32 Thoughts: The Podcast - 32 Snapshots

Episode Date: October 9, 2023

On the eve of the NHL regular season Jeff and Elliotte run through all 32 franchises across the league and give their thoughts on what each team's outlook is for 2023-2024. Time Stamps for each division:The Pacific (4:43)The Central (34:48)The Metropolitan (1:03:04)The Atlantic (1:34:00)Jeff and Elliotte answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (1:29:32).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and Jordan McRae and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Calling Nathan McKinnon to win that's not exactly the hottest of takes. I know it feels like a hot take but guys one of the best players in the world and has been for years. I had some hot wings this afternoon Jeff. I'm feeling spicy. A warning in advance this is going to be a long podcast. We're going to give a lot of lip service at the beginning here and talk about how we're going to try to be economical and not waste your time with our bloviations and wordiness. But let's be honest, we're going through all 32 teams. We're going to waste your time. It's going to take a while to get there.

Welcome to 32 Thoughts America alongside Friedman once again. By the way, we will talk plenty about waivers and the certain players that are on waivers. We're not going to do it all in one bunch. We'll do it as the teams come up. But one person I want to mention in specific, which greatly upsets me, Elliot, Axel Janssen-Falby is on waivers with the Winnipeg Jets. And you know why that upsets me?

Why is that? Because the best hair just left the NHL, Elliot Friedman. The crown is available to anyone who wants to capture it, but he is the king of the best feathers in the NHL. We'll get to waivers in a couple of seconds. We'll get to the teams, Elliot, in a couple of seconds, but really quickly,

we talked a lot last podcast, and we all had a good whack at this pinata talk, and we've been talking about it for a while, really, and that is what the salary cap number is going to be next season. Now, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman discussed somewhere between 87 to 88. Is there any idea of a, if you could sharpen the pencil on maybe an exact number, where would it land? Well, Jeff, what I can tell you is that, you know, sometimes things happen at these meetings and you get told a lot of what occurs or some of what occurs on the day of.

And then as the days pass, you get a little bit more intel. And that is definitely what has happened here. here. There's a couple of things that, you know, came to my attention. And one of them is that I think the actual number that's being thrown around for next year, and again, it's still early, is 877. That's kind of the target number that people are looking at, 877 for next year now I asked people okay is the picture as rosy as it's being painted and in most cases the answer was yes with one exception they think there could be some short term pain when it comes to these tv deals like for example Arizona like Bally's dropped the Diamondbacks and the Suns and now they dropped the Coyotes Arizona's got another deal their deal with Bally's was 14 million a year you know I don't know exactly yet what the number is for this one but the fact is that I do think

there are some people expecting some potential short-term pain like we've seen in other sports for the regional rights but they seem confident it's going to be worked out in the long run nobody seems overly worried about it they just know there's going to be some speed bumps in the next year or two but 87.7 appears to be the early number that everybody is working with for 2024-25. That is indeed a very happy target. Okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to fly through all the teams,

all 32 of them. We're going to start West, and then we are going to head East. Elliot, let's start with the Pacific. A couple of key contracts done last week. We went over those last podcast, most notably Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. The Anaheim Ducks dodged a bullet with Leo Carlson,

it looks like, in that injury situation. What can you tell us about the Anaheim Ducks and where they're at? So, Jeff, they had a really interesting line. They had Zegras with Troy Terry. They had Carlson in the middle. They looked really good in one of the games they played. And then Carlson got hurt in practice and they got smoked

by Arizona on the weekend. You know, as you said, the news was good on Carlson. There was real fear after he got hurt. And now he looks like he's going to miss potentially a little bit of time, but it's not serious, which is the best possible news. Look, this year isn't about winning for Anaheim. This year is about accumulating more assets, but this year is also about they've got a new coach in there and they are hoping that Greg Cronin brings in an attitude. And, you know, I was talking to someone on the weekend who used to play for Greg Cronin when Cronin was a coach, and he said he is all attitude. Like, he's good about it. He has some really good philosophies on you can't grind players like you used to.

He's compared it to a marriage at least once in training camp at the end of the day he believes the same philosophy that I really do and that is that success is hard and if you don't have the attitude to overcome the challenges that are going to come in your way, you're not going to be successful. Hockey is still very much a contact sport. It's less of a contact sport than it used to be. But in the playoffs, especially, it's still really tough. And it comes down to you versus the guy in front of you.

The puck is there. And who's going to get that puck? And I think Anaheim's got a lot of guys who've got skill. What they really want to do is make sure that they have the will and they understand. So for this year, Anaheim is not a cup contender. I think they're definitely as far from a cup contender as you can be, Jeff. definitely as far from a cup contender as you can be, Jeff. But I also believe that this year the goal is what other assets can they get

and do they become meaner to play against? If you're going to beat them, can they at least take a couple of whacks out of you first? Okay, so Vegas has their own situation like this with Gregori Denisenko, and we're going to get to Vegas in a couple of moments. But the Anaheim Ducks have Andrew Egazino, Alex Daylock, and Lassie Thompson on waivers.

Real quick before I wrap on the Ducks, do you have a thought on the Lassie Thompson situation? Well, you mentioned Denisenko, and I think there's a similar thing here. So basically what happens is anybody can claim them. In Thompson's case, if Ottawa is the only team that claims them, and like in Denisenko's case, if Florida is the only team that claims them, they can send them to the minors. If other teams claim them, it depends on their waiver priority. But also if other teams claim them, if Ottawa or Florida gets them back, they still can't send them to the minors.

So that's the way this works. What a couple of teams think has gone on here is that Anaheim and Vegas are hoping that because teams are setting their roster, they won't have the room to claim these players. This was the last waiver clear, and it'll be 2 p.m monday that officially happens before the rosters have to be set by 5 p.m eastern monday night so what both the golden knights and the ducks are gambling is that other teams won't be able to fiddle around with their rosters to claim these players we'll see all right from there

let's have a snapshot of the Calgary Flames, also in the Pacific Division. New head coach, Ryan Huska. New general manager, Craig Conroy. Some new faces. Some remaining drama from last season, but a much, at least a new arena on the horizon. Fingers crossed there.

A renewed sense of optimism in Calgary. Give us a snapshot, Elliot, of the Flames. The only thing that made me unoptimistic de-optimistic about this flame season was I didn't like what I saw Friday night in Vancouver when Markstrom gave up a goal on the first shot like that is exactly what let the air out of the balloons last year is how many times last year i always say jeff when sportsnet or the whatever the tv broadcast is has the lines going on the top of the screen and you give up a goal it's really bad you start chasing the game early that happened on friday night in vancouver it's just a bad omen because that was a full dress rehearsal for the Flames.

They had their team there. And, you know, for them to lose that game like that, I was sitting there going, oh, no, like this is not what the Flames need to see. Other than that, I generally think they're going to be better. I do. The goaltending's got to hold up. As you said, the attitude is a lot better. Backlund signing.

I think what's happening here is I don't think there's much movement there with Lindholm. I think the flames are not yet where this is going to have to be for Lindholm. And I'll say this. I've had people send me notes like there's no way they should sign Lindholm for nine million I mean people can argue people can debate that but I think that's where this number is going to be around so that's just where the reality is now and everybody can debate around it what I do believe is the flames have also started to look at Tanev and Hannafin and so they've got Backlund done if they can't get Lindholm done in the short term I think they're going to look at Tanev and

Hannafin and see if they can do something there you know Tanev again he's the same age as Backlund so I'm guessing the Flames will be careful on term with that one we'll see what Tanev, again, he's the same age as Backlund. So I'm guessing the Flames will be careful on term with that one. We'll see what Tanev has to say. And when it comes to Hannafin, to me, in a lot of ways, it's just a surprise that we're even talking about this because I really thought at the end of last year, there was no way we'd be talking about this. But I think they are talking to him about it and we'll see.

And maybe what helps is if this happens before they get any clearance on Lindholm, you can get into a situation where you can say, okay, we've got Backlund done and now we've got one or two of these other two done. And now go back to Lindholm and see what he says. So I believe those are kinds of the

moving pieces around the flames right now all right uh it is now time for team cup or bust the edmonton oilers with a couple of interesting names on waivers as well bang gleason lane peterson and young rafael lavoie but your thoughts on the Oilers first. I think a lot of this happened because of the injury in the preseason to Nima Linen. Because Nima Linen's injured, they can't send him down, right? And if you take a look at Edmonton,

they've got some injury concerns. Ekholm hasn't played. McLeod's been hurt. And I think Nima Linen's injury some injury concerns. Ekholm hasn't played. McLeod's been hurt. And I think Niemelainen's injury kind of screwed them up a little bit. So it forced them to do some things waiver-wise that I'm not convinced they necessarily wanted to do. Like for one of the things I think that was going on was,

and we'll talk a bit more about him in both the Vancouver and Toronto sections, but I do think the Oilers have been one of the teams that talked the least about Sam Lafferty. I think the Oilers had some interest in Lafferty going back to last season. But they obviously couldn't work out a deal. But I just think overall, Edmonton's waiver situation got a bit fouled up because of this injury. There's a chance the Oilers in their opening night might have to play shorthanded because nobody's going on LTIR.

But if, you know, some of their injured players can't go, I think it is possible they may only be able to go with 17 players. And you never like the look of that happening on opening night. But that's our world now with everybody tight to the cap. Overall, I mean mean the best thing that happened to the oilers this um preseason was jack campbell i heard he did a lot of work i heard he was very serious he knows that last year didn't go very well and while i'm always careful not to overrate the preseason you know all, all you can do is hope that Campbell looks good

when he shows up to play in it, and he sure did. Like that game I was in Calgary, it was Calgary against the Bakersfield Condors. That was a night where Vincent Desjardins came off the bench as the extra man when the Oilers pulled the empty net. Like, I'm going to bet $5, Jeff, that you're not going to see that in the regular season.

But he did it that night, and they scored. He was the screen in front of the net. And Campbell gave up one goal, and Edmonton won that one 2-1 in overtime. Like, he looked really good, and he looked good overall. You know me. I'm picking them to win the Stanley Cup. I think they're really good.

I think they've got a lot to prove. It's a tough division and a tough road. But if Campbell can play at a higher level and Skinner can play at the same level, that's their key to winning. This is a league right now, Jeff, where teams are believing you don't need Carey Price to win the Stanley Cup, but you do need a goalie that can make one more save than the other guy. And there were a lot of nights last year where you didn't think Campbell could do that. If he's like he was during the preseason,

he can do that. From there, we turn our attention to a team that's joined with the Edmonton Oilers by way of the miracle on Manchester, the Wayne Gretzky trade, and the playoffs every single season. Your thoughts on the Los Angeles Kings? Remember at the end of last year, Jeff,

we were wondering if the Kings were saying, okay, the rebuild is over, and maybe we didn't get the prospects that we thought we did, or we didn't have as high level of prospects as we thought we did. Well, now Akil Thomas went on waivers and he's going to be the captain at American Hockey League Ontario this year. They lost Fujimo on waivers.

Anderson Dolan went on waivers on Sunday and we'll see where he is on Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, last year they went out and they got Philip Deneau. And this year they went out and they got Pierre-Luc Dubois. And Velarde and Kupari, some young guys, were part of the trade, who were supposed to be part of that prospect boom too, were part of the trade to go to Winnipeg. So basically what I think the Los Angeles Kings have said we're finished rebuilding we're Toronto light the first round is no longer enough for us and we're going for

it we're going to win some rounds and I mean look like I have a few people who tell me they think the Kings are I don't even know if you could call them a sleeper team I think when you play with Edmonton and Vegas in that division, you know, everybody thinks about them as one-two, so it's sort of like the Knights and the Oilers and everybody else. There are teams who are feeling that the Kings could beat one of those two in a seven-game series. I mean, they were close against Edmonton twice.

They had chances to win those series. But I get people who are telling me we're sleeping on the Kings, that they're going to be hard to play against. I do think the one thing, right now their goalie combination is Talbot, Copley, Riddick. I could see them making a move there. One of the guys we're all watching this year is Calgary and Dustin Wolfe. I could see them being a team that would

call the flames on Vladar now those goalie trades in division are not easy these are two teams that are competing for a playoff yes that's there are a lot of trade calls that I want to be on like conversations I really want to be on that Craig Conroy Rob Blake call to hear that conversation i just think that they are a team that could be in that kind of mix for whether it's vladar or somebody else we'll see all right uh from there we go to the san jose sharks and we know what the season's about for the san jose sharks yeah there's a couple of players on the horizon cole eiserman macklin's fellebrini uh this is a team that is very much still rebuilding and acquiring prospects and acquiring draft picks what's your audio picture

of the sharks i think the key this year for san jose is look they're like Anaheim and Logan Couture is not going to like hearing that and Thomas Hurdle's not going to like hearing that and I totally am understanding that those guys aren't going to like hearing that but you've got to be realistic right and I think that the key this year is you know William Eklund first round pick a couple years ago does he make the leap that to me is very important for them this year do they find a player in Philip Zadina so that's another question for me Does he become a young player for them? Anaheim's got some guys that are still really young. San Jose, they have some guys who are a little bit older

that have either not made the jump yet or they're giving opportunities to. You know, so Eklund, Bortolo, it looks like they're going to start the season in San Jose. If those guys show that they're going to be NHLers, to me, that's a win for them.

I'm also very curious to see if Anthony Duclair gets an extension here. If they decide he's one of the guys that they're going to build around. Well, I'll tell you what, if they decide he's one of the guys that they're going to build around well i'll tell you what if they don't and if they decide that he's not going to be that's one heck of a trade piece that mike greer has come trade deadline time that speed and that production that's going to be valuable they've got a really interesting team here in the sense of they've got a few guys like that Barabanov, Duclair,

Granlund, Hoffman, LeBanc like LeBanc has become like the eternal trade rumor you know what's going to happen with some of these players do they all become trade bait you know you always wonder about Vlasic, what's his story going to end up being, but the number one thing, look like their goal this year is to get the highest pick as possible, right? As you said, but can they advance some of their players, their young players? All right. Uh, from the San Jose sharks, I will stay in the Pacific here and focus on the Seattle Kraken, a team that's made it to the playoffs, knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champions.

We know expectations have elevated. Should they have elevated expectations? We've seen two versions of the Seattle Kraken, year one and year two, profoundly different. Well, there's no way that you can avoid it, Jeff. The expectations on them are are definitely going to be higher now you know you can never go backwards anytime that you get to a situation where you win you're expected to win more you're it's never okay to go back and that's

the role of expectations that's just the way life is. You know, I think what are they going to do? Is Grubauer going to continue to get back to where he was? That's obviously very important. I think that they're a team that will continue to come at you in waves. They've got some star talent. They've got Beniers. They've got Vince Don who can put

up points but generally I think they're going to be really disciplined they're going to grind you they're fast they're going to stick to the system that's what they do really really well that's where their ability is you know to me in some ways one of the most fascinating storylines they sent Shane Wright down to Coachella Valley like I'm wondering if there's going to be a point and I bet that Wright's going to play a ton this year there simply isn't room for him to play like at best Wright is going to be their third line center right now at best and maybe fourth one of the things I'm kind of wondering about there is do they ever get to a point where they say to right okay you're going to be a winger you're

not going to be a center you're going to be a winger I don't think that is in the near future I think this year they'll put him in every situation and make this year all about his development but I was talking with someone who watched him play this year, and they said, look, he's a talented guy, and your goal is to put him in the best situation to be successful, and that's what he thinks Seattle is going to do. But he wondered if one of the ways to make him more successful was eventually turn him into a winger.

Like, there are some centers who've turned into very good wingers in the NHL. Of course. He wonders if Wright is going to be one of them. You know, there was once upon a time, you know, the majority of wingers in the NHL used to be centers. They just couldn't find a spot in the NHL. And lo and behold, all of a sudden the center turns into a winger. We see this in international tournaments all the time.

And we used to see it more so in the NHL than now. I think one of the things for Shaneight is not being such a nomad like when you look at all the different places that shane wright played last season you know and and wasn't able to really dig in in one place for a long time starting with seattle and all the scratches uh and then down to Coachella Valley and go to the World Juniors, go back to OHL, Windsor, back to Coachella Valley. He was all over the place, like not able to plant any roots as well. And this is his first year of pro hockey. Now I know Brant Clark had something similar in Los Angeles as well, and this isn't the first player Shane Wright

isn't to have gone through something like this. All I just want to point out is it was a difficult season for the young man who had a really hard time maybe remembering where home was. You know what I mean? Yes, I understand that. He's been through a lot, and that's why,

and he's got one of the most patient gms around oh yeah like ron francis is not going to rush to anything here the other one i'm watching here ty carche not surprised he made it after the way he finished last season and appeared in the playoffs but that's a great story great story uh ron francis loves his hussain marie greyhounds doesn't he not the only one yeah there's a guy in pittsburgh too uh man can he shoot the paque cartier who can he fire that thing i'm also wondering if kyler yamamoto is this year's daniel sprung first of all daniel sprung who scored in every preseason game he was involved in with the detroit red wings is that the daniel Sprong you're talking about?

Yes, that one, yes. You know, I had to throw that one in on the podcast at some point. Okay, Vancouver Canucks. And when it comes to Vancouver, who knows where to begin? Throw a dart, it lands where? Give us your snapshot of Vancouver. Well, first of all, they're right up against the cap. After getting Lafferty and I

like the Lafferty pickup for them I think he's a good player and if Susie and Rick Talkett said on Sunday Susie is week to week or out weeks I'm wondering if Vancouver is going to be looking for another defenseman well there are some that are available on waivers. Yes. Or something else. You know, Soucy's a right-hand shot. It's not a place they have a lot of depth. And also, they got him to be heavy, right? So Vancouver makes a trade on Sunday for Lafferty. And right again, they're tight to the cap, and they've got an injury and an injury they're a

little I think worried about going into the season without someone like him so again I think the Canucks could be very interesting to watch here to me Vancouver is one of the most can I just maybe point out what I think might be an obvious one I don't know if this is maybe obvious to you, just based on who the coach is, the need for a right shot defenseman. Zach Bogosian's on waivers. That's not a bad call. Does that not seem like a Vancouver fit based on what, I mean, you look at Lafferty.

I mean, there's someone with great foot speed, but also has some snarl to his game. Like that's Rick Talkett. You look at Zach Bogosian, do you not say the same thing? And he's affordable. That's not the worst idea you've ever had. That's as close to a compliment as I ever get from you.

All right, continue with the Vancouver Canucks. Look, I think this to me is one of the most fascinating teams in the NHL. I really do. I'm really curious to watch them this year. Last year, a year ago, their start was an absolute nightmare anything that could have gone wrong did uh and i mean it led to absolute craziness with the coach the

coaching change some of the moves they made uh you know besser initially asking okay if you guys want to move me go ahead i and the team giving him permission to help seek a trade. I mean, the whole thing was absolutely bananas last year in Vancouver. It was just one fire after another fire. This year, they've had kind of a quieter preseason. They've already made a couple moves between Lafferty and DeSmith. But things generally seem calmermer and we'll see how long that lasts I mean the whole Pedersen thing looms large I think that all takes care of itself

if they have a good season that takes care of itself if they convince him he's on the way and you know what like the other thing I would have to say here, and the Pedersen piece, I believe, is going to air in October the 21st. But the thing I'll say here is that what's been interesting about it is since Pedersen came out and said, I'm not sure yet. I think the Canucks have also kind of indicated, you know what, we're not sure either. you know what we're not sure either because if there's any doubt that Pedersen wants to make a commitment I'm not convinced that they want to make a commitment so this will be a fascinating development I mean the second thing is Demko's health and him being ready obviously he's looked much better I picked him to win the Vezina last year. That didn't work.

But Jeff, I don't learn my lesson. I'm doing it again this year. I think he's a great goalie. And if he gives them a backbone early in the season, they're probably going to be okay. A full year of Talk It. You know, I'll tell you this. I talked to a player that used to

play for Talk It. They said he's the kind of guy that if you give an effort and you show up, he is going to back you. You may not play all the time, but he will back you. And what I think is really interesting is you watch this whole thing with Pod Colson in the preseason Pod Colson got sent down he had a really tough preseason but did Talkett rip him no he was encouraging Dakota Joshua showed up and I guess the Canucks just felt he wasn't ready to go and Talkett gave it to him publicly. And that's what it comes with Talkett. And he says it. He can put up with the mistakes as long as you're giving him the effort.

And there were times early in the season last year where the Canucks didn't look like they were giving the effort. I think that'll be very, very different this year. I'm fascinated to watch them, Jeff. They're my most fascinating team to start the season. I know you pick Calgary. I go with Vancouver. I think there's a lot on the line with the way they start. Vegas Golden Knights. And the most recent news is picking up Grigory Denisenko on waivers from the Florida Panthers and then placing him back on waivers on Sunday.

Panthers and then placing him back on waivers on Sunday. Now, Vegas would have had the 28th claim when it came to waivers on Grigory Denisenko. The teams after Vegas would have been the Maple Leafs, the Devils, the Hurricanes, and the Boston Bruins. I wonder if the thinking on putting Denisenko back on waivers is he cleared once. And they were close to the top and they were 28th claim maybe we can slide him to henderson you have a thought on this one i have to tell you that's a good theory uh as i said earlier with uh anaheim it's pretty and lassie thompson if the

only team that claims him is Florida, Dennis Sanko can go to the minors. Any other team has to put him in the minors. So it's a worthwhile gamble for Vegas. They're saying that all these teams have done their rosters, so we're betting no one's going to claim him. It's a really good theory by you, Jeff, and it's a good try by the Golden Knights. You know, I think when it comes to Vegas,

there's always the question about the post-championship hangover. You know, is the team still hungry? Is the team got the same grind that it had last year? I think the Golden Knights have a lot of pros. You know, obviously, Petrangelo's been through it before. He will understand what it's like, and he will explain it to everyone. There's a reason it's really hard to repeat in this league.

You know, in goal, is Hill going to give them the goaltending? Hill and Thompson, are they going to give them the goaltending that got Vegas through last year and got them to the final? I think those are the questions that everybody, like nobody doubts Vegas's ability. Nobody thinks they aren't good enough, but I do think just people say it's hard to repeat for a reason and can they overcome it? They lose Riley Smith.

They retain Ivan Barbashev, and so they're pretty much coming back with an identical squad that won the Stanley Cup last season. Here's my question. How much of a shadow? Is it a big shadow? Is it a tiny shadow? Do the contracts, the expiring contracts,

of players like Jonathanathan marshes so and chandler stevenson how big a shadow does that cast on this season well i would add another one to that alec martinez well he's a good one but i would add even another one to that and that's william carrier like that has been a good player for them that was a great expansion pickup for the golden knights look i think the top ones that they're probably going to worry about are Marciusso and Stevenson. And Stevenson's coming off a great deal at $2.75 million. You know, Marciusso will be the biggest name

because he's an original misfit. He had an unbelievable playoff. Look, we know what's going to happen here. Vegas will make a business decision. That's what they always do. If Marcia So doesn't get extended in the future, they will take care of him and he will be like a golden knight forever, but they will make a business decision on him. It all comes down to what they think they can fit and what he wants. And again, the same thing with Stevenson. You know, Stevenson's an interesting one because he's shown that he's an elite center. He'll be 30 in April. So he's still got a lot of years left him.

Marcia So is a little bit older. He's going to be 33 in december but i think stevenson might actually be the harder one to sign because he's a center and he's still 30 years old and those guys get paid but we know what vegas will do they will decide what's their best business and they will go from there there was an event last night by by the way, Jeff, where the Golden Knights got their rings and holy smokes, they are beautiful. That kind of secret compartment where they open it up and there's the ice surface and where they scored the goals from and their Stanley Cup clinching game. Just a tremendous touch. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful rings. And of course, the recognition of the shooting victims from their first year just before the first year of their existence in October 2017. I just think the rings were a tremendous piece of work and a great tribute to a championship team and a great market for the nhl all right uh that is the pacific division let's get to the central elliott and start with the arizona coyotes and the news on sunday was dylan gunther getting sent to the american hockey league um and the even

bigger story around arizona is the future of the organization. Does it stay in Arizona or does it go elsewhere? But your snapshot on where you see the Coyotes right now, I mean, there's some new faces, Matt Dumba and Sean Dursey and Alex Kerfoot and Jason Zucker enter the chat here for the Coyotes. I think they're going to do better than maybe we anticipate an arizona coyotes team uh to do but your thoughts on the arizona coyotes heading into this season there are four teams in this division jeff that go under my they could be better than we think or they could be worse than we think and I have no idea how to handicap it

at the start of the year and Arizona is one of those teams. I think Arizona has a chance to be better than we thought. You know it's very obvious to me this year like at the draft I was told look out for Keller asking for a trade and Cooley not signing. Okay. I never reported it, but I was told to watch out for those things. Because I remember I saw Bill Armstrong at the draft and I specifically asked him about Cooley and he said, give me time. I'm going to work on getting this done. And what happened? Cooley got signed. Cooley and Keller are both represented by the same agents, the Bartlett family. And Keller seemed content with what was going on. But I think part of that was,

we have to be better. We have to be better. And as you said, they made some really smart signings. You know, they lost Christian Fisher, who I think was a real heart and soul guy for them. I think they will feel that a bit. I think that Coyotes have a chance to be better than we thought. I think they've got an incredible amount of young talent. I think Cooley has a chance to be one of several players who could make this rookie of the year race very interesting. I don't know what to expect here. I think they could be better but i almost want to see it like they don't have a defenseman signed after this season there's gonna be a lot of guys playing for contracts there speaking of defenseman breakout player this year jj moser

he's a good player started to see the beginning of it last season, right? What did he mention when we talked to him in Stockholm? I need to work on my physicality. Yeah. I need to get NHL tougher. I think the world of this defenseman. Chicago Blackhawks. The story is Connor Bedard. What a preseason he put together,

whether it was a dazzling playmaking, whether it was the goals, or whether it was what we saw with Marc-Andre Fleury in the game against the Minnesota Wild. I love him. How can you not? Everything I saw in the preseason, I absolutely loved about him. Hang on, hang on. It wasn't just on the ice.

Like, how comfortable is he in front of assembled NHL media and the room after? I'll tell you something. I think that he's going to be on the Pat McAfee show this week. Like, I'm a big Pat McAfee guy. And I think he's going to do it on a game day. Is he doing it on Tuesday? me is the league and the players association getting on bedard and saying we need you to do something a little special and i don't know how often it'll happen but the fact that everybody made this work i think that's very very big for the nhl because pat mcafee i was on it once and i must have been a terrible guest because I've never been invited back on. But the amount of people I had reaching out to me and saying, we saw you on McAfee.

He's got reach. Oh, huge, Elliot, of course. And he's very, very popular. And speaking of work, like on Sunday or Saturday, that guy did an ESPN college football game then he did a live cast and then he I think he was at WWE at night in a different city so like that guy works and he's got big reach and Bedard works too like how many videos have we seen in the last week of the darts still being on the ice for an hour after practice doing doing stuff.

I think it's really big he's going to do that. Everything I've seen about Bedard this week, I've been really impressed with, really impressed with. And look, Chicago's not going to win a lot of games, but they're like Anaheim. They're going to accrue more picks. We'll see what happens with some of these players they've traded for. And I think he's going to entertain people. First week of the season, he's got Pittsburgh.

Then he's got Montreal on the weekend. He's got Toronto on the Monday night. It's exciting. I find it very exciting. Sure is. Colorado Avalanche are exciting. Last year, injury plagued. This year, some key injuries still

remain and some new faces around the team Ryan Johansson, Ross Colton and you know at the beginning of the year there are some players that you just root for like in training camp I think a lot of us I know you did you wrote about it you talked about it really cheering for Brandon Sutter

I'm really cheering for Jonathan Drouin this year. I really want this to work for Drouin. Your thoughts on the avalanche? Well, really good preseason, right? He looked really good. You know, there's another guy in Colorado who I'm rooting for too, and that's Peter Holland.

He's not going to start with the big team, but Drouin is a great pick. I wish the NHl had a comeback player of the year because there's always good candidates i'm with you this should be an award um anyway because drew an could win it you know i've told the story in the podcast before how mckinnon always stood up for drew an by the way i think mckinnon's going to win the heart trophy this year that's a guy who should have a Hart Trophy by now. It's kind of tough. You know, McDavid, Matthews, Dreisaitl, all those guys.

I'm predicting McKinnon for Hart Trophy this year. He wins it this year. Why do you hate Conor McDavid so much? Well, it's the same reason that you hate everyone, just because I can. Calling Nathan McKinnon to win the Hart, that's not exactly the hottest of takes. I know it feels like a hot take, but guys, one of the best players in the world and has been for years.

I had some hot wings this afternoon, Jeff. I'm feeling spicy. All right. Very good. So, so my pick is McKinnon. You know,

the other thing too is someone I know was watching Colorado Vegas the other night. That was a mean great game game that was like those teams they already hate each other this year hang on we didn't even have to drop the puck for the regular season they already hate each other colorado goes up three nothing in a pre-season game and did you see how hard vegas worked to get back into that game and it was paul cotter ended up with the game winner like that was a oh by the way here's something i wanted to mention with vegas i'm doing this sort of off the top of my head but

you know i was thinking about this uh um late last week you're going to talk about vegas in the middle of the colorado segment well because fans are going to kill you but avalanche are part of this. Okay. Is there a team that has better games with more opponents than the Vegas Golden Knights? They have great games with Colorado. They have insanely good games with the Minnesota Wild.

They have great games with Edmonton. They have great games with LA. They have like this burning hatred with the San Jose Sharks. The games against Dallas

are spectacular. Like, I don't know if there's a team that. The games against Dallas are spectacular. Like, I don't know if there's a team that has better games against more opponents than Vegas. And I'm just asking to put you on the spot here, but Vegas has so many great games with so many different teams, Elliot. And some would even put Colorado at the top of that list because those two teams get together

and you saw it in preseason. It's awesome. It's so good. I don't disagree with you. Like I said, most of your takes are generally terrible, but that's a good take. And this one was really good. I've had three.

Now, I have to say this. I know why Colorado is sensitive about Byram's injuries. I didn't think that was a dirty hit. I thought that was a puck battle. Yeah, it was. That Vegas won. But Makar went kablooey. Like like you could see how mad he was and I respect that that's him stepping up for a teammate and I think Colorado was determined to win the cup

this year I think they really feel some teams they lose the it's like what did Apollo Creed say to Rocky Balboa and Rocky III, you've lost the eye of the tiger. I think that Colorado felt it kind of lost a bit of the eye of the tiger last year, and they've got it back. And they're going to be really, really good. And watching McCarr get so pissed off in that game the other night, maybe it was the Vegas thing that you talked about there, but that says to me the Avalanche are all business.

Listen, when Colorado won their cup, the spiciest thing for them would have been beating Vegas along the way. That was the year that Vegas had all the injuries and didn't make the playoffs. They would have loved to have slayed. I know you want the cup too, but ask those players, would you have liked to have beaten? Like when Washington won and they beat Pittsburgh along the way, if you're Colorado, you wanted to beat Vegas.

Yeah. You're overthinking it. Okay. Well, I have a lot of, I have a lot of alone time. I think about things. Um, you know what? It's really hard to do in Dallas. Make the team as a young player.

Logan Stankoven starts in the minors. Maverick Ork starts in the minors. Liam Michelle starts in the minors. Maverick Wark starts in the minors. Liam Michelle starts in the minors. This is a tough roster to crack because it is more of a veteran roster, and it's a real good roster. And dare we say, is it a Stanley Cup good roster, Elliot? I think so.

I absolutely do think so. Like, I always make my list. Who can win the Stanley Cup, right? And on my list this year, I have Vegas. I have Edmonton. I have Colorado. I have Dallas. I had someone who told me to put LA on there, but I'm not there yet. Was that Eric Eng was that Eric angles. I think he picked the Kings. Do you think I listened to anything that Eric angles tells me? I think he picked LA. I like that. I think Toronto.

Uh, I think Tampa Bay. I think Carolina. I don't know. I want to say New Jersey know I want to say New Jersey I want to say New Jersey I know you do I don't know yet too soon I don't know yet and I don't want DeSantis mad at me but I don't have Florida in there right now I just want to see how it all shakes out injury wise for them all right so i so the answer your question is yes i do think dallas can win the stanley cup this year i you know the the interesting thing to me about dallas is they

had the youth burst last year i to me this whole year is about continuing that youth burst, I think Hayskin wins the Norris this year. You need Robertson to help you in the playoffs more. You need to give your veterans, your Sagan, your Benz, your Pavelskis, not an easier ride throughout the regular season, but you need them healthy when the playoffs start. But all those young kids you mentioned, Jeff, I want one of them to be ready to help them in the playoffs start but all those young kids you mentioned jeff i want one of them to be ready to help them in the playoffs like one of those guys you mentioned i think they've got to be ready to start in the playoffs to give them like they ran a steam in the third round

so i think you need one more kid. And the other thing you need is Ottinger needs more of a rest during the regular season. Oh, absolutely. So they ran out of steam in the third round. I think they know that. And he did too. Yeah. So that's my question.

Do you have one more kid? And they've got a lot of good kids. Do you have one more who can help you in the playoffs? And does Ottinger get his rest? Okay, so you mentioned that Vegas-Colorado game, preseason game, was actually really good. Not just by preseason standards. It was just a flat-out good game.

And we're going to dovetail to our next team here. And they are joined with the Dallas Stars by way of, checks notes, Saturday. What a vicious game between Dallas and Minnesota. Holy, Duhame and Marchman. Duhame goes after Delandria. Ben and Maroon are getting at it. Maroon takes a faceoff just so he can fight.

Jamie, Ben, like, holy. This is preseason for like 1983, Elliot. We're used to the, like you and I growing up, like that's what preseason games were. They were brawl fests. That's what we saw on Saturday between these two teams. But your thoughts on the Minnesota Wild and like you talked about on the last podcast, the Ryan Hartman deal gets done three years, $12 million, AAV of four.

You know, I think the interesting thing is Dumba not being there changes the complexion of their room. I think that'll be interesting Dumbo was asking for I think around 575 they couldn't do that Toronto couldn't do that he ends up in Arizona for about 3.9 but I do think that Dumbo was a very big force in their dressing room so I think that's one thing that they're kind of looking at there and saying okay how does this change our group if at all like Bill Guerin has bet on his group he has bet on the group aside from Dumba he's extended a whole bunch of other guys like there are a lot of people who looked at the Foligno extension, the Zuccarello extension, the Hartman extension,

and they were kind of raising their eyebrows a bit. But he believes these players are huge to the culture of their team. I think this, when I look at Minnesota, I look at the continued development of Boldy and the arrival of Rossi. Like to me last year, they just could not score enough to beat Dallas. Like Dallas will choke you. Vegas was able to puncture it, but Minnesota can't. When I look at them, they just need to find more goals.

And when you look at their roster, who are those goals going to come from? They're going to come from those young guys. And that's where I think Minnesota's growth comes from. Who's the starting net minder against the Florida Panthers? Marc-Andre Fleury or Phillip Gustafson? Because Gustafson's look good, man. He's looked really good.

I think it's Gustafson. I do. You know, I know a lot of people didn't like that Fleury stuff against Chicago. To me, I loved everything about that shootout. I absolutely loved it. And people might ask me why and I said because it was a super competitive game and in the pre-season like if you're Marc-Andre Fleury and you're 37 years old you don't have

anything to prove to anyone you're right now you're playing you don't have to play you play because you love it but he's obviously still super competitive I love that I love that he got mad I love that he felt challenged and I love that he rose up to the challenge and I had not I had no problem with anything the Black Hawks did like to me that's what being a competitor is all about it's finding a reason you know to me, that's what being a competitor is all about. It's finding a reason. You know, to me, I've always said the ultimate competitor I ever saw was Michael Jordan. The Bulls could be 50-2. They'd show up in a game in February against the worst team in the league, and Michael Jordan would find something that pissed him off about the other team

for no real reason, and he would have a big night like that's what he was about I love that about him and that reminded me of Fleury the other night like he's just saying I've got nothing to prove it's an exhibition game but I'm annoyed by this I'm gonna give it right back to them that to me is I think that's awesome I love it it's kind of the way I try to approach my own work although i fail miserably at it i really love that but i do think custom is the guy to start the season i thought that vincent le cavalier was the michael jordan of hockey yes that's what art williams said yes those who get that joke they really really get that joke um for the Minnesota Wild, we go to the Nashville Predators.

I find Nashville fascinating, Elliot. I know we spent some time last year in Nashville around the draft with a wonderful organization. You know, there's going to be, you know, a lot of opportunity for the Uso Parsonans of the world. What's the nickname for Tommy Nov tommy novak novechkin novechkin i'll tell you this i had some people who said fajimo yeah fajimo was a really smart claim that guy has scored at the ahl level we're gonna find out if he can score at the nhl level

but i had a couple people tell me that was a really good bet. Really good bet. Ryan O'Reilly headlines the signings, as does Luke Shin. Your thoughts on what to expect from Nashville this season? Well, this is another one of my I have no idea what to expect situations here. Could be good and better than people think. Could be not as good as people think. I mean, quietly to me me one of the interesting things here is again they have a lot of players who will be playing for contracts and a lot of them are young

players. Tomasino, Parsonin, Fujimo as we mentioned. You know Barry Trotz admitted they're going to start looking at an extension for Saros but you know you know, he's still got two more years, so it's not as big a deal as you think. So what I'm looking at this year for this team is do some of those young players start to make a bit more of an impact? It's kind of like what happened with Dallas last year. The young players developed their own core and they pushed along some of the older veterans. I think that's what you need to see in Nashville. Can some of these guys take a step? You know that Saros is going to keep them in games. You know that he's going to put them in a position to win a lot and you know whether they do I think is going to come down to

you know some of these guys and how they score you know O'Reilly obviously they gave to their big free agent deal but on some level you've got to be depending on him a little bit less as you get better so who are going to be the players does glass keep moving the line i think he's another big one there does he continue the growth he showed last season like i see a lot of players here for nashville who their growth is going to determine the success or disappointment of their year st louis blues um a few questions here as they have some new faces in their lineup. Oh, and by the way, that Thomas Kairou Bushnevich line. Looks really good.

Already looks like it's, yeah, really, really good. You know, I think that there were some that were wondering about Scott Prunovic, head coach Craig Berube, you know, mentioned, look, this guy hasn't played a lot of hockey of recent note. Let's cut him some slack. Your thoughts on the St. Louis Blues. Like, where is this team right now? Same deal.

This is the third of four. I'm like, I have no idea what to expect here. Thomas and Kairou, it's their team now. I know Braden Shantz is the captain. I know he's the captain. He is there. Like what I'm betting is Berube and Armstrong kind of said, as we turn the team over to these guys,

we're going to put enough pressure on them internally. We don't need to add even more pressure by giving one of them the C. Thomas got an A, and Cairo does not have a letter. But when you have the contracts they have, immediately the expectation is there. So this is their time to start taking control of the team. You know, Bennington's had some interesting comments about controlling himself a lot better.

Yeah. I think that's very important. We know that they tried to move Torrey Krug. They didn't, but I don't know that any one of those defensemen are probably, I think all of those defensemen kind of know that they at least had them all out there. So it was a real tough year in St. Louis last year.

What the Blues want is the uptick. Do they get it? But mainly I think what they want is they want to see Cairo and Thomas take over this team even though Shen's the captain do they take over the club last one of the central last one in the western conference before we hit a break and come back with the metropolitan and the Montana's thought line the Winnipeg Jets you know talked last week, we've talked all summer about how we thought things were going to go with the Winnipeg Jets.

A couple of tough injuries, specifically on the back end. It's real tough not to feel really bad, like really, really bad. Yes. You know, and you know where I'm going with this one, for Vili Hainala. You know, we're all waiting for that moment where it finally comes together and happens for Hainala, former first-round draft pick.

It's a tough injury. Your thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets. It looks like, by the way, it's like 10 or 11 weeks for Hainala with the ankle. It's a tough one. Yeah, it's terrible. I hate to see that i really do um you know again i'm in with the jets like i think it could go really well like put it this

way i think it could go really well but i also see a situation where it doesn't i think generally overall this team feels better about itself than it did at the end of last season. There was a lot of storm clouds over the team. Well, now look, they made a really good trade for Dubois. They made as good a trade as they could have hoped for him. I think that one of the things that's kind of happened is that Hellebuck has kind of reconsidered his position. I think he realizes he has it good there. I think he also realizes that if there's a team willing to step up close to get him to the number he may want, it is the Jets. And I do think they're talking to him about it. I don't want to

say it's close. I don't think it's anything there, but I do think, I do believe at the very least, you know, he's, there've been some preliminary conversations. I think the same goes for Shifley. I find that one tougher to read. I think at times the relationship between Shifley and the organization has not been as strong as the relationship between Hellebuck and the organization. I think, you know, some of Hellebuck's frustrations have not been as strong as, and frustrations with the organization towards Hellebuck have been nowhere near as strong as they've kind of been back and forth with Shifley at times. So I find that one harder to read. You know, I think the one thing when I look at Winnipeg's roster, I see a lot of very capable NHL players.

Like I look up and down their roster. I see a lot of guys who are good. I see a lot of guys who are good. I see a lot of guys who are solid. What I wonder about is, you know, where are the game breakers? I think Connor is one. I think Ehlers, if he can stay healthy, is definitely one. I think Morrissey is one. And then I look at a couple of guys here,

and I say these guys could be the difference between A, good season, or B, rough season. I would say Shifley is absolutely one of those guys. He's got a lot to play for, and he's proven he can be a game breaker. I think Velarde is another one of those guys, and I think Cole Perfetti is another one of those guys. I think if Ehlers can stay healthy, Shifley again, and Shifley had a good year last year if Shifley continues that but they get 23 goals again from Velarde and a healthy productive Perfetti I think this Winnipeg team is going to be a problem for people I just think that the game breakers need to deliver for them

that's what I think what they really miss is it's kind of like toronto they miss the one stud on the blue line and i think that that's where the disappointment is that just didn't work out with truba come back for dustin bufflin elliot i don't think so i would love it uh all right that's the central division that is the western conference we hit pause on the podcast albeit briefly we come back with the metropolitan division and the mont Montana's Thought Line after this. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, welcome back to the program. As we soldier through 32 teams by way of division, we find ourselves now, Elliot, at the Metropolitan. And once upon a time, I was one of those people,

I'll admit it, who every year I said, this is the year for the San Jose Sharks. I was that guy. And you know what guy I am now? I'm the guy who every year seems to be saying, this is the year for the Carolina Hurricanes. I've got them as my cup winner. I know you have, Edmondson.

Your thoughts on the Carolina Hurricanes. We know Don Waddell is never quite done with his team, but how close is Carolina to being done here? They may already have the best defense in the entire NHL. Look, Jeff, I don't really disagree with you. I picked Edmonton Carolina in the final last year. I don't want to be boring, but I'm debating doing it again this year. I don't think they have a lot of holes.

As long as they're healthy, I don't think they have a lot of holes. I think they have a great defense as you said I think it's going to be really interesting to see where this all goes in goal and again I think they've done as long as Svechnikov and it looks like he's close to playing I think they've got enough offense to win. The thing that's really fascinating to me about them is I always wonder, like a team like this, do they look at it and say, we really love our group, we've grown together, but this may be our last stand.

Tara Vinen, unrestricted free agent, and there were times they talked about dealing him in the offseason. Natchez is gonna get a big raise after this year. Martinuk, we know how important he is for that team. Unrestricted free agent and Jarvis is gonna be doing a big raise after this year. And then on defense, you know Shea, Pesci, we know that they gave him permission to talk some other teams didn't work out he's back this year but he's got one more year like I always wonder about these groups they ever look around for each other and they say if it's ever going to be our year it's

going to have to be this one because next summer they're going to want to try to extend Orlov, Slavin, and Burns too potentially, right? So there's a lot on the line for this team this year. I really like them. I think they can win the Stanley Cup. They ran out of steam last year in the semifinal. Even though all those games were close, you know there's going to be a bitter taste, a bitter, bitter taste on them. Okay, my hot take for the podcast? Yep. Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup

and their starting netminder, their Stanley Cup netminder is? Kachetkov. Petor Kachetkov. That was the easiest pick you were going to make. All right, from the Carolinaolina hurricanes uh we go to the columbus blue jackets uh with the new head coach um and it i don't know like does it feel like considering everything that happened with babcock and everything that followed afterwards

that depending on how the season goes for the Columbus Blue Jackets that jobs might still be on the line well there's no question they have to be successful I don't think there's any doubt about that you know the one thing is I think Fantilli is going to come in immediately and have a huge impact and not just the impact he got from TJ Oshie I was gonna say how'd you like to welcome to the NHL moment courtesy of TJ Oshie? Yeah, you know, this is a man's league. Jacques Martin always used to say that. This is a man's league. I think he's going to be fine.

I think he's going to have a huge impact immediately. I think he's going to absolutely be in the Rookie of the Year. I can already see it right now at the end of this season, Jeff, when our ballots come out and we see who the three guys who are at the Rookie of the Year, the Calder Trophy finalists, there's going to be fan bases out there screaming bloody murder at us. Oh, yeah, for sure. And I just think that Fantilli is going to be incredibly impactful.

You know, again, Merce Likens, how good is he going to be? He's got four years left on his deal, three after this one. They need Merce Likens to be he's got four years left on his deal three after this one they need Merzlikens to be an impactful guy I you know who I think is going to have a huge season two is Wierenski I've heard a lot of things about Wierenski behind the scenes that I think are very very impressive I've heard he's been pushing guys you know like I know Boone Jenner's the captain there I would not be surprised to see Wierenski the captain there in not too long a time you know I've just heard that he's really been pushing

he's been demanding a lot he's very good with the young players you know they went out and they added a couple of new defensemen Provorov and Severson to address um you know some of the things that they felt were lacking last year i still think even with fantilli there i still think they're looking for another center uh i do i i think that's something that's on there whoa i will not stand for this patrick line a disrespect yeah yeah yeah, I know. Thank you very much. Not stand for that. I still think they're looking for another center, but the number one thing is I think this team got embarrassed last year

and they won't stand for being embarrassed again. All right, from Columbus, we go to the team that you're almost, you're so close to saying is a Stanley Cup contender, the new Jersey Devils. Well, we talked a lot about them last podcast, eh? Like the first perfect preseason in five years. Look, they showed up ready to play.

I think the preseason is not like a serious thing, but the bottom line is these guys showed up ready to play and they won all their games. I think we're all wondering about the goaltending. Do they go through with Vanacek, Schmid all year? Do they go add someone else? I think Fitzgerald has continued to look around on it, but he's got a bit of time to figure this out. They really like their group. They're going to score a lot. I think they're committed to doing the right things to win. There's not a lot to dislike here. Like I said, the way they showed up in the preseason,

they're ready to play. And we'll see where this goes. You know, we made a lot, and rightfully so, the last couple of seasons. Last year specifically with the Dallas Stars and the number one line of Rupe Hens, Joe Pavelski, and Jason Robertson. Best line in the NHL.

Do we have a new contender in Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Tyler Toffoli? I think we do. They look dynamite. They look dynamite. They look really good. The one thing is, is that they're about to go through the first time of everybody really coming after them now, right?

Oh, yeah. Like, it used to be we go to New Jersey, we get to the outlet mall, we pick up some Gucci, some Versace, we have a nice trip, go to a nice pizzeria in Hoboken, get two points. That's not the case anymore.

Yeah. Not anymore. That is a tough team to play against uh the new york islanders who they're a real tough read for me um this is a team that has a lot of players that are under contract a lot of players that are locked up long term um it's not a team that's elite in the division or conference they have some super talented players obviously but it kind of right now looks to be a team that is frozen that's tough to make moves at all because of the both you know length and size of the contracts the actual decibel points involved i look at the islanders and i say if

they're gonna do anything maybe ilia sorokin's gotta win the vesna trophy here your thoughts on the islanders so i have this thing that i call the travis mohan rule when travis mohan was signed by the montreal canadians he had an awful pre-. And someone said to me, you cannot judge him by the preseason. And I said, why is that? And he said to me, because Travis Mullen should not be wasting time doing what he does in the preseason. He has to save it for the regular season. And he went out and he had a really good year for them.

I always remembered that. Okay. I don't like the way the Islanders played in the preseason. I think I booted off the ice the other night. I don't think their fans liked it either. But for a lot of their guys, I kind of invoke the Moen rule. Like a lot of their guys shouldn't be doing what they do in the preseason. That said, I was concerned by what I saw there this year I just didn't like

the way they looked now we'll see if that changes and some of their guys are out to do what they're supposed to do once the puck drops I understand the worry by way, they played in the preseason. There's a lot of skepticism about how they went about things in the offseason. We'll find out fast. I think we will find out very fast. I will say this. I don't think Shane Pinto is getting traded. I don't. But it wouldn't surprise me if the Islanders were one of the teams

kicking the tires there that's where he's from yeah they'd like that meanwhile the new york rangers uh we talked last podcast about alexi lafreniere this is another one i didn't like in the preseason the new york rangers yeah their fans are feeling the same way about a lot of key players as well and looks like jimmy vc is maybe on the outside of the forward group looking in as the puck is poised to drop for the New York Rangers as they open up their season against the Buffalo Sabres on the 12th. What do you make of this year's Rangers squad? You look at them and you say, okay, this should be like Stanley Cup window time with Shesturkin and Adam Fox and Mikasa Benajad and Kreider and Panarin, et cetera.

Where's Elliott Friedman at with the Rangers? I think it's really interesting that Will Cooley made the team. And what I think there is that, number one, you can't lie to the players. They know who deserves to make it. But number two, the other thing here is i could see peter laviolette and chris jury believing that the rangers need a jolt you know they went to the eastern conference final two years ago um you know they lost to the lightning in a really good series, like a really good series. They had the, I mean, you remember Cooper's freakout in game two, like he had them, they had Cooper nervous.

And last year, a really, like a loss that made you want to vomit if you were a Rangers fan in the first round. So I think there's a real, and then changes. So I think there's, I don't know if pressure's the right word, but I think there's a real, and then changes. So I think there's, I don't know if pressure is the right word, but I think there's a real expectation of getting back there. And, you know, the whole Lafreniere thing, like we talked about, to me, this Cooley situation is a bit of a message. We need some jump.

We need some excitement. We need something that kicks our roster in a positive, positive way. And it's a small thing, but it's a big thing, I think, for New York. They've got all the talent in the world. This is a team that should be able to score with anybody. This is a team that's got one of the toughest, meanest, nastiest players in the league in Trouba. And I think they should be able to score with you. They should be able to play mean with you. As you said, they've got a great goaltender.

Hedl looks like he's developing into what they hoped he could be. I mean, you could focus on what hasn't happened, Kako and Lafreniere. But to me, those two guys taking the next step, that's exactly what this team needs. They need those guys to take the next step because they know what they have it's almost like they've got these two players in their lineup that are basically the difference makers for them this season you

know what you're getting in goal you know what you're getting on defense you know what you're getting up front I think you'd like a lot a bit more production from some of their guys trocek for example but it's almost like lafreniere and caco and them getting to that next level it's like you know you know we were talking about jeff about the growth coming in some of the southern markets or the newer hockey markets it's someone said to me last year, how much more can you sell tickets for in Toronto? How much more can you sell tickets for in Edmonton? But you know, maybe you can sell more tickets or tickets for more in places like Florida or Carolina or Dallas or wherever you want to go here. You reach a point where you say, if you're going to get your improvement, it's going to come from somewhere that hasn't been there before and to me with the Rangers it's almost like if you're

going to be able to move more it's about players like those two guys figuring it out because I look at their roster and they should be really good but in the preseason I think Cooley to me is a bit of found money for them but they need those guys to be found money for them all right to the philadelphia flyers and here's my question are they too good to be too bad no no you think that they're going to be that bad you think you think that they're going to be like like macklin celebrini bad i think they're going to be right in that conversation right really hey even given how John Tortorella squeezes every drop out of every team

and how Couturier's back and Konechny and look they've got talented guys and by putting wade allison on waivers and having brink and forrester make the team tortorella is saying if you don't deserve to be here you're not going to be here like he's he's setting the tone you're supposed to set on a rebuilding team he did that with cam york last year yes but that's true but you know the thing is in in the East, how many not good teams are there? Not many. Someone's going to have to lose these games. My only question, again, I'll come back to it. I think San Jose is going to be a bad team, but that's okay.

That's what they're supposed to be. They're in that conversation for the Cole Isermans of the world. I just don't know if Philadelphia is bad enough. Well, I think there's more bad teams in the West than there are in the East. Like in the East, there's Montreal, and I think they'll be better, but everybody else in their division is good.

And Philadelphia, I think the same thing i think i think they're going to compete harder than they did at times last year and i think they made some changes that are going to make them better but they're just starting over jeff and everybody else in their division is better than they are. Who are they going to beat? I'm not sold on Columbus at all, even though the blue line is better. I'm one of the Islanders skeptics as well. I look at the Islanders and I say all they added was another year to their birth certificates and Julian Gauthier.

Those are two. Like you, one of my I don't know teams. But how many points were they better than Philly last year? Oh, no, no. I understand all that. I'm just saying like. But my point is, how many teams is Philly going to beat in the East? I'm not going to say that they're going to surprise

because I don't think they can surprise. My only question is, are they going to be like, because don't forget, they're not just competing against teams in the Eastern Conference. I'm talking about being as bad as the San Jose Sharks. No, no, no. I know what you mean, but I'm talking about math. Okay. Okay.

And the math is that there's 16 teams in each conference, right? I understand. You have to lose all those games. Someone's got to. Yes. I think it's going to be Philly. What did you make of the summer of Breer and Jones? You know what I thought?

The biggest win they got is Mishkov. And Mishkov started the year in the KHL and he wasn't playing. And they moved him. I don't think that could have been easy for him to go back to Sochi, but he's played really well there. He's putting up numbers and that's a big win for Philly, a really big win for them. Look, I think this, I think they made some moves they had to make. They had to move on from Provorov. Kevin Hayes needed a new start too. They've still got some veterans here.

Tippett took a big step last year. Sean Couturier is back. Couturier is back. Sanheim was close to getting dealt. It didn't happen. So his extension kicks in. I think they're going to play hard. I do.

I think they're going to play really hard. And look, I think the fans believe in what they're talking about there. I just think that they've committed to a rebuild and their fans have bought in. All right. The other Keystone team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Man, did Kyle Dubas ever change this squad. And it's not just Eric Carlson either. It's Riley Smith.

It's Lars Eller. It's Noel Achari. It's Matt Nieto. It's Jansen Harkins. It's Ryan Graves. It's Alex Nedeljkovic. Dubas didn't get the job and do what a lot of other general managers do, and that is, well, you know,

I'm going to take some time and get acquainted with the organization and get to learn the play. No, there was none of that. It was business right away as he went about changing the look of this team. The core guys are all still there. Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Ross, et cetera. They're all still there, but a lot around them, Elliot has changed. Yes. There's no question about that I think Pittsburgh is going to be one of the more fascinating teams there you know what someone said to me about Carlson it's it's very interesting and they said that one of the biggest questions about him is going to be that when Carlson is on your team, there are things you have to put in around him

to make him successful. And that a lot of your offense has to revolve around him. He needs to be on a certain spot of the power play. He needs to be put in certain situations. You know, he's got good players around him, which is obviously very important. But the phrase that this guy said was and this is a former coach of his he just said that if you're not using Carlson a certain way you're wasting him and

it's a way that will take time and opportunity away from other good players it's not easy as a result you can have MVP or Norris trophy level seasons like he's had before but also put players in places where might hurt their productivity or might hurt theirs and the team's output it's a challenge they say it's not a knock against Carlson it's just the way it is with him you have to put him in positions to succeed in certain ways or else you're wasting him power play places on the ice I don't want to repeat myself so it's going to be interesting to see how that works with a lot of the penguins Letang, Crosby, Malkin and it's not it's not to say that these aren't team guys but it's just that it may affect some of the other places that some of their best players are put on and so that's

going to be interesting to watch because it hasn't always worked like it didn't work in San Jose for example it's not like these guys are trading Malkin or Crosby or Letang, but you have another guy there in Burns and they had to trade him and it still didn't work. The point is, is that it fools around with what you had. And you know what he said to me was,

it might be good for Pittsburgh because what they had didn't work last year. What they had lost two embarrassing games at the end of the season and they missed the playoffs so maybe that's what you're going for but it's it's a big big change I'll tell you the other thing too I had a really interesting conversation with someone about Dubas and he said to me Dubas has changed a lot in the last few years and I said how do you mean and he said that Dubas has changed a lot in the last few years. And I said, how do you mean? And he said that Dubas was a guy who was always like offense, offense, offense,

up and down his forwards. All four lines had to be about offense. And they said that he has changed to recognize that sometimes you need players out there where maybe it's not always about offense in the postseason but it's about nothing bad happens to you like basically nothing happens when they're on the ice and an example of that is Jensen Harkins where Dubas picked him up on waivers they said years ago that might not be the kind of guy that Dubas would ever have picked up on waivers. But when Harkins is on the ice,

it's not necessarily that good things happen to you at the NHL level, but bad things don't happen to you. And Dubas has become a lot more interested in picking up those kinds of players, even in Toronto. But now in Pittsburgh, if you look at some of the changes he made to their bottom six, there's a few guys like that. Not that they're great offensive players, but they're good at making sure you're at worst neutral when those guys are on the ice.

All right, last one here for the Metropolitan, the Washington Capitals, the much-talked-about Washington Capitals, who will have a healthy John Carlson in the mix this year? Well, I think that's one of the biggest improvements right away, right, is that they've got John Carlson back for the whole season. The guy who should have won the Norris Trophy last year because it proved what a good defenseman he was. Or should he have won the Vesna won the Norris trophy last year because it proved what a good defenseman

he was hmm or should he have won the heart because when he went out the caps went with him yeah you know I think the caps like they seem to be really happy under Carberry it's it's pretty obvious last year that LaViolette and them it just was oil and water last season it just didn't work and so they've got a new coach

who preaches offense um and is going to give uh and it has been ordered basically to find out if some of their young guys can play like if if you take a look at it connor mcmichael got a lot of minutes in the preseason which is what should happens and also matthew phillips i mean he was playing on the first line at the end of the preseason which is what should happen. And also Matthew Phillips, I mean, he was playing on the first line at the end of the preseason, which is what should happen. Find out what you got there. So it's obvious that they want some fresh blood. It's obvious that they're attempting to put some new players

in positions where they can be successful offensively. You know, to me, Backstrom and Kuznetsov, those are your one-two centers. Backstrom has said, I'm not talking about the injury anymore. He looks better. Does that hold up? And Kuznetsov, like I said in a previous pod, after that interview he did in Russia,

he has got to deliver this year. He has to deliver. And, you know, so look look like if your top two centers are backstrom even though backstrom is 35 and kuznetsov's 31 if those guys are anywhere close to what you hope from them you're gonna be fine if they're not you're gonna have problems the truth we'll see what happens with the capitals uh that's the metropolitan and with that we'll dovetail to the montana's thought line before we hit a break and get to the um atl That's the Metropolitan. And with that, we'll dovetail to the Montana's Thought Line before we hit a break and get to the Atlantic division.

The Montana's Thought Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Elliot, your line? Try the ribs. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232.

We'll start with the voicemail, and we're going to Buffalo for it. Hey, 32 Thoughts crew. This is Corey calling in. With the recent signing of Jamie Drysdale, I've been hearing a lot about how he's not arbitration eligible and how he was injured so much last year, and that kind of hurt him get his arbitration eligible and how he was injured so much last year and that kind of hurt him get his arbitration rights. I'm curious more about arbitration and what did he not do to not get

his arbitration rights? Is this something that has been brought up in CBA discussions before, like related to owners wanting to have more control over their players? Really, I'm kind of just curious more about how the rights for arbitration got determined, kind of what that means and how it impacts the development of players. Anyway, love the pod. Keep it up. Have a good one. Bye.

Corey, thank you. Good question, Corey. Yes. And we talked about this quite a bit, is that Drysdale, you have to have 10 games a year to what is called an accrued season and when you get to 10 games a year one year of your contract gets burned and you accrue a season towards salary arbitration drysdale missed by two last year so as a result uh instead of being one year away from salary arbitration, he was two years away. And the Ducks used that. They wielded the hammer in the CBA they had. I think they only offered

him a three-year deal. I don't think, look, nobody's going to tell me this exactly, but I don't think he was ever offered anything less than a three-year deal. Because I think if he was offered a one-year deal, he would have taken it. And I bet if we could go back, Drysdale would have taken his qualifying offer at one year when he had the opportunity in the summer. Basically, arbitration is negotiated in the CBA. And it's basically what it comes down to is

depends on how old you are when you sign a your first contract if you're between 18 to 20 as Drysdale was you have to have four years of 10 or more games and that drops when you're 21 it's three years and when you're 24 plus it's one year so it comes down to how old you are and how many times you play 10 or more games in a season. That's collectively bargained. That's the answer. The fact that Drysdale didn't get 10 games last year, it pushed them back a year. Excellent. Thank you so much for the phone call.

From there, we go to Cam in Chilliwack. Thinking about the Dallas Stars and some of their players who are locked into some tough contracts. If a team still likes the player but hates the contract, can they possibly reimburse another team with a pick if they're willing to take some of the cash from that contract? Cap cash again, Elliot. Example, Dallas likes Sagan, but he's making almost $10 million.

Arizona accepts to take on $3 million of Sagan's contract in exchange for Dallas' third rounder. Now, under the question here, who's getting the player? No, Dallas is keeping the player. No, it's a great idea, but it's not allowed. I know. Again, we've talked so much about the cap cash idea.

Oh, we'll take $3 million of that deal, so the hit's only $7 million, but you give up a third round draft pick in the process yeah very creative cam we do love cap cash questions um to elliot's point no you can't do that not under this cba creative though hey freach very creative i love the idea i love the idea. It's the Montana's Thought Line. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232.

Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. We're back talking about the Atlantic in moments. Okay, welcome back to the podcast. We saved the Atlantic Division here for the end, which is the Bruins, the Sabres, the Wings, the Panthers, the Habs, the Sens, the Bolts, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. I think a lot of people, Elliot, will like the fact that we left them last. We'll start with the Boston Bruins and the headline story around the Bees. Obviously, the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

21 players in the offseason filed their retirement papers. And you can make the argument, the two biggest, Patrice Ber the hall of fame awaits and david kreitsche yeah i have to tell you jeff i've got a number of people who believe that after watching the bruins in the preseason they're not going to be as bad off as some originally thought they were like i don't know how bad some people thought the bruins were going to be but if anybody thought they were going to go in a massive tailspin based on the way it went I got I got a few people pushing back on that narrative now I do think one of the things to watch look they've got they're going to have Coyle playing center they're going to have Zaka playing center we're going to have Poitras is a very intriguing young player starting the year at a great preseason

let's see how this goes maybe john beecher too maybe john beecher yes i remember when beecher was drafted he looked like a massive kid yeah michigan we'll see how this all goes but as long as there are players like shifley and Lindholm unsigned, Boston's going to be lurking. Now, I don't know how much they have to trade, and people are going to start asking them about Poitras, which they're going to say no to. But look what they did with Lindholm.

Traded and signed him, right? Holm traded and signed him right everybody thinks that it's gonna be like that for Boston they're gonna target one of these guys who's available they're gonna trade for them and they're gonna sign them and until that ends one way or the other either those players resigning or it happening, that rumor is going to be out there. You're going to hear that a lot. Like I said, I think that's going to be hanging over them. But the bottom line, I honestly think, based on people who have watched them, is that they're going to be okay. And it's also going to be interesting to see what they do with DeBrusque. to see you know what they do with the brusque he's due for a new deal grizzly is due for a new deal

and swimming now look that's huge in the summer there was a lot of focus on whether or not all mark would be dealt and it didn't happen i also think there were teams that spoke to Boston about Swayman that obviously didn't happen and I think we have to remember here that almost everybody gets talked about in trade in this league especially by an organization like Boston so they didn't do it I'm not even sure they are going to do it but I think they at least had teams call them about it would you consider doing that i like i said i think the big one's gonna be they're gonna go out and they're gonna find another center the question is who is it gonna be and when all right buffalo sabers uh you know there are some teams uh in this division that a lot of people wonder about. Are they ready to take the next step? We're going to get to Detroit.

We're going to get to Ottawa. But first, the Buffalo Sabres. I know there's the three-headed monster right now in net. Jack Quinn and the injury. A couple of young prospects making a lot of noise. Hello, Savoy. Hello, Benson. Your thoughts on the Buffalo Sabres?

Big day for the Sabres big day no question huge day for them big deal for Darlene first of all I think he's a great player and you've heard me say this many times if he's a cornerstone of your team get him signed for as long as you can because the price will never go down I wouldn't be surprised surprised to see Deline win at least one Norris trophy during this. And I think he is a cornerstone franchise player. The interesting thing for me, and we'll see if this comes up in the aftermath of the conversation into signing this deal is, when Matthew signed for four years, I had heard that there were some other players that were considering this option,

that maybe their next deal would be a shorter-term deal so they could get one more big one before their careers ended. Now, it was being reported back in June he was going to sign for 8x10.5 basically on July 1st, and it took until the day before the season started really to get it done at eight times 11 I don't think there was any doubt Delene was going to extend in Buffalo I don't believe that was ever a question I don't think he was considering any other option but what I do wonder about was did he consider or five years and then another big one after?

And I'm curious as if that was one of the reasons it took this long. I would say this too. I do think there are some players who are considering that option. I'll be curious to see if Darlene was one of them. I'm sure there will be others. I know people are going to ask about Owen Power. Darlene was one of them. I'm sure there will be others. I know people are going to ask about Owen Power. As far as I'm concerned, I had heard it wasn't as far along.

Again, I don't think there's anything for Sabres fans to worry about here, but I just hadn't heard it was as far along as Darlene was. Of course, it probably means at the moment we drop this pod, Power is going to sign. I say this every year. I really hope the Buffalo Sabres are good, like legit good. I grew up in Southwestern Ontario, as did you. I grew up watching the Buffalo Sabres with the voice of Ted Darling. And that is a team that's near and dear to my heart by way of my youth. And that is a team that's near and dear to my heart by way of my youth. Let me ask you this question.

If the Sabres are going to be good this year and make the playoffs, what has to happen? Well, obviously, I think the goaltending has to hold up. You know, Levi is going to get a full season. If he's the number one guy, does he do it? You know, other than that, I really don't have a ton of questions. I think they have a lot of really good players. You know, Casey Middlestad had a great finish last year. Can he continue that? Benson and Savoy, like, what are we going to have here?

Is Peyton Krebs going to fight Sidney Crosby four times this season? Who had Sidney Crosby drops the glove in a preseason game on their bingo card? I loved it. I loved it for Krebs too. Everyone knows him now. Oh, yeah. You know, I really like this team. I like this team a lot.

They're real good, and they're young, and they've got even more good young players coming either from various junior organizations, college hockey, or the Rochester Americans. This is a real good organization right now. Absolutely. All right. From the Buffalo Sabres, we'll go to the Detroit Red Wings. And listen, we saw another summer where Steve Iserman said we're putting players on this team and here comes Alex the Brinkett and here comes JT Comfer and Clem Koston and Daniel Sprong and Jeff Petrie like etc Shane Gostisbear interesting offseason once again for Steve Iserman what do we read into all of it?

See, I don't think they're as advanced as Ottawa and Buffalo. Everybody talks about the big leap that Buffalo and Detroit and Ottawa are going to make. I'm not as convinced about the Red Wings as I am about the other two. I think they'll be better. I think Debrinket will be very, very good there. I think that he's going to be happy. It just wasn't a good mix in Ottawa last year. I don't think Debrinket liked the way they played.

I don't think that'll be a problem for him here. I think he will definitely help. I just, like, who, are they better than Toronto? I'd say no. Are they better than Tampa? I'd say no. Are they better than Florida? I mean, Florida's Are they better than Tampa? I'd say no. Are they better than Florida?

I mean, Florida's really dinged up, but I'd still say no. Are they better than Montreal? I'd say yes. Are they better than Ottawa and Buffalo? I'd say no. Are they better than Boston? I'd say no. So the problem I have is I just don't see four or five teams and they're better than.

I think Lucas Raymond, I think this is a big big year for lucas raymond i think this is a big year for joe valeno i think this is a big year for michael rasmussen you know i i think you know i i i just think some of those guys offensively like that's another thing that we talked about game breakers earlier how many true game breakers do they have they may have one here in the brinkett yeah to brink it is absolutely i think potentially but i think they need one of their younger players to become a game breaker and and i think they have a lot of good solid players they need game breakers more of them and i think that's what when you compare them to some of the other teams in that division,

I don't think they have the scoring game breakers that those other teams do. And I think they've got a hope that maybe Raymond can become one. You know what you're going to get out of Dylan Larkin. It'll be interesting to see what's going to happen this year with the Detroit Red Wings. All right, you mentioned the Florida Panthers a couple of seconds ago. This is a team that, as we've talked about previous mentioned the Florida Panthers a couple of seconds ago. This is a team that,

as we've talked about previous and we've mentioned here a couple of different times, has been ravaged by injuries, specifically on the back end. And we've gone over all of that before, whether it's Aaron Ekblad or Brandon Montour.

And Montour just had such a monster season last year for this team. And Ekblad's position is well told. How do you think this team does? We've got to throw Sam Bennett now into that injury equation too. What do you say about the Panthers' kickoff this season, coming off a Stanley Cup final appearance? Well, first of all, I agree with their decision on Spencer Knight. I think it was the

right thing to do get them going and then worry about bringing them up i i think they've made the prudent move there secondly and and i just think it's about can they tread water enough early you know kachok and barkov you know those guys are going to show up ready to play that's the big question to me is they have to tread water early they can't drown they just can't fall behind and you see where they're going to be missing a lot of offense early I mean on their blue line it's both offense and defense from their blue line that they're going to be missing early so how how can they get through that? Can Bobrovsky and Stolarz, because as we know now, Stolarz is going to need to play. Like when you have

Bobrovsky, you can't play that guy 25 games in a row. So can their goaltending carry them? Is Bobrovsky as hot to start the year as he was to finish the year? Like I think the Panthers are one of the teams that really wants Patrick Kane. I've heard that they were very, very aggressive in making it known that they were interested. But I think Patrick Kane, when he's ready, is going to pick his team based on how everybody looks. So, and it's a tough challenge for Florida compared to some other teams just because of who's going to be out of the lineup.

Now, they're saying, you know, potentially December for a couple of these guys. We'll see. I think you always set the bar high and hope they come back early. But those guys went through an awful lot physically and gave everything they could to the team. So, like, that's just when I look at Florida, I see no reason they can't be a real handful for some teams but it just all depends on how they get through the first two months of the season all right from the Florida Panthers

as we blaze through teams here to wrap up another edition of 32 thoughts the podcast we dovetail to the Montreal Canadiens a team still accruing still picking up either draft capital or prospects, the Montreal Canadiens, Elliott. Well, you know, again, this team, I think they'll be better than they were last year. I just, I don't see a team in this division that they're better than. I thought they made a really interesting decision to put Armia on waivers.

To me, that was a real message sender from them. This is a guy who's due 3.4 million this year and next and they put him on waivers to start the year. Like that's trying them trying to establish some kind of culture. You know I think who takes a leap this year? Harris. you know that's that's one guy i'm looking at does he take a leap this year ghouli looked really good until he got hurt last year jack eye kova savic jack shooting pucks through nets ellie yes you know the big one is slavkovsky and i plead patience with that guy i don't think it's the end of the world if he starts the year in the American Hockey League I don't think that's a bad thing Newhook is another one

I'm looking at this year Kirby Dock like I look at guys like um like Gallagher still a heart and soul player still important in their group but I think they're going to have to reach a point in the next year or two where they're going to have to de-emphasize him a bit in how much he plays and you can't worry about the money the money's the money but guys are going to have to pass him on the death chart who's going to push him down a little bit and again it's not a shot at Gallagher. It's just he's 31 years old. By the time this team's good again and all of the hard miles he's put on this body, you've almost got to be saying for this team to get better, there's somebody who's got to try to push him down the lineup a little bit.

And people are going to say I'm insulting him. He might think that. It's not what I mean. It's simply that I mean that for this team to become better somebody's got to surpass them I don't worry about their best players for obvious reasons I think those guys are really good players who will deliver but I think you're you're reaching a point where you know it's like we talked about with some of these other teams their young guys have to start and I'm not talking Suzuki Caulfield I'm talking with some of these other teams, their young guys have to start,

and I'm not talking Suzuki Caulfield, I'm talking about some of the other players, they've got to start taking control of their spots in the lineup. Listen, to me, I'm really curious to see Alex Nohook with all these opportunities and all these players like Nick Suzuki to play with specifically. That, to me, will be a fascinating one to watch for the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa Senators, I know you like the Sens.

I do. I know, Elliot, you like the Sens. How much do you like the Sens? Do you like them in the playoffs, Elliot Friedman? I like them enough to predict DJ Smith as coach of the year. Saw that. Interesting. I like to try some things, and I think he could be that of the year. Saw that. Interesting. I like to try some things,

and I think he could be that guy this year. Look, the Norris thing, I get 10% of things right and 90% of things wrong, but one thing I generally tend to be right about, unfortunately, is when there is uncertain injury news at the beginning of the preseason, it's a really bad sign. And we've seen that with Norris.

And I believe that kid wants to play. I think there's a lot of nervousness. Like, I do think it has been broached. I'm not saying this is what's going to happen. I think we'll find out in the next couple of days but i do think the conversation about starting him on ltir has occurred and i don't think it's what anyone wants to do but i think everyone here is trying to figure out the best answer and if that happens they do have a temporary solution for shane pinto you know the shane pinto thing now and yes it's it's a bit of a squeeze like i think like i report a week ago that they offered him one

times one for the year and pinto was upset i think on a two-year deal this is what another team told me they think it is, okay? On a two-year deal, Pinto started at 2-5 and the Senators started at 1-9, okay? Now, don't go goofy about those numbers. Like, never negotiate against yourself. It's the Senators' job to put the goalpost in at one end and Pinto's job and his agent's job to put the goalpost in at the other end. And eventually, you move together. And what I think is going on here is that, like, I think they're not far away from each other. They can't be, they're just not, I don't think. But I think that you get to a point, if you've been in a negotiation listening to this, you know what this is, is that both sides think they've given and now it becomes, well, I'm not giving anymore.

I've given enough. I'm not giving anymore. And I think both sides are like that and they're close. And I think they eventually will get there. Again, as we record this on Sunday night, I don't believe Pinto has come anywhere close to asking for a trade. I think they're frustrated. I think the senators are frustrated, but I think this guy wants to be a Senator. And I don't think the Senators have seriously considered trading him. I think they see the value in Pinto. It's just a matter of getting there, right? But look, I think this team is really good.

I thought the goaltenders both looked really good in the preseason, Corposalo and Forsberg, which was a really good sign for them. I thought Shabbat played really well in this off wing. I tend to listen to Adam Oates on this. I'm not a big fan of it, but if you have to do it, you know we did a really good job. The two guys who I think deserve a lot of credit in the preseason are Joseph and Brandstrom, because I think both those guys knew

that if Ottawa had to make a trade, they were in the middle of it, and I think both those guys knew that if Ottawa had to make a trade, they were in the middle of it. And I thought both those guys played really well. Like, you know, sometimes you wonder how aware players are about the noise. You know, Brandstrom in particular, he's still trying to establish himself as a solid NHL-er. And I thought that both those guys delivered. Like, I think Ottawa looks at both cases right now and they're like, eh, we don't really want to trade either of these guys because of, you know,

how good they looked and how hard they played. But you know, you got to figure out the Norris thing. You thought you were starting this year with Stutzla, Norris, Pinto down the middle. And you're like, I can handle that. I'll, I'll take that into a game against anyone. Well, you've, down the middle, and you're like, I can handle that.

I'll take that into a game against anyone. Well, you've got Stutzla. You're really uncertain on Norris now, unfortunately, and you don't have Pinto, although I think that one's going to work itself out. I think Otto was really good. It's just they've got to figure this thing out down the middle. And you know what? I think with Norris, you know, I wrote it last week,

and I really believe it. You have to put him in position to succeed. And if that means you don't start the year with him for a while, this is an eight-year commitment, that's what you have to do. This team's going to be good for a while. It's not as if this is the cup or bust year for the Ottawa Senators. Tampa Bay Lightning, and with the Andre Vasilevsky injury, we wonder that by the time this podcast comes out, which will be Monday, we'll all be wondering if the Tampa Bay Lightning put

in a claim for a net minder or they start the season with Jonas Johansson as their starting net minder. That's a big story. The net minding, the Stephen Stamkos contract situation is a big story around the Tampa Bay Lightning. You've always talked about how it's the fool that bets against the Tampa Bay Lightning. What says you about the Tampa Bay Lightning? Last week, we did Burning Questions, David Amber's worst segment on Leaf Regional Games that I do with Justin and Nick.

And one of the questions was supposed to be, what's the biggest story for Tampa, Vasilevsky or Stamkos? And my answer was Vasilevsky now and Stamkos later. And, you know, I still feel that way. You know, I do think it's really interesting how Tampa has rallied around Johansson. Like they've been pumping him up. Like the Tampa social team, those people who run Tampa social, and I don't know who they are, they are really earning their pay,

pumping up Johansson since Vasilevsky's injury like he's had a couple shutouts so it really helps but they've been even before he had his first shutout they've been pumping him up non-stop i i kind of like that i don't even know if he knows but i like that i think that's that's good team building you know martin jones on waivers everybody's talking about him someone pointed out to me and i wrote this last week, Tampa's American League team Syracuse was up on Rochester 2-0 last year in the AHL playoffs. And Malcolm Subban stood on his head and he almost single-handedly beat them. And they came back and they won three in a row. And Malcolm Subban's also on waivers. and they won three in a row, and Malcolm Subban's also on waivers. It's also interesting how many teams, at least right now, have kept three goalies.

Buffalo has, Detroit has, a couple other teams have because they seem to be frightened of the lightning here. I've had both takes on this one with Brisebois. Number one, that he'll do anything to win so if he sees a guy that helps him he'll take him number two he's so confident in his belief in someone that he'll say no I can win with Johansson we signed him for a reason and I'm gonna prove it to you all we'll see someone I know who follows the analytics and the AHL says that if you look at Johansson historically,

his numbers compared to a lot of other guys who are on, who are going to be on waivers or who are twos and threes around the NHL, like his numbers are not that far off. They say he can give up crushing goals, which is the killer for him. He makes unbelievable saves and then he gives up bad goals but if you're an overall number person a lot of the two threes their numbers aren't far off i just think their team is too good i do i there's a lot of people writing them off they finally got rest you know they're gonna come back angry and i think they're too good to write off and you know vasilevsky with two months rest it might not be the worst thing for that guy

it's an excellent point um listen uh they may end up picking up martin jones who was placed on waivers by our last team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Expectations, once again, high. They shake off the curse that was the first round of the playoffs last season by defeating Tampa. Your thoughts on Austin Matthews and company. And of course, we talk about shadows cast over a team. There's the Nylander question.

Last podcast, we wondered about the Maple Leafs' back end and how different it'll look come trade deadline time than it does right now. Your thoughts on the Maple Leafs. We'll finish up with them in the Atlantic. One injury could change everything here, Jeff. But of the four teams in the Atlantic that made the playoffs last year,

they should be the best of them to start the year. No Vasilevsky for Tampa. Boston, even though I don't think they're going to be as rudderless as some seem to believe, Toronto's better than them. And Florida's really beaten up. I think Toronto should get off to a great start and be in an excellent position to win this division at the start of the year. They should get out fast.

They don't have the excuses that some of the teams in their division have. I think they should start well, and I think they should be in excellent position to win the division a couple months in. And if they're not, we're all going to be sitting here and saying, what exactly is going wrong here? As you said, I'm curious to see who's going to be the defense change.

I do think when Lafferty was available and they traded him to Vancouver, I think Edmonton's a team that liked Lafferty and I wouldn't be surprised if Toronto called the Oilers about Lafferty and fished around Desjardins. Now I don't think the Oilers would do that number one I don't think it works cap wise number two the Oilers have some defense health questions to start the year. And number three, I think Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson really like DNA. He's like a personal project of theirs. Yep.

But that's the kind of player I could see Toronto fishing around on this year and doing it at this time. I also wonder who's going to be the number one goalie at the end of the year in Toronto. Is it going to be Wool? Is it going to be Samsonov? I mean, if Jones clears, is it going to be him? By the way, someone told me the arbitration refund on Samsonov was really tough. Like they've all said that they're all, everything's okay.

And even Samsonov said he understands it's a business, but that was some brief apparently. Was it as bad as Mike Milbury making Tommy Sallow cry? I don't think it was. I don't think it was that, but you know, a couple of people told me about it. I think Toronto should be good. Of all those teams, you even throw Ottawa in there

with what's going on in the middle. Aside from really Buffalo, they're the healthiest team in that division who's expected to be good, right? So if that's what you're predicting uh if you're betting on hockey uh montreal beats toronto on wednesday five to two in the oh that's that's a definite like that's that's a definite look nice looks like an absolute hit um the minute thing i mean we'll see how long that goes but again it's to, it's like Cooley or even what Philly did. Give your team a jolt.

The players know who deserves to make the team, right? And I think that'll give Toronto a really good jolt. Whenever somebody makes the team in an unexpected way, I think that's a good thing for you. You know, Riley not being on the power play, for one, I think Klingberg's a power play wizard. For another, I think that'll help Riley. I'm wondering if Giordano at some point,

like he played a lot last year and then he kind of faded a bit in the playoffs, which is perfectly understandable at 40. He doesn't like when we talk about this, but I wonder if they find time to spell him a little bit. playoffs which is perfectly understandable at 40 he doesn't like when we talk about this but i i wonder if they find time to spell him a little bit you know the one thing i wonder about here is robertson if he doesn't make the team i'm wondering if they're just gonna have to find somewhere else to give him a fresh start because i think gregor is gonna get signed

mm-hmm well i mean how much was that sam Lafferty deal reflective of the performance of Noah Gregor? Yeah, I think that was 100% because he's going to come in at, what, $400,000 less? He's coming in cheaper. Yes, $350,000. So I absolutely think that. All right. There's your preview. 32 teams in more than two hours we tried to keep it we are going to delete this podcast from your feeds in two weeks so you can't remember any of the horrible takes forget all the horrible takes remember all the good ones hey listen preseason is done uh the real action is on the horizon. All gets underway Tuesday at 5.30 Eastern.

Early start, folks. The Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Nashville Predators. Watch that one on Sportsnet. The Pittsburgh Penguins taking on Conor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. Yes, you get Bedard versus Crosby. That one, 8 o'clock Eastern. Watch that on Sportsnet. Also on Sportsnet, the nightcap game. The Vegas Golden Knights

defending Stanley Cup champions raise it up against the Seattle Kraken. So three big games on Tuesday, and then we are off to the races. Your next podcast coming at you on Friday morning as per usual. On behalf of the whole crew, Merrick signing off. Thanks for listening once again to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. We'll chat with you again on Friday.