Could The Columbus Blue Jackets Draft Michael Hage?
the USHL keeps going from strength to strength and the Blue Jackets could find another gem at 36th overall in the Chicago Steel’s Michael hay we’re going to talk all about him on today’s locked on Blue Jacket you’re locked on Blue Jackets your daily podcast on the Columbus Blue Jackets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello and welcome to locked on Blue Jackets part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day I am as always your host Jay Foster here to give you the Good the Bad and the Ugly about your favorite team and mine Columbus Blue Jackets before we get to things started I want to mention that we are uh free and available on all podcast platforms and over on YouTube as well as on SiriusXM and uh I also have to let you know that today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more because right now new customers are going to get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet just visit fanduel.com lockon to get started uh here where we would normally do a monsters Monday but we’re not doing a monsters Monday today uh I think that’ll be that’ll be a job for for tomorrow we’ll talk about the Monsters season finishing we’ll talk about the series against Hershey we’ll talk about all of that good stuff um today we got another Prospect profile uh Sam Gan is back we’re talking all about Michael ha who is a uh a really fun player out of the USHL and uh who could be available for the Blue Jackets at 36th and could be a really good pickup for them in that range so uh I’m just going to get right into my conversation with Sam about hay the Blue Jackets as of right now still have their second round pick uh I don’t think the guy that we’re going to talk about today is going to be there but I want to talk about him anyway because he seems like a lot of fun we’ve got Sam mcgilligan back uh and we’re talking about Michael hag today or Michael ha but no one is quite sure but we’re going to go with hag for this episode and if I’m wrong please feel free to correct me I know you will anyway um let’s uh let’s kick it off Sam what kind of player is Michael H a super cerebral Center just a smart player like he’s not out there trying to reinvent the wheel or overh handle through traffic or do that like anything like that like he is a Dependable two-way center with good skating not fantastic but good skating who moves really well who’s always in the right spot really well positioned just makes great decisions when he gets the puck he’s got a good shot good skill level he does have creativity in his game just knows he doesn’t need to bust it out unless it’s you know he’s under pressure or he has to come up with something to get out of a situation for the most part though you have super easy to project to the NHL player he’s currently sitting at around kind of 36th in in again in Bob MacKenzie’s rankings which as we all know are probably the most accurate if not the most correct um which is a whole thing that what we don’t have to get into here is he a guy that you would feel comfortable taking in uh yeah in that in that kind of area he went in the first round in our locked on mock draft um I don’t remember where I’m pulling that up 26th to I was G say I think I looked at that he was a late first yes he went 26th to locked on Canadians pretty sure that’s a couple spots I have him at so either 25 26 24 maybe but that’s the exact range that I have him to he’s just such an easy player to project it that’s what the most that’s in a draft like this you’re trying to find guys who will play roles at an above average rate like a good middle six player is a huge win right now and if you’re picking with a late first as Columbus is theoretically and if not a second round pick which would be just gravy that’s a huge win because it’s really hard to see Michael haage not playing ha kind of reminds me a bit of almost like Owen Beck going in the second round of the 2022 NHL draft where it’s a very easy project player who will definitely be playing quality third line minutes at the least but there’s offensive upside to boot with him there’s enough tools where you can kind of see them manage most situations in the NHL the intelligence is the driving factor that brings everybody kind of around they’re the center that connects plays for their Wingers they’re the centers that connects plays for the defenseman they’re the center that can drop low and grinded out in the defensive Zone and really make big efforts to redirect direct uh play the other way he can help out in transition as both the recept receiver of a pass and also distribute out and just straight up carry it through but he’s not going he doesn’t take crazy risks in doing this it’s all super smart positional hockey for the most part and just recognizing what his options are at any given moment obviously he had a pretty decent season with the steel this year which I feel like I I don’t remember if it was I talked to the last time I had you on the show about how the USHL has suddenly become this like actually quite good development it’s kind of taken over the qmjhl in in a lot of ways but the Chicago steel it’s a pretty decent organization to play for he’s going to be committed to the he’s committed to the University of Michigan starting in the 2025 season which makes me feel a million years old but we know the Blue Jackets love to draft players from uh from Michigan is this a guy that you could the Blue Jackets picking up and just kind of the Blue Jackets draft demo is is usually they pick a guy with raw skill and then figure the rest out uh I think for when the Blue Jackets will be on the board there will be a more skilled player in fact you can look at a guy in the USHL as well who plays for mosan and Sasha B Sasha B is more skill he’s got he’s still a little clunky at times but for the most part he’s a more fluid player he’s got higher end moments of being able to solve like highend problems by blending his reach and his skill and his mobility and just kind of like doing some pretty crazy attacks That You Don’t See ha do as much but B also turns the puck over a lot in these attempts and also misses obvious plays sometimes and his defensive game is a bit inconsistent his positional game isn’t a secure but there’s more to work with there to create like a higher end player like I could see Sasha turning into a second L Center but I don’t think he’s currently on that path until a team and him get on the same page Columbus being with that being the Blue Jackets Mo I think B is the type of player that they might go after especially if you’re looking in the USHL but that doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t take Michael H because Michael H does have a lot of skill to work with himself he just uses it in a way that’s more practical so maybe if they’re looking at building a state like they’re just him as a you know what put him in the middle six and he can play in the top six if guys get hurt he’s got every tool that you need to gel with other NHL players and he’s gonna stay and keep Pace with them the entire time and there’s very little risk which doesn’t usually get found in the top of the second round I feel like even Columbus might take ha over bav just depends on whether they want to break away from their MO as you said of drafting these skilled guys and kind of letting them figure it out or or whether they kind of just want to go for a little bit more safety first I want to tell you all about policy genius life insurance gives you peace of mind especially when so much of what happens in life is unpredictable a good life insurance plan gives your family a financial safety net to protect against some of the unknowns with policy genius you can find life insurance policies that start at just $292 a year for a million dollars of coverage some options re for 100% online and they let you avoid unnecessary medical exams which is Choice policy genius is convenient it’s timesaving they help you 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that you think could play in the the AHL after like one year of college is he a slightly longer kind of project like where see it’s interesting because Michael H spent the majority of his D minus one really hurt like got very little ice Ty and when he was playing again he was clearly rehabing the injury still or like just getting back into form at the very least so it was I think he was nine games last year they were okayish and then it was a bit of a slow start this year where he was fine he wasn’t obviously a bad player but he was a very if you were following this age group a couple years ago he was one of the highest end players that this group had to offer he was at one point like a top 10 2006 from all of North America and then the injuries came and he kind of slipped down the way his game has progressed this year to make up for that to make up all that lost ground that all these other players got at him they were able to play in the USHL for a year but haage comes in pretty much his inaugural USHL season this year whereas a lot of those guys in his contemporaries have already had another season he caught up to all of them outplayed almost every single one of them and by the end of it looked at his best moments looked as good as any of theirs except for maybe John mustard that guy’s insane um great name as well I know what a name uh with ha I feel like because he lost so much time there’s a couple different paths you could go with this you could leave him in the USHL for year which is what’s going to be happening if he’s anything short of the best player in that League by its noteworthy margin unless there’s another player from this draft who will be staying a year I would be shocked he is he kind of is already approaching like one of the best player territory or he is without question one of the best players then it’s another year of just like okay how much better is he than everybody else what can he kind of start to do you really might see him expand and open up his offensive game which is what people expected of him a few years back that’s the case he goes to Michigan he might get top six minutes right away when he steps in there especially because he is a bit older and then from there it’s pretty much I think he’ll be able to keep Pace with the AHL mentally when he got an NCAA season under his belt unless he runs into some turbulence there that we weren’t expecting but for the most part I think he’ll be fine with it the problem is mostly just strength and conditioning and speed and those types of like is he physically ready which we won’t know because that’s kind of two years out like it’s the season with Chicago at least one season of Michigan what you look like in two years there’s a very good chance that you know that there is a lot of strength added to his game there is a lot of speed added to his game and if that’s the case who knows he could be ready for the AHL and then it’s just one season there one season to the NHL I imagine most teams see him as like a three to four years away type of player and maybe just one incremental step up like take over the USHL go be a key player from Michigan maybe do it two years in a row and then either go to the AHL or jump straight to the NH NHL yeah I guess it depends on what the team the drafts him well because he’s gonna play probably sooner on a worse team yeah you know he’s probably not going to get time with uh Colorado or Tampa or Florida Etc um he gets drafted this this season um obviously going to go back to the steel for you or maybe a different USHL team we don’t know I’m assuming the steel um what is like the number one thing that he he needs to work on in his game um well what’s interesting with ha is so many people that are going to be drafted around him are going to be like hey you have to cut this out of your game you need to stop doing this as much you need to do this but way more of it with ha it’s more so just get more athletic in every possible way like not obviously natural athleticism but get stronger and get faster like these are the key things like if he has a separation ability on players through just just his first two steps alone or his first two strides that will make a tremendous amount of impact in his game everywhere because he already does these little details that other players that he’s playing up against don’t really do it he manages to get inside positioning on guys all the time he manages to just kind of lurk through defensive gaps away from the puck and step into shooting Lanes with great anticipation sometimes players just aren’t even seeing him on his team because they’re not expecting him to be there I found that the more I watched ha off Puck the more I started to appreciate plays that were there that he seemed to be ready for that didn’t come his way and then when they do go his way you see how quick he handles them and how quick he processes and moves the on to the next player it’s like okay he he’s very locked into the game he’s very around moments of impact how often is he getting the chance to actually show how good he can be it’s a bit limited by the team that he plays for at times because Chicago is a good organization but they weren’t the best team so it’s this weird combination where it’s like you almost want to see him be more assertive and take games over but it might take away from what’s already kind of his best strength which is the cere roll play that he comes with the sophistication the steadiness in the positioning and the smart decision making I almost don’t want to encourage him to work away from that but any mo any impact moment to bust out some skill or just get stronger and get under guys better and like use that inside positioning to push off players and really get the um space in the pocket those are kind of things that you want to see get added to his game but for the most part you don’t really have to change much yeah I’m going to finish up my conversation with Sam in just a minute but first I’ve got to tell you all about FanDuel summertime means baseball the NBA Finals the NHL final and even more you can bet it all on FanDuel right now new customers are going to get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet it’s 200 bucks that you can use on everything from the final MVP to who’s going to hit one out of the park my advice is uh just find the heaviest favorite you can whether that’s the Panthers winning whether that’s Celtics winning anything you can find with the best odds put five bucks on it and if you win you’re going to get $200 that you can use on literally anything you want just visit fanduel.com lockon and add a big win to your summer bucket list once again that is fanduel.com locked on FanDuel America’s number one sports book I feel like most of that as well is just like get reps in in the gym yeah like that’s what so much of it is according to Elite Prospect he’s 61 and 190 pounds so he probably has some weight to put on yep a little bit just to 18 like two months ago so yeah he’s a strong player already like he has you can see what he can do in the NHL against players in the USHL now I think when he hits if he was to go to Michigan next year he’d find himself in some moments where the guys he’s going up against are just more athletic but by the time he gets there he might just be physically ready to handle everybody which is crazy because again the injury that he suffered was significant in his draft minus one like it was the type where from what I understand I wasn’t overly familiar with the time but others were they were questioning what it could do to his career path like does this already limit his ceiling in the NHL it was one of those types of serious injuries so to see how he’s come along already and how strong he is and how you know how well he’s been skating since it it it’s really just about how fit he can be relative to everyone he’s playing against it’s just the way that that can unlock his game and little moments that he can just strive in would be fantastic if people want to learn a little bit more about Paige if they want to learn a little bit more about um Sasha B who you mentioned a little bit earlier where can people find you and your work online you can find me at samore mcgilligan on Twitter and Sam MC gilligan. substack do.com where I’ll be writing about Michael hay and Sasha B and everybody else coming out the week of the draft the Monday of and you could also find our work regarding Michael ha and Sasha B dating back years especially Michael ha you can find the full story with him on Puck preps and probably some Gavin Brindley information and Gavin Brindley information of course I I almost got you to talk about Gavin Brindley a little bit but I feel like I did that last time I had you we can’t do it every time otherwise it cheapens it I feel like next time we will definitely get into some G absolutely we will and that’s all I’ve got for today like I said at the top tomorrow we’re going to talk about the monsters we’re going to talk about what went wrong we’re going to talk about their season as a whole was it a success even though they didn’t make it to the final all of that good stuff I benj Foster you can find me on Twitter atore Jacob Foster j k o b f r s r you can find the show at lore Blue Jackets if you have comments questions criticisms you can email me at lockon bluejackets gmail.com uh thank you for listening making your first listen of the day locks on Blue Jackets continues to be free and available on all podcast platforms over on YouTube and on SiriusXM and until tomorrow make sure you stay locked on
Michael Hage is a skilled and smart player, could he be there for the CBJ at 36? We have Sam McGilligan of Puck Preps here to tel us all about the Chicago Steel forward!
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