think, honestly, like it's like you said, where he
34:34
already did so well last year that the Mariner news can give
34:37
him, like, you know, a bit of a bump.
34:39
But it might actually cause more harm than good in the sense that
34:42
it might overhype him and then he gets picked too early so you
34:44
can't grab him or you wanted to grab him.
34:46
If you can get him like pick 1516, I feel like that's a slam
34:49
dunk. That's.
34:50
Huge. Yeah, 100% for sure.
34:53
Yeah, totally agree. I think we could.
34:56
Do you think money gets more points?
34:59
Hmm. I mean, it's gonna be like
35:03
within five points of each other because they're gonna be
35:05
assisting on each other's goals. Like, every point is gonna be
35:07
like Michael from Mariner. Mariner from Michael, you know.
35:10
The the short handed contributions that he's really
35:14
good at. So The thing is, if it doesn't
35:16
work, if for some reason they don't have the connection, I
35:19
think that they're gonna just put Mark Stone back with
35:21
Michael. Yeah, that's what he had.
35:22
Last hurdle, yeah, which is great.
35:24
And then at that point, I think that Michael is gonna get more
35:27
points than Warner. So save to say, I would kind of
35:29
bet on that. But yeah, I mean, in all
35:32
likelihood is gonna be like what Josh said, it's going to be
35:34
their values tied, which is great because it doesn't get
35:38
more lead as a 1-2 punch. I think I could get more points
35:42
in this next guy, but there's a lot of reasons to believe that.
35:47
I was gonna say, but wait before do it wait before before.
35:50
I just wanna say one last thing for for Eichel epic.
35:52
And then you could you could, you could word for word the same
35:55
way again and then I'll hit you up.
35:57
But. My parade has been so rained on.
35:59
OK, go. Yeah, the last time we saw like
36:01
an elite 1-2 punch like this, it's, you know, it's McDavid dry
36:05
sidle, it's MacKinnon, Rantanen is like, and those guys have,
36:09
you know, 110 point ceilings. Like is there any way that we're
36:13
all still undervaluing both of these guys?
36:15
And just when they played together, we're seeing both of
36:17
them like over 100 points together is that thing.
36:20
So that's in the realm of possibilities, right?
36:22
I definitely think that's a possibility.
36:24
I think they could be that 1-2 punch and I think a lot of those
36:26
1-2 punches you named are impossible to get in fantasy
36:29
because they're both like picked in the first round.
36:31
This is one that if a table falls right for you, you know
36:33
like I think you need a late 1st rounder and therefore early 2nd
36:36
rounder. You can get both and I think, I
36:39
think like. I like imagine having the same
36:42
team or McKinnon and Rantanen like.
36:45
Let's just say if it does work out, they do click.
36:47
This is going to be the only year you can ever get them both.
36:50
Not that would be exciting all the listeners, but if they pop
36:53
both pop off, then there's no chance of getting both of them
36:56
in future years. This is the one chance where
36:58
like they haven't yet, don't know what they're capable of
37:01
yet. So I don't know I'd be really.
37:03
That would be a really fun one too to start your draft with.
37:05
Yeah, it's. It's also be really fun to start
37:09
with #5. Yeah.
37:14
Just yeah. Did you want to say something?
37:16
I don't wanna cut you off. No, I was just gonna say like it
37:19
is a bit of a risk, but it's like the best.
37:21
Like I mean, if if it works the icon Warner stock, it's just
37:26
gonna be insane. You're gonna have such a good
37:28
time watching the Vegas Golden Knights this year.
37:30
So yeah, alrighty, let's do. It #5. #5 We've got of the not
37:37
Vancouver Canucks of the New York Rangers again.
37:41
We've got JT Miller. Last year he put up .97 points
37:45
per game, .31 power play points, 1.9 shots, 9 faceoff wins and
37:49
2.3 hits. So I mean, you look at those
37:53
like last year stats and you're like, why is this guy exactly so
37:56
high up on our list, right? Controversial, I feel like.
38:00
I feel like not many people read them and decide.
38:04
I think like you have to be in a bangers catch league to truly
38:06
appreciate how good he is. And also you have to know that
38:10
last year was a down year. There was a lot of stuff going
38:12
on. There was all the drama with him
38:14
and Peterson on the Canucks. He got traded mid season, which
38:16
we've spoken about in the past how that's really hard to adapt
38:18
to. And yeah, and then he got traded
38:21
and the connector is not good also.
38:23
So then he got traded to a team that in the Rangers, which is a
38:25
better team on paper, but they were also having a down year and
38:28
it took him some time to get some, you know, chemistry going
38:31
with the players there. There's no reason, like we said
38:34
a bunch of times that we believe in the Rangers resurgence this
38:36
year and there's no reason to think that he's not going to be
38:38
like at the head of that. And when he's popping off, the
38:42
reason we all value him so highly in our uh, bangers
38:44
leagues is he could get that crazy point ceiling with the
38:48
power play points, but he also contributes shots, face off
38:51
wins, hits. He kind of is one of those
38:53
players that just touches everything.
38:55
He's like similar to Chuck where you get those crazy, you know
38:58
not. He's more points focused than
39:01
Kuchuk, but he'll hit those back cats while also contributing a
39:03
lot of points. Yeah, I was gonna say like he's,
39:08
he's arguably the most talismanic player in the league.
39:13
I throw one in for you, but. Think you're right anymore?
39:18
What do you mean it is true? Player in the league?
39:22
What does that even mean? It means that when he's on a
39:25
team, he's the focal point of that team more than any other
39:28
player on any other team. OK, fine.
39:31
Yeah. OK.
39:32
Thank you. Jonathan Talismanic Miller.
39:35
Yes, exactly, Jonathan. Don't forget in 2023 JT Miller
39:41
was at 1.27. So basically 1.3 points per game
39:44
.5 power play points, 2.4 shots, 10 faceoff wins, 2.7 hits.
39:50
Like that's nasty production in you're in a bangers league that
39:53
also has face off wins. Like he's a top five pick.
39:56
This was two years ago on on the Canucks.
39:59
Obviously last year was a down year but he still hovered around
40:01
a point per game and he still had great production.
40:03
Obviously his shots took a dip, but we know there was so much
40:06
like volatility with that team and drama and shenanigans.
40:10
I think this year we're gonna get closer to that 2023 season
40:12
of JT Miller and I think he's gonna be a value in almost every
40:15
draft. Obviously he's higher here
40:17
because we're counting. We're really adding up.
40:19
Those like over two hits a game from a centre of this caliber is
40:22
unheard of. There's not other centres that
40:24
do it like him. So I think he's.
40:26
A bit of a Unicorn. If you're league doesn't have
40:28
faceoffs, this GTS value goes down the least of everyone here
40:35
probably except for maybe one guy will mention.
40:39
But yeah, I mean, because he does everything else so, so
40:42
well. He is easily the number 2 banger
40:45
behind Brady to Chuck. You should check out that
40:47
episode if you haven't listened to it yet.
40:48
But I mean, I'm so excited about it.
40:50
And Rangers are primed for a bounce back season in every
40:55
single way. And we've spoken about like they
40:57
have a horrible defence. So they're just gonna have to be
41:00
a lot of involvement from the forwards.
41:02
And he's such a good two way centre that I think he's going
41:05
to do amazing. Where are you trying to get
41:08
something where you can reasonably get him but you're
41:10
super happy to grab him? 8 Basically there's.
41:16
The And that's in our league specifically, right?
41:19
Yeah, otherwise, honestly, maybe maybe like 10.
41:25
I think, I think he'll be like, you know, between him and Jack
41:28
Eichel is gonna be closed. Like I can see somebody
41:30
preferring Jack Eichel just to get like the quote UN quote
41:33
safer point ceiling in the shots.
41:35
But if you're giving me an extra 2 1/2 hits for one shot, like I
41:39
probably take that all day, you know what I mean?
41:41
I'm easily taking JT over I. Go I think.
41:44
JT over, you said right? Yeah, I'm taking over ICO.
41:48
Yeah, sorry, I thought you meant Hughes.
41:50
But yes, JT over both jacks. But the projections have him not
41:54
even hitting a point per game and I'm I am like I bet my house
41:58
that gets over a point per game. God, I don't know anybody,
42:03
anybody willing to bet me on that, that JT has a point per
42:05
game because. We all agree.
42:07
If you look at Yahoo's projections, they're predicting
42:09
him. He gets 70 points this year.
42:11
Yeah, you have to give me. You have to give me crazy odds
42:13
to bet against this point per game.
42:15
But other research fantasy analysts that put out models and
42:19
everything have them for just under 80 or like hovering around
42:22
80, which is probably what he did last year, right?
42:24
Just under point per game 90 points this.
42:29
Year. Anybody, anybody willing to take
42:33
me, take me on that offer 90 points 89.5.
42:37
I think I think like I would bet the under on 100 but I don't
42:40
feel comfortable. 100 I'm not going there, but.
42:42
I'm just saying. Josh wrongfully quiet.
42:46
I think we're all in agreement on how could JT is.
42:48
I don't know why you trying to pick a fight with us or.
42:50
Somebody to Take Me Out of your bed?
42:52
But anyways. He's so good.
42:53
Why can't you believe me, Kevin? We believe you.
42:55
No, he's. That's better beer.
43:01
That's he's actually like, before we move on, like he's
43:04
always the guy when someone new joins our league and we're doing
43:07
the draft and then a person who's been in the league for
43:10
years grabs him at like, pick like 6 or something.
43:13
And the new people are always like, what?
43:14
Like what a reach, you know, like, you know, like, yeah.
43:17
And the ones who have been here for awhile are like, Nope, this
43:19
makes perfect sense. He's a sick player.
43:21
Exactly. Yeah, Alright.
43:24
Shall we? #4.
43:27
At #4 We've got the Marner lists Austin Matthews of the Toronto
43:36
Maple Leafs. Last year he put up 1.16 points,
43:39
.37 power play points, 3.9 shots, 10 faceoff wins, and 1.3
43:44
blocks. I wanted to mention the blocks
43:46
because he is consistently the top blocker among 4 words for
43:50
leagues that care about that, which is crazy for a guy who
43:53
also does everything else. It's just such a nice little
43:56
like here's a bonus, you drafted this guy.
43:58
You also get to win blocks randomly because your number one
44:01
pick also blocks the puck. Along, yeah.
44:04
Yeah, he is the shots on goal greatest of all time, all time.
44:10
I mean his coverage is just crazy.
44:12
You'd be happy if you had this like face off was obviously in
44:15
the defenseman. You know what I mean?
44:17
Like it's just so nice to see when you draft Matthews.
44:21
What I love about it is that you can go so many different
44:24
directions with your team. There are some of these guys
44:27
where it's like a JT Miller is kind of like that too.
44:29
Let's say like Jack Hughes. If you're doing that, you're
44:31
kind of just putting face offs at that point and honestly,
44:33
maybe you're just going to be a points team as opposed to a hits
44:35
team. Whereas Matthews just to sew
44:37
all-encompassing that I you love picking him in the first round,
44:42
like pick let's say 5 or 6. And as far as talismanic goes,
44:46
this is going to be the big test, right?
44:49
Can he be what he was if Martin's not there?
44:53
I think so. I think he like just inherently
44:55
being a goal scorer as opposed to like a passer.
44:59
Just to me makes like I, I feel like your surroundings are a
45:03
little bit less relevant, you know what I mean?
45:06
He can kind of do it all and we'll see.
45:08
I mean, we all think NIA is going to take a huge step
45:10
forward this year because he's going to be attached to the hip
45:12
with Austin Matthews. So I don't know.
45:14
I love it. I mean, his spot right here
45:17
makes perfect sense to me. So you don't think that his
45:20
points take a hit at all from Mariners departure?
45:24
Obviously that's like a safe bet to make, but really 78 and 67,
45:29
that's last year and then 107 and 81 the year before seemed
45:33
very much within reason. You know what I mean?
45:36
Like you. Think that he ends up dropping a
45:39
bit in drafts because people are worried about that.
45:42
I think it depends on your draft.
45:46
No, like nothing tangible. Like maybe in like a points
45:50
league someone will take Pasternak over him, which I
45:52
feel. Like when when I say drop I mean
45:54
like dropping like one or two spots lower than he should go, I
45:57
can. I can see Matthews being one of
45:59
the only guys like let's say that's a for sure top ten pick
46:02
that falls outside of where we expect because obviously ahead
46:06
of him are the three centres that we're gonna talk about that
46:09
are everybody's list that are pretty default.
46:11
But he won't go ahead of Kucherov.
46:13
He won't go ahead of see, I can see him falling behind past.
46:17
I can see them falling behind Kaprizov.
46:18
Like people are just like, I don't want the headache of
46:21
Matthews or, and I'm gonna say like, if you're aren't following
46:24
us on TikTok, go drop as a follow because we made it.
46:26
We made content where we predicted the top five goal
46:30
scorers of this season. And we had Matthews at the top
46:32
of like he's probably the most likely to score the most goals
46:35
this year. And it was the most polarizing
46:37
post we've ever made because the comments were were riddled with
46:40
people being like, wow, you think he's scoring like 50 goals
46:44
when he just lost Marner? Like he's gonna get 50 points.
46:47
And it's just like, you see the extremes.
46:49
You see either people like defending him, like with their
46:51
life, or you see people being like, he was a product of Marner
46:54
and that's all he's good for. I don't have scored fifty goals
46:58
this year. And.
46:58
We have no pro Matthews bias. We're just trying to deliver
47:02
objective like, you know, bias free content and everything.
47:06
Like we we get you guys, like we'll, we'll have fun if that
47:09
ends up being the case too. But no, I mean, he's great.
47:12
He's he's an elite player bordering generational talent.
47:15
Like he's brought a very like his goal scoring ability in
47:18
addition to his presence on the ice.
47:20
Like not many people can do that.
47:22
What about his injury history? Are you guys worried about that?
47:26
Question. See he is more of a like
47:29
lingering type issues than the. Others, it's always like a wrist
47:31
issue. Yeah.
47:34
For. Me that makes.
47:35
The question like to. Take, let's say your pick, pick
47:38
six in the draft, right? Or pick 5 or 6 and the classic
47:41
four guys go before him. Is that lingering injury history
47:46
plus the Mariner question? Is that enough to make you pass
47:48
on him to grab like a pasta or Kaprizov or a ketchup or
47:51
something like? That I think this year I think
47:53
pasta ahead of him. I would probably only take Brady
47:56
to chug out of him. Probably.
47:59
Yeah, Oh yeah, for sure. Not on points but in a bangers
48:01
league and then in a points league I would take pass over
48:05
him, yes. But do you think it's is it
48:07
because of those question marks or is it just in?
48:10
General, I think I would have done it anyways.
48:12
OK. I think Pasta can match him in
48:15
points, I think Pasta can match him in shots.
48:17
Pasta also has a better playoff schedule.
48:20
So I think all of those things combined where obviously not
48:23
getting the face off wins, but he plays it just a different
48:25
position. The blocks are great, but it's
48:26
not enough to make me take Matthews ahead.
48:29
But like, we're talking about 5 or 6, you know what I mean?
48:32
It's not like he's completely off my board.
48:35
And maybe come draft time I'll feel differently.
48:36
It just depends. But I think the injury is
48:40
definitely a question. Yeah.
48:42
These next three are kind of, I don't know like can sort of be
48:48
bundled. Well, that definitely.
48:49
The next two, yeah, I I feel like honestly, we can just talk
48:52
about all three of them together because the first 3 picks in
48:55
every league this year, pretty much all your drafts, all your
48:58
drafts. I think the orders are.
49:01
Let me say it in our order so that we can rile some people up.
49:06
Yeah. Alright.
49:08
Alright, we will number 321. Nice.
49:14
All right with #3 I think this is pretty agreed upon with
49:18
everyone. We've got Leon Dry Seidel who
49:20
had insane year last year. Yeah.
49:24
What's crazy is he had a monster year last year and it wasn't
49:27
even in his top three seasons for points.
49:30
Is that like? It's insane.
49:32
It's insane. Yeah.
49:33
Yeah. But I missed so many games last
49:35
year. Yeah, .46 points, 3.4 shots, 9
49:39
faceoff wins, and he's dual eligible.
49:41
He's an amazing way to start your draft because of that dual
49:44
eligibility and and also just because he's amazing and similar
49:48
to Miller stuff. Yeah, exactly.
49:51
But yeah, I think this is the clear #3 I think, should I say
49:55
the next two as well, or? Go for it.
49:57
OK, so then at #2 here we go. Everyone's that.
50:01
Everyone's wondering which is gonna be #2 which one?
50:03
Number two, we put Connor McDavid.
50:06
Yeah, alright. Believe wasn't the.
50:08
Comments. Yeah, I.
50:09
Know. No one knows how to react. #1
50:12
Connor McMichael. And at #1 we've got Nathan
50:18
McKinnon. So I think that was the, I think
50:20
obviously these three are bundled together because McDavid
50:23
and Dryside are like tied at the hip and all that.
50:25
But I think dry side isn't agreed upon 3.
50:27
It's really the 1-2 where you have the debate, right?
50:30
Every person who's drafting first overall in their draft is
50:32
asking everyone they know, do I go McKinnon or McDavid, right?
50:36
I'm pretty sure any league settings, that's the question.
50:39
So why did we choose McKinnon over McDavid?
50:44
Do you want me to? Do you want to go into it?
50:46
I wanna go into. Yeah, go ahead.
50:47
And I could tell you like dying to jump.
50:49
In yeah, I was gonna say I mean this is listen relevant TikTok
50:52
content once again so, you know shutting us out again drop us a
50:55
follow. But the main argument for me is
50:59
I think obviously McDavid, if you had to pick one person to
51:02
hit the highest points on the season, like McDavid is probably
51:05
the guy that I know has the highest ceiling in him.
51:07
Like he could hit 150 if he wanted to.
51:10
But realistically, the difference between McDavid and
51:13
McKinnon in your drafts is not going to be detrimental to your
51:16
season. Whether you pick one or two,
51:20
you're going to make the playoffs.
51:21
Like making choosing to make David over McKinnon or McKinnon
51:23
over McDavid is not gonna stop you from making the playoffs.
51:25
But at the end of the day, the biggest question is come playoff
51:29
time, who do you want on your roster?
51:31
And if you look at playoff schedule this year, if you're
51:34
championship is in Week 23 and you got Week 22 semis, Week 21
51:37
quarterfinals, Mckinnon's got a 434 and McDavid got a 333.
51:43
So that means we're getting an extra game of McKinnon in the
51:46
quarters and extra McKinnon in the grand finals.
51:48
Now, if you're telling me who would you rather have on your
51:49
team, McKinnon with four games or McDavid with three games?
51:53
Give me with four games. I think at the end, that's the
51:55
deal breaker between the two. Will get more shots like David
51:58
probably gets more points this season.
52:00
At the end of the day, they're both extremely elite.
52:02
They cover the production of two fantasy players in one spot.
52:06
They're truly unicorns. There's not many guys that are
52:08
in this tiers. Four guys, but at the end of the
52:12
day, you gotta make the choice looking forward on what's the
52:14
best for your fantasy situation. And I think that's the only
52:16
that's the only reason why I'm making them this way.
52:19
Yeah, I fully agree. Like the playoff schedule is so
52:22
huge. That one extra game of a guy
52:24
like this is like three extra games of an average player.
52:26
So it's so massive. How many points would McDavid
52:30
have to get more than McKinnon for the worst playoff schedule
52:34
to be worth it? That's that's the question that
52:37
I keep asking myself. And I think the answer is, I
52:39
don't know what the answer is, but I would say the answer is, I
52:43
don't know what the answer is. No, it's got to be like 15
52:48
points probably. Like if McDavid hits 130 and
52:52
Mckinnon's at 1:15, I think maybe it's a question the other
52:59
day. I don't know.
53:00
If there's like a certain amount of points, you can tell me that
53:02
it's gonna make me wanna take McDavid over McKinnon.
53:05
When one has three, one has four.
53:07
It's great to look at playoff schedule and all that, but we
53:10
also know that McKinnon is playing with Natures so.
53:15
Biggest natures truth are out there.
53:17
Yes, I am. I am.
53:19
I think that break there is like 10.
53:24
I think it's it's like 10 points just because, yeah, the shots
53:27
are better, PowerPoints are basically even and the faceoffs
53:30
are significantly better. So to me, I mean, I think that.
53:36
That's even getting 10 more points than McKinnon makes you
53:38
take him over McKinnon. Yeah.
53:43
I think it's close. I mean, that's too small of.
53:45
Them are, yeah. I don't.
53:46
I don't really. Agree, but.
53:47
Yeah, because like you're saying that like, McKinnon has way
53:50
better shots in faceoff wins and a better playoff schedule.
53:53
So for McDavid to be worth taking over that you need, at
53:56
least to me, I was thinking 20 points, but really fair, to be
54:00
fair to McDavid, that's doable. You know, that's the thing.
54:04
It's not like it's not like it's a crazy thing to say.
54:06
At the end of the day, 20 points, yeah, it's great.
54:09
Maybe you get the first seed instead of the second seed, or
54:11
maybe it doesn't even make a difference because of how how
54:14
high both of them are scoring. But at the end of the day, when
54:16
it comes to the playoffs, we know any given game, both of
54:20
them could score 5 points in one night.
54:22
Like just because one score 20 points more and the season
54:26
doesn't mean that you know in the last week in your
54:28
championship that McKinnon can't get 5 points of one game and
54:31
make David can't get 0 or also five points.
54:33
Know what I mean? So that extra game honestly is
54:35
like invaluable to me because of how high of a ceiling each
54:40
individual game has. So I, I think even 20 points, I
54:44
feel like I'm just going McKinnon, especially if you're
54:47
getting more category coverage. I think are you comfortable
54:50
ignoring the playoff schedule? Are you able to say that you
54:52
think McDavid will provide more season long value ignoring
54:55
playoff schedule? I think this season I feel we
54:58
haven't seen them, David that we want to see.
55:00
Last year, even the year before, I feel like it wasn't like the
55:02
height that we know he can reach.
55:03
I feel like this year, I feel like this.
55:05
I feel like this year he's true. Though, Yeah, yeah, I think so
55:08
as well. Like I think it's gonna be
55:10
another 150 year point for him. 150 point, Yeah, yeah. 100.
55:19
David, it's possible, Yeah. No, it's I guess at the end of
55:22
the day, it's like, are you choosing the guy who's gonna be
55:25
more seasoned long value? Are you choosing the guy who is
55:28
gonna hook you up more in the playoffs?
55:30
I think obviously it depends on your league price structure,
55:33
right? There are some leagues that you
55:35
get, you get rewarded a lot more for regular season wins.
55:39
But if you're looking, if you're trying to win your league, you
55:42
gotta be looking at playoffs. So that's kind of the deal
55:45
breaker in this season. We would all do this order 123
55:50
like I agree with you guys. I think it's like the safer bet
55:52
make and everything, but I do believe that there's.
55:55
If you think McDavid is getting 150, I think I think at that
55:58
point McKinney gets 110. Like that's 40 points.
56:02
I feel like at that point maybe you start that.
56:04
Maybe that moves need a lot don't.
56:05
Know, I think it gets more though.
56:07
Like I think they're both gonna be insane.
56:08
Like 2 years ago it was 140 for McKinnon, 150 for McDavid, 153.
56:13
Actually, no. The year before that was 153.
56:16
And then you can project that just happened.
56:18
Crazy. Yeah.
56:20
It's it's wild. I just.
56:22
Did the place to be the second overall because then you don't
56:24
have to think about any of this. You just look the other guy
56:26
shoes and then you enjoy your guy.
56:28
Yeah, and I will say, though, that there is something about
56:32
getting #3 also where it's like, you know what?
56:35
I'm at ease with this because Dr. Shuttles are freaking
56:38
monster. And it does give you more
56:40
flexibility with the rest of your draft, right?
56:41
You didn't just pick a pure C so now you could grab one of those
56:45
CDs later in the draft. You don't fill up that slot as
56:46
fast. You can be face off wins league.
56:49
You know you're getting 9 face off wins from the left wing.
56:52
Of this whole list I want I want dry saddle or JT.
56:56
That means that I can obviously I'm not picking them over yeah,
57:01
but I cost because then I think you could do like a lot of fun
57:04
things with your team and probably Matthew.
57:07
No, I wouldn't know it would be JT or or dry soda.
57:12
What about you guys? Who do you want?
57:16
I want my what I want McKinnon. Alright, second fix.
57:22
So I can grab McDavid, you know, But yeah, yeah, no, OK,
57:25
obviously barring the top 2 because that's obvious.
57:28
And let's say, even barring the top three, because they're all
57:30
kind of obvious, I'd love to have equal again.
57:34
Honestly, I would. Be really one that Eichel Marner
57:37
stock. I think it would be such a fun
57:38
season. I've been this year.
57:40
I wanted to go a bit more to my route to back to my roots of
57:43
being like a very points focused team.
57:45
Obviously I don't wanna be rounded enough to be great at
57:47
all the categories, but like and that's going to be a just
57:50
farming points that that stack. Also, I didn't say earlier on,
57:53
but like I love having a stack of really high end guys.
57:57
I don't see a point in really stacking when you're getting to
57:59
the lower end ones. But The thing is like your first
58:01
pick, you're kind of like do or die with that pick for your
58:03
reason, right? If your first picks a bust, it's
58:05
really really hard to overcome that.
58:07
So why not just stack onto that and be like alright, double or
58:10
nothing. You know, if he's a bust then
58:12
then my second fix a but it doesn't matter cuz my first pick
58:15
was a bust anyways. But if they both pop off then
58:18
I'm getting like doubly rewarded.
58:19
So that's why I like doing those early stacks.
58:22
One last question because we did touch on dry side of the lease
58:25
and I feel like he's just all of these guys, we already know what
58:29
we're getting there like the best players in fantasy.
58:31
The one question I have with Crystal is do you take overture
58:34
of? Because I feel like that's the
58:37
only question I have for for his value in a non face off league.
58:40
Like are you taking controversial?
58:44
Still think tricycle? I'm still taking tricycle over
58:47
Cooch. OK, better be for gold.
58:49
Why? Goals.
58:52
Who gets more points and who gets more shots and who gets
58:54
more power play points? OK, in that order.
58:59
I I think, I think you get more points, more shots, yeah, play
59:02
points. Shots.
59:05
I think, yeah, I think that's like even and I.
59:08
Think it's more shots and goals and then coach gets more points
59:11
and power play points. Hmm.
59:15
I think it's super close. I think it's very close.
59:17
I think this is a rather construction.
59:19
Idle. Yeah, exactly.
59:21
Yeah. Does that wrap it up?
59:24
Yes, that wraps it up. Right.
59:26
That was a really good one. A lot of analysis, but this is
59:32
the most important position in most people's drafts.
59:35
Half these guys are first round picks, if not more, so you
59:39
definitely want to know how you wanna pick them and choose them
59:41
and stack them and bop it and. I was about to say.
59:47
That's really funny. OK, Thanks to everybody for
59:50
joining us. If you enjoyed the show, follow
59:52
us on our socials and the link tree and the podcast
59:54
description. Don't forget to follow us on
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1:00:06
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