I think I watch more Russian hockey than NHL hockey at this point. I’m consistently watching film or a live game from Russian league than I am actively trying to watch the NHL. I still love the NHL, but there are just so many Russian prospects after the last few drafts from the Canes that I just gravitate towards that. The perks of the job!
1. “Other than Nikishin, which Canes prospects do you think will break onto the NHL roster over the next three seasons?” - Katie Bartlett (@AvsCanesFan)
This is a fun question because trying to project who and when is incredibly fun, but also incredibly complicated. Offensively, I think Bradly Nadeau is a given to break through over the next few seasons, he’s been a staple of the Wolves top line of Lemieux-Suzuki-Nadeau and that line has really gotten going over the last few games. Another guy on that same line who should break the NHL roster, or just any NHL roster, is Ryan Suzuki. He has looked very good to the start of the season for Chicago. Felix Unger Sorum is almost a lock to play NHL games within the next 3 years, he just really needs to gain weight. Depending on his contract situation (and I truly stress that nothing is known about his intentions), Nikita Artamonov is another name that could make his NHL debut in the next 3 years. Under the radar player that I could totally see playing in the NHL, Alexander Rykov. In his draft interview, he mentioned that he wanted to come to North America after his contract with Traktor was up and that contract runs out at the end of this KHL season. He’s already played in 35 KHL games and looked solid, so he could sneak into the bottom 6 and I wouldn’t bat an eye.
Defensively, I would think Scott Morrow breaks through next year. Charles-Alexis Legault is another guy I definitely think plays NHL games within the next 3 years. I would also like to introduce the category of “Yeah, I could see it” where I could see any of these guys playing NHL games, but wouldn’t be shocked if it didn’t happen. The prospects in the category are Joel Nystrom, Simon Forsmark, Ronan Seeley, Domenick Fensore, and Vladimir Grudinin.
With goalies, I got nothing. Ruslan Khazheyev is a few years away. Egor Velmakin’s KHL contract runs out at the end of the 2025/26 season, but I’m not 100% what happens there.
2. “Do you think Suzuki will ever make the lineup? Or should we just forget him and see him as a bust?” - Jon Doe (@xhdhdhvbx)/" “Do you think if we had another injury at forward, Suzuki would be the guy to come up? Would they only pull him up as a center, or could he fill in at wing?” - Thomas Wilson (@_thomas_wilson_)
Going to loop these two together because they both revolve around the same guy.
Short answer, Ryan Suzuki will play NHL games within the next 6 months.
Long answer, the Road to the NHL after getting drafted is vastly different for every single player. Nobody expected Suzuki to deal with a horrible eye injury in his D+1 year. Playing with a “permanent blind spot in the center of his right eye” is something that nobody has to deal with, except him. But he turned a corner with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season and he’s off to a tremendous start this season with Chicago (9 points in 13 games). I truly believe Ryan Suzuki makes his NHL debut this year, he’s too good not too. He’s natural at center, but he could easily fill in at the wing position. I would argue it depends on who goes down with injury, but I think Suzuki would be very high on the call up list.
3. “Who’s Justin Poirier’s NHL comparable? What’s his current projection in terms of star power and when do you think he makes the jump?” - Caleb Herrera (@calebherrera_)
Justin Poirier’s ceiling as an NHL player, to me, is Alex Debrincat (30-40 goal scorer). I’m going to honestly admit I haven’t watched a lot of Detroit Red Wings hockey but take the build of Alexander Debrincat with a really good scoring touch and the ability to play the body and be physical. It’s amazing how often Poirier goes into contact and comes out with the puck.
I don’t think Poirier makes the jump for a few years. But we should all appreciate the historic numbers he’s putting up with Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the QMJHL.
4. “The Wolves have won two in a row. Have the “figured it out?” - Person who tweets things (@iTweetThings67)
I had originally planned to have a 15 thoughts drop on Wednesday and one of those points was that the Wolves looked a lot more like the team they could be. I think the past two results have shown what they can look like. The line of Brendan Lemieux-Ryan Suzuki-Bradly Nadeau has hit a real stride in looking like a top line, Gleb Trikozov (Gleb!) finally scored and had his best game of his AHL career on Thursday, and Dustin Tokarski has really solidified the crease (sign him). The defense looks more calm and controlled and the Wolves as a whole have just outright dominated teams that they should be better than.
5. “Is [Timur] Kol the next [Alexander] Nikishin?” - Howie Handorf (@HHandorf)
I’m going to crush a few hopes and say no. This is only because Nikishin is as close to a generational prospect as one can get and Timur Kol is 18-years old. But, it is really cool that after spending the majority of last season at the VHL level, Kol has basically skipped that level. He is either playing over 25 minutes a night (in all situations) at the MHL level, or getting 10-13 minutes at the KHL level. It’s evident that Rotenberg and SKA have big plans for Kol going forward and I’m really interested by his potential. It’s kind of fun that SKA is going to a lose a 6’4, 200+ pound left-handed defenseman who can play in all situations and they just coincidently have another 6’4, 200+ pounds left-handed defenseman who has the potential to play in all situations.
6. “Who on the team would win a karaoke contest?” - eve sommerlier de hockey (@aelinreadings, Bluesky)
Yes, the prospect account is on Bluesky. The posts are the same on each site (for the most part).
On the Wolves: Bradly Nadeau
Prospect wise: Egor Velmakin
On the Canes: Seth Jarvis said it best, Jordan Martinook’s rendition of “Rockstar” by Nickelback could solve a lot of the world’s problems.
Thank you all for the questions! Glad we got a nice mix of fun and tougher questions. As a reminder, I brought Matt Somma out of Canes Prospects retirement to talk hockey with me once in a while and it’s out on all platforms (Apple, Spotify, Youtube)! Next week will be a 15 Thoughts post, but until then, thank you for reading!