32 Thoughts: The Podcast - And Then There Were Two (Canadian Teams)

Episode Date: May 6, 2024

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman delve into what is next for the Toronto Maple Leafs following another first round elimination. They talk about what management will do with Sheldon Keefe (3:16) and what will happen with Mitch Marner and the big four (6:19). The conversation about the Leafs then makes way for Game 7 between the Golden Knights and Stars (21:36). They discuss what happens with Vegas now that they are out (27:36). Jeff and Elliotte talk about the future of Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders (36:06) and what the Nashville Predators do next after a successful season (41:50).In the back half of the podcast the guys focus on the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, beginning with Game 1 between the Rangers and Hurricanes (51:28). They stay in the East and talk about the Bruins-Panthers series (58:25). The attention then turns West as they discuss Avs-Stars (1:01:10), and finally the All-Canadian matchup between the Canucks and Oilers (1:04:19).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

It's very evident. Teams play the Leafs. They set up the game for the Leafs to beat themselves. And I thought we did that in game three and four. We beat ourself with how we played at home. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Lots to get to today, but the story from the weekend, which will bleed into the week and will bleed into the weeks and months to come elliot the maple leafs lose two to one in overtime david pasternak with the overtime heroics it's a game seven it's boston it's saturday night and now the maple leafs are out comma again after losing to the boston bruins in seven whether it's pelly whether it's shanahan whether it's tree living whether it's keith whether it's theelly, whether it's Shanahan, whether it's Tree Living, whether it's Keefe, whether it's the players, what is next? Well, I do think there's going to be changes. I don't

think there's any doubt about that. I think the biggest question is how deep do they go and what is the timeline of it? Jeff, one of the things I really think is crazy is that we're sitting there we're watching Saturday night it's going into overtime and whether Toronto wins or Boston wins we're thinking okay the team that loses here how many people are getting fired and what changes are coming and we're not talking about that when it comes to the team that wins and it's a game seven overtime. But sometimes I think this is a crazy way to run organizations.

But as Hyman Ross said in Godfather II, this is the business we've chosen and that's the way it goes. Number one, and I think this is probably the most important thing, the idea of having $40 million tied up in four forwards, those days are over. That the Maple Leafs are going to say that kind of roster construction is done, it doesn't work. Now, they might have to bear with it for one more year. We'll get to that. Might have to. But overall, that philosophy is done. I think this team had a likable year at the worst possible time.

If we were five or six years ago and they overcame the injuries they did on defense and in goal and they played in games five six and seven they may have played the three best defensive games of their era and still lost the series if this had happened five or six years ago people would have been tolerant of it but because we're at the end of this eight-year apex where they've only won one playoff series nobody wants to hear about moral victories or how hard they played and I get it I totally understand it you know me I bet on talent but I get it and I understand it and sometimes the fact that you lose during a certain point of your franchise arc is more telling than how you lose or how you win.

So we are where we are and there are going to be changes. Well Jeff, one thing we know now is that Keefe and the players are talking on Monday and management isn't talking until Thursday so we might not know about Keefe by then. Honestly, I think Keefe is a better coach than the market gives him credit for. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Keefe ends up going somewhere else and proving his critics in Toronto wrong I think he did a good job in very difficult circumstances this year with all the injuries and everything and this is one and we'll bookmark it in three or four years we could all come back and look at this and say Elliott was right or

Elliott was wrong and if I'm wrong I'm sure I'm gonna hear it but it would not surprise me at the least if he goes somewhere else and does really well but look I I do think the Maple Leafs are gonna look at what else is out there you'll remember going back last summer before they committed to Keefe and extended him they definitely discussed alternatives. Like if we don't bring them back or we don't extend them, who makes sense? Who would we bring in? So it's impossible to believe they don't have some ideas. It's also impossible to believe knowing the way this organization thinks and knowing the way that they constructed their roster especially during the season that they haven't or wouldn't have

considered someone like Berube. So one of the things that happens here is they figure out potentially what are their alternatives. The other ones that everyone's going to talk about here are going to be Shanahan and Marner. Again, Shanahan, the heat is on right now. This is going to be Keith Pelly's decision. And for me, the only question here is how much time does Pelly need to make the call? time does Pelly need to make the call? Is he keeping him or is he moving on? And Pelly has been quiet. He has done everything he can to prevent himself from being the story. And that's the question I have. What is his timetable for making this decision? Now, in addition to the timetable, I had someone say to me, well, if they remove Shanahan, who replaces him? Honestly, I'm not sure that's the question to ask because I'm not convinced anymore that ownership wants that kind of layer of management. I don't necessarily believe

they want a president of hockey operations anymore. Pelly is the active Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and it's possible that that layer is eliminated and not replaced and the general manager, Tree Living, simply reports to him. Now Marner, I think the thing there is going to be this. Yes, he has control over the situation with his no move clause. But I think there's a couple of questions here. Number one, how does he feel? Has he gotten to a point where he thinks long term,

it's just better for him to be somewhere else. He was tentative. He was nervous during these playoffs. You could see it. Matthews had his moments. Nylander had his moments after he came back. Tavares had a big moment in the Game 5 overtime winner in Boston. Marner never really had a moment.

And now because of where we are in the calendar of his contract, that becomes white hot under the microscope. And to me, the number one question is, what does he think? Does any part of him think that it's time? Now you have to always be careful with this because we're 24 to 48 hours after the emotion of a tough defeat but I do think it's possible that he will think about it. It doesn't mean that he comes right out and tells the Leafs get me out of here but I do think at least there will be a Marner collective as in the people around him conversation about maybe is it better to go somewhere else now I don't know if he's gonna say that publicly it's probably not in his best interest to say that publicly

but I do think on some level, like especially the people who represent him, you're not doing your job if you don't at least say, Mitch, would this be better for you? Now number two part of that equation is the organization. Do they think it's time? Because yes, while Marner has the power of the no move clause the Maple Leafs power is to say look we're not if we're not offering you what you want we're not even sure that and they could go full bore scorched earth. They could say, not only are we not offering you what you want,

but we're thinking that maybe it's better if we just use the cap room. And they can say, if you don't want to play ball with us, that's fine. We can play it out next year. But what it means is you're not going to get your extension here and you're not going to get the eighth year that's what Toronto can do if that's what they want to do because people are saying there's nothing that Maple Leafs can do that's not true they don't have the hammer but they have something and it's that so they can kind of force the situation and say look guys this is what we're going to do this is how we're going to handle it and you can decide to work with us now or you can

decide to make your decision later they can do that the kind of same thing happened with Nylander but Nylander played so well, he convinced them to keep them. So I think that's kind of where we are right now. I think they also have to make decisions in goal. I've got to think that I wonder how Samsonov feels. He started, he got pulled, they made the right decision, but maybe he's going to say, I want to go somewhere else. And with Wall, even though he's really talented, they have to be asking themselves, is he ever going to be healthy? Are we concerned about his health? So they're going to have to consider what they're going to do in goal.

They're going to have to consider what they're going to do with their core four. You know, Nyes obviously took a huge step. They've got a couple of young prospects in Minton and Cowan that had really good years. Are they going to be ready next year? Do they still need some AHL seasoning? They've got some cap room. They've got to decide what they want to do on their defense. You know, maybe they weren't great puck movers,

but those guys played really hard. And like I said, those were three of Toronto's best defensive games they've played with this group. It's going to be interesting. You know, are they going to try to extend McCabe? I heard in addition to how he played, the organization loves him behind the scenes, especially when they went down three games to one. the scenes, especially when they went down three games to one. A lot of the attitude came from him, the pride within the team, the pride in his teammates, the us against the world mentality that would make Pat Quinn proud. Quinn was the king of us against the world. And I wouldn't be

surprised if they look at him and say, what can we do here? Are they going to keep Joel Edmondson for another year? They've already extended Benoit. They have some flexibility and room to make some decisions, but I definitely believe there's going to be change. And I think the most fascinating one is, you know, what does Marner decide? And depending on his decision, what do they say to him? Okay, so a couple of things there. And just rewinding quickly to the blue line. Safe to say, TJ Brody, Mark Giordano, who, by the way, for the longest time in Calgary,

were a fantastic pair together. Maybe the best pair in the NHL. I think that's the end of those two players with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I think we wonder about Max Domi, who's on the one-year deal. Tyler Bertuzzi, who's on the one-year deal as well. Listen, Max Domi, when you talk about one man's injuries, another man's opportunities, you always like to say, Max Domi fit in there hand to glove.

And I think really distinguished himself. I don't know what the situation is on Tyler Bertuzzi. Stomi fit in there hand to glove and I think really distinguished himself. I don't know what the situation is on Tyler Bertuzzi. Do the Leafs want him to stay? Does he want to stay? I don't know the answer to any of it. I do wonder like you do about Joel Edmondson. I thought he had a really good playoffs for the Maple Leafs, albeit brief.

Seven games and I think we'll take away from this series that hit on David Pasternak specifically. But you're right, Jake McKay became the guy on that blue line. And they have him for one more year at a very, very discounted price of $2 million. I do very much wonder what happens there. But getting back to Bertuzzi and Domi and these types of players, one of the interesting things through all of this, Elliot, and this is not my point. This is a point that's been made in countless other places. But the lion's share of money is occupied between Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, William

Nylander, and John Tavares. Yet the issue continues to remain not defending, but scoring goals here. The issue here is you're done with John Tavares' $11 million cap hit after next season. Either John Tavares goes back to the Maple Leafs on a reduced rates, or he's just not back with the Maple Leafs at all. So if you're making a decision on mitch marner you find yourself in a situation where and again i'm the guy that keeps reminding everybody the cap space is a thing cap space is a commodity no one's we're going to talk about that in a second nothing but are you in a situation where okay we need to make a decision on one when really in a year it's going to be a

decision on two yeah i understand I understand your point, Jeff, but I just don't think you can run it back anymore. Oh, I'm not saying run it back. I'm just saying like, does this complicate anything at all? No. Whatever decisions you're making now are about your roster. And you can only make the decisions in the order that you contractually can do them, right?

So you can't worry about Tavares in a year. I mean, you can use it to plan for your cap, but someone said to me, if they really wanted to send a message, I mean, really wanted to send a message, what they could do is they could buy out Tavares. Now, from a salary cap point of view, it doesn't make a lot of sense. His salary is almost all bonuses and bonuses are guaranteed. They're not affected

by a buyout. So next year, instead of having an $11 million cap hit, it would be like 10.4. it would be like 10.4 and the year after you know you'd have a $300,000 cap hit so it really doesn't change your cap picture a lot but boy would it send shockwaves through your roster now the question is now now I would say this I think there are GMs in the league that would absolutely consider that. I am just not convinced that the Maple Leafs are going to do that. Like Tavares still has very useful moments as a player. So but it was just interesting that someone presented this to me. The thing with Marner is, you know Jeff and it goes to what you said there I was thinking

about this with Nylander they were not willing to lose the trade if they were going to make that deal last summer they were not willing to lose the trade they They set a bar. They said, if we're trading him, we're getting this, a top defender that makes a difference. If they really want to change their mix, they have to consider the possibility, especially since Marner can decide where he wants to go. They have to consider the possibility, they make the deal, and they look like they lose it and say, okay, we're going to do this, but we're going to do it not for this trade, but to give us the flexibility to do other things.

Now, you mentioned Bertuzzi and Domi. When Bertuzzi was signed, the Maple Leafs discussed a longer-term deal but it couldn't work so they said let's do one year and see how it goes. Now there have been some rumors around that he kind of has the Ryan O'Reilly vibe that he doesn't like all the scrutiny and attention in Toronto. I think there is some truth to that but from what I've heard it doesn't necessarily mean he's against re-signing. I've heard actually he really enjoyed part of the group. He likes his teammates and he's interested in staying and I believe the team is interested in having him back. As always though it comes down to contract. What are the Maple Leafs willing to do? What is he willing to take? But I don't think it's an absolute no on Bertuzzi. I think

Domi wants to stay. I think it's going to come down to negotiations because you know that Domi's still pretty young. He's going to want some term. And I'm just curious to see how the Maple Leafs are going to feel about that. But I would be shocked if Domi didn't want to stay. This was a really good fit for him. And I simply think it comes down to contract negotiations. You know, I know off the top you talked about what's next by way of decisions, but also timeline as well. Look, we've seen teams make decisions quickly after the season is over.

And I think that if you've made your decision on someone like your coach, you probably do it sooner than later for everybody. Sanity involves certainly the coach. How wild a week do you think it's going to be around Leafland? Like it always is. I think it's going to be around Leafland? Like it always is. I think it's going to be a busy summer. I think it's going to be a busy summer because I think there's a lot of decisions to be made. Is this going to be a busy week, though? I think so.

It'll be newsy because anytime a Maple Leaf says anything, it's newsworthy. But is it going to be actual news, you think? It's going to be nuts, Jeff. Since there's no management talking until Thursday it's gonna be 96 crazy hours but as someone said to me you're gonna be busy chasing the Maple Leafs around all summer so you might as well start now Elliot anything else on the Maple Leafs before we move on yeah a couple things I was spitballing you know one of the players I was thinking about potentially for them I was wondering about a guy like Seth Jones if Chicago is going to keep losing I wonder how Jones feels now I know his analytic

numbers haven't been great but I'm curious to see how he would feel about them and they would feel about him. I'm not, you know, Jones has kind of indicated that I don't think losing is very easy on him. So we'll see. And if it's not someone like Seth Jones, like I think this, if they do make a Marner trade, maybe they don't get, as we talk about, maybe they don't quote unquote win the trade and get a stud defenseman in return. But I would think a defenseman would be part of that package, someone they think that could play for them.

And also you have to think if players like Brett Pesci or Brandon Montour hit the market, those kinds of players, Toronto is going to be in the mix for them. So that's number one. That's one thing I was thinking about. I'm enjoying profane Willie Nylander a little bit here, swearing in every interview. Yeah. And, you know, the final thing,

and I know some Leaf friend fans of mine, they said it was the final kick in an area where it hurts when they heard Jim Montgomery say that Mike Babcock gave him advice going into game number seven. Yeah, that's a... You could tell that Montgomery was pretty happy to deliver that note. That is a kick to where you are most a man is a kick to where you are most a man elliot's to where you are most a man yeah that was a tough one for maple east fans it was a tough

weekend for for maple east fans certainly anything else new with craig berube we mentioned him we just talked about the maple leafs yeah you know i mentioned on friday that he was uh considered high on ottawa and new jersey list. I had some people telling me they don't think it's going to be Ottawa. Now, again, I'm not saying that means it's going to be definitely Jersey because I think Toronto may weigh in on this, but I had a few people tell me don't hit your wagon to Berube and the Senators in the in coaching circles that seems to have died down i know some people think that travis green has a real shot there but i i like you know ottawa's list they've interviewed a lot of people so you know we'll see where that goes okay elliot sunday

night huge game the vegas golden knights defending stanley cup are out. There will be a new Stanley Cup champion. Dallas wins 2-1. And the legend of Wyatt Johnston grows. He scores his fourth goal of the postseason. Radek Faxa with the game winner. Interestingly enough, that's a player that at various times Vegas has been interested in. Yes. Dallas has always held on to.

And he's one of Peter DeBoer's favorites and paid off big for the Dallas Stars on Sunday nights. And I'll tell you, like, Dallas went at this game hard, and there was one player they seemed to have in their sights, and that was Mark Stone. We saw Thomas Harley cross-checking Stone in the back. We saw Matt DeShane in the third period get a real good lick in on Mark Stone at all. One thing we do have to mention here is Jake Ottinger.

He was fantastic. Yes. After that first game, he was tremendous. And there'll be a new Stanley Cup champion as the Dallas Stars will now face off against the Avalanche. What did you make of Game 7? That was a fun one. Major credit to Jake Ottinger, Jeff.

You mentioned how good he was after the first game remember going into the playoffs there were a lot of people who thought that he was their achilles heel in dallas that if dallas was going to lose early it wasn't only going to be because of going up against vegas it was going to be because ottinger just hasn't been good enough this year. And if you take a look at his stats from the third period in overtime in these games, the numbers were exceptional. So all the credit in the world to him a year ago, he disappointed me because he made fun of my golf swing when we shot the Joe Pavelski piece, but he did nothing in the first round that disappointed me at all. He did nothing in the first round that disappointed me at all. He was excellent. And, you know, even though what did Dallas do to deserve this?

Out of the frying pan, into the fire, Vegas round one, Colorado round two. If Ottinger plays like that, Dallas is going to be confident as good as the Avalanche are. They are going to be very confident. Johnston, you said a star is born it's not barbara streisand it's not lady gaga it's wyatt johnston and in game seven they moved him up to the first line they they moved pavelski down they put johnston up and he rewarded them with a goal and you know some some players they just are opportunist they they have they're always in the right place they have a nose for scoring they're not afraid of the

moment Wyatt Johnston is that guy and I don't know what there really is else to say Jeff aside from that series deserved to go seven games a one team that could win the Stanley Cup was going out in this series it was as even as you could expect it to be and whoever was going to win that series was really going to earn it really going to earn it and the stars earned it and would anybody have been surprised if the golden knights would have scored there in the last minute and put us in overtime as a matter of fact i was almost surprised they didn't there was that one shot from the point with the ottinger glove save that i thought had a chance i'm like oh here we go because you know what i thought i thought that went in because you couldn't see ottinger behind the screen on TV.

Like he was in a place or you couldn't see his glove and the crowd kind of got up for a second. So, you know, you forget for a second, you're watching a game in Dallas as opposed to Vegas. And you think, oh, the crowd's standing, the puck's in the net. And then you realize they were standing and applauding because he made the save. For half a second there, because I couldn't see the glove and the way the crowd reacted, I actually thought the puck was in. So, Peter DeBoer is now 8-0 in Game 7.

And because I know how much you love it when I put you on the spot, what other significant record in hockey, not necessarily the NHL, does he continue to hold? Hmm. Most teams taken to the second round, most different teams taken to the second round of the playoffs? No, I'm going to get you off this fishing trip here. 2008 Kitchener Rangers.

Oh, my God. Hang on. Was the last team to win their league championship and host the Memorial Cup. They were the last team to go through the front door. Head coach of that team, Peter DeBoer. As Saginaw bowed out to London in the OHS. That's not even a real trivia question. Sure it is.

Who was the last team to go in the Memorial Cup in the front door? It's a good one too. Come on. Completely irrelevant to what we're discussing here. Okay. We're talking about Peter DeBoer. Completely irrelevant to what we're discussing here. I figure it's because, you know, for example, he's taken, what,

two different teams to the Stanley Cup final. And then I realized Scotty Bowman took like eight teams to the Stanley Cup final. So that would be a terrible, that's a terrible answer by me. Even though I wasn't even close to the question, it's just a terrible trivia guess by me. I just thought you were just filibustering until I would jump in and just finally say okay i was testing everyone's patience embarrassingly poor now yes now that's okay uh a mediocre man is always at his best the um the question becomes what happens to vegas now like we know that vegas takes the summer to clean up their cap that's the way they do business we're gonna make a big mess in the regular season and we don't care because we're cleaning it up in the summer so what now there's a marsh so there's a

stevenson there's a martinez we'll see what happens there uh what happens with vegas now well hannifin's already done so we know that that's one of their biggest pieces of business that's one of their biggest pieces of business. I've heard in Marciseau's case, the biggest issue is term. He's 33 years old, he's gonna be 34 in December, he scored 42 goals this year Jeff and I thought he was very dangerous in the playoffs, including in game number seven. This is still a guy who is near the top of his game. And also don't forget, he really didn't become an NHL regular until he was 27. There's an argument to be made that the mileage on him is not as great as the mileage on other

34 year olds. Vegas is an analytically inclined organization. They do take a lot of these, they do take numbers into the equation, aging curves, all that stuff. I've just heard that unless it's changed recently, and it may have, it happens from time to time, they were really having a difficult time, these two sides to find a term that made a lot of sense. To me, Marcius Oh is a huge part of the soul of the team. Of course, he's one of the original misfits. He was the consmith trophy winner last year when they won the Stanley Cup. I do think the Golden Knights would very much like to keep him

but to this point, there's a limit in what they were willing to do. And I heard after the trade deadline, not like they were going to trade him anyway, but I heard after the trade deadline, the two sides were really struggling to get there. So we'll see if that changes at all. Stevenson just turned 30. all. Stevenson just turned 30. From what I heard in his case, the Golden Knights were willing to do longer term. I don't know if it was willing to go up to eight years, but I heard it was significant term. So when people tell me significant term without saying eight years, we're talking like six or seven years. But I think the issue there with Stevenson, as I heard, was that the longer the term went, the less number I think the Golden Knights are willing to do.

So it's not like they were offering them like six years at two million a year, but it was six million, sorry, six years at no a lower number then maybe they would have done for four or five years and so again it's been difficult for them to get to the exact sweet spot unless of course something's changed in the last few days and I'm not aware of I think the thing about about this that Vegas has a big challenge with is Stevenson in particular is a top center. And Vegas has Eichel.

Eichel signed for two more years and Carlson signed for three more years. And they've just traded for Hurdle, obviously, who signed with a lot of term. They're pretty set down the middle if they want to be like to me them going out and getting a hurdle is at least an admission that they knew they might not be able to keep Stevenson and that's a plan there in case he leaves now if they can make it work maybe they can move some of these bodies around some of these guys can play wing whatever but to me them going out and getting a hurdle is at least an admission that they're they know that there's a possibility Stevenson's going to leave because a center like him getting on the market they're going to be 20 teams after this guy I have no doubt that that's

the case one other name we should throw out there as far as being a topic for future is William Carey yeah is there a future there I haven't heard as much about Carrier and again you know he's 29 years old and he's making 1.4 million the one thing that someone did say to me is that Kyrie is probably in his best position to hit it big as he has in his entire career. And they could see a situation where Vegas simply can't match what other teams can do. We'll see. He's another great player for them.

Martinez, I know people have wondered if he's going to be retiring. His body has been through an awful lot. I mean, that guy's had a hell of a career stanley cup champion uh stanley cup winning goal um just a a great great career he's 36 years old i do think people have wondered if he will end up retiring never a dull moment vegas this off season should be but you know but you know what Jeff like you know they're gonna be aggressive they're gonna be mad that they lost they're gonna be super mad that they lost and and and everybody's out there saying good I'm glad Vegas didn't win uh and it's gonna have them mad they're gonna be like oh yeah you think that's you think that's fine you think that's good well wait do you see what we pull next and that's what

they're gonna do they're gonna aim to come back and and and do what they couldn't do this year which was advanced deeper into the playoffs like this is an organization that's not satisfied with the one Stanley Cup they want more and and you know like regardless of how you feel about what happened this year with uh with mark stone and them acquiring hannifin and them acquiring mantha and then making all the moves they made they're gonna look there they're gonna look at everybody and say you may think you won this round but we're far from done and we're coming back to win again and soon can i add one more thought to the mark stone conversation sure for anyone that doesn't think he was hurt do you think we really

saw mark stone in this series i'm watching mark stone out there and saying that's not the mark stone that we're used to at all like did you not look at Mark Stone and say this guy is not 100% you know what Jeff that's a really interesting question I hadn't really thought about that too much he scored three goals but you know the one thing for me about Stone is well first of all he wasn't as dominant as he usually is I don't doubt that I don't doubt that at all I think you're right he didn't like to me Marcio made a real impact Eichel made a real impact Stone didn't make the impact that I normally expect from him and he did look like he was hurt in game seven he got hurt on one play but for me sometimes it's always been tough to tell because his game is not based on speed it's based on guile and skill

and his great stick and uh sometimes i find it harder to tell if a guy is as effective when like when someone's speed is someone's game oh they're not themselves so sometimes I find it harder to tell with him what do you think I just think that he was uh whether it was uh the injury uh the lack of playing time all of it like the whole the whole time all this controversy was going on about oh cap circumvention I'm saying they don't have the player in the lineup do you really want to sit a player out that long just to spring them into the playoffs like sometimes that'll work kucherov canes sometimes that won't and it's a really dangerous game to play and i looked at stone in this series and i said to your point so much of what he does is based on intelligence and body positioning and making the right play and just flat out being

smarter than everybody he's not going to burn anybody he's not going to blow by guys wide and cut to the net that's not going to be his game i just didn't see it consistently in that first round and my takeaway from it is he's still not a hundred percent so for anyone that thinks that i don't know the vegas golden heights were milking it or mark stone was milking it they didn't have the player for all that time and i don't think they had 100 of mark stone when he got there at all elliot i think a lot of people are wondering about the new york islanders and what can be done about this roster is one of the questions about the New York Islanders however the future of Lou there well now we know the answer he he came out uh during his media conference with Patrick Waugh and said you know we're coming back and you'll remember the last time when that

happened with Gar Snow and Doug Waite and they said they were coming back and the Islanders made a change after that because they hadn't actually made the decision when that was said. My knowledge of Lou Lamorello indicates to me that he's not making that announcement unless he knows. And so I don't expect the craziness that followed the previous case. I can't say I'm hugely surprised because, you know, first of all, we just don't know his contract situation. The only thing that surprised me a little bit about it, and only a little bit, is I do think in league circles, it's kind of known that the Islanders are,

especially now that they've moved into a new building, which has a lot of potential, and they've done some really interesting things to improve the fan experience in and around that building. They got the all-star game next year. There was a lot of talk about them for lack of a better term, modernizing the way they do things, improving the way they think. improving the way they think and it like I think it's silly to say that Lou Lamorello is is not willing to think of new things because I don't believe that's true he has an old-school approach but the guy isn't dumb is that I think they kind of talked about are there even more ways we can do that with our hockey departments and you know so'm still wondering, even though he said that he's coming back, it doesn't mean

that their main, is he going to add anyone? What are they going to look like in terms of the way they build out their front office? And if anything, and because we were mentioned on one of the last pods, people were saying like if Mark Hunter's going somewhere, what are the chances it's to go work with his old buddy Lou Lamorello? So we'll see how that all plays out. But I'm not like I said, I'm not surprised, but I do think the but like I said, I'm not surprised, but I do think they have talked about improving some of the ways they do things. A lot of the Islanders best players are locked up and have protection. And to be honest, you're not looking to trade like a Noah Dobson or a Matt Barzell or a

Bo Horvat or any of those guys anyway. The thing I really think they have to do is they need to get a score. We've talked about this a billion times. They need an infusion of youth, like just around the organization. Like they, right now they just don't have enough people pushing for jobs. And that is something they really need to improve on is just the amount of young players like we just talked about Toronto they have you know Minton and Cowan coming now and they're going to be pushing for jobs the Islanders don't have those guys and they need to start finding more of those guys and you know to me you know one of the

other decisions they've got to make now remember last time they didn't sign Brock Nelson until just before until after they finished their season his UFA year so they don't really seem to be too worried about waiting that's but you know yes you could get a lot for Nelson in a trade, there's no question. However, I also look at it this way. Brock Nelson loves the Islanders and cares a lot about the Islanders, and he's still got a lot of hockey left. If you're making that deal, you better make sure that there is a tangible benefit to making that deal because a you're taking someone out who

it really cares about your team and you're creating a big hole in your roster so again it's kind of like I just talked about Nylander last summer with the Leafs like I guess you could do it the same way I talked about Marner you make the trade knowing you're gonna lose it potentially but again i i don't know i i think toronto will consider that possibility i'm not convinced the islanders are going to be willing to consider that possibility well one quick thought on the islanders here too and as you've mentioned before and we've talked about the one thing the islanders do when they identify their talent and their key peaks they they lock them up long-term. Noah Dobson is eligible for an extension

on July 1st. He's got one more year at $4 million. I don't know what that bump looks like. I've heard as high as eight times eight for someone like Noah Dobson. Do you think Lou takes his time? Or when you look at what Noah Dobson brings which is unique to anyone else on that blue line do they look to lock him up July 1. well I think you always look to lock them up as early as possible you know it's the old line players like that never get less expensive the price is only going up so I'm sure they're gonna be looking to lock them up right away I mean the Islanders have this way of and also to don't forget in a year it's not like he's a UFA he's an RFA with arbitration rights yes yes I don't think so I wanted to get anywhere

near there though no you don't want that you want to lock up people for as long as you can as soon as you can so i'm sure they will try i have i have no doubt that they will try nashville predators one of the surprise teams in the nhl we made a lot about that blowout loss against the dallas stars and subsequent canceling of the u2 trip to vegas um and that became a lot of fun and cannon fodder and a theme and all of that. Next thing you know, Andrew Burnett is up for coach of the year and the national predators have found their way into the playoffs. They lose in six games to the Vancouver Canucks. They are out. I'm of the

belief that the one thing they've been looking for for the past year is the same thing they're going to keep looking for in the off season. Maybe at the draft as well we'll see who they dangle by way of trade bait and that is a number one center a good young scoring franchise type player what's next for the preds well first of all i think this year was a big success for them i i don't think anybody knew what to expect I don't think they expected a first-round playoff berth where they took a really good team to six games and had a chance to win this series a month into the season they were 31st in the league there was that whole you two thing which quite simply I'm tired of talking about but it could have blown up the team.

They are, they had a great year. They really did. They achieved a lot. They were a true team. And they gave Vancouver, which is no surprise, they gave Vancouver everything the Canucks could handle. And to be honest, I really think that that will benefit the Canucks could handle and to be honest I really think that that will benefit the Canucks that series because that was a hard tough series and if you win those series it makes you better I thought that was a big big win for Vancouver I think you're totally right I mean they'll they'll have a Soros decision to make you know know, I saw some takes that, oh, this is proof that Soros can't win a round. I think that's just crazy. I really do. I think that's absolute crazy talk. valuable and all you always have to negotiate a contract and make someone and two sides have to be happy but it's gonna be and they do have a really good young prospect who's tackling people in the American Hockey League playoffs in a scar off but I know I just think overall you know what

you've got in Soros they do need scoring they're it badly. I think it was on your radio show I joked that if Stamkos was to hit free agency, Shannon McDonough would kidnap him and take him to Nashville. I mean, I expect Stamkos to sign now. I really do, unless they completely lowball him. But I do think that Nashville would be a place that would be very interested,

and they have tried on him before. But that's the kind of player that kind of score and those aren't always available they're gonna go after but I think they sent a message this year that as Anthony Stewart says are you as his father always used to say are you a team or are you a club and the Predators showed this year that they were a team and I would expect them to continue to grow the the guy I think is going to be really interesting to watch next year is Novak um you know I think he's a really talented guy I think he struggled in the playoffs this year um I think in the long run that will make him a better player a greater understanding of of what that is. But you look at all their players like, you know, Evangelista got that experience.

Parson got the last last game. And I know it was a little bit of a disappointing year for him, but you don't give up on those guys too early. The interesting decision will be Carrier. What do they decide to do here um i don't think they had talked that much post deadline but they've got a decision to make there and he played really hard in the playoffs i was i thought he was a good part of their team so they've got some choices to make but i think overall the predators this year showed they are better off than I think some people, even their fans, expected. You know, it was interesting around trade deadline when the Nashville Predators started, you know, picking up players.

As you mentioned, you know, they re-signed Tommy Novak when the Rangers were trying to relieve him from the Nashville Predators. And, you know, around deadline, here comes Jason Zucker and here comes Anthony Bevilier and these types of players. Like, I think we all know that, you know, Tyson Berry is going to be off to try to find employment elsewhere. But I do wonder about the Jason Zuckers of the world here. Do you think they come back or this is a spot for competition at training camp? It's a good question about Zucker. I mean, I think you have to think he's going to look for the best deal that there possibly is out there.

But he is definitely the kind of player that Nashville is looking at because he's a scorer. And the thing about Zucker is that he's proven to be very adaptable to situations, right? In terms of he's now bounced around a little bit and he seems to fit in pretty well i think that's a really good skill of his i would assume that you know the predators and him will talk um but zucker at this point he's going to look for the best deal he can get and you can hardly

blame him for that. When you look at, and we'll, we'll close on this one because I think a lot of the conversation around Nashville is going to focus around, as you mentioned, UC Soros, um, as Jaroslav Askarov just looks fantastic and ready to take that next step in his career. I think probably in a perfect world, and this is the way Nashville had already done it. When you look at the, when you look at the chain of goaltenders that Nashville has had going all the way, you know, probably all the way back to Mike Dunham, they've always had, you know, the next one, the understudy back up for a significant amount of time before handing that goaltender the reins. amount of time before handing that goaltender the reins. They're not going to get a chance to do that with a scar off unless they hang on to UC Sorrows for at least part of next season. Do you think that the Preds are in a hurry if it gets them what they want to move Sorrows or can they still follow the traditional nashville pattern of

uh you know the uh the the starring actor and the understudy because we've seen that from nashville goalies for years that's a good question i think in a perfect world they would love it to be saros askarov yep i agree in a world, I think they absolutely want that. But again, you've got a contract situation. And the question is, if they can't make a deal, what does Nashville feel is the best way to proceed? We'll see how they feel about the process. You know, Jeff, for me, the the question is there's some teams out there that really aren't crazy about trading for goalies at the deadline you know the devils did it they traded for two Kakanen and Jake Allen and it gave them a bump for a little bit but that was more of

a hail mary as opposed to anything else and a free look at those guys if you take a look at i remember ryan miller talking about how hard it was to be traded mid-season duane roleson was a success story he got edmonton to the stanley cup final in 2006 and and if this doesn't work out maybe someone just says look soros is soros and we'll take our chances and i could hardly blame them for that but i i mean this is not purely nashville's decision sorrows is going to have a hammer being one year out of free agency but like i said in a perfect world it's sorrows askarov starting for next year and jeff uh one last thing before we wrap up this first segment rob blake is speaking monday in los angeles yes so it i mean we'll hear for sure but it seems like he's going to be returning his gm and i will tell you i had a number of people that

listened to our conversations about dubois and said no way they buy him out it's interesting i threw this in my fries blog on on sunday There was one person from another team that I talked to, not LA, not Washington, who wondered if a Pierre-Luc Dubois-Darcy Kemper deal would make some sense. Unless, unless, again, the Los Angeles Kings are still

committed to making this thing work. And Jeff, as you pointed out, his no-move clause does not kick in until July 1st i wonder if he comes back as a winger i really do whatever you do you can't come back as the same thing you've got to say it didn't work this year what are we going to do to make it work okay on that we'll wrap up the segment uh coming up preview of the next round on 32 thoughts the podcast listen to the 32 thoughts podcast ad free on amazon music included with prime welcome back to the podcast 32 thoughts as always brought to you by the gmc sierra elevation elliot i am calling the series the red pants series and i love it both the carolina hurricanes and the new york rangers with those red pants on sunday i'm loving it game one is already a matter

of history it's the rangers grab the 1-0 series lead and what a game by Mika Zibanejad. I mean, that whole first period was all about Zibanejad. Maybe a little bit about Matt Rempe as well, but that first period all about Mika Zibanejad. Your thoughts on the Rangers, the

4-3 victory and grabbing the 1-0 series lead. Carolina can't take any penalties. That power play is too good. You know, Carolina is going to have to stay out of the box. That was the one thing that really stood up to me. Zibanejad, he has to be a little more selfish, though. He scored twice, but he didn't shoot that one puck.

Although at the end of the game, I did like the play he made to kill time. He could have got the hat trick. I thought that was really good. But you got to shoot that puck, Mika. No, I thought he was great. But the thing I really thought was, you don't see see the hurricane smothered too often and I thought the Rangers really smothered them in game number one I think they had 30 block shots you know Carolina shoots from everywhere and they weren't getting them through them until really late in the game

I you know obviously Zbigniew Zbigniew gets a lot of the credit and the power play gets a lot of a credit and they deserve it but to me I thought the Rangers played a really disciplined defensive game against a team that you have to do that to. So you know game one to me went as but as well for the Rangers as you could hope for or expect except that peter laviolette he's gonna have to make a rampy decision because they are all over him all uh you mean the officials are all over him because that that incident with with stall like that is a reputation call i'm sorry that is a total reputation call pushed into Anderson. He got the penalty for being Matt Rempe, Elliot. That's what the penalty was for.

And that's the thing. You know, Canucks fans listening to this, they'll remember the Ben Eager major that really turned that San Jose series around. And, you know, the next game, Ben Eager begged Todd McClellan to stay in. He begged him. He said, please let me play please let me play and Todd McClellan said I can't I can't I can't take the chance you do that again and so when you have a reputation or you get a call like that or two and obviously what Rempe did and that Ben Eager play are not the same. I'm just using the overall situation. Eventually, a coach has to make a decision.

Well, you know what? Like, I can't afford these penalties. And obviously, like, I think the Rangers have been really supportive of Rempe this year. And I think they've done a really good job with him in terms of when you fight and when you don't and working with him to make him a better player. I think player and team have done a really nice job here but these are the playoffs and you cannot afford to be sentimental and at some point in time you know either Lavette's going to say look we're living with this or we can't live with this and I'll tell you something else too.

You watch Emily Kaplan's interview with him during the game I don't know if there's like I always joke that no executive hates referees more than Steve Iserman does no coach hates referees more than Peter Laviolette does and so so it's going to be doubly burning him up right now because he probably doesn't think it's fair to the kid and he just hates the call in general so he's going gonna have a decision to make here well and what makes it even uh tougher for laviolette is this is a pretty rough game one yeah that was like this was like a hockey game right right away like from the opening draw like this is like these teams got at it and it was and it was nasty every period had like a good dose of of old school nastiness to it so if you're peter laviolette you're sitting there thinking to yourself

i understand the risk here of having rempe in but do i really want to disarm myself in this situation that's you know that's a great question it's tough it's a tough tough call because you know if rempe's out get all of a sudden carolina grows that much more and they were not shy in game one to begin with even with rempy in the lineup elliot that is a really tough decision for laviel i think that's a great call that's a great call uh that i gotta tell you that that penalty on t D'Angelo and Natchez, that was weird, too. That was a borderline. Well, no, no, no.

The whole scenario was weird about how they called the penalty on Natchez, and then they said, no, no, no, it's on D'Angelo. And that's another one of those where they use the major to get it right. But the people, like you like but the people like you like that and I generally like that but the people in the league who don't like that will look at things like this situation they say that's what that's not what this is supposed to be about we what the major I love the way they use the major no but they call the penalty on one guy and then they like to make sure it's

actually a major not a minor or something, or a no penalty, yes, I like that. But they won't like that they switched the two Carolina players. Right. The long series. Long series. Sure. And I hope it is, because that first game was a lot of fun.

Like, the story coming out of it is going to be the Mika Zibanejad story, and he was great, to your point. The power play in that first period, Zibanejad story. And he was great to your point, the power play in that first period, Zibanejad and Trocek both score. Trocek's was a beautiful goal, again, set up by Mika Zibanejad. But Carolina did not go away. Like right away, Zibanejad scores,

Jacob Slavin comes right back. And then third period, Martin Natchez starts it off, Panarin scores a kind of questionable goal and right away seth jarvis makes it four three like this is not a this wasn't a game where the carolina hurricanes were like blown out of it early with a tough first period this is a team that didn't quit like i'm with you i think this one's going long because i still saw plenty from the carolina hurricanes in that game i know rangers grabbed it and good on them they're

gonna get all the headlines. I still think Carolina could look good, had a really good spot. This is going to be a long series. Long series. Yeah, I hope so. Long series. Okay, we'll finish off the pod with a couple of thoughts on the other series on the go around the NHL. Sticking with the East because we just talked about Carolina

and the New York Rangers. How about the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers? Boston with barely any time to catch a breath. They will and the Florida Panthers. Boston with barely any time to catch a breath. They will face the Florida Panthers. Checks notes tonight. I don't have a problem with Boston not having time. If you win a series in five games like the Panthers did, you earn the right to the rest and the advantage that Boston didn't get. I have no issues with that.

Boston didn't get. I have no issues with that. I'm under the impression that Boston was told last Thursday or before they went to Toronto for game six, that if they had won game six, they were playing Florida on Saturday night. So Boston kind of knew this anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they start Allmark in game one game one now someone said to me that would be incredibly unfair to all mark incredibly unfair to all mark but you know if you're everything guaranteed loss game is that that five that's the Joseph set up where he lost the Toronto lost five nothing to Ottawa on you know one day's rest because Pat Quinn was like take the day off and we'll worry about game two yes like they said that's not really fair to him no question for that reason but if you want to give Swayman a rest you're probably doing it now I think I think Florida is a big favorite in this

series you know Paul Murray said Sam Bennett won't play game one, but he's now day-to-day, so he's not far away. You know, the Bruins, it's amazing how tight-checking the playoffs have been. Really normally offensively powerful teams are having a difficult time scoring. But I still think, you know, the Bruins barely scored enough to beat the Leafs. I just don't think they're going to be able to score enough to beat the Panthers. I really don't. I think I really like this series for Florida.

You know, one of the things, too, is that, you know, especially if Zaka and Coyle can't really bring Boston a lot of offense. Toronto couldn't take advantage of that, but the Panthers absolutely can. I just don't like this matchup for the Bruins. Last year's series was an all-time classic. I've learned that anything can happen, but to me, this is a tough series to see Boston winning. This is a challenge series to see Boston winning this is a challenge

this is the Florida Panthers look like a machine Elliot and I know the Bennett situation is a tough one but still this Panthers team looks like a machine um the pair in the Western Conference uh we just saw the Dallas Stars as we record this podcast take care of the Vegas goal tonight so let's focus on this one. Man, should this be a great series. Dallas facing off against the Colorado Avalanche. This one has a great series written all over it. Cross your fingers. It goes sub. Another Stanley Cup final early in the playoffs.

This one in round two. Dallas is going to play two Stanley Cup finals in the first two rounds of the playoffs. First one against Vegas and now Colorado. Again, I stick with my feeling and that is from one to 23, Dallas is the deepest team in the NHL. And now that Ottinger is going, it makes them even more dangerous. Some of the issues that Winnipeg had, such as defending the blue line, basically preventing the avalanche going from where they wanted to go, Dallas won't have that problem. Well, I shouldn't say that. Colorado will give them problems just because they're Colorado. They will do that to you from time to time.

But Dallas is far more structurally sound to handle this and far more built better to handle this. Colorado will not be able to do to the to the Stars what they did to the Jets. Again this is a six or seven gamer and the other thing I think we realize after round one is that even if Georgiev throws a stinker in there, he is capable of recovering. He showed it in round one, and we'll see how this goes. This is going to be a long series. The Stars are my team for the playoffs, but if Colorado beats them, it's no upset. I just think if Dallas keeps winning these series, are they going to get to a point where they have nothing left? Nothing left, just because of titans that they're getting this

is going to be like if dallas wins the stanley cup this is going to be one of the greatest runs in the history of the nhl i was looking at this like because total ground one vegas round two colorado round three is going to be vancouvermonton. And round four is going to be the best in the East if they get there. This could go down if they win it. If, if, if, if, if, if, if, if they win it as the greatest Stanley Cup run in the history of the NHL. They'll have to have knocked off the last two Stanley Cup champions in the first two rounds. Boom, boom. Vegas, Colorado.

Come on. If I was a player on the stars i would be so excited for the possibility of that totally you could totally write first of all winning the stanley cup period incredible achievement that's what every hockey player dreams about doing but if you can do it this way and knock off stanley cup champions along the way elliot special place for you if you can pull it off but you know what they're going to look like at the end is william wallace's army at the conclusion of braveheart that's what they're going to look like they're going to look like the new york islanders after their fourth and final Stanley Cup. Where they had no energy to celebrate in the room. They were all just ice packs and bruises and broken bones.

That's what they'll look like. That Islanders team that won their fourth. And finally, Elliot, the series we're going to have to wait until Wednesday to enjoy. The last two teams in canada and after this there will only be one in the stanley cup playoffs the edmonton oilers face off against the vancouver canucks i i am clear missiles versus arthur's she-loss i i am concerned the the fan bases of the oilers and Canucks will not make it until Wednesday the stuff I am seeing going around on social media is fantastic yes not all of it is fantastic I have

to say but they are not going to have the energy for 72 more hours of this before we drop the pocket game number one I don't know no this is these are two these are these are two committed these are two committed social media groups here ellie i don't think you give them enough credit oh oh i i believe me i'm giving them a lot of credit they're gonna be like careers ended and people canceled before this series even begins the way this is going but i think it's going to be a phenomenal series. Like I said earlier, I think that the, how hard Vancouver series was against Nashville is going to benefit the Canucks.

I don't know that we're going to see Demko in this series. So it's an even bigger challenge for Shelovs and to Smith. You have to be so careful here. The Lightning said Sergeyev not until round two. He showed up in game four. Weird things happen in the playoffs. Players push themselves in the playoffs. So when people say, oh, Demko's not going to play or Demko might play, I just say you have to be ready for anything. And the Toronto series proved it. No Nylander, Nylander. No Matthews, Matthews, no Matthews. Wool, no wool. Like you just you have to be ready for anyone at any time but they're going to start without him in goal and that's a bigger challenge but I think

the Canucks are built to handle them in the sense that they can play with them Again, they have to be disciplined that power play destroyed LA They played well against them during the regular season. They can skate with them. They can move the puck against them They have players who can keep the puck away from them The Oilers are gonna have their moments in their games where they're going to embarrass you and they're going to make you look stupid but Vancouver trusts their structure if they take a lot of penalties they're in big trouble and the thing like Drysdale has become one of the best playoff players in the league he is like I don't want to say that he almost was like there were times in the regular season this year especially with the way he played in the first round I

kind of thought is he's just sort of doing one of those the playoffs are what matters years and I don't want to say like he he didn't care or he held back or whatever but it's clear to me that the way he played in the regular season, the way he's played now, he's on another level. The Oilers have also found a way to deploy their defense a lot better. Skinner had a really good comeback in the first round. Look, they start any playoff with the two best players in the series, McDavid and Dreisaitl. As good as those Canucks are, they are the two best players in the series. I just look at them and

I think this is going to be a seven gamer and I think Vancouver's going to give them everything. I saw the Sportsnet predictions where everybody was picking the Oilers. I don't know. I think this is going to be a seven gamer too. I think this is going to be a seven-game or two,

and I think Vancouver is going to give the Oilers everything they can handle. I think these are two tremendous teams, and it's going to be a fight for every inch. And again, we'll have to wait until Wednesday to see game one. In the meantime, tonight, you can watch one game, the Boston Bruins facing off against the Florida Panthers as that series kicks off Tuesday. It is game two between the Carolina Hurricanes

and the New York Rangers. Watch that one 7 o'clock Eastern on Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada later that night, 9.30 Eastern, the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. Oh, that's going to be so good. Get at it in game one. And that's the pod. We'll join you again first thing Wednesday morning.

Enjoy the games. Three that's the pod. We'll join you again first thing Wednesday morning. Enjoy the games. Three until we speak again. If you're an Edmonton fan or a Vancouver fan and you're on social media, try to exhibit a little, just at least a little bit of a modicum of decency here. How about that? Just

try it on for size. You might like it. Who knows? We'll talk to you again Wednesday.