Up next in 10
The Philadelphia Flyers have a pair of massive defenseman prospects in Spencer Gill and Maksim Sokolovskii.
Ryan Gilbert, Steve Jacot, and Jacob Russell discuss the hulking rearguards' potential as Gill begins his professional career with the Phantoms and Sokolovskii continues his OHL career with the London Knights.
#nhl #hockey #flyers #letsgoflyers #philadelphia #sports #philadelphiaflyers
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello
0:01
and welcome back to Broad Street Hockey
0:04
as we continue with the Flyers top 25
0:07
under 25 this afternoon with nearly 13
0:11
ft of defenseman here with Spencer Gill
0:14
at 17 and Maxim Sushko Loski at 16. I am
0:19
Ryan Gilbert joined by two guys that
0:20
know a thing or two about Big D. Steve
0:22
Jacot and Jacob Russell.
0:25
>> I love what an intro right there. We're
0:27
talking
0:28
Big D. We're talking sheets. WE'RE
0:30
TALKING BIG BOYS. OH BABY GET that
0:32
eggplant emoji ready. We got some fun
0:35
hockey talk ahead of us.
0:36
>> We got some length.
0:38
I love some length baby. I love some
0:40
length. Uh
0:41
>> But do we have some girth?
0:43
>> Uh well, you know, they're relative
0:44
girth. The length is relative to the
0:47
girth.
0:48
>> Cuz I think Spencer Gill has some
0:50
length, but Maxim Sushko Loski has the
0:53
length and the girth.
0:54
>> He's got more girth. A sizeable amount
0:57
of length and girth. For sure.
0:59
>> Yeah, it's a girthy boy.
1:01
>> Yeah, you got Spencer Gill standing at a
1:03
6'4, 214 lbs. Sushko Loski at 6'8, 240
1:08
lbs there for Sushko Loski. So the two
1:10
two big boys there on the blue line.
1:13
But yeah, top of the show top of the
1:14
video here, make sure you are
1:16
subscribed to Broad Street Hockey. Check
1:17
out our playlist on YouTube with all of
1:20
the top 25 under 25 videos. Like the
1:23
video as as Steve is doing. Give it a
1:25
thumbs up. Leave some comments. Let us
1:27
know what you think about these guys and
1:28
what they do and of course read the
1:30
website and thanks to FanDuel for
1:32
sponsoring the show. Yeah, let's start
1:35
here with Spencer Gill came in 17th in
1:39
the 25 under 25.
1:42
Going to be
1:43
playing in the AHL this season for the
1:45
first time turning pro. Limited to just
1:48
16 games in the regular season, 17 games
1:50
in the playoffs last year due to that
1:52
torn sheath in his wrist that he had to
1:54
undergo surgery for.
1:56
That was his the fourth and final year
1:59
in the queue, his only year in uh
2:02
Blainville-Boisbriand
2:04
uh Armada there. So,
2:05
>> Boisbriand.
2:06
>> You Like, are you talking words right
2:08
now? This all just sounds like gibberish
2:10
to me.
2:11
>> That's all of my French immersion summed
2:13
up from inside of me from grade 10.
2:15
>> Yeah. Yeah, so Gill a a big defenseman
2:18
and looks people always like and he's a
2:20
right-handed defenseman, which always
2:21
helps as well there. Um
2:24
what do you guys think here about
2:25
Spencer Gill? We're getting into into
2:27
the range where I believe everyone on
2:30
Russory Hockey had Spencer Gill in their
2:32
top 25. So, there's there's no one that
2:34
left him off. We're getting into the
2:35
point there where we're we're getting
2:37
people that
2:38
players that people have ranked, no
2:40
matter what.
2:41
>> This is a guy I almost have an opinion
2:42
on. You know, once we hit the top 10,
2:44
like I have an an Actually, I think
2:46
after this, I have like a pretty strong
2:48
opinion on like everybody, but when it
2:51
comes to Spencer Gill, I'm not a
2:53
believer at this time. Like, I want to
2:55
believe like with many of these guys.
2:57
Call me Fox Mulder because I want to
2:59
believe, but I don't currently I'm not a
3:03
Gill believer until I see something out
3:05
of him. I want to see whatever's going
3:07
on with that sheath in his wrist. I
3:09
don't like the sound of that. I didn't
3:10
know wrists had sheaths. I don't want to
3:12
hear any more about broken sheaths and
3:14
we've already had too many references to
3:16
the area down below in men, but
3:19
at the end of the day, Spencer Gill is a
3:21
guy that if he does work out for the
3:23
Flyers, and I'm talking work out even in
3:25
a bottom-six role, a third-pair
3:26
defenseman, that's a win for the Flyers.
3:29
Uh he is a a bigger body over here.
3:32
I haven't watched a ton of Spencer Gill,
3:34
so I'm not quite sure
3:36
if he has offensive upside, per se, but
3:39
I'm looking at the the
3:40
Blainville-Boisbriand
3:44
Armada and he had 11 points in 16 games
3:46
played at not an especially high level
3:48
of hockey. That's pretty like decent
3:51
numbers for a defenseman, point per game
3:52
wise, but as far as like I don't know,
3:55
maybe on a minor league level, maybe I'd
3:56
like to see a little bit more out of
3:58
him. Uh playoff numbers were a little
3:59
bit better, but yeah, I'm not sure what
4:02
the ultimate upside is with Gill, but I
4:05
like a lot of I like his size. I like
4:08
his measurements.
4:09
>> Yeah, and in the Q, you want to see
4:11
That's a more offensive one of the most
4:13
I think the probably the most offensive
4:14
um
4:15
junior league up there in Canada if
4:17
Jacob can confirm or deny that. But, you
4:19
know, second a second-round pick, 59th
4:21
overall in 2024 by the Flyers. He turns
4:24
20 on August 17th, so still a bit
4:27
younger there, but like I I feel like
4:29
I'd want to see more than a a a
4:30
third-pair upside out of a a
4:32
second-round pick.
4:34
>> Well, I when I when they took Gill in
4:36
2024, I was really excited about it
4:38
because I saw a little like Sandin light
4:41
kind of in his game. He's slightly
4:43
physical.
4:44
Um
4:45
He uses his He uses his strength, but it
4:47
is like the puck moving that I was so
4:50
impressed by. Like, for a guy who's that
4:52
big,
4:53
um not exactly like Sokolov who we'll
4:54
talk about later. Um obviously a lot
4:57
bigger, a lot stronger, a lot more
4:58
imposing, but I think there was a lane
5:01
for Gill to become like, if not a
5:03
power-play quarterback, but like a guy
5:05
like Cam York who you can see him
5:07
when he has the puck on his stick, you
5:09
know he's going to try and make a play
5:10
with it a lot of the time. You know he's
5:11
not going to immediately give it away,
5:13
fumble it, you know.
5:14
It It maybe isn't an offensive ceiling
5:17
that's massively high, but the puck
5:18
moving is definitely there and
5:21
the the problem with Gill is he just
5:22
doesn't play games. You know, I think
5:24
that is the issue. If he plays a full
5:25
season, I I can't imagine he doesn't at
5:27
least get 60 points in in the Q this
5:30
year, right? Um that's just I I feel
5:32
like he just would have that sort of
5:34
point-per-game ish upside in the Q as a
5:37
defenseman. Then you look at him a lot
5:38
differently, but as it stands, he comes
5:41
back for the playoffs after, you know,
5:43
the sheath uh and 10 points in 17 games,
5:48
like Steve said. Like that's
5:50
good output for a defenseman.
5:53
Especially after not playing for most of
5:55
the season, right? It's not an easy
5:57
thing just to jump in and and start
5:59
putting points on the board.
6:00
Uh, but I think he is a really
6:03
I don't know. I think he's just a very
6:06
high upside guy relative to his draft
6:08
position and how much we've actually
6:10
seen of him like on the ice. You just
6:12
you don't see him enough to be able to
6:14
form an opinion of him that is more than
6:16
like he has some sort of
6:19
um, future.
6:21
Like he could be an NHL defenseman. He
6:23
has some future at the at the
6:24
professional level. Like that's about
6:26
all you can say until you see him with
6:27
the Phantoms. It's kind of hard to form
6:29
a massive opinion about him because
6:31
he doesn't play. Like I like the
6:32
offensive skill. I think he can play
6:34
make. I think he's got
6:37
you know, a ceiling that's higher than
6:39
pretty much all of the other Flyers. I
6:41
think he's got a ceiling that if he hit
6:42
it, like he'd be a better guy than than
6:44
like an Oliver Bonk. It's just Bonk I
6:46
feel like is really good, right? Like
6:48
Bonk is just solid. I feel like he's
6:50
going to be a middle pair defenseman for
6:52
for 10, 15 years. I think Gill could pop
6:55
and maybe it's a little too late for him
6:56
now because he's just been so injured so
6:58
god damn much. But I think he could have
7:01
popped and become like, you know, a
7:03
Sanheim light kind of guy who is like a
7:05
unicorn. He can really skate. He can fly
7:07
around the ice. He but he's not a
7:10
defensive liability in that way. So, I
7:12
you know, it it's hard. It's it's just
7:14
hard to really get a grasp on where to
7:17
put him on the list because he just
7:19
doesn't play. It's 2 years in a row. I
7:20
mean, last year he played 51 games, so
7:23
it's a pretty good sample size, but he's
7:24
also injured. Um, and this year where
7:26
you expect him to take a massive step,
7:28
uh, he just just gets hurt. And but when
7:31
he played, he could score.
7:32
>> Yeah, was that a lower body injury he
7:34
had 2 years ago? I'm trying to ankle
7:37
injury 2 years ago.
7:38
>> Yeah, yeah, that that tracks.
7:40
>> Then the then the wrist injury.
7:42
>> It's Yeah, it's just all over it. And
7:44
that's why, like you said, you can
7:46
>> say um your wrist is your
7:48
foot Your wrist is your hand's ankle.
7:51
>> Hey, yeah.
7:51
>> Your what? Your what?
7:54
>> I mean, we were talking about Hunter
7:55
McDonald as a possible Ristolainen
7:57
replacement right here. This is your
7:58
obvious Ristolainen replacement because
8:01
he doesn't play. He's a right-handed big
8:03
defenseman. It's perfect. He's hurt all
8:05
the time, just like Rasmus Ristolainen.
8:07
>> He can quarterback a power play if you
8:09
if you if you really has to, if you want
8:11
to put him out there.
8:12
>> desperate.
8:14
>> Yeah, so
8:15
I can't I can't claim this for my own,
8:17
but but Steve, you wouldn't say you're
8:19
you're a believer here in Spencer Gill.
8:21
A believer here. That's what was on
8:22
Portland Winterhawks in the Winterhawks
8:25
in the uh
8:26
Top 25 under 25 blog on
8:28
broadstreetbuzz.com on Spencer Gill.
8:30
Yeah, that's like Gill's floor is he he
8:33
just flames out and he doesn't become an
8:35
NHL player. I did rank him the lowest. I
8:37
had him ranked 23rd. Readers had him at
8:40
22. Thomas and Evan had him at 22 as
8:43
well. A lot of us just in the teens
8:46
though because this is a guy that you
8:48
really don't know what you can expect
8:51
from. You have to see him stay healthy.
8:53
You have to see him have a full season
8:55
and see how he transitions to the pro
8:57
game where, you know, we're starting to
9:00
see a Phantoms defense that could become
9:03
good. Could become a defense that that
9:05
is going to be good to play behind for
9:07
Bjarnason and for for Kolosov cuz he's
9:09
You got McDonald. You got Murchison.
9:12
Bunnaman can play some time down there.
9:14
You got Gill. Maybe somehow Yerechek
9:16
makes it through waivers. Like you have
9:18
guys that can hopefully grow together on
9:20
the blue line.
9:21
>> Maybe he's Phil Myers.
9:23
>> Yeah, I thought about it. I thought
9:25
about it. He
9:26
I think he is more cuz Phil Myers never
9:29
hit anybody. That was my big thing with
9:30
Phil Myers is he never hit anyone. And
9:33
he still didn't. Like even when he was
9:34
the sixth the sixth or seventh
9:36
defenseman with the Leafs. And he went
9:38
to Tampa and was there for actually
9:40
feel like it was quite a while.
9:42
He still didn't hit anybody. He didn't
9:44
change his game to hit anybody. I think
9:45
Gill would at least hit people to some
9:47
extent.
9:49
And yeah, like
9:51
I I just think that with the
9:54
defenseman they have down there with the
9:55
Phantoms now, you can at least look at
9:58
them and say like, okay, there's a
9:59
chance that three or four of these guys
10:01
actually play NHL games for you and
10:02
you're excited about it. You know,
10:04
you're not like Oh, Helge Grans has got
10:06
to come back up again. Oh, no, we got
10:08
another Adam Ginning game here where
10:09
he's going to be stapled to Juulsen and
10:11
they're both going to stink ass for like
10:13
4 minutes total the entire game. And
10:16
it's like, why are we even doing this?
10:17
Now you have Bonk, you have Gill, you
10:20
have McDonald, Murchison, like all those
10:22
guys kind of relegating the old guard
10:26
to bit part roles or getting them out of
10:27
the lineup in general, right? So I think
10:31
there's at least
10:33
if not the stud defenseman isn't in the
10:36
prospect pool, which it doesn't look
10:37
like they are right now. There's at
10:38
least a steady like stream of guys who I
10:41
think you'd be
10:43
excited to see at the NHL level if they
10:44
were to make to make their debut.
10:47
>> Yeah. And unlike wing where the Flyers
10:49
seem to just have a multitude of guys
10:51
ready, there are not a ton of big
10:54
attractive names available at defense
10:56
for the Flyers, especially if they want
10:57
to make some moves, if some guys get
10:59
hurt. So Gill is a guy that, you know,
11:02
you could very easily see being in the
11:04
mix in a couple years.
11:06
>> Yeah, I I wouldn't be surprised if he
11:08
was on a faster track even to to the NHL
11:10
despite being on the younger side. If he
11:13
gets a healthy season under his belt,
11:15
maybe we're talking about we we see him
11:17
in 2027 2027-28 in the next season
11:19
because yeah, you look at these Phantom
11:21
defenseman, you got Gill, Bonk,
11:23
Murchison, McDonald, Helge Grans,
11:27
and you got, you know, Cam York and they
11:28
signed as like a veteran presence down
11:30
there. Like you're going to have four,
11:31
five, maybe even six defenseman in the
11:34
lineup for the Phantoms that you could
11:35
see playing for the Flyers at some
11:37
point. So that's going to be exciting
11:39
down there in the valley.
11:42
Uh yeah, going over to Maxim Sushko now
11:45
who maybe could eventually be the crown
11:47
jewel of the blue line
11:50
as far as prospects are concerned if if
11:52
you squint a little bit
11:54
27th overall pick
11:56
in this most recent draft Flyers of
11:58
course traded back to get some more
12:01
assets to draft in there at 27th 6'8"
12:03
240 lbs
12:05
played his first full season second full
12:08
season in North America this past season
12:10
with the London Knights 44 games eight
12:13
points
12:14
49 penalty minutes a plus 10 and then no
12:17
points in five playoff games.
12:20
But he did seem like he was getting
12:21
better as the season moved along as
12:24
Jacob Russell you wrote the article for
12:26
Sushko
12:27
on the website.
12:29
>> Yeah,
12:31
we did some post draft stuff and I've
12:33
I've made it known that I wasn't
12:35
necessarily a fan of like the whole
12:37
strategy of trading back and then
12:39
getting Sushko.
12:42
But as I've looked at you know just more
12:44
of the later season highlights from him
12:47
I do see the allure of taking a guy like
12:50
him like 6'8" 240 is massive
12:54
and the crucial part with him is I think
12:57
that his skating stride is actually
13:00
it's workable. I think it's very
13:02
workable to not only be like he's just
13:04
fast enough to keep up with the play
13:05
like a guy like
13:07
old old Tyler Myers like he's just fast
13:10
enough to keep up with the play and he's
13:11
got such a big wingspan. That's how
13:13
Chara also played until you know Chara
13:15
could have played till he was probably
13:16
45 if he felt like it because he's just
13:18
just fast enough to get in the way. I
13:20
think there's a chance that Sushko
13:23
actually has a skating stride that while
13:25
it's not great stop and start I don't
13:27
know if that you can ever do that at
13:28
6'8. I don't know if that's even
13:29
physically possible. He's going to be
13:31
able to like if somebody gets a step on
13:34
him, he's he's got enough of a
13:36
workable stride that he can catch up.
13:39
And I think that's what I was really
13:40
worried about. Obviously, he's not ever
13:42
going to be at least right now
13:44
uh
13:45
an offensive demon.
13:47
Uh demoned demon.
13:49
>> Demoned or demon? Either way, he's not
13:51
going to be it.
13:52
>> He's either one. Pick your poison, baby.
13:54
Uh he's not going to do it because he
13:56
just it seems like he wants
13:59
to be the defensive defenseman rubbing
14:02
guys out. Um
14:04
get the puck in deep. Make the right
14:05
play. I mean, he's he's definitely shown
14:07
that he's
14:08
capable of not just like exploding when
14:11
he gets the puck on a stick. Like he has
14:13
gotten better. It did get better as the
14:15
season wore on in London and he got more
14:17
and more playing time. He wasn't coming
14:19
in and out of the lineup as much.
14:21
He looks like he can make a play here
14:23
and there. So, I've kind of warmed up to
14:25
the Nikita Zadorov. Yeah, let's just
14:27
grow Nikita Zadorov from scratch. I
14:29
think Nikita Zadorov always probably
14:31
should have played for the Flyers to be
14:32
honest. He's just that kind of guy and I
14:34
think with
14:36
the type of guys that Keith Jones likes
14:38
to talk about that Keith Jones is like,
14:41
"We need at least one of these guys." I
14:43
think it's good that they have somebody
14:46
in the system who's like they got a long
14:48
dev track on him.
14:50
He'll go to university at some point and
14:52
probably play multiple years in
14:54
at the NCAA level. He's committed to
14:56
Maine. So, I think he'll go to Maine the
14:58
year after this upcoming season with
15:01
with the Knights. Um
15:03
and and he can just kind of marinate and
15:05
then you see if he's, you know, 22, 23,
15:08
if he's ready to go, if he works on his
15:10
skating, if he turns into something
15:11
more. Now you got a 6'8 guy who can
15:14
actually play the game a little bit. And
15:15
now we're like, "Okay,
15:17
it you stick him on the the third pair
15:20
um assuming that you got a top four of
15:23
some, you know, Bonk, Drysdale,
15:26
maybe York, probably still Sanheim,
15:28
maybe somebody else, right?
15:30
Uh, if Sokolowski doesn't even have to
15:32
come in and play top four or or even
15:34
look at top four minutes, you know, you
15:36
just ease him in
15:39
as as he gets acclimated to the pro
15:41
game. I think he's actually somebody who
15:43
fills a really important need for the
15:45
team and one that they were going to
15:46
fill anyways.
15:47
>> I can just see Keith Jones going up to
15:49
Danny Briere and like getting on his
15:51
hands and knees GOING LIKE, "PLEASE,
15:53
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!" Because this is
15:56
exactly what you said. He is the Jonesy
15:58
kind of guy. The guy that Jonesy is
16:00
always advocating for on this team. And
16:03
I, you know, you can go look at my my
16:05
PHLY live reaction to that. I was not
16:08
pleased with this pick when it happened,
16:09
but I have also warmed up to it
16:11
considerably. And, you know, what I like
16:13
is that his skating's not a total
16:15
disaster right now. The Flyers have
16:16
drafted so many guys in recent years
16:19
that basically have never looked at
16:21
skates in their lives, but somehow are
16:22
successful at hockey. I don't know how
16:24
it works, but they get those guys
16:26
learning how to skate. He at least knows
16:28
some fundamentals and is a pretty okay
16:30
skater to start with. It's just about
16:33
really making him into the fully
16:35
realized player of what they think he's
16:37
going to be. And hopefully he's going to
16:39
be a top pair defenseman. He's at least
16:41
got the size for that and he's got the
16:43
nastiness. And I think that's the big
16:45
factor here for the Flyers. Like
16:47
Ristolainen, you always hear he's tough
16:49
to play against. He's a big guy, okay,
16:51
all that stuff. But you rarely see
16:54
exactly why he's tough to play against.
16:57
Where Sokolowski is like he reminds me
17:00
of Darian Hatcher in a lot of ways.
17:01
Where Darian Hatcher was just a nasty,
17:04
nasty piece of work back in the day. And
17:06
he was a guy you legitimately feared
17:08
playing against. Chris Pronger even, you
17:10
know? These are guys that just were
17:13
physical menaces that would do anything
17:15
to kind of just like take you down. And
17:19
somebody that makes you think twice
17:20
before skating into the crease. And also
17:22
before messing with your guys. I would
17:24
much rather have Sokolowski as my
17:26
nuclear option than Nick Deslauriers
17:28
because
17:29
Sokolowski's going to be out there in
17:31
all such Well, not power play, but most
17:33
other situations. Uh God willing not the
17:36
power play. That would
17:37
>> Well, you do the Zdeno Chara. Put him in
17:38
front of the net. 6'8.
17:40
>> Yeah, you know what? I'm into that.
17:41
>> in front of the goalie.
17:42
>> Because this is a legitimately massive
17:44
human being right here. And I want to
17:46
see Let him be nasty as hell. Let him
17:49
just throw guys into the stands. I want
17:52
to see It's like you've unleashed a
17:54
giant grizzly bear over by your net.
17:56
That's what I want to see from this guy.
17:57
So, I've gone from being pretty sour
18:00
about this pick to being moderately
18:02
excited because I think this could be a
18:04
really great asset at the NHL level if
18:06
he pans out properly.
18:07
>> And and I
18:09
I think there was like I I always kind
18:11
of knew that he had that physical side
18:13
to him. Like he you can watch the
18:14
highlights. He's throwing dudes around
18:16
out there. Like he relishes and I think
18:18
as he got more and more accustomed to
18:20
like North American hockey, he relished
18:22
even more in tossing guys around. Um and
18:26
that's you need to have that mindset to
18:27
really make it work. Like we said with
18:29
Phil Myers, like he just didn't have the
18:31
mindset. Even Sanheim, you know, he lost
18:33
a fight to Nathan Gerbe that one time.
18:35
That was weird. Why did he do that?
18:36
Like, you know, you think you probably
18:37
beat that guy in a fight. No, like he
18:39
One guy's just got little honey badger
18:41
energy and
18:42
Sanny's just not that type of guy. It's
18:44
just what it is. So, Sokolowski, I knew
18:46
he had that, but when you really drill
18:48
into like
18:50
not even just the scouting reports, you
18:51
just watch him play.
18:53
You can see this like he he he doesn't
18:56
have his stick out waving around all the
18:58
time, you know, just like presenting how
19:00
long his wingspan is and how long his
19:02
stick reaches.
19:04
Like he's got it It's it's on his hip.
19:06
He goes for the poke checks at the right
19:08
time. He tries to separate guys from the
19:10
puck with his like physical contact. It
19:12
looks like he's thinking about it and
19:15
as he gets more and more used to, you
19:17
know, he only played the what was it? 44
19:20
games
19:21
at the OHL level. So, he only played the
19:23
44 games in the OHL and since and that's
19:26
basically, you know, besides AAA his
19:28
only North American experience. I I
19:31
think just like as he gets more and more
19:34
used to playing over here, maybe even,
19:37
you know, he's one of those guys I think
19:39
if he plays in the AHL,
19:41
people will be watching him and be like,
19:43
"Wow, this is a really solid prospect."
19:45
Just because I
19:47
he just seems like as he grows, as he
19:49
gets bigger, as he gets more
19:50
comfortable,
19:52
he's just going to be a a just a
19:53
nightmare to deal with. Like
19:55
when I think about it from the Flyers
19:57
perspective and like how
19:59
good of a chance he has to be a number
20:00
one defenseman, it's not very high. Like
20:03
that's not what he's going to be. But
20:04
when I think about
20:06
it's the same thing with Sokolowski.
20:08
When you think about being the other
20:09
team facing a guy like Maxim Sokolowski,
20:12
you're like, "Fuck." Like that just it's
20:14
going to suck. It's just not going to be
20:15
fun. Even if he stinks. You know, Risto
20:18
almost had that, too, like in the
20:19
playoffs. Like he wasn't good every
20:21
shift, but I don't think the Penguins
20:23
were excited to see him go over the
20:24
boards at a certain point, you know? He
20:26
just That's the type of guy it it it it
20:28
is just a bit different. It's it's kind
20:30
of more something you have to see and
20:32
um if he gets some puck moving at like a
20:36
pro level and and can nudge the points
20:39
into the double digits at the very
20:40
least, I think, yeah, he's he's an
20:42
interesting guy to monitor for the
20:43
future, even though he should be pretty
20:45
far away.
20:46
>> Yeah, and I think one thing that I I do
20:48
like about Sokolowski is that he he
20:50
plays in London. He plays for the London
20:52
Knights. We know the Flyers, they got
20:54
Barkey, they got Bond from there. You
20:55
know, London's a good program. I think
20:58
like if they he was just some other
20:59
random OHL team, I wouldn't necessarily
21:02
trust the pick as much or be as open to
21:05
being high on it, but
21:07
yeah, we we're talking about it before
21:08
we
21:09
before we recorded like yeah, like this
21:11
is what happens with draft picks. You're
21:12
up in arms when it when it happens and
21:14
then August rolls around, you're like,
21:15
all right, yeah, I can see it. I watched
21:17
more highlights, you know, get some
21:19
orange tinted glasses on maybe a little
21:21
bit, but
21:23
it is also worrisome and takes some of
21:25
the excitement away when you know he's
21:28
going to take four four or five years
21:30
maybe to reach the NHL cuz we're saying
21:33
Zadorov Zadorov played in the NHL right
21:35
away. He played seven with the Sabres in
21:38
his draft year, 60 games in the NHL with
21:41
the Sabres the following year. So
21:43
>> That wasn't necessarily a good thing for
21:45
the Sabres to do.
21:46
>> it wasn't. But then I'm looking at
21:48
someone like like Logan Stanley, another
21:50
6'7 230 lb guy, Canadian, not Russian,
21:54
so Canadian played in North America his
21:57
whole life there, drafted in in 2016,
22:00
18th overall, so 10 years ago, didn't
22:03
make the NHL until until 2020. So I feel
22:06
like that's what we're looking at with
22:08
with Sokolovsky is you know, play
22:10
another year in London, go to Maine,
22:13
maybe take two or three years at Maine
22:15
and go to the Phantoms and just take
22:17
those steps up like gradually up and and
22:20
that's what takes away some of the
22:22
excitement for Sokolovsky, but like you
22:25
guys were saying, the physicality,
22:26
seeing the big hits, having somebody
22:29
like Sokolovsky who you could envision
22:31
being paired with with Drysdale or with
22:34
or with Bonk in the future or with Gill.
22:36
You could have those two those two big
22:37
boys together and and and that's
22:39
something where you see you see the
22:42
vision that the Flyers have with him.
22:44
>> I and I don't think it's crazy like if
22:46
he goes to Maine next year
22:48
well, I guess the year after next
22:51
and just dumps 24-year-olds for an
22:54
entire season. Like yeah, bring him to
22:56
the AHL. Maybe he is just ready. Let him
22:58
figure it out, you know, down there
22:59
especially with again like we said,
23:02
we'll be a pretty good stable of D-men
23:04
down there. Um
23:06
>> He should be able to handle himself.
23:08
>> Yeah, he's it's not a physical thing,
23:10
you know, he's probably going to gain
23:11
another 20 lb. He's still pretty skinny
23:13
for his frame. I mean, Zadorov 6'7 uh
23:17
256 right now. So, like yeah, he could
23:19
probably gain an extra 10 lb, go up to
23:21
250 at 6'8. I mean, it's not impossible.
23:24
>> weight training with him, yeah.
23:25
>> Yeah, we yeah.
23:26
>> I know [laughter] how to put on a few
23:27
pounds.
23:28
>> get some giant tractor tires out there
23:30
and then flip them with them, you know?
23:31
>> We're going to Angelo's, baby, and we're
23:32
flipping some tires. Let's do it.
23:35
>> Yeah. Yeah, and like you it's just funny
23:37
to look at Sokolovsky's point totals in
23:40
that trip AAA league, where they had
23:42
they had Russians, they had Ukrainian
23:43
guys, so probably less of a language
23:45
barrier there. And I'm sure he was the
23:47
biggest guy on the ice every single
23:49
game. 84 points, 34 goals in 65 games.
23:53
So, like he doesn't have the offensive
23:55
upside. He's not going to do that ever
23:57
in the NHL or even the AHL, but like it
24:00
it's like he knows how to use his body
24:02
and we saw him with London be able to to
24:05
kind of transition to playing against
24:07
more skilled guys and not just using his
24:10
size to dominate.
24:12
>> Could be fun.
24:13
>> I mean, he he could be interesting. I
24:15
don't know. I just
24:17
He's very he's kind of a wild card. He's
24:19
kind of a wild card just because like I
24:21
think there honestly could be something
24:23
there that's exciting. Like I it's not
24:26
impossible. Just cuz you watch him skate
24:28
and how low he gets, it's just like I
24:29
don't know.
24:30
It's just like it it looks good. I like
24:32
it. Like he's not standing up straight,
24:34
like he's not like a stick. He's kind of
24:36
getting mobile.
24:37
You know, he's changing the angle, you
24:39
know, he's like a fullback.
24:40
>> [laughter]
24:41
>> And there's going to be
24:43
fullback. So, and and there's going to
24:45
be multiple times this season, probably
24:48
once a month, where one of his hits just
24:50
goes viral on social media. Like you see
24:52
him just blow up a guy.
24:53
>> Oh, now he's a first round pick for
24:54
sure.
24:55
>> And and people are "Oh yeah, I see what
24:56
the Flyers are doing now." Sokolowski,
24:58
yeah. Look Look at this guy lay laying
24:59
out the body. Maybe he Maybe he gets
25:01
ejected for a fight or something. People
25:02
are like, "Oh, yeah, this this guy's a
25:03
Flyer." So, he's going to be exciting to
25:05
watch this coming season and uh we'll
25:07
see how he develops in uh this next run
25:09
line in the next few years cuz he he he
25:11
hopefully can can be a part of, you
25:13
know, if the Flyers stick on this
25:15
trajectory here, come 2030, they're
25:18
hopefully
25:19
up for any up contender and uh he can
25:21
just hop in as a uh you know, better a
25:24
better Nick Seeler maybe as like a like
25:26
a third pair of guy.
25:27
>> I would like to Yeah, okay, I guess for
25:28
the third pair of guy then.
25:29
>> Well, yeah, just for just for the first
25:30
year. Just for the first year.
25:33
Yeah.
25:34
Yeah. So, yeah, Spencer Gill uh Maxim
25:37
Sushko two two big defensemen. Hopefully
25:40
uh at least one of it of them makes it
25:41
to the NHL cuz they don't have They
25:43
don't have have high floors. They They
25:45
kind of have high ceilings, but we have
25:47
to see how they develop in the next few
25:49
years to see if they're able to come
25:51
close to them.
25:53
Uh all right, I think that's going to do
25:54
it here for Gill and Sokolowski. Uh make
25:57
sure you follow us on social media. Uh
25:59
thanks again to FanDuel for sponsoring
26:02
the show and read and subscribe to
26:04
broadstreethockey.com.
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