The Kevin Karius Show - Mar. 25th, 2026 - Julian McKenzie

0:00Howdy howdy ho and welcome to fantasy fanfellas. I'm Hayden producer of the fantasy fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things sanderson and I'm steven your bookish internet goofball but you can call me the smash daddy and we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Missborn, but here's the catch Steven here has not read Missborn before that's right. Hey, hey, so each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chip and along the way we'll do character deep dives magic explainers and steven will even try to guess what's next spoiler alert he'll be wrong news flash I'm never wrong episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find fantasy fan fellows wherever you get your podcasts not every sale happens at the register before AT&T business wireless checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long basically a staring contest where everyone loses his crazy with people say during an awkward silence now transactions are done before the silence takes hold that means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sailor to sometimes I do miss the bonding time

1:03sometimes AT&T business wireless connecting changes everything our next guest Julian McKenzie from the athletic good morning Julian with you're with Kevin Carious and the former NHL or David Schlemco as always thanks for jumping on sports what's your native's legend David Schlemco I remember oh yeah absolutely how you guys do it well Schlemmer says he might head out to Ottawa because you guys need some defenseman with so many guys on the IL here and he's still he can move it around man he could help you guys out he'd be a better fit for that defense than I am that I would be for sure I don't know all the sense of doing this but the fact that they're if guys essentially five regular well not really five regulars but three regulars and two guys who they called up as reinforcements injured and then having to play two rookies yesterday and they got to win like what a result for those guys they're doing it man I are doing it well like obviously let's start start with Carter Yakum Chuk what an NHL debut

2:05what everybody have to say about him I gotta say like a lot of people in this fan base have been waiting on him to make his arrival and this is not to say that like off of one game this is this generational prospect who's gonna stay with the team forever but considering the circumstances considered what this team is going through considering how important that regular season game was I think people would have been just fine if he played a couple minutes on that third pair in which Ori and Donovan and wasn't getting completely demolished by the opposing attack for him to get a goal and an assist what a crafty play that was between the legs and then we all knew we had an NH already shot but for that to show itself in that game again considering everything going on this team I think a lot of people are very over the moon I think that's above expectations for what you want of course limited minutes I think he only played like under 13 and otherwise I think

3:05he was a pretty simple game he got some power play time he tried to just facilitate the offense and make passes wherever he could didn't try to make too many mistakes didn't make too many mistakes but I think considering everything going on that's as good as what you can get for a guy like Carter Yakum Chuk at his NHL debut so go ahead slimmer if you want to follow up yeah it's just so who else is kind of picking up the slack and carrying the mail back there picking up all these minutes I mean it was Thomas Shabbat until the other night when he got crunched in the arm and the wrist but Tyler Cleven has been asked to play some really tough minutes and that's been the case for him for a good chunk of this year even when Jake Sanderson was injured for quite some time as well Jordan Spence is also playing some minutes north of what we normally expect him to as well and he's been able to generate some offense Artem Zub is the best defense with on this team left right now he doesn't get spoken about nearly as much compared to Jake Sanderson but he's a reliable top pairing defenseman right shot guy at the beginning of the year I remember being on that trip

4:07with the Ottawa Senators going to Florida and and we got to we got the chance to talk to chat with John Cooper when they were in Tampa and he called that pairing of Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub elite he could have easily just said Jake Sanderson's elite but he extended that to Artem Zub as well but the fact that those three and Nicholas Mountain Paulo who it's funny before the Olympic break a lot of people were clamoring in Ottawa hey he should be playing he's an Olympian be careful what you wish for but he's also been very dependable as well there are four guys on this team who otherwise you kind of look at them more in the background but they've done their part in in holding this team up as much as they could. Julian McKenzie from the athletic our guest on the Kevin Kerri show with David Schlimco I wanted to just circle back with Jakum check for a minute here Julian we've seen him out here in the western league with Calgary and I mean everyone knows about his offensive capabilities and abilities with a 30 goal season at junior what was holding him back in Belville was it his defensive play in the sense that they didn't feel it was ready at the NHL level yet. Yeah I think the biggest question I think even when he was

5:09in Calgary too it was you know how is this defense going to translate over to the NHL level he does have that size and we all know about skating but he's able to maintain gap control like how is that working when he has oncoming players coming up against him and he's trying to take away space is he able to do that is he able to be physical. One thing I had heard in chatting with some different guys from Belville throughout this year is is he able to gain enough strength so that way he'll go toe to toe against the NHL players who are bigger and stronger or just as strong potentially and is he able to rub those guys out too like I think there are some elements of the defensive side that needed to be worked on. I'm not going to I'm not prepared to say if they're completely NHL ready or if they're perfect but I do know that he has been working with guys for quite some time whether during his time in Calgary or in his time in Belville whether it's the coaching staff or work with the development coach Sam Gagne who I know people Nemitzon remember remember very fondly on that side of the puck but I think also as well there's some growing pains with his play too he's playing top pairing minutes if he's not top pairing he's playing second pair and he's

6:14playing in all different situations and he's definitely getting moments where he's on the ice in the final moments and that's a Belville team he's on that's likely not going to make the playoffs so there's a lot of games where the nets wide open behind him and he's trying to see if he can come back and and tie a game and those empty net goals goes in and that go in and that's a reason why is plus minuses where it's at I guess it's not promising but I do think there are some growing pains with with Carter Jacob Chuck and it's going to take a little bit more time for him to develop I still just want to just not caution but temper the players a little bit like yeah one great game for him that is that does not make a career and I think with where the sends are at right now I think they're totally cool with him just marinating in the American league until he's ready but maybe as early as next season he could show that he's ready to play more dependable NHL minutes but I think for a prospect of his caliber you have to make sure that you're putting him in a situation where he's playing as much as he can if he's sitting on the bench you might as well

7:14set him to Belleville and give him those opportunities to play you cannot afford to have a guy at his age at his caliber not playing that's that's my philosophy with young guys hard to argue with that I mean looking at this team as a whole they've they've got points and 17 of their last 20 games missing all these players um do you think Travis Greens got a legitimate shot at the Jack Adams I asked this to one of our earlier guests but um do you think he's got a legitimate shot at just with all the structures had in place and you know the way that the sends have been able to kind of keep their game where it's out with all these injuries I I think that case is building day by day and what what's funny is really if it wasn't for the fact that the gold tending was not strong I don't go I don't know if you guys remember but like in the first third going into the second third of the year the gold tending was so bad like the team safer percentage was like some of the worst we'd seen in like the last like 30 35 years it was it was bad but that was happening as they were suppressing shot chances like even from training camp I was thinking about this

8:18yesterday there's a scrimmage I was watching where you're seeing all the guys on the ice and there's like an uninterrupted stream of play going on for a couple minutes and like there are barely any shots going either way this team knew from the beginning of the season what their identity was in terms of getting chances when they can capitalize on them in high danger areas but also on defense you can't get anything in the middle of the ice and you're not getting anything down low and they're going to work hard and bear down and limit chances against and while I I can imagine I'm not a goalie but I can imagine for goalie you have to adjust the fact that you're playing with the defense that might only let you see 12 to 15 shots a night at most but I think as this year has gone on the the sends are are perfecting that style and it's something that I think is a credit is a credit to Travis Green who I think it's still some of those defensive values from last year and now you're seeing more and more success with them the one thing I have against Travis Green is what is Dan Musin Pittsburgh have to say about the Jack Adams what

9:21does John Cooper and Tampa Bay have to say about the Jack Adams the team that may very well win the Atlantic division is being coached by Lindy Ruff that's somebody who's probably going to be on on on on some bouts for the Jack Adams I at Rick bonus right now Columbus was on a was on a boat when he got that phone call from Don Woodell about coaching Columbus and they were in the basement of the Eastern Conference and that's a team that might be in the top three in the metropolitan yeah Travis Green has as good of a case as any to be considered for the Jack Adams but there's a lot of other candidates around the league who are justices serving Rick bonus man that's an amazing story for sure Julian McKenzie yeah it's unreal Julian I mean unbelievable he gets my vote to be honest with you I don't know he seems like the best guy really all the players seem to love him no one has a bad word to say about him yeah Julian McKenzie from the athletic or guest in the Kevin Kerry show with David Schlimco how did Linus Ulmark get out of this place that he was at and especially with all the crap and the garbage that was out there because it couldn't have been

10:21a good time and the organization rallied around him but I mean he's been a big big part of this turnaround here I think the organization welcoming him back with opening with open arms when you return for personal leave I think it meant a lot to him in talking to different guys around the team they told me stories of just him showing up to the facility and they're all hugging him and they're all hanging out with him the few times I've been on the road since he's come back I love just kind of walking around the team and they're all playing sewer ball before the game and Linus is is right there with him he's hanging out with everybody he's he's he's there at one story I remember particularly when he was like just on the edge of of coming back to play in Nashville we're doing this scrum with Stephen Halliday who just scores his first NHL goal and the sends ended up losing that game they they had blown the lead and Linus all marked as kind of like hanging around in the

11:21hallway just near that scrum and like Stephen Halliday finishes up and he's about to walk away into the dressing room but he sees Linus he runs to him and Linus gives him death and he's like finally like you finally get your first NHL goal just in the last couple of weeks I've seen a goal tender who has been welcomed by his teammates and is doing everything he can to just embed himself back into his group on the ice and it seems like he's he's starting to get a little bit closer to himself a lot of people are particularly with the sense like they don't need 925 safe percentage goal tending they just need serviceable goal tending that was so much better than what they saw at the beginning of this season and if you look at his previous games maybe you can argue about some of the goals he's allowed in some of those games I I can totally understand that but he's one more than he's lost and for this Ottawa Senators team that wants to maintain its place in the playoffs that's what you need the goal tending if this team if this team still misses

12:22the playoffs we're still ultimately going to look at the goal tending as the biggest reason why they didn't make it but if they make the playoffs we're going to look at what they've done the second half of this season and their role in helping this team return back to the playoffs and I think they deserve some credit here at Blue Apron we know exactly how hectic school nights can be that's why we created a assemble and bake delicious one-pan meals that make family dinner simple just assemble the pre-chopped ingredients and put the pan in the oven to bake then you're free to help out with that last minute diorama shop assemble and bake at blue aprons dot com get 50% off your first two orders with code aprons 50 terms and conditions apply visit blue aprons dot com slash terms for more howdy howdy ho and welcome to fantasy fanfellas i'm Hayden producer of the fantasy fan girls podcast and your resident lover of all things sanderson and i'm steven your bookish internet goofball but you can call me the smash daddy and we are currently deep diving

13:23Brandon sanderson's fantasy epic mishborn but here's the catch steven here has not read mishborn that's right hey hey so each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chip and along the way we'll do character deep dives magic explainers and steven will even try to guess what's next spoiler alert he'll be wrong news flash i'm never wrong episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts yeah yeah i think so too um i mean it just does seem like to be a team that goes as Brady kachakos you know he's their leader you know emotionally uh physically he sure seems to be peaking around the right time um is it just health uh coming back from some nagging injuries he sure seems to be peaking at the right time i i think a little bit of that i i wonder how much he's heard the concerns about him not being a fight not not being a fighter nearly as much which i also find really funny because i think a lot of people forget that at the beginning of the season

14:28the senators took steps to ensure that brady kachak wouldn't fight nearly as much do you guys remember when they acquired kernis McDermott like kernis McDermott who like you look at some of the big scraps of the last how many years he's involved in them and i get maybe he's lost more than he's won this year but his purpose is to as i've been told numerous times keep the flies away i don't know i'm sure david's heard that term before maybe kevin has to you know but you keep the flies away you fight against those enforcers and and you would sure that those guys are not taking runs at your best players it even i was looking back at a story i wrote it even tips let's us say like hey we need brady kachak out of the box we did him on the ice we need him to be that guy and i think that in combination with him obviously looking ready for the Olympics having that thumb injury which took him out for 20 games and him making sure he doesn't get hurt like i think all those different factors played a role in in brady kachak having the season that he's having but it's just funny seeing people and i'm not saying they're completely wrong for for for not being happy with

15:29brady kachak and and his play but i do find it funny that this is happening for a player who i don't know if the stats in front of me but if he's not point per game he's near point per game if we were talking about brady kachak having like 25 points and 50 something games then it's like yeah uh something's wrong like throw up the alarm we're talking about a player who fine maybe some of those goals are empty net goals maybe they're latent games maybe they're at different points maybe it's a secondary assist but brady kachak is still putting a point he got the goal scar started yesterday he redirected that shot from dim slits look into the net like this is a guy who's still producing as much almost as much as as dim slits look has and i know Drake mathis has been quiet but when he's on he's on to Dylan cousins is having a great year at least offensively speaking brady kachak's been performing so i do think he deserves some credit there too hey julie and one of the ascends going to get some of these guys back on the back end like sanderson and what about shabot after that blatant target from the cross checks from jt

16:32miller last night to that soft spot on the wrist area look i i i could say with the jt miller thing i get it not a suspendable offense but you mean to tell me that jt miller doesn't know that that's a soft spot not even just for tomahawk about that for anybody i don't know i i think nhl player i know some guys like to say nhl players are dumb but i think nhl players are a little bit smarter than they than they look on i i think jt miller knew what he was doing with a play like that and look i think if the shoe was on the other foot i'll know if as many auto fans would complain about that but to answer your question i mean that's a pretty devastating injury for tomahawk who was being called in to be the number one guy in absence of jakes anderson and uh even if he's not the same quality as a jakes anderson that's still a really dependable player for this team on the back end and when that core is healthy like tomahawk about playing on a second pair with nick jensen who's also one available like that that actually could be a really good pair for this team but just hearing

17:33from my my colleague chris johnston uh from the cj show which you should listen to and from the athletic uh it seems like jakes anderson's pushing towards being back next week that's obviously a guy they really need a guy who i think is in the top 10 top 15 in in terms of nhl defense and i wondered about his case for the noris but there's so many good defense in this year but at least if they have jakes anderson back that's going to help out but shabbat i don't expect back for the regular season nick jensen uh had surgery on his been this kiss i think he's done um lasty tomson who got hurt and that shabbat came to uh i don't i don't know i don't know when we'll see him dead as kielper got called up as reinforcements for for jakes anderson he's hurt too like james you you really need to get on a nice sheet my man well i i was going to say like what what do they have left on their east east coast affiliate oh yeah jeez yeah what happened to that but to get on a nice sheet yeah i'm pretty sure you could get an atl or pto some kind of emergency recall maybe something the sets might need you for him hey julian how's the

18:38book tour going with black aces are you hanging out at chapters every every saturday doing some readings or what oh man every week i'm looking at the bestsellers of some still not there yet but i'm hoping to get out there at some point i've had to come up actually funny enough i've had people funny enough say uh i should go out to edmonton for a bookstore when all this with all this and it shall season stuff ends i very much would like to uh do some more of torts stops including edmonton that would be really cool uh to do particularly their history with black hockey players guys like torsler rock ants and carter my career come to mind fret breath it was briefly uh edmonton or the pokey rantic like you know the names uh sean brown like that would be really cool to go to to be back at alberta first off and also to go to edmonton and to do a reading or just do some kind of event for black aces we'll we'll try to get something going in the sun well yeah and then obviously we'd have you in studio here it would be really cool i'd be great oh yeah i'd love it that'd be a great time perfect uh as always julian thanks for your time appreciate it uh uh enjoy the stretch run and maybe we'll be talking to you uh once the playoffs

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21:50episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts