All right, let's go. Special episode of the Basu and Godet Notebook. Special draft edition. Live from Vegas for Arp and Basu, and unfortunately, live from Montreal for myself. So how did you enjoy the Sphere, my friend?

Sphere is incredible. So no one's going to care about this, but I'm sitting in Sphere. It's not the. It's just called Sphere. It's very meta.

It's like the... They dropped the the, like Facebook, right?

Like Facebook, exactly. Dropped the the, just Facebook. I'm sitting in there, I'm just marveling at the quality. I'm sure television did not come anywhere close to just replicating what it's like to see this monitor completely surrounding you. When they showed all the prospects, like braided Bunch style, like little boxes of the prospect's pictures coming up one by one. And next thing you know, the entire dome is filled with them. And The whole time, I'm like, Wow, what a marvel of technology this is. Why is it that we can build a building like this, yet we can't provide decent WiFi in that building? The most basic technology you could possibly have was a disaster, but everything around you was just like, Wow, look at how modern this is. State of the art modernity. So anyhow, but that's just a quibble from someone who I went to work there. But yeah, pretty remarkable. I think everyone after the draft was like, We should just do the draft here all the time.

Yeah. Speaking of which, there's something interesting. I don't know if you caught that, but at the end of the end But we have a draft today, Bill Daley said, We'll see everybody next year at a site and location to be determined. So it's meant to be the end of the centralized draft the way we know it. Is it possible that they might reconsider following the weekend?

It's very possible. It was sounding almost likely. It was on everyone's lips that the teams that voted against... Or the teams I voted for, decentralized the draft were having second thoughts. It's that the NHL doesn't have a summer... It doesn't have an off-season gathering point. The NFL has the combine. The NBA has the summer league, MLB has the winter meetings. The NHL doesn't have that. The combine is held during the playoff, so obviously the team still in the playoff aren't really quite there. So there's that sense that This is the one occasion that the league has to all gather in the same place. If they ever fix the schedule to make it so it's not glued right up against free agency. But the sense that I got is that this will perhaps not be the last draft where everyone gathers and where we have the draft floor, which is the one unique thing about the NHL draft compared to all the other sports, is that you have a floor with all the decision makers. The athletics, one of the athletics best writers, frankly, across any sport, but covers the warriors, primarily for the athletic is Marcus Thompson.

He was in town. He came to the draft for a day just because Maclin celebrating his dad, works for the Warriors, and so he had a warriors angle there. And he just came up to me during the draft. He's like, This draft is so much better than our draft. The NBA is so secretive. And you, here, the entire league is just sitting there waiting to be looked at. This is awesome. I was like, Yeah, unfortunately, it looks like it might be the last year. This was before I started hearing all the chat. No, you can't change this. This is awesome, and I agree with them. I don't know how much fans care, but it really makes it very unique. It's a very unique thing that the NHL has, and especially in a venue like that, if they could secure that as being... Other than the weather in Vegas right now where it is scorching hot, everything else about that venue, if they could fix the WiFi, is perfect. It was such a great spectacle. But that's secondary, obviously, to what I think most of the listeners wanted to do.

Let's move on to the Picks. That's That's the big thing, right? Yeah. Pretty exciting stuff. I think that Montreal accomplished everything that they were hoping for, especially on the first day, getting Dimit off the top guy that they had targeted. I don't know if you got that, but when we came back from the combine, there was chatter. There was one team in particular that was sending signals that the situation in Russia was particularly dire, well, not dire, but that bringing the meet off over might prove to be even more problematic than Mishkoff. And it was seen as one team's effort to deter or discourage other teams to go after him. And then after that hearing that that can't use, and Jeff Gorton did not go to the Gold Star, a little mini combine mini camp in Florida, just so that they don't send the signal to the other teams that they were interested in Mishkoff. Those two things combined.

Dmitov. What did I say? They're interested. You said Mishkoff.

Gosh. In Demidov, yeah. That they were not interested in Demidov. Basically, those two things together, it makes you think that, A, Montreal was that team that was floating that info, and B, they really did try to make it so that they would not spread the word that this was really their guy. And ultimately, they got their guy.

Yeah, I think all of that is fair. I think the growing chatter around Bouyum was by design and retrospect. I think the Seneca chatter by design in retrospect, even though Seneca winds up going third. But I think the Canadians saw that more as a help than as someone who they lost. Yeah, it's really clear that... And this is why there was so much uncertainty leading into the draft that Montreal really viewed this player and had viewed him this way for a long time. Listen, I think we said over the course of the season, we got many mailback questions. What do the Canadians think of Dmitriyov? What do they think of Dmitriyov? Is it the same as Mitchikov? And we mentioned that while we were doing our reporting on the Mitchikov situation, that we were already hearing the Canadians talking about Dmitriyov and how he's a different animal, he's a different type of player. And it was their way of saying, Listen, it's not the Russian thing. It's just that we're really evaluating this player more so than anything else. But now, and nick Bobarow mentioned today, it's been years. And then his dad is obviously involved with Scott St.

Petersburg, and part of his job is evaluating the organization's younger players. So he's been on to meet off for a long time. And going to Russia on two occasions, meeting with the kids' family, laying the groundwork for this pick, there's a great photo of Bobrov and Dmitrov looking at each other while the official team photo was taken. That was actually another different thing about the draft of the Sphere was that they didn't bring the entire entourage onto the stage because the stage wasn't big enough. So they actually had to take the full group photo behind the scenes. There's a photo I saw go by on Getty, and the two of them are just looking at each other. It's clear that the Canadians really wanted Dmitrov, and it was clear to them that Dmitrov really wanted the Canadians, and I can't help but think the Canadian's aura is lost on this kid. He was born in what year are we at now? '06? Yeah. He was in '06? Yeah. I know the Canadian since '06. It's not a very aura-like time for the Canadians. I have to believe that it was just the constant... Bob Robb's investment in watching this kid, getting to know this kid, getting to know his family, is a big part of why Dmitri wants to come to Montreal so badly.

And also just the upward trajectory that he sees, and I think a lot of the young players in the organization are starting to see. And really This player in particular, but even Michael Hage, taken with the 21st pick, that they made a pretty good trade to get up from 26 to 21. Actually, they were trying to move up to make sure they got Hage. And even though they won't admit it, I think maybe Cole Iserman would have been another target for doing that. It would have been fascinating to see who they would have taken if Iserman didn't go number 20 to the Islanders. But getting those two pieces really... They had a puzzle, and there were a bunch of pieces missing in the middle, and those were not the final pieces, but I feel like their pipeline got balanced today. It's not only today, but this weekend in Las Vegas. So really exciting thing for the Canadians. And you can see even on day two, how they really... Even though they didn't have a second-round pick, they get Atos Coivou in the third round. They add the kid, Logan Sawyer, and some other forwards. Adding offense to the pipeline was just a clear priority, and they did that.

And honestly, day one, they could have drafted a bunch of people that no one ever heard of or knew or liked on day two, and they still would have won. They still would have had a good draft just because of the day one haul that they got.

I think that for the average fan, any Hey, this draft will be Dmitryov, Hage, and Koyvou, and all the other guys.

And all the other guys, yeah.

But going back to Dmitriyov, I think one thing that's interesting, because we brought it up In a previous episode, when we talked about Mishkoff coming over in Philadelphia and the comparisons that could be nurtured with Ryan Backer, not coming from us, but we I respect that he would have been the case from the fan base. I don't care about making that comparison personally. But I think that it's interesting now that they've drafted Dmitriyov to take a step back and say, Okay, this has There's been three years of rebuild under that management, under those two head scouts, Martina Point, working with nick Bobrow. Obviously, most of these kids that they've drafted, apart from Slavkowski, are not in the NHL yet. But if you were even to project and choose to make an assessment of how they've performed at those draps, you look at just those three crops together as a whole. I think that's where it's a healthier way of looking at it than just going one year at a time. They take Slavkowski with their number one pick. Second year, they identified the defenseman that they think doesn't really have any hole in his game.

And now, in the third year, they get the game-breaker guy, Uber uber talented, uber skilled, that, let's face it, the fans have been hoping for for a long time. Plus, I don't know, we'll see how Michael Hage will develop and where he'll fit in the pipeline, in the top prospects list of that team. But when you look at those three top picks that they got over three years, I think there's really something to work with now and say, Okay, in none of those years, they were in a position to draft the next Conor McDavid. But those three high picks together make, I think, a pretty solid ground for rebuild. And they should look at it and say, Okay, over those three years, what we got is very encouraging.

Well, I'm about to put this in my story from day two, but I created a lineup of all the players that have been either drafted or acquired during this rebuild. Here is the lineup. You have Damedov, Doc, Slavkowski, Meshar, Hage, New Hook, Florian Jackai, Owen Beck, Philip Erickson, Jared Davidson, Vintes Roher, Emile Heinemann. Heinemann, sorry. So that's four forward lines. Just the players that have been acquired or primarily drafted. On defense, you have Matheson Ryanbacker, Hudson, Angstrum, Kornushka, Konyushiev. Am I saying that right? Konyushiev, sorry. Konyushkow, Kovacevic.

Konyushkow, yeah.

Konyushiev Kovacevich. You could probably add some other guys in there. And Kovacevic is just a fill-in. And then you have Fowler, Vlokin, and Gol. So really, When you look at it, I'm looking at it on my screen right now, and it feels like a team. This obviously does not include any of the players who... It doesn't include Gouly, it doesn't include Suzuki, it doesn't include Caulfield. It really gives a sense of how they're going about it to some extent. Not all of these players are going to make the NHL or play in the NHL, but there's a base. There's a base here. And when you say that they didn't get a chance to draft the next Conor McDavid, no one in the rest of the history of the league might get to draft the next I don't know if you heard of Connor McDavid, but- No, no.

But I could have said Connor. I could have said Conor at all.

But anyway. Sure. But it's just like Dmitriyov is close in that he's a special talent and Slap will see. I don't think he'd be quite to that level. But when you have Slap, Ed, Dmitrov, and Doc, frankly, it's a good ad when you had already Suzuki and Caulfield as That's a starting point. And obviously, Joshua was not in this because he didn't get drafted by this administration, but he's in the mix here somewhere. But it's these two ads, Dmitrov and And Hage, I think, it's not a sure thing, but really has to be looked at. And not everyone was that high. I know I saw some scouting purposes even having him in the first round. But general consensus, based on people that I chatted with over here is he dropped a little lower than most people had him going, including the Canadians, obviously. He's got a lot of potential. If it weren't for the fact that Mitov got picked, he would have been the conversation for the Canadians at where they got him. But they got a kid who is probably going to be a winger in the NHL, but lengthy, extremely good skater, and A lot of the knocks on him, it's easy to point to the traumatic life event that he went through a year ago when his father died suddenly in a tragic pool accident and how a young man whose father was so important to him, and his father was obviously a diehard Canadian fan, when it came to him, a diehard Canadian family, just the emotion coursing through that kid's veins after being drafted by the team he loved growing up in this team that his father loved, is Can explain some of those knocks on his game.

Inconsistency, variance in compete level, and just like... I looked at a lot of the weaknesses that people point to in his game. And I'm like, well, if I was 17 and lost my dad like that all of a sudden, I might have those same weaknesses, too. So his second half of the season was really good. It That was really good, which the second half of the season vaulted back at Seneca up to the third pick overall. Teams put a lot of stock in that and see the growth potential when that's the case. I feel in his case, when you go through a traumatic life event like that, it's only natural and normal for it to take some time to recover from it. I think his second half is probably more indicative of what this kid's about, because prior to that, he was one of the best players in the GTHL in his age group, and you have to take that into account. So I think that day one haul for a team that was clearly lacking offensive upside added a ton of offensive upside on that day.

Yeah. Okay. We might return big picture in a minute, but I just want to continue for a moment on Michael Hage because the central scouting gave him on Thursday the E. J. Maguire Award of Excellence that's given to the draft prospect who exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness, and athleticism. So it's interesting that on the one hand, you'll say it's not the first time that that central scouting has a different vision than a lot of scouts. Yeah, okay. But their view is that he is He was worthy of that award because of everything that he went through. And it goes back maybe to even before his dad's passing, when he had that shoulder surgery, he got hurt. Yeah, six months. Very first practice When he arrived with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, missed six months after that, came back to play with 13 games at the end of the season and managed to make something out of it, was willing to go back to the summer, work hard and come back to really give a strong impression in his draft here, and then boom, July first, this tragic accident happens with his dad.

So they took all that into to account and to say, well, starting from that shoulder injury all the way to him finishing his season in the USHL, where he looked as though he was almost the best player in the league at that point, that arc made him worthy of that award. I think I agree with you when you say that in the first half of the season when people will say, well, the intensity was not always there and the compete level was variable. It's got a lot to do exactly with the fact that he's been over... He's been going through so much that just giving him time to land on his feet, figure things out and getting his focus back. It must not have been the easiest thing in the world. But I think that the Canadians have seen also the fact that when you took all of that into account, I mean, had this not happened, had the injury not happened, maybe that we would have been talking about a guy who was seen closer to a top 10 candidate for the upcoming draft. Obviously, circumstances have changed, but it has not changed the pure tools that this kid has.

And I think that if you can manage to get him at 21, that's a very interesting bet. And the emotional tie that he's got to Montreal that I feel is that seems or sounds stronger even than Atos Coivus ties to Montreal. There's something that hit him through his core. And it's a gift that he has been given to pursue his development wearing a Montreal Canadian's jersey because it might help define who he's going to become as a player.

Yeah, 100 %. I'm sure a lot of Canadian fans appreciated him mentioning how upset he was when Kreider ran into price in the conference final as being one of his big memories, and obviously the 3-1 comeback against the Leifs and him growing up in this saga in Leifs country. The fact that he speaks impeccable French. I mean, really an impressive level of French. There's some francophones, I think, who could listen a listen or two from him in terms of speaking French. Really, really did well there. Everything, how he wore number nine for Maurice Richard. It's just like everything was just these perfect little touchtones all over the place. I think a really great story. But yeah, the upside. The other thing that allowed him to get to '21 that might not have happened in a typical year, and I think Bobraff somewhat inferred this, but the sheer number of exceptional defensemen that there were in the draft this year and the fact that so few of them went early, as early as people thought they would, like Yakomchuk being the second D off the board, Soliev making it to 10, Stolberg made it into the 20s.

It's like there's all these guys that were expected to go much earlier than the ultimately, Zeef Boyam going 12th. I mean, crying out loud, and then Philly trading out of that pick for some odd reason. But anyhow. But that volume of high-end defensemen who were available later than anticipated, I think pushed him back even further. That circumstance allowed him to get to '21 as well because it was a perfect storm in a sense. The Canadians insisting that... They had him in mind when they tried to trade up to '21, and then they were continuing to try to trade up to make sure that they got him. Well, again, him or maybe someone else, maybe Iserman, I don't know. But they tried to move up again and couldn't get it done. But turns out the '21 was enough. Obviously, when the pick got to the Islanders and Iserman and Hage were on the board. The Canadians had to know we were getting one of them. And so this trade was worth it. So, yeah, everyone hates drafting for need, right? Well, the Canadians had a need in this draft, and they addressed it. And they addressed it with the best player available at each pick, really.

So they got the best of both worlds. And I think Ken Hughes was beaming about it on Friday night. Bob Robin, the point. You're beaming about it today.

I don't remember seeing Ken as happy in quite a while. He was How's that going?

Well, because I think, listen, there is an element of risk with Dmitriyov, but I think this is the pick that they made that had the least Listen, they know they picked the player their fans wanted for the first time as an administration. So every other first pick they made had that element of risk to it in the sense that they're putting their reputation on the line to take this kid despite overwhelming fan disapproval of that pick and wanting someone else. In that sense, I think Kent was like, Finally, I can come up here and I can talk about a kid that our fans are excited about. It's not this firestorm of bickering between fans and all this stuff. Not only that, but they got a kid who was just busting with happiness and energy about playing for the Montreal Canadiens. That kid, smile, ear to ear, his whole His whole media veil. Frankly, I would imagine even before and even after that. So they got a kid who wants to play in Montreal. Nick said, Dick Barberoff said he was begging for it. They got the kid they wanted, and they got that prime elite game-breaking talent that everyone has said for years and years the Canadians have been lacking.

Well, they have that guy now. Frankly, standing next to the kid, he's not small. He's not small. He's a thick guy. He's built a lot like nick, Suzuki, I should say. To me, I think that's what he's going to look like when he plays in the NHL. He's going to have the shape of nick Suzuki, and that's with his hands and his skill.

He's a tiny bit taller.

He's a tiny bit taller, but I just mean the-The thickness, yeah. The thickness of him and the strength. But But yeah, I mean, just a hell of a day, a hell of a weekend for the organization. The one thing they didn't do that I'm sure they would have liked to have done was come out of here with an NHL player, having swung a trade of some sort. All the defensemen are still in the organization. None of them have been traded. All of next year's draftpicks are still with the organization. None of them have been traded. When I asked Ken Hughes about that on Friday, saying that I know the weekend is not over, but by this point, the last two years, you had made a significant trade. He's like, Well, we picked at 21. Doesn't that count? I was like, You know what I mean, Ken? You have not come out of here with an NHL player. So if there's one blemish on the weekend for the Canes, it would be that. I'm sure they would have liked to have gotten something done. But otherwise, from a draft perspective, there are no blemishes, I don't think.

But I wonder if the fact that they were able to get the meet off and if they're confident that this kid before long... I mean, Let's say, assuming that he's able to come after next season, is going to be a difference maker for them in a rather short term. Maybe that they need to go after a guy who's going to be that is worth getting and spending all those assets that they've got. Maybe the urgency is not there as much anymore. And they can just buy a bit of time and say, Okay, well, we might have been ready Actually, had we not gotten a guy like Dmitriy, we might have been ready to go after an established any cellar and sacrifice one of our young men. They're going to be maybe... They could buy themselves a bit more one runway into determining what they've got in those young demans. Well, there's no maybe there.

That's not a maybe. That's something that you said was on the table. If Dmitriy had not been there, he said that they had a trade more or less agreed to that would not necessarily involve the number five pick, but a trade-So why do you see it as a blemish then? Well, they still have all those defensemen. Listen, they need to move them, and this would have been an opportunity to move it. It's not a blemish in the sense that they did anything bad or wrong. It's a blemish in the sense that that might be one regret that they're leaving Vegas not having accomplished that on their to-do list. It's not a critical blemish. It's just a blemish in the sense that they still have to do that. And this was a prime opportunity to get that done, and it doesn't seem to have happened. I just meant blemish from a Canadian perspective. Like, oh, it would have been an absolutely perfect weekend if we were able to also just shift the organizational depth chart a bit and take this logjam or this surplus on defense and turn it into another piece on offense or what have you.

So it's So, yeah, I just think that that's... And this is one thing that I wondered, and I asked Jeff Gorton about it on Thursday, and he made an interesting point where There's a lot of teams that are rebuilding right now, an unusually large number of teams that are openly in a rebuild. And if you include the savers and the senators and the Red Wings in that who are on the upper end of the rebuild spectrum spectrum, you're looking at a quarter of the league that's in a rebuild, including Montreal. So I was trying to get at, when you have so many teams who... The Canadians always say, Well, we have a lot of draft capital. We can trade from that position of surplus. We have a lot of young defensemen or young players that they're available for trade. Utah has a lot of draft capital. Chicago has a lot of draft capital. There's a lot of rebuilding teams that have draft capital. The one thing that most of them are not willing to trade are the young players. And that's why Gordon said, I think our prime asset is our young players. And he said, Listen, we have assets that are good for trade because our phone is ringing.

And I've been in a situation where I didn't have those good assets for trade and our phone didn't ring. So our phone is ringing. It's just that those people that are ringing their phones, there's a lot of other phones that could be ringing from those same teams as well, where they're comparing and choosing and and deciding what the best package might be. And so there's a very specific type of team that the Canadiens need to deal with here, a team that could use an infusion of young defensemen, a team that might be up against the cap and needs some cheap defensemen that they can plug in to complete their group on defense and not cost too much against the cap. But there's a lot going on. There's a lot going on in the league. It's not just the Canadians who are in a position trying to improve. There's a lot of teams who are trying to get out of a rebuild phase and into the next phase to varying degrees. And so that's why I wonder just how attractive the Canadian's assets actually are on the marketplace right now when we saw a flurry of trade activity on day two of the draft.

Obviously, Utah is not in Kansas anymore, not in Arizona anymore. They live under a new reality.

They started converting that. They started converting their draft capital, their young players, and moving it out for immediate help. They were very aggressive.

And acquiring an $8.5 million a year contract in Mikhael Sergachev, that's a new reality for them and for Bill Armstrong. Bill Armstrong must be feeling pretty gitty right now. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the draft. So in this environment, where do the Canadians fit? And that's the one concession. Gorton did not not want to characterize it like they're not... I asked him three different times, three different ways, because I don't think he was either intentionally not answering the question or didn't understand the question about where they fit in the overall marketplace that exists in the NHL right now. And then finally, when he talked about all these rebuilding teams, and he's like, We know who they all are. I don't need to name them for you. He's like, Sometimes we find ourselves swimming in the same pool. I think that's what's going on to some extent with the Canadians. But right now, just to reiterate, they don't care about that. They are over the moon with what happened in Las Vegas. I'm just saying that this is one thing that they'd like to get done before the season starts, and this was a prime opportunity to do it, and it didn't happen.

But I'm sure they were extremely active. They were making a ton of phone calls. Obviously, To try to move up from '21 after having already moved up from '26 was the primary focus of a lot of those calls. But I'm sure in those conversations, there were a lot of young players dangled to try and move up. And obviously next year's Picks. So maybe some of those conversations that didn't pan out could lay the groundwork with a team that showed some interest in some of those players but just didn't want to give up the pick or didn't want to move back. And there's another framework that they that they can work off what was discussed in Vegas to create a different package in the coming days or even weeks.

Yeah. But going back to my point of them drafting Demita I think that you've got that overflow of young defensemen that will need to be addressed in some way because you have just so many spots. But now you don't necessarily have the necessity of combining with getting some high-quality talent up front for your top six for years to come. So now, I think that eventually, if they want to just weed out and clearing the guys that they have, the too many defensemen that they have, weed out from maybe the bottom of their list, but keep all the prime prospects, all the prime defensemen that they've got, all the Hudson's, the Mayus, the Rheinbacker's, Jacky, and SS, among Strobel, Harris, and Barron, is there someone... They could probably find a taker. It's just that the value. There's not the same pressure to say, How can we turn those extra guys into a super valuable forward for us? They're not into that riddle anymore. Anymore. So I think that things will play out and they'll be able to... I mean, in due time, they might decide to move one of their better defense prospects anyway. But I think that they've got the luxury of buying a bit of more time.

And I think that because of Dmitri, they're in a better position for that.

Well, yeah. As Hughes put it, having Dmitri change the dynamic. He wouldn't go further into it other than to say, when I said, well, changed it in what way? He was just like, I'm not giving you more than that. You're going to have to figure it out. I was like, Okay, well, I can't figure it out in the sense that they were clearly in talks for some forward help that would have probably cost them a lot. Not the number five pick, but a lot. And they were maybe willing to do it if they didn't get to meet off. And now that they do, they don't feel they have to pay that premium. So exactly like what you And that's just me speculating. This has not come from Kent at all. And so that's what I interpret it changed the dynamic to me. It's exactly what you just described, is that it has lessened The pressure that has been on this group from day one to add premium offensive talent, it's not like they didn't know it, but it was part of a process. And the process, it took three draughts to get there, but they got the kid they wanted.

And they and the kid and the other kid they drafted in Hage, everyone is just ecstatic. And this just feels like it's hard not to get the impression leaving the draft in Vegas that This is a draft that we might possibly look back on and say, Well, that was when things turned for Montreal. Yeah.

I like that. That's a good sound bite right there.

I mean, it's possible. It's not guaranteed, but it definitely feels that way, just with everything falling perfectly and Hage being there at 21 and making that trade before, not on the. It was the second time that a team decided to trade up in the first round without knowing who was on the board at that time. Obviously, we had the Islanders Blackhawks trade weeks ago, where the Islanders moved or the Blackhawks moved up two spots, and the Islanders They added a second round pick to move back two spots. And then you had this one, which was hours before the first round began. But again, they didn't know who would be there at 21, but they knew that they had to take steps up to the board to get Probably a group of two or three players that they were hoping to get. You can't specifically target Michael Hage and say, We're going to try and make sure that we get... Who knows? Michael Hage could have gone 12th for all they know. Jet Luchenko went 13th, and no one would have seen that coming. So it was possible that they could have made all these moves to move up to a spot where they figured Hage would be there, and he might not have been there.

So there had to be two or three players that they were thinking, Okay, if we can get one of these guys, let's get into a spot where that's likely. They weren't able to do that, and they still end up getting one of those guys.

Well, when you mentioned the number of teams that are rebuilding, I mean, Chicago traded up, the Canadians traded up. In both cases, it's two teams that have a low load of draft picks. And at some point, even though it's been proven by stats that having quantity versus quality when it comes to draft picks, the number of draft picks, you get more chances, and ultimately, it might be more favorable. But trying to convert, combining the many draft picks that you got to trade up, in some cases, it makes sense. So if the Canadian is at some point, I think that they must had identified on their trade list different tiers, and they knew that that tier, if they wanted to move up a tier, that 26, they didn't have the same range of guys. At 21, they had a chance to get someone from the previous tier, from the upper tier, and they got their guy in Michael H. Also, on day 2, Atoskoivu, that's pretty cool. I think It's a fun story also for Montreal. We chatted with him at the Combine in Buffalo a few weeks ago. I think that just like Beckert Seneca, who grew a lot and made himself turn into a much more interesting prospect to everybody in the NHL, Atoskoivou went from being completely not on the radar to somebody who's at least being worthy of consideration because of a growth spurt that made him turn into an interesting prospect.

Because he said at the combine, he said, A year ago, I would have never thought that I'd be invited to the combine. And now I can dream of becoming a second-round pick. But honestly, if I'm drafted anywhere from second, third, or fourth round, I'll be happy. It'll be mission accomplished for me. So For him, it shows also that even in the lower tiers of the draft, you got also guys that because of growth, because of finishing strong, they become rises at different levels. The risers are not just the Seneca's and the Aginla's, but you also have different ranges of prospects that rise in their own level. They raise their hands. And it's great that Montreal Canadians were there to say, to high five Atos in that sense.

Yeah, absolutely. So Atos obviously got on a Zoom with the Montreal media or the media in general, I should say, and talked about how he's 100 % focused on playing in Liga this year, also with his dad's alma mater, TPS Turcu, going from one legendary place. Well, one place where Koyvou was a legend to another place where Koybu was a legend. And so he's a saco, I should say. Martela Point, nick Bobrov, were quite clear to say The bloodlines help, obviously, but they like the two-way character of his game. There's a responsibility on the ice. He's got a plus shot. The size is obviously an added bonus. And I think we were both standing next next to him, and he's not slight, he's not huge, but he's not a small kid. So I think he's listed at 6'1, 170, if I'm not mistaken, somewhere in that range. And the 170 is what he's got to work on, recognizes that. So the 6-1 is fine. And Lapoint was adamant that they see him as a center. Ken Hughes was talking about Michael Hage and started talking about all these players that they have that can play center and wing, Kirby Doc, Alex Newhook, and he mentioned Owen Beck in that, and he mentioned Hage in that category.

But I thought Lapoint was quite adamant that he sees him as a center in the NHL. I think you can add him with Beck and Kapanen. He's in that mix now. He has a lot of work to do to get fully into that mix. But down the road, I think that's where he could find a The place is in that same vein, that Beck-Kapanen mode. So now they have three of those guys. But we'll see how the season goes in Turcu. But yeah, fun story For sure. Didn't make me feel the least bit old. That's for sure.

Gosh, I know, right?

Yeah.

My goodness. Yeah. So Atos, he barely remembers Montreal. He was three years old when he left Montreal. So he says that he remembers his house. He remembers the park that was next to his house. He remembers the Bell Center. He has vivid memories of the night that the Canadians honored Saku when he was a member of the Anaheim Ducks.

Yeah, that was his last game at the Bell Center. Yeah. Yeah.

So he has memories of that. But obviously, he's got a much bigger awareness of the time that his dad spent in Anaheim. But I think it's great. And you talk about bloodlines. So obviously, Jerome Gynla, Teeja Gynla, that's the big bloodline story of this draft. But Koy Vu is there, too. Derek Plant's son was drafted.

Max Planck, yeah.

Max Planck, Uri Fischer's son.

Usmtdp. Yeah, Uri Fischer's son, too.

And also Michal Samuelsen's son in the seventh round.

But one thing that I like about the Atos story is that when the Canadian said, We're trying to get a hold of Atos to get them on a Zoom, myself and several others were like, Well, if we can get Saku on that Zoom, too, that would be great. I found it telling that Saku wasn't on the Zoom. Basically, he said no. It's like, This is my son's time. I saw Jerome McGinnla and Teej McGinnla doing interviews for NHL Network, doing all these TV interviews that day. Everyone always obviously wanted to talk to Jerome and Teej. We talked to Teej about this at the Combine, how he likes being his dad's son. It doesn't bother him to be this whole notion of being in his shadow or whatever, it doesn't really affect him. I liked the fact that Saku Kloivu was not on that Zoom. I thought that was a good move on his part, and I'm sure it was a move because they got in touch with Atos. Surely he could have gone to dad and said, Hey, they want you on this Zoom, you might come in on. I think that was probably a concerted effort on his part to leave the stage to his son and let him have his moment without dad hogging all the attention.

I thought that was good of him to do that. There's no one better. I don't think there's anyone better right now to prepare a young player there for what it's like to be a Montreal Canadian right now. There's no one better than Sacri-Cloivy because he was the first captain. He was the first captain in franchise history who had to live this reality of the Canadians being just another team, and the Canadians struggling, and the Canadians missing the playoffs, or getting knocked out in the playoffs. Also having great times, great years in the playoffs, and great series, victories, and what have you. But no Stanley Cups. It was the first era of Canadian's history where the expectations of the fan base needed to be adjusted, but he played through an era where those expectations had not yet been adjusted. This was a tough time for him to be captain, and I think he took a lot of flak because his one loss record as captain was probably not all that great. But this is now the current reality in Montreal. And in that sense, there's no one better than him to teach a young player how to enter that market as it stands right now, the modern version of the Montreal Canadian since Sakuquot.

Yeah. And Going further on that, I think that it speaks also to the focus or the importance that nick Bobaroff and Martin Lapoint and the whole current brass, current management of the Montreal Canadiens, the focus that they put on the ability of a kid to sustain the Montreal environment. Because it's one thing to assess the kid as a player and say, Is he a good player? Which one's better? We'll figure it out. But you have to take into account what we see in this kid, how we can project him in the future. If we add the Montreal element to it, will he thrive or will he wilt? And I think that this is not necessarily a question that every organization has to ask themselves. So when they drafted Stavkowski, they had that in mind a great deal. That was a focal point. And I think that they wondered that with Rheinbacker, determined that it was the case. They know that the meet-off is eager for it and eager for the pressure he wants it. Age, obviously, childhood's But further to that, to your point, I mean, Atoskoivu has the best person to prepare him for what he's about to experience.

I think in the past, In the Trevor Timmins years, I don't think that it was viewed as important, a factor, as what we see now, because year after year, it's not just talking about character. It's also how will How will your character develop or express itself wearing a Montreal Canadian's jersey? Because it's not the same as playing for the St. Louis Blues.

No, not at all. And Bob made a point of mentioning that Atos Coivou grew up in a house low hold where pressure was commonplace, where it was a part of their lives. And I'm paraphrasing. And that's a plus. And obviously, that's the part where the bloodlines come in He mentioned how Saku has taught his son well. His habits are pro at this time. But on Dmitriyov, I just want to read you the actual quote from Bobrov on that subject. It's a great quote. Clearly, he was very happy to end up in Montreal. His family was looking forward to that. Part of the reason he wanted to be in Montreal was because he loves pressure. He embraces pressure and thrives on it. Sometimes we ask kids whether or not they will be okay playing in the city. He was begging for it. So that's a good sign. And that is the thing that resonates with this group for exactly the reason you just stated. The top three kids they drafted seem to have that. And what greater pressure can you have to experience at a young age than the sudden death of your father, who was such an instrumental part of your life?

That's real life pressure that you hope no one really has to go through. This kid did and came out the other side and is probably stronger for it, even though it's just a tragic, tragic loss. And then Koyvu with just knowing, seeing it firsthand for so long. And so, yeah. And it's a pretty good weekend for the Montreal Canadians. They came out of it, and now they'll head towards free agency on Monday, which we'll see what happens there. But as far as the long term potential success of these Montreal Canadians, I think they took a significant step in Las Vegas over the last two days.

Can't seem also- For the last 24 hours, I should. Yeah. Can't seem rather reassuring when it comes to the meet off not being stuck in Russia beyond next year? Yeah. I think that's a... We can never tell in advance, but obviously the intel that they've got, it must be reassuring enough that they made that pick.

Well, I think, yeah. I think a year from now, yes. And Dmitriyov Dinoff was a little evasive on that in Florida at the Milstein camp. We mentioned on the podcast that Scott Power has asked him that question. That was the one time he went to his interpreter and was vague on what would happen there. Not so Not so this time. Flat out, said, I have one more year on my contract. I'll be back. I'll be here after that contract ends. The one thing that they are, I think, legitimately concerned about is that he will find himself back in the MHL. And so because he's not signing an extension, that St. Petersburg will put him down there. I think the one thing they're hoping for is is that since he's not signing an extension and if they don't plan on playing him on the on the KHL team, that there might be a way to let him out of the contract. That is the best case scenario that that seems to be at least a possibility. I don't think anyone knows if that's possible or whether that is an option. I'm personally of the mind. If I were saying, Petersburg, fine, you could be pissed at the kid because he's not extending.

But if you plan on winning, no, might as well win. Yeah, might as well win with it. Might as well put him on the team and keep him for a year and play him in the KHL. Because if you're playing in the KHL, great. No problem. He's playing on a strong team in the KHL. We'll probably get a playoff run out of it. It would be great for his development if that were to happen. Frankly, if he were to be released from his contract early, it might not be ideal. The Canadians might feel forced to put him on the NHL lineup, and maybe he's not quite ready for that. It'd be a big, massive jump from the MHL to the NHL. Maybe they can put him in the AHL. They would have that option, too. But again, this is purely hypothetical, and it's something that there's no clear indication if that's a real possibility. But that's, I think, one thing that they're hoping could happen is, especially with them releasing Mitchkoff from the last two years of his deal, This is just one year. So I think maybe there's some hope. I don't know. I wouldn't put a very high % chance of it happening, but there's some hope that that might happen before the next KHL season begins.

But isn't there a rule that they have to... A KHL team has to dress two guys that are under 20, their designated juniors? I don't know if they would fill one of those two spots with a kid that they know who's leaving, and they would rather give it to someone that they'll develop for years and years because he's not going anywhere. But as you say, if you want to win, Give that spot to the best island that you've got. But we've been through it with Alexander Romanov, remember? Because he was on the KHL team, but he was playing four minutes a night. It's not exactly as if he developed a great deal in that last season before he made the jump to North America.

But Romanov was also a fellow Dan Milstein client. Stuck to his word, stuck to his guns. His contract expired. He left. So Dan Milstein being Ivan Dmitriyov's client, would lead you to believe that at least he should be here by next year. But trying to predict what a high power hard KHL team is going to do is a fool's game because they are not a predictable bunch. So, yeah, we'll see. But again, it's almost irrelevant at this point in the sense that Even if he were to find himself in the MHL and had to stay and play another year in the MHL, which again, would not be good for his development. The year he just spent in the MHL was not good for his development. That would be two years playing in a league that's far below his talent level. But if that were the case and the Canadians get him next year at 19 years old and can start developing him, they're going to live with that. They're going to be happy to live with that from the sounds of it. And that's what they view right now as the worst case scenario because some of the concerns around what St.

Petersburg might do seem to feel a lot less heavy once the Canadians took them. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. But a good day, a good weekend for the Canadians. I think fans should be excited. Now I got to write about it. Absolutely. I think Absolutely.

You go, man. We're going to talk again on Monday at the end of the first day of Free Agency. We did not take your questions today, but you can send us your questions for the mailbag for our usual Monday episode. And until then, we'll enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. And well, enjoy your... Good luck with your article, Arbëd.

Yeah, more good luck with my flight home. But yes, thank you. I appreciate it.

All right. See you around, everybody. Bye-bye..