stormTRacker Podcast
...stormTRacker is your home for in-depth analysis of the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Wolves & Hurricanes' prospects around the globe. Host, Tom Ray, gives his insightful perspective & is joined by Hurricanes' "Insiders" Nick Bass, Erin Manning, Katie Bartlett & others to cover all the top stories for your Carolina Hurricanes. Tom is also active on "X" connecting with Hurricanes' fans on a regular basis. (@stormTRacker24)
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stormTRacker Podcast
Carolina Hurricanes NHL'24 Draft: Draft Projections and Prospects Analysis with Nick Bass (Canes Prospects)
Curious who the Carolina Hurricanes might draft in the 1st round at the 2024 NHL draft? Look no more! Discover the insights and projections straight from the experts. In this episode, stormTRacker's Tom Ray chats with Nick Bass (@CanesProspects) about prospects like Cole Beaudoin, Sacha Boisvert, Alfons Freij, Nikita Artamonov, Charlie Elick, and Emile Hemming, and we analyze the potential impact they might have in the Hurricanes' lineup. We'll also delve into Darren Yorke's role as the leader of Canes' scouting group and how his personal preferences will shape the draft, as well as the "Russia" factor & how that might influence the Canes' selections. Nick also provides his thoughts on the Alexander Nikishin situation & when Canes' fans should expect to see him in a Canes uniform. Cam Abbott's appointment as head coach of the Chicago Wolves is reviewed, including how his notable record in player development will be a positive addition.
As we explore the Hurricanes' draft strategy, we emphasize their critical needs for a strong center with their 27th overall pick. We'll highlight players like Cole Beaudoin from the OHL's Barrie Colts for his size, tenacity, and 200-foot game. A deep dive into the nuances of recent draft tendencies and the importance of selecting reliable players even in later rounds will ensure you're fully informed on the Hurricanes' upcoming decisions.
Hear projected draft selections from a# of mock drafts as well as comments from prospect gurus, Corey Pronman (The Athletic), Chris Peters (FLOHockey), Tony Ferrari (The Hockey News), Steven Ellis (Daily Face-off) & others on prospects' strengths & weaknesses. We'll also preview some other possible selections, Leo Sahlin Wallenius, Teddy Stiga, and Jett Luchanko, while considering Max Swanson as a valuable late-round addition. Tune in for an exciting look at the Hurricanes' draft strategy, potential trades, and the future of the team.
With the NHL draft just a week away, carolina Hurricanes fans are wondering who are the Canes going to select in the first round. A lot of names are being bandied around Teddy Stiga, nikita Artamonov, Charlie Ellick, emile Hemming and a lot more. There's a lot of different options for the Hurricanes and I had the opportunity to spend some time with Nick Bass, who is deep into the Canes prospects, for both Canes prospects and Dauber prospects, and Nick and I took a look at several of those players. I'm pleased to be joined today by Nick Bass Nick, of course, one of the real knowledgeable guys on the Hurricanes, and he writes for both Canes Prospects and Dover Prospects. Hey, nick, welcome.
Nick Bass:Hi, good to be here. You got everything pretty much down, Pat. I look at a lot of Canes Prospects. I look at a lot of prospects in general. I know a lot, probably a lot more than I should, but it gives me a good knowledge base to talk about all that stuff. So good to have.
Tom Ray:Well for sure and I've certainly read a lot of your stuff and seems like you're right on top of it and really appreciate it for sure. You know lots of announcements with the Hurricanes recently, of course we had the announcement that Eric Tulsky is now the GM, so that's big news and of course he's been driving scouting for a long time, so he'll have a major influence on the upcoming draft for sure. But I wanted to talk to you about the announcement yesterday, the news that Cam Abbott's going to be the head coach of the Chicago Wolves. This is big news. Obviously, the Canes did not have a team in the American Hockey League last year, so now they have a place to put some of these young players that are coming along in their system, and Abbott looks like a good one. What do you think about this announcement?
Nick Bass:Yeah, just one thing on the Tolsky front. It's a very collaborative front office, as everybody really does like to know I've been told multiple times and uh, darren york is kind of the guy that does a lot of their pro scouting in relations to that. He's kind of running it. Um, and their unbelievable scouting group, uh, they do an incredible job. Tolski does play a part in it, it's just york does majority of it. Uh, cam abbott, I really do like the hire. I'm not gonna say I was completely familiar with him before the hire, just because, even though I do watch a lot of Swedish hockey and European hockey in the first place, I kind of just didn't pay attention to Ragul, even though they had a former Kane on there. They had Dominic Bach for a while and they had.
Nick Bass:I think Jesper Sjögren was there, or that was. Luleå, I cannot remember no-transcript especially on Rogel themselves for being a very solid team since 2017-18. Whenever he took over sometime around then, they have been an incredibly solid team. They've gotten a ton of young players that he's been able to coach. The big one one for me was mo cider, turning him into a first round pick and now first first pairing defenseman for detroit um nils hoaglander, uh simon rifors.
Nick Bass:For tampa bay uh tom wall, tom willander, william wallander. He's done a ton of good things with development in terms of getting them to where they're supposed to be and getting them to be high nhl picks and getting them to play in the NHL. So I really do like the hire. I think he's got a lot of youth talent coming into Chicago this year that he's going to be able to work with and I'm really interested to see how he deals with that.
Tom Ray:Well, a couple of comments. Jesper Sjeldren I had a chance to watch him when he was in North America briefly and actually won a Calder Cup, and he was. I was really impressed. I was kind of hoping at some point the Canes would would sign him up and bring him over, but it looks like he's probably past that now. So I'm not sure we'll see Esper Shelburne, but for sure I think I think this is going to be good news for the hurricanes and lots of good prospects coming, as we know, and it's great to have a guy with his background coming in to take it over. So it's exciting.
Nick Bass:I'm pleased about that yeah, I'm really interested to see how he does because he's going to have almost they signed a ton of the guys from the just a ton of them to contracts this year. So he's going to have a lot of young guys 21 and under to work with.
Tom Ray:So he sure is One other thing about. Just before we close on this one, you mentioned Neil's Hoaglander. Now Hoaglander has been rumored to be part of any deal that Vancouver would do with the hurricanes. There's been a lot of discussion about a any deal that Vancouver would do with the Hurricanes. There's been a lot of discussion about a possible deal for Martin Natchez. It would probably include Hoaglander. What's your thoughts on Hoaglander?
Nick Bass:I like Hoaglander as a player. I'm one of those people that advocated for him on social media, even though I don't use my personal social media for it I don't really use the canes prospects one I really do like the player. I think he has a lot of talent that hasn't been tapped yet. You kind of saw that a little bit in the playoffs whenever he was moved onto the line with petterson. Um, yeah, I don't know if you can make him the centerpiece of a deal in any nature's trade. I think, again, he's an incredible player, but with a nature's trade you have to be able to do star power or it's not going to work out, even though me personally, obviously I want to see them get prospects, I want to see them get high-end futures. It you gotta go get us some quite close to a star for that, and especially after them signing. Ironic, who is the big guy they talked about? It's, yes, vancouver's probably off the list.
Tom Ray:And I think you're probably right, but he certainly was somebody whose name came up frequently in some of those trade rumors. You know, the other thing I thought we would touch on would be kind of the Russia connection. You know, the Canes in recent years have gone a little bit against the grain. They've decided to draft a lot of Russian players. Several other teams, because of the kind of world situation, decided not to do that and, to the Canes credit, they've been able to draft some excellent young players way down from where they were actually rated. I mean, I think about, you know, gleb Trikhozov and Vladimir Grudinin and Timur Mukhanov and some of the other guys, alexander Preblov, there's lots of them, there's just a whole bunch, and I know you've written on several of them and I'm quite impressed with a bunch of them. In fact, trikhozov's coming over this year. That's kind of an interesting direction. Do you think the Canes will continue with that?
Nick Bass:I really do, ever since getting their current Russian scout, oleg smirnoff. An incredibly good guy, an incredibly nice guy. I've had a few conversations with him. He helps me a lot with russian because I took russian in high school, but let me tell you it does not translate that well to where I am right now, even though I watch it all the time. Um, he's an incredibly nice guy and he's an incredibly good scout.
Nick Bass:He knows a lot about what he's talking about and a lot of the times with these Russian players it is part of the whole world situation and not knowing if they are ever going to come to North America. But in the Hurricanes case they really like to take that upside more than kind of look at everything else, of look at everything else and but guys like vlad gruden and uh gleb especially gleb um and uh ruslan kaziev, who the only prospect who's going to play in chicago next year, yes, they just realize the upside is too much there to not worry about, to try and worry about if they're ever going to come to north america and while there was some actual downside and concern with some of these players and you're seeing that kind of with a few of them, you just have to hope for upside. And they've been continuing to do that and so far at least with a few of them, it looks to be working, because now they got them in North America and they're going to play for Chicago.
Tom Ray:So yeah, no, I think you're right. And of course whenever you talk about Russian players, you have to think about Alexander Nikitin. Lots of discussion, in fact, I've seen in the interviews with Eric Tulsky lately. Just about every interview has the question what's going on bringing Nikitian over this summer? I mean, nobody's really thought much about that, but he brought it up and it's opened up a whole can of worms. But Nikitian obviously one of the best players outside the NHL in the world. What are your thoughts about the Nikitian situation?
Nick Bass:So, whoever first off, whoever mentioned him in that interview with Eric Tolsky Wednesday oh man, I give you credit, but that was just. It's one of those things where I don't think a lot of people understand KHL contracts and it's really not me trying to sound arrogant, it's just an unfortunate situation of Russia is incredibly hard to get news from, and especially with the KHL website and contract news. You got to go to some places that I'm not proud of where I've gone to try and get this information, um, but I do have a lot of people that try and help me out, that do know the russian system a lot more. But with russia it is so incredibly hard for a player that is still under contract for one more year. It is so incredibly hard to try and get them north america.
Nick Bass:You're kind of seeing that with with Michkov right now and Danny Breer's comments yesterday I want to say was like hey, he's probably not, we're planning on him not coming over this year. I can't really say much more about it. So, realistically, while the sentiment was really cool and it was very nice to hear them even talk about the possibility of it, and the former general manager was the first one to say anything about it. While it was a great idea, it is just not happening. And I understand people try, want to try see dimitri orloff whenever he goes over there to play in the khl nhl.
Tom Ray:Whatever they're doing over there they want to see. Yes, yes, he's going to be playing, and nikishin's playing that league as well, apparently yeah, yeah, people want to.
Nick Bass:People want to see orloff stuff nikishin in a carry-on bag and bring them back. But unfortunately you just gotta wait until ska runs out of that playoff next year. Whether they win it whether they don't, I think they have a great chance to win it, um, just because the strength of their team and they keep adding good pieces yes uh, and end of their playoff run next year.
Nick Bass:I would say like maybe a few weeks after that you'll have nikishin signed and he'll be in North America as soon as he physically can. It's just one of those things where you just have to wait, and I know people don't want to wait because he's just that good, but it's unfortunate. Got to live with it, yeah.
Tom Ray:And, of course, ska is probably the most affluent team in the league and they're funded through a Russia utility that's associated with the government, so they don't have a problem financially and, of course, he's been one of their top players. And I felt the same way you did I wasn't sure how he would possibly come out. So, yeah, if we see him in March or April, I think that would be incredible and hopefully, you know they can get something done, so that's in place and ready to go. So that's good news and exciting news. In any case, if we see Nikitian here in North America. Yeah, I wanted to take a look at now some of the prospects that we think might be in the radar of the Hurricanes who they might be thinking about, they're going to be drafting 27th overall. In the radar of the hurricanes who they might be thinking about, they're going to be drafting 27th, uh overall in the first round. Um, this is going to be a an interesting opportunity. You and I have talked about this a little bit. Uh, once you get past what?
Nick Bass:10 or 15, it's kind of an open field uh, after about 10 it's going to get really random and complete honesty probably worry about ottawa picks at seven, because they in recent year has made some incredibly I wouldn't say off the board, but they have made some incredibly interesting reaches and some players that you would not think would go where they go. So I think after that ottawa pick whatever they decide it's probably going to get a little more interesting okay, so there'll be.
Tom Ray:There's a lot of different players out there that could be available at 27. So let's touch upon some specific positions. I think to kind of kick this off. When I look at the Hurricanes, my thinking is that certainly center ice and defense might be on the list. What do you think might be the priority?
Nick Bass:Center. It's 100% center. As of right now, your center that is closest to playing in the NHL is Ryan Suzuki, and the center that probably has the most, I would guess, potential is either one of Justin Robidaille, who had an incredible first rookie professional season with Norfolk before he got hurt, yeah, norfolk, before he got hurt, or yeah or uh Lucas Mercuri, who is not a bad player by any means.
Nick Bass:His uh ceiling just might, unfortunately, cap him out, but he's really fun to watch, so that's always a possibility yeah, I, as we discussed previously, mercuri, I think, is a great guy.
Tom Ray:I'm not so sure about Robida. He's quite small. He is a great guy. I'm not so sure about Robida. He's quite small. He is a fast skater of course, he's a buzzsaw out there, but he's not a big player. And you know, suzuki to me is he's had so many injury problems. He, you know, he's a guy that I always felt had the skill, but and I so I have to agree with you.
Tom Ray:I think Senator Rice is a real concern and when I took a look at Senators a couple of guys had jumped out at me and I thought we could talk a little bit about them. One of them is Cole Beaudoin. Cole Beaudoin currently playing with Barry in the OHL. Of course that's a great program. Dale Howarchuk the late Dale Howarchuk, of course, coached there for a long time. And Andrei Svetchnikov came out of Barry Boudoin. I think he's a big guy. He's 6'2", he's 200 pounds. He's one of those guys that's a hard worker. Some of the guys that kind of saw him up in the round of where the Canes would be. Chris Peters of Flow Hockey had him at 27. Dauber had him at 30. Corey Prachman of the Athletic had him at 20. What do you think about Bo Duan?
Nick Bass:I do like him as a center. He's an incredible tenacity on the forecheck. He loves to play on the boards. He knows how to use his body, which is always a very good thing for somebody that's just 18 years old. His skating is pretty solid. I think his offensive upside has some real potential there. I don't know if I'm the biggest fan that he's a left-handed guy. I think right-handed center is probably the biggest thing, even though those are incredibly hard to come by in today's current prospect, climate and just in general. Right-handed centers just don't grow on trees. It trees, kind of the same fact that right-handed defensemen don't grow on trees yeah, no question yeah, yeah, uh, offensively, I think he's got some defense.
Nick Bass:I want to see if he can keep continuing that defensive development. I think if he continues to become a complete 200 foot player, he'll probably be very, very good and make the nhl. I will say, though, on any chl guys I don't know if the canes like to take them high, like I said, like you mentioned, with sveshnikov, uh and suzuki, they just haven't taken a guy from the, the chl, that high in a while. Um, not that it can't happen at all, I'm not saying that but I would just kind of be wary about any guys in the chl that go high just because they their repertoire in the past few years is is not with the chl in the first round well, adam uh kimmelman of nhlcom.
Tom Ray:This is what he said beau dwan is a fantastic athlete with high-end compete who patterns his game after Columbus Blue Jacket forward Boone Jenner. So I mean, that's pretty good uh statement.
Nick Bass:If the Kings got a guy like Boone Jenner, I think that would be fun yeah, obviously, anytime you can get a guy that'll give you a thousand NHL games and be a serviceable NHL man, you always hope that's what you get in the first round. Um, obviously anything higher than that's going to be a gigantic positive. But especially in the late first round, you're probably not ever going to draft like a true superstar, unless something messes up and your name is dallas and you can find guys like logan stan coven why johnston in?
Nick Bass:the really late first and early second, but you're always going to try and find a guy that can give you, uh, any sum above 500 nhl games and be a serviceable NHL there. Boatwain definitely has a good chance to be that, so not the worst option I've ever seen.
Tom Ray:Well, you know when you talk about late round guys, how about Bradley Nadal, this guy? We got him last year Again, I think it was 30. And, yeah, he's a great player.
Nick Bass:I, to be honest, I was really, really hoping for Andrew Kristol. That was my big one. It was Kristol Gavin Brindley who got drafted to Columbus in the early second and he made his NHL debut in that same game. Nadeau did, or Jaden Perron, who funnily enough, ended up becoming a Hurricanes pick anyways, and I think that was just due to his size. But with Bradley incredible player, his shot is something that I have not seen in a prospect in a while. He's an unbelievable shot. They put him in that one NHL game.
Nick Bass:They had him in OB spot on that left circle and they just kept feeding him the puck. Actually, go watch him in college at Maine during their series against UMass and he's just an incredible player, incredibly cerebral. His playmaking with the puck on a stick and off a stick grew a ton. In his freshman year at the University of Maine he finally developed a passing ability, which is not to say he didn't have it before, but it finally showed up a little bit more and I got to talk to him and a lot of his family and his brother josh, who I do hope the hurricane sign and I hope, I hope, I hope he signs, eventually I hope he makes a development camp.
Nick Bass:But with nadeau he's just an incredibly nice guy. He's from I don't want to say middle of nowhere, canada, but his family was telling me it's a town of like 500 people. They have to travel like an hour, two hours to go to practices, go to games. They just they're incredibly humble and they understand what to do and the hard work it requires to get to where they are. And I do think um, I know it's kind of early to talk about, but I do think bradley nadeau makes the team out of camp next year.
Nick Bass:I think it's hard to keep that shot and his overall ability out of the NHL, especially with how much attrition is coming to the roster. I think having that forward at $925,000 is way too invaluable.
Tom Ray:I agree, and you know you think about. You know we've got Seth Jarvis coming along, you get a Bradley Nadeau in there. You've got some great young players to really kind of build this team over the years. I'm a big Bradley Nadeau fan as well. I watched all the action, some of the action in the NCAA at the end of the year and he looked fabulous. Quick point on Jaden Perron. You mentioned Jaden Perron and you know one of the things that we see with the Hurricanes is their ability to pick up players that are highly regarded well down in the draft. I mentioned that with the Russian players, but they do it with some others as well.
Tom Ray:I mean we can talk about the past, when they got, you know, jacob Slavin and Brett Pesci, and even Alexander Nikitin was a third rounder. So they've been able to do very, very well. But Perron is interesting, perron, you know. You look at some of the ratings on Perron. Daubert Prospects had him at 12. Mckean's at 34. You know, some of these guys had him pretty high. We got him at 93. Or, sorry, 94.
Nick Bass:Yeah him at 93 or sorry, 94.
Nick Bass:Yeah, yeah, um, with terms of that, I think the biggest thing nhl teams still value is size.
Nick Bass:Yeah, unfortunately for jane perron he's one of those short kings that um, and especially if you doubt a short man's skating ability, anybody under five, nine, if you doubt their skating ability, it's really tough to project them to the nhl eventually. The great thing about perron is that his skating was already good in the ushl in his draft year and during his freshman year at the university of north dakota it got better and as long as his offensive playmaking can translate next year, even though he scored a lot of goals, a lot more than his assists, I think he's got some. I really do like Perron and with a lot of teams kind of passing on him, I think the big thing there is just um team's value, size and a lot of the times they'll take these guys that are bigger and they'll try and mold them into what they want instead of just taking the smaller guy who probably has a higher upside down the line. But he's a boomer bus prospect so you got to hope he booms.
Tom Ray:Yeah, absolutely, and I'm a fan of Perron as well. I think you know he's had a great program in North Dakota. Of course that's where Jackson Blake came out of, so I think that's going to help him a lot and a couple more years there and then we'll see what he can do, but he's definitely a guy with high skill. Speaking of centers, I wanted to check one other center in some detail and that's Sacha Boisvert.
Tom Ray:Sacha Boisvert, he's a guy again. He's good size. He's over six feet, he's close to 200 pounds. He's a guy that actually is a little bit thinner, but he's a guy that definitely is going to bring a lot of skill to the table. He was drafted twice in Quebec but decided to come to the US under 18 program and that's kind of exciting news, and I think he's a guy that is probably going to go higher in the draft. Elite Prospects had him at 21, mckean's at 28. So he's right where we are. Flo Hockey had him at 22, and Prondman at 23. If he could slip to 27, I think he might be a real nice addition.
Nick Bass:What do you think about Sasha Boebert? Yeah, like I was just talking about with that USHL, the Canes have decided to look harder at that in a lot of recent years. Perron Blake Michael Emerson was another later round guy that ended up getting taken.
Nick Bass:They like USHL. They're starting to turn around on it. It's becoming a better league overall. They're getting a lot more talent than they used to, so it's becoming a lot better of a league.
Nick Bass:Boivere is somebody that has an incredible shot. I wouldn't say it's anything close to what nadeau had in his younger year, but he has an incredible shot. Um, his passing ability, even though it's kind of rush based and he likes to move a lot in transition, it's good. Uh, again, the tall 200 foot package might be a little bit of a question mark, but I I never expect young guys to come out of the gate and just be that full 200 foot player, because that is so incredibly rare nowadays. Um, he's a very good prospect. I like his size. Um, his age is very solid. He can, he likes to throw the body around and anytime you get a guy that's six two, that understands how to use his body, that is more advanced for his age, always a good thing, because you need to have people like that, and especially now that I see that he's going to end up at the university of north dakota.
Nick Bass:Yes, um, that ush, on the north dakota line there's another guy. It really laid on in the draft that I think might have a chance to get drafted by the canes. That's taking that same development path. But uh, anytime they like it, they really like to stick with certain things and they'll always try and find one kind of like how ron francis always had one person that he had to take. You know he was taking was like his staple. Didn't really matter if it happened until the later round. They have their thing and as of right now it's just ushl to college with those three and I think by there would be obviously a very good ad yeah, and when I saw he's going to to north dakota I kind of felt the same thing.
Tom Ray:You know, cory prom is a big proponent of uh, of boy there. He said he's well-liked in the league as a good size center who can skate, score and make plays and I expect him to be a mid first. So that's pretty high regard from prodman, who usually is pretty close to the mark. So, yeah, if we could get Boisvert I think that'd be a great day for the Hurricanes for sure.
Nick Bass:Okay, let's move on.
Tom Ray:So the Canes defensive situation again, looking at that, you know, down the line the Canes do have some prospects. I mentioned a couple of Swedes a minute ago Forsmark and Nystrom and of course they minute ago Forsmark and Nystrom and of course they've got Grudinin and a few other players floating around. I think this is an opportunity for them to pick up a heck of a player. And I was going to talk a little bit about Charlie Ellick. So Charlie Ellick, to me he would be kind of interesting. This is a big guy. He's six foot three. He's over 200 pounds. He's rock solid defensively. He's a great skater for a big man. He's rated again all over the map Elite Prospects had him at 26. Mckean's at 45., chris Peters of Flow Hockey had him at 24. And Corey Pradman of the Athletic had him at 32. What would you see if we had a defensive pairing of a Charlie Ellick and Alexander Nikitian? What do you think about Ellick?
Nick Bass:Well, if you ever have a pair of Nikitian-Ellick, I'd be terrified if I was an opposing forward because that 6'4 and 6'3 trying to hit you real hard that would not be a fun time. I really do like Charlie Ellick. He was one of those guys I covered a lot more in depth and I I really do believe in the potential of his defense. He was put into a shutdown role for the brandon wheat kings. He was put into a um shutdown role for canada during the U18s.
Nick Bass:He was put into these big shutdown roles and he would continuously provide very good results. Obviously, being 6'3 and a righty, he's going to be somewhat valuable to anybody. I don't think there's any chance he goes later than 40, because, again, big body, right-handed defenseman, you're going to make a lot of money. It's just one of those things that always seems to happen. I think there is genuine concern, though, about his offense. There's flashes of his playmaking ability, trying to transition the puck from his own zone and out. The issue is that playmaking has been sporadic and even when he's using it a lot more, it's kind of shaky. It doesn't connect all the time. It might lead to a turnover. I compared him to guys like Caden Gooley for Montreal and Brayden Schneider from New York. I love both those players and I do think Ella can get there. I just do have genuine concern about his offense. That would warrant some drawback if he gets to your pick and he's on the board.
Tom Ray:Well he would. He would pair nicely with with an offensive minded defenseman and somebody that can move the puck quickly, and certainly there are those that that are available that could also be considerations in the future. Yeah, I agree with you. I do say this, and in some of the highlights I've seen of Charlie Ellick, he seems to have a pretty good shot.
Nick Bass:He seems to get it on net and creates opportunities, so I think that's a good part of his game as well yeah, his shot gets through a lot more than normal, but I think that's just a proponent of being six foot three and having decent lateral movement skating wise you can you can. You can kind of just move and make your own space and get a shot off. I do like his shot, though his shots a lot better than his passing ability, which says something. So yeah.
Tom Ray:So I think again uh, if we look at, look at what people are saying about him, I think clearly he's a guy that yeah physical defender who takes care of his own end especially well. Skating ability is a standout trait, which is why I think he can potentially be a top four shutdown defenseman in the league. That's Chris Peters of Flow Hockey. He usually knows what he's talking about. Scott Wheeler of the Athletic said this led by standout physical attributes and excellence, gating both forward and backward. Ellick is a steady, engaged defender with real defensive upside and a developing offensive game. So Wheeler thinks he's making progress on the offensive side as well.
Nick Bass:So high praise for Charlie Ellick. I think Ellick can get there offensively. It's just a matter of can he? I think he could and his offensive game can be very serviceable and translatable, especially to the NHL. It is just a matter of can he get there.
Tom Ray:Well, something interesting also about Charlie Ellick. Mckean's does this skills analysis and they have a top 10 and a number of different skills and with Charlie Ellick he was in the top 10 of best defensive defender and best body checker most physical so that's high praise for health.
Nick Bass:Yeah, and that came through on my viewings of him. I watched him with the canada u18s. I watched him with a lot with brandon. He just his defensive game. He can read a play very well. He's a lot more of a uh proactive defenseman than maybe a reactive, even though his reactions are very good.
Nick Bass:Obviously, being six foot three, his stick is going to be a little bit longer, which makes it a little bit easier to play and one of his favorite things is, if a player is trying to run it, take a run at him and try and go around him. He just doesn't let it happen. He kind of just throws himself and throws his body weight at the player in a manner to just break the seal of the stick to the puck and the player in the puck, and most of the time it works out, so can't complain.
Tom Ray:yeah that sounds good. You know, when I talked about those top 10 uh skills with uh with mckean's, the next defenseman we're going to talk about was in there as well, under best overall skater and best offensive defender and and that's Alphonse Frey. Alphonse Frey rated again kind of a little bit lower in some cases than where the Canes will be at 27, but this guy's a pretty interesting prospect. Elite prospects had him at 37, craig Button at 31, mckeese had him at 19, but Corey Promen had him at 60. But Corey Pridman had him at 60. What do you know about Alphonse Frey?
Nick Bass:Alphonse Frey is an incredible puck mover. He is very, very talented with it. He knows the amount of touch that it needs to go to a certain player. It needs to go hard, fast, it needs to be a saucer, it needs to be slower. He just understands the timing of everything with the puck on his stick, especially in the offensive zone. His skating is incredibly good. Um, elite prospects raves about his mechanics. Uh with, in terms of skating.
Nick Bass:Defensively it might be a little bit shaky right now but then again, for defenseman it's, you either get one guy who is incredible offensively, who may have a lot of downfalls defensively. As of right now and in the same regard you have, you might have a guy that's incredible defensively but also might have some genuine issues offensively. Alphonse would be one of those defensemen that is incredible offensively. He just understands that half of the game. He just understands that half of the game. It's just the other half of the game that might slow him down. I do like him. I like him a lot In that Corey Pronman mock draft from a few days ago where, unbelievably I give him all the credit in the world he did all seven rounds for every single team.
Tom Ray:Yes, he did.
Nick Bass:And I couldn't believe it. In complete honesty, I can barely sit through doing a Canes mock draft myself. Not that it hurts, but it just takes a while and it uses a lot of your brain power.
Tom Ray:It's a huge amount of work, yeah.
Nick Bass:Yes, and I think Alphonse is very good. I don't know if he can. I don't know if he'll go in the first round. I know he's rated all over the place and I in. I know, in draft rooms it's going to look a lot weirder with because you're going to see some players listed all over the place with fray, I think, late first. If he doesn't go in the late first, it might be a little while till he does go. But if he's the pick at 60, I would be ecstatic if he goes. If he, I wouldn't necessarily take him at 27. I think there's gonna be a lot better players on the board at 27, but if he falls to 60, I think that'd be a spectacular pick yeah, I agree.
Tom Ray:Interestingly enough, uh, jeff svoboda, who writes for the columbus blue jackets, uh, he did an interesting analysis. He took several of the mock drafts I think 15 of them and he kind of crunched them all together and, as it turns out, alphonse Frey is tied at number 27. So that's interesting. When you look at some of the higher numbers and then some of the lower numbers, he ends up at 27 overall. So, who knows? Kind of interesting. The other thing about Alphonse Frey that I liked is that he does have some size. He's just over six feet, but he's almost 200 pounds, so he's not a skimpy defenseman, he's got some size back there.
Tom Ray:Here's something that Stephen Ellis at Daily Faceoff said. He said with just some refinement the 6'1 defenseman could really take the next step in his development. His numbers have been great. Internationally. He's one of the best offensive defensemen in the Swedish under-20 league. So that's high praise for Frey and it goes along totally with what you said as well, nick. So yeah, skilled defenseman, really liked the guy. Might be a little bit past 27,. Might be into that second round, but it would be great if the Canes could somehow get Alphonse Frey.
Tom Ray:Now, moving on to one other area I wanted to talk about was kind of just forwards. I mean, we've looked at center ice, certainly an area of concern for the Hurricanes, prospect-wise Defense, always looking for defensemen and then looking at the forwards, and one of the guys that I've really kind of been watching has been Emil Hemming. Now, interestingly enough, in that Jeff Svoboda list he actually had Hemming at 27 as well, tied with Frey. So it seems like the views of Heming are all over the map Again. Elite prospects have him at 40, craig Button at 28, mckean's at 25, and Prondman at 40. This guy, good size, he's got a wicked shot, can skate, seems like an interesting player. What do you know?
Nick Bass:about Emil Hemming. So I'm one of those people that really enjoys playing NHL and doing their franchise modes and I know last year Hemming was very highly regarded. They thought he was going to be a little bit further ahead than where he is now. Yeah, his. I don't know if you follow Lassie Allinen on Twitter. He is the Elite Prospects Finnish scout. He does a lot of tracking of players, specifically like watching their shift by shift.
Nick Bass:His shot is something that you don't see a lot. I think his shot is probably the closest to what you would say Nadeau's is. It's just unbelievable. The way the puck comes off his stick and the way he can manipulate where the puck comes off his stick Second to none. It's something that you cannot teach in players. That is something that is given to you at birth. He is incredible. The one thing I worry about is kind of the other parts of his game Off the puck. Can he really make a difference Defensively? I don't know if it's one of those things where I focus a lot on defense, just because I do know that's what the canes value in a lot of these prospects is having some sort of defensive ability yeah.
Nick Bass:So I wonder about if he can make an impact defensively off the puck, but his shot and his skating is going to get him taken highly. He's probably what I would describe as in this draft. Anyways, the finnish cole eiserman, where you know his shots good, his skating's good, it's the issues of off the puck. Can you make something happen? Now I will say hemming played in a lot harder league in my eyes than um eiserman this past year.
Nick Bass:Eiserman plays in the united states national team development program which is a very good program Do not get me wrong, I do consider the Liga, the Finnish top league a lot tougher Cause at that point. You're playing grown men. You're playing grown 20 and 30 year old men.
Tom Ray:Yes.
Nick Bass:I think Heming is going to be a great player. I think if he's there at 27 and, like a lot of guys, are off the board at that point, you'd look at him. I just don't know if I'd take him at 27. I think he's an incredible player, though. Well, the interesting thing about Heming.
Tom Ray:He's still like 17. He's young, right? So this guy is a younger player coming into the draft. Here's what Mike Morreale of NHLcom said, and I think he's right on A natural sniper with a good physical presence. Heming plays a powered forward-type game. The 17-year-old right-hand shot is strong on his skates and difficult to contain down low. I think he's a guy you'd really like to have him in your lineup two or three years from now if he can grow that defensive side of his game. As you say, guys that can shoot like that and score like that, they're hard to come by. So yeah, I'm kind of hopeful. Hemming is the name they call.
Nick Bass:I did not realize that Hemming was 17. That's another thing. The Hurricanes have made it not known, but they've kind of done in recent years, shown with Nadeau and especially Felix Ungersorumorum is that they will take guys that are younger in their draft year because Felix isn't even 19 yet.
Nick Bass:He's still 18 years old. That is ridiculous for a guy that is already done with his draft year plus one. He is not even 19 years old, when a lot of guys in his class are 19, 20, and 21. And with him being 17, I think that might move me a little bit more, just because I knew. I know now that he's a little bit younger, also from that same team, I'm gonna kind of throw out a nice little name. Uh, in the later rounds I've heard some talk about, uh, another tps player, casper picker ryanan, that might be looked at. He's been talked in the same, in the same circles, as a person that I talk to a lot. He talks to a lot of draft people as well. He's heard Kasper Pikerainen, in the same circles as Jaden Perron, and you know the Canes valued Perron last year.
Nick Bass:So I wouldn't be surprised if Kasper Pikerainen goes. He's another 17-year-old young winger for TPS that same exact team. He is 6' foot three, 200 pounds. Uh, right winger with a right-handed shot. Um, he's a big physical dude. He likes to use his body weight. Uh, his offense is kind of uh interesting in what I would say he produced very well for the u20 league and his passing seems to be a little bit more ahead of his shot. But I just wanted to kind of throw that name out there as a guy that.
Nick Bass:I've kind of heard that might be in contention after the second round. Cool yeah.
Tom Ray:Well, and he, he would be a nice addition. One thing for sure the Canes have to get bigger, and a player like that certainly would have a lot of attraction to them. I'm sure, yeah, looking at another forward Now to them. I'm sure, yeah, looking at another forward now. This is a guy I know you like a lot, nikita Artamonov, again coming out of Russia.
Tom Ray:Artamonov, again, he's a guy that looks like he's a real hard worker. He's not that big, he's not I think he's 5'11" but he's a guy that has a lot of skill. He's playing in the KHL, which is kind of rare. He's a young guy playing in the KHL. I think last year at his age group he was the number two scorer in the league for, I think, 18-year-olds or whatever in the KHL. So he's definitely a guy that's on a good trajectory. Elite prospects had him at 25. Mckean's had him at 50, which is interesting, but Dauber Prospects had him at 23 and Kronman at 33. Seems like it's all over the map, but this guy, he looks like a real player and could be an interesting add for the Canes. What do you think about this guy?
Nick Bass:I obviously he's one of the guys I went more in depth on. I really do think Artem Monoff is going to be a that middle six forward at the NHL level that is going to make sure you know where he is on the ice, cause he's going to be a pest. He's going to hit you when you have the puck. He's going to continuously haunt you when you have the puck and when he gets the puck he is in a very adept playmaker. He, if the puck's on his stick, he knows where people are. He understands how to get the puck to them. He doesn't hesitate to shoot either.
Nick Bass:Elite Prospects had him compared to Michael Bunting, former Cane. After viewing Artimonov a few times, I do agree. Michael Bunting as a Cane, he bounced off players and he was relentless on the four check and he was a, he was a pest after the whistle. And artamonov seems to be a guy in that exact same caliber. Well, he'll just, he'll hound you, he'll just go after you. His playmaking is good and maybe it's like a 40 to 45, maybe a 50 point guy at the nhl in that middle six third line checking line, second line, maybe a scoring forward?
Nick Bass:uh, he'd be great. Another guy in russia that I have taken a look at that seems to have fallen, especially in cory pronman pronman's rating I don't know if it's the russian factor I think he talked about a little bit was, uh, igor chernyshov. He is a 18 years old, a lot bigger of a winger. Um, he had him at 27 yesterday going to the canes cuz russian factor, even though I don't believe in it. I think it's kind of dumb to believe in it, but I do know it's a real thing. Yes, he would be. If he can somehow hit the 27, chernyshov would be a pick because he's big.
Nick Bass:He is an adept scorer. He's a good skater for his size. But artimonov would be again a very good pick. It just kind of is the matter of who is going to be there at 27 and is the russian factor ever going to play into a thing with these two guys?
Tom Ray:yeah, I mean for sure. Um, steven ellis of daily faceoff said this about artimonov he's quickly become one of my favorite wingers due to his high end hockey, iq and how he gets into scoring position, and certainly the video that I've seen on him shows him exactly that way. So, yeah, he's an interesting one again. Uh, with the russians sometimes they can slip, so it might be that, uh, we might end up with a nugget that we haven't really thought would end up at 27, because they're Russians, of course.
Nick Bass:Another thing when talking about Artimonov, especially when you were mentioning his IQ, that's another thing that Darren York values incredibly high is players that have a high hockey IQ at a young age. That plays a huge part into how your skills translate to the NHL level, and having that high IQ is something that I do know the Hurricanes value a lot in their draft picks.
Tom Ray:Yeah, exactly, and again, I think you know, with the strong Russian connection that we have, it would be great to add some more, I think, to the mix, and it helps with them, of course, joining the team where there's already countrymen available. So I think that's a real positive for the Hurricanes and I'd be very happy if Nikita, if his name, was called as well. A couple of other guys I wanted to mention, just to see what your thoughts were, that seem to be talked about around 27 fairly frequently. One of them is Leo Salim-Villanius, of course, a big defenseman out of Sweden. You've got Teddy Stiga. He's a smallish center in North America playing in the under-20 stuff. He looks like he's come a long way in the last year. And also another sentiment that's getting a lot of attention but usually is expected to go higher in the draft, and that's Jet Luchanko. Any of those guys stick out for you, nick.
Nick Bass:I do like Sauline Willanius. His ability to move the puck is something that you really like, especially in those left-handed defensemen. His skating is very good and as for the back 50 feet in his own zone, he's a lot better of a player than you would expect for somebody at his age. So I do like Sauline Willanius At 27, though I don't know if I'd be the biggest fan of that pick, just because it might be a little hard If his range I think early second is going to be his perfect spot, maybe mid second. So I like that.
Nick Bass:I do know I have a lot of people that like to talk to me on social media. They really like Teddy Stiga and it's not that I do not like him. I don't want that to come across as I don't like the player. I don't think he sticks as a center at the NHL level. It's just one of those things that if you're a smaller center you're going to have to work really, really hard to become a full fledged center, because you have to focus so much more than if you would a winger. With wingers you can kind of just stay on your side. You don't have to worry about the middle. You don't have to worry about everything defensively taking faceoffs and worry about the middle. You don't have to worry about everything defensively taking face-offs. And stigo is an incredible player. I think offensively he is probably at the high end. He could easily be a 60 65 point player.
Nick Bass:The issue is does he stick as a center at the nhl level? I'm not 100 sure defensively. Will he ever be something that, uh, you can play on a penalty kill or play in like a high leverage situation at the end of a game? I'm not 100 sure, but skill wise I think he's great and I think that's why you see he's so wildly rated all over the board. Bob mckenzie has him at 68, but elite prospects has him at 23. He's such a volatile player in rankings and I think that's just because there's a lot of uncertainties in his game.
Nick Bass:Now you did mention jet lko. He's a guy that, in complete honesty, I haven't looked a ton at. I just not that I don't think he would be the pick at 27. It's just I don't know if they really like the player. I don't have anything source wise, so I'm not 100% sure. But I don't have anything source wise, so I'm not 100 sure. But I don't know if jet luchenko is a guy that they really look at in a higher regard. I think he's more of a late okay, maybe not late second, but like mid second round guy he's a good player.
Nick Bass:I'm not entirely wrong, he's a right-handed center yeah, um, his offensive game took a gigantic step and I like that a lot. I just there's. I don't know enough about him to talk about him. But with soling, walliness and stiga I don't think maybe the worst pick at 27, but they wouldn't be high up my boards of guy I would like to see at 27 yeah, I think, uh, teddy stiga I like him a lot.
Tom Ray:He's a hard-working guy, uh, very industrious. He's uh, he's smaller though, which is something I think the canes need bigger centers. Uh. Uh, salim Willenius he's good. He's another guy that, uh, you know he's good at everything. He's a great offensive player. He's a great skater, uh, just a real nice solid defenseman. But again, there's there might be better players ahead of him Luchenko, um boy, corey Promen really likes Luchenko. He had him at 17. He thinks he's a heck of a player. Now Luchenko's playing in the OHL, so again he's playing with Guelph. So maybe that's something the Canes again may not be as interested in, but lots of good players. Gosh we may not even be talking about the player that ends up 27 because, as we started, there's just so many options that they could have that it's tough to know, but we'll see.
Tom Ray:Maybe one of the folks we've talked about today is a Hurricane soon. And speaking about that, nick, I would be delighted if you'd join me after the draft and talk a little bit about the players the Canes select and let the fans know a little bit more about them and have some fun talking about Kane's prospects going forward.
Nick Bass:Yeah, that sounds like something I'd be interested in. Just one last thing, because I know I mentioned Kasper, another late-round guy I think the Hurricanes might look at, just because I've done a lot of not unfortunate, but I've done a lot of research into this draft and sunk a lot of time into it Max Swanson a he's one of the smaller players in the line of jayden perron, where he produced at a high level in the ushl. Yeah, he's a little bit smaller, but at that same point he's going to the university of north dakota and he is a very high-end playmaker and he is a very solid skater. So he might get there. And yeah, no, I would be, I would be happy to join again. Um, one of the things that I know I'm gonna do is draft night. Obviously I will talk about the player that does become a hurricane's draft pick in the first round and in the later rounds I will probably have an article talking a little bit more in depth on them sometime after the draft.
Tom Ray:I can't guarantee right then and there well, later in the year we'll get a chance to talk about the prospect base. I know you've done a huge amount of work looking at the different positions and helping fans understand better what the depth of the Canes prospect pool is. And also I'd like to, as we get towards the fall, I'd like to have a conversation of what might happen in Chicago, because a lot of prospects will end up there as well, and I know you've got lots of information about potential players that could end up with Cam Abbott in the Chicago Wolves organization. So, boy, lots to talk about. And of course, we have the draft and then free agency over the next week or so. It's going to be busy, for sure, right here, but thanks again so much for joining. We'll catch up with you and have a great summer. Thanks a lot, nick. Yeah, no problem, thank you as always. Thanks so much for joining.
Tom Ray:We'd love to hear from you. If you have comments, please put them in down below and we'll respond promptly. And if you like the video, please hit the like button. We'd love to hear what you're thinking about our videos. And again, we're going to be talking a lot about the Hurricanes in the days ahead. Of course, following the draft. Nick Bass and I'll get together to talk about the Canes selections and of course we've got free agency coming. So lots of things happening in the Canes camp. We're going to keep you totally up to date right here on Star Tracker.
