Latest / Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast / Top 10 Breakout Candidates for 2025-2026 (Part 2)
Transcript
- 0:00But what about Bound Bangor Management Fantasy Hockey
- 0:03Podcast? Whoa, wow, wow.
- 0:08Yeah, I was not surprised now. Kevin.
- 0:13I was ready. How the students become the
- 0:17grasshopper it seems. Yeah, exactly.
- 0:20Yeah. Welcome in one and all 2 Bangor
- 0:26management. The one and only.
- 0:29Well, there are others, but the best, dare I say, fantasy hockey
- 0:32podcast? Gasp.
- 0:34The what guys have Gasp. Actually just gas, really.
- 0:40Yeah, I'm gonna like we're gonna get used to your visual effects
- 0:45and then we're gonna or your your audio effects and then I'm
- 0:48gonna, I'm gonna be like Kevin and you'll just know what to do.
- 0:51There you go. Says it's a work in progress,
- 0:53y'all? But yeah.
- 0:55So today we're gonna be doing Part B some call it Part 2 of
- 0:59our fantasy breakout candidates for this upcoming NHL and
- 1:03fantasy hockey season. Follow us on Spotify, Apple
- 1:06podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
- 1:07Rate US five stars and you can find the link to our socials and
- 1:11the link tree which is in the podcast description.
- 1:13We are new to both TikTok and Discord, so be sure to follow us
- 1:17on there as well. Lots of content going up.
- 1:20Make sure you drop us a follow keep track of that or else,
- 1:24yeah, or else. What kind of or else do you have
- 1:33in mind? We're going to go on like a like
- 1:34a brief chef on call strike like.
- 1:38We're already kind of on a strike.
- 1:40Tossed dress or else Josh drafts, especially Nicole in the
- 1:441st. Round.
- 1:46Pharrell Josh gets his baby to get fantasy advice.
- 1:49So. 1st I'm trying to get him to sleep through the night and then
- 1:54we can deal with the fantasy advice.
- 1:56Yeah, good point. Sounds good, so let us begin
- 2:00with #5. Like baby before we get #5.
- 2:09Thank you, Kevin. Alright, with #5 we've got the
- 2:14big quarterback, QB Quinton Byfield, 22 years old centre on
- 2:19the Los Angeles Kings, projected to be line 2 and power play.
- 2:23One question mark. The question, that's a big
- 2:25question. Mark it is.
- 2:28It's a big question, Mark. I like it.
- 2:31It's a great pick. I think this makes a lot of
- 2:34sense for him in this spot on this list.
- 2:36Absolutely. The one thing I don't love about
- 2:39LA in general is that they don't score like they're middle of the
- 2:45pack of goals for team. So obviously for someone who I
- 2:48think we're primarily relying on value wise being his points,
- 2:53that's where I'm just like, OK, well, they don't score that
- 2:56much. They're middle of the pack, You
- 2:57know, they're they're not like Tampa Bay or Winnipeg or or
- 3:01Washington of last year's Vegas, you know, that's one thing.
- 3:05But I love it. I'm a big fan of his and I think
- 3:07he will take a huge step forward.
- 3:08The eye test, amazing. He looked so good last year and
- 3:13hopefully second-half Fiala and him can both become all year.
- 3:17Fiah. Field.
- 3:19I have mixed feelings about by field.
- 3:22I feel like if you guys haven't listened to part one, part A
- 3:25already, go take a look at that. But I mean, our first of the top
- 3:30ten was Morgan, Geeky, Perfetti, Leo Carlson, Lafreniere and
- 3:34Slavkov start the top 10. But I think honestly, I'd have
- 3:38Biofield behind Slough and Laugh.
- 3:41I think I'm higher on both of those guys and by field and just
- 3:44because I think I'm more secure with their deployment in the
- 3:48lineup, I think it's gonna be have a better chance of keeping
- 3:51it and on a higher volume offence than Byfield is.
- 3:55But nonetheless, we saw him break out completely the
- 3:58second-half of last year. I mean, not a complete breakout,
- 4:01but we saw a couple months of him having good production with
- 4:04Kevin Fiala. The question is just can you
- 4:07keep that going this year, first of all?
- 4:09And does his deployment get even better on PPU one?
- 4:12Because that's the big question. I think.
- 4:15I mean, Josh and I spoke about it on Tiktok, actually, so you
- 4:17guys should go take a look at that.
- 4:18But on that P1, it's gonna be Fiala, Kopitar, Kempe and
- 4:24Defender, right? It's probably gonna be Brutally
- 4:25Your Brand or Brent Clark. So there's one spot left, and
- 4:28they were running with Kuzmenko last year.
- 4:30Do we think Byfield overcomes that guess that spot?
- 4:33That's the biggest question, I think.
- 4:36Yeah, I think that's kind of been a common topic with a lot
- 4:39of these guys on this list, right?
- 4:40Is are they going to finally take that power, play one spot
- 4:43because that's such a massive boost to value?
- 4:45It's similar to we're talking about last year in the last
- 4:47episode where that power play one spot is such a boost in
- 4:51value. But regardless of that, we think
- 4:53both Byfield and Laferney are going to take a step forward
- 4:55from last year. The power play one would just
- 4:57make it a much bigger step forward.
- 4:59So I do think Byfield gets it eventually.
- 5:01I think they probably start with Kuzmenko there.
- 5:03But The thing is that there's a lot of pressure on LA this year.
- 5:06They've lost Edmonton in the first round four years straight.
- 5:09Obviously that's more of playoff issues than regular season
- 5:11issues, but you can't just flip a switch in the playoffs.
- 5:14You have to start good and habits and building up good team
- 5:17chemistry and whatever, like early in the season.
- 5:19So I think when you've got a player of this pedigree who's
- 5:22shown that he's taking a big step towards the end of last
- 5:24year, it'd be a shame to lose out on his full potential for a
- 5:28guy like Kuzmenko who just picked up for scraps and you're
- 5:30not really attached to it all. And also like to add on to that,
- 5:34I think we saw, I mean, listen, Byfield was I feel like far from
- 5:38a hit in terms of like draft prospect, like he kind of
- 5:43struggled the first couple of years of his of his career.
- 5:45So now the fact that he finally put it all together and had a
- 5:48great season, I think they want to build on that.
- 5:50He's also the successor to Anzac Kopitar, like Kopitar doesn't
- 5:54have many years left, right? And besides that, I mean, they
- 5:56have filled to know who he's not A1C on a team, right?
- 5:59He can be a 2C at this point of his career, probably more of a
- 6:023C. But Byfield, the next guy up,
- 6:04and I feel they want to set him up for success.
- 6:06So I think they have to do what's best for the team and
- 6:09give him some more opportunity. Yeah, that's a really good
- 6:12point. Cause to think long term and not
- 6:13just this season. And Kopitar has like Max 2 years
- 6:16left. I think this might be his last
- 6:17year. I think he might have I'm, I'm
- 6:19not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but he's definitely
- 6:22got Max 2 years left and by fields of the future guy.
- 6:25So they've got to make the right decision for the future.
- 6:28Yeah, I mean, they signed Corey Perry, so they're gonna lose in
- 6:31the Stanley Cup Finals. So there's probably is shaping
- 6:36up to be competitors last year. The one thing I'll say is that
- 6:40probably of everybody on our list from both part A&B, he has
- 6:45the biggest volatility because he doesn't really have the back
- 6:48hats to back it up. So I think that he can really
- 6:51just not exceed what he did last year or literally get like 90
- 6:55points. Like there's like a 40 point,
- 6:59you know, swing one way or the other and I won't be surprised.
- 7:03Yeah. And also just to clarify, so
- 7:06Kopitar did say that he's not seeing a contract extension and
- 7:09his contract ends this year. So I think this might be his
- 7:12last year, in which case, you know, the whole by field future
- 7:15centre, Let's set him up is a big story there.
- 7:19Is always going to be the one seed this year.
- 7:20They're not gonna be here last year, play on the fourth line,
- 7:23but they wanna give him definitely opportunities to be
- 7:26good and I think people one is the perfect chance to do that.
- 7:31Do we pick like, just out of curiosity, do you pick Leo
- 7:34Carlson or? Quinton, I was just thinking
- 7:36that I was about to ask actually.
- 7:37So you're learning well, just. Student that's still a
- 7:42grasshopper. That's a good.
- 7:43One, I think I'm going with Byfield though, I really like,
- 7:47it's tough because you always have that bias, right?
- 7:48When you have a guy on your team during the period where he
- 7:51performs really well and then you always remember the good
- 7:53feeling associated with that. So I had Byfield towards the end
- 7:55of last year and he really was popping off, you know,
- 7:57obviously. Think about Jackie dropped.
- 7:59Him. Yeah, and Jake is in the
- 8:00opposite boat where he had Leo Carlson not that causing
- 8:02necessarily popped off, but he was solid and Jakey liked having
- 8:05him, you know, so I'm sure he has more attachment to Carlson,
- 8:07but but trying to keep that bias aside, I just think Byfield this
- 8:10just further along in his development exhaustion is so
- 8:13he's look long term who might be the better one maybe probably
- 8:17Carlson, but and this year I'm going by field.
- 8:21Yeah, I'm going by field as well.
- 8:25Yeah, Yeah, I think so. So I wonder if there's going to
- 8:28be like an ADP discrepancy though.
- 8:30I feel like Carlson's gonna go lower, so maybe you'll also be
- 8:33happy. Yeah, See, I do think Byfield is
- 8:36probably gonna have a better year, though.
- 8:38But which will kind of return on their value ADP wise going into
- 8:42next season because of their performance?
- 8:43I don't know. I feel like Byfield will end up
- 8:45getting drafted around like 8:00 to 10:00-ish.
- 8:48This year, that's fair. I see that.
- 8:51Would you rather have a Quentin Byfield or Gabe Vilardi?
- 8:56I love gay polarity, I think. I think I gotta go with my boy
- 9:00Gabe. I'm just more excited to see
- 9:04what Bayfield can do. This is just one of those like
- 9:06all enjoy watching it more if I. Have, I think, I think Mayfield
- 9:10has some category coverage in his in his profile.
- 9:13Like, it's not, yeah, he's not gonna get straight zeros like
- 9:15Gabe Vilardi, but. Hey Gabe Vilardi will get you
- 9:19the exact amount of shots for the amount of goals he scored
- 9:21that game probably. Watch people already leave the
- 9:26league Goals this year 150. First, yeah, alright, let's move
- 9:31on to the top 4, which I think this is like a tier starting
- 9:36from here on out for the top four.
- 9:37I think there's a tier above. Can I do it?
- 9:39And I'm really excited about these.
- 9:41Kevin set us up. #4. At #4 Another guy I had the joy
- 9:49of owning towards the end of last season.
- 9:51Dylan Holloway, 23 years old on Saint Louis, the subject of an
- 9:56offer sheet last offseason. Left wing line 2 power play.
- 10:01One to think that he used to be on the Oilers is wild, right?
- 10:05Like what? What could have been?
- 10:07If they don't screw that up, I think they could have won the
- 10:10cup last year. But does he have, you know, the
- 10:14breakout that he did at the end of last season, You know, those
- 10:16last few months of Saint was just being insane?
- 10:19Does that happen to Holloway if he's on Oilers?
- 10:21No, he would have been capped for sure in terms of his
- 10:23deployment, but I think he still would have provided a lot of
- 10:27good depth to the Oilers they could have really used.
- 10:30Because I mean, listen, we're, we're banking on a huge breakout
- 10:33this upcoming upcoming season, but he kind of low key broke out
- 10:36a little bit towards the end of last season where.
- 10:38It was high key if you. Were it wasn't too low key over
- 10:41a point per game. He will point per game and
- 10:44almost a triple triple. He was one of the best bangers
- 10:47in in the entire league last year.
- 10:49He was like, exactly, he said. Almost a triple, triple.
- 10:51That's extremely rare. Do you expect more of the same
- 10:55this year on Saint Louis, or do they keep their hot streak
- 10:58going? Do they kind of like, you know,
- 11:00regress a little bit and it kind of stagnates through the year?
- 11:02Well, let's just say this in terms of his overall like a
- 11:07season like how he did yeah, he he had on the season he had .8
- 11:12points per game, 2.3 shots and 2.15 hits, which is already
- 11:15really good right? And he only really turned it on
- 11:18in the last let's say post Four Nations when the Blues went on
- 11:21their insane run. So that just shows how
- 11:24absolutely absurd he was in that last stretch.
- 11:27So I think that even though that last stretch was probably, you
- 11:31know, way too high for for what we could expect season long, I
- 11:34think it averages out to him being easily like point per game
- 11:38and then 2.5 shots, 2.5 hits, something like that, which is an
- 11:42amazing player. That's like, if that's, you
- 11:45know, you're getting that going in, that's drafted in the top
- 11:46three rounds, obviously. 34 rounds.
- 11:49Obviously you don't know that, which is why it may not happen
- 11:51and like the whole name thing, right?
- 11:53He does not like the one of the household game yet, just yet.
- 11:55But but I think there's a lot, a lot of value to be had here.
- 12:00I'm. Sure there are.
- 12:02There are amazing coaches who are horrible for fantasy, and
- 12:07then there's coaches who are Top Gear coaches that also really
- 12:10support their players. And Montgomery coexisted with
- 12:15Pasternak being like. Everyone used to coach Pat and
- 12:18they got rid of him and Boston was still the worst team in the
- 12:20league. Crazy.
- 12:23I like, you know, that year I'm looking at the Bruins.
- 12:25Pasternak got 113 points, Marshall got 67 and 73.
- 12:29Like, you know, point per game plus players.
- 12:31Obviously we're not expecting a Pasternack type performance
- 12:33points wise, but Holloway is definitely gonna be a huge part
- 12:38of the Blue success this year because of how good of a coach
- 12:40he is. I think they're going to take a
- 12:42step forward and definitely be a top team coming out of the West.
- 12:49I don't even necessarily think they have the roster for it.
- 12:51I just believe that they're they're coached by the guy.
- 12:55I think he's probably the best coach in the NHL and they have a
- 12:58good enough roster to support it.
- 13:00And for bangers, I mean, I think this is a stellar, stellar pick.
- 13:07Do you take him or switching to call?
- 13:09Him for sure. Yeah, I actually call has been
- 13:13kind of like the the the bar set for like bangers because he's
- 13:17been, he's a double, double every year and he hovers around
- 13:21as well point per game. And if you're in Pimm's banger
- 13:23leagues as well, he's also like a Unicorn for that.
- 13:27But we kind of see, I feel like every year he he doesn't hit his
- 13:30ceiling or what we expect, even though he's giving you the
- 13:32category coverage. So I feel like every year he
- 13:34gets less and less appealing, but all the way might be.
- 13:39Yeah, I have a good one. I have a good one.
- 13:40This is for both of you. This is particularly for Josh,
- 13:43because I feel like he loves all the way and he's low on this
- 13:46following team. Do you take Holloway or
- 13:49Ovechkin? Holloway, no question.
- 13:51I would also think wow. Actually a spoiler for next
- 13:57week's episode of Biggest trap players, but I've got a certain
- 14:02certain all time goal scoring leader.
- 14:04On that list. I wonder who it could be?
- 14:08Jake, you're taking over you over Holloway.
- 14:12I think so. Interesting.
- 14:14Crazy. What is he gonna chase this
- 14:17year? There's just something about
- 14:19like a team that literally like feeds you productivity like but
- 14:24they. Feed them towards the goal and
- 14:26the goal is passed. He hasn't scored 1000 goals.
- 14:29Yeah, it does need to be fed the whole year to hit 1000 though.
- 14:34Said whatever. It is Jiggies 100% getting over
- 14:37next year. I know it's rough to around
- 14:393:00. So Holloway isn't.
- 14:42Oh man, imagine a team with Holloway, Slomkowski and Brady's
- 14:45Chuck. That's what dreams are made of,
- 14:49yeah. That's.
- 14:50That's I can't wait for us to do more draft content.
- 14:52That's going to be. Nice, I know it's.
- 14:53Gonna be already OK, we're getting carried away.
- 14:56Yeah, yeah, OK. I wanna, I wanna, yeah.
- 14:59I was gonna say I wanted to end this with, I feel the only thing
- 15:01that could potentially hold Holloway back is if the lines
- 15:06get scrambled too much and he's not allowed to be physical on
- 15:09his line anymore. Because I feel like they don't
- 15:11have any set lines. Like when I look at their
- 15:13lineup, it's they have I think 5 or I would say 5 pretty solid
- 15:19wingers that could end all interchange between line 1-2 and
- 15:23three. So we're just kind of ends up
- 15:25where he's going to play. I I feel like they're going to
- 15:29find a way to get the most out of them.
- 15:30So I'm not too worried, but that's like the only way I see
- 15:33that this doesn't work. Out, yeah, I think that makes a
- 15:35lot of sense. But I think to Jake's point,
- 15:38Montgomery is one of those coaches that I trust with having
- 15:42my fantasy players on their team and.
- 15:44They figured it out last year so they should do the same This.
- 15:45Year. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- 15:47So. So yeah, very high on Holloway.
- 15:49Just before moving on real quick, I wanna get to the point
- 15:51where we choose another player overhaul away.
- 15:54So what about? I don't know, Kevin, do you have
- 15:57a good one? Let me think, OK, who's who's
- 16:02gonna? Jason Robertson.
- 16:04Holloway. Josh too, I guess.
- 16:08I think I go Holloway, which is I feel it feels crazy.
- 16:10I feel like we're two years all too low on Robertson right now.
- 16:12No, we're not. Yeah, I'm not.
- 16:14I'm not as low on him as Kevin is, but but yeah, I'm super high
- 16:17on Holloway. OK, what's Holloway?
- 16:24I I think I'd go all the way through.
- 16:26Natures. Allowed I.
- 16:31He loves you. Just was gonna say it.
- 16:33He just, but I was like nothing. He's obviously gonna say
- 16:34anything. There you see that?
- 16:36Yeah. So that's my split the
- 16:37difference there. OK, I'll no Marin.
- 16:45No, you gotta take Banaron. You gotta take.
- 16:47Yeah, yeah, yeah. As much as I feel like I'd enjoy
- 16:50having Holloway on my team more, Nielander's the right choice.
- 16:53No, you gotta take Nylander. Nylander OK, that's a good one.
- 16:56Stop. Yeah, that's.
- 16:57That's a good bar. Cool, let's move on.
- 16:59And Connor? Kyle.
- 17:01Connor. You gotta take Connor.
- 17:03OK, I was the Connor heater last year.
- 17:05I know I was like Connor Truth or you guys were both Connor
- 17:07haters. You both thought nature was
- 17:08better than him. Philip Forsberg.
- 17:12This is a good one because it's actually the same archetype.
- 17:14You gotta go for spring though, as much as I.
- 17:16Love all the way. Yeah, I just like the shots are
- 17:18just too good. I think it's, I think that's
- 17:22what it is. Let's go to #3.
- 17:23Yeah. Why Johnston?
- 17:27No. OK, number. 3 was.
- 17:31All right Matt and #3 we've got 20 year old Matt Fay Michkov of
- 17:37the recently freed Philadelphia Flyers line.
- 17:41One power play, 1 left wing. And by freed I mean that
- 17:45Tortorella is gone. They are now roster able again
- 17:49in fantasy. That was really funny.
- 17:53That was that was a really. Good one, but thing is free.
- 17:58Yeah, Tortorella give Matt face sock.
- 18:09That's killer. Oh my God, that's.
- 18:11So that's where all your Harry Potter fans out there not
- 18:17sponsored. You're funny.
- 18:23OK, I feel like I'm a little bit more hesitant than both of you
- 18:28guys on this one. But I mean, listen, I know he
- 18:31was one of the highest prospects.
- 18:33I know the Habs didn't take him in the drafts, which we were all
- 18:35disappointed about. But I don't think if you wanted
- 18:37to come to the house, to be honest, I think it was Philly or
- 18:39bust for him. I don't, I don't know what his
- 18:42healing is like. Is his ceiling a point per game?
- 18:45Is it higher than that? Is he three shots per game?
- 18:47No category coverage, right? So it's just about how
- 18:51talismanic he can be for this really.
- 18:53Squad does kind of in the middle of a I was gonna say rebuild,
- 18:59not not. It's like it's like a retool I
- 19:01guess. No, I think it's a full rebuild.
- 19:03They've committed to being garbage for a bit.
- 19:05I think here's the thing which surprised me actually looking at
- 19:08a statement last year, I considered him a huge let down,
- 19:11right? Obviously the whole Tortorella
- 19:12thing, obviously he's a rookie, you know, and he actually had a
- 19:15relatively good season. But in terms of fantasy, I
- 19:16consider him a let down. By looking at his production
- 19:19last year, he was .8 points per game, which is super reasonable.
- 19:22Tossed in he, I think he was getting around like 2 point
- 19:24something shots. Like that's a reasonable player
- 19:26to have on your roster. It's not exciting, you know, So
- 19:28that's on a Tortorella team. He's now been freed.
- 19:30He's got another year under his belt, and he's this super highly
- 19:34touted prospect. He's gonna be given all the time
- 19:36and all the tools to do what he needs to do.
- 19:37I'm seeing him cracking a point per game easy and I see him
- 19:40getting about three shots a game and I see him getting decent
- 19:43power play points as well. Would you rather have a hammer
- 19:46connect you? I take Michkov.
- 19:50Ooh, that's spicy that I'm going connect me for sure.
- 19:54I feel like he's just the guy on Philly and he's reliable year
- 19:57in, year out. The thing I like about
- 19:59connecting is shorties, which Michael will get, but if you're
- 20:02in a league like most leagues that don't count that, I think
- 20:04Mitch got stealing his way higher.
- 20:05I still feel just like Mitch Kov is is young and still has to
- 20:09round out his game and and be more of a two way player.
- 20:12Like you can obviously be more way more offensive minded, but
- 20:16you still gotta be able to contribute on the defence a
- 20:18little bit. Well, how about this?
- 20:20First of all, you're going, you're getting rid of Tordella,
- 20:23so he's not gonna force Mitch. Gov It's always.
- 20:25Blocks of yeah, he won't be benched, he won't be forced into
- 20:28this. Like, you're not playing well
- 20:29defensively, alright, you're not gonna get any offensive time.
- 20:31But also when you're a team as bad as Philly's gonna be next
- 20:33year and you're kind of quote UN quote actively tanking, who
- 20:36cares about defence? Let the young guys flourish and
- 20:39have a good season. Let them develop.
- 20:40You want to learn how to play properly though too right?
- 20:42Yeah, alright, just go do your thing and never learn how to do.
- 20:46No, you work on it with him, but I don't see him getting punished
- 20:49for having defensive lapses, and I see them letting him run
- 20:52pretty free offensively, so I think he's gonna have a great
- 20:55season. The only thing is I don't, I
- 20:56don't, I don't expect this Philly PowerPoint to be one of
- 20:58the best in the league. You know what I mean?
- 21:00Like I can see them being like a bottom 10 power plant.
- 21:02It's just not be like one of those power plays that gets you
- 21:04a lot of production. Yeah, but a bottom 10 power play
- 21:06where Mitch Koff touches every goal is still pretty solid for
- 21:08Mitkov. For sure, for sure.
- 21:10I think, I think the the ceiling like best case scenario,
- 21:13everything hits properly. I think he can do what Marco did
- 21:15last year. I feel that's kind of like.
- 21:17That would be. Insane that that would be insane
- 21:19if everything his like he's you know, he's like damage off level
- 21:23prospect and it all hits. I think maybe that's his
- 21:27ceiling, but I think point per game is probably the bar to set.
- 21:30I take the under on that though. Jake, do you have anything to
- 21:33chime in if you're not? Really quiet thinking about this
- 21:36one. This is like a this is an
- 21:37interesting one to me because like obviously for a bangers
- 21:40league, like you're not getting anything anything in the back
- 21:45and I kind of know what you guys mean, but by like you wanting
- 21:50him to develop like a full kind of all-encompassing defensive
- 21:54game as well. But you know, there are there's
- 21:58a whole different dynamic to a centre versus a winger.
- 22:01Hmm, if you're a centre, you need to have that.
- 22:05And I agree with Josh when he's saying, you know, like, let's
- 22:07just let the players do their thing and develop the skill of
- 22:12this guy. I mean, there's a world that I'm
- 22:14not saying he's gonna turn into Ovechkin.
- 22:15That's, you know, nearing impossible at this point.
- 22:18But he's 20 years old. And I think that they want him
- 22:21to get really good at what he's good at.
- 22:23So for me this can be. A good.
- 22:25Point A 75 to 85 point Season 4 Mitch Kalvi wouldn't be
- 22:29surprised. Granted, there may not be great
- 22:33for Philly as a team if they want to actually develop him
- 22:36defensively, but I don't think that's it.
- 22:37I think it's like we picked this.
- 22:39They got so lucky, you know that right?
- 22:41Like you're. Supposed to be Bedard.
- 22:42Was it? Was it luck or was it just like
- 22:45he was telling teams not to draft him?
- 22:46Because no, that's that's what it is.
- 22:48But they got lucky that he was telling teams that.
- 22:50It wasn't even that that he it was he had a like a contract of
- 22:54sorts in the cage L that he was able to get out of sooner than
- 22:57expected. That's why he fell.
- 23:00Otherwise they would have gone second.
- 23:02There was a lot of, I think teams were talking to him and
- 23:04seeing like, hey, are you interested in playing for us?
- 23:07And if they weren't? There definitely.
- 23:09Wasn't good vibes. They weren't gonna waste their
- 23:10first round pick. On him definitely was an aspect
- 23:13of him forcing his way to Philly.
- 23:14I don't know what his connection in Philly was, why specifically
- 23:17that, but that was part of it. But also there's obviously the
- 23:19KHL aspect like Jake mentioned. I mean, similar reason why
- 23:21Demidoff fell to the Habs at 5, right?
- 23:23Yeah. Yeah, but don't love, I think I
- 23:25think also just had more of like an easy out.
- 23:27But for for Mitchell, I remember specifically it was like this
- 23:30guys locked like on his team in Russia for the next few years
- 23:34even. Even so though, if he did
- 23:37electively choose Philly, that's an even better sign to me for
- 23:41his fantasy production. Yeah, like, sure, he may be a
- 23:43little bit of a problem, but like if he goes out there and
- 23:46just destroys like that's all we care about his fantasy managers.
- 23:49So I really think that point ceiling, at least of the guys we
- 23:52mentioned so far, it's look really his ceiling is 100, not
- 23:57gonna hit that. I think he could hit 90 and I'd
- 24:00be elated. And even 80 would be really,
- 24:02really great. I have him and I always, you
- 24:05guys always talk in like actual points.
- 24:07I'm always in per game mode. That's all I care about is
- 24:09always like the future where from wherever we're taking off
- 24:12and I have him at 1.1 points per game this season.
- 24:15Can I give you guys would you rather?
- 24:17Yes, hello. Which cover Robertson.
- 24:21He loves this Robertson. Give you an answer.
- 24:27OK, so honestly, we brought up Robertson a lot and I'm just
- 24:30gonna quickly explain my thoughts on him.
- 24:33Robertson is is a really good bar, but with Rantanen, I really
- 24:36don't know what to expect for him this coming year.
- 24:38So it's like, are they gonna have two dynamic forces?
- 24:40I don't know, but I think Dallas is gonna score like 30% more
- 24:45goals than Philly so I'm gonna probably go with Robertson in
- 24:50case he gets that back. It's a much safer bet as well
- 24:53with a higher floor. But yeah, I'll say Roberts in.
- 24:56There, I'm going Robertson too. I think Kevin, you're, you're
- 24:58too low on him. And I'm very, I'm very excited
- 25:00about Mitch off, but I don't think Albertson's one more super
- 25:03low. Mishka or Mitch call?
- 25:10For sure. 7. Mitch Gov.
- 25:15Michkov. What about Michkov or Peterka?
- 25:18Michael what? Yeah, you.
- 25:21Yeah, you actually. Like the Hymen ones actually
- 25:24like decent because I don't, I don't know.
- 25:26I mean, we're getting into a lot of tangents with this, but Hyman
- 25:29was a hitting beast in the playoffs.
- 25:30He didn't necessarily do that in the regular season.
- 25:32So we'll see if he can keep that up.
- 25:33But that's something very interesting to.
- 25:35Look at Mitch Calvert Cofield. Coffield.
- 25:38Coffield Oht Wait wait, why was that so crazy?
- 25:41Hymen got 44 points in 73 games last.
- 25:44Year no human had an awful season last season, but I think
- 25:47is he's gonna be line one power play one on the Oilers and he
- 25:50had a really good playoffs before his injury.
- 25:51So I think he's gonna bounce back, but but yeah, anyways,
- 25:55let's move on to. Lucas, Raymond.
- 25:58Raymond. Raymond Yeah, Not you're naming
- 26:01guys who like are like what Michkov we want him to get to,
- 26:04but they've already kind of. Proven it but I feel like Mitch
- 26:06cover ceiling is probably a little higher.
- 26:07Yeah, yeah. But he's also like much earlier
- 26:10in the development, whereas Cofield and Raymond, I seen as
- 26:12like they're the finished product at this point, but like
- 26:14right about to hit their prime. Mitch goes like a year or two
- 26:16out of that. Type of prospect that could hit
- 26:18his ceiling sooner than these other guys did.
- 26:20Yeah, yeah, this to me isn't it like an amazing, amazing pick
- 26:24for the upside in fantasy points.
- 26:26But I'm expecting Gabe Vilardi back hats over here, hero.
- 26:31I love you already. Yeah.
- 26:34So, so depends how you structure your team, but I mean like,
- 26:38yeah, it's it's a pretty risky pick for bangers in.
- 26:41My view. Because the point stealing could
- 26:43be nothing. No, we're moving on to the.
- 26:45Next yes #2. All right, the top 2 numerate
- 26:51numero dose is a 20 year old Connor Bedard of the Chicago
- 26:59Blackhawks centre line one power play 1.
- 27:02I wonder if people are gonna be surprised that he's on our
- 27:04breakout list. I was surprised.
- 27:07I know, right? We don't.
- 27:08I feel like you think a guy this caliber, this level of prospect,
- 27:12he's already been in the league like 2 years.
- 27:14You kind of feel like he's already quote UN quote broken
- 27:16out because he gets drafted so high on name value.
- 27:19But I don't think he's had a full breakout season.
- 27:21Yet he hasn't had a season that's point per game yet.
- 27:24That's a breakup. Absolutely shocked me.
- 27:28Yeah, it's I'm pretty sure he got the exact same amount of
- 27:32points as Mitch called last year.
- 27:34That's crazy. That's not good for you, for
- 27:36Bedard. No, it's not OK.
- 27:38Sorry. Michael got 63 and 80.
- 27:40Bedard got 67 and 82. I mean, this is what happens
- 27:43when you're a winger for most of the season.
- 27:46Is Nick Felino no shape to Nick Felino?
- 27:49He's honestly he was a banger category stud for face appliques
- 27:52too, but I don't think you want. Him towards the Chicago
- 27:56Blackhawks organization for so shamelessly tanking and not
- 27:59surrounding their talent with any other talent.
- 28:01I know. Yeah, I I mean, it's not like
- 28:05they have Bureau Topsy's, OK, they've.
- 28:08Got now? Believe you're forgetting your
- 28:10best friend? No, I.
- 28:14I'm just gonna say don't Call My Name.
- 28:16Don't Call My Name. Don't call.
- 28:17Me lead up. Let me lead up to the true pride
- 28:22and joy of the Chicago Blackhawks.
- 28:23Ryan Denado, of course. I just don't think that this is
- 28:28still an elite company. Nevertheless, Bedard is a year
- 28:31older and this was supposed to be a generational talent.
- 28:37I think he was touted like that. I think like you said, Jackie,
- 28:42like he's not necessarily surrounded by the highest
- 28:44talent. I feel like they have a lot of
- 28:45mid level wingers, like line 2, line 3 wingers to play on line
- 28:49one. I'm actually kind of excited for
- 28:51Donato. I feel like that was the only
- 28:52thing that was the only bright spot last year that they had
- 28:54some sort of connection and chemistry together.
- 28:57So the fact that they resigned Donato?
- 28:59Because everyone expected to be gone at the deadline.
- 29:03Stayed where he has success and and got paid because I don't
- 29:06know if he's at that level of success anywhere else.
- 29:09And I think that's the only silver lining that I feel like
- 29:11finally. But it has a has some sort of
- 29:13consistency and he can like take this step up.
- 29:16And I've also been hearing some nice things about Frank Nasser,
- 29:21who's line two. Yeah, I've heard it's quite the
- 29:231-2 punch they got going on there.
- 29:25And maybe that means that the power play clicks more.
- 29:27Yeah. I mean, he was the one who
- 29:29almost ended the half season, remember in.
- 29:31Yeah. And when we played the Hawks and
- 29:33the second to last game and there was that whole debacle
- 29:35with the shootout goal where he scored it, but then the refs
- 29:38called it off and then they called it.
- 29:39Yes. Yeah, they have that.
- 29:41Yeah, Yeah, No, but but he's he looked really good towards the
- 29:44last season. I agree.
- 29:45I think Chicago is still gonna be a very bad team.
- 29:47You know, he's like Jackie said, it's not like he got that much
- 29:50talent, but it's more like the combination of Bedard getting a
- 29:53year older and a lot of the other young, like guys like good
- 29:55prospects on the team also getting a year older.
- 29:57So I think that's this is one of those cases where not much has
- 30:00necessarily changed in the in the situation other than just
- 30:03another year of experience under their belt.
- 30:05When you have a person with this level of projected talent and
- 30:09who is clearly the entire plan for the future of this
- 30:12organization for the 1015 years, yeah, then you know, every year
- 30:16that gets added on is a big difference.
- 30:20Do you guys think he breaks a point per game this year?
- 30:22Like that's this is the year, right?
- 30:23He's gotta, yeah. I I was shocked he hadn't done
- 30:25it already and I think this is definitely the.
- 30:27Year. I think the biggest question
- 30:28though, that makes him elite as his shot.
- 30:30Volume, yeah, I agree. But he's been pretty good.
- 30:32He's hovered close to three shots a game.
- 30:34And for me, that's my bar for like someone that I count their
- 30:38shots as a plus. If they're three plus shots,
- 30:40then that's like great under them that that's like kind of
- 30:43my, my threshold. This is a contract year, right?
- 30:47This is his third year. That's pretty huge too true.
- 30:51What do you guys think about that whole the whole idea of
- 30:53drafting players on their contract years?
- 30:55Do you think that's more just kind of like people overthinking
- 30:57in terms of fantasy players? To be honest, like we know
- 31:00Bedard's getting another contract that we know he's gonna
- 31:03get paid a lot of money. He's the future and the face of
- 31:06this franchise. If he gets in the 60s again out
- 31:09of 82 points. Like if he gets like a .8 to .85
- 31:13points per game or or lower. I mean, how much is it going to
- 31:16make 7? Like you know what I mean?
- 31:20If he puts up 90 points, that can be 11.
- 31:23It's a pretty big difference. So in general, I'm not huge on
- 31:28the contract year analysis. I don't think it's, I think it's
- 31:32almost like you're spending too much time looking into it for
- 31:34nothing. But this is a rookie contract
- 31:38for a guy with this level of talent.
- 31:40Like, I think it's just, it's like a, it's more of a cherry on
- 31:44top than anything foundational, but I'm pretty, pretty excited
- 31:48to see what Bidard's gonna do. And like, you know, it's, it's
- 31:52not many players that hit almost three points per game in their
- 31:55final year in the WHL, HL. I mean, this is ridiculous.
- 31:58He dominated in the World Juniors.
- 32:00It's just when you got to the 23 points and seven games in the
- 32:06World Juniors, it's not that's crazy.
- 32:09That's actually unheard of. It just can't be replicated at
- 32:12the NHL level of course. But I guess the only fear with
- 32:16him is if they tank and then get McKenna and their cousins and
- 32:21that's kind of cool. But like.
- 32:24Hello, Sir. OHS.
- 32:31All right, before we before we move out to number one, I do
- 32:33want to hit you with a couple would you rathers though you.
- 32:39Get Every day we stray further away from God.
- 32:43OK, who would you rather? Connor, but daughter Elias
- 32:46Patterson. Patterson.
- 32:50I'm going with Garden and I'm actually I'm very excited to
- 32:52draft Peterson when everyone else is low on him.
- 32:54But but I think Bedard. OK, interesting.
- 32:58I like like just quick reasoning on that.
- 33:01I just like Vancouver surrounding squad better right
- 33:05now. That's not to say that I don't
- 33:07think BAR could succeed. He's #2 for a reason.
- 33:09But you know Brock Besser, like and who else is like.
- 33:14They're the colour. OK, wait, what about?
- 33:17What about Bidart or Seth Jarvis?
- 33:23The dogs gonna get more points but Jarvis has great back hat.
- 33:27Well, has very solid. Back Jarvis does it all.
- 33:29The shorties and yeah, he kind of just like touches every
- 33:32category. Jarvis is Florida Centre right
- 33:34now. Yeah.
- 33:36Like if he's a centre, I mean that's the centre.
- 33:38Right wing eligibility for the final.
- 33:40Leagues that like we all, I think you've all come to agree
- 33:44with me that anyone on a rod team sucks for fantasy, but
- 33:47Jarvis has somehow avoided that. Curse drivers and all.
- 33:50Who are the two guys that always make it happen?
- 33:51Yeah, alright, let's touch on. Number one, all right, the
- 33:56moment of truth, the moment everyone's been waiting for and
- 34:00the moment that is not going to shock anyone because this guy is
- 34:03amazing. We've got Big Mac Celebri 19
- 34:07years hold on the San Jose Sharks.
- 34:09The youngest player made. Up that nickname centre line one
- 34:12power play 1. I mean McDonald's.
- 34:17I don't know how you haven't gotten on this yet, you know,
- 34:19but but yeah, so I mean this is a no brainer.
- 34:23He's unreal. Last season already he had .9
- 34:27points per game and 3.4 shots on goal per game as a rookie,
- 34:31unlike the worst team in the league.
- 34:33I think he was a second-half like league winner last year
- 34:36because of how much he turned up and I think his shot volume was
- 34:40just exactly it was it was just insane.
- 34:43It was I think he was shooting over four shots a game for
- 34:46Stressed during the season as well.
- 34:48I think this year he's set up with better talent around him,
- 34:50more consistency. I think the Sharks are just very
- 34:53young and more offensive driven. They're defence is awful.
- 34:58So I think it's gonna be a lot of games that they need to claw
- 35:00back into, which means that maybe.
- 35:02They're seven, six games. Yeah, exactly.
- 35:04So I see a lot of good things ahead for celebrating this year.
- 35:09The San Jose Sharks were dead last in goals, 4 per game, last
- 35:14year 2.54. That's not gonna happen again.
- 35:17This year, no, they're. Despite that, Celebrity was at
- 35:19.9 points per game exactly at a league bottom.
- 35:23Yeah, it's elite. He's gonna get, I would say, a
- 35:27safe 1.2. Yeah, this year.
- 35:31And I think you guys think he cracks, you think he's four
- 35:34shots on goal per game. I think I think he gets like a
- 35:363.83 point 9. Like I think it's gonna be like
- 35:39right around there. I think, I mean, listen, if he's
- 35:41putting a 1.2 points, giving four shots a game, like no
- 35:44matter whether he gets like 4 face offs or 8 faceoffs, he's
- 35:47going to be a top two or three round pick.
- 35:49Like we spoke about it on on Tiktok actually, so go check it
- 35:52out. But Josh and I debated, you
- 35:54know, celebrity and Jack Hughes, like, that's the kind of
- 35:56conversation that he's in right now, I feel like.
- 35:59Yeah, I, I love this kid. And I mean, he played in the, I
- 36:03also saw like after the season ended, you're seeing all these
- 36:06clips from the IIHF world champs and he's playing with Crosby and
- 36:09MacKinnon and he looks like he slots right in.
- 36:11And, you know, that's great. Just mentorship for him over the
- 36:14summer. He's got his buddies Eckland and
- 36:17Smith, who are also taking another step next year.
- 36:19They're all getting a year older with another year under their
- 36:21belt. They got Klingberg to be an
- 36:23offensive defenseman for them. Who's going to run their power
- 36:25play? Like I feel like Eckland is a
- 36:29great pairing for him, another young winger, and then you pair
- 36:32that with a veteran winger on the other side with Toffoli.
- 36:35I think it's just like the perfect combination for.
- 36:38San Jose is doing everything for celebrity that Chicago failed to
- 36:42do for Bedard. Yeah, yes.
- 36:45Yeah, that's that's the biggest reason why I think he's a clear,
- 36:48clear #1 here. And I think not only him, all
- 36:51these players are gonna take a huge step up.
- 36:53They're gonna be middle of the pack for our goals, 4 per game
- 36:56and probably one of the worst. Well, they just don't have a
- 37:00good decor. We expect Oscar Off to be good,
- 37:02at least for the Shaw volume perspective, but I don't think
- 37:04they're gonna win many. Games.
- 37:05No, they're gonna be. Laughing, yeah, they'll be
- 37:08trailing. They have to score.
- 37:09I mean that's the best recipe for a top offence to middle of
- 37:14the tier offence and that's going to be so great in 63
- 37:17points and 70 games as a rookie is nuts.
- 37:19Would you rather have Celebrity or Nylander?
- 37:22Celebrating. Celebrating for me as well.
- 37:28Ah, you know what? I'm gonna go celebrity just
- 37:30cause for the vibes. Thought of that.
- 37:33Alright, let's do two more quick and more bro.
- 37:36Alright, celebrity or no, that's not good enough.
- 37:41Phillip, celebrate your brat. Solid rainy.
- 37:46OK. Celebrate your rantanen.
- 37:52OHS. That's crazy.
- 37:55If Brandon was on Colorado, this wouldn't even be a conversation.
- 37:59I'm going to Rantanen. Yeah, last one.
- 38:02Celebrate your take, Thompson. Celebrating.
- 38:06Give me tage. I think taking the score, I
- 38:09think scores 50 goals this year. Wow, I gotta go with the.
- 38:14And then we gotta wrap. It up in the machine.
- 38:17Alright, that's the difference. I'm going to go around it on the
- 38:19previous one too. Alright, thank you everybody for
- 38:21listening. Follow us on our socials and
- 38:24Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
- 38:26Take it away, Earn. About About Bound Bang your
- 38:30management Fantasy hockey podcast.
- 38:32Woo woo woo.