Sat Shah

And one thing we were discussing a bit earlier today was if the Canucks have the third overall pick or whoever's sitting in the third overall pick, is that the ideal spot to potentially trade down?

Especially if you consider, let's just hypothetically, that McKenna and Stenberg will 1-2.

Do you see value in going down a few spots and getting one of the defensemen, whether it's Smiths, Verhoff, Reid, Carls, or perhaps even Caleb Malhotra?

How do you view that spot sitting at number three and the idea of going down a few spots and picking somebody in that next tier?

Well, and especially once, you know, and I think this is where it's been so fascinating for this year's draft because you talk to different people, you know, whether it's guys like yourself or people in the league, and they'll tell you different things in terms of how many true first round grade players there are.

Some view it as a top 15, some view it as a top 12, others as a kind of a top 20.

So if you kind of get past that range, you're really looking at functionality, aren't you?

And you know what's interesting too is when we see the production levels for a lot of the players in the CHL this year, a lot of guys have very gaudy, impressive numbers.

I mean, the Ruck Twins we've spoken about, you know, look at a guy like Klopoff, for instance, look at Caleb Malhotra.

And if you look at it from historical comparisons, they look really intriguing and they look really stout.

At the same time, it seems like the level of play in the CHL is not where it used to be considering how many players are now going to the U.S.

programs and going to the NCAA.

How do you weigh the production this year in the CHL as a whole?

Absolutely.

And I think that's the part of the reason with a guy like Caleb that's so fascinating because

A lot of people in the league are somewhat risk averse, even with high draft picks, especially, you know, a lot of the higher end, the higher level scouts.

What's really important to them is getting players to the league.

And sometimes they're not as eager to go with the player who has a super high ceiling if the floor is a lot lower.

So in that sense, I do see Caleb really intriguing a lot of, you know, scouting directors.

And I think that that safety is something that could draw people to him.