World Junior Summer Showcase: Is Canada in trouble?

Summary

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The Athletic Hockey Show – Prospect Series

Episode: World Junior Summer Showcase: Is Canada in trouble?

Date: August 6, 2026
Hosts/Guests: Max Boldman, Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler

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Brief Overview

This episode of The Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series centers on two major events in the hockey development calendar: the World Junior Summer Showcase (WJSS) and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The hosts examine Canada's and USA's performances and rosters, raise concerns about Canada's offensive upside, evaluate prospect standouts, and discuss early storylines for the 2027 and 2028 NHL Drafts, with live insights from on-location coverage. The panel addresses whether Canada might be in trouble for the coming World Juniors and highlights which prospects are trending up or down as the season approaches.

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World Junior Summer Showcase: Main Takeaways

Canada vs. USA: Recap & Implications

• Result: The USA defeated Canada 7–2 in the marquee WJSS match.

• Narrative: Canada entered the Showcase as tournament favorites, while the USA looked to bounce back from a disappointing prior World Juniors.

• Key Discussion:

  • Discouragement for Canada vs Encouragement for USA
    • “From that showing, are you more discouraged by Team Canada or is that more encouraging for Team USA?” – Max Boldman (02:34)
    • "A lot of those top 10 picks really did not have great weeks." – Corey Pronman (03:42)
      He cites Brady Martin, Caleb DeNo, Caleb Malhotra, Daxon Rudolph, Kenan Verhoff, Carson Carls as underwhelming.

• Depth & Youth Concerns:

  • Top Canadian picks look like “locks to make the team” but underperformed.
  • Several offensive leaders are young, suggesting Canada might lean more on draft-eligible players (Dupont, Zhilkin).
  • "They're going to need all four lines to score. And there isn't really a top dog." – Scott Wheeler (05:05)

• Offense by Committee:

  • "The big challenge... is that they don't have that—there's no Gavin McKenna, there's no Porter Mar...there isn't even like a Michael Hage talent in this group. It's going to have to be by committee." – Scott Wheeler (04:59)

• Defensive Leaders Need to Step Up:

  • “The strength of this team should be all of those high end top 10 picks that Corey mentioned...they need Jack Ivan Kovic to be excellent.” – Scott Wheeler (06:05)

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Notable Player Conversations

Cole Reschni & Dima Zhilkin

• Standouts for Canada as consistent, impactful forwards.
  • “[They] were Canada’s two most consistent players. Shift to shift impact, making plays, driving the net, actually creating.” – Scott Wheeler (04:51)
• Question remains if they can be true tournament leaders.

Jack Ivan Kovic

• Didn’t play in the showcase.
• Identified as possible X-factor in net for Canada.

Jake O'Brien

• Labeled most skilled Canadian, but “consistency has historically been an issue.” – Corey Pronman (07:33)

Dima Zhilkin Profile

• “He’s got a bit of a rat to him... he’s kind of got a little bit of that sort of Brad Marchand to him...” – Scott Wheeler (08:00)
• Projection: Top 10 caliber prospect.

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USA’s Rising Stock

• Wyatt Cullen’s Role

  • Converted to center for University of Minnesota and USA.
  • "I thought he was the best forward at the Summer Showcase...dynamic...seamlessly became one of the very best centers at the world junior level." – Corey Pronman (13:23)

• Brooks Rogowski

  • Rose from depth role to “one of USA’s better forwards overall throughout the week.” – Corey Pronman (13:23)
  • Possibly ready for a bigger role in NCAA.

• Line Analysis

  • “I think that pair [Wittenbach and Cullen] looked like they could be game breakers at this level.” – Scott Wheeler (15:18)
  • Line with Mikey Burchild seen as the best in the tournament.

• Chase Reed on Defense

  • Clear top D in his age group.

  • Expected to play a major leadership and minute-eating role.

    “Chase is going to be a 25 to 28 minute a night defenseman at this tournament. He almost was that last year and this year I expect he'll be in the conversation at the end of the tournament for our media All Star team.”
    — Scott Wheeler (16:30)

• Defensive Depth

  • Carter Amico, Asher Barnett, Drew Shock noted as solid contributors.

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Tournament Favorites & Swedish Contenders

• Sweden’s Threat

  • “It is a deep Swedish team...I think the Swedes have a real chance to play in the gold medal game.” – Scott Wheeler (18:44)
  • Cites missing top contributors; believes Sweden’s depth is a real threat.

• Canada’s X-Factor

  • “The X factor for Canada is Ivan Kovac and he has won them tournaments in the past...I think Canada is probably still the front runner for gold.” – Scott Wheeler (19:00)

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Hlinka Gretzky Cup: Draft Implications

Top 2027 Draft Prospects

• Landon Duke Dupont (Canada, Defenseman, 2027 eligible):

  • Top prospect, “still at one, not one with a bullet.” – Corey Pronman (21:37)
  • Undersized at 5'11", but “excellent skater, puck mover... tremendous feel and in touch with the puck.” Showed improvement after a slow start.

• Jonah Neuschwander (Switzerland, Center):

  • “Really close between those two players (Dupont and Neuschwander) for #1.” – Corey Pronman (21:37)

  • “He just looks the part of one of the best players in the age group.” – Scott Wheeler (24:29)

    “He’s been a consistent, sort of semi-regular contributor throughout last season [in the NL]. There’s just a lot there...seeing him against this age group really for the first time...he looks like a stud.” — Scott Wheeler (24:29)

• Other Notables:

  • Milan Sundstrom (Sweden, Center): Strong, skilled, not as competitive as Neuschwander, in the top conversation.
  • Alexi Joseph (Canada): “Didn’t look like a #1 overall pick...maybe closer to 3 to 6.” – Corey Pronman (23:40)

• Center Depth in 2027 Draft

  • Several big, talented centers: Nun Schwander, Nelson, Sundstrom, Joseph.
  • “I don’t know if any of them are all [top lines] in the NHL, but they all can be really good top six centers.” – Corey Pronman (26:44)

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Early Standouts for 2028 Draft

• Maddox Schultz & Liam Pugh (Canada, Regina Pats, 2028 eligible)
  • "I think the two best players for Canada have been Maddox Schultz and Liam Pugh, both Regina Pats who are 2028 eligible and have been just driving the bus for their offense throughout the week." – Corey Pronman (27:33)
  • Schultz: “Great skater, great competitor, great hockey sense, super creative... traits you want in a foundational NHL piece.”
  • Pugh: “A killer with the puck on his stick... ability to finish plays, to score, to make something happen in transition.” – Scott Wheeler (28:31)
  • Size could separate Pugh as a top prospect (“Pugh’s close to 6'1", better natural scorer.”) – Corey Pronman (29:00)

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US and International Notes

• USA U17/U18 Hlinka Team
  • Not the top NTDP group.
  • Joey Cullen, a big name at 16, performing well: “Looks like a top pro prospect, just not in the Schultz range.” – Corey Pronman (29:43)
  • Sung—“absolutely dynamic, lights out good, but...so small, not a top NHL prospect.” – Corey Pronman (30:28)
  • US group lacks a dominant line compared to last year’s Zielinski-Hextall-Klepov trio.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Canada’s Top Picks Struggling:
  “A lot of those top 10 picks really did not have great weeks.”
  — Corey Pronman (03:42)

• On Canada’s Need for Offense by Committee:
  “There isn’t really a top dog...there’s no player in that group that I think this kid’s going to have 14 points in seven games and lead the tournament in scoring. Canada is just missing that player in this age group.”
  — Scott Wheeler (05:38)

• On the Potential of Dima Zhilkin:
  “He’s got a bit of a rat to him...kind of a little bit that sort of Brad Marchand to him...Just go and get pucks and hound guys and be a dog. I’m a big believer.”
  — Scott Wheeler (08:00)

• On Wyatt Cullen’s Breakout:
  “I thought he was the best forward of the Summer Showcase. I thought he was dynamic.”
  — Corey Pronman (13:23)

• On Chase Reed’s Leadership for USA:
  “Chase is going to be a 25 to 28 minute a night defenseman at this tournament...I expect he’ll be in the conversation...for the Directorate award as the top defenseman.”
  — Scott Wheeler (16:30)

• On Sweden’s Depth and Canada’s X-Factor:
  “I think the Swedes have a real chance to play in the gold medal game...The X factor for Canada is Ivan Kovac.”
  — Scott Wheeler (18:44, 19:00)

• On Schultz and Pugh (2028s):
  “Him (Schultz) and Pugh look like the kind of guys you kind of wish are there when you’re picking at the top of the draft.”
  — Corey Pronman (27:33)

  “Pugh is a killer...the ability to finish plays, to score, to make something happen in transition. I have been blown away.”
  — Scott Wheeler (28:31)

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 01:57 | Introductions, WJSS setup and opening questions | | 03:04 | Team Canada’s struggles, USA’s encouraging performance| | 04:44 | Cole Reschni & Dima Zhilkin praised | | 07:07 | Scott & Corey discuss Canada’s missing gamebreaker | | 08:00 | Deep dive: Dima Zhilkin’s competitive upside | | 12:52 | USA’s center depth and Cullen’s emergence | | 16:02 | Defense analysis: Chase Reed and others | | 18:29 | Who’s favorite for World Juniors – Canada or Sweden? | | 21:13 | Hlinka Gretzky Cup, top prospects breakdown | | 24:02 | Jonah Neuschwander’s impressive pro experience | | 27:33 | Maddox Schultz & Liam Pugh (2028 eligible stars) | | 29:43 | Analysis of US Hlinka team, other draft names |

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Summary: Is Canada in Trouble?

While Canada retains tournament favorite status heading toward the World Juniors, this episode highlighted genuine concerns—youth, lack of elite offensive leaders, and underwhelming performances from several blue-chip prospects. Team USA, once doubted for depth, showed promise in new offensive leaders, particularly Wyatt Cullen and Ethan Wittenbach, with Chase Reed anchoring their blue line. The hosts also outline a promising, center-deep coming draft class and introduce standout U16/17 talents for future drafts, suggesting a rich year ahead for prospect-watchers.

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For more detailed prospect analysis and prospect rankings, visit The Athletic's prospect coverage by Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman.

Transcript

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This is the athletic hockey show prospect series.

[Max Boldman]

Hey everybody. Max Boldman here alongside the Athletics Corey Promman and Scott Wheeler for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. We've got summer hockey to talk about the World Junior Summer Showcase. All three of us were at at various points a week ago now. Corey in Edmonton and Red Deer for the Ivan Halinka, the Hlinka Gretzky cup this year. A lot of stuff's happening right now, guys. We're getting, we're getting new hockey being played here. And let's start with the summer showcase here. A lot of picks from the most recent draft class. A lot of kind of first looks since the draft for a lot of those players builds up to a kind of Saturday night after evening, early afternoon or late afternoon early evening game between Canada and the U.S. and given the narratives around both of these teams, you had Canada, who I think at this stage is the favorite for the world juniors. And you have us coming off a disappointing quarterfinal exit. We got a pretty stunning result at the end of that one. Corey USA wins 7 to 2 over Team Canada. You were there, I was there. Scott was there earlier in the week. We'll talk about kind of their whole weeks. But from that showing, are you more Discouraged by Team Canada or is that more encouraging for Team usa?

[Corey Pronman]

I mean, obviously it's a bit of both. I mean, I think with USA you were worried about the depth a little bit. Like where is it? Where are they going to find scoring on this team at times? And obviously they pot a lot of goals throughout the course of the week and without a lot of their top guys there. Chase Reed didn't play in that final game. Cole returning players like Cole McKinney, Will Horkoff weren't even at the camp. So I think a lot of encouraging things from Team USA in that regard and from Team Canada's perspective, obviously it's still a really good team, still a contending team for a gold medal in December. I do think you look at a lot of the top picks on this team. Their top 10 picks know Brady Martin, Caleb De. No, Caleb Malhotra, Daxon Rudolph, Kenan Verhoff, Carson Carls in particular, I thought really struggled at that. Like all those, A lot of those top 10 picks really did not have great weeks. Like they had flashes. Like, yeah, like Malhotra had some flashes. Verhof had some good flashes then. But like I thought for returning player, I thought Deno was pretty, pretty ordinary. Rudolph thought, you know, was just was very ordinary at times too. Like. So I think, you know, a lot of these guys know their locks to make the team. So you're not freaking out over one or two bad games. But I do think you wonder whether, you know, you look at those, those core players and outside of Denoia and Martin, a lot of Those guys are 18 year olds. It looks like they're at the lean on guys like Dupont and Jilkin who are draft eligibles, but maybe more than we thought. They're very young players too. And I guess you're looking. I think I've had a pretty young team Canada right now.

[Max Boldman]

And Scott, one of the players, he wasn't a top 10 pick, but he was an early pick and he outperformed some guys that went ahead of him was Cole Reshnie.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, I thought Reschni and Dima Zilkin were Canada's two most consistent players. Shift to shift impact, making plays, driving the net, actually creating. And the big challenge that this Team Canada is going to face is that they don't have that. There's no Gavin McKenna, there's no Porter Mar. There isn't even like a Michael Hage talent in this group. And it's going to have to be by committee. They've got a lot of guys who are sort of the two way types. Corey, Corey rattled a lot of them off there. Like it's, it's Caleb Malhotra, it's Caleb Danoya, it's Brady Martin, it's Cole Rashne Reschni and Danoya I think are going to be sort of the 12 centers with maybe Malhotra in that mix. We'll see how Malhotra season goes at Bull. But it's. There's. I wonder about the offense and you're hoping with the way that this team is constructed, you're hoping that a lot of the offense comes from the back end. And that wasn't there frankly at all throughout the week either. The strength of this team should be all of those high end top 10 picks that Corey mentioned. Jackson Smith, who was one of the final cuts for last year's team, wasn't very good throughout the week. They need Jack Ivan Kovic to be excellent. They need that defense to be the strength of the team. And I didn't think it looked like that. And then up front it's going to have to be cut by committee. They're going to need all four lines to score. And there isn't really a top dot. Like there's no player in that group that I think this kid's going to have 14 points in seven games and lead the tournament in scoring. Like Canada is just missing that player in this age group. Now they won gold at U18s with largely this group with Cole Reschni with, I mean Ben Kindle was a part of that team. But the team was driven by Braden Coutts and Brady Martin and, and Cole Reschni primarily up front. And I'm just not sure whether those guys at this stage are true, true top dogs in this age group. They're very, very good players. They're going to be important players for Canada. They could all have excellent tournaments. Canada could win gold. But it does feel like this group is maybe missing that, that true game breaker. And like if Cole Reschni and Dima Zhelkin, who were their best players, are your best players at the tournament. I'm not sure what your ceiling is as a, as a team.

[Corey Pronman]

Their best player might have to be Ivan Kovac, who didn't play at all in the summer showcase.

[Max Boldman]

Corey, you mentioned earlier, as Scott was rattling through kind of where's this offense going to come from? Jake o' Brien, and he's obviously one of the most talented, really highly drafted player. He also hasn't really had a focal role for team Canada in a Couple of years here now. Is that switch in there for him to flip and kind of just become that go to off offensive piece?

[Corey Pronman]

Well, when Scott says like they don't have a guy who I think can get to 14 points, when you look at pure skill level, he would qualify for that. But I do think his consistency has historically been an issue.

[Max Boldman]

All right, so Scott, you talked about dimajilkin here and he's a name that's going to be new to a lot of our listeners here, but he is a name that they're going to be hearing a lot over the next 12 months. Really competitive, skilled forward for Team Canada. And to your point, he looked like already one of Canada's best players over the last week.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, and he was one of Canada's very best players. He played on their first line at the most recent U18 Worlds. He was a top performer in the OHL throat last season and a captain in the OHL last season with Saginaw. I'm a big, big believer in him. You, you often wonder, okay, 510 winger, where does that guy fit into a draft class? And yet he looks with how competitive he is, how hard he plays. He's got a bit of a rat to him. Like he's, he's flirted with suspensions at times in OHL and, and he's not afraid to. He's dropped the gloves at times in the ohl. He's involved in things after the whistle. He's kind of got a little bit of that sort of Brad Marchand to him. He reminds me a little bit of, of Zach Benson as well. Just in that like ability to just go and get pucks and hunt pucks and come up with pucks and play to the interior and just hound guys and be a dog. And I'm a big, big believer. Like I, I view Dima at this stage in the draft. I've got my first list coming out post Hinka and I've. I view Dima top 10 caliber prospect in this age group at this stage. And I'm just a big, big believer that he can kind of be that Ben. He's not vgo, Bjork or that level, but I think he could be that sort of Zach Benson type.

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[Max Boldman]

All right, on the USA side of things and it was probably a pretty encouraging week for them on the whole, there are still some questions with this team and that's going to persist I think, right up to the tournament here. It's not the most loaded age group for usa, but one of the big questions that we had going into this week is where is the offense going to come from down the middle? We were trying to arrange different center combinations. None of them felt really good. By the time the summer showcase got started, looked like USA kind of had a preloaded answer for that Corey, and that was to put Wyatt Cullen down the middle. And he justified that.

[Corey Pronman]

Yeah, I thought that was one of the more interesting storylines going into the draft. Late in the process was the understanding that Wyatt Collin is probably going to play center at the University of Minnesota next season. And I think when Nashville drafted Cullen 10th overall, they did that knowing he was going to play center Minnesota, but still thinking he's probably going to project as an NHL winger. And that was the understanding I had with talking to a lot of teams going into the draft. Even with that knowledge in hand, I don't know that's the case anymore. You looked at how well Cullen played, I thought he was the best forward of the summer showcase. I thought he was dynamic. I thought just his his puck play, his creativity, his pace all looked excellent. And you looked at just how seamlessly he became one of the very best centers at the at the world junior level. Like I think this is a guy you can think it could be a top six center in the NHL, and I think he solves a lot of those center issues for USA quite easily. The other center who I thought looked really good was Brooks Rogowski, a guy who was like a 12th, 13th forward at the U18 Worlds a few months ago and Also, again, was one of USA's better forwards overall throughout the week. Made a lot more plays than I thought he was going to make at this level. Already he was winning a lot of battles playing with pace. Like, I think he's got a really firm spot here in the bottom six for usa. And I think if you're a Vancouver Canucks fan, you're very happy with what he showed there for Team USA at the Summer Showcase.

[Scott Wheeler]

I wondered watching Rogowski, the Michigan State needs a has an open forward spot now that Nikita Klepov has moved on. And I wondered whether Rogowski was ready to accelerate like Jack Hextall, who's also going into Michigan State, did not look nearly the player that Rogowski looked throughout the week.

[Corey Pronman]

Yeah, I mean, even Mason west too, like, Mason west was solid. But I think Rogowski is ahead of both of those guys right now.

[Scott Wheeler]

Agreed. Ethan Wittenbach, we were talking about how Canada might not have that 147 guy for this event. Yeah, and Ethan Wittenbach and Wyatt Cullen, maybe those are the top dogs. And we've been pretty harsh of this USA age group over the years. But you looked around the World Junior Summer Showcase. I'm not sure there were two more talented players than Wittenbach and Cullen. And I think that pair, Mikey Burchild played kind of as the third fiddle on that line for most of the week. But I thought that pair of Wittenbach and Cullen looked like they could be game breakers at this level.

[Max Boldman]

Yeah, Wittenbach, a guy who got left off the roster a year ago and has one of the best years in college hockey, did seem already coming in like he's got to have a spot on this team. But now it's like you're talking about rolling that line out 20 plus minutes a night. It was, I thought, the best line at the entire tournament.

[Corey Pronman]

Yep. Yeah. I think the only question is where's McKinney and Horof fit into things? But I get what you're saying, like they, they should be core players for this team come Boxing Day.

[Max Boldman]

And as we talk about the D in this last draft class that struggled for Canada, it wasn't really a huge issue for Chase Reed. I mean, Chase Reed is a returner to this tournament that has its advantages. You know, he also has had a huge role. I'm not going to say he had the greatest tournament ever, but he certainly was the best of that defense group. Scott.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, and I spoke with a couple of scouts there when I was in Windsor and a couple of Them said kind of the same thing, which is I don't see 3 better D from the 2026 class at this tournament than Chase Reed. If you're the Seattle Kraken, I think you're thrilled coming out of the week. I think he looked of those D like he was the and Corey and I both had him number one on our list, but he kind of looked that part this week. Now it's summer hockey, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He's older than some of those players. He's got more experience at this level. All of that is true. So you don't get too carried away. But Chase, Chase is going to be a 25 to 28 minute a night defenseman at this tournament. He almost was that last year and this year I expect he'll be in the conversation at the end of the tournament for our media All Star team and for the Directorate award as, as the top defenseman. Like he's one of the guys who's capable of winning that and, and leading that team in a big, big way. And frankly they're blue line. Like there were some pleasant surprises there. I thought Carter Amico, who's had a really up and down couple of years here, showed well, like there, there are some, some pieces of the puzzle there. There were actually some, some higher picks that I didn't love. I didn't love Brustavich, I didn't love Fiddler, who've kind of been in this age group at least that are among the higher picks on that blue line. But Drew Shock's a very good. I'm not sure whether he' But Drew Shock's a very good player at this level. Asher Barnett's a very good player at this level. Like they have maybe the makings of a team that's stronger than, than some of us maybe thought coming in goaltending, I think is what worries me there.

[Corey Pronman]

Yeah, I think Chase Reed is probably going to be a top defenseman at this event, but I will be interested to see how they run that power plays. I thought Tommy Bly against Canada was really, really good. And I think you can argue which between Blyle and Reed who has more pure offense. So I'll be curious come Boxing Day who they ultimately choose to run the

[Scott Wheeler]

power play there and who Michigan State chooses. We're going to get a bit of a tell, I think throughout the fall with Michigan State.

[Corey Pronman]

That's a good point.

[Max Boldman]

Do we still think Scott, is Canada still your favorite going into this tournament? I mean, Sweden, it's not maybe the superstar power, assuming that they don't have Ivar Stenberg, maybe they get Viggo Bjork. But it's a deep Canadian team or a deep Swedish team.

[Scott Wheeler]

It is a deep Swedish team and the Swedes were missing some pretty key pieces in guys like Boumedian and players who've been top players internationally at this level. Eddie Jenborg of Detroit, like there, there were some, some really, really solid players at this level who were missing for the Swedes. I think the Swedes have a real chance to play in the gold medal game in this year's event. I think that the X factor for Canada is, is Ivan Kovac and he's kind of been the X factor for, for this age group his entire life. Like he has won them tournaments in the past and won them games in the past and I think this team will go as far as he takes them. If Jack is one of the best goalies in the tournament, which I expect he will be, I think Canada is probably still the front runner for gold.

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[Max Boldman]

All right, so that's the summer showcase, which is mostly drafted prospects with a couple exceptions. But from a draft standpoint, the big action right now is the Helena Gretzky Cup Corps. You're there. It's been an interesting tournament so far. There's a lot of names we got to talk about, but we got to start with the most famous name in the class. Landon Duke Dupont. With what you've seen so far, does being the most famous name in the class translate to being the number one name in the class?

[Corey Pronman]

I would still have him at one. Not one with a bullet, but he still would be one. I thought the first game he's kind of struggled, I think, but the, his second and third game in particular his game against Sweden, I thought he was excellent. Showed a lot of the traits that get you really excited about him. Excellent skater, excellent puck mover. Just tremendous feel and in touch with the puck. You know, good enough defender at his size. I think the fact that he's a 511 defenseman will, unless he just torches college hockey offensively, I think there's going to be, it's going to be close with him with some other players. Like the other guy here who's draft eligible who's really popped has been the big center, Jonah Neuschwander for Switzerland. Like I think it's really close between those two players. Milan Sundstrom has been good, but I don't think he has the all around game of it of a known Schwanner. He's not as competitive, not, not as, not as dominant a force physically. So I think that's kind of where things stand right now where I think Dupont's holding steady. Nunchwander kind of trended up slightly. You know, I think this is his third Polinka Gretzky, so a little bit of hedging there, but he was really, but he was really good and you know, play, you know, played well against Canada, played really well when he had, he played against Slovakia and then his team had to puck more. Switzerland in general was, it was, you know, played above expectations. They beat Sweden in the round robin game, knocking Sweden out of the, the medal round and he was a big part of that. So I think that's kind of like the, one of the, the more interesting storylines at the top of the draft. And then, you know, probably on the downside would be the play of Alexi Joseph, who I still think played well. He was still a top two line setter for Canada. Top power play, killing penalties, does a lot of things really well. But I think in terms of making plays, you know, driving the offense, it wasn't non existent, it was still there. But I don't think you looked at him and said number one overall pick. I think you looked at him and said maybe closer to 3 to 6 or something like that. That's kind of, that's kind of. I think with the lay the land there is some scouts I talk to here, have Milan Sunstrom up there with Nun Schwander. I, I'm not quite there yet. I worry about his all around game a little bit but his skill and his hockey sense, his size, his skating

[Max Boldman]

very intriguing with new and Schwander and the pro experience there. Scott, like it's, it's rare to have a guy who is his age at 17 who has already completed a full pro season here and the numbers there, like there's not that many top players that come out of the Swiss league in terms of like draft prospects but it's right there having ahead of Nick Ehlers, I think ahead of Nico Hecher at the same age and for a 6, 3 center that really gets your attention.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, I remember watching him for the very first time at the World Juniors when he was 15 years old and he already, he had already played pro games by the time he'd made his world juniors debut at 15. Like this is a kid who at 15 years old was playing in the NL which is a very, very good league, one of the better leagues in Europe and he's been a, he's been a consistent sort of semi regular contributor throughout last season at that level and it's a, it is a tricky level to evaluate. There's certainly from a data standpoint teams that rely heavily on analytics. There's just fewer sort of case studies. Obviously David Reinbacker is the most recent but plays a completely different position and, but he just looked like he looks the part. He has all the traits, he can skate, he's competitive. He played a lot of wing early on for the Swiss national team but he's now obviously playing center. He's got some hands, he's got his, he's, he's can sort of from mid range can score with his release like there's just a lot. He seems to have some poise on the puck. There's a lot there. And now seeing him against this age group really for the first time where he's playing within his own age group internationally instead of playing as an underage or a double under underager, he just looks the part of one of the best players in the age group. And so this is going to be I think a more important sort of touchstone checkpoint for him than some of These other players because we're not going to quite likely get this again. He'll play at the World Juniors, but again as an underager. And so this is sort of the viewings of him side by side as peers and he looks like a stud. I'm not sure whether he has a ton of high end, natural sort of game breaking elements to him. I agree, like, I don't, I don't know whether he's a first line guy and that may hold him out of sort of having him in the top three conversation for me. But is he a top 10 pick in this age group? Is he a top prospect in this age group? Absolutely. And Sammy Nelson? We didn't talk about Sammy Nelson in our summer showcase, but Sammy Nelson's kind of fits in that same boat. Like big, strong center, can shoot the puck, has hands, has some poise, can make plays. And the question I think with both Nelson and Jonah is sort of are, are they first line, future first line players or future second line players?

[Corey Pronman]

I do think it's exciting from a for if you're a team that needs senders and most teams picking at the bottom need centers when you have now Nun, Schwander, Nelson, Sundstrom, Joseph. There's a lot of big talented centers in this year's draft. I don't know, just God's points, I don't know if any of them are all one in the NHL, but they all can be like really good top six centers.

[Max Boldman]

And you're hoping that as the year goes on, one of these guys starts to really pop. I mean Caleb Malhot at this time a year ago we were not talking about in the range that he ultimately went. Ultimately. Is he one like that? Remains to be seen.

[Corey Pronman]

Carter Meyer too Didn't mention him.

[Max Boldman]

Yeah, a lot, a lot of center names at the top of this class. That's the 2027 big names in the draft. One of the big stories though, Corey, this week has been a couple of guys on Team Canada who we won't be talking about until the 2028 draft class.

[Corey Pronman]

Yeah, I would argue that. Well, I think Landon Dupont has been excellent. I think the two best players for Canada have been Maddox Schultz and Liam Pugh, both Regina pats who are 2028 eligible and have been just driving the bus for their offense throughout the week. Schultz in particular, just such a. He has everything you want in a player except maybe his size at 5 10. Great skater, great competitor, great hockey sense, super creative. Like he has all the traits of one of those kind of, you know, Foundational NHL pieces. The kind of guy you kind of hope is there when you pick first overall. And we'll see how things go for him over, over the next 12 months and you know, if he continues to develop and, and when we get into his draft cycle, if he's, if he's still at that point. But him and Pew look like the kind of guys you kind of wish are there when you're picking at the top of the draft.

[Scott Wheeler]

Pew in particular, I mean, Maddox has had so much attention since an early age. It was considered for exceptional status. He's. Pew is, is a killer, like with the puck on his stick, the ability to, to finish plays, to score, to make something happen in transition. I, I have been blown away by the way that Liam Pugh has looked. And those two kids in Regina this year are going to, even as 16 year olds are going to do damage.

[Corey Pronman]

Yeah, I mean, Pew's a more skilled player for sure. You know, he's got, he's 61 2. Yeah, yeah, he's better natural scorer. Like, they're like, if you ask me to rate them as NHL prospects because Pew's close to 6:1, they're like, they're neck and neck. I think maybe Lean Schultz because he's a center, but they're. You know, we were worrying about Joey Cullen coming to terms, like, would he like pop and you know, light this tournament up? And he's been good for Team usa. He hasn't been great, but those two guys, they, they look like the premium pro prospects.

[Max Boldman]

Has there been anyone on like the US Team? It's not the NCDP group that they send. I mean, Colin, I think it was a pretty big deal when Cullen went to this tournament as a, as a 16 year old. But anyone besides him that's, that's really been notable.

[Corey Pronman]

I think he still has looked really good. Like, he still looks like a top pro prospect, just not of like in the, in the Schultz range. Like, you still love his skating, you love his skill. Like, he looks like a really good, really good player. Bureaucar, you know, had had that hat trick there in the opening game against the Czech Republic playing in Spokane. Like, he looks like a, you know, a really nice big center, good skater, competitive, more touch and more scoring ability there than I thought could be like, maybe a good, like, you know, top two round pick. A guy who I thought could have had a big turban gunner, Convoy, who had a really good underage here in the ushl. He was just okay here, didn't really make many plays the guys who have been making plays for them are, you know, like, like Sung for example. He's just 5 foot 7, 5 foot 8 and it's tough to get excited about him from an NHL perspective, but he's been absolutely dynamic. Like he's been like lights out good, making really high end skill plays, but he's just so small. Like it's, he's not a top NHL prospect.

[Scott Wheeler]

They haven't really had that dominant line that they had a year ago.

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[Scott Wheeler]

Like a year ago it was Zielinski, Hextall, Klepov. Like that trio just controlled play and was executed excellent and this USA group hasn't really had that, that kind of talent here, I don't think.

[Max Boldman]

All right, well it's a good kickoff to to the proper hockey season. Even though the NHL camps are still about a month out, things start to get moving now. Europe will start to get moving and a lot to talk about coming forward. That is going to do it for us today. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect series. Remember, you can read much more of Scott and Corey's work on the Athletic doctor and we'll have more for you soon.

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