MatchesMalone

Yeah I'm honestly not too sure with Eiserman. Recall coming into the season I had him ranked a little later than most and have always said he benefited greatly from playing on a line with James Hagens, so I'm probably not the best person to asked what changed. I had him around 4 or 5 most of the year and now have had him in the 5-7 range for the past few months. Nothing has really "happened" - just that a couple of other guys have elevated their play enough to pass him (Buium, Lindstrom, and probably a couple others). To the best of my knowledge, the only thing that has really changed is that last year he played most of the season on a line together with Hagens, while this year they really made a point about keeping them apart and letting them drive their own lines; Eiserman never really elevated the play of his linemates the way Hagens does. I have no earthly idea who Chicago takes. Their head amateur scout Mike Doneghy is based out of Boston, but since he's been at the helm they've skewed toward CHL with their early picks, with a couple NTDP mixed in. With recent top picks like Nazar, Bedard, Moore, you gotta think they might wanna add some size to the core, so maybe a Lindstrom or Dickinson? Iginla seems to be rising up the charts. My guess right now would be maybe early teens.

Artturi Lehkonen - Ross Colton - Matt Duchene Warren Foegele - Trent Frederic - Jordan Martinook Jimmy Vesey, Jakub Lauko Devon Toews - Esa Lindell Erik Gustafsson - Ian Mitchell Sergei Bobrovsky

You know it's probably a bit of a weak draft class when the top three scorers at the U18s were from future drafts. With no Russia there, there was only ever two teams that were going to win this thing - USA or Canada - so at least they went head to head in the final. The other usual contenders have subpar classes this year, ranging from Finland slightly below average to Czechia's embarrassment and Sweden somewhere in between.

Yeah I've seen a fair amount of Misa. Hell of a prospect but I'd rank him toward the lower end of "exceptional status" players. Still a year before his draft to prove me wrong, but right now I'm not even convinced he's number two for 2025. Looks like a powerhouse draft to me, and guys like Ivan Ryabkin, Jakob Wozniak, Roger McQueen, Anton Frondell, Porter Martone, Charlie Trethewey, Sascha Boumedienne, Jackson Smith, Matthew Schaefer will be challenging for spots in that top five. Hagens is the only one who I think has really set himself apart as on a tier of his own. First time I saw any of them was the U17 challenge a couple years ago. Misa was playing on the top line for Canada Red with Catton and Martone. Misa looked fantastically skilled and creative, but it was clear that the elder Catton was the line driver. I watched their first couple games before I watched a USA game, and I remember being in awe of Catton, raving to a friend about his 200 foot IQ and how he was outsmarting everyone all over the ice... But then I saw Canada Red up against USA and that was the first time I saw Hagens. My brain almost couldn't comprehend what I was seeing; after being so amazed by Catton's hockey IQ, suddenly he was head to head with Hagens and he had no answer. At first I thought it had more to do with the level of talent surrounding Hagens (Eiserman, Hutson), or how well coached and structured they were or how the NTDP had already been playing and practising together for a couple months. But the more I've watched since then, the more I'm convinced that Catton's hockey IQ is elite, but Hagens' is borderline generational, and that in fact Eiserman benefited greatly from playing with Hagens (moreso than vice versa).

Hagens is after Kucherov's U18 tournament point record. Kid is first overall 2025. He's on another level. Elite in every single category, including his shot and goal-scoring, which gets overshadowed by Eiserman and it's easy to look at Hagens as the playmaker. But kid can snipe. Borderline generational, but I won't quite go that far.

Uh oh.

You mean vitamin C?

Looks like May 10th.

Watching the USA - Norway game at U18s. My goodness, Hagens to Eiserman is like clockwork. Eiserman closing in on Cole Caufield's program goals record. Ziemer and Bednarik also looking pretty impressive. On the other side, despite Norway getting dominated, double-underaged Niklas Aaram Olsen has really stood out. Not draft eligible until 2026.

I, for one, don't know what that word means.

For your more sought-after players, especially pending UFAs, be sure to include your sales pitch - fit, opportunity, chance to win, etc.

San Jose will not be extending qualifying offers to Ryan Fanti, Oskari Salminen, Curtis Douglas, Noel Hoefenmayer, Calle Sjalin, Nick Cicek, Alex True, Alex Formenton.

You're being ridiculous. He'd already be good enough to play AHL next year if he wanted to. A second year of NCAA is probably preferable so he can play big minutes there, but a third year would be silly.

Goalies are obviously a whole different animal, but Demko wasn't picked 11th overall.

Not nearly enough for the Sens. Plenty of potential is nice, but they'd need more established value.