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stormTRacker Podcast
Carolina Hurricanes' Future in Focus: Suzuki's Resilience, Gunler’s Evolution, and World Junior Prospects Prepped for Glory!
What if the future of the Carolina Hurricanes is being shaped right now by a team of young, hungry players in the AHL? Join us as we uncover the stories of these rising stars and their journey towards the NHL, featuring insights from Nick Bass of Canes Prospects and Dobber Prospects. Discover how Ryan Suzuki is overcoming past injuries to lead the Chicago Wolves as a first-line center, and what his development means for the Hurricanes. Get ready to learn about Noel Gunler's offensive evolution and Justin Poirier's goal-scoring flair in the QMJHL, along with Scott Morrow's careful grooming by the Wolves’ coaching staff.
Explore the grit and determination of players like Justin Robidas and Domenick Fensore, who are making waves with their impeccable defensive skills and relentless work ethic in the Wolves’ lineup. Learn how Aleksi Heimosalmi making strides as a crucial part of the Wolves' defensive structure. Nick Bass shares his expert analysis on how these young athletes are setting themselves up for NHL success and the unique development paths that elevate their game.
As we preview the upcoming World Junior Championships, see how prospects like Bradly Nadeau for Canada and Felix Unger Sorum for Sweden are gearing up to make their mark on the international stage. Follow the intriguing journeys of defensemen like Heimosalmi and Roman Shokhrin, who are making significant transitions within their leagues, honing their skills for a shot at the big league. This episode promises an eye-opening look at the Carolina Hurricanes' future stars and the dynamic pathways that are shaping their careers.
Carolina Hurricanes have, over the last few years, certainly developed a lot of excellent prospects. They've been drafting several players in these drafts and around the globe they are continuing to grow and improve and, of course, move closer to playing for the Hurricanes. One of the key teams that, of course, the Canes are continuing to develop is the Chicago Wolves here in North America in the American Hockey League. The Wolves started slowly this year but they are starting to come on. They've won six of their last nine since November 17, and they're really starting to look sharp. And I know that we're going to talk about some Wolves today. And of course, it's that time of the month when we talk about the top five prospects of the month. And joining me, as usual, our insider on the prospect side with Canes Prospects and Dauber Prospects, nick Bass. Hey, nick, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing good. How about yourself?
Speaker 1:I'm doing great. Now, getting close to the holiday season, you're probably home from school right to the holiday season.
Speaker 2:You're probably home from school, right I am. I celebrated my birthday yesterday and I'm home for a few more days to just kind of hang out with all my family while I'm still here.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, and sorry a little bit late. Happy birthday to you as well, nick, and I hope it was a great day for you and I know you're going to be busy watching a lot of hockey so that's your usual mantra, I know.
Speaker 1:So that's great. As I mentioned, the Chicago Wolves have really started to come on and I know you're going to feature some players this month in the top five prospects, and I thought we'd start with number five, and this is, of course, a player we've talked about before Ryan Suzuki. Suzuki, of course, was drafted in 2019 in the first round. He was a guy that was very highly rated at that time. A lot of folks thought he had skills as good or better than his brother, which is interesting.
Speaker 1:As we know, he's struggled through some injuries in recent years. He's really been held back from development. The Canes did re-sign him this summer, which was interesting, but he's been off to held back from development. The canes did re-sign him this summer, which was interesting, but he's been off to a great start. And I know, uh, I know you've been watching him closely and a lot of folks thought he might get the call to the hurricanes when jack drury went out, but that's not the case. They did call up tyson jost. So what can you tell us about, uh, how suzuki's playing these days?
Speaker 2:yeah, suzuki has been one of the big reasons why Chicago has looked like a much better team. He's been their first line center and he's been playing in all situations. He has been almost otherworldly. At this point he's probably been their best player. He's having the reverse Cy Young season at this point, where he has one singular goal and 15 assists. His playmaking is unbelievable. He's finally fully healthy and that was the big thing I wanted from him. I just wanted a fully healthy season because he can prove himself, and I think he has. I think he's proved he can be an NHL player. I was a little upset when Yost got the call, but I knew it was always going to happen. But yeah, ryan Suzuki has been really, really awesome and I'm hoping he gets to continue the progress he keeps making.
Speaker 1:Well, suzuki, of course, the key thing for him this year, I think. He's playing top-line minutes. He's also doing the penalty kill, I think, in power play, so he's seeing a lot of ice. Is that the case, nick?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's been their top line center since the start of the year and he's been one of their penalty killers. And on the second power play unit.
Speaker 1:Okay Now I remember watching him in some of the prospect tournaments, particularly last year. Some of the moves that he would make were just silky smooth and he's a guy that's got immense skill and if he can stay healthy I think he's going to be in the mix for the Hurricanes in the future. So definitely at number five. We're excited to see Ryan Suzuki Moving to number four, an interesting one. This is Andre Krutov. Now, krutov was drafted this year by the Canes. We talked about him in a previous episode. He was drafted at 220. So he's way down. Here's the thing. Elite Prospects had a very interesting comment on Krutov. They said Krutov sees opposing defenders as combs to dangle around, so they really thought he had some great moves. Darren York said a really highquality offensive thinker. So again, this guy's got some real moves and I guess he's been off to a great start with Torpedo and the VHL. What can you tell us about Crouton?
Speaker 2:Well, first things first. Yesterday he had two goals and a shootout goal, and with that he now leads all U19 scoring in the VHL, which, at 18 years old and as a seventh round pick, is incredible. Also, you know he's been sent down to the MHL a few times this year, so it's definitely good for him that he's doing what he's doing. He's been incredible doing what he's doing. He's been incredible.
Speaker 2:His hands, honestly, haven't shown up a ton this season, solely because he realized about halfway through, whenever he kept getting sent down, that he can't just keep relying on his hands to get him out of every situation, and it's slowly coming together in that regard. His timing and his wherewithal of where to be on the ice at the time is getting a lot better. His shot is incredibly lethal and then the hands do flash from time to time, especially in the shootout. Yesterday's goal was impressive, and the one before that was even better. It's just really good to see a young guy getting this opportunity and him capitalizing on it. Kratos was really fun, and the picture I used was him and his cat named Boomer, and I thought it was a really funny picture.
Speaker 1:Well, you know Krutov, when he was drafted at 220, that was well after what a lot of the scouts had said. Mckean's had him at 135, central Scouting for Europe had him at 97. So he's a guy that Keynes again pulled off much later in the draft and he certainly sounds like he's going to be an interesting prospect for the Canes going forward. The next guy number three on the list, that's an interesting one, a guy that I was very excited about when the Canes drafted him in 2020 in the second round. That's Noel Gundler.
Speaker 1:Now, gundler is a guy that boy the word on him was just a highly skilled player, unbelievable offensive capabilities. The concern with him, of course, was going to be the same concern we hear with a lot of these talented offensive guys Defensively not as strong and also not necessarily a consistent worker on the ice as well. So a guy that had elite skills and needed to kind of put the package together. He, too, has struggled through some injuries in recent years, but I'm delighted to see he's on number three with the Chicago Wolves. Again, noel Gundler, what can you say about Gundler?
Speaker 2:Yeah, gundler has been a lot better as of the recent few weeks. He had a really nice point streak a few days. I think it was like a four-game goal streak. It was a longer point streak though, but he was playing really well. He still is playing pretty well. He's getting good power play time with the Wolves.
Speaker 2:He's on the same unit as Suzuki and Justin Robida and a few other guys. He's been really good. He's crashing the net a lot more, which is something that you didn't really see from him a lot, and I think that's honestly good for him. He's a very decently built physical player and seeing him use physicality to his advantage is always going to be a good thing. He had a very good month in November and I hope he does keep it going. I think he can If he uses his shot more. His shot is lethal. He just I don't know if it's like a mix of just not using it a ton or just not being the most active shooter, but I also might just be Chicago. Chicago doesn't shoot a ton, but maybe they will.
Speaker 1:Well, again, he had an outstanding prospect showcase. I think. He had a two-goal game and he was playing very, very well, I think, in the showcase and I'm sure that he's continued on that fine play with Chicago. So it's great to see Gundler. He was a guy that a lot of folks thought was going to be another one of these second-round picks. We've talked about some of these guys in the past.
Speaker 1:Of course, ajo was in the second round and the Canes have had great success with second rounders over the years, from Europe in particular. So we'll see what happens with Noel. Hopefully he can continue his fine play this year, moving to number two not a surprise, one of your favorites, it seems. This little guy just keeps getting it done. Drafted at 156 by the Canes Again, he's a guy that Darren York said he's a goal scorer. This guy's just an offensive dynamo and he makes things happen on the ice every time. Thought to be a much higher draft pick, the Canes got him because, of course, of his size, but he's on fire with Dakar and the Quebec Major Junior League and of course I'm talking about Justin Poirier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, justin Poirier it's kind of hard to keep finding ways to describe him, but the kid's really good. He's probably going to have a historic season. He's already on pace for 50 regular season goals, just like last season. He's made it known in interviews he wants 60 real bad, which makes sense. He's been one of the QMJHL's better players this entire year. He's been Dracar's probably best player. Poirier has been very good. Watching him play is such a fun experience and I've said that a a few times because you just don't expect Poirier to be able to do what he does. And yeah, poirier is probably going to be a real good one. It's just with the cue. I always like to be careful on putting players in number one unless they really well, because the cue is playing against guys that are, you know, 18, 19, 20 compared to other guys.
Speaker 1:Now you have the Justin Poirier rule, I think. Is that not the case, Nick?
Speaker 2:That's the exact rule, yeah.
Speaker 1:And what is that rule?
Speaker 2:It states that, while Justin Poirier is doing incredible things, I take slight value in other players that are playing in professional leagues rather than junior leagues leagues rather than junior leagues.
Speaker 1:Exactly, and I think that's great. And again, this guy we know he's got all kinds of talent. He's going to be another guy like Justin Robitaille. We've seen Robitaille coming on a lot better this year with the Chicago Wolves, these smaller players that have elite skills and you need that as a small player, of course, to get into the NHL. But Poirier is just wowing a lot of folks for sure and we'll keep an eye on Justin as the months go on, really excited as we head into number one for the month. And this is a guy that a lot of folks are excited about for sure and that's defenseman Scott Morrow Morrow having an outstanding start to the season in Chicago.
Speaker 1:Morrow again another one of these second-round picks. He was drafted 40th overall in 21. We know what Morrow can do offensively. The questions are can he round out his game? And I think clearly that's going to be the challenge for Cam Abbott and the coaching staff in Chicago this year is to get him as a full player on that D-core and in all situations and get him ready to take the next step. And of course, he's an elite talent. Tell us what's happening with Scott.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, kim Abbott is giving Scott Morrow a very hefty workload and it's for a good reason. Uh, they want to test him. I said before the year when originally I thought Morrow might have a good shot to make the team and then they signed Walker and they re-signed Chatfield, I said that honestly it's probably better for Scott Morrow's development for him to be playing heavy minutes down in Chicago and just getting used to the game professionally. And that's exactly what's happening and you can see the direct development of. At the start of the year he probably wasn't where he wanted to be to where he is now, which is a lot better than where he was to start the year.
Speaker 2:Uh, scott morrow has been running the power play with nadeau and under sorum and haimo salmi and another guy on the on the the wolves technical first power play unit, um, and it's been going decently well. Again. The power play numbers might not look too great, but they went through a horrid slump where they just were not too great. Scott Morrow has been looking very, very good. He's starting to truly look like the player the Hurricanes envisioned him to be, with elite offensive instincts. When he can have the puck on his stick and make plays. The defense is getting a lot better and that is what is helping him out so much. His straight line skating has also gotten faster. I was speaking with Matt a few days ago and we specifically noted a play against Grand Rapids last Sunday where a bad line change led to a 2-on-0, and Scott Morrow was the one who got back and made the play.
Speaker 2:And we both recognized that and went wow, that's really impressive, because those types of plays from Morrow were not happening a lot at UMass and weren't happening a ton in the beginning of the year. But now they're like okay, this is happening more and more. His 5-on-5 play is extremely encouraging. He's a penalty killer now, which is the first time in his career he's been a penalty killer. Everything is starting to click for Scott Morrow and that's why he was number one, especially after a hat trick and a four-point performance against Grand Rapids as well.
Speaker 1:Scott Morrow is definitely doing better now and I'm happy to see what he's doing now but you know, his first year, umass, he was unbelievable, um, he just, uh, he just was phenomenal as a freshman, uh, and then kind of softened a little bit in the second season. But he's a guy that uh, there's no question he's got elite skills. He's starting to show what a hat trick and four points in the game. That tells you a lot about his offensive capability. There's no question there. And if he can round out his game and I know that's the plan and that was the idea of putting him in Chicago this year and it's great They've got the Wolves- so he can play there.
Speaker 1:This is going to be ideal for him, and you know it's interesting because the guy we normally talk about in the top five is not there this month, and he's the other defenseman we expect to see very soon with the Hurricanes, and that's, of course, alexander Nikitian. Where's Alexander?
Speaker 2:Well, I recently described his current situation as being a minutes eater, comparing it to a term that people use in baseball. As a innings eater uh, innings eater in baseball is your fourth, fifth guy in your rotation. He's going to give you seven to eight strong innings of two run baseball. Alexander indication at this point is giving you 24 to 25 minutes of strong, even strength, play. Um he on the power play. He's been relegated to the boards and watching him you can clearly see he's uncomfortable with it and his head coach doesn't want to move him off. The first power play um couldn't tell you why, but uh, he's still playing on the penalty kill, even strength, I mean. Obviously they still trust him. He's playing 25 minutes a night. It's consistently he's the leading uh defenseman in the khl and time on ice by almost a full minute.
Speaker 2:At this point he's still playing a ton. It's just the points are we're not there. They still aren't um, but it's just one of those things. It's kind of a slump. He's his role is deepening to where he's being asked to do more defensive stuff, which is not his normal attire. But eventually, when he does step over to North America, he's going to have to do that. That's just one of those things I will say, though the Channel 1 Cup is happening and Nikitin, being the captain of Team Russia which is always nice had two assists on the power play when he was running the point in their first game. Take with that what you will.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so what you might expect and of course you know when you talk about him, you know as a minute muncher and taking some of these tough you know defensive minutes and so on. That's a great thing, I believe that's we know what he can do offensively. He's showing that for sure, and you know this is good for for the Canes. You know in terms of his development as well. I think, nick, I think it's great and of course we know the reason. He's been kind of moved off that point position on the number one power play and that's Tony D'Angelo's addition to SKA and and of course, ska, and of course you know that's okay.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of ex-canes. We've talked a little bit about this ex-canes or future canes. You've got Sergei Tolchensky, who had a cup of coffee with the Canes. You've got Valentin Zikov, who spent some time with the Canes, of course Kuznetsov, who was with the Canes last year, d'angelo, and then you've got the prospects in Nikitian and of course, timur Cole, who we're going to talk about in the coming days as well. Quite a cast of Canes relationships.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seems like SKA really likes the Hurricanes and the Hurricanes seem to enjoy SKA's farm team.
Speaker 1:Yeah, isn't that funny when you think of it. It's kind of an interesting story. In any case, we'll keep an eye on Alexander, of course. He's still a monster on the blue and very much ticketed to join the Canes as soon as he can, for sure. Okay, so top five we started, of course, we had the big one being Scott Moore at number one. So that's great to see. And now we'll talk a little bit about the honorable mentions and, of course, always interesting to hear what you've got to say.
Speaker 1:On the honorable mentions side. I mentioned this guy earlier. Buzz saw on the center side. He's playing very nicely. I think he's coming along very well for Chicago and of course that's Justin Robida. Robida, small player again, 5'8", probably, 175 pounds. He's got to do it with skill, he's got to do it with effort and of course he was drafted well down as well at 147. So the Canes have tried to take a bit of a flyer on these smaller players, picking them up later, but he's starting to come on. What can you tell us about what's happening with Robida?
Speaker 2:Yeah, right before the beginning of the year I wrote a piece about what Chicago's lineup could look like and I said Robida would be the perfect third line center and penalty killer. And what's happened halfway through the year not even halfway through the year for the Wolves? He's become the third line center and he's become their number one penalty killer. And what's happened halfway through the year not even halfway through the year for the Wolves? He's become the third line center and he's become their number one penalty killer. And he's looked very, very good in that role he is.
Speaker 2:You put a battery in an Energizer bunny, you put the Energizer bunny on skates and you kind of wind them up. Let him go in the the offensive zone when the opposing team has the puck and he's going to piss you off. You're either going to make a great play to get it out or Robodi's taking it or forcing a turnover. Robodi's awesome. I think he's awesome. He's a great player. He's fun to watch. Offensively he's good. He can score when he needs to. His passing is pretty good. He just has a relentless work ethic that I think is very invaluable to a player of his size that you kind of need to have, and Robida is definitely making everything happen and he's looked really good for the Wolves and he's been a great penalty killer Amazing penalty killer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I've also noticed he's been pretty strong in a face-off dot, so he definitely is a guy that can add a lot to the mix. I thought he played very well in the prospect showcase this year. I'm also a Robodov fan. Last year, of course. He spent the year in Norfolk, so kind of cutting his teeth in the pro ranks. But he's a guy that I think again is going to be an interesting player to follow because he definitely is a buzzsaw in the ice and he's got a lot of skill to go along with it. So great to hear Robodoss coming along with the Wolves.
Speaker 1:The next honorable mention is a guy we've talked about an awful lot and one of my favorite young players in Chicago, and that's Dominic Finsore Finsore. Whenever I watched him in these prospect showcases he just wows me. I know last year was the first time I saw Dom after coming out of the college ranks where he had starred for the previous two years and I really thought man, this guy, he's incredible at the puck. In fact, I talked about him as being kind of a new age Tony D'Angelo in the way that he handled the puck, saw the ice extremely well, drove the power play and really made things happen on the ice Again. Third rounder, 90th overall. So the Canes picking up players later on. That can really go and I know Don's been off to a great start. What's happening with Finsori?
Speaker 2:Yeah, finsori, another guy that's been really awesome on the penalty kill. A specific example was a game this past weekend against Grand Rapids where on the penalty kill he blocked a shot when the entire length of the ice broke a defender's ankles real bad and just had an easy pass to robadai who scored. Uh, fensori's skating is unbelievable. It's one of the better skaters I've seen him in haima salmi easily some of the better skaters I've ever seen. Um fensori is not getting a lot of power play time, which I think he was used to over the past few years. I think he still rotates in from time to time. But his big thing now is that he has become a very important penalty killer for the Wolves, which is brand new for him. He has been like the first unit over.
Speaker 2:I know three guys it's Legault, it's Fensore and it's Robodi. Those are your three penalty killers that are always the first over what to start a penalty kill. That's brand new for Fensore and he has been very good in that role. And the biggest thing, he can use skating to his advantage, cause if the puck is loose and he gains possession, he's incredibly hard to knock off the puck, despite his size, because his skating is just so good, I think eventually. I'm not going to say he will, but I truly think Fensore will be a regular in the NHL at some point. I don't know whether that's with the Canes, but a player with that level of skating, then that level of ability is very hard to keep away from the professional level well and he does.
Speaker 1:He does very well what smaller defensemen have to do in their d-zone and so on with his stick work, with his positioning, body positioning and so on, and and I, like you, have been really excited about seeing him on the pk. I noticed this earlier. I was watching a lot of the some of the highlights and some of the action and I noticed that he was getting extra playing time on the penalty kill and, of course, he's been teaming with Charles Alexis Legault for a considerable part of the season and we have high hopes for Legault as well, who continues to grow in Chicago. So the Canes are loaded up on the blue. You mentioned also Alexi Himasalmi Boy. He was almost a forgotten man. He was again another outstanding draft pick who had starred in the junior ranks, in fact in some of the national tournaments. I remember hearing a lot about Hema Salmi and he got kind of lost, but he looks like he's coming back on as well for the Wolves. I think. Good things with Hema Salmi. What's he doing these days?
Speaker 2:He's been fine. He's finally got decent chemistry with his defensive partner, which has been Joachim Ryan Jaimo yeah, he's looked really good. He's getting power play time. He's moving the puck pretty well. His skating, obviously, is what really helps him out in most situations. He can just make things happen with his skating. He can make defenders get out of position real quick and capitalize on that because of the way he skates. He's been fine. Yeah, he's been fine.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll see. I mean, obviously, the Canes are loaded on the defensive core. We haven't even talked about some of the others in other countries around the globe who are starting to develop as well. So the Canes?
Speaker 1:are just absolutely loaded on the blue and that's a great harbinger for the future. For sure, let's talk about another defenseman if we're going to talk about these guys, and of course that's uh your next honorable mention, and that's roman shokran. Shokran, uh, we talked about in the draft this year. He was number 184 again. That was later than, uh, than some folks had him. I mean, fc hockey had him at 57. This is insane. Um, daily face off at 112. So they got him a little bit later. And this guy, he's a, he's a beast. Uh, elite prospect said. When he's not just barreling over guys, there are flashes of actual puck handling ability. So an interesting thing to say about him. Uh, darren york said he's an incredibly gifted skater. So what's happening with Roman Choprin?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he started the year with the Silver League locomotive side, which in the NHL there's a Silver League and a Gold League Locomotive has two teams, one in each league. He started with the Silver League. He was playing pretty big minutes and then he had 25 penalty minutes in a game and I got a little confused. But he was playing really well for them and he wasn't really getting a lot of points but his overall play was pretty good. And then he got called up to the Gold League team and now he's starting to put everything together to where he's putting up points at a pretty good rate. He's playing very well five on five hockey. I believe he kills a penalty or two. I honestly haven't watched the Roman Chakran game in a few days, but he's looked really solid. I'm happy that the step up in competition whether it's not the biggest step up, but I'm happy the step up in competition is good and I'm happy that he is succeeding even at the higher level.
Speaker 1:Well, again it's. It's uh, it's a constant theme with the hurricanes and these defensemen who can skate you talked about a couple earlier. Of course, the guys that you talked about in the on the prospect side, top prospects and the honorable mentions can all skate. You know Fensori, of course, scott Morrill and again Hema Solmi, who we talked about as well. All three of these guys can skate, like Madden Soken, roman Shofran, so again, another talented defenseman.
Speaker 1:Don't hear anything about him. It's great to hear him on the honorable mention list this month, for sure. Now we've got something coming up very soon which is exciting. Of course we have the big tournament, the Four Nations tournament in the NHL, coming up in February, but we do have the junior World Junior Championships coming up before that, and I know the Canes have a number of prospects who are going to be competing in that world tournament and it's a big one because a lot of the players that are showcased there turn out to be some of the key players in the NHL, as we know. So let's get a listen to some of the folks you think we should be paying attention to from the Hurricanes side as well, nick, in that tournament.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, the Canes are going to have three guys there. There's going to be two for Sweden and one for Canada. The one for Canada is Bradley Nadeau. I am not shocked, he made it at all. He's the only one playing against professional competition and I believe they should value that kind of heavily when you're going into a competition against everybody that's less than 20 years old. Yeah, bradley Nadeau is probably not going to be in a big role for Team Canada, but he'll probably get some sparing power play time. He'll probably be in a bottom six role, but the good thing for Nadeau is that he's kind of used to the way that he would want to play in a bottom six role, because the Wolves have kind of got him to that point of being ready for that. So Nadeau is probably going to be a really fun player to watch. I'm glad that he made it. Obviously He'll play these two games for Chicago on the 13th and the 14th, and then the 15th he will go to Ottawa and join Team Canada, team Sweden, the big one that everybody is going to know and everybody's going to watch for, because he's probably going to have a very much so expanded role than the one he had last year and that's going to be Felix Angers-Sorum. So he's going to be a second year there and last year, even in a third-line role a second-line role he was putting up great numbers because of the way he plays. The big thing for him going to the world juniors this time is that he's expected to be one of Sweden's top players. He is going to get power play time. He is going to play first line more than likely. He's going to be asked to do a lot of things and the good thing is that, thanks to David Edstrom, he won't have to play center. He's going to go back to the wing and he's probably going to look really good and people are going to remember this is the Felix Ungersorum that can play at the wing. I don't think he'll necessarily stay at the wing. I think whenever he goes back to Chicago he'll go back to center. But Felix Ungersorum is going to have a pretty big tournament and Sweden expects him to have a pretty big tournament and truly I think he will.
Speaker 2:The last player is also for Team Sweden and that is Oscar Vule. He's an 18-year-old no, 19-year-old, because I saw it was just his birthday. He's probably not going to get a gigantic role with Sweden. It'll probably be somewhere depth, maybe middle six, bottom six but his skill is something that will probably help him out a ton. This team Sweden roster should be really fun and enjoyable to watch Push the puck and make plays, and Boulay is probably going to be a big proponent of that because of the way he can pass the puck and especially his shot, which is heavy and it's accurate. So Valet should probably be fun. But yeah, those are the three guys going to the World Juniors that people should probably watch.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll tell you, it's going to be exciting and again, I think we're watching the Canes try to bring Felix Ungersorm into that center role. They have a particular shortcoming in terms of top center prospects coming along and I think that's the reason they're trying to do it with Felix. But, like you, I kind of look forward to seeing him back in the wing because that's where I think he really shines. And when I first started watching Ungersorm, one of the things I really was impressed with was his board work. He was very strong on the boards, of course, he sees the ice extremely well and he's a guy that can really make plays happen, and I thought that would be a great skill for the Hurricanes and definitely saw him as a middle six winger prospect for the future. But you know they're continuing to try to bring him along at center and we'll have to see how that plays out going forward.
Speaker 1:In any case, some really exciting players to watch. Always interested in Bradley Nadeau and I know you've had some great conversations with Bradley and his family and they're great people and we'll look forward to see how Bradley does as well for Team Canada. So lots to keep an eye on. Any other prospects we should kind of keep in the back of our mind as we get ready for our next opportunity to talk prospects Nick.
Speaker 2:I guess kind of Ruslan Kozayev, because it was weird to see that the goalie who was sent down to Bloomington was Yanni Peretz instead of Kozayev, seeing as Kozayev is the younger goalie. But I believe it's probably because Chicago wants to keep him with an experienced netminder and also because Chicago has a dedicated goalie coach. So they probably want him getting actual work as well as having familiar faces in Gleb and in some other guys that he's seen before. So he's not going to Bloomington and not really knowing anybody besides Bryce Montgomery.
Speaker 1:So I guess because I have I because he'll probably get a start in the near future for the wolves again well, it's interesting you mentioned that because, uh, I rolled out a podcast yesterday with uh, with aaron and katie uh, and we did talk about uh, ruslan kazeeb, and one of the things about him, uh, that I was thinking is exactly what you said, and that was that I think he's higher on the pecking chart in terms of prospects from a goaltender perspective than would be Peretz, and I think they want to keep him, as you say, with the appropriate professional coach they have there, certainly with Cam Abbott and with the rest of the team, and he's all I think as well. He's started to play better from what I could see, and he's a guy that you know. Again, coming over from Russia young player hasn't played in North America before, really didn't know what to expect, and it takes a little while for these guys to kind of find their way, and it's kind of been the story of the Wolves. I mean, the Wolves started really slowly, but lately these young players are starting to really find their way as well. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting to watch him. I'm a big fan of his. I thought he was outstanding when we saw him in the prospect stuff and so on. He's just a big goalie and I thought, man, if we have Kazeev and, of course, piotr Kozhekov going forward, these Russian goalies are really something. So we'll keep an eye on him. Great to hear that he's on the radar as well.
Speaker 1:As always, nick, it's great to talk prospects. We'll be back again, of course, in January to talk about what's happening in December and we'll have a bit of a wrap-up on the World Junior Tournament as well with the three guys that are there from the Canes, and we'll keep all our Hurricanes fans up to date on what's happening with the prospects. Of course, nick is available through his Canes Prospects sub-stack. We see him on X regularly and he's also available with his articles on stormtracker23.com, which is being released shortly, and you'll get a chance to check him out there as well. So, nick, as always, it's great to talk prospects for those of you who are checking in today to hear about the Canes prospects.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for joining us. Of course, if you like this episode, please press the the like button. And, of course, if you have any comments or anything to say about the prospects, we'd love to hear from you for sure, and we'll be quick to respond as well. And, finally, if you'd like to subscribe to Storm Tracker. Please hit the subscribe button and you'll be alerted of future episodes going forward. So again, nick, thanks so much for joining, and for all of you out there, have yourselves a very Merry Christmas, and we'll catch up real soon right here on Storm Tracker. You.
