[Music] We have the Canucks first selection here in the 2024 NHL entry draft. Melvin Fernstrom joins us here on SportsNet 650. Thanks for this, Melvin. How you feeling after getting drafted? I'm feeling pretty well. Very fun experience. How exciting is it to be drafted by a team like Vancouver that has such a rich history of Swedish players? We have very excited. We're happy to be here. A lot of Canucks fans are listening. Can you describe your game and your own words of what you like to do on the ice? I like to score much goals and I like to create an offensive place. I tried to take a big part in this offensive zone also, but mostly, mostly offensive. You know, the seeding twins, a big part of Canucks history. Elias Patterson is now the big Swedish player on the Vancouver Canucks. Are these players you looked up to as a young hockey player growing up? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Swedish guys growing up, pushing down the failures parts. Do you, what do you think of a player like Elias Patterson and guys like that in one day, maybe down the road having a chance to play with players like that? Yeah, that would be amazing. So what's your plan for next season, Melvin? I think I was playing in the nutshell with our books. Very good. Melvin, we really appreciate your time. Congratulations. Big day for you and your family. Congratulations on getting drafted to the Vancouver Canucks. Thank you very much. There is Melvin Fernstrom, the 93rd overall pick and the first selection for the Vancouver Canucks in this year's NHL entry draft. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12th to on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. All right, let's get to Rick Dolly while joining us here, a presentation of Bassant Motors on Sportsnet 650. Thanks for joining us. Rick, how's your Saturday going? Is the phone buzzing like crazy? Are we keeping you away from everything, anything right now? No, no, I, unlike you guys, I drink coffee. None of this sproul crap. Espresso is just a better version of coffee. No, no, no. Listen, I'm a Timmy's guy. And so large, two cream, no sugar. That's it. All right. All right. Fair enough. As long as it gets, I see your sproul crap. It's just, it's just disgusting. This can't handle the it's just espresso, man. How is it? Disgusting. Yeah. But they do say people who drink black coffee have psychopathic tendencies. I don't know if that says anything about me, but I'm just throwing it out there. Maybe just to me. And they're not even a freaking sponsor. They should be. So, okay, there's, there's a lot going on here, Rick. Obviously, you know, the Canucks in on Jake Genssel. There's, you had the report about maybe them taking a look back at Ian Cole. What are you here in today? What's first on the front burner? Well, let's talk about the defense because there's been some significant last 24 hours, you know, moves with the defense. First of all, Zadorov leaving now that, you know, okay, by the way, agent Dan Milstein is expected to make a statement on Monday. He's not ready to talk about Zadorov leaving. I was told the issue was not money in term with Zadorov and Milstein's going to clarify more on Monday. Look, the Canucks made a very good offer. And, you know, this is going to hurt because Rick Tockett loves Zadorov. Tockett, he got his size back with Joshua and Myers, the man in a perfect world. He was hoping you could get Zadorov back as well, but you can't win them all. You just can't. I, the Canucks gave it their best shot in Zadorov. He certainly had the market eaten out of his hands there in the playoffs. He was a real central figure. But we will wait till Monday and apparently Milstein's going to make a statement. I don't know if he's, you know, Twitter or whatever, but he's going to explain the decision to walk away from Vancouver. But I was told last night it was not money in terms on, you know, I, I, I, I'm waiting anxiously to see what Milstein's going to say about Zadorov. So that's one, a two, now wouldn't Brandon Dillon, a Surrey, be a great, tremendous fill-in for Zadorov. You got the size, kills penalties, he hits, he blocks shots, he's got a mean streak, defends teammates. A lot of the stuff that Zadorov does. Now, a lot of teams are in on Dillon, including the Canucks. But I was told as of now, and another thing I got to tell you guys, look, we can only report on what we're hearing right now. It's all subject to change. You know, member Friedman said, you know, the Canucks are in on Gensil, they're out on Gensil. It's just spent going back and forth like a tennis match. Things change. They really do. And I'll explain later on how things change. But I do want to say, on Dillon, unless something changes with a phone call, it sounds like he's going to be signing elsewhere. His demand, boy, boy, he's going to get good money in term. This tells me the Canucks probably can't meet his money demands. And you have to realize that with Hughes and with Susie on the left side, it is going to be tough to pay somebody $4 million to come in and play behind Susie. It just looks to me like they're looking for that guy behind Susie at a lower rate. The devils and the Bruins are going to be in on Dillon. But we are not ready to write everything off on Dillon, but as of now, and things can change with a phone call, it certainly looks like that could happen. He's going to sign elsewhere. So let's get to Ian Cole. It would not surprise me if the Vancouver Canucks check in with Ian Cole, a veteran guy, they know they need help on that left side. And clearly, he would come at a lower price. He would come at a lower price than Edmondson, Dillon, all those guys. Cole talked with the Canucks after the season as agent. The Canucks needed him to take a big pay cut. He wouldn't do it. But if they reengage, and I'm telling you, if they reengage and I would not be surprised, can they cut a deal? We'll keep an eye on that one. Well, that's interesting too, because if you're looking at a lower cost behind Susie and you're looking at a lower cost behind Hughes on the left side, Cole fits in. It's fine for your six defense not that case, making $2 million. But if you're only spending $2 or $2 million on him, does that mean they have a bit more to chase Chris Tanev on the right side? Yeah, and Tanev is still a target, but the Tanev update for you guys is he is still talking to Dallas. And the fact that he is still talking to Dallas, and July 1st is a couple of days away, that gives you good insight. Like Tanev like Dallas, it's good. You know what, Dallas is a whole lot closer to winning. They've been to what? Two back-to-back Western Conference championships. Winning is important to Chris Tanev. Stars really want him back. But what I've been told is, can Dallas do four years? Term is going to be big with Tanev. The Tanev camp is looking for good term. We're not talking one or two or three years. Like Chris Tanev thinks he can still play for a lot of years. You know, he's one of those guys that keeps care of his body off the ice. He's such a smart player on the ice. He's got great hockey sense, great teammate. We know why everybody loves Chris Tanev. He's probably the best defensive defenseman in the national hockey. He still feels he can play. Look, if he hits the market, obviously Vancouver, he's got a soft spot for this city. Never wanted to leave. It was mismanagement why Chris Tanev left Vancouver in the first place. He should never have left. It should have been done. It didn't get done. But then you got Toronto and Ottawa, his own province, his mom and dad live in Toronto, host of other teams. Look, does he get to July 1st? That's the big thing. But I can tell you right now, term is going to be big. Can the stars do something like four years and over five? That Chris Tanev and what I was told about Vancouver and Tanev as well, the Canucks can't get into a bidding war, you know, because look what's happening in Vancouver. You've got a heroic at 7.2. You've committed Myers three years at three. Okay. So all of a sudden, you don't want to be dropping another right shot defenseman between five and six. I don't know. Like I just, I heard they don't want to get into a bidding war with Chris. But I do want to tell you guys that term is very big with the Tanev camp. Last one, you've mentioned a lot with Casey the Smith and the whole goaltending situation. Do you have an update on that? Yeah, I do. The Canucks are still talking with Casey the Smith, his agent is in Vegas, big obviously at the NHL draft. Both sides are busy today with the draft. I expect the Casey the Smith talks to resume tomorrow. When I checked in yesterday, there was a lot of work to do. Now the Canucks want a veteran in the Smith, they know what they got. He's loved in that dressing room. Good relationship with Demko. You guys remember that go back to Edmonton when the Smith one in Edmonton and he locked in first place, big win, Saturday night hockey, and he's walking off. Demko gives him a hug, Tock gets watching him. This guy's liked in that dressing room. You know, he really is. After months of no contact with the Smith's agent, and I'm telling you guys, months, the Canucks contacted in this week much to the surprise of many. Demko is coming off two series back-to-back needs. You never know what he's going to be like a training camp, right? You got to have that insurance. Up till last week, I believe they were confident about Demko and C-Lobs combo. Something changed. It's a good move though to get a veteran to be safe and maybe let C-Lobs take the ball and run with it, be the top guy in Abbotsford. Now because Chanko left in Abbotsford, they are still now looking for a goaltender down. They've got the Thai young kid at a Prince George, so they got that. But if they do the Smith, then they'll be set in Abbotsford with C-Lobs and C-Lobs until the Pilo. But look, I was told today, work to do with the Smith, but the both sides are going to resume tomorrow. The fact they're talking to him, Bic, is good and it'll give them some clarity and sense of having a backup and hopefully, Demko is ready to go for training camp and a way they go. Before we let you go here, Rick, and thanks for joining us for the latest on the forward acquisition front. It's clear they want Jake Gensle. I know you talked about that quite a bit. The question is, is he getting to market? We see today, Tampa making moves to clear space, rumored that they're after Gensle as well. I've heard, Rick, that the Canucks would love to get Gensle as we know, but if they don't, they'd want to get a couple forwards. That can score if it's not Gensle. But what do you think of Gensle right now and do you think the Canucks still have a chance to land him? Well, it's the old waiting game, right? We're all waiting. We're just waiting for that shoe to drop with Gensle and Carolina. Is he going to get done? Is it not? The fact that either the fact that Gensle's age in Ben Hankinson hasn't come out and said, you know, we're moving on from Carolina, that's interesting to me. I was told the week and a half ago that Carolina is not going to let this guy go even right up till the 11th hour. They're going to try on this guy and you can see why. But he is the Canucks number one priority. They do need a winger for Patterson. And I do believe, and I think, Chad, you've said this in the market as well, there is mutual admiration here between the Canucks and also Gensle. Gensle would love to be a winger on Patterson's line. He knows management from Pittsburgh days. The Canucks absolutely love him. They try to get him at the deadline. But how can you get him at the deadline when you don't have any draft capital and you don't have the assets and the Canucks don't have a deep prospect pool. So you're trying to get on in on him. But how do you how are you going to get that guy with no draft capital and not a great prospect pool? So here's the great. Here's the thing. We all wait. But we all do know that Gensle is very, very, very high on Vancouver's list. They absolutely adore the guy. And how can you not look? The Canucks have 15.5 million and you're better with numbers than I am. But I think they have 15.5 to sign four players and a backup goalie. So it's going to be amazing. If they don't get Gensle, it's going to be amazing to me. I'm here in Tofoli. He's getting a lot of action with LA in New York, the Rangers. But then the Rangers might be trading Tuba and clearing up space for Gensle. Who knows? Everybody's clearing up. Everyone's trying to clear up cap space for Gensle. You mentioned Tampa Bay. It's going to be a fascinating 24 to 48 hours and absolutely it's going to be it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun. You guys are it's a good time to be live on the radio right now because things are going to be happening. We'll look at the trades this morning. It's a fun time for hockey fans. Yeah, there's going to be a lot that goes on from now until Monday. I'm going to go back to drinking my espresso, Rick. We'll talk soon. I'm going to Timmy's right now. And last week, somebody bought me my two coffees right the car in front of me. The guy bought me two coffees. Remember that was? Thank you. And you know, but I'm going to Timmy's right now because I'm the only thing I can't do is put sugar in my coffee because once you hit 50, everything goes out. The doctors are all over. Yeah. But he hasn't told me no crown yet. So I'm okay. But anyways, I'm not going to drink your espresso crap. I'm going to stick with Timmy's every day. There is Rick Dollywell joining us. Donnie and Dolly tend to noon on check TV each and every Monday through Friday. And he joins sports at 650 regularly. He is a presentation of Bissant Motors powering the playoff drive home of over 400 pre owned vehicles and where the players go. Hey, it's Mike Alford and Jason Bruff. Join us for Alford and Bruff in the morning, weekdays for six to nine AM on Sportsnet 650 or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app. Shane Malloy is our next guest on the program hockey prospect radio and a regular contributor here on Sportsnet 650. Thanks for the Shane. How are you? I'm doing great. I mean, look, how can it not be great? We're in the best place in the world. You're like, all those years of drafts in the rink. And we came here. I don't know how the answer could ever not come back here again. It's unbelievable. I was gobbed smack when I walked in here. And this is a matter of what it costs for this event. The amount of brand value that the NHL has received from this is at zeros to it. It's been that impressive. Yeah, I mean, even on television, it looks unbelievable. And yes, we are all very jealous that you are enjoying the draft there in Las Vegas at the sphere. I mean, it just the presentation value looks through the roof. And yeah, I can't believe it's the last one like this, or at least that's the plan. Oh, I don't, I wouldn't jump to that. Okay. I think this is going to put a shot to the assistant to a lot of people. And it was, there was always going to be a draft and players going to be there and the media is going to be there. It's just that, you know, the teams weren't going to be there. So, you know, it would have been more like an NFL style draft. But, you know, with how well this went off and the amount of exposure the NHL has received from it, they may, you know, rethink what they're going to do with their drafts moving forward. Because it's a one event, if the NHL does better than any other sport by a country mile is our entry graph. Before we get to the selection that Canucks made, like what's been the overall takeaway of how the draft has shaken out so far, day one now heading into day two? Well, I think it wasn't a terrible, terrible surprise. There was going to be, you know, a run of defenseman because it was going to be defensive heavy in probably the first 40, 40 picks. So that didn't come as a surprise. And then I think, you know, once again, we have to look back to the playoffs and go, well, how the teams went in the playoffs. And there was a lot of big body forwards, like two-way sentiment. And it shouldn't have come as shocked that a lot of the defenseman are obviously, you know, 60, 63 or bigger that are mobile. So that was really the theme. And if you were a smaller defenseman, you'd better be very talented offensively to make up for some of those deficiencies. So it didn't shock me how it played out. On Martin or Melvin Fernstrom for the Canucks pick over at 93 overall, it's been mentioned, look, he's got a fantastic scoring ability with some of the developmental prospects. You know, what are you looking for on the next two years of the scale of their development growth? Well, big shocker that the, you know, Ben Gurver Canucks took a Swede, you know, so we'll get that right away. You know, I think for Melvin, you know, especially when you're a young player and you play primarily mostly in the K20, it's not as a structured league as other league. So as he moves up, I think the emphasis for him is going to be playing off the puck. That's how he plays fine. He's at the enemy when he plays defensively and just keep growing on that because that'll be the separately factor of whether he plays in the NHL at all. He's going to be his off puck play. And the offensively, he's a primary shooter. He has a sneaky shot. He likes to score goals. I thought he, you know, I was at the world UA teams and I thought he had an excellent tournament there in, you know, in that respect. So you have to be patient with him because there's a reason why he's chosen in the third round. If not, he would have went like early second, you know, or mid second from that standpoint. So offensive talent is there. Just got to be patient with the defense. I think once again, we look to the playoffs and even if you're skilled forward, you have to find a way to contribute after part. Otherwise, you just don't play. Yeah. And I wonder how much to like the Canucks. They had Jonathan Lechromacki playing at Orbro. I think Alias Petterson, DPD, or as we call him here in Vancouver, the defense version of Alias Petterson now with Abbotsford was over at Orbro as well. They have Michael Samuelson as sort of their their guy in Sweden that's that's working with a lot of their prospects that are out there. You know, could a team have, you know, a connection to this player that that gives them a better sense of what he could be versus other teams? And you know, I feel like that's potentially played a part in Vancouver's selection here. Certainly. I mean, one of the biggest advantages is not just understanding the player on the ice, but more importantly, understanding him off the ice and then what his capacity mentally and emotionally is. And does he have the internal grit resilience to be able to work through and try to punch his way through to the NHL? Because the teleport compresses really quickly, when you get to the American hockey league, they're compresses again in the NHL. And it's amazing. You see in the American league game, how many first second and third round picks and top players are just in the American league. You forget how great they were either in college or in junior or over in Europe. So that's going to be an uphill battle for him. But look, I think he has people around him in the development side that understand who he is. And they're going to give him the best chance to succeed and go around picks. It's not, it's not a very high probability. On average, it's only going to be eight players out of the third round that'll play more than 200 games. So he's Melbourne, one of them, you know, we don't know that yet. But I think over the next two years, we're going to begin to find that out pretty quickly. I could get the kid three years and you start to get an understanding, okay, you can be able to turn the corner after he hits draft plus five and he gets into that 23 year age group. That's probably how long he's going to need if he is going to play. But considering where the Canucks are, would not having a ton of higher draft picks, going for a guy that maybe boom or bust is too heavy a word considering he's a third round draft pick. But it makes sense to kind of take a swing at a guy that has some upside, but also some risk. Well, it's also like familiarity. So like if you can, you know, reduce your risk in a bunch of different areas because you know the player, you know his background, you know his family, you understand the system, he's in, you know, his coaches and those development people, it just makes the easier, more seamless to be able to work on a profile and a plan for him that everyone buys into. And that's a huge advantage because we have conflicting, you know, camps trying to do whatever they want to do with that player. It never works out well for the player. So I think that makes a huge difference and it may give you know Melvin a bit of a bump in that respect. So I completely understand the strategy when you're getting to the third to the seventh rounds of getting players that you have high familiarity with and you know look at the end of draft and all Swedes wouldn't shock me. Is that something we overlook too from the outside of, you know, you have a hand in their development obviously, but you're entrusting so much of your growth on external factors like what what destination these players are landing in and is is that something that maybe the general public doesn't factor in enough of what the players look like from from this stages of the rounds. Environment matters, the environment you develop in as a human being like got to remember he's a 17, 18 year old kid. So the environment you put them in makes a huge difference of how they build their habits and then how their habits become their behaviors on and off the ice. So that's it. I think it's a factor that I especially over the last 10, 12 years, I've waited far more heavily than I ever did in the past and it was part of my learning curve of recognizing human development in that respect, particularly cognitive develop of what going on between years because we all remember everyone that's on this call, we remember what we were like we were 17, 18 years ago. We were you know we were kind of like hairless monkeys running around. So we needed some guidance and help and you know and these players moved that too they're you know infinitely talented and what they do is hockey players but that doesn't make them NHL players. There's other things that they have to learn to get better. So I think that really factors in especially if you trust the organization that they're playing in and you have a really good relationship with them. I think that makes a tremendous amount of difference because when the player understands that everybody's on the same page just trying to help him like you need that trust with your player because if you don't have it he's going to second guess his way all through his development process. The Canucks coming up here in the fourth round at pick number 125 or in the 119 range right now with Nashville on the clock. Shane before I let you go. Is there some names that you're still or surprised maybe that have not come off the board just yet there at the draft? On my list actually because I did a my list is pretty small so I only go to 85 and only 60 of I think will play 200 games in the NHL and if I look on my list they're all gone except for one goalie. So so far no not really they need big surprises. I would have thought that the one player that didn't go in the first time I thought he would have been Igor Schirnischoff at a dynamo system. I thought he would go in the first round so he went you know obviously right in the the first in the first pick in the second round so it wasn't a big drop and that's one of the things the fans may not realize as well is inside the first round five slots seven slots it's not relevant. You get into the third round like even into the late second round and it's a 10 to 15 slot difference between maybe some consensus rankings and where the player is taken also irrelevant. That doesn't matter like you're in the same grouping of your ranking so you kind of go oh you have them 15 spots different whatever but because it really doesn't matter that much. Shane we always appreciate the time and your insights enjoy the rest of the draft there in Las Vegas. Have a great day gentlemen. Talk to you later. There is Shane Malloy hockey prospect radio joining us. Hey it's Big Nizar. Have your say and join me on the people's show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays three to four on sports net 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Riley Patterson joins us now the latest member of the Vancouver Canucks organization. Thanks for this Riley. Congrats on getting drafted to Vancouver. Yeah thank you guys. Really appreciate that. How you feeling in this moment right now? Describe how you're feeling. Yeah no it's definitely didn't come true. I mean we've worked so hard you know my whole life to get this moment you know to finally hear you're called us. Also I'm especially well dreamed of so you know I have my family and family friends you know spend time with them and enjoy with them is you know really special for me. Do you have any inclination that the Canucks might be interested in you with picks in this range? Yeah I mean yeah we had some conversations you know during the year and saw me get the time behind which I thought it was well you wanted that interview so I know you always just hope to get drafted and you hear my name calls like it was such a good organization you know I can't thank them enough and I'm starting to go to work. Was there a moment in the past two years Riley where like this started to feel like a reality for you that like the NHL dream was gonna be there for you? Yeah I think you know the first year of junior hockey I mean I played in DOJHL which is a you know Tier 2 Junior League in Ontario and you know had a good year there so I think after that it was kind of a realization there you know if you keep working hard and you'll keep your head down and be a good kid and you know I can you know you can shoot your gene to be adopted NHL and you know just I'm so pumped right now. So tell us about your game. Yeah and I think I'm a you know 200 foot player that I was a puck on a stick I think I can create offense I'm in the ozone well for myself my teammates and you know I love to put the puck in the net so I know that you know a guy that loves the offense but you know can also take their defenses on as well. How much have you watched this Canucks squad and what do you kind of look at when you look at this Canucks team and figure what you might do in the future here? Yeah no it's awesome I mean I've stayed tougher since I'm the west coast you know late games but you know other times I get you know that it's an awesome organization that now it's a great young team and you know I'm doing some you know great things the next couple years so I'm a pup to be a part of it. Do you have a favorite player or a player that you've modeled your game after? Yeah I think I actually find an office J.T. Miller from you know from the Canucks say. He's a thicker body that you know loves the offense and you know it's trusted at the defense of the zone so I mean I'll play like him you know you create the offense but he's also trusted you know I've run the ice. Well we appreciate getting to know you a little bit better. What's the summer looking like for you Riley? Yeah a lot of training. I know a couple of cottage trips a couple of cottage trips so I'm not having friends but yeah a lot of training on the ice working out just not getting ready for training camp and all that so I know it's busy summer but you're really looking forward to it. Riley it's been great getting to know you. We'll see you up here in Vancouver soon enough I'm sure thanks for this. Yeah awesome thank you so much. There is Riley Patterson the latest pick of the Vancouver Canucks 29 goals in 68 games with Barry Colt's last season. Hey it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. We'll get more into that conversation a little bit later on but now joining us here on draft central it is Colton Roberts who was selected here today to the San Jose Sharks out of the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. Thanks for this Colton how are you? I'm good thanks for having me. Congratulations on getting drafted man is a lot of emotions you know the the first goal of becoming a professional hockey league career having a professional hockey league career I mean you've met it here in your draft eligible season. Yeah I mean unbelievable like it was really cool like good that my family decided me like I'm forever grateful for them if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here now so thanks thanks for them. Well and obviously you have the type of profile that teams are after being a right-hand defenseman but also you play with some toughness you have some size you move the puck well did you kind of get a sense that you know with your profile in this draft that you know you would kind of go in the range you ended up going in. Yeah I mean I had no idea what was gonna happen I was just sitting up there waiting for my name to be called and I'm very grateful for the be called to the Sharks organization. What was that five-minute sequence like because I imagine you were pumped up for your teammate Tyler Thorpe going right ahead of you and then I imagine you just hear your name right after as well. Yeah it was pretty cool I mean both Vancouver Giants eligible guys like going back to back like that's really cool really good for Tyler I mean I'm really excited for him. How are you feeling about your game and what are the steps you want to keep improving on here Colton after your big season this year. Yeah I just want to keep improving on my D zone I know for the next step I need to work on that stuff so throughout my coaching staff and summer program I'm with that's stuff I want to work on and I want to get obviously stronger and faster and quicker so it can go all nice. Colton really happy for you man congratulations again on getting drafted and all the best to you this summer and we'll see you back up with the Vancouver Giants soon yeah thank you very much rather than me. There is Colton Roberts 6-4 right shot defenseman with the Vancouver Giants selected today with the second pick of the 5th round 131st overall. Hey it's Mike Alford and Jason Bruff join us for Alford and Bruff in the morning weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. on Sportsnet 650 or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app. Anthony Romani so the elite prospects quick synopsis of the player or as they call it the elevator pitch an ice stretching transition passer with a knack for perfectly timed risters and one touch passes improved physicality and skating give him a chance to crack the show and he joins us now Anthony Romani Pickering Ontario and now the newest member of the Vancouver Canucks thanks for this Anthony congratulations on getting drafted how you feeling? Great I'm super excited to be a part of the organization I'm just excited to get started yeah I'm sure it's a big day for you and your family that's helped you along how do you feel right now in this moment and meeting a big career goal of getting drafted to the NHL. Yeah I mean I'm super excited it's been a dream of mine always growing up and it's really cool to see it happen and yeah I'm just super excited to get started with Vancouver and head down there well and you're somebody who had to work very hard this past year had a great year for the North Bay Battalion like how optimistic were you that you were going to get drafted this time around? Oh yeah I mean obviously going on draft of last year I was kind of one of my goals coming to this year and I just wanted to prove myself so I think I was pretty happy on the year I have and I was excited to take it down and I'm super excited to be a part of Vancouver. We always like asking the prospects how would you describe your game? Yeah I think I'm uh um a skilled offensive court uh kind of here's my hockey IQ to make plays around the ice and um yeah I think I have very offensive and creative in the ozone and have a scoring touch and can find my teammates. So what led to your breakout this year I mean you led the OHL and goals so yeah you had a pretty good season man. Yeah I mean um like I said just kind of um always been to your mind so I just wanted to have a big season this year and just working hard in the offseason getting better and uh yeah I mean I'm playing with great players all the time and they really helped me such as my line mate so I'm putting credit the team more for that. You obviously worked very hard this past offseason to take your game to another level and had so much success like what's on the docket this offseason to try to gain a little bit more heading into next year? Yeah I think just trying to get bigger and stronger and just working all aspects of my game going to the Southeast and um I want to have a big season next year and uh yeah I mean I'm back to me which I want to I want to um I want to win the championship there so that's my goal going to next year. What's uh what's the plans for the summer now? I don't know I know I'm heading down to Vancouver tomorrow so should be fun um dev camp there and then yeah I just back in Toronto for my offseason training just try to get bigger and stronger. Well we'll see you here at dev camp next week thanks so much for this Anthony congratulations again on getting drafted. Thank you very much. There is Anthony Romani the latest selection for the Vancouver Canucks another right shot forward playing the wing and this one a D plus one but scored 58 goals in the OHL this year that is an OHL leading 58 goals hey it's bigna czar have your say and join me on the people's show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays three to four on sports net 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Uh let's uh get in a uh expert's take on some of the more recent Canucks selections. Cam Robinson of elite prospects joining us now thanks for this Cam uh how's the draft going there in Vegas? Oh you know we're having a good time little blurry this morning rough from the edges but uh we're pushing through as we always do nothing uh a little coffee or liquid IV can't help. Um so uh getting into uh these latest picks uh well from the Canucks perspective I mean we've seen it uh at least looking at their profiles I'm sure you have a better thought on all the prospects uh than maybe I do but uh Fernstrom Patterson and now Anthony Romani the Canucks selecting you know forwards with big scoring profiles here with uh their three selections so far in the draft. Yeah um absolutely and you know like it's we talked about it the head of the draft is that we would be interested to see on you know what what avenue they decided to take whether it was you know big cuts on upside or if they're going to go safety first and I think it's pretty clear that they're they're betting on upside uh which I think the Canucks fans should be excited about um that they're you know they're if they miss then they don't get a player but you know they they're not taking someone that they can help will play a bottom six role so uh you know the first one uh Melvin Fernstrom you know I saw him at the the U18 um he put up eight points in seven games um but I didn't love this game let's say that um he's a little a little slow pace the feet aren't great plays a little on the perimeter for my liking but I mean the kid knows how to produce offense like at the at the U20 level at the J20 he was you know nearly a point a half a game um like I said over a point a game at the U18 he knows how to to get himself into scoring areas um has really good like off puck instincts which allows him to kind of find pockets of space and then maximize those opportunities um and that's I think how he generates the primarily how he generates his off puck smarts which is you know a useful and could be a translatable skill at the next level so um not the biggest kid not the fastest kid uh but he definitely has skill and uh you know it's it's not a bad pick in the third round for my money well and I think he's one of those guys right that he has some talent but that pace and and I think some concern I've seen some Canucks fans wondering what the pick and saying we'll forget the sweetest part but profiles as past past being a little bit soft is that is that the biggest criticism around him that he's considered quote unquote a soft player at times yeah you know like there's some things that really kind of bothered my game where he wouldn't sell out to like exit the zone you know with a D man coming bearing down on him he would kind of just like turn away and and and not take the hit to make the play that kind of stuff so you know his analytic profile is like the offense is really really high and then his transition game is really really low um and his defensive team is also really low um so you're really betting that he's gonna leverage his offensive skills um and add some quickness and then potentially be like this interesting top nine winger for you um but I'd say like at this point it's he's he's so raw enough that there's a chance that that happens but again we're talking about a third round pick here a late third um so the likelihood that it breaks right is probably pretty low but uh it's a swing on upside and so you can get behind that uh in the uh fantastic EP draft guide uh there's a little badge on Anthony Romani's page where it says analytics darling uh you want to take us through a little bit of a profile that speaks more about than just the counting stats of 111 points yeah I mean like it's like you said he is an analytic darling like he creates you know his expected goal rate is extremely high right he creates shots at a super high level um his vision is really really strong like he sets guys up with that you know the pass across the slot and then puts them in good positions to score himself um he is you know the opposite where he creates you know things off of the rush you can transition the puck out of his own end and into the neutral zone and into the offensive end uh really really well obviously you know an over-ager another kid not super big not super fast but has you know a good shot really good passing um I like his hockey sense puck handling is fine like all these things are NHL average or maybe like could project to be a little bit above except for the feet and that's why he wasn't drafted before and that's why he slipped where he did to Vancouver but um you know he's he's got a motor you know the feet aren't or he's not a burner but you know he definitely he's working out there for sure um I like that pick you know he improved his physicality this year and I think that that edge really kind of amplified his game and made him more well-rounded and obviously you know put up nearly 60 goals in in 68 games or whatever and like he said 110 points so I definitely know how to hit the score sheet and uh there was a little bit of a cheer from some of the scouting public people around because Romani he's he's a bit of a fan savored among some of these guys uh all right your take on uh Riley Patterson the fourth round selection for the Vancouver Canucks had 29 goals in 68 games with Barry this year yeah I actually this one might be my favorite one um because he's the best skater of the bunch uh you know he's got uh he's got some like really good edge work and quick that gives three step quickness is pretty good um and you know hockey senses is good he's he can be a little physical he's more of a shooter than a playmaker but uh he's very very raw at this point um and and but he's got tools and it's just skating right but again we got a kid who's six foot right they're all they're none of them are big but at least he plays a little thicker um he projects the probably play you know 200 205 pounds so he'll have the NHL speed but uh or size I should say but it's the speed that really gets me exciting so um looking for him he was allowed to kind of wheel and deal a little bit coming up the ranks um in junior A and I think that allowed him the confidence to kind of step into the OHL and thrive as a first-year player but now it's time to refine his game and become a little more translatable into the pros that style play but I do I do like this picture Vancouver the Canucks still have two selections one more in the sixth round and one seventh round pick before they're done do you see anything intriguing still on the board here that Vancouver may be able to snag ah I'm back I'm backstage now here we're not looking at the screen but uh you know take a cut on upside again right that's clearly the mandate so maybe they'll go back to Sweden maybe the russian kid uh I don't have a I don't have a name for you right now actually though well hey listen we're like 180 picks in so I'm not really expecting to come up with a name just kind of wondering it was a great hit yeah great hit up until that last answer came come on yeah just cut me off your voice yeah maybe a little bit more gatorade cam yeah yeah back to the craft table now just uh all jokes aside man uh we always appreciate your insights and thank you for your your take on all three of the Canucks prospects to this point we appreciate your time as always enjoy the rest of the draft of course thank you all let's take care ah there he is seg one of the greats Cameron Robinson joining us hey it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12th to on sports net 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app ah well let's uh bring in our next guest uh you know i'm from the Vancouver Giants Tyler Thorpe is now joining us drafted by the Montreal Canadians today at the beginning of the fifth round thanks for this Tyler how are you i'm not i'm doing pretty good i'm sure you are man you just got drafted to the national hockey league how does it feel uh it's pretty surreal honestly um so you had a great season with with Vancouver you get drafted here today how you feeling about your your game and you know also uh the the fit with Montreal here you know i mean this is just the start of it obviously i got things to work on um and yeah this is this is just the beginning of something that could be really great and how special is it to be drafted by a Canadian team and an original six team at that with the Montreal Canadians uh it's it's an unreal feeling because obviously being from Canada and you know everything about the Canadian teams and especially an original actually get uh extra pressure and it's just you know you got this whole city whole city room behind you so it's just fantastic what's this uh journey been like these last couple of months you're getting ready for the draft and and then finally hearing your name you know it's been long especially with my injury and everything it's been a long journey but i'm ready for what the future holds lower mainland native of course Richmond BC's very own Tyler Thorpe um it's uh you know coming up through through Vancouver you get to play your your you know your junior hockey with the Vancouver Giants i mean this is the next big step of of your career we congratulate you for it and uh Ty we appreciate your time today thanks for this thank you for having me uh there he is Tyler Thorpe hey it's Mike Alford and Jason Bruff join us for Halford and Bruff in the morning weekdays for six to nine a.m. on sports then 650 or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app now joining us uh from uh the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Vancouver Canucks organization and uh the pride of Port Moody on uh BC it is Parker Alco's joining us thanks for this Parker how are you i'm doing really good how are you doing uh we're doing uh we're doing well man you just got drafted to the to the NHL and uh buy your hometown team i guess how does it feel yeah it still feels like it didn't happen it's crazy that they really did super surreal right now did you have any inclination that the Canucks uh might be interested in draft drafting you with one of their picks yeah we had a few calls so you never know anything could draft but glad it's Canucks my uh grown-up team local uh we've been asking every prospect that joins us today uh describe your game to the uh Canucks fans my game would be uh two-way defensemen who is uh a mobile good skating uh pass first defensemen uh yeah i see uh you know uh just the the size is a part of your game you know looking at a lot of the scouting reports your rush defense a lot of a lot of praise for the way that that you defend um where where does that side of your game come from how has it developed over the last couple of years yeah just mostly through experience with uh playing with different players playing against playing types just not here up against in the main key and experience through through the years in the WHL and you're one of the younger players in the draft you turn 18 uh next month at july 20th and played this entire year as a 17 year old you played some games last season as well and then when you go back and looking at your history at the lower levels before that you mentioned your two-way guy you did put up points at lower levels too do you kind of feel like next year you know in your second full year in the WHL bigger role that you can shine offensively a bit more yeah like i said with experience uh i'll get better over time and i think next year with a bigger role i think that offensive uh offensive part will come with it too uh do you have a favorite player to watch uh to model your own game after uh Quinn Hughes is my favorite player to watch and i try to try to add some of his offensive features to mind uh maybe a future uh deparing for you uh now that you are a member of the Vancouver Canucks organization what's the summer look like for you parker i guess we'll see you at dev camp here next week maybe yep yeah i'll see you guys there but summer is just staying local just keep skating and working out trying to get better what makes port moody the best city of the tri cities what makes it better that uh i'm on the mountain so i'm all the nature around me and all the trails and all that i love it uh it's that's great parker it's great to see uh a lower mainland native get uh get drafted to the Vancouver Canucks congrats on a big day for you and your family thank you very much hey it's bignazzar have your say and join me on the people's show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays three to four on sports net six fifty or wherever you get your podcast uh all right let's uh focus in on the Vancouver Canucks and now joining us uh director of amateur scouting with your Vancouver Canucks it is Todd Harvey is the Canucks have just wrapped up their day at the draft with their latest selection thanks for this Todd uh how are you i'm very good how are you doing guys uh we're we're doing well uh so you make a few selections here today and uh you know draft coming to a close but how do you feel about the way things played out for you and your your uh your team well i first of all i just want to say the amount of work that our guys put in and and uh you know i think we're we're real happy um with with the picks we've got and uh you know that we had them rated pretty high and uh we ended up getting them so we're real excited uh and you know it was it was interesting watching the selections you guys made and you guys selected three straight right wing prospects and guys that can shoot the puck one from Sweden a couple Canadian kids was that something you guys were targeting and that stage of the draft you guys thought there was some value with some goal scoring right shot forwards we really did we liked the right shots but i really think you know we we put our list together we we think the best player available and uh they were there for us and and it just happened to be that they were all you know right shot and uh we're real excited with the with the upside with these guys uh take us through some of these players then let's start with uh Melvin Fernstrom well i've seen Melvin quite a bit obviously uh our guy in Sweden uh Bobby he's he's real high on him and uh Melvin is a guy that's uh got a real good shot he's involved in the game he gets to the net and he's uh he's got a real good scoring touch around the game uh around the net and i think that uh you know the way he plays he plays a good detailed game so he plays a good 200 foot game that way uh he you guys had uh like rameche there uh with orebro and uh i think uh defence mentally as peterson uh was also with orebro before uh coming over to to abbotsford uh did that give you a maybe a better sense of the the character or maybe an inside look at at what Melvin Fernstrom's all about well watching Melvin obviously we've seen him in orebro but we also see him on the on the national team and he's one of their go-to guys there on the national team and he's always uh always uh you know one of their go-to guys and and uh we much like clicking players tomorrow burrow uh we've got a few over here yeah yeah you guys certainly do and you know uh and people always wondering about you know you guys drafting some swedish players you drafted quite a few canadians last year and also this season as well and you know riley paterson's a really intriguing player well we're at least stood out for you guys with him and another guy that can shoot the puck really well yeah we really we really liked his second half he was he was a true rookie in the league this year and and his uh his second half he really started to come and and played a real more direct game and and the goal started to come for him he could play both positions you play the center position you can play the wing so we're real excited about that and and i think uh i think he's got some real good upside uh also uh went local as well with parkor alcose as well is is that any sort of organizational philosophy to to want to get the guys that are you know homegrown and and lower mainland well obviously it's nice but obviously we want to take the best player available we thought you know getting him uh we were real excited that he was still there on the board and obviously it's just a bonus having him uh being a local kid he can drive into development camp now it makes it easier yeah you can drive into development camp which is a nice little value uh you you also select uh one uh one over-ager here in in Anthony Romani i mean you look i look at the numbers i'm like how did this guy not go soon or 58 goals led the ohl and goals just really had a breakout campaign after going undrafted last year yeah and i actually thought he probably could have got drafted last year and and uh you know he played they had a good team and they played behind uh uh played behind some guys and this year he really took a step and and uh you know took his game to another level and i still think there's more there um you know he's gonna he's gonna gain some speed and some strength and and uh you know 58 goals is 58 goals it's pretty pretty darn good well that's that's what i wanted to expand on a little bit because you can look at it and say well he's an overeat you know he's he's draft plus one he had 58 goals but for draft plus one guys to get 58 goals like that's quite the accomplishment still isn't it very much so and i i think if i from correct there's not too many guys that have done that in their draft plus one year so um he's in a select few in a company there so um you know we're excited that uh that he was there for us and and our guys uh really really liked him and and i i think we got a good one there tada i'm curious too because the draft is the entry point for these players and the real work now for the organization begins on the development path what is the communication level between you know your staff and the development staff as well of of why these guys are important and and what the next steps are well definitely and we keep in contact all the time because we're out there seeing these players and and in contact with our development staff and and like i said they're gonna come into into development camp and and they're gonna be um you know gonna take take them on they're gonna learn and and they're gonna take that back to the to the to the club teams and and our guys are on them they're they talked to them quite daily and and i think it's um for us it's a nice uh you know communication for us to let them know if we see them and we're playing where we talked to our development guys and give them what we've seen and and it's a it's a group effort um when it comes to i mean maybe one of these years Patrick will give you a few more picks to to get down with but uh you know it does your process change at all when when you don't have as many selections going into the draft no you know at least i we put it together our staff does a great job and and we're out there and watching the games and getting into all these players and we put it together from one all the way down to to how many players we have on our list and and uh you know we don't change our philosophy um one bit when we're we're putting that list together we're putting it together like we're picking first overall or our tenth overall all the way down so uh credit to our guys they did a real good job this year and uh we really like their list i wanted to get your thoughts on the final um player you guys selected it's a swiss kid bacilli senson as i'm sorry if i'm saying his name wrong but six foot four left the defense man um like what what intrigued you guys about this kid and you know the swiss they've been really you know getting up there when it comes to hockey ability last few years but we're what really stood out here with him well he's a big kid he's got room to grow and and i like this his IQ he moves good for a big guy and and we've seen him play at the the national tournaments and you know we kind of caught our guys eye over there and and uh and we decided to make that selection and we're real happy that we got him there uh one for me is here uh what was the experience like being in the sphere there and uh actually i got a floor neck from looking up so it's an occupation like hazard being there like being in the first row at the movie theater hey but i'll tell you yeah exactly it is but i'll tell you they did a really yeah they still did a fantastic job here and and it was a great setup and i think i'm sure everybody really enjoyed uh being here in in this here and and and having that basically it was the first live event kind of uh here and the the end and so did fantastic job well and the final one on the overarching day here for you guys obviously you know scouts you guys always want more picks not less picks right that's always how you guys feel but do you feel pretty strongly about what you guys were able to accomplish considering you weren't picking until the third round today we're we're real excited actually we we had our guys up there and and they happen to be there for for us and uh what we're real happy with uh the way this draft played out for us hey Todd uh always appreciate the time and uh you know it's uh it's always great getting to catch up uh enjoy the rest of your time there in vegas we'll see you at dev camp all right thank you bye bye there is uh Todd Harvey
