Jumping Into The Zach Benson Debate; Early Favorite Prospects For 2027 NHL Draft And Much More

Called Up: The Hockey Prospects Podcast · Aug 21, 2026 · 1h 25m

You know it's August when the hockey internet is ablaze with player debates. And Called Up was more than happy to jump into one of the most heated player evaluation discussions in recent memory.

Before we get to that, though, Chris and Cam dish on their favorite players for the 2027 NHL Draft early on and the players that are intriguing for the upcoming draft season. Dima Zhilkin led the way in that discussion as the Called Up guys discuss one of the more exciting prospects for the class.

After that, though, they had to dive into the discourse surrounding The Athletic's recent U23 player…