32 Thoughts: The Podcast - 32 Trade Deadline Preview Thoughts

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman tap into every team in the NHL and provide a preview of what to expect from each of them ahead of Friday's trade deadline. Western Conference:Anaheim ( 3:11)Calgary (9:19)Chicago (15:17)Colorado (21:48)Dallas (24:45)Edmonton (29:01)LA (39:20)Minnesota (42:50)Nashville (47:53)San Jose (52:28)Seattle (58:05)St Louis (1:01:19)Utah (1:06:45)Vancouver (1:10:08)Vegas (1:20:28)Winnipeg (1:25:56)Eastern Conference:Boston (1:32:59)Buffalo (1:39:12)Carolina (1:44:27)Columbus (1:50:24)Detroit (1:56:50)Florida (2:00:50)Montreal (2:04:40)New Jersey (2:08:12)New York Islanders (2:11:27)New York Rangers (2:17:07)Ottawa (2:20:49)Philadelphia (2:25:28)Pittsburgh (2:32:40)Tampa Bay (2:36:02)Toronto (2:39:55)Washington (2:44:30)Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.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

I just want to make sure you didn't start a fiasco. No, no, no, sorry. I meant more so his name just in terms of the interest level. Don, make that the title of the pod, Bukowskis. I'm hearing Mischal's name a lot. Yeah, that would be great. And then you have to go through two hours into this episode to hear it. For real. For real.

Welcome to a double VHS episode of 32 Thoughts the Podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X. Tom Schamade is our producer. Elliot and Kyle here with you as well. Buckle up. This will be a long one

Elliot. Our biannual tour through all 32 teams just days away from the NHL trade deadline this Friday. First off, how are you feeling right now? You know, I got up on Sunday morning. I had a nice little sleep in. Thank you for asking Kyle. I watched some Shane Gillis clips. I watched a little bit of Tate McCray clips. I'm in a great mood. I love Shane Gillis and ever since the All-Star Game in Toronto I've become a big Tate McCray stan. Beautiful. Two terrific entertainers as two okay podcast

hosts guide you through each team of the league. By the way, how was the Hamburglar? I really like Andrew. He's a good guy. Yeah, really cool. He got a really nice ovation Saturday night when they brought him out for the opening faceoff. That was, there's a lot of core memories for me during that run. Like that was my first real full season of covering the NHL, though I wasn't a ringside

host back then. So it's like going through that, I remember at the time going, is every season like this? The answer was no. So it was neat to reminisce a little bit and great to see him and good to know that the Senators fan base, I still remember those few months really fondly. Yeah, they did a great job.

They did a great job welcoming him back. It was really nice to see. I only have one question for you. Are you a Curtis Lazar? If somebody threw a hamburger on the ice would you eat it? I? Don't know if I Know I don't know if I could I love a good burger But I don't know if I would there by the way did you see and I scored for the devil's you scored for the devil's Saturday Really like I didn't even realize that you should have been hammering the Curtis Lazar anytime goal

on Saturday night with Hammond being honored in Ottawa that was an automatic there is something divine about that that yes Curtis Lazar scoring on hamburger night but I have to say I've seen you late at night after a couple of beers there is no doubt in my mind you would eat a hamburger off the ground. Okay. Situationally, if we're at the wee hours of the night after recording one of these bad boys. Zero doubt in my mind.

Zero doubt. Yeah, you got me there. All right. Why don't we get into this? Because we've got a lot to get through. So we're going to go through each team here. We'll begin in the Western Conference. We'll take a break and then come back and

finish with the East. We'll kind of go through things alphabetically here for each. So why don't we begin in Anaheim who have been on the fringes of the playoff race a few times the last little while. That was a tough loss to Chicago on Saturday. Do they look to move on from some expiring deals, i.e. Duhamelin. How is Pat Verbeek approaching everything here with the deadline looming? So Anaheim was close. Bad loss on Saturday night. Mm-hmm. I understand that you can lose games. However, I don't think you can lose games like that. At this time of year, you know, Chicago, they just had a big trade. You've got to jump on them. You've

got to take advantage of them. And then to lose a game like that, it just shows you've got a lot of work to do. Anaheim, that's a team that wants to take a jump. We've talked about this with Verbeek. They took their shots last year at Stamkos and Marcia, so didn't get them. So it says to me that Verbeek, he wants to move things forward. So I think he's always looking at it like, if he can add a big piece that makes them better, he's always looking at it like if he can add a big piece that makes them better he's gonna go for it and the other thing too about the Ducks is Verbeek has pieces that he can move for good players so you know you look at Zygres you look at Gibson who they've been trying to move for a while.

You look at some of their young D. He's got more coming. I just think that Verbeek, when I look at him, I don't look at trade deadline. I look at overall, does something big that could advance them happen? He'll do it. So I think it's more big picture. Now, I think other things Anaheim's dealing with. Number one, Gibson. There's two issues with Gibson. The first is that the Ducks have asked for a lot and so far it's not a price people are

willing to pay. And second, Gibson's health. Gibson has got to stay healthy. Again, this week he gets hurt in that game against Boston, knocks him out for a couple of games, it just makes people nervous. If you're going to have to give up something to get John Gibson, you want to know he's healthy, and that's a problem. I think on his blue line They've got guys who Young players who don't get to play all the time mint you cough Zellweger Those kind of those guys are kind of like home has carved out a spot that kid looks like he's a hell of a player

But mint you cough and Zellweger are talented young guys One comes in one goes out. I think it's been hard on both those players I'm not sure verbeek is entirely sympathetic. I think he looks at it as it has to be hard You don't just get your spot you have to carve out your spot and stay in the lineup But I think he also is recognized a bit that those kids have to play and they're not AHLers anymore. So I'm curious to see on the left side,

does he clear up the log jam a bit so all of them can play? And that would mean moving Dumalin. You know, Dumalin, I think is a guy, I do think they've talked to him a little bit about an extension. I don't know where that's going to go, but I could see Dumalin being a player that teams

looking for a depth D. I mean, he's a veteran. He knows what he needs to do. I'm curious to see if the Ducks move him somewhere to a good team that needs a little bit of left defense help and clears up that blue line for them. Up front, again, I think he'll try to get a big forward. You know, I look at their group and I think just like the biggest question is, is Zygrass. I think everybody wonders, like I think, I thought it was interesting last week that Cronin

Came to Zegris's defense when he got suspended. He said I think Whether or not the numbers look good or not. I think he's come a long way I do think a lot of people feel that way that Zegris has really worked hard to do what Anaheim wants him to do But that to me is probably the number one question up front is what is Zegras's future there? So that's the kind of stuff I look at with Anaheim And would you say Pat Verbeek is the kind of guy that if he's gonna set a high price for one of his assets He does not move from it typically Yes, it's it's rare he doesn't he doesn't move very much. I think of verbeaks gotten criticism

It's that he hasn't leveraged Situations enough like Jacob Truba people felt he should have gotten More right that he should have extorted more out of the Rangers to take Truba. I think if there's one criticism of Verbeek, it's that he doesn't leverage situations enough. Number one, the Truba, they felt he should have gotten more from the Rangers to acquire Truba. The HUSA one's a little bit different

in the sense that the Ducks were running out of goalies with Gibson Hurt and in the American Hockey League and they really wanted to increase their depth. But again, I think the Detroit would have really liked to get that money off their cap and their just overall cash budget was down to a million dollars but that's the thing that verbeek takes heat for but other than that he sets high prices and he demands you meet them all right so a few things to keep an eye on there in anaheim meanwhile in calgary they were sellers a year ago elliot now they're right in the thick of the playoff race in the west. The Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee trade over a month ago, Craig Conroy trying to improve

the team in the here and now as well as keep an eye on the future. He told our Eric Francis last week, the plan is the plan. So how active do you anticipate Conroy to be over the next few days? You know I think that Conroy has made it very clear that his his veterans the Coleman's the Cadreys the Weavers the Andersons they're not going anywhere you know they've it's been a bit of a tough week for them they they moved into a playoff position and then they moved out. They've had a couple of hard losses but they're still there. They're in the race and I think that's important to the Flames. I also believe that they want their young players Their young players who are gonna be a big part of their team in the future the Coronado's

the Zaris You know pospicell I'd say is another one of those guys They want those guys playing important games Dustin wolf. I think that's also really good for him Let wolf play important games. They believe it matters and I do agree with that. Now I've had some people say to me, you know, hey, look at the prices right now. Look at what teams are getting in return for some of these trades. They've got to move these guys.

I don't think those prices necessarily are going to be coming down in the summer. I think Calgary, if they want to, you know, people who like Rasmus Anderson, I don't know that they're going to like him any less in the summer, as long as he continues to play well. I think the same thing goes for Cadbury. I think the same thing goes for some of these other players. If you want to revisit it in the summer, I think you're still going to have interest for these guys. Unless Calgary gets absolutely blown out of the water, I can't see Conroy changing his mind. You know what? One thing I should say here Kyle is, I should clarify all of this was saying, all it takes is one phone call to change everything. Maybe also Conroy in

addition to the team getting blown out of the water, he looks at it and gets an offer that he says, wow I wasn't expecting this. Things can always change. But unless something really strange happens, Conroy has been adamant that that's his plan and he's going to stick to that. The other thing too is you look at the West around them, Vancouver's struggling, St. Louis's hot, Utah's hot, but nobody here has consistently pulled away with any of this, right? So the other thing the Flames could do is say, you know what, maybe we have a rough week but is anyone really going to knock us out of this?

So I think there's all of that. Other than that, Kyle, things to keep a look on in Calgary. I think they're trying to find a place for Miro Manov. He's not really playing. He's still a pretty young guy, wants to play. I think that they probably try to find somewhere for him. And I'll say this, I think if there's a player on their team who other teams will look at, it is Team Canada Four Nations member Joel Hanley. And you know, he's, he's a really solid player. He just is a really solid player. And I, that's right, Nacho. So Derek

Laxtel, he was the coach for AHL Texas, and later in Dallas an assistant coach when Hanley played there and Apparently he was always Butchering names and he was calling him Joe Hanley And so the guy said to him, it's not Joe So he started calling him nacho, which is nacho. That's where he got it. That's how it started. Yes. Wow. Yes.

Good work getting to the bottom of that. Yes. That's great. Someone was good enough to send me the information. I think that's hilarious. But like Hanley, to me, he's a solid player. He doesn't cost a lot of money. He's a good depth guy.

But I could see the flame saying saying, nope, you know, we like this, we're happy with this player, we're still in it. You know, I think the other thing too is, and this is not a small thing, Craig Conroy looks at the Flames like they have had so much upheaval and their dressing room has seen so much craziness in the last couple years. He was a player. He understands. You want to give your veterans in your room a reason to believe in the organization. I think Conroy is thinking about that too. After all of the craziness of the last couple years, he wants the players to understand that the organization is moving in a proper

direction. You know you have to think as a GM but you also have to think sometimes as a player. I think Conroy is really trying to walk that line. And it's tough to beat for a young team just the experience of being right in the thick of the fight down the stretch. It doesn't always guarantee anything going forward, but man, the opportunity to do that, that's got to be a tough one to pass up. I think that matters. I agree. Yeah, for sure. All right, Elliott, Chicago. So the biggest news of the weekend, the Seth Jones trade. Him and a 2026 fourth the Florida for Spencer Knight coming back

to the Blackhawks and a first round pick in 2026 although there are some protections on that but so first of all I've got to get to I'm watching the intermission segment when you burst onto the set to break the news of the deal and I'm watching Ron and Kevin and Jennifer and Luke on the desk and you walking around holding on to a wireless microphone. I like it was a scene out of a Las Vegas lounge singer. You're out there now working the crowd. Nothing but Star Wars. It's like Ed, what's your name? Oh Ron and Ron where are you from? Red Deer, I've never seen one of those before. And tell us about your friends here.

It was unbelievable. That was a great, great, great scene. So you know where I work on Saturday night in that little boardroom area there, right? Yeah, it was neat that they showed that too. I didn't actually realize when it went on the air. Like they're like, can we come in there and take a shot of you?

And I was like, okay, just don't show my phone. Like, that's the one thing I said. And also, I was like, there'll be no audio of this, right? Because like, that's the worst thing, you accidentally reveal a source or something like that, doing something on those, doing like one of those shots. So anyway, so I tweeted out the Jones thing was coming down and they're like, go in.

And I was like, I don't know that it's 100% done yet. And they're like, we don't care, go in. And so I was kind of disheveled, and I walked in there, and I think one of my shirt buttons was undone, and my buddies were killing me. They were like, can you not look in a mirror before you go on the set? And it was funny because Kevin asked about the return

and I wasn't 100% in the moment. I knew it, I was pretty sure it was night plus, but the worst thing is you completely blow that segment by going on the air and saying, you know what, it's this and it doesn't turn out to be that. So, I mean, look, like I guess it was good TV, that's the most important thing. Ron and Brian Spear, the producer, were really happy with it, but it was really a whirlwind. Like that whole night was really a whirlwind. I have to say that

I thought Chicago did as well as they could do in that trade. Like basically I think Jones Had indicated he it was two teams. It was Florida or Dallas and I just don't think Dallas was gonna be able to do it I think everybody understands why Seth Jones would want to go to Dallas. He's from there The lot when he was when he was being moved from Columbus to Chicago. That was another team that he wanted to go to. But Dallas, just it wasn't something they were capable of doing. So it was it was really only one team that they could deal with and that was Florida. And you know I'll say this, I think Spencer Knight, you know I think that's a great, I don't know how much better they could have done in terms of a young player.

Like they said, we need a young player who's ready. And Spencer Knight has been behind one of the great preparers of all time in Sergei Bobrowski, like a really determined guy who's out on the ice every morning, like he's seen all the good habits. You know, he's not going to be behind his good team now, obviously, but nobody has ever doubted Spencer Knight's talent. I understand he's excited to go. I understand he's excited about the opportunity.

That's the kind of player that I would say this, if people heard that Seth Jones was going to Florida, I would have bet that there were people out there who wouldn't have thought the return was gonna be that good. So, you're in a really tough spot, the player wants out, he's spoken publicly, you do not have a lot of control of the situation, other than just saying, no, we're not going to do this. And you got a really good young player. We'll get to the Florida end of the deal and we get to them, but I think Knight is a good

piece for them. There's some debate about what Florida will decide to do. Will they eventually give them a 26 pick or a 27th pick? You assume it's gonna be late. Florida with this trade is sending a message they're always gonna be going for it but that 26 draft is a good draft and even if it's a later pick you'll take it. Did you notice who was wearing an alternate captain letter on Saturday night? Well you know what? I'm gonna take a wild guess because I was working the game in who was wearing an alternate captain letter on Saturday night.

You know what? I take a wild guess because I was working the game in Ottawa. Was it Connor Bedard? Yes. I thought that was very interesting. I don't mind that either. I you know, there's there's nothing wrong with telling your franchise player. We're going to ask you for a little more responsibility here. I don't mind that at all. I think that's a really, really smart move. Now the Blackhawks have no more retention spots for this season.

No more. So any trade they make, they got to keep all of it and they can't do any more three ways. They, they are retentioned out. And now I think we're going to watch, you know, the one thing about Jones is no matter what you feel about him, this is a guy who played 25 minutes a night for you and took all your toughest matchups. Do you throw all your kids into it? They say, okay, now this is yours. You know, they still have Connor Murphy. Does this make them say, you know

what, we have to keep him? Right now, he's the only right-hand shot on the roster, on the blue line, because I think there were teams calling them about him too. What do they do there? Mirazic, he's got another year at four plus that might make it hard but you know I doubt they're gonna keep three goalies so you know I I look at them now and I wonder if they can do more deals like that where they get young players who are ready to play kind of like in the night mold. I could see them trying it. All right. From Chicago to Colorado, who rebuilt their goaltending midseason. Of course, there was the Miko Rentinen deal. Marty Natchez, 13 points in 12 games as an av. There was

the trade Saturday that got them Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey from the Rangers. They started the year very top heavy. They've gotten a little deeper as time has gone on. Nacuskin back healthy as well, Elliott. So the question is, is Chris McFarlane and Joe Sakic done? I don't necessarily think so. I still think they could go after their two center spot. I don't think this is over, but you're right they've been very busy. You know, as we've talked about, they look very different with, but you're right. They've been very busy You know as we've talked about they look very different with the choose can back They've gone from being a basically a one-line team to a lot more dangerous It's interesting the whole Lindgren thing

Earlier this year there were some rumors about Manson I don't remember if was earlier this season or it was last summer and I asked somebody, you know, you think the Avalanche move Manson and their response to me was they don't, you might be surprised to hear this, but they don't think they have a lot of bite. And if you take Manson off the roster, they really don't think they have bite. So I'm not surprised at all that Lindgren was a target of theirs You know, I think they want to add some more nastiness to their team and Lindgren certainly is that guy You know that guy's put his body through a lot. He's an ultimate competitor and

You know, there were some people who said to me that you know obviously there he's not gonna be on the number one pair he's not gonna have to take on the best players you know the McCars and Tays will handle that they think that will help him and I just think that they're gonna say to him you know go out there and lean on people. And I think they feel they really need that. So, you know, Vasey is a very useful guy, depth forward, doesn't cause you any problems. They've tried to remake their bottom six a bit, but I still think that two line center, I still think it's something that if they

can do, they will do. It's been impressive to watch them bolster their roster kind of all year in a conference that seems much more of a murderer's row than the East this year. And they're doing everything they can, it seems, to give themselves a shot at coming out of not only their division, but the Western Conference as a whole here. It's going to be interesting to watch. I thought the East was going to be more of an arms race than the West because it was so wide open, but clearly the West guys are looking at it like we've got an arms race too. Yeah, and another team part of that conversation

has to be the Dallas Stars who firmly in second spot in their division they're coming off back-to-back trips to the conference final. Jim Nill said on Miro Heisken and the plan is to have him back just before the playoffs or near the start no real definitive timeline. You've got Tyler Sagan on LTIR so will the stars be able to use the injuries they've got to their advantage in terms of cap flexibility and adding some more before the deadline? Well, they've already done it. I like what they've done.

I think Grandland is a really smart player. CeCe, again, I've talked to you about CC before. I just think he's one of those guys that, you know, if you've got him in a depth role, he's perfectly fine. He showed it last year in Edmonton. He's just one of those people that social media just likes to pile on because it's cool. But dressing rooms love him. Oh yeah, he's a very, very popular teammate.

When I look at Dallas, I look at the right side of their D. I still think that they could try to upgrade there. That's one position I look at for them. And yes, I do look at it up front. You know, the one thing here is, and we'll get to Carolina and we'll figure out what's gonna happen with Rantanen. You know, Rantanen at 2.35, or 2.3, because that's what it will be if Carolina retains 50% if we get there. There's going to be teams jumping all over that. And I would think Dallas would be one of them.

They've got to finish Mafia too. And they have things to trade that, you know, you would look at them and say, if Rantanen gets flipped, they would be a team that would be able to do it both in terms of cap space and what they have in their organization So I would watch for that, you know, I just think Jim Neal is is smart I think he's looking out there, you know I he's probably waiting on the Islanders to make decisions to Brock Nelson guys like that I would I would assume that Jim Nel and his staff they have a list of guys They they say this is what we can do. This is what's out there. Let's wait to see how it falls

I think a lot of people would be really surprised if the stars don't try to maximize this in a certain way. And I'll just leave it at that. I think that we'd all be in a position where if the deadline came and they kind of did nothing, we'd all be shocked. But I look at right D and I look at the forward situation, scoring. They could really load up. You know, Haskin in, I don't expect him back in the regular season. I think the big thing is, is he ready for game one of the playoffs?

That's the big question I think everybody's asking. But I don't expect to see him in the regular season. Hmm. Okay. And to your point too about the opportunity to load up. I mean, you see, I know you've talked about they want to keep Jamie Ben around, but they've got a handful of expiring deals this year. Like you've got to think the roster next year is going to look different in some sort of

way. It's been a pretty good year for them to this point. Why not maximize and try, try to give your group the best opportunity to get this thing over the finish line after coming pretty close each of the last two years. You know what Kyle, you go for it and you sort it out in the summer. I think it's just a really smart front office. They're looking at all this. Dallas is a destination. Players want to play there. You can, things out. And remember, I think I said on one of the other podcasts, Peter DeBoer at the Four Nations, very complimentary of Jamie Benn this year, said he has done, there's been a very, very big part of keeping them together while injuries have been a problem. So that says to me, they're going to find a way to make it work. But I think when you're a smart team where players want to go in a no tax state, you've got, I think people should be confident that you will make the proper decisions or find ways to get things

done. The Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton had started to become more of an attractive landing spot after their run to the Stanley Cup final last year. The opportunity to play with Connor and Leon. We talked about their chemistry looking a little off lately. Just a needed big win Saturday night in Carolina, even though that one got a little hairy in the last minute there. Oh my God. How do you give up a shorthanded breakaway in the last minute of that game? That was an incredible pass by Jarvis to hit Ajo and Stride through a couple of bodies, but that was a big performance by Calvin Pricker.

Like in an adventure TV show or a suspense movie when you start to see things unfolding in slow motion and someone's going nooooo. That was me watching the last minute of that game. I saw that whole thing happening and I was like nooooo. Just for the Oilers. Generally I try to stay as objective as I could be, but in the moment I was like, just how do you, I found it offensive to good hockey that that was allowed to happen.

Yes, you're like the guy standing in front of Austin Powers on the steamroller. No! As he slowly made his way towards him and he wouldn't move. Move, move, move. All right, the Oilers. So where are things at with Edmonton as they're trying to stay a threat in the West? So the newest variable is

Evander Cain. As we talked about in the last pod his his full no trade protection ended on Friday night. ended on Friday night. Come Saturday, it was basically was half the league. And nobody has confirmed this to me, but I've heard a list was submitted. I believe in the information. And because of course, if you forget to submit the list, then they can just deal you anywhere. So that didn't happen.

It got submitted. From what I've heard, and again again this is secondhand, I think basically if you're a contender, Kane will go to you. I heard his list is basically contenders where he can go to. He set it up where he wants to be in a place where he can win. That's what I've heard, again secondhand, but I believe in the information. So I thought that was interesting. As I've said here again with Kane I think it's important for him to play. I think he wants to prove, he wants to come back in the regular season and he wants to prove that he can be a factor on a good team. I don't know what the medical say. I know there's a disagreement.

I'm not sure that the orders feel like we talked on Friday about how they want to use the LTIR right? Yeah. And it also I just everything he's been through his body's been through. I just don't know that the orders feel that that makes sense. I just don't know. So orders feel that that makes sense. I just don't know.

So at the very least, the orders are doing their due diligence. They got his list and they're definitely calling around to ask the teams that he can be traded to is their interest. And, you know, Kane has another year at just over a $5 million cap hit. So they're doing their due diligence there. Because if they do find something and you have to think they would have to provide some

incentive while he's hurt to get it done, you have to think that they're looking at it and saying, if we can do this, maybe we have even more cap room and flexibility available to us. I think at the low end, they're looking for a defenseman who hopefully can play both sides and a fast forward. Not necessarily a top six forward, but a forward that's got some speed to them. Maybe a depth forward that's quick, aggressive, like that kind of thing. I think that's what they're looking at. We'll see if they can create any flexibility to do more, but you're right, we've talked about it. They just look

off as a team. You know, the changes they made last year, they haven't really adapted too well, but I think the new variable of Kane, that's the one we kind of have to see how does it unfold. I don't have a good handle on it. You know, the other thing that's suddenly a topic in Euler land is Victor Arvidsson. And it's been a tough situation for him. It just hasn't fit in as well as I think the Oilers and Arvidsson would have hoped. You know for the Oilers fans who are talking about maybe moving him and I think the Oilers might be looking into it too, there's something that popped up that I don't think any of us realized. I know I didn't. I checked a couple of

the sites out there that track these kinds of things but Arvidsson has a no move clause and That doesn't mean he wouldn't necessarily be willing to work with the team, but he does have control over the situation That's something I didn't realize until recently I'm sure the oilers obviously knew about it, but all of us in the general public We didn't really know about it. So he does have a no move clause us in the general public, we didn't really know about it. So he does have a no move clause. But I think the bigger issue might be the next year at four million, he's got one more year and that may be a challenge for some teams. So that's another thing that the others in Arvidsson will have to work through if they do want to move him. In goal, I just don't think there's anything there, Kyle, that they see that if they're

going to do it, you have to be able to say, we are 100% convinced that what we can get is better than what we have. And that's where the Gibson conversation comes in, right? In the injury history. Injury history. And I don't think they feel that. I thought it was interesting that Pickard played that game in Carolina and won. So now you look at their schedule, they've got a couple of days off and before they played Tuesday at home against Anaheim.

Be interesting to see because they go every other day now. They don't have a back-to-back till the 13th and 14th, right? So I think we're all curious how is this this workload gonna go? It's interesting because remember before the year we were told like you look at who departed Edmonton over the summer. Ryan McLeod, Holloway's of the world, Warren Fogel, like guys that had some tight friendships with some of the still remaining Edmonton Oilers and just like, how is that going to affect everything? And it's interesting now all these months later to see, yeah, something's just felt a little bit off there.

Even though they've had some really hot streaks over the course of the year it's still been something that the team's working through. You're right you're 100% can I propose something that Connor McDavid is gonna hate? This ought to be good yeah let's go. I wonder if they arrest him. That was a very interesting conversation. I thought with Kevin and Luke and everyone Saturday. I Would I would sit them I Can only imagine the death glare I'm gonna get the next time I see him but Heavy a duty a straight jacket do they got a order? How heavy a duty a straight jacket do they got to order? They got to order like six.

Yeah. Sorry, Connor. Hold still. We've got to put the fifth straight jacket on you. I know he's not going to like this, but I believe in it. See, the number one, one of the things I really do think is that now that the Oilers have gotten to game seven last year, they know how hard it is. Their players recognize how tough it is to get there. And on some level, I think they understand, but if I'm the Oilers, I am gently, gently going to him, and maybe even dry sidle too,

and just saying, look, we're in the playoffs. It depends. How much do you want to battle for that number one spot in the division with the Golden Knights. Maybe you wait till closer and you see where it all is and how it all stands closer to the playoffs. But I do think at some point in time you've got to arrest him. That turnaround, they probably should have done it. I said at the time time and I wonder if the others could go back in time he doesn't play that game in Philadelphia 36 hours

after the final. I would really be thinking about where can we give McDavid a rest. Chris Knoblox like Chris Pratt and Jurassic World trying to tame the Raptors. The whole argument of some rest. I gotta tell you watching him coach that game in Carolina I know you were working at the time when the when the Hyman goal was disallowed that was as intense as I've seen him look on the bench like we I always praise his really calm nature I think I think that's his best asset that was as as you he was coaching that game on Saturday night he knew how big that game was and off the heels of the the passenger comment. Yes. You could see

it. It's not that he's not invested. I don't want that because I think he obviously is. That game he was wired for that one. Alright, from the Oilers to the Kings who have bowed out in the playoffs the last three straight years thanks to the Oilers in the opening round and wouldn't you know it Elliott they could be on a crash course to meeting in the first round again this spring. They've been a pretty stingy team for the most part of the season but you have to think another first round exit will not cut it so what is Rob Blake and company thinking? Well number one I think they're keeping Gavrikov.

He's a UFA. He just switched agents. And as I said, sometimes when that happens right before a free agency or a new contract, you're like, uh oh, I don't believe that's the case here. I think they will try to keep Gavrikov long term. I had people tell me that they heard they were talking about a seven-year deal I don't know if anything's changed now, but that Put it this way

Gavrikov the Kings if they don't have him signed by Friday, they're not gonna be rushing to trade him I think they feel pretty confident that they're gonna be able to keep them them. So that's number one. They're definitely looking for a score. I get different debates on how big they're thinking here. I've had some people say to me, they're going to go bigger than you think. I've had other people say to me, I don't see it, but I do think they're going to try to get the best score they can find. You know, another, I don't think Bifield's getting traded. I just want to say that. I don't think that's goal, not Kemper, but maybe back up position. And the Brant Clark situation, like to me, you deal with that now or you deal with that later. And it's sort of like we talked about with Anaheim before, they've got young kids who aren't playing. talked about with Anaheim before, they've got young kids who aren't playing. You know, Brant Clark, he's not going to rock the boat, but players want to play, right? Players want

to play. So that says to me either you're doing it now or you're doing it in the summer and by doing it you're either saying you have a path to play with us or Or we understand the way this is gonna go and maybe we move you somewhere else But don't forget it was just a couple years ago that the Kings called both by field and Clark and said We're not We're not trading you and I can't imagine he's 22 years old. He's signed for next year at a very manageable number I can't imagine that they're eager to do it but I think teams always have to recognize there's a pressure point with the player at times and

We're getting there. Maybe not now, but in the summer at least if it continues this way, so They might just say look we're in it to win it this year it's not the time we'll see but you know they're gonna have to deal with it at another point. But a score for sure. I can't I can't see them not doing something along those lines. Yeah bottom third offensively to this point in the season for Los Angeles. Okay the Minnesota Wilds so Saturday they make the trade to bring back Gustav Nyquist still don't know when Kaprizov is going

to return Joel Erickson Ek is out for a bit now to Elliott so getting clarity on those two players and how long they'll be out, I mean, is that kind of the key for Bill Guerin in sizing up what he can and can't do before the deadline? Well, thankfully we now have some clarity, Kyle. Bill Guerin met with the media on Sunday and all he said was, because Brodin's hurt now too, he's out week to week, they said. Right. Kaprizov, Ericssonak, and Brodin

are all going to be back during the regular season. That is the plan. And it's kind of funny, because I guess he was pressed a bit more on it. And he got kind of exasperated and said, guys, I'm not a doctor. I don't know. I don't know exactly.

But this is what we're planning on He's not a doctor. So, you know what you should do. He should stay at a holiday Inn Express tonight And maybe he will be so at least now we have kind of an idea Now the other reason that's important Kyle is that it is completely Screwed around with everything that the wild have tried to do. They tried to keep cap room open to do the biggest possible thing they could do and all the injuries and all of the juggling they've had to do has really interfered with it and made it borderline impossible.

On Saturday morning it became pretty clear that Nyquist was going to Minnesota but if you follow Mike Russo on Twitter he was basically talking about how hard it was to get that deal done because of Brodean got hurt the night before and it completely screwed around with their cap situation and their roster situation again. So they are on the razor's edge trying to get things done. So you have to keep that in mind with everything that Minnesota is trying to do. Look, everybody's heard the Nelson,

Brock Nelson conversation, the Brock Nelson jokes that Garen was fitting him for Wild Jerseys while they were together at the Four Nations. I'm sure they would love to do something like that. But again, it's really tricky, their whole situation. I think he would like to do more. I have no doubt that he would like to do more.

But sometimes it's out of your control and it's a little bit out of control for Minnesota right now. You know the one thing I kind of wonder about there is but there's been some rumblings about Rossi but you know and what his long term future would be there. But I think that kid's had a tremendous season. He's got 21 goals. He's got 51 points. And you know the other thing too is is that you know Minnesota entered the day. They played 60 games and he's played every one of them.

And the thing to me is on a team where you're battling all these injuries all the time, and I hope I'm not jinxing the kid, I'm knocking on my desk, that kind of availability, it's not a small thing. So even if there was ever any question about where the future was for him, I can't imagine that's a thing that's going to be now. He's just been too good and too dependable. So for me, for the wild, it's not about what they want to do.

It's about what they can do and what they're able to do and what they have to navigate to be able to do it. I mean everywhere, even the same thing happened with the US foreign nations team. He had to do that dance to try to get Quinn Hughes there. It's just that injuries follow Garen around. This year it's been crazy. Everything he's had to deal with, all of his plans have been neutralized at times by, by players going down. And that's the case with the wild right now. It's, it's

not what they can, not what they want to do. It's what they're able to do. I wonder if Garron had the garlic necklace on when he spoke to the media on Sunday to try, to try to end the injury like once and for all here. Yeah, you're right. But Rossi too, like in terms of like goals per dollar, he's one of the more productive guys going this year, cause he's still on his entry level and on a team that's been cap strapped

because of the buyouts to Parise and Suter, though this is the last year of it. Uh, he's been an incredibly valuable asset to that team. Really good. He helps them in a lot of ways, a lot of ways. Okay, so from Minnesota then to Nashville where it has been about as ugly as it can be all season.

They added what they hoped would be some offensive firepower in the summer. They are one of the lowest scoring teams in the entire NHL in the basement of the west. They've committed a good number of players long term with trade protection. So is now the time for Barry Trotz to really rework things or does that maybe come later on in the summer? So first of all, Barry Trotz, so on every Thursday I do a radio hit on the game in Nashville. I do it with Willie Donick and Adam Vingen and one of the greatest blocking wide receivers in NFL history, Derrick Mason.

And Barry Trotz does a segment with a different host every Tuesday. And I always joke that I have the best hockey hit on Nashville radio and Barry is second. Well lately, lately Barry Trots has been beating me. His hits have been exceptional and you know what? I think in a market like that one where you're speaking directly to your fans, I think he's smart to do what he does. He tells them, especially in a hard year, he tells them think he's smart to do what he does. He tells them, especially in a hard year, he tells them what he's thinking. So I'll always either tune in

live or I'll listen to it later. And you know, one of the things he said this week was, you know, he's gone to a lot of his players and he's asked them, you know, are you still in? Are you guys still in? Because if you're not, after this year, I'll move you. And, you know, I've heard, I followed it up, I heard that, I asked around, and I heard that a lot of his core guys, basically all of them said, yeah, you know, we're embarrassed, but we want to fix this. And so I don't think there's anybody there, as far as I know, I don't think there's anybody there who is protected or is part of their core who's asked out. You know, I think, you know, we report a while ago that they're, even though he doesn't have a no trade, they're treating O'Reilly like he does, and I have no reason to believe as we record this that O'Reilly has changed his mind on being in Nashville.

So I think a lot of those key guys are going to be there. A couple guys I am wondering about, Thomas Novak, they signed him before the trade deadline last year to an extension even though teams were interested They liked him. He's signed for two more years at 3-5. He's had a tough season But there was a there was a lot of interest in this player a year ago. That's one guy. I'm wondering about Colton Sissons another year just under 3 million, you know the kind of versatile forward that teams really like. Michael McCarron, another year under a million. I think he's a name that people have looked at. Luke Shed, one more year, 275.

Those are the kinds of names that I think are going around there. So I think he's looking. I think he would, again, if he found a more long-term piece, I think he would do it. He's open for business. But the key thing is, the key group, the core group, especially the ones you brought in over the last couple years, I haven't heard any evidence that any of them have asked out. And so that means he's keeping that group together and he's tried again.

Now the other thing is he did kind of open up a bit the door on Andrew Burnett and he really stuck with Burnett this year. He was loyal to him. The one thing he did say and is that we have to make sure that next year everybody's on the same page and I think what he's talking about there is is there an understanding of the way this team has to play between the players and the coaching staff to maximize success. You know, Burnett made some changes this year. He did change his system, but I think there's got to be a bigger conversation or there will be a bigger conversation about is everybody on the same page about the way they want to play. So that's going to be another

thing to keep an eye on Certainly will be okay the San Jose Sharks, Elliot And I gotta tell you doing the game when they were here in Ottawa over the weekend walking into that dressing room after the morning Skate that is a young young young dressing room, but a lot of me you feel old. Yes. Yes Somehow we've reached that point already, but they're a lot of fun to watch. I remember, Kyle, I'll tell you this. I remember when I first showed up, I was 23 years old. And I'm like, I'm the youngest guy here. And I was younger than a lot of the players. And then I remember when I realized I was one of the older guys here and I'm older than

all the players. Now, you're not there yet. You're only what, 31? You got tied? But I remember that day when I looked around and said, Holy cow, I've gone from youngest to oldest. It is jarring. Yes, especially now when you look at the amount of birth years on rosters that begin with a two instead of a one.

Still covenant grips with all of that. But the Sharks are man, a fun team to watch. Don't get me wrong. And if you look at all their games over the last week as they made their way through Canada, they were either tied or leading in the third period. Each of those games didn't win any of them, but they're, they're making games of, of these contests. Unfortunately, they've only won five times since the Blackwood trade that was back in early December. So Sam Cosentino had an interesting conversation going with Ryan

Worsowski on Saturday morning about you got a young group here, certainly you've got to go through the growing pains to get to where you ultimately want to be. But Worsowski talked a lot about like building the good habits right away, like not kind to go through the growing pains to get to where you ultimately want to be. But Worsowsky talked a lot about like building the good habits right away, like not kind of allowing, you know, the restraining bands to be off in the early going and then try to put them back on later on. He said, you look around the league and other teams that have gone through the rebuilding process and why they've taken longer than some organizations would like, he kind of links those two things together in a way. So they seem to be on a path but very young and still a lot of

growing to do. So what's next for San Jose? Well look I think you deal with your UFAs right? Luke Cunningham, Nico Sturm. Like the thing about those guys is there's a, there's a group of Santors. Um, you know, there's, there's the higher end guys and there's sort of like this, like Braden Shan, I think would be in that group. And there's a group of really solid players, Luke Cunningham, Jake Evans, Nico Sturm, who's also on that team. Yannyanny Gourd who's supposed to come back this week, Scott Lawton who's a little bit different because he's got another

year and teams kind of have those guys on their list and they're all looking at that list and they're saying okay when the time comes like they all know what those players cost and they're saying, okay, when do we feel we need to make the move? Are we trying something else and then coming back to them or is this one of the guys we just decide we want based on what else is out there or cost to acquire them? And I think Cunning and Sturm are two of those guys. Cunning's a right shot so I think that obviously adds to his value.

One of the reasons I think Toronto has been around on Cunning is they really would like to get a right shot center especially for the penalty kill. And so I think that's what they're kind of dealing with. With Dallas, you heard what Mike Greer said, the reason he sent Grandlin and Cece there is he got what he won he got that first round pick so obviously he's got prices there and He's just trying to figure out what to do with those prices. Yeah, and Ruta who's been hurt is another ufa I think there's been some interest in Ty Delandria who signed for another year at 1-3. I There's always talk about you know, Mario Ferraro.

I wondered about him with a team like the Jets. He's not the biggest guy, but he's a physical guy. He signed for another year at 3.25. That's just in my head. I don't know how much interest there's going to be in either of the goalies, Vanechek and Gyorgiev, who are both UFAs. Gyorgiev's just had a really, really rough year between the two teams. But I think that's what you're looking at. You're looking at San Jose. What do they do with their UFAs?

And what else can they accumulate? The other thing I'm curious to see is Zetterlund, 1.45. He's an RFA with Arbrite. I wonder what his next contracts gonna look like Obviously, he's a guy who really cares a lot. I'm I'm a big fan of his bowling ball kind of game So I'm curious to see where they go there and also look they added to fully To fully has been good for them. They tried to bring in a few more veterans. I just wonder if that's what they continue to do, try to get a few more veteran players around there.

You saw it a bit and I saw some video in your game. I'm impressed with the level of enthusiasm that Cello, Brynny, and Smith have kept up because when you're losing this much, it's very hard to keep up that enthusiasm. We know it's interesting too. So on the road this year, the way they set up the restroom, they have celebrating and Smith on either side of a Tefoli in the stalls. That's the way they do it on the road. I thought that was kind of neat.

Smart. Yeah. Okay. How about Seattle? I mean, they took some big swings in the summer. Stevenson, Montour. It's been another tough year for the Kraken. You mentioned Yanni Gord there as a potential guy to keep an eye on. I also wonder about a guy like Brandon Tanev who's on an expiring deal. He's got some trade protection. What's your feeling around the Kraken?

Well, Gord's supposed to come back this week. I have heard that Seattle is considered keeping Gord. I don't know what the chances are, but I've heard they've talked about it. You know, he's an alternate captain there. They do like what he provides on and off the ice. I'm curious to see if they get an extension done. TANF, I think, goes. I don't think there's much interest there on either side to pursue an extension.

They've got to get KAKO done. That's another one. I think the interesting thing is what happens with some of the guys who have term. That's the more interesting stuff to me. Jaden Schwartz one more year. Burakowski two more years but a big number, 5-5. Bjorkstrand, one more year, 5-4. McCann, two more years at 5, but I don't think they have put McCann out there. I've heard that's the other way around. That's teams calling them to say, would you do this?, again, that says to me that's a blow our socks off deal before we even consider about it. Alexiak, one more year, 4.6.

I know they've gotten calls on him. He has some protection. I think that's going to be an interesting one. You know, as I mentioned on the Leaf Regional against the Rangers, I think that's a guy Toronto's Adam Larson is a guy that Toronto's called on a few times and I heard that Seattle basically told them, lose our numbers, stop calling about this guy. And he's got a new deal with full no trade protection. But this trade deadline could be very interesting because I think Seattle has a big decision to make an overall franchise

direction. We've kind of talked about it a bit before on the pod. It's been a hard year for them. So I don't even think this is a trade deadline discussion. This is a philosophical discussion for them too. Where do they want to go? And I thought that was a big win for them to where do they want to go and you know I thought that was a big win for them like what you have to do to me for me if you're Seattle is you have to finish strong at home.

You know Gord's Deluxe old saying if you're going to stink stink on the road. I think that's very important right now you have to give your fans your money's worth to the end of this season, and they played really hard and really well in beating Vancouver the other night. I look at them and say finish strong, at least at home, and give some optimism and figure out your direction. Well speaking of figuring out your direction, the St. Louis Blues have been one of the hottest teams in the league coming out of the

Four Nations break and for all the talk about Braden Shen and what could potentially be done there with the Blues captain and how Much interest he would gather around the league. I mean does Doug Armstrong now say hold on now We're we're gonna keep him here now I don't care what how good your offer is Or how do the Blues approach the next little bit because they're right into it in terms of the playoff race in the West again. So I would say this every year Doug Armstrong should threaten to trade everybody. I see where you're going here. 2019, threatens to trade everybody, sends out a memo, Christmas sale, Jordan Bennington gets hot, Stanley Cup. 2025, indicates he's open for business, Jordan Bennington saves Canada. You can see the confidence. Blue's getting hot.

Will this be a repeat? Blue's Stanley Cup 2025. Wow. Maybe he should do this every year. That's right. They become the next great dynasty Okay, so let's let's go through this Pavel Bucznaiewicz This happens to everyone and I didn't realize it either it was pointed out to me last week Pavel Bucznaiewicz initially had a Partial no trade for this year when he signed his extension if there's a rule in the CBA It's basically the Jeff Carter rule.

If you sign an extension and you're eligible for a no trade clause and there is a full no trade or no move in your extension, it can be added. Your current contract, the last year of it, can be modified to have the full no trader, no move added to it. And that had it's a, in case you're wondering, it's section 11.8 B of the CBA, someone I thank the person who sent it to me this week, because it happened to boot naivage, we all thought he had like a partial no trade. No, no, no. When he signed his extension with the blues, the no trade was added this season

because there's one on his extension so That's the situation for him. He has a full no trade clause Brayden Shen has a full no trade clause and Dog Armstrong has had a very high price on Shen It's really funny. I don't think the Leafs were that crazy about everybody talking about them with Shen. But then Craig Perube comes out on Friday

and waxes poetic about him for a minute and a half. And people are like, isn't that tampering? And I'm like come on like a guy can't talk well about a guy who we want a Stanley Cup with like what are we doing here but it was funny like it was it was really funny but it's a high price and the other thing too now is like you said they're starting to win. Do the Blues look at it and say, hey, we're in the playoff race now. We're not doing anything. I think there's a bunch of teams that might wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to kind of

make their decisions. We'll see what St. Louis does. Regardless of it, I don't think he's going anywhere unless it's a high price. I don't know where all this Pareco conversation comes from. As I said to BX on Saturday night, how many people in this league are truly untradable? I don't think there's very many, so I don't think that Pareco is untradable. But you look how good he is, how well he played in this tournament, he's going to be on the Olympic team next year, and he's signed for three more years at six and a half at a time where what would he get if he was on the open market?

Eight, nine? I mean, show me the trade where they're doing that. It doesn't make any sense to me. So look, I think he's, and now there's Bennington rumors again, like I just, again it doesn't make sense to me. Why would St. Louis do that? So I think there's some players for you know age or other situations they might consider or if the price was super high. But, you know, Pareco, I don't get those rumors. I could always be surprised. Binnington, I don't get those rumors. I could always be surprised.

Shen, I think you have to hit a target. Now, you know, Vegas, I think Toronto was weighing Shen for sure. I think that's, everybody kind of knows that. I think Vegas has looked at it. Obviously we've talked about the Shen, Kelly McCrimmon connection. But now you're sitting here and you're saying,

does St. Louis even want to do it now that they're in the race? All right, another team in the race in the west, the Utahns, Elliot, their first year in Salt Lake City. You've talked about how Bill Armstrong, they want to get into the playoffs. You can only imagine how enticing all of this is to Ryan Smith and ownership, the opportunity to do something like this in year number one in a new place with the fans all in from day one since they got on the scene there.

Mattias Michelli is a name you've brought up a couple of times here and just what's gonna go on there but what kind of adding, how aggressive do you see Armstrong getting to continue to bolster their group to get in in the West. So I think that Utah is like they love the fact they're in the race. Lost on Saturday night, but they were kind of do right like they were just due to lose. You can't just keep winning all the time. Yeah. They're in the race. It's it's a bonus for them. You know, they, they can at least say, hey, we're here.

We've got meaningful games. I think Utah takes a big picture look at this. They want to take a big swing at some point. Like if Rantanen hits the open market, that's a team I could see. OK, we'd like a shot at this. So that's what I think about. I think about big picture for them. You know, at different times there's been talk about Kraus.

There's been talk about Bugstad, obviously. Kraus has term, Bugstad does not. Hayton, he's got another year. We mentioned Michelli didn't play again on Saturday. You know, hasn't played since February 8th. They have to get bigger. There's no question about that. They're a little tiny up front.

The blue line, you know, Ian Cole's a UFA. His name has been out there a little bit. Valimacky, they put him on waivers and he got hurt in the American Hockey League, which looks like he's going to miss some time. So that kind of knocks him out a little bit but I and the other one is Vamelka do they get him signed and he's had a really really good year you know Vamelka is a Darren Ferris guy I don't know if he's the agent on lead here but it's his firm and you know Ferris's rule give me a reason not to take a guy to UFA. So we'll see what Utah does there. I always think, first and foremost though,

they think big picture. And that's the way I think they approach it. Big picture. And I think they're ready. Look, they've been in Arizona for a long time. They really couldn't take big swings now. They're in Utah Ryan Smith is pulling out Babe Ruth's 1927 special and he wants to stand up at the plate cool

pointing to center field Yes, he's calling his shot off Charlie Root in the 1932 World Series. Outstanding. So, that'll be fun to watch with Utah and what happens there. Has not been very fun for Vancouver coming out of the Four Nations break, Elliot. Just one win in the five games since. It was a tough loss against Seattle on Saturday. I thought the conversation with you and Ron and Kevin and Luke at the end of that game

Saturday night was really interesting that Vancouver, as Kevin put it, just not a very hard team to play against. The identity, the overall feel of the group, much different this year compared to last year, much contrast between that and you think of how the coaching staff carries themselves and how they all were as players. Now you've got Quinn Hughes, tweaked something, didn't play the final nine plus of that game against Seattle.

I don't know, where do you wanna start here with Vancouver after they've done the JT Miller trade? What's next? Well, when BX talks about Vancouver being easy to play against, must be remembering his own days there don't you think yeah yeah I'm glad you said it cuz I know Kevin would expect me to rip him but I'm glad you took well you know what I hope Cole listens to this and runs and

tells his dad what I just said by the way congratulations Cole yeah BCHL very happy for you Cole you earned it you it. You worked hard. So Dom producer Dom, do you want to outline your Your theory about what the Canucks should do Dom is from Vancouver. He loves the Canucks Dom Are you are you weighing in on this? So I tweeted out here on Saturday night after the Canucks game that there is this theory that I often have with not just the Canucks but any team that enters a rebuild. What if you try to do a double rebuild whereby when exiting the first rebuild where you've

accumulated your picks, you've drafted your star young players, you then sell them again for double the assets that you've already accrued and Oklahoma City Thunderstyle accrue every draft picked under the sun and go again. So not only have you gone through one rebuild, you are now going through a second one in the hopes of not having one or two star young players, but three or four star players. I know it's ridiculous. I know it's stupid, but in my mind, it makes sense. So what you're saying is you've had it with this current group. That's that's my take away.

If you're going to do it, go big. That is one minute of my life. I am never going to get back. Do it, go big. That is one minute of my life I am never going to get back. I understand what you're saying, Dom, not comparable for obvious reasons. I don't think you can compare that. I think that the Thunder, a genius organization, I don't know what to make of this. I've been watching Vancouver very closely, obviously because Canadian team and they always

seem to be in the NHL this year, Kyle, this is probably the one that I think could have been least predicted. Just the way it's gone and imploded and where we are right now. They're still in the race. They're still in the race like they're still there Hughes who's hurt has had an MVP level season You know, I'm not just saying that because I picked them for the heart trophy at the beginning of the year I think he's had an MVP level season. I was crazy when you consider everything else. Yeah, I

Actually like their D. I Really like the way they've started to Rework their defense And they have potentially more coming I give a lot of credit to Carson Susie whose name was put out there on the trade list and He's I think he's played really well, both sides since that happened. He's played both sides,

and I think he's played really hard. I'd also like to say something really nice about Tyler Myers. I think that guy has played his heart out. I know Myers takes a lot of abuse, and we were talking about it last night. It's because he's so big that when he makes mistakes, it's noticeable, but that guy plays hard and he cares.

I think Lankanen has been really good for him. I think he's wearing down a bit, which is a concern. And we'll see what happens with Demko here. Like obviously Demko's health is a big deal. You can't have this on and off all the time. And at some point in time the Canucks are going to have to make a decision on this player and it could be as soon as this summer as he heads into the last year of his deal.

They're looking for another forward. I Think they would like to add another center I've heard them and suitor are not close on an extension and that was not going to be an easy gap to bridge The Besser thing, you know everyone you talked through there is like I have no idea Where this is gonna go this week He was offered five times eight that was earlier in the year in like the first half of the season I

think that Like this is this is my I Think he wants to stay I do but there's a limit to what you're willing to leave on the table. I think in my head, I got to think it's got to be somewhere around 45 million to get it done. Maybe a tiny, like in and around there. I just don't know if the Canucks get there. If it'll be less than that,

I'll be surprised. I've been surprised before, I'll be surprised again. I think Garland's played really hard for them and you know he's heading into the last year of his deal after this. You know the Pederson thing, I got to tell you Kyle, I don't even know what to say about this right now. I really don't. I really don't know what to say about it. I've been told unlikely anything happens there this week, but after this season, it's going to be really fascinating to see where it goes here. Whether you like Miller or you don't like Miller, whatever your opinion is, the fabric of the team has changed without him there.

The personality and the mindset has changed without him there. Yep. And how are you gonna address that? How are you gonna fix that? Like the thing is, like Hughes, he has done everything he could this year, everything. And I don't know, I just think the loss of Miller has changed the mental makeup of the

team. And I can see, you know, I think Kevin's right. You can see how frustrated it makes Tocket. Nobody mentions Gonchar. Gonchar in his own way, he's a real competitive guy. He wasn't a competitive guy in the same way Foot and Tocket were getting 200 penalty minutes a year, but he played a long time at a very high level and those young Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup, they idolized

him. So in his own way, he's very competitive too. It's got to be tough for them. I think if you're Vancouver, you're sitting here and you're saying how can we get the personality of our team? back to where it was last season and The guy who in a lot of ways kind of epitomized that and look I feel very strongly that it was time They they had to Miller had to go he knew it they knew it it was better for him

And it wasn't simply just the Peterson thing. No, it was it was time. It was time. It was it was simply time. But how are they going to replace that? It's hard. And I wonder what Rick Tauke thinks of everything at the by the time the dust settles at the end of this season. Because he's got there's an option right after this year, one more year left in his deal. Talk it yes, there's an option, one year left. So that'll be coming.

We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I think the Pedersen stuff, again, I'm not expecting it to happen this week with the caveat of anything can happen. All it takes is one phone call. But, but if it's not this week, it becomes one of the big storylines of the summer as long as he doesn't get going.

And it's amazing, Elliot, through all of that, the Canucks could still get into the playoffs This year, so we'll wait. Seriously like the way we way we talk about them. Yeah, I think they're 90 points Right, that's it like that's it again enhances how Incredible and unthinkable this year has been in Vancouver So we'll see what the latest chapter is leading up to the deadline for the Canucks this week. The Vegas Golden Knights, Elliot. So they're in a spot to contend again. You can look back practically every year of their existence, whether it's right around this time or just before. They are doing work

transactionally, but they've been pretty quiet this year. So are they, is Kelly McCrimmon quietly almost in the shadows lurking waiting to pounce? What's Vegas thinking? Well, I always think, you know, he's good at keeping his intentions quiet. You know, it's harder for some teams to keep quiet just based on where they are, like the Canadian teams. But you know, McCrimmon really loves his secrecy and he works hard to maintain it. But I think we always know that with Vegas, you expect the big swing. Like that's another team.

If Rantanen becomes available as a rental, because I mean, I mean, who knows, maybe they could sign him, I just don't know how they would be able to do it with Eichel coming up too. But if if he's available as a rental, you have to believe he will do what it takes to try to get it done. 100%. That's just who he is. We've talked about Shen and also don't forget he's done deals with Doug Armstrong before, Barbachev. So I always look for pairs. I look for people who've done deals quietly and he's one of those guys. So look, Vegas is a really good team. So, look, Vegas is a really good team. Everybody knows how talented they are. I don't know really what they have to trade.

They don't have as deep a prospect pool. They have some good prospects, don't get me wrong, but they don't have as deep a prospect pool as some other teams. He's traded away his first round draft pick already this year. It was gone in the hurdle deal. Next year, it's gone from the Hanifin deal. Next year it's gone from the Hanifin deal so he doesn't have a first rounder until 2027. For me it's just about giving him credit as a guy who is

aggressive and tries to get things done. But I do think they're gonna add a score. Somewhere, somehow they're gonna add scoring and You know, they're good enough to win They've got one of the best defenses in the league they have Aiden Hill who knows what it takes and I look at them Carlson I think is possible potentially.

He's even back during the regular season. Theodore, it sounds like right around the time of the playoffs. I really love that Dorofeev. He's a player. Hell of a year, yeah. Yeah, really good player. Like, one thing about Vegas is their pro scouting

is really good. They find guys and they make them fits like Tanner Pearson people wondered what? Tanner Pearson have left has left he comes to Vegas and you know you look at him and he's been Good for them. He's got nine goals and I Just say like, you know, he's making an impact where some people might have written them off. So I think they try. Look, again, I think of rantons there, they take a shot. Can they do it? I don't know. But they'll take their shot. Shen, I think

they're in and around it. they'll take their shot. I don't know if it's going to end up going their way. There's definitely teams that can outbid them with what they've got, but I think they will add scoring somewhere, but I just look at them and I say, I always assume the big swing first. I think one of their biggest off-season decisions is going to be, well two of them, I mean what's Eichel's next number gonna be? He's at 10 now and he's eligible for an extension, he's got one more year and I think the other one's gonna be Nick Haig because Nick Haig is up, he's

an RFA with arbitration rights and then he's a ufa and that's a really good player Yeah, and so a really good number right now at a really good number You know that's gonna go way up But they can punt that decision obviously to the summer like what do they want to do right? Like they don't have to make that decision now obviously and they'll do what they need to do to win but Hague I Think is a guy who you're looking at long term. I also wonder if they say, okay, we've got Hutton and we've got Korzak.

Do we stay with them as our extra dear? Do we upgrade there? Like that's a team I've also wondered about. If they got Braden, would they go for loop too? Hmm. Yeah, you can never count Vegas out of any trade shatter. We'll see what the big splash is for them in 2025. OK, last team in the West, the Winnipeg Jets, who are really first in the West when

you look at the standings. So we talked about not too long ago. They have been a team where so much has gone right for them this season. How much do you really want to tinker with the roster, composition and all the roles that each player has to this point? So what does Kevin Sheveldayoff do before the deadline? Two losses in a row. Panic! It's all downhill from here.

This is a disaster. Frauds. This is a disaster. You know, I think Jets, number one, the thing about the Jets are they have what's available to them. Like the one the one of the things I think about the Jets that I don't think yet said enough is I think they make a lot of really smart decisions considering some of the limitations that they have to deal with and I don't like Kevin Chevalier and I don't always see eye to eye on things.

That happens. That's life in the big city. But I think what he has to navigate, he does a really good job with it. Finding ways around it, finding ways through it, and most importantly, as I said a couple of times, really being successful at keeping a lot of the guys who were there, who were cornerstone players, they stay, right?

And I don't think that really gets said enough. I don't think they get enough credit for that. I think he's looked around. I think he's tried to figure out what are the swings I can take, big or small. What are the swings I can take? Big or small? What are the swings I can take? And you know, I think they're limited, obviously. So I don't know if it's going to be, like this is a year where I could see,

like, you know, sure, they've traded first round picks before, some of it's worked, some of it hasn't. Like if I was in their shoes, I'd be saying saying this is a year where I'm doing it again I just don't know like the prices have been high so you might have to be prepared for that again but I don't know that they look at it and say there's a huge swing available to us you know they've got their next three first round picks so they could do it if they wanted to. I don't like as I'm sitting here on Sunday doing this, Kyle, I'm not sure that there's that kind of huge swing available to them. And I think

they've looked around to see what it is. So then I think what you're doing is your You're saying how do we fit the holes and I think one of the holes is and And again, these are the kinds of names I think about I think about Alexiak has termed left-hand shot I think about Ferraro he's not as big as some of the other guys but he's got another year left hand shot I think about Ristolainen he's a right hand shot and you might want more of a lefty than a righty,

we'll see, but he's got term as well. So that's what I wonder about if they simply look at it as we plug our holes. Up front, again, I think they'd like to add as well, but it's the same thing. Do you simply sit there and say, where are our holes, and we plug them. If they don't land the biggest name or the sexiest name, I don't think it's for lack of trying. I just think it's because it's not available to them. The other thing I think is that, you know, they've got some UFAs, obviously Ehlers, Iafallo, Appleton, Pionk on the blue line. I think they look at it as, I think they've tried to sign some of these guys,

or they've talked about some of these guys. I don't know how in depth, but I've heard they've, I mean, obviously they signed the Mesnikovs. They've been working it. But I'm just going for it. This my year is, if I'm the Jets I'm like if we can't if we think someone's important and we need them to win like St. Pionk I'm just going through the season and I'll deal with it after. I think that they have proven over

the years that if players want to stay they'll find a way to keep them and if you have that in your history and the cap changing this year changes some of the math, but I look overall at the Jets players, if they want to stay, they stay. So I would bet on that, and I would deal with it after. And I just think they're going to add, the biggest biggest question is how much can they add? And if they don't get the biggest name it's not for lack of trying. One thing I wonder about with them too like I don't want to say they've been redlining all year but they've had so many players playing at such a high level for much of

the season when they get to the playoffs and everybody elevates like how much more can they ratchet it all up and through all that figuring out, as you say, the best compliment to their dynamic here as they move along as we be fun to watch. Because they've got a chance. It's a hell of a conference as we talked about, but they've got a chance. Yep. Yep. Got a real chance. But you want to finish first in your division. Yes, and as we talked about, the conference too,

which they're on track to do. And barring a major collapse, which will probably get everyone in that organization sweating, they should do it. Yeah, exactly. Putting themselves in the best position possible. Okay, that's the snapshot of the Western Conference. Elliot, we will take our first break,

and then we'll dive into the Eastern Conference after that. You're listening to 32 Thoughts of the Podcast. We continue after this. ["Thoughts of the Western Conference"] Okay, welcome back. So the West is done. We move East to make our way through things in the lead up to the trade deadline on Friday Elliott and we begin in Boston where I was about a week ago, Don Sweeney, the GM, effectively waving the white flag on the season.

They've failed to get really much traction long term. They've had some key injuries on the blue line, though they are still very much in the race when it comes to one of the two wild card spots. Trent Frederick is a name that's been out there for a little while now. Anticipate he's looking at moving on from his UFAs. What's all cooking with the Bruins and what do you anticipate from them over the next little bit? Yeah I think Frederick does get moved even though he's hurt I don't think

that's going to prevent it's not something that's gonna prevent him from playing when it matters so I think he gets moved no question about it. Brazzo it'll be interesting to see what they do with Morgan Gicchi because there is another year of team control, although RFA, he's got 19 goals, really slow start and I think there was some attempts to try to extend him this year, which obviously didn't happen. I'd be curious to see where that one goes with him. The other things though, it's been a hard year for the Bruins. It never started well, right? Just the whole Swainman situation, it dragged onto the eve of the season.

He wasn't himself all year. Part of me wonders how much Boston thinks, he's dark next season, things are calmer, he's signed long term, does he come in next year just in a cleaner frame of mind and that changes their calculus. I think that's one of the things they're kind of weighing. You know the Bruins, they don't react well to seasons like this, which is one of the reasons they're a great franchise and they never have long points where they're not a factor. They just don't accept this.

So I've kind of sat here saying, okay, how do they deal with it from here? So number one to me, it's Swamen. And what do they think his difference is next year? I believe the Bruins are not only talking about dealing their rentals, they're also looking at what can they add that can make them better long term. I don't think they're also looking at what can they add that can make them better long-term. I don't think they're just looking at this as a rest of year conversation. I think they're looking at it as a an into the future conversation. Is there anything out there they can add that is effective on a long-term basis. Look, like Linholm, Elias had a disappointing year. What does that mean for them? And I think some of the players with term on their roster,

I have no doubt they've put some of them out there and said, what is the value on these guys? I know Nick has talked about Brandon Carlo quite a bit. I think that's happened with Charlie coil twos heading into the last year of his deal at 525. I to me this goes deeper than Boston's ufas. The number one is Marchand looks like he'll be out until after the trade deadline, although not long term. Boston's history is their negotiations are always hard. It's just the way they're wired. Every negotiation they do is a grind.

I'm honestly surprised a little bit it's gotten to this point. At different times, I've heard things have gotten better and then it's kind of pulled back. It's kind of been like an ebb and flow of a negotiation. I don't know how to call this one right now as we do this pod Kyle. I, as you said, as he said, at the Four Nations, he talked about being a Bruin for the rest of his career. And I completely agree that that's what he wants. Just that as we're sitting here on Sunday afternoon, the pod dropping Monday morning, that isn't a reality.

And I just don't know how to handicap it. And all I can say is that it's kind of Boston's history. Like I said, negotiations or grinds and We'll see if they can Slam it over the goal line like prime icky woods. Oh Very nice You know the one thing I wonder about with Boston to Elliot like if you go back and look at the last time they went a stretch without making the playoffs

2015 2016 so over that time though it wasn't perfect but through the draft that year they found Jake DeBrus they found Brandon Carlo they found Charlie McAvoy right names that became staples on the roster for a long time and in some cases still are there as they transition into kind of the next phase of the franchise's history. And I wonder now, talked about that maybe this year's draft isn't as deep, but I mean they've had some tough misses, I think, in the draft over the last little while here. Like I feel that's going to be a real important component over the next little bit for the Bruins is to land some names come draft time to land some names come draft time to really help take this group into wherever the next phase of this franchise ends up going because you see we've got some players that they've

committed to long term that's definitely part of their future we'll see what happens with a guy like Marchand their captain but when I think about how they surround them with what ultimately is the next leg of things for the Bruins My mind keeps going back there Well for the first time in a long time, they've got their they've got three first-round picks in a row, right? Like all those years they were trying to win they kept on dealing them away and that's what happens But now as you mentioned they've got picks Yeah, when you're trying to win like they are you're not set up like that now they can be All right the Buffalo Sabres Elliot and the feeling coming into this year no more excuses and

They're in the basement of the Eastern Conference once again on their way to a 14th straight season of missing the playoffs In a tie with Dom's New York Jets for the longest among the big four sports in North America. Dylan Cousins, a name that's been brought up a few times this season, what are Kevin Adams' priorities? Where do they go from here? Boy, he's been saying all year he's willing to do something.

As long as it is a hockey trade. He's made it very clear he's not giving guys away. It sounds kind of weird to say because as you said, they're in the bottom of the East. He's not making the roster worse. It's strange when they're in last place, but I understand what he means, right? But I also think that there's just a fear of what's happened with all the guys they've dealt. Eichel, Stanley Cup champion, Reinhardt, Stanley Cup champion, Reinhardt Stanley Cup champion, like everybody knows what I'm talking about here. I think one of the things that's going on here is that it's been really really hard on the players. Just the constant losing and you know obviously players have to take some responsibility for

that they're the ones playing the games but I've heard this a lot now that the players when you consistently have nothing to play for and at the end of every year bad habits creep into your games The commitment level drops you don't ever like to hear that but it happens. It's human nature and It's interesting Like another team told me they've been looking at some of the Buffalo guys and they think there's a lot of good players there but they're kind of beaten down. And so the news came out this week about JJ Peturka potentially being available for trade.

And to me, that's not because Buffalo wants to trade this guy. He's a really talented young guy. But I think you look at him, he's still really young. He's 23 years old. He's on his first contract. And, you know, Buffalo's probably looking at it like, man, we paid a lot of these guys really quickly. It hasn't worked. And, but the kids also probably sitting here saying, I don't want to get caught in this. And I think a lot of those guys are like that. So I think

Adams, I do think he really wants to do something. I think everything that's happened has kind of bitten him a bit. I think there's players here that people want. Like obviously if Thompson was ever available, teams would love him. There's a lot of drooling over Tuck. Teams would love to have him. He signed for one more year. Like there's a lot of guy, Dallin obviously is not available, but if he was, people would kill each other to get their hands on him.

There's value here. It's just the toughest thing to predict is how comfortable the Sabres feel about actually getting to that moment where they say yes. You know, Zucker, I think they took a run at signing him. We'll see. Greenway, they were telling teams last week that they are still trying to sign him. You know, we'll see. Greenway has become the first player in the league to hate Dolbash from Montreal for some reason. I was just gonna say. And he was sending out the warning signals for the

return affair this week. That's right. It was wild. You know, Byron, that's another one. He's due a contract and he's two years away from UFA so unless you're gonna bridge him for those two years and take him right there like that's probably a big deal. Yoko Harjou who I thought was pretty good at the Four Nations Kyle he was a healthy scratch the other night as they as they try to trade him they know he's probably leaving at the end of the year as a as a UFA like there have been you know cousins in Detroit was very real it obviously didn't happen I Don't know I mean

Sometimes you just have to say you don't know because I've been waiting for it to happen all year and I Guess we're all just still waiting for it to happen I guess we're all just still waiting for it to happen. And when you brought up earlier there, Elliot, about players being beaten down as a scary thing for Sabres fans, because that was Ryan O'Reilly at the end of it, right? It was the exact situation that he was in and you say he was one of the players that ended up having success elsewhere. So boy, oh boy, back to the drawing board again for the Sabres. Okay

the Carolina Hurricanes they made the playoffs every year with Rod Rindemore as their head coach. Last year was the move to get Jake Gensel. This year of course Miko Rantinen and all eyes on what happens next. So how much clarity do you expect over the coming days? All right. This is obviously one of the biggest stories in the league. Look, Carolina has to make a decision here. What do they feel comfortable doing? Do they feel comfortable going for it?

Or do they say say you know what we don't like where this is going and we're gonna try to see the best player that we can get or the best return that we can get you know one of the things here is that they are trying to win and as I was sitting at home thinking about it on Sunday morning with my coffee Not a Kyle coffee, but a car. That's what what did you go with? I know just one of the home blends a little home blends and Something with a little kick to it after I always needed on us on a Sunday morning I was just saying like

You're trying to win the Stanley Cup here So, you know, so a GM said to me I can't see Carolina even making a trade if It's not an impactful player So and I and you know what I think that's a pretty interesting point of view So and I think that's a pretty interesting point of view. And it's not because, like some people say, oh, they can't trade them because of look at what they gave up and you can't do that. I don't agree with that.

I have to tell you. I think you have to look at it and say, hey, we took our chance. And if we can't hold on to a guy simply because we're embarrassed about what the return could be or we could be embarrassed by the return. I don't think you can be in a front office or run a sports team or even run a business, quite frankly, if you're going to think like that. But I do think it's fair to say,

even if Carolina decides they're going to move on, they want to try to win the Stanley Cup for this year, so you have to at least make it worthwhile to them to want to even consider moving him. So I think that's part of the equation. To me, I just don't know that they're going to get any clarity by this week. It's been too much of a whirlwind on the guy. It's been too much of a shock. He hasn't had a lot of time in Carolina.

I don't even think it's about the money. Like we said, they offered him slightly over 100 million around McKinnon. It's not that he's insulted by what they've offered him. It's primarily just wrapping his head around the whole situation. I think Carolina knew what he was looking at. I think they had some permission to talk to him before the trade

and just get his temperature. But you know what another agent said to me? Another agent said that in that moment you think that's a pressure tactic. Ranton was obviously surprised and shocked that Colorado traded him. So if another team is reaching out to say, will you talk to us, there are times in that moment you think, oh this is a pressure tactic.

There's another situation going on in the league right now where there's a player who thinks that a team is trying a pressure tactic with them to get them to sign. This happens more often than I think we realize. So I just think the whole tsunami of a situation here is the challenge not because of anything that Carolina is bad about like people are like, oh Some of the hurricanes are fans are like why doesn't he like us? I don't think it's because he dislikes you It's just the situation like just imagine like the upheaval in your life and what it can cause for you That's what this is all about

Yeah, it's like the idea of buying a house online or something like that or only having you've got three days to make a life-altering Decision and it's not because you don't like what you're looking at Sometimes you just need more time. That's totally understandable Sometimes you just need more time. That's totally understandable. Yes. And so, like I thought Ajo, like it's interesting that Ajo piece that appeared in the players tribune like I, you know, I think to me like Ajo is not the captain stall is and he's a very good captain.

But to me what Ajo did was very captainly. You know, he's, he's tight with Rantanen. He knows what's going on. He sees that the organization's taking a bit of a hit here. Um, if they don't sign this guy, he sees the fans are disappointed and he steps up and he puts out that piece, right? Like I thought that was a really, really, uh, smart thing for Ajo to do in the middle of all this. Like that is a guy who's proud to be in the organization,

who's stepping up and speaking out for him and the team and the fans at a time where it's challenging. I really respect that. I think it's a... I think it's a... I thought it was a really, really intelligent move clearly clearly Mike Sondheim's idea

Well, he comes up with a lot of good ones So it fits the MO I'll give him that All right from the biggest story in the NHL with Rantin in Carolina to what's been the best story in the league this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets. What a great scene at the shoe on Saturday. I can see why you wanted to be there so badly, Elliot. Oh. Over 94,000 strong.

It was just really well done. The two teams with respect to the Goodros and obviously the Goodro family walking in the blue jackets. I love the way they dressed like him. The red wings coming in the jerseys that he's worn throughout the years. Columbus is one of the great stories and what they keep doing at the same time, Kyle, is they keep winning. We'll talk about Detroit in a minute.

But back to back, Red Wings, four points. They don't let the Red Wings even get one of the loser points. They win both in regulation and continue to grab a stranglehold on their playoff spot. It's not over. You know, right now they're four points in, but they control their destiny. And if anyone would have said before the season that the Columbus Blue Jackets control their destiny, nobody would have believed it. Nobody. But you know, Everson, he's a good coach

and they're there everybody on that team has picked it up. You know, obviously a lot of the talk is about Wurenski and he's been phenomenal, but I look at a lot of those like you look at all the players up and down that roster everybody's got a role and everybody lives up to their role and that's how teams win like they're young players especially those Russian guys they've all gotten better you know Fantilly he was kind of scuffling a bit Monahan gets hurt they say to Fantilly okay this is your role now and what's he doing he's lived up to that like all their guys Kent Johnson Dan for scored the winning goal the other night although the Red Wings fans weren't

happy about it yeah I know I stick call they wanted the high stick but everybody has done their role you know Don Waddell was on radio with Dave Pena Yoda and It sounds like they're getting really close with Matthew Olivier They've had to work that one. I there was a time there. I heard it was kind of far apart But they've been grinding and grinding and grinding and what else making it sounds like it's gonna happen Generally when GM's talk like that, sounds like it's gonna happen. Generally when GMs talk like that, it's gonna happen. It sounds like it's been harder with Provarov. You know, the one thing for me is,

it's the same thing we talked about with Calgary before. If you trade Provarov, unless you're going out and getting something to replace them, and they shouldn't lose grip of the future, they shouldn't be giving up anything big for a rental. But again, you've got to reward your players, right? And if you trade Provorov, even if you can't sign them, then you're creating a bit of a hole on your blue line.

How do you deal with that? I think Merzlikin's this year has been a big turnaround story. They basically told him nobody wanted you last year and he's playing really well. It's just a great, great story. I think what they do is they take a big picture view of the deadline. But it's hard not to look at them. That was a great looking game. The visuals looked fantastic,

but it's hard not to look at them and say, wow, does that entire group deserve a lot of credit? Yes. Even with the delay. A lot of credit. The delay, oh. of credit. The delay? Oh. They push.

That's tough. Puck dropped back a little bit, right? Because of college hoops? Yeah. I remember a few years ago, do you remember that great, I can't remember if it was 03 or 04, there were those back-to-back great American League Championship Series between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Yep, those are the two years.

Well, in one of them, Major League Baseball allowed Fox, who was the rights holder at the time, I think one of their football games went long or something like that, and they allowed their game to be moved back like an hour so Fox could end the football game and do their whole postgame show. And look. Do the whole postgame show?

Yes, yes. Oh wow. So you and me, we work in television. Yeah. We know that television ruins everything. And you know, but we have a greater understanding for it because that's our jobs, right? I don't like that. Again, I know why it happens. I don't like that. I'll just say that I don't

like that. I think I didn't like it when Major League Baseball did that 2021 years ago. I don't like it when Major League Baseball did that 20, 21 years ago. I don't like it when the NHL does that now. I know why it happens. I don't like it. It just makes you look like, I just won't finish the sentence. I think everybody knows what I think. I remember in the playoffs a couple years ago, we were doing a Boston-Columbus series,

and it was the day of the Kentucky Derby. And there was an inquiry into how that race finished, and it delayed the start of, I think it was game two of Columbus-Boston, the second round. Well, same thing, Kentucky Derby was, I'm pretty sure it was the Kentucky Derby when Otto Ottawa scored to go into the Stanley Cup final.

I think the overtime when Alfredson scored was moved from regular NBC to one of their cable channels because of the Kentucky Derby. Wow. All right. So great story in Columbus. They continue to roll and as you say, we'll get to Detroit. So let's get to the Red Wings now. Season turned around with a coaching change going to Todd McClellan.

They're still in a wild card spot despite the two regulation losses to the Blue Jackets. Steve Iserman's been rather patient throughout his tenure as Wings GM. So how aggressive does he get seemingly they seem to be so close to ending their playoff drought? So I think he's been looking for a defenseman. I think he was looking at Lindgren. Believe me, if I'm wrong, I'm going to hear about this. But I think he was looking at Lindgren, believe me if I'm wrong I'm gonna hear about this, but I think he was looking at Lindgren and I think he also had some interest in some other guys

who've been out there like like Will Borgen kind of guys. I think he's been looking at that. So I think he's, I think it's safe to say that's been on his mind. He definitely looked at Cous cousins earlier this year that obviously didn't happen. You know, the Tarasenko thing, we'll see where that goes. That second year is a really tough one. He's got another year at 4.75. Losing Rasmussen is a tough one. You know, him getting hit by Zygras, that one that got Zygras suspended, that's a tough loss for them. He's a good player for them. I'll tell you what someone actually said to me the other day Was they said that you should go back and watch?

Their the when they played in Edmonton Edvinson Had to play a lot against McDavid that night and they said he was really good. That he did a really nice job. I think it was Edvinson and Johansson that played a lot against McDavid that night and they said when you have some time after the trade deadline, go back and look at those guys against the McDavid. He said they were very impressive and how hard they competed and just Edvinson learning how to use

his size and what a player he's going to be. So when I look at Detroit, look, they've lost Cop, And when I look at Detroit, look, they've lost Cop. He's now done. He's out for the year. They lost Rasmussen in that game where Zygrass got suspended. He's a big loss for them. So I think people are kind of wondering, does Iserman go out and get someone who can fill those kinds of roles depending on how long Raz Musen is going to be out. But again I think he's looking at a defenseman too and I always think that he looks long-term.

Now the other thing I'm curious about Iserman is as you know a couple years ago they lost those two games in Ottawa and he decided okay not ready yet. They lost those two games in Ottawa and he decided okay not ready yet. They lost those two games to Columbus. They're still in a playoff spot although Ottawa and Boston are and Montreal too are right behind them. I wonder if Iserman's just thinking you know in those kinds of games he was. And, but it took him a while to get there. I just wonder if he says, you know what, we got to start winning these kinds of games at this point in the season. And at least they fought to come back. They were down three one, they

tied it, but they didn't even get the point in regulation. Work to be done still for the Red Wings to end the playoff drought that stretches back to 2016. Alright, the Florida Panthers, Elliot. So Kevin thinks we're headed back there for the cup final again after the Seth Jones trade and we learned on Sunday that Matthew Kachuk has now been put on LTIR which gives them a whole whack more as a cap space. So somewhere Nikita Kucherov though they are bitter rivals has to be nodding with some degree of respect.

What do you think for the Panthers? Well I would do it too. I would do it too. Yeah. So what other moves do they got in their bag of tricks do you think? Number one, they called up Chris Dreager but I wonder if they're gonna add some other goaltending depth At least Drieger, you know is a capable NHL goalie. So you but you wonder are they gonna add somebody else there? You know Seth Jones

Like I said when we talked about Chicago, I think he gave two teams basically, Dallas and Florida. Number one about him, they get him at seven million. Chicago eats 26.3%. That was key for the Panthers. And, you know, someone else pointed out to me, Sylvain Le Fay, defense coach there with the Panthers, he's a really good defense coach. there with the Panthers, he's a really good defense coach and he will help Seth Jones get back to where he needs to be. I had someone say make sure you point that out because LeFay and Jones, like you take a look at how LeFay has helped a lot of defensemen on that team over the last few years. How many defensemen have gotten better in Florida since Lafay got there? And I thought

that was an interesting point to make. And you know, I mean, you remember what he was like as a player, very, very smart, very, very good player, got the most out of himself and you know they said that he's the same guy as a coach as he was a player, knows how to get a lot out of people. So that's number one. I think they're gonna, I think they're gonna take another shot at something. I absolutely, first of all that's Zito's way. Number two, they're a Stanley

Cup champion and they want to go for it every year. It's like we talked about Vegas. They just want to keep going for it. You know, Sam Bennett, I've said before and I've written before, there was a time earlier in the season where I think the Panthers and Bennett were close. There could always be a dispute in the definitions of close, but I've heard from several people it was kind of like in the ballpark. It was doable. Well, I don't know if it was because the cap changed or whatever the case is, but it didn't get done. But I don't think they're going to move them. I think whatever happens, they're going to move him.

I think whatever happens, they're going to keep him. They're going to go for it, and we'll see how it plays out in the summer. But I think you have to look at them right now and say, with all that cap room, they're going to strike again. I think you also have to assume that with this groin injury with Kichak, at least now, depending on what they do, he's out for the rest of the regular season,

and we'll see him in the playoffs. But the Panthers clearly see a wide open east, like we all do. And they're saying, we're entering. We're jumping in. We don't wanna look and see if there's any rocks, we're jumping right in. Head first dive. Or cannonball. Head first dive, yeah.

And they made a big splash over the weekend once again. So the Montreal Canadiens here, Elliot, they're another team that's been red hot out of the Four Nations break. Four consecutive wins, They beat Buffalo on Saturday in Buffalo. But in terms of their own business, Yoel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, what's going on there? David Savard, of course, on the blue line. Do they make it interesting enough that Kent Hughes hangs on to everybody and see if they can get in rather improbably?

Or do we see new addresses for some of these pending UFAs? So I've said this before and I'll stick by this. Kent Hughes sets a price, sticks to the price. I remember Brian Burke always told me this. I said, why do people do that? Why don't you just at the deadline, okay, we're not getting a second rounder, let's just get a lottery ticket for this guy. He said, because if you do that, people will know they can outweigh you and you will drop

your price. I said, okay. Now I understand that. Can you use this like that? Last year, I heard he never got what he wanted for Savard, didn't do it. So I always look at him like that. We talked about it before with Calgary.

How many of their players have really played, young players we're talking about here, have really played in meaningful games? Right, Nick Suzuki, Caulfield got a taste early on in their careers, but it's been a while. It's been a while. So now you give them a chance to play in some meaningful games.

You'll take it. You'll take it. Again, though, I think Montreal is a hockey deal team. If he can do something or he can add something for term, he'll do it. They're not just a deadline team. If he can do something or he can add something for term, he'll do it. They're not just a deadline team. Montreal is a hockey deal team right now. He's thinking big picture, just like we talked about with Boston. It's not just now, it's about the future. You know, Doc, unfortunate, I feel for him out for the year. Yeah, you've got to be thinking about that right now and then and then the guys like Evans and Armia like Evans is in that group of centers I

Think there's a whole bunch of teams that are waiting till Tuesday Wednesday to make their decisions see where it goes Okay, I think there's a whole bunch of teams waiting to see where does it go with ranting in where does it go with some of? the other bigger names and okay okay let's look at the others and that could affect what happens with the Canadians but I think that's what they do I think they sit there and they say look if you don't meet our target we're we're not doing it and then if there's a big swing that comes to Hughes, he takes it. And so when you say hockey type trades,

it's player for player. Yeah. Type transaction they're looking at. Yeah. Those are the best ones. Those are the best ones. Honestly, I, but I think everybody's focused on the deadline, because that's the way we all are.

I think Canadians are thinking big picture. Yeah. I mean, that's under Hughes and Gordon. That's really all they've been since they came into it. And now for the first time you're going to the deadline and saying, well, they could actually make this interesting. So it's new territory for this group in a sense. We'll see for how much longer they continue to make it interesting. The New Jersey Devils, Elliot, I mean they've had a firm grip on

a playoff spot all season long. They're another team we've discussed it, Elliot, that you know I'm sure would love to get a little heavier, a little meaner. Is that kind of what Tom Fitzgerald is looking at adding if they were to do anything before the deadline? You know, Kyle, there's no nice way to say it. You sit here, you're watching the games on Sunday night. It's the last game of the evening. And you know, you're the Devils at 0-0 in Vegas. Tough place to play. You think you got maybe got a chance to pull one out. And then not only do you lose, but you see Jack Hughes going to the boards hard like that.

And there's no attempt to injure. I heard Eichel felt terrible about it postgame. But you're sitting there and you're looking at that and you're going, oh, geez, that looks terrible. And you hope it's not as bad as it appears. Sheldon Keefe at the end of the game saying, we're going to need some time to figure out exactly what we're dealing with here.

And it's a nightmare at any time of the year, but it's also a nightmare, you know, just right before the trade deadline. The Devils, even before that had happened, they were looking for a center. They'd been pretty known about that. They'd been very known about that. They'd been very active.

Tom Fitzgerald had been one of the most active general managers. He was looking for a center. I think he was also looking for a defenseman. You know, you sit here and you look at it. And, you know, I think they were one of the teams who was, had poked around on Braden Shen, but didn't like the price.

And when you've already think you've got a hole you're trying to fix in your lineup and then you see Jack Hughes and along with his share that's their one two punch down the middle you see something like that now all of a sudden you have to completely adjust and as we tape the pod I can't really answer it it's just too late but now you're thinking okay we've got a bigger hole potentially how do we attack it can you attack it in this short term or is it you stick to your plan seeing what kind of center you can add and then just trying to handle it from there it's it's a complete change of pace and change of strategy here that I'll be fair I can't fully

address when it happens right as we're recording it I don't want to guess about what the Devils may end up doing here but all of a sudden you know the Devils are looking at it and objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear the blue jackets have been hot. You know the thing that really helps New Jersey is that a lot of those teams that are battling around the wild card are kind of from not their division. You know the Rangers are around there but a lot of the other teams Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa of course those are Atlantic division teams that can't go up through the metro.

So that helps New Jersey a bit, but there's no question. I didn't think the way they started that we'd be looking at this on March 3rd and, you know, people have crept up on the devils and now you have to deal with this in addition to Seigenthaler being out too. It's just the absolute worst possible thing at the worst possible time. Okay, for New Jersey to the Islanders who they're, well, they've had a run, they got cold for a bit, now they've won their last couple. Congratulations, Ilya Sorokin, the goalie goal, Saturday night. What a line. I knew I was going to score before Shasturkin. Yes, yes. It's great that that's where his mind went to the immediate aftermath of that. So the Islanders, I mean I guess get

your detonators ready to try to get any information out of Lou Lamarello, although I'm not even sure that's gonna be enough to get it done. Brock Nelson is the biggest name in terms of their roster and what's gonna happen there, but are they still in that mode of are we gonna start selling are we gonna hang on do you have any sense of what the Islanders and Lammarello are thinking? Teams believe that their players are gonna be available they do think they're gonna get a shot at Nelson at least you know Paul Mary's obviously out there too but Nelson's the one that's got the buzz and got a bunch of people waiting.

But they're thinking it because they think that's the case, not because they know it. A lot of it is Lamarello's history that he only adds if it's a contender. The thing with them is it's not only points, it's how many teams you have to jump over. And with the loser point, it's really hard, and they're going to have to jump over a lot of teams. You know, I think this. I was talking to someone about Nelson in particular and they said, do not underestimate his loyalty to the Islanders.

How much they mean to him and how much he likes being there and his teammates. And the other thing too is, Nelson's just a really low maintenance guy. And that's a good thing. I wish there were more people like that. But I think ultimately, one of the things that he has to consider is, his next deal, he's gonna be 34 in October.

It's a 3, 4, maybe somebody does structure to get him five years, right? I think that's the key thing you've got to ask yourself is, do you think you can win there in that time? And I think all of that, it's sort of in the decision-making process. All I can say is at the end of the day, teams believe they're going to get a shot at them, but they don't know. The one thing you always have to recognize is that maybe the Allenders are talking to someone quietly about them, and the world doesn't know

about it only like those two teams know about them and that can happen. You can miss things in our line of work. But I do think teams believe that some point this week they're going to get a shot at them, but I can't see that 100%. So similar to Rantan a little bit where some teams holding up some assets going we may have a chance here. Yeah, I do. I think they want to let it play out. I asked some people about how you thought that Nelson played at the Four Nations and

they just said solid. He was solid. He was exactly what you would expect. Not spectacular, but solid. And they said that's what you get. They got a lot of, you know, with the centers, like Peugeot has been talked a lot about too. I think though, like centers are so hard to find if you're moving Nelson out of there are you moving Peugeot yeah that one is a tougher one to imagine I think you can do one mm-hmm but do you really want to do two the Dobson one, I don't, like someone asked me what do you think Dobson? And I just think there's, again, I don't think, I don't think for a second he's asked for a trade. I don't think the Allenders have really thrown him out there. It's been a hard year for him.

I don't know. I can't see. To me, if there's anything there, I want to see what happens when they really start talking about his contract, which I assume is going to happen in the summer. They have time here for this. This does not have to be decided now. I don't know. I mean the islanders have put so much effort into Dobson He's one of theirs

You know like Paul like Pula is 30 Pellick is 30 Mayfield is 32 You know like he's 25 and Romanov is 25. Like those are their young guys. I don't know. I've been wrong about things before. Kyle, I don't understand the noise about that one. It doesn't make sense. Like you would have to make me see a trade that would make sense for Dobson to go.

All right, so from the island to Manhattan and the New York Rangers, Elliot, and it's been hasn't quite been Vancouver levels of dramatic there, but it's been a tough, tough season on Broadway. So there was the Truba deal, they made the move for JT Miller, there was the Kako deal of course too, and then most recently over the weekend trading Lindgren and VC to Colorado. They're still kind of around it. And Riley Smith being held out on Sunday? Correct, thank you for that. So that's another one to keep an eye on, and they're still kind of around it in terms of the the race but they're another team where it feels like they've shifted their focus to the future as opposed to this season in particular. What does Chris Drury get up to now over between now and deadline? Well as everybody knows Kyle the the Rangers scratched Raleigh Smith for trade related purposes as they shut out the

Predators on Sunday night. I couldn't say for sure. It was one particular team that was looking at Smith. I think there were a couple some contenders. I didn't get the sense. It was Canada that he was going to was probably States not a hundred percent on that, but probably States. And I do think it's a couple of contenders who are looking at him so we'll see as the Rangers continue their sell-off of UFAs

that's number one number two we'll see about Kreider you know he's been hurt so you always wonder about something like that heading into a deadline one of the something that will become a bigger storyline if it isn't cleared up, you know Panarin's had in the last year of his contract, right? Yeah, incredible we've got there already. I know, I was talking about that with someone on Sunday morning, it's like, geez, how does time fly? He's going to be 34 in October. So, that's another one that suddenly you're looking at and say, okay, what does this mean for him and them? You know, what are we talking about

here? So I think the Rangers are setting up, like I don't think they're rebuilding. I think there's, like you don't go out and you don't get JT Miller because you're thinking about rebuilding, right? so I think this is going to be a big summer for them I I Expect them to be looking at it and saying okay. We're moving these pieces off the board now, but anybody who thinks that We are going to be quiet or not heard from or anything like that, not true.

You know, they've got right now, and it can always change, they've got just under 20 million in cap space for next year. So I think that whether it's now or whether it's later, we're going to be hearing from the Rangers that they're not going to sit there and say, okay, we've had a bad year this year and we'll see where things land. They've just given Shisterkin a ton of money. Like I said, they traded for JT Miller. I think they're setting up for something much, much bigger, or at least trying to. Yep. no letter going out to their season ticket holders warning them of what's to come haven't seen anything like that I'm with

you I'm with you they got too much still on the books that suggest they can be effective in the short term for them to look completely at a tear down. It's been a wild year with the Rangers as well. Oh yeah. Okay, the Ottawa Senators, Elliot, snapped their five game skid over the weekend, got their big boys back, Kachak, Norris, Shane Pinto. I know we've talked about it a little bit, Steve Stales looking for some scoring help.

I know everyone points to the fact that they don't have a ton of cap space there. I'd love to know your thoughts here, Elliot. What I've gathered is that Steyos is still looking for a way to get creative and maybe if the right fit is there, doing something a little bit bigger if he can. I mean obviously they're well aware of some of the limitations capwise and what they will try to do but it sounds like that front office is bound to not be constricted by the salary cap limitations. What do you think Ottawa could get up to? For me, I wonder about a guy like Ryan Donato. That's a name I've heard linked to Ottawa a bit and that

makes sense to me. What do you think about that? Yep. Well it's the thing like they just they don't score a ton. Yeah and I know. And he scores at even strength. He scores at even strength. It's a different situation playing on a team like Chicago where you're not in as successful of an environment but I think he's got the ability to play off of good players yeah and Ottawa does have good players so I could say I think in the postseason if you can't score at even strength, then you can't win in the playoffs. He's got I think almost 20 even strength goals this year.

That's attractive to me. Would be to any team. So that's a guy I'd be looking at. I'd be curious to see what the price would be. But Ottawa has, again, their first round picks the next three years. The one thing is, as we know now, Chicago can't retain, right?

So it's not like it's a huge number, but maybe you'd have to be creative or something like that. But that's a guy I look at. You know, the D, again, I really liked Matt and Paolo at the Four Nations. I know his plus minus wasn't great, but I thought he played really hard. We know they've talked about a depth D as well. I mean, it's been tough for them. Their cap situation has been so mucked up. As you know, they've had to go 11 and 7, right? So, so that's out. Yeah, that's that's a pain. I understand that. I, but I like,

I'm sure there's a bunch of other players, like if you go through and see, okay, who scores, who scores at a low number who might be available, I'm sure you can find names out there, but Donato is the one that comes up for me. Like I've said this before on this pod, I think Ottawa has to, they don't have to do anything reckless, but I do think they have to add. Like I think this is a season where you really have to go for it. You really have to go for it. And I think they recognize that.

Yes, like you're right there. You know, you have played less games than everybody else in that wild card race. You've got that one game in hand over just about everybody. You've got to take advantage of that. The other thing you have to look at too is in a lot of those teams around there like it's funny the Rangers are the team with the most regulation wins they've got 27 but entering Sunday the team that was second was Ottawa like so you have to look at it as okay we've got a game in hand and also we're in a good spot in the tiebreakers. You have to take that all into account. Plus, we need it for the

market. So a guy like Donato, he's like, that's a guy, and now I'm fixated on it because I'm looking at it and I can't get it out of my head, but that's a guy I'd be thinking about. Yeah, and I'm sure they are too. They've made impressive strides defensively this year, come a long ways under Travis Green but they don't score a ton and he can help with that so we'll see. We'll see in Ottawa as they try to end their own We'll see. We'll see in Ottawa as they try to end their own playoff drought here in 2025. All right. The Philadelphia Flyers, Elliot, Matvei Mishkov. Nice move in the shootout in Winnipeg on hockey night in Canada. Got his first hockey night towel too in the post game. Yes. So that was a neat moment for the rookie. I mean, he's been, his name's been the center point

of a lot of conversation with their team this year. They've had some great stretches. Not for trade, but just in general. No, no, no, sorry, just in terms of interest level. I just wanna make sure you didn't start a fiasco. No, no, sorry. That's more so his name, just in terms of the interest level. Don, make that the title of the pod, Pukoskas.

I'm hearing Mishka's name a lot. Yeah, that would be great. And then you have to go through two hours into this episode to hear it. For real. Yeah, for real, for real. So I just meant that, yeah, it's been, he's a guy that's generated conversation

because he's been an exciting player to watch, not because they're gonna be trading him. Okay, yeah, now Dom's saying consider it done. This is great. We're completely unraveling. Well, you see, you can see why they're so excited about him. How about Lawton with the last supper? Oh, yes.

That's gotta be one of the posts of the year. That was phenomenal. It just came out of nowhere. It was so... It was like, let's just put this out there and see what happens. It was done so organically. I have to say, I was not surprised in the least. The thing that surprised me in the least was that Eric Johnson had a lot to do with that. That's his sense of humor, right? Yes. Yeah. So it was... And the other thing I really liked about it was, is it had the training staff in it and the equipment staff in it, right? I looked at some of the faces, I'm like, okay, who's in here?

And there were some people I didn't recognize and I started going through the bios. I'm like, I'm pretty sure that's training staff and equipment staff. And I like that he involved them in that. Because everybody knows that those individuals, they don't get a lot of credit, but they're the people who work the hardest. And they're the people who take care of you, so you have to make sure to take care of them. And I understand that Lawton takes them out once a year on the road. And this one obviously could be his last road

trip in Philadelphia. So he wanted to make sure it happened. So he took them out on Friday night and made them part of the picture. Small thing, but a big thing. Nice. That steakhouse is 529. I love that steakhouse. Old school steakhouse, great place to go in Winnipeg,

excellent service. I want 10 free dinners for this plug, but I do love 529. I knew there was an underlying motive in there somewhere. No, it's a great place. It's a great place. I remember going to Winnipeg once and saying, hey, is there some place here I don't know about I should go? I was told to go there and now whenever someone asks me, and it happened once this year, anywhere

in Winnipeg, and I'm always free to take more recommendations. I'm not in Winnipeg as much anymore, but I always say five to nine Great call great call. Okay, so back to Philly Lawton. Yeah So remember when we said earlier a couple months ago? It's a big price and I don't know if it means they're serious and then someone called me and said remember They held out a year ago for a first-rounder and they got it so I Think you look at the prices right now and lot and with another year of term, you know, you can see it

That they could potentially get it and I've heard lot and is told the flyers He doesn't want to leave he'd prefer to stay and I do think the flyers would like to do right by him in the sense that You know, where would you be interested in if we did send you somewhere? Is there a preference if this team answers our call you can't always do it? I think they'd like to do it, but I think he knows I think he's been prepared for this. It's pretty obvious and He's liked you know there's no there's no question about that you know we'll see about you know some of the other names there Ristelainen publicly and privately tortorella has been very blunt about

he doesn't like the idea of them losing him. We talked about Sylvan Lafay before Brad Shaw, the assistant coach in in Philly. He's excellent, excellent defensive coach and he's worked his magic here. You know what's also had a really big step this year has been Jamie Drysdale and obviously he's not going anywhere but I wanted to credit Shaw for that. You know all of a sudden you know Philly has a bunch of D and I think people have kind of wondered you know what this means for the future of all of this. They talked to Cam York about an extension this year. It didn't go anywhere and we'll see where that goes. I think in goal two, Fedotov

had a great night against the Jets. I think that's uncertain for them and I don't know if they solved that now behind Erson. I don't know if they solved that now or they figure it out later. What do they want to do there? But I think you can expect at some point in time, Philly again, they're going to try to enter, like when we talk about New York, the Rangers, whatever they're doing now, it's setting up to try to do something big. I think Philly thinks the same way. I think they would like to make an ad that has significant impact for them.

At some point. That's the, they have this cap space. They're not saving it. They want to use it. And I'll say this too, like connect me. He probably didn't play as much at the Four Nations as he wanted to, but it's still a big thing when you're picked to that team. Sandheim, I thought, had a really good tournament.

Yeah, he did. And I think it's going to do wonders for him going forward. I think you look at these guys and they're signed long term and they're Team Canada now. And I don't think that that's a small thing. I think it really drives you. Once you've had a taste of that and you understand that and you see what it's like to get there and to be there, it drives you if you're any kind of motivated player and I think both those guys are like that so I think they're I think they're building it's still building but I think they want to do they

want to take a swing all right Phillies state rival the Pittsburgh Penguins Elliott so Kyle Dubas has kind of had the the mandate of gathering younger players throughout the year. We've seen Tomasino come into the fold. They brought back Pierre Olivier, Joseph. As that continued to be kind of their MO as things move forward here, what about Eric Carlson? What goes on there? Sidney Crosby, I can't imagine anything going on between now and the deadline, but he's a name that of course with the team continuing to struggle, it's going to be out there at

least in terms of a conversation piece. I don't see it. I just don't see anything happening with Crosby. And Malkin said, you see Malkin told Rob Rossi, I'm not going anywhere either. You know with Carlson, oh by the way, the people told me to stop playing Xbox. I had some people say after we willed the Seth Jones to Florida trade into existence

that I should start playing Xbox again. Oh I like it. Carlson, I feel, I don't know if it's gonna happen now But I've talked before about how after his bonus is paid this summer all the sudden The actual cash left on his deal for the last year and a half is About eleven and a half million over two years That's not impossible million over two years. That's not impossible. So I do think we will see Carlson talk but I don't know if I expect it until this summer. I think he's

gonna continue to do that. Like I've heard Pittsburgh has asked about some of Buffalo's young players. Like Peturkaka, that's a big price, if it ever happens. But that guy has got Pittsburgh, I mean, he's got everybody written all over it, but that guy's got Pittsburgh written all over it. I think they've been talking, I think they've asked Buffalo periodically this year about some of their younger guys,

AHL guys that look like they're gonna be players. I continue to think that that's what they're looking at. They've also got to figure out their goal-tending too. Like just unbelievable amount of first-shot goals this year. Nadelkovich is signed next year and I think they do like Blomkvist they could go back to that But I still think the plan is the plan They also have 11 draft picks coming up in this year's yeah up to Gotta hit those. Yeah, and a bunch in the ensuing years, too So they've loaded up in that regard and trying to load up on young players as well. I wonder if Achari goes this year.

I mean he was a great fit. He's got another year at two million, good player. Great fit when Toronto grabbed him a couple years ago. It was exactly what they were hoping for when they got him. Depth performer in the playoffs scored some big goals for him. Depth performer in the playoffs scored some big goals for him. Now he's 33 now, but I think he's still got the ability to be that kind of guy for a contending team again this year.

So that doesn't surprise me in the least. That's a guy I've... He's in that list of centers, right? He's in that list of centers. All right, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Four straight wins going into the Four Nations break and they've continued to win coming out of the Four Nations break. They too are one of the hottest teams going in the NHL right now. Man, they really seem to be clicking here, Elliott. There was a few years ago,

it was the old saying, count out or bet against the Tampa Bay Lightning at your own peril and it's kind of starting to feel like they are entering that kind of status again because boy they look dangerous and you floated out there a few times the last few weeks. Julian Brizbois don't count out his ability to do something big between now and the deadline. It's like poltergeist, they're back, right? They're back. Well, Vasylavsky looks great. He looks really, really good.

And as a team, they look really, really good. I think they're looking for some scoring. I mentioned Tuck. I don't know what Tampa has to trade. Again, it's another team every year of going for it. They don't have a ton. I mean, they have their first round pick from a couple years ago, the wonderfully dressed Isaac Howard. I just don't know if they're willing to do it. They don't have a first rounder this year. That's from the Tanner Genoa trade. But they do have first rounders, including next year, which is the really loaded draft.

So they have something. But Buffalo, as we've said, they want hockey trade. So I look at that from Tampa's point of view, and I'm like, what do they have to do there? So I do think they're gonna add I do think they see themselves as especially with the way they've played lately I do think they see themselves as a team that can be a threat and a legitimate threat so I don't think they're gonna sit here and

let this all go by. But you look at a guy like Tuck, I think he'd be perfect for them. I just don't know if they have the ability to do it. So I'm looking for other fits like that. It's incredible that they're taking a run at where Toronto and Florida are at with how hot they have gotten. I know the East is wide open, but they're becoming, and it blows me away that they would be considering scoring.

I mean, they've been one of the best scoring teams in the whole league this year. You can never have too many goals. Never. That's a fair point. And you know, I'll say this too. I wouldn't be surprised if they add maybe a depth forward too, but I've heard they've looked around for like that kind of a player and why wouldn't you? But like, like a guy like Peturka too, like, I just like, I've heard like they've been,

I'm sure they've been talking to everybody. But one of the teams I've heard is just just been Buffalo. And but I look at them and because I think everybody calls Buffalo, but I look at them But one of the teams I've heard is just been Buffalo. But I look at them and, because I think everybody calls Buffalo, but I look at them and I know what the Sabres want. I think, at least we think we do. And you're sitting there and you're saying,

do you see a match there, really? You know, one of the things I wonder about the Lightning too, and I'm just sort of throwing this out in my head, you know, if they're looking for a forward or a center, we talked in our West about Yanny Gourd. You know, you just wonder, is that a player who appeals to them? There would be some romance to it.

We remember how great that line was, Gourd, Coleman, and Goodrow, Barkley, for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they were winning their Cups. You know, maybe that's someone they look at. They obviously know him well and probably doesn't cost them a ton. He's a rental. Tampa's going to be a problem once again in the East.

It's looking like. All right. The Toronto Maple Leafs. Elliott said it's no secret they've been looking for a center. Bolster their depth there. I mean, they've been linked to the whole Braden Shen, Luke Shen conversation as that's gone on the last little while. Brad Treleving is second year as general manager of the team. I mean, it's the butt end of the joke for many that the fact that they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967, but they haven't won a

Stanley Cup since 1967. And this core is not getting younger, Elliot. So how do you think TriLiving maximizes what he can do between now and the deadline to give them a chance to end that drought once and for all? I also believe that if it becomes a thing, it's just TriLiving's way that he would poke into Rantanen. Now, obviously, it could never be a long-term thing unless their cap situation completely changed, like a billion percent changed. But I find it very hard to believe that if Rantanen got out there, Toronto wouldn't at least see what it took to do it. You know the Shen thing, we talked about it with St. Louis, now that they're winning, would they even do it?

And Toronto, it's a big price, they don't have a lot of futures, they have four things that people are looking at. We talked about them. Their first rounder in 2026, Cowan Minton and Danford. Not Danforth, Greek town, Danford. Yes, love a good night on the Danforth. I refer to them as Danforth, both written and on this pod the other day. And plus, Toronto would probably need retention. So I don't know if it's going to have. I think they're going to add a center.

I do, although again, if Rantanen's out there, I think they poke around at them and see what possibilities may or may not exist. I think the other thing too is I wonder if they're thinking about D not only for performance reasons but look Tana was hurt he's gonna be fine but he just got hurt you know Ekman Larson played Sunday he got hurt the other night against the Rangers I just wonder if they want insurance. That's what I'm looking at with them.

Do they look there and say, we like some better insurance for the physical nature of what our players have gone through this year in health. But they're going to add a forward. I would be most likely a center. And like I said, it's tree livings, MO, if there's any ranting out there, even if it's just a rental he looks at it It's really going on with Mitch Marner or is that an end-of-season? Discussion at this point. That's an end-of-season Conversation, you know what the other thing too is I wouldn't screw around with his mind right now. He's in a great place.

He's one of the, well, Hagel would be another guy, but one of the guys that had big moments in the four nations and has carried that forward since the regular season kicked up again. It has changed the opinion of these guys. Absolutely. 100%. I would just, okay, we'll talk to you in May or June Maybe at the parade we'll talk then oh dear I Would that could be the title of this podcast

God no, I I would leave him alone Just Just rely just play I would leave him alone. Just, just rely, just play. Just play. Talk to you in the, we'll talk to you in the spring. Don't fool around with this. He's in a great spot. Let it ride.

Okay, with that. Tavaris 1-2, I think. Yes. That's another one. Just let it ride. Okay, Tavares won too, I think. Yes. That's another one. Just let it ride. Now both seem to be in a pretty good spot right now. The team tries to add to what they've got going on and continue to push themselves over

the hump that's held them up for the last number of years in the Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Riley era. All right, one final team to get to. It's the Washington Capitals, and with that, for the purpose of this episode, they will act as our final thought, which is brought to you by GMC. So the Cavs, it's been a darling of a season, Elliott, though it has, as I said, gone great lately, three straight losses. You never want to overreact to- Giving up'm a lot of goals all of a sudden Yeah, you don't want to overreact too much to the short-term results

But what's Brian McClellan looking at here for a season that so much has gone right starting from the offseason Right up until now. Well, I saw some quotes he gave to Tom GalittiL.com, which was basically saying what we were talking about. I'm sorry, it wasn't McClellan, it was Chris Patrick who gave the quotes to Tom saying, we probably won't do too much here. And whenever a GM comes out and says that, I expect like a nuclear bomb to drop on everything. Because Kelly McCrimmon actually did the same thing. He said, I don't know if we'll do too much. And I'm like, okay, we'll see about this. But it fits in this particular case, right? Everybody's fit pretty well.

Their players have all accepted their roles. I still think they're going to add, look at it, like they've got Ryan Leonard coming and not every college player comes and makes an impact, but there's guys that do like Chris Crider did in 2012, and I think Leonard has the ability to do that. But I still think they're going to look at another forward and just say, okay, is there another guy we can bring in here who can maybe play multiple positions, multiple roles, score some goals, and defend? So I would think that that's gonna happen here I know the other thing they've probably looked at a little bit is are they happy

with their like their 70 kind of thing like right now it's Dylan McElrath who's just a fantastic story but do they look at that and say we need to add that so I heard there was some optimism with Charlie Lindgren too. We'll see what that means if they get that closed down. He's a UFA this year. But we'll see what I'm based on what they've said and what I've heard. I'm not expecting anything big, which of course means they're going to drop a massive deal on us. I just think about too, if you're a player coming into Washington as an acquisition mid-season, like they've got one of the more intricate and entertaining hallway routines and all

that going on before warmups and then you've got to rush yourself in there. I'm sorry, I'm vetoing my trade to Washington because I don't think I can fit into the hallway routine. It's not about you can't fit in. It's just about picking your spot. That's gonna be a nerve-racking first few games coming in. I think it's uh yeah Dom loved the bands to make her dance bit with Chickert and Ovechkin. Mm hmm. All the stuff that's going on like remember Tom Wilson and TJ Oshie for years during warmups?

Their routines. It's so all over the map, but it's excellent to watch. It should be fun. It's a business. Yeah. You've got to win. You've got to prepare yourself properly, but there's also got to be moments where it's fun.

Yeah. For the most part, they've had a lot of fun this season. You've got to prepare yourself properly, but there's also got to be moments where it's fun. Yeah. For the most part, they've had a lot of fun this season. Geez. You're second place in the league. Your captain's about to set the NHL goals record. What's to hate? Well, good times in DC.

Good times in DC, and they hope it's just getting started for them this year. All right. That'll be the final thought brought to you by GMC. 32 teams down, Elliott, and a few days away till trade deadline. I'm coming in studio with you this year. I've never been there for Deadline Day. What the heck am I getting myself into? Nothing. You just have to say, Elliott, Dave, Dave, Elliot.

It's very nice of you belittling my position. No, it's important because I'm not paying attention. Yeah, so I thought I should bring my, I may bring my AeroPress to the set. If it's quiet, I'll just make us coffees. That would be awesome if those guys are on the air like Biz and Kevin and you're like doing AeroPress. I'll have it with me. I might need a few.

Bring it in. I will. I will. That could be a lot of fun. All right. So trade deadline coverage will be on the air at 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific on Sportsnet. And so usually on Fridays in the morning our podcast drops but because that being deadline day we'll wait until after the horn sounds at

3 Eastern give you a minute to collect your thoughts we'll record after the deadline is done so we know for sure what all has gone on and what hasn't and hope to get Friday's pod out to you I guess evening time in the east come Friday. How does that sound Elliot? Sounds like I'm gonna be this could be a pod where I just say ridiculous stuff because I'm exhausted and I don't care anymore. This could be the best pod of the year or the worst. There's no in the middle. Goodness. So now the pressure's on me to make sure things either stay on the rails enough or go off the rails just enough you know what the audience wants things

yes off the rails it is I look forward to it all right Elliot good luck getting sleep when you can here over the next few days we appreciate you going through all of this with us here this episode I'll see you in a few days in Toronto my man. Can't wait. Have a great week everyone. We'll talk to you later on Friday post deadline. The End