Latest / Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast / Top 10 Candidates for the 2025-2026 Calder Trophy

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Top 10 Candidates for the 2025-2026 Calder Trophy · Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast

• 0:00
  Alright, tres dos Uno but upper bound bound Bangor management
• 0:06
  fantasy hockey podcast woo. Wow.
• 0:14
  Just two hours today. Where is Josh's woo, huh?
• 0:18
  Josh is What is Josh doing? About this Josh is doing
• 0:22
  wholesome family stuff and he he's not dedicated to the grind
• 0:27
  it seems. Very sad.
• 0:28
  Very. He has a kid and he forgot about
• 0:30
  us. But it's OK, I guess.
• 0:32
  He'll be back next week, right? Yeah, that's that's the idea.
• 0:36
  I mean, I hope so It it's nice because this is the first
• 0:41
  recording of the season that we can make fun of Josh for not
• 0:44
  being here and he can't do anything about it.
• 0:46
  So pretty rad if you ask. Me and let me tell you, we have
• 0:49
  a lot to make fun about, but we'll try to be nice.
• 0:51
  Yes, yes, as always. We are Canadian after all, so
• 0:55
  we're known for our politeness and our.
• 1:01
  I don't think we're known for lollygagging.
• 1:03
  Maybe this podcast or not. But but not Canadians for being.
• 1:06
  Yeah, just for being nice, saying about, you know, the
• 1:09
  whole stuff, the whole shebang. So welcoming everybody to Bangor
• 1:12
  Management, the Fantasy Hockey podcast with your two favorite
• 1:17
  hosts. Josh is on that list, but he's
• 1:19
  not here. Jake and Kevin, how are you
• 1:23
  today? I am.
• 1:24
  I am great. I mean, listen, we got some fun,
• 1:28
  some fun prospects to talk about today.
• 1:30
  It's a beautiful day, one day closer to the NHL start of the
• 1:33
  season. I I'm I'm hype.
• 1:35
  Very, very excited. I am as well.
• 1:38
  It's it's going to be a very interesting episode because I
• 1:42
  know that there's a lot of hot opinions, like it's a hot topic.
• 1:47
  This when we're gonna talk about the rookies this year and who we
• 1:50
  have is the favorite for the Calder Trophy.
• 1:52
  I think it's one of those things that everyone loves to weigh in.
• 1:56
  But this is our list. We're gonna start with #10 go
• 1:59
  all the way to #1 and if you disagree with us, let us know
• 2:04
  and we can respond as to why we are correct.
• 2:07
  No, but all getting aside, I find that there's like a lot of
• 2:11
  skew here because usually there's, it's very offensive
• 2:15
  oriented. Lane Hudson wanted this here
• 2:17
  because he had a monstrous rookie season.
• 2:19
  So. Representing.
• 2:21
  Yes, yes, big. Time he was deserving.
• 2:24
  OHB yeah, absolutely. I was convinced it was gonna be
• 2:27
  celebrity, to be honest, because, you know, in recent
• 2:30
  years it's, it tends to be. Heavily weighted overall you
• 2:35
  have a pretty high chance of winning it already.
• 2:37
  Well put. Yeah, exactly.
• 2:39
  So yeah, before we dive in, as always, you could find the link
• 2:43
  to our socials and the link tree, which as always is in the
• 2:45
  podcast description. We are on Tiktok now, so kindly
• 2:49
  give us a follow over there. Much appreciated and please all
• 2:52
  as well follow us greatest five stars, Apple, Spotify, wherever
• 2:58
  you get your podcasts. It helps us and we do really
• 3:01
  appreciate the support. So let's dive in at #10 for the
• 3:05
  candidates of the Calder Trophy this coming 20252026 NHL season,
• 3:12
  we have from the New York Rangers Gabriel Perot.
• 3:17
  I wonder if this is a a surprising pick for a lot of
• 3:19
  people. I mean, we're going 10 players,
• 3:21
  so there's gonna be a lot of rookies that we're not talking
• 3:23
  about today. But I'm interested by by Gabe
• 3:27
  Perot. I feel like, I mean, he's he's
• 3:30
  20 years old and he's getting the opportunity on a Rangers
• 3:35
  team that's trying to bounce back this year, right?
• 3:37
  And maybe he's a little bit of a a youthful insertion that they
• 3:40
  need. That kind of sounded weird.
• 3:46
  We'll just keep that in there. I'm still going put attended
• 3:51
  but. He's alright.
• 3:53
  He's most likely gonna get to did not expect that also keeping
• 4:00
  that going. But he he's most likely going to
• 4:02
  play on the third line. I think he'll be a third or
• 4:04
  fourth liner, right? Maybe some second power play
• 4:09
  unit time, but I feel like that's also maybe suspect to
• 4:14
  change. Obviously, it's still pretty
• 4:15
  early in the offseason, so we'll get a better idea when we have a
• 4:18
  more line rushes and all that. But what do you think about his
• 4:22
  potential on this team? And I mean, for the caller, I
• 4:25
  feel like you'll need to overcome a lot.
• 4:27
  We have some pretty big studs on this list, but he's in the
• 4:31
  conversation. Yeah, well, look, I mean, Crider
• 4:35
  leaving is a huge catalyst for a lot of the Rangers to succeed.
• 4:39
  Me, you and Josh are all high on Lafreniere's prospect to succeed
• 4:44
  this year on the Rangers. We've spoken about it in our
• 4:46
  previous episode, so go check those out if you want to hear
• 4:48
  our takes. I'm the biggest Will Cooley
• 4:52
  truther there is, right? I think Will Cooley is going to
• 4:55
  be awesome this year. To me, the top 6 on the Rangers
• 4:59
  are. It's a little congested for him
• 5:01
  to break into that this Lafreniere totally bleeps up at
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  the beginning. But or if they shifted around
• 5:09
  and maybe wanna put Zibanejad as a third line centre, which could
• 5:12
  be interesting because that gives an opportunity for
• 5:14
  tomorrow to play on the wing with JT Miller or Trocheck at
• 5:18
  centre, right? So listen, there's a pretty top
• 5:21
  heavy team. So I don't really think that
• 5:24
  there's any chance he wins the Calder.
• 5:25
  But he had tons of success last year on a loaded Boston College
• 5:29
  team with James Hagans and Ryan Leonard, who, spoiler alert, we
• 5:33
  will be mentioning later. I definitely like the concept of
• 5:37
  taking the lead dart throw for him in fantasy.
• 5:40
  And he's what he's 20 years old. He's not a rookie rookie.
• 5:44
  He's had some time to develop in the NCAA.
• 5:47
  So I definitely like his prospect this year for a late
• 5:51
  round dart throw. But no, I mean it's far from the
• 5:53
  Calder in my. Opinion.
• 5:55
  I mean, listen, he was drafted 23rd overall in 2023.
• 5:59
  I think now is like he's getting the opportunity to, first of
• 6:03
  all, make the team right, But I feel there's also the chance
• 6:06
  that he doesn't even make the NHL to start the season, which I
• 6:09
  mean, we have to keep in. Mind for the colour of.
• 6:12
  Course, absolutely. So I think if there's any chance
• 6:18
  that he gets even close to the caller conversation is if
• 6:21
  honestly, I think if the Rangers are not doing well and they need
• 6:24
  to shake things up and they need to bring up some talent like
• 6:27
  shake up the lines and maybe he gets an opportunity in the top
• 6:29
  six. That's the only way I can fathom
• 6:33
  him even being in the conversation.
• 6:35
  There's a lot of good players this year.
• 6:37
  I feel like #10 is fair. We could have put some other
• 6:39
  guys here as well, but we wanted this direction.
• 6:41
  So yeah, I think that's all there is to say for Gabe Perot.
• 6:45
  Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Let's move on to the next one,
• 6:49
  which is very exciting. I think of the San Jose Sharks,
• 6:53
  we have Yaroslav Askarov. So, OK, let's kind of backtrack.
• 7:00
  I know you guys like to make fun of me when I talk about them as
• 7:03
  prospects, but it's especially in this case, I think it's
• 7:06
  interesting. So he was drafted really high
• 7:10
  and I don't want to say that it was for no reason because
• 7:14
  obviously he's a super elite talent came coming out of
• 7:20
  Russia, you know, kind of the next Vasilevsky, That's what he
• 7:22
  was touted at when he was picked.
• 7:24
  But the Predators had Soros, who was obviously gonna be their
• 7:28
  guy. There was like no question about
• 7:30
  it. So I was always puzzled by that
• 7:32
  move. Anyway, Fast forward a few
• 7:34
  years, they're not trained him. They traded him to the Super
• 7:36
  high potential San Jose Sharks team, which I love.
• 7:41
  I think Askerov is poised for an amazing year, especially if you
• 7:44
  look at his last year stats from the AHL, which is a good
• 7:48
  indicator for a young goaltender as to how that can translate.
• 7:52
  So the big question for me is will he win a lot of games?
• 7:55
  Cuz the Sharks I believe are gonna let in a lot of goals.
• 8:00
  But if Askerov can help keep them in a few games here and
• 8:04
  there and actually come out with a positive winning record, I
• 8:08
  think he's a great pick for fantasy.
• 8:10
  Again, a little too far from realistic for me to think that
• 8:14
  he's going to win the Calder, but overall, I love him as a
• 8:18
  pick. We've spoken about it as well in
• 8:19
  our previous episodes. What do you think, Kevin, about
• 8:22
  Askarov? I think it's tough because I
• 8:26
  think he's a huge goalie talent, but The thing is goalies don't
• 8:32
  usually win the Calder. So I think it's been almost 20
• 8:37
  years or 15 years since the last goal he won the caller.
• 8:42
  I'm looking it up right now. Do you know who the last goal is
• 8:44
  when the caller was? No, but I would like to guess.
• 8:48
  OK, give me a give me a guess. Can you tell me like, like when,
• 8:53
  like ballpark like it's 15 years ago?
• 8:55
  Approximately 2009. OK, I was gonna say Rick
• 9:04
  Dipietro. I don't know why, but that's
• 9:07
  that's not that correct. Ben Bishop.
• 9:11
  No Ah. Who?
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  The coloured trophy in 2009 was won by Steve Mason.
• 9:22
  OK, never wanna guess. Yeah, I know.
• 9:27
  Well, you remember OK, right? He was on Columbus, right?
• 9:30
  Yeah, he was. OK, I remember like one day
• 9:35
  tuning into RDS and being like, wow, like, like, you know, like
• 9:39
  he's gone so long, which is like getting a shout out, like that's
• 9:42
  elite, you know, but but I mean, look, it's not like he's turned
• 9:46
  into a Hall of Famer or anything, but.
• 9:49
  It just doesn't. Happen, I think, yeah, that's
• 9:53
  that's a long time that that is that is over 15 years ago.
• 9:56
  So for for me would think I was gonna say is that we saw last
• 10:02
  year I think the best chance at a goalie winning the caller with
• 10:06
  Dustin Wolf in a long time and he almost willed his team to the
• 10:10
  playoffs like he Calgary was a terrible team and he kept them
• 10:13
  in the playoff conversation for very long.
• 10:16
  I think it was between honestly him and and Lane Hudson.
• 10:18
  Lane Hudson just had like an insane finish of the year to
• 10:22
  really win the trophy and he deserved it.
• 10:24
  But in any other year, I feel like it doesn't would have
• 10:26
  wanted that year. And that's what it takes for a
• 10:28
  goalie to even be in the conversation.
• 10:30
  You need to really will your team ahead of where we're
• 10:32
  supposed to be because it's just so hard to compete with guys
• 10:36
  that are putting up goals and assists and points.
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  Like those are the flashing numbers that people are always
• 10:40
  gonna be looking at. That's why I feel like it's
• 10:42
  harder for some defensemen to usually win it as well.
• 10:45
  We don't usually see it unless you're really making an impact,
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  so I I feel it's really unlikely for Askerov.
• 10:51
  I also think the defence in front of him is pretty suspect.
• 10:55
  Yeah, San Jose is far from having one of the best decors,
• 10:57
  so I feel like he can be a little leaky.
• 10:59
  So unless they're winning a lot of games and he's really at the
• 11:01
  forefront of that conversation, I don't think he's going to be a
• 11:06
  Calder finalist, let's put it that way.
• 11:09
  Finally, I mean, I love this sharks team for for their
• 11:14
  offensive potential, but you're right, like their defence is
• 11:18
  just not it. I mean, like, Orlov is pretty OK
• 11:23
  defenseman and Klingberg is good for offence, but this is not a
• 11:26
  like, this is a bottom of the packed detour.
• 11:29
  And that's the most important thing for save percentage, you
• 11:33
  know, and all the stuff that they're going to look at to
• 11:35
  determine if he's called a worthy.
• 11:36
  So we'll move on to the next. But I would definitely say that
• 11:39
  we'll probably make an episode later on before the season
• 11:42
  starts of like our favorite offences.
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  And I've got them higher than the one I think consensus.
• 11:49
  Yeah, they're a fun team. That's absolutely it.
• 11:52
  So yeah, let's move on to #8 We have from the Edmonton Oilers
• 11:58
  Matt Savoie. First thing I just quickly want
• 12:00
  to say about this, you know, it's awesome that a Stanley Cup
• 12:06
  like contending team has a Calder relevant player.
• 12:12
  You know what I mean? That's very exciting.
• 12:15
  To me or to call the relevant. If he does play, yeah, yeah,
• 12:20
  maybe no spoilers should perhaps took all the relevant players.
• 12:24
  Yeah, there you go. So, yeah.
• 12:28
  So the thing with with that is that, you know, if he's playing
• 12:32
  with McDavid or Dryside, all his two best players in the world.
• 12:35
  And I've spoken about how they don't always bring out the
• 12:41
  fantasy relevant prowess of those who they play with.
• 12:44
  However, you know, McDavid and Hyman did have that connection.
• 12:48
  So if he plays with Sevilla, if McDavid plays with whoever will
• 12:54
  talk about next. Long story short, McDavid or
• 12:56
  drive saddle, you could definitely do worse with those
• 12:59
  line mates. So I'm really excited to see
• 13:02
  what he could do this year. I mean this is odds are not that
• 13:06
  high to win. Realistically.
• 13:07
  He wasn't amazing in the AHL last year.
• 13:11
  So I would kind of look to that as an indicator.
• 13:13
  He had much more success in the in the WHL two years ago.
• 13:18
  But nevertheless, it's an exciting prospect.
• 13:22
  I just don't think there's really any chance he's gonna win
• 13:25
  the Calder, but definitely high enough potential to have him in
• 13:28
  our top 10. I I think you know, obviously to
• 13:31
  win the caller, you gotta be putting up points.
• 13:33
  And if you're playing alongside McDavid or Dry Sidal, I think,
• 13:39
  you know, you're at least given a situation where that's a
• 13:43
  possibility. So I think this is where we're
• 13:45
  starting to creep into the range of where I could see some of
• 13:47
  these guys actually like being a finalist or putting a a good
• 13:51
  season ahead of themselves. I think between Marie Savoia and
• 13:56
  the other Edmonton player we'll talk about shortly, I think
• 13:58
  yeah, one of them will end up taking kind of like the bigger
• 14:02
  lead in the lineup ahead of the other.
• 14:04
  And I don't see both of these guys ending up in the top 6.
• 14:07
  I think one of them ends up being in the bottom 6, and I
• 14:10
  think whoever ends up staying in the top 6 is going to be the one
• 14:13
  with the better odds to win it. It just depends on who who's
• 14:15
  meshes better with their linemates and who gets who gets
• 14:19
  better deployment in minutes. But either way, there's no spot
• 14:22
  open on P1 and I think that's gonna really hinder the options
• 14:25
  for like a Calder winning push. Fair.
• 14:28
  Yeah, that's actually a great point.
• 14:30
  Definitely tough because, you know, these are offensive
• 14:34
  players and it's not like they're skilled players and it's
• 14:38
  gonna depend on what kind of points they could put up.
• 14:40
  So if they're not getting the power play time, barring an
• 14:42
  injury or. It's just tougher.
• 14:45
  Yeah, absolutely. It's definitely harder.
• 14:47
  So let's move on to the next and we'll talk more about the Oilers
• 14:49
  soon. We have at #7 Ryan Leonard of
• 14:53
  the Washington Capitals. So sort of a good segue because
• 14:58
  Leonard is much more of like a power forward type guy that's
• 15:01
  sort of his. Archetype.
• 15:02
  He's definitely got 2.0. Exactly, exactly.
• 15:06
  Which is kind of fun that they're playing on the same team
• 15:08
  together, but realistically, that's gonna make his Calder
• 15:14
  winning odds a little difficult. But I feel like of all the
• 15:18
  offensive players who are on this list, I mean, you know,
• 15:26
  it's, it's not, he's not the guy that that's likely going to win
• 15:30
  it, but he can surprise and be in contention.
• 15:33
  Like I know he's not even in our top five, but wouldn't be
• 15:35
  surprised if he ends up like top three in the voting cuz
• 15:39
  especially analysts are very high on him.
• 15:41
  Now the Washington Capitals, that's an interesting team this
• 15:45
  year because they were amazing last year.
• 15:47
  I know Josh is totally fading them because they think their
• 15:50
  guys are overhyped. Yeah.
• 15:51
  Do you think that Leonard could actually have a meaningful role
• 15:54
  on this Capitals team this year? I think I think that's the name
• 15:58
  of the game with with Ryan Leonard and his first of all
• 16:00
  fantasy value this year and also his Calder aspirations.
• 16:04
  I think we're we're at the point where there's a lot of
• 16:08
  opportunity. I think in this lineup, like if
• 16:09
  you look at if you look at the potential lineup for the
• 16:11
  Washington Capitals on game one, like their first line right
• 16:15
  winger is LAX protest who had a great season last year.
• 16:18
  Honestly, don't get me wrong, it was kind of under the radar, but
• 16:21
  I wouldn't be surprised if you know, if they're shaking things
• 16:23
  up and Ryan Leonard ends up there or online 2 playing with,
• 16:26
  you know, Dubois and McMichael. Maybe Tom Wilson ends up ends up
• 16:30
  on line 1. So I think if he can squeeze his
• 16:32
  way into the top 6 and if he can squeeze his way somehow onto
• 16:36
  PP1, then I think he'll have honestly, you're a real shot at
• 16:41
  the Calder. He reminds me of what Tanner
• 16:43
  Janelle did in his rookie year where he was honestly like a
• 16:46
  super big physical presence on the ice for Nashville team that
• 16:50
  had that identity. And I think, you know, General,
• 16:54
  if you remember that year, he like scored a lot of goals and
• 16:56
  was really contributing in the points, which was kind of like
• 16:58
  surprising for his archetype, which is why he also like went
• 17:01
  for a halt to Tampa and then ended up doing nothing.
• 17:04
  But I can see kind of like Leonard's, you know, Calder, you
• 17:08
  know, path be kind of similar where he's a super physical
• 17:12
  presence on the ice and that's kind of like his game, but he's
• 17:14
  contributing in the points as well.
• 17:16
  And that really puts him in the conversation.
• 17:18
  It's gonna be about the deployment and if he can
• 17:19
  actually keep it or have it consistently.
• 17:23
  And honestly, we'll just have to see throughout the season if he
• 17:26
  can, if he can make it happen. I just think it's going to be
• 17:28
  tough to compete with those other guys.
• 17:30
  For sure. Well, I will say though, you
• 17:33
  know, he's coming in at #7 and obviously ask Rob's not cracking
• 17:37
  power play one, but. He doesn't know that.
• 17:41
  In all likelihood this is the only guy in my opinion outside
• 17:46
  of the top five. Will speak about the next guy
• 17:48
  soon, but that can actually crack power play.
• 17:50
  One reason being is that they've got, yeah, he's on the defence
• 17:57
  men and one of them is playing right wing, which is funny, is
• 18:01
  playing right wing because OV is obviously working from his
• 18:05
  office over time. So it's not as if there's no
• 18:10
  chance that Leonard ends up power play one, which kind of to
• 18:13
  me boosts him over a lot of other guys.
• 18:17
  I think his ceiling is pretty high because, as you mentioned,
• 18:22
  Ryan Leonard is a very physical player on a very physical
• 18:26
  Washington Capitals team. Like when they were playing the
• 18:29
  haves and the playoffs, they just demolished them.
• 18:31
  Of course, if you look though at what he did in the playoffs, it
• 18:34
  was totally, totally nonexistent.
• 18:36
  But. Yeah, I mean, we would expecting
• 18:38
  him to do anything either, right?
• 18:39
  It was just like a cherry on top.
• 18:43
  Of course, but I think it's a it's an exciting gotta watch for
• 18:47
  this year. I do love him for for Bangor
• 18:50
  leagues late round dark throw like don't reach on him because
• 18:54
  as you mentioned there is room for him to crack the top 6 but
• 18:56
  it's like it's looking like he's kind of buried to start.
• 19:01
  Unless like I don't see him going over protests, I see
• 19:04
  Leonard overtaking McMichael. That's what I would.
• 19:07
  Say, because Michael had honestly a breakout career last
• 19:10
  year, like we were talked about him throughout the season as
• 19:12
  being the best Connor Mick on in the NHL, right?
• 19:16
  We can't forget. Sure, but do you know how many
• 19:18
  points protests got in 76 games last?
• 19:21
  Year, I know it was super underrated.
• 19:22
  I think he scored like over 20 goals as well.
• 19:25
  Produced 66 points in 76 games last year and he had thirty
• 19:29
  goals. That's yeah, there diculous,
• 19:31
  honest, that's. Crazy.
• 19:32
  He's 6 foot 6. He's a monster.
• 19:35
  And he's only 24. So listen, like he honestly had
• 19:38
  a great year. And that's why it's gonna be
• 19:40
  obviously a conversation for for Leonard to make that top 6.
• 19:45
  But honestly, I wouldn't be shocked.
• 19:47
  And he's the guy that I'm definitely taking a shot on in
• 19:49
  bangers leagues late. Like you're in your double digit
• 19:52
  rounds, like our home league is like 22 rounds deep.
• 19:55
  I'm taking the shot came in around, you know, 15 to 20 and,
• 19:59
  you know, you hold them on your bench and you'll know after a
• 20:01
  week or two if like he's gonna have any value.
• 20:03
  And most likely what's gonna happen is he'll cut him.
• 20:06
  He'll go to waivers. And then later in the season
• 20:08
  when he pops off, he'll be a big commodity trying to everybody
• 20:12
  trying to pick him up. But those are the players that
• 20:15
  I'm taking a chance on deep in my in my bangers leagues. 100%
• 20:19
  And the last thing I'll just say about the Capitals overall is
• 20:21
  that they also have in their pipeline Lane Hudson's brother
• 20:24
  Cole Hudson. So huge obviously if he could do
• 20:29
  anything with Lynn has done and I think they had like similar
• 20:32
  numbers bag coming into their their rookie years.
• 20:37
  I don't know if he's necessarily gonna play there this year.
• 20:40
  But also one last thing is that they have Elio protist who's
• 20:44
  LAX's brother who just had a crazy year in the AHL.
• 20:49
  I got 124 points in 61 games and he's 65 so.
• 20:56
  Literally drafting family members and big.
• 20:58
  Guys. Yeah, exactly.
• 21:00
  Not not a bad not a bad strategy.
• 21:03
  There you go. I think the Capitals are like,
• 21:05
  this is more just me saying that they're not afraid this year.
• 21:09
  I think they could be monstrous again and I do expect Leonard to
• 21:12
  have a decent presence. So exciting team to watch in my
• 21:16
  opinion. Now let's move on to number six,
• 21:20
  Isaac Howard of the Edmonton Oilers.
• 21:22
  That is the guy who we were talking about before.
• 21:25
  It's very much the same thesis as Savoir.
• 21:29
  You know, if if yeah, whichever 1 succeeds here actually really
• 21:34
  has a chance to at least crack the top three because playing
• 21:39
  with Mcgary, it's quite fun. Just they're not cracking that
• 21:43
  power play. And if they happen to then
• 21:46
  that's huge. What I will like that won't
• 21:49
  happen. But listen, any of these
• 21:51
  possible. What I will say, though, why I'm
• 21:54
  more high, and I think you can agree with this on Howard over
• 21:57
  Savoy, is that much more of an assist guy and Howard's more of
• 22:02
  a goal scorer. 26 goals in 37 games in the NCAA last year,
• 22:07
  like that's top. And I think that obviously that
• 22:12
  goals per game is not getting replicated in the NHL.
• 22:16
  That was from the NCAA. But like, I mean, Mcdavid's
• 22:20
  literally the best playmaker in the league.
• 22:22
  And also dry saddle is no shab. So I think whoever is feeding
• 22:28
  Howard the puck, that makes him more exciting, Subway to me.
• 22:33
  I completely agree. I think also, how was a little
• 22:36
  older? He was drafted in 2022 in the
• 22:38
  first round by Tampa. So I feel like he has, you know,
• 22:41
  he's more his body is more developed.
• 22:42
  His his maybe more suited to the NHL game currently.
• 22:45
  And I think maybe that gives him a better edge over somewhat to,
• 22:48
  you know, have some more staying power in the lineup or at the
• 22:51
  top of the lineup. And we'll just have to see how
• 22:53
  things shake out. Obviously, right now he doesn't
• 22:56
  crack the top five, but I can easily see, you know, one of
• 22:59
  these Oilers rookies having a chance at it.
• 23:01
  It's just going to be. I just think there's too many
• 23:03
  high-end mouths to feed there to really have a shot at being the
• 23:07
  caller where you have to be. I feel like more of a focal
• 23:09
  point for the team success when it.
• 23:11
  Yeah, totally agree on that. Realistically, it's gonna be
• 23:18
  tough. The no power play is the
• 23:20
  question mark. Well, listen, look, seven goals
• 23:23
  and seven games in the world juniors last year and then 26
• 23:27
  and 37 for Michigan State University.
• 23:29
  Like, that's pretty promising from Howard.
• 23:32
  I I. It's in his still.
• 23:33
  Definitely, yes, I would favor him 100% over over sublow coming
• 23:38
  in. But yeah, we'll see.
• 23:41
  For the Calder, it's really like none of them are gonna get it.
• 23:44
  I'd like to say as a blanket statement, unless they do crack
• 23:48
  power play 1. And that would depend on an
• 23:49
  injury, of course, and that's totally unpredictable.
• 23:53
  And if it does, yeah, exactly. So let's move on to the next,
• 23:57
  which is a really interesting one in my opinion, is Alexander
• 24:02
  Nikishin of the Carolina Hurricanes.
• 24:05
  So fantasy, just wanna kind of talk about that first.
• 24:09
  Hurricanes are where the fantasy value of elite players goes to
• 24:14
  die. That's what we were talking
• 24:15
  about with rollers in our signings episode last week.
• 24:18
  So you could definitely go see that.
• 24:20
  Code kindly sucked before. He still sucks, not much of a
• 24:26
  difference over there, but Rod Brindamour is an awesome coach
• 24:31
  for real life. He just doesn't get that that
• 24:33
  elite offensive potential. So for a fantasy this year,
• 24:38
  Nikishin is not on my radar at all because I think Gostisbehere
• 24:43
  is definitely gonna be that guy. He's a power play specialist and
• 24:48
  in real life, you know how how elite are we gonna expect of a
• 24:53
  season for him to have look, 46 points and 61 KHL games for
• 24:58
  Nikisha non Saint Petersburg last year.
• 25:00
  Kind of nice to see, but I'm not too optimistic that he's going
• 25:06
  to be in the Calder conversation this.
• 25:09
  Year, I mean, listen, we know Carolina is one of the best
• 25:12
  defences in the league. He's gonna play I think second
• 25:15
  pairing minutes, which like it's a it's a good start, obviously
• 25:19
  like he's not playing on the third pair, which you would see
• 25:21
  a lot of rookies play. I think this is just going to
• 25:23
  depend on on, you know, the productivity of Shin Gasper
• 25:28
  ahead of him because I feel like Nikishin has the opportunity to
• 25:32
  like they don't have any like your offensive defensemen on
• 25:35
  this roster besides gossip. Sparen gossiper is a liability
• 25:38
  when he's not on the power play. So maybe this is the year that
• 25:41
  gospel takes a step back. I mean, he's 32 and we saw him
• 25:45
  get scratched a couple games last year as well.
• 25:47
  So maybe like we, like you just mentioned earlier, obviously
• 25:51
  there's a lot of good players here.
• 25:52
  We just don't really see the high end ceiling on on these Rod
• 25:55
  Brandon, North Carolina hurricane teams.
• 25:57
  But there's usually one defenseman that becomes valuable
• 26:00
  for fantasy and it's whoever is on that P1.
• 26:02
  And if Nikki should somehow cracks that role, then I think
• 26:06
  he's going to be a valuable commodity.
• 26:08
  But besides, then like you can't hold them on your roster until
• 26:12
  that happens because he's not gonna be putting up peripherals
• 26:14
  and he's not gonna be putting up offensive stats.
• 26:17
  So you kind of, he's like the type of guy that you put in your
• 26:19
  waivers on your waiver wire watch list right at the start of
• 26:23
  the season. You really monitor his playing
• 26:24
  time and his deployment. And if there's something that
• 26:28
  happens or you get some breaking news like that's when you pick
• 26:30
  him up. Yeah, and the the one the one
• 26:34
  thing I will say in his favour is that I think he's higher on
• 26:37
  the the depth chart than Keandre Miller as far as that next power
• 26:41
  play ball goes. Like this is an elite, elite
• 26:44
  defensive core IRL. Like Sean Walker is also a very
• 26:50
  good player. Like these are this is one of
• 26:53
  those drafted goalie from this team.
• 26:57
  It's just a question of which one, which is annoying, but I'm
• 27:00
  pretty high on the Hurricanes for defensive stats this year.
• 27:04
  But where Nikishin will realistically give himself a run
• 27:07
  for the like give others the run for their money is the offensive
• 27:11
  production. And I just think that the path
• 27:13
  for him to get theirs too complicated right now.
• 27:16
  I think we all agreed like me, you and I speak on behalf of
• 27:19
  Josh. They gossip bears gonna get the
• 27:21
  first crack of power play 1. So keep him on your watch list.
• 27:24
  As Kevin mentioned, keep him keep Nikishin kind of on your
• 27:28
  radar. But I'd pretty much like unless
• 27:31
  you're in a really deeply not not really considerate and I
• 27:34
  don't think the callers and the cards are him.
• 27:37
  Like, I mean, I know we put Ryan Leonard lower on the list
• 27:39
  because it's likely that he'll be lower in the voting, but
• 27:44
  there's like he's a higher variance.
• 27:46
  Whereas Nikisha I think is like safe.
• 27:48
  He's gonna deliver. But yeah, I just don't see him
• 27:51
  winning. So defenseman, however.
• 27:54
  Yes. Way more of an opportunity
• 27:56
  there. Very exciting.
• 27:58
  It's a really exciting one. How do you pronounce his name?
• 28:04
  So that you'd have a better shot than me but like.
• 28:05
  Zeev, Zeev. Or I don't know if it's ever
• 28:08
  Zev. It's one of those things that
• 28:09
  we're not supposed. To tell you buy them.
• 28:11
  Yeah, Boyum, boyum. I know it.
• 28:13
  For some reason, I have more trouble with the Z versus Zev.
• 28:16
  But yeah, that guy over there in Minnesota, this is where I think
• 28:24
  we're kind of getting into the anything could happen territory
• 28:26
  of our list because this is the first defenseman we're
• 28:31
  mentioning that I think they're going to want to see slash give
• 28:33
  the first opportunity. Two on power play, one on
• 28:37
  Minnesota. Zieve Boyum to me seeing like a
• 28:42
  point per game plus player is in two of his NCAA years, plus
• 28:47
  playing with Krill, Capri, Zov, Boldy, Zuccarello, Ericsson neck
• 28:50
  on the power play. One very exciting opportunity.
• 28:53
  Very, very exciting. This is like a fantasy points
• 28:57
  stud in my opinion. I'm totally down to draft him
• 29:01
  this year and there's a real chance that he makes a push for
• 29:04
  that Calder Trophy if he could do something similar to when
• 29:07
  late Huntsman didn't last year. Yep, I agree.
• 29:11
  I think I think it's honestly going to depend on his, you
• 29:15
  know, his deployment and how much he can actually get done.
• 29:19
  If he gets that P1, I think he's gonna be a lock in, you know,
• 29:23
  first of all, fantasy relevant defenseman and and his chance
• 29:28
  that the call there are going to be cemented.
• 29:30
  But I don't know, like we saw this, this obviously these
• 29:34
  people, one unit was successful last year, but they rotated
• 29:37
  whoever was on that defence like it was Brock Paver for a long
• 29:39
  time. We saw Jerry Spurgeon on there.
• 29:42
  It really kind of depends like who's having success and if they
• 29:45
  want to shake things up. But there's clearly an
• 29:47
  opportunity. That means the fact that nobody
• 29:49
  was able to hold it down. And if he can really put his
• 29:53
  name on paper for that spot, I think he'll have a great
• 29:56
  opportunity. I think it's still unlikely
• 29:58
  defence wins. It's honestly very rarely.
• 30:00
  The fact that Lane Hunter won it last year was was not a miracle,
• 30:03
  but very surprising. So it is just going to be about
• 30:08
  like, I can see boom. Not not saying the NHL the whole
• 30:11
  year either. I feel like Minnesota and their
• 30:13
  rookies don't always get the most opportunity to play there.
• 30:17
  And Minnesota is gonna be making a, I think Stanley Cup push this
• 30:21
  year. So if they're being a liability
• 30:25
  in any way, they don't have time to wait around and for to
• 30:28
  develop rookies right now. They're trying to compete at the
• 30:30
  same time. So it's about how fast he
• 30:32
  acclimated to the game and if it stays that way.
• 30:35
  Yeah, I do kinda actually wanna mention like an honorable, Well,
• 30:40
  I guess not really. I was gonna say yes for
• 30:41
  Walstead, but he's probably pretty much buried behind
• 30:44
  Gustafson. But yeah, you can keep an eye
• 30:47
  out for him, like in draft. No colder conversation for him,
• 30:50
  of course, but he's a very, very highly touted prospect.
• 30:54
  So I think, yeah, if for some reason Gustafson, the struggling
• 30:58
  like this is going to be a wagon of a team this year.
• 31:01
  We all think that. So don't they?
• 31:03
  Don't the Wild also have David check who they traded for and
• 31:07
  who's not even in this lineup currently?
• 31:09
  Yeah, there he was, supposed. To be like he got drafted 6th
• 31:12
  overall in 2022 and we, I feel like he's just been looked down
• 31:17
  upon by every team that he's on right now and Minnesota traded
• 31:19
  for him and he's we're not hearing anything about it.
• 31:22
  Yeah, which is pretty strange actually.
• 31:24
  So I mean look he came over from Columbus and I'm never a fan of
• 31:28
  mid season trades for fantasy value anyways, but he was
• 31:30
  obviously irrelevant because he didn't play for them last year.
• 31:33
  But that is a true statement. I mean like he could definitely
• 31:37
  take over. So I think you're right.
• 31:39
  The issue with Boyum fantasy wise is going to be the least
• 31:44
  the leash that they have him, you know, on this year is like
• 31:47
  if you're not performing right away, we're gonna put someone
• 31:49
  there who will. And I actually believe that they
• 31:52
  wouldn't be impossible for them to run 5 forwards right?
• 31:56
  They got Vladimir Tarasenko, Which?
• 31:59
  I think they wanted defensive for some response, like have
• 32:01
  some like no defensive responsibility on the ice there.
• 32:04
  But yeah, I guess we'll see. We should go to the next one.
• 32:08
  Yeah, but highest variance of all of them in my opinion, that
• 32:11
  we've mentioned William. So next we've got Jimmy.
• 32:16
  Can't pronounce his name rude. It sounds like Dunkaroos
• 32:21
  whenever Josh says it. No paid advertising there.
• 32:25
  All right, So Jimmy Snuggerud, so him.
• 32:29
  I think it's really nice to see on the Saint Louis Blues team.
• 32:33
  He's definitely got a huge opportunity, especially with
• 32:36
  Bulldog, and they're gonna put him on power play 1 and I think
• 32:39
  he's gonna have a really good year.
• 32:42
  To me this is like a safe safe bet.
• 32:46
  Over here I think. Like a top three guy.
• 32:48
  I was gonna say, I think between him and whoever we have at 2, I
• 32:51
  think that we are really close conversation because I really
• 32:54
  feel like the deployment is going to be consistent for
• 32:56
  Snuggerud. I mean the Blues are a deep
• 32:59
  team. They have like 3 usable lines.
• 33:01
  They have two power play units that they're feeding at the same
• 33:03
  time. So it's just going to be
• 33:05
  dependent on how much like how good his deployment is
• 33:08
  throughout the season. But I think he has all the tools
• 33:10
  to be a Calder Trophy winner. And I think it's just going to
• 33:13
  depend if you can put it all together and, and keep it
• 33:15
  deployment and keep the production this year.
• 33:17
  But I think this is we're getting into the people that are
• 33:20
  like the players that are have a real shot at winning it.
• 33:23
  Yeah, he's he's a clear number three behind the top 2 for me.
• 33:26
  I think like you may be higher on him than I am in that way.
• 33:31
  But like, like this is not the reason that he's he's so high on
• 33:35
  this list is the opportunity. And not to mention the fact that
• 33:39
  Montgomery is an awesome coach that unlike Rod, will get elite
• 33:44
  production out of his players. And you know, if he does play
• 33:48
  with Robert Thomas, who was one of the best passers in the
• 33:51
  league, big, big fan of that. So total totally down to draft
• 33:56
  him for fantasy. But the last thing to mention I
• 33:59
  think for him is also like in terms of the Calder is he isn't
• 34:03
  like he wasn't like a top prospect compared to these other
• 34:06
  guys that we've been talking about in this top five.
• 34:08
  Like he he's really, it's really based on the deployment and his
• 34:12
  opportunity as opposed to like his pedigree as a prospect
• 34:15
  coming into, you know, playing line ones power play 1, you
• 34:18
  know. 100% So if he the question mark for me is is he going to
• 34:22
  keep that power play on? But he's going to probably start
• 34:24
  the year there. So definitely exciting to to
• 34:27
  draft him and also if he keeps it, he can really he can really
• 34:31
  do a push. So next we've got Michael Misa
• 34:36
  of the San Jose Sharks. Hungry.
• 34:40
  Sorry. Cool to me, to me this this guy
• 34:47
  like I think Misa is closer to competing for the number one
• 34:50
  spot then he is with Snuggerud for #3 do you know what I'm
• 34:55
  saying? Like sorry for number 2.
• 34:57
  I think it's like Snuggerud and then a tear break and then the
• 35:01
  top 2. That's my opinion.
• 35:03
  Totally get why you're you. Know I'm more hesitant.
• 35:08
  Yeah, go for it. I was just going to say, I feel
• 35:11
  like obviously we know that he has a lot of raw talent and I
• 35:14
  feel like his hockey IQ is super high, Like he has the
• 35:17
  intangibles that make for a Calder trophy winner.
• 35:20
  And I feel like in any other year he'd be like, honestly,
• 35:23
  like a, a super top level, like, you know, almost guaranteed
• 35:26
  pick. But I just feel like this, this
• 35:29
  San Jose team has a lot of other young guys that are that are the
• 35:33
  focal point of the team. I don't know if honestly, I feel
• 35:36
  like I can see Misa not playing in the NHL the whole year
• 35:39
  either. And I just, I'm worried about
• 35:42
  how his game can get acclimated to the NHL physicality early on
• 35:48
  and compared to the first, compared to the first guy.
• 35:50
  We're talking, we're going to talk about like if you haven't
• 35:52
  narrowed down the name just yet, like if you was pretty obvious
• 35:55
  at this point, But I feel like I feel like there's a huge,
• 35:58
  there's a huge gap between into the two opportunities.
• 36:02
  I see what you're saying. I mean, the other guys like a
• 36:04
  lock to stay in the NHL, you know, we'll just mention him
• 36:07
  now, yes. Ivan Demidov of the Montreal
• 36:11
  Canadiens. So obviously you want.
• 36:13
  Yeah, there you go. We want Demidov to be the Calder
• 36:18
  Trophy winner. It would be so so.
• 36:20
  High back years as Habs. Fans who suffered for so long to
• 36:25
  to have that back-to-back year, it's like and like not being our
• 36:30
  most recent first overall pick in Slomkowski.
• 36:32
  Like this is such a fun team. Like it's such a great time to
• 36:35
  be a Habs fan. Like huge smile on my face right
• 36:38
  now thinking about this. But the thing with MISA, like
• 36:41
  just kind of to compare both of them is that MISA does have,
• 36:46
  like, this incredible feeling. He got over 2 points per game
• 36:48
  last year in the OHL. It doesn't come much more elite
• 36:52
  than that. And he was like one of those
• 36:55
  super highly touted. Yeah.
• 36:57
  I think it was like. An early hearing, his name for a
• 36:58
  while. Yeah, he was like an early
• 37:00
  recruit to the OHL and names like that are Eronet Blatt and
• 37:04
  John Tavares. Like these are end up being
• 37:07
  elite talents in the NHL. So look, I mean, Demidov is
• 37:13
  Demidov is currently 19 misses 18.
• 37:16
  And now that discrepancy matters.
• 37:18
  And also Demidov is like a bigger guy.
• 37:20
  He's like heavier. He's so he's more NHL ready.
• 37:23
  There's no question about it. And he was sick to watch last
• 37:25
  year when he did out of the opportunity.
• 37:27
  Nevertheless, I'm definitely higher on Demanov.
• 37:31
  But if Misa does stay in the NHL, this is playing with
• 37:35
  celebrity, playing with Will Smith and I think like obviously
• 37:38
  has to crack power play to win the Calder.
• 37:40
  It's exciting. The case for Demidov, just real
• 37:44
  quick, he is gonna be on that power play.
• 37:46
  Like they are going to do whatever they can to make him
• 37:48
  succeed. Whereas for Misa may not stay
• 37:52
  there. Yeah, I mean, you, you touched
• 37:55
  on basically most of it. I think this is Demidova's award
• 37:58
  to lose at this point. We saw what he could do already
• 38:01
  in his short sample size last year.
• 38:03
  I think this year he's going to be even more set up for success.
• 38:06
  I think the whole team is is really excited about his
• 38:09
  presence. And I just think he also he's
• 38:11
  just a better prospect than me. So and and there's there's less
• 38:16
  questions about Demidov right now and I feel like his ceiling
• 38:19
  is up there, if not higher than Michael me says.
• 38:22
  So I'm really excited to watch hockey degree and and and see
• 38:25
  both of them on the ice. It's gonna be honest.
• 38:28
  I feel like it could be a close race at points.
• 38:29
  You're looking at the betting odds right now.
• 38:31
  We'll end on this. The betting odds have to be done
• 38:33
  at like plus 250 and then the second closest Michael meet plus
• 38:36
  1400. That's a huge gap.
• 38:38
  If you're not familiar with betting, it's monumental gap in
• 38:42
  terms of like the odds to win the colour trophy.
• 38:45
  So I mean listen, trophy to lose.
• 38:47
  I guess we'll have to see on the ice.
• 38:49
  I'm excited, Hall, right? Thank you to everybody for
• 38:52
  listening to this week's episode.
• 38:54
  If you enjoyed the show, rate US five stars like subscribe follow
• 38:57
  us on all our socials which can be found in the tree in the
• 39:00
  podcast description but about bound bank or management fantasy
• 39:04
  hockey podcast. Woo woo.
• 39:07
  Very nice.