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From Russian Phenom to AHL Scoring Machine - Carolina's Future Shines! · stormTRacker Podcast | Carolina Hurricanes & NHL Hockey

• 0:32
  Speaker 1: So a lot's exciting with Carolina Hurricanes prospects these days.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: We recently saw Scott Morrow and Justin Robida with brief additions with the Carolina Hurricanes and they look good.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: They did not look out of place at all.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: And of course, we've been following Jackson Blake's development this year and he's been a strong contributor to the Canes as well.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Lots of other players are in the mix and, of course, alexander Nikitian and what's going to happen with Alexander as we hear lots of rumors about the future for Alexander and the Canes.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Lots to talk about today and we're going to talk about the top five prospects of the month for March and joining me to do that, as always, our prospect guru, mr Nick Bass.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Nick, welcome, hello, hey, nick.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a great month in March.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Several of the top prospects again continuing their fine play.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: We saw some good things with some of these prospects, as I mentioned, getting a cup of coffee with the Hurricanes and we'll talk a little bit about those guys as well.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: But, yeah, generally a strong month and leading it off at number five for the month, interestingly enough, is Jackson Blake, and you know Blake has certainly been catching attention of a lot of Canes fans recently.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: His play on the top line has been particularly exciting.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Here's an interesting comment from Hockey Forecaster.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: When they were talking about Jackson, they said his father, jason Blake, was a pesky winger with opportunistic scoring skills.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: He's not too far off that comparison.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: They're talking about Jackson, though he'll need to bulk up a little bit we see that a little bit.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: In his play.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: His speed, energy and compete level are first rate and he'll get his nose dirty in order to score goals.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: So some interesting comments about Jackson and what did you see with him in March and what are your general thoughts on Jackson Blake?
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: yeah, uh, blake had a really good March.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Uh, I always feel bad because I feel as if I don't talk about him enough, um, whenever I do these prospect things, just because I don't watch a ton of NHL hockey at this point.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: But, um, from what I've seen, uh, he's been great.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Um, his talent's always been there and I think he flashed it really.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: He flashed a lot of what he did really well at the NCAA level and then it's starting to translate a lot more what he did really well at the end and caa level and then it's starting to translate a lot more at the nhl level.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: It just took some time.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Um, his board work is impressive for a guy of his age and a guy of his his stature.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: It's very, very good.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: His compute is obviously really good.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: He does a lot of things right and it's good to finally see blake get on the score sheet.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Even though he's been playing really well, he just hasn't gotten great puck luck.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean with Blake.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: You know he's up to 15 goals now, which is something he's been particularly strong lately.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: And it seemed like when he joined that line with Sebastian Ajo and Seth Jarvis, that line started to take off, and it's no surprise the way he plays.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And you're right.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: You're right, nick, he's amazing on the boards.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: How many times have we seen him go in there and there's a bunch of folk pushing and shoving and out comes Jason Blake with the puck.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: And the other thing I've noticed and I'm sure you've seen this as well is his willingness to go into the dirty areas.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: It's astounding.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: He'll go to the net.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: He has no concern at all what's going on there.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: He's going to try to get that puck close to the net and it shows and I think you know he was a Hobie Baker finalist last year he's a player that certainly has a great pedigree.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: I like Jackson Blake and I think he's surprised a lot of folks with the fact that, as the season has gone on, he's actually playing better hockey, and that's you know.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: After coming out of the college ranks, as you know, that's a little bit of a challenge because their seasons are much shorter.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, but at that same point he looked really good at the start of the year.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: He just didn't have a ton of ice time.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: And he's progressed as a player and now he's earned his ice time, so I'm not too shocked by it.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: He always had the talent.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: It just took him a little bit to figure out how to translate it.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're absolutely right, and I think the future is bright for Jackson Blake and certainly lots more to come from him.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: The Canes are going to be counting on him as they head into the playoffs, for sure, because he's been one of the catalysts for the offensive side of their game and and I think that's great news.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Number four is a player we've talked about a lot.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that uh was drafted 147th in 2021.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Uh, corey Prondman of the athletic had him at 49,.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Bob McKenzie had him at 80.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: So some folks had a much higher in the draft and you know that he kind of slipped in the draft a little bit because of size.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: That's typical.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: He's checking in at 5'8 and 180 now, so he's a pretty stocky player.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: His play with the Canes in his short cup of coffee was quite impressive A goal and an assist in two games, and he looked strong on the ice.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: He's having a great year.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: He's got 48 points in 65 games.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: What did you see from Justin Robitaille in March?
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he had a really good month at the AHL level and when the Wolves were in Grand Rapids right before he got called up it just kind of made sense and he's definitely earned the NHL time that he got and it was really encouraging to see that the same traits that made him really good at the AHL level which was his, his work ethic, his hockey sense and his offensive, his 200 foot game and I'm glad that translated immediately to the NHL and he showed a lot of good traits already and you know he's I've called him an NHL guy a lot and that's just in spite of his size.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: He's a guy that can and probably will play a lot more NHL games in the future.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: It just depends on when.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Robitaille is a guy that certainly, from what I've seen, he is very strong on his skates.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: They say he plays bigger than his size and he is smart man.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: He's making things happen out there.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: We saw that on his assist and of course he also scored.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: So clearly he's a guy that is growing fast and last year, of course, he was in the Eastern Coast Hockey League and part of that because the Canes didn't have an AHL affiliate.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: But he cut his teeth in the Eastern League.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: He's come up and he's played very, very well in all situations for the Wolves.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: You know he kills penalties.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: He's obviously key on the power play and I look forward to see what his contribution is as the Wolves head into the playoffs, which is exciting to see for sure.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Moving to number three is an interesting one.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: We've talked about him a little bit before.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: That's Alexander Perevolov.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Now Perevolov this year seems to be putting it all together.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: He's currently in the VHL with Medelersk, had a pretty good run with them 23 points in 26 games.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: A couple of things about him.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Them, 23 points in 26 games.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: A couple of things about him.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: He checks in at six feet and he's 190 pounds or so.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that was picked 71st in 2022, but he was rated much higher.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Central Scouting Europe had him at 14.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: The Keens had him at 25.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Craig Button at 21.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: So there were some folks that really, really liked Paravlov.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: I just want to tell you a little comment, too, about him.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: This is from Corey Promen Promen.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: You know he's respected as one of the better folks who look at prospects around the globe.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: He said Paravlov can make a lot of good things happen with the puck.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: He has excellent stick skills, showing consistent ability to beat checks one-on-one and create inside the offensive zone with his stick handling.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: So some pretty good words about Alexander Prevla.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: What did you see from Alexander in March?
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that trade from his team that he started with Umski Kraljev, to Mildred Novok whose net was actually probably the best move for his career, because it didn't his past two years, three years at this point, had been really shaky and that was a mix of injury, coaching styles, teams that he was on it was a whole mix of things.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: And now he got traded to a team that actually gave him a lot of opportunity and he took that opportunity and made a lot out of it.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: He was almost a point-per-game player with them and he was very instrumental.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: They were the number one team going into the playoffs.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Now obviously their team did not win, but he saw a really really good year and going into next year with the same team.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Hopefully I would think that he would continue that really good play.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's an exciting one, I think you know.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: When you look at some of the folks currently playing in Russia, I think Pravolov is one of the guys we want to keep a close eye on for sure, and everything is starting to trend the way that we hoped it would.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Okay, moving to number two and again we've talked about him several times, and rightfully so Bradley Nadeau.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Nadeau is just tearing it up.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: He had a great march and he's having as strong or better April as you've seen.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: He's now hit 29 goals for the Wolves.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: He's actually first in the American Hockey League goal scoring for rookies and he's tied for seventh overall.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: So he's a guy that is definitely getting it done.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: A couple of comments on Nadeau.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Corey Promen said he can skate by and beat a lot of defenders, but he's also excellent at creating with space.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: He sees the ice at a high level, making a lot of seam passes and making tough passes on the move.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Bradley Nadeau, he is something else.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: What did he do in March?
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, nadeau, he just continued his torrid pace coming back from World Juniors.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: He's just played like a man, possessed, and everybody knows about his shot.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: He likes the left circle and the power play.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: He's gotten eight of those.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: I think they've been in different ways, but he sets up in the left circle and the power play.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: He's gotten eight of those.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: I think they've been in different ways, but he sets up in the left circle on the power play and he really likes it.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: His skating has continued to get better.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: He's seeing the ice a lot better and the traits are starting to translate more.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: The skating is also still really good.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: The one thing that still needs a little bit of work and that just comes with time, is fixing rookie mistakes.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: They happen.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: Thing that still needs a little bit of work and that just comes with time is fixing rookie mistakes.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: There they happen a little bit.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: It's not often, but it does happen a lot.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Happens a few times.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: So whenever he fixes up those mistakes he's going to be a really good player and it it's almost historic when a guy who's not even 20 yet scores 30 at the AHL level and he's probably going to score 30 at the AHL level.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: So he he's probably going to score 30 at the AHL level, so he's had a heck of a year and March was just a continuance of that.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's amazing how he's.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: As you say, he came back from that World Junior Tournament and he has been something else and you see that one-timer and that's, you know, working with some of his key line mates, they seem to have that down to a science right now and he's virtually unstoppable in that situation, as we've seen.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: So I think his offensive skills we talked a lot about this in the past they're definitely going to, you know, transfer over to the NHL as well and I think, translate nicely when he gets a chance and hopefully, you know, if he continues to work on his 200-foot game, which is, as you mentioned, some of these challenges that these youngsters have, is to get that full game in play Boy.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: He's going to be something, no question.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: So, lots of excitement around Bradley Nadeau Moving to number one and he actually has been instrumental in Nadeau's success this year, for sure, as we've watched a lot of the highlights with Nadeau, ryan, suzuki and Suzuki continuing his fine play this year he's now got 54 points in 64 games.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that has quietly gone about his business this year.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: He saw a few games with the Hurricanes, but he's continued to play extremely well for the Wolves and will be a key, key asset as they head into the playoffs.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: What did you see from Suzuki in March?
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, again, he was just.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: This has been his most healthy season since coming to the AHL and it's proven to be his best.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: His playmaking is next level.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: His ability to move the puck is incredible and his ability to maybe not manipulate space, but his ability to create opportunities for his teammates is just unbelievable.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: He's been a dominant top six center for most of the year.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: He's top three in assists.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: He's been just unreal and he's been everything the Wolves have needed him to.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm hoping for another nice little run here out of Suzuki, who it's he's probably an NHL player right now.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: It's just it, just tough, unfortunately.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's going to be the interesting challenge.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: He is a restricted free agent.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: This summer Last year they re-upped him for a single year.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, again, he's having an outstanding year and he will be critical as they go forward.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: And you know, I've noticed his work, particularly on the power play with Nadeau and with Juha Jaska forming a Troy cop there and and again, depending on who the point guys are really getting something done.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Their power play was deadly for a period in Chicago.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: You might've seen that.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: They were just unbelievable.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: So, he's again a guy with elite offensive skills and boy, we look at his brother doing so very well with Montreal, and we kind of continue to have hopes that Ryan is going to have a shot at some point with the Hurricanes.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, so the top five heading to the final one was Ryan Suzuki, and now we'll talk a little bit about some of those honorable mentions.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: We'll kick it off with a defenseman that I've been really excited about and, of course, when Scott Morrow moved up to the Canes, his playing time increased and of course he continued to, I think, shine in that role.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: And that's Dominic Pensori in that role.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: And that's Dominic Pensori Pensori with Boston University, you know, two years ago.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that was the team captain, he was a Hobie Baker finalist, or at least was nominated for Hobie Baker two years in a row.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that has all the skill in the world, you know.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: He can skate, he can move the puck smartly, he's really, really strengthened the defensive side of his game and for a smaller defenseman, he seems to play pretty big.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: What did you see from Dominic in March?
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: He's turned into one I mean probably right now.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: He's been one of the Wolves' best defensemen, if not the best one.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: His ability to kill penalties has been instrumental.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: His ability to help a power play unit, even though he's on unit two, has been really good Five on five.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: He's super strong in both ends.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: His skating is unbelievable and the size really doesn't bother him.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: It doesn't bother me, it doesn't really bother anybody.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: He's still physical when he needs to be, which is always really nice.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: So Fensori's been really good and again I see an NHL player there.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: It's just a matter of when, if not if, at this point.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: I agree, and of course he had.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: In March he had seven points in 11 games.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: He's continued to rack up the points.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: This year he's got 31 points in 64 games.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Now he's another story where he started last year.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: You might recall he was in Norfolk to start the year.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Story where he started last year.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: You might recall he was in Norfolk to start the year and of course, the Wolves got into a world of hurt and came to the Hurricanes and said can you help us out?
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: And one of the players they did send up with of course was was Dominic Pensori, I think again getting the chance to get extra minutes.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: He can skate with the best of them.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: He's a very smart player.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: I really like him and and whenever I've seen him you know, in the prospect showcases and certainly in the action I've seen with Chicago he's a very impressive player.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: So yes, I think he's got a future in the NHL.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure, as the Canes are continuing to load up their defensive core.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure where that will be with the Hurricanes, but certainly he's a guy to keep an eye on.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Where that will be with the Hurricanes, but certainly he's a guy to keep an eye on.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: And then another one on the blue and I just mentioned he was.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: His move to the Hurricanes really gave Fensuri his opportunity and that's Scott Morrow.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: You know Morrow, in nine games with the Canes, has five points.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: He's a plus player.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: I think he looked tremendous and even in those losses I thought he accorded himself extremely well.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that you know.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: He came out of UMass.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that can really play outstanding player.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: What'd you see with Scott Morrow?
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't really have a ton to say because I feel as if I've said it all with Scott Morrow, but he's an NHL player at this point.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: It's not going to be this year that he's a full-time NHL player, because you're going into the playoffs and he won't do it, but he's a full-time NHL player.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: He has top four potential.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: He has power play potential, even though they haven't let him try it which seems short-sighted, but I'm not the coach.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Try it, which seems short-sighted, but I'm not the coach.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: He's just been really good and everything that has worked at the AHL level is at the NHL level and still working.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: The one thing that he just needs to be a little bit smarter when he has the puck on his stick, instead of trying to go, you know, one on three, he should wait and try and find an open teammate.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: And it's not to say that he doesn't have the skill to do it, it's just you're not there yet.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: He's an NHL player through and through at this point and I expect him to have a full-time job next year.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be interesting.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: As you look at the defensive core for next year, you've got a number of players coming back, four of them still on deals next year.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: It looks like there will be a couple of spots open.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Morrow is making his case for sure and I think he surprised a lot of folks with how much he has developed his game.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: And you know it was interesting to see him teaming with Shane Goss despair, because you know you think about Morrow has historically been viewed as an offensive minded defenseman needed to shore up his defensive game.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: He has looked very strong working with Ghost and they've been among the stronger pairs, interestingly enough, when they've been together.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: So you know again a guy that really has continued to develop as the Canes would hope.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: And I think his opportunity in Chicago, where he saw lots of minutes, big minutes in all situations, right, so getting a chance to actually grow his game as he should and a right-hand shot D-man so great stuff with Scott Morrow.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Look forward to his increased playing time with the Hurricanes.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: And one thing I did see and I don't know if you've seen a lot of this too, nick, but his incredible ability with the puck to see the ice extremely well, and to make plays just wonderful.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's next level stuff.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Cool, okay, so the final gentleman on your honorable mentions is well, I guess it's time to do the Nikitian watch, because it's Alexander Nikitian and you know Nikitian.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Again a strong season in SKA with St Petersburg SKA 46 points.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: He's had over 50 the two previous seasons.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: He continues to tear it up and I noticed in the three playoff games he was in against Dynamo Moscow he played massive minutes.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: One game he was, I think, over 35 minutes.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: I mean it was insane.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: So he's a guy that could play the big minutes.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: He was counted on, of course, by SK in a big way and again drafted in the third round in 2020, 69th overall.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: This could be one of the steals of all time.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: What did you see with Alexander Nikishi?
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he just played like he has for the past two years Whenever he's fully healthy.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: He was SKA's defense.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: For the most part, he was their number one guy.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: The only time he wasn't their number one guy was on the penalty kill, and he still got penalty kill time.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: He's just been their best.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: He was arguably even in the three games that they played.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: The only other guy that you could really say was better than him in that series was Demidov.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: Other than that, he was arguably even in the three games that they played.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: The only other guy that you could really say was better than him in that series was demidoff.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Other than that, he was their best player.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: Even in three games that he played, he.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: He was absolutely ridiculous.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: But the thing is that's just the level of play that he has.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter he.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Whenever he steps on the ice, he's the guy.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: He's just good.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: He's just better than 90 of the guys in the khl, and people know it.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: It's just good.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: He's just better than 90% of the guys in the KHL and people know it.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: It's just the level of his play.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: That just makes him that good.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Well, what is it that he does?
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, what do you see when you watch him?
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Is it his vision on the ice?
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Is it his shooting?
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Is it his skating?
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: What do you see with Alexander Nikitin?
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: It's everything.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: It's his ability to break out in transition, whether that be carrying the puck or giving it to a teammate to let them go.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: It's his defensive ability, it's his physicality, it's his skating, it's vision, it's kind of just everything.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: He does everything at a pretty decently high level, which is very rare for a guy as young as he is and people might not see 23 as that young, but it still is.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: He does everything at a pretty decently high level and again, that's just really really good.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Well, and you mentioned he's 23.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: He's going to turn 24 in October.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, he's been in the KHL for parts of six seasons now, so he came as a very young player and I guess that's how the Canes were able to see him in his early years in the KHL and then draft him.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: And again, what do you think when you see Nikitian heading into the NHL?
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's a different game, it's tougher.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: What do you see as the potential for Nikitian as he, uh, as he becomes a, an NHL player?
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: there's gonna, no matter what.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: There'll be a transitionary period, just getting used to North American ice, because there is a big difference.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: But he's a guy that you know.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: I've said it before if Jacob Slavin didn't exist, he'd be your number one left-handed defenseman, without any question.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: He's going to be able to give you big minutes.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: He's going to run a power play unit and he's probably going to do it at a high clip.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: Yes, point potential I always struggle with these, just because it's not my thing to really give it, but he can definitely average numbers.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Probably the Hurricanes haven't seen in a while, if ever.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: I don't really know where that is, but he can definitely get a lot of points and that's seen by being a near point per game defenseman over two years.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean for sure.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: His offensive game has come miles.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: When he was first being drafted, a lot of the pundits were saying that they didn't see an offensive part to his game at that point, and you can see the numbers.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: It's incredible how they went from very, very low to you know a massive change in a very short period of time.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: So he definitely found his mojo.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about you know where are the Canes and where is this situation with Nikitian?
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: A lot of folks are wondering what's going on.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Of course, we heard that Ivan Demidov had been given his release, really surprisingly, by SKA and has now signed on with the Montreal Canadiens, and there are other moves that SKA has been making.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: What is your feeling about all of this right now, nick?
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: So first up with Demidov.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: There's a big difference between Demidov's situation and Nikitin's.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: There's a couple, but the main one was that he was going to go to Montreal no matter what.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: So SKA played nice there.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: The big one, and I truly mean the biggest one is that, like I've said in the past, nikitin is their captain.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: They're not going to let him just immediately go because, again, he's their captain.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: He's been their captain for two years.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: It's going to take time, no matter what.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: There's been no doubts from russian media that he is coming to north america.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Daria tuboltsova, who does incredible work for rg media and does a lot of work for the khl in russia, for their media stuff, she's already reported that he's gonna sign.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: It's just, it's not a matter of work for the KHL in Russia for their media stuff.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: She already reported that he's going to sign.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: It's just.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: It's not a matter of if it's going to happen, it's a matter of when, and people just need to, you know, be patient with it.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: It's just going to take time.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: Well, and again, I think there's a lot in this for sure, as we've heard that you know, nikitin has, along with the interest of SKA and I understand that they made an offer to him at some point to stay with the team.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Along with that, of course, his partner, I guess.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: She has a significant career that she's been building in Russia as well.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: He has investments there.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: So it's a little bit more complex.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: On the personal side, and again, I think you know, looking at just, you know, kind of finalizing everything and getting them over, there's been discussion about the, the contract discussions, particularly with Cortex, and I saw something today on X from Hockey Hub basically saying that there was a discussion that would probably clarify what the next deal with the Canes would look like, and they said it might be in the $4 million range.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: So this is a very complex deal to put together and I think you're right on that too, nick, that very complex deal to put together, and I think you're right on that too, nick, that folks have to be patient.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: The reality is that it sounds like Alexander is going to come to North America, as you said.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: It's been reported from different folks that believe that's the case and again, it's just is it going to be now?
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Is it going to be in the summer?
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: When will it be?
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: We're just going to have to hang on to see how that plays out.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: We did hear, also on the Canes broadcast the other day, that Chuck Tracy had been talking with Eric Tulsky and Tulsky is heads down trying to get this done.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: So lots of work behind the scenes to try to make it happen.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Clearly the Canes understand just how important Alexander and Keishon is to their future.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: So exciting stuff and following it very, very closely, for sure.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Ok, so let's talk a little bit about some of the players that we see are coming over to North America.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: We talked about this last time.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Last time you had some folks on the radar that you're thinking about that could end their seasons in their respective leagues and potentially head over to North America and play for the Chicago Wolves.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Now we did talk about Yoel Nistrom and that deal is done, so he's coming over to North America.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on that?
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: He's a really solid defenseman already.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: He's going to be the Wolves' one of their better skaters.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: He's going to be one of their better defensemen.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: He's just a very good player already.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: So interested to see how that goes.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Well, again a right shot guy and lots of confusion on the size of Nystrom.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw it, but the Chicago Wolf site has him at 5'9", the Canes site has him at 5'11" and Elite Prospects has him at 6'2".
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: So I'm not sure where he is.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: He is 5'11".
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: He's 5'11" Okay.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: So he is 5'11" Okay.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: So one thing that Darren York had said when they drafted him was that he felt like he was a defenseman that was not far from being able to play in the NHL even at that stage.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: So he's continued his work with Farzastad over in the SHL another season there, a very good season, and he gets a chance to head over to Chicago.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: So I'm, like you, very excited to see what he's going to do.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Another guy that is currently under contract to the Canes and apparently there's something going on with him that would be Dominic Badinka Now Badinka again.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: He was playing in Sweden with Malmo and their junior team this year.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: He's 19 years old.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: He's a big guy.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: When he was drafted, scott Wheeler said he's got size, moves the puck, sees the ice well, likes to carry it in, influence, play and plays hard and confidently.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: What are you thinking about badinka's potential of heading over to north america?
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: um, yeah, that's a um.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: More reports have come out from sweden that they do like these recaps of like, hey, this is where this guy is doing, or this is what this team is thinking, and badinka is going to come to north america.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: It's a matter of when, if not just if it's going to happen.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: He's expected to play the full season next year with chicago, no matter what.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Um, because he is now no longer under contract with malmo.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Okay, um, so yeah, that that'll be another interesting thing.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: His defensive game is definitely farther ahead than the offense, and maybe that's just because the SHL is a very notoriously tough league for defensemen to rack up points.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: But it's still noteworthy to say that I think his offensive aspects are there.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: There's potential, it's just right now.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: It's more raw than his defensive game, which is pretty solid.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and again a big player.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: The Canes got him in the second round, so he's a guy that was rated highly, a first-round guy for a lot of folks who are putting together mock drafts, so I think definitely someone we're going to be interested in.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Anyone else that you're hearing that may be heading to North America right now Nick.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: Top of my head.
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: No, it's just kind of the guys that I've talked about before.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Other than that I haven't really heard anything.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: I did really quickly about the report about um the after the nikishin's elc.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't read too much into that.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: First up that report it didn't.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: It came from arthur kairulan.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: It was not hockey news hub that actually reported, it was arthur kai rulin.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: But I still wouldn't put a lot of stock into it because it's again, it's, this whole thing is a developing thing.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: It's not like a snap your fingers and everything's done, so just I wouldn't put a lot of stock into that at all okay, well, again we're.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: We're getting a lot of information.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Some of it is quality, as you mentioned.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: There's certain folks we definitely want to be aware of and what they're saying, and then there's other folks we're not so sure.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: So anyway, hey, nick, closing thoughts, what do you got to say?
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: I think I'm just going to continue pounding the drum of please be patient.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: It just takes a lot of time for things to develop.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: Um, there's probably going to be a lot more information over the coming, you know, days, weeks.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: It's just, you know, these things are, it's sensitive.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: A lot of these nhl teams can't really, or don't want to say anything out loud because it will jeopardize it.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: But you know, I've tried to stay on top of it, which is just following a lot of Russian media and trying to figure out what they're saying, what they're thinking, what they got.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, just everybody, please be patient.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Well, you've said this all along, nick, and I give you a lot of credit.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: You've been very clear for several months now that you know we need to understand the complexity of trying to bring Nikitian over and bring him over quickly after the end of the season, and it seems like there is some of that right now.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, kudos to you, man, for having that clarity and passing that on to us as well.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: So, nick, it's been great talking prospects, I know we'll get together in the coming days.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: We'll definitely be doing a draft show again this year and some other things.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: We might have a chance to get together after the season ends for a lot of these teams and chat a little bit about some of the prospects as well and keep folks totally up to date on what's happening with the Canes prospects around the world.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: It's been great to spend the time with you and I've really appreciated your insight and knowledge on so many of these players, boy.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: They're on all different corners of the world for sure.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: So thanks so much for that.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: Really appreciate it, nick, and for all of you who've been watching or listening today, we thank you very much for spending time with us.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: If you like this episode, please press the like button.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: If you have comments or anything you'd like to say or questions for Nick or I, just please put those in the comment section down below.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: And if you want to be alerted of future episodes of Storm Tracker, please press the subscribe and the bell buttons and we'll make sure you're made aware of those just as soon as they're available, as always.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Nick and I thank you so much for joining us today.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: We look forward to getting together with you real soon right here on storm tracker.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Thank you.