32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Auston, Texas

Episode Date: April 8, 2022

Can anyone stop Auston Matthews? Jeff and Elliotte (from his car) recap a historic night in Dallas as Auston Matthews breaks the Toronto Maple Leafs' single-season goal-scoring record (00:01). They also discuss the Dallas Stars and their playoff hopes (5:11), look ahead to the off-season for the teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention — Buffalo (6:40) and Ottawa (11:40), Elliotte walks us through some of his conversations at the NHLPA and agent meetings (15:00), and what’s next for the San Jose Sharks as Doug Wilson steps down as GM after 19 seasons (22:30).At the end of the podcast, you’ll hear a clip from an upcoming interview with NHL agent, Gerry Johannson (President & CEO of The Sports Corporation) discussing Ryan Getzlaf, his retirement, and teams that were interested in him last season.Bestfriend - Someplace ElseCheck out more music from Bestfriend on SpotifyThis podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Sportsnet.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.

this is a tough one tonight here guess where i am i'm in the shower austin matthews sets a toronto maple leaves record and then calls game welcome once again to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the all-new gmc at4 lineup it is once again a car cast elliot you're coming back from working the Dallas-Toronto game where Austin Matthews was the center of attention. Now, first of all, I don't know what his post-game routine is, but I'm guessing he's going to need a lot of ice for his shoulders. I think they're probably ready to fall off

with the amount of shots he took tonight. Your thoughts on Austin Matthews? Look, if you would have gone back to Tuesday in a game that had 13 goals and you figured he would have scored one of them, right? He was determined that there was not going to be two in a row without this. And Anthony, I thought, showed a really good

highlight in the broadcast of how the stars were really on him early in that game. They were bumping him every chance they could. They were letting him know they were there. And one of the things that Matthews, for all of his of his skills one of the things he's really learned and he made a point of learning this was how to create openings like when he's being marked and he's always going to be marked how does he find open ice in the offensive zone so that he can create

some space and he was doing that now some of it was the power play and obviously the game-winning goal was three on three but he's much much better at creating open ice for himself than he used to be and he was not going to be denied i mean the the goal was like a heck of a shot but to me the play that won the game the overtime martyr joins matthews he's on the attack driving to the net matthews scores the overtime winner for number 34 his 56th of the season and the toronto maple leafs win final score four to three here in dallas here's the pass from Brody to Nylander. He drops it to Matthews and goes, I'm going off. So Matthews turns back. He waits for Marner and he builds up a little bit of speed, momentum,

and then he just blows by everybody. It's a power move onto his forehand. He waits out Wedgwood all the way across the front of the crease. And when he gets far enough across, it's an easy deposit into the back of the net. He does the loop and he sees it say again and you can see watching tyler say again he knows he's in trouble he gets a little bit of a you can't even really call it a pick but some help from his teammates like just creating a bit of room in the loop and then you can see that sagan is turning around because he knows

that Matthews is going to see him and come right at him and it's just a high IQ goal scorers goal he's three on three there's a forward over here I'm coming in at full speed he's not going to be able to stop me and then he makes a brilliant play on Wedgwood who had a great night I mean he was not going to be denied it was a spectacular play by a spectacular player and I know how much all of you love hearing about the Maple Leafs or you love hate watching the Leafs the thing about this is it's the greatest offensive season in Toronto history and you think about all the hall of famers they've had and how long they've been around it is the greatest offensive season in Toronto history. And you think about all the Hall of Famers they've had and how long they've been around. It is the greatest offensive season in franchise history, which is really saying something. You know, that's what I wanted to get to here. There's a couple of

ways to judge a player. You look at longevity and the track record and the history that they leave behind them when they're done. And then you look at peak performance. Like there was a couple of seasons where Eric Lindros was the best player in the world, period. Nobody was close to him. As a peak performer, he laid claim to being the best in the world. And I look at Austin Matthews this season, and as a peak performance,

this is the greatest peak performance I think we've ever seen, to your point, from a Toronto Maple Leaf. I look at it not in terms of the best offensive or best defense, just as a peak performance. This is the greatest peak performance we've ever seen out of a Maple Leaf, period. Yeah, I agree with that.

I'm not going to argue with you there. I mean, I know some people, I mean, obviously some people might pick Doug Gilmore, who had a 127-point season. Look, they had a 10-point night from Daryl Sittler. They had a five-goal game from Ian Turnbull. But consistent excellence beginning to end. This is it.

And there's still more. There's a lot more for Austin Matthews to accomplish in his career. And I think he's got bigger goals than just this, but this is enormous and this is impressive and once again I always laugh that

for all the fun that Toronto sports fans, hockey fans make of Arizona hockey sometimes, the latest franchise savior comes from Arizona other end of the rink the Dallas Stars this was a game that was dominated by the Toronto Maple Leafs and going into this one the question that I wrote on my little notepad was who are the Dallas Stars and after that game now they did salvage a point they got this thing into overtime nice

really nice tip by Joe Pavelski. But do we read anything into this game about the question, who are the Dallas Stars? One of the things I just think is that this Wedgwood acquisition, it didn't get a lot of attention, but the Scott Wedgwood

trade, really good trade for Dallas. He's given them a lot, especially since Holtby is now out. You know, they got a point. Look, Vegas was on a tear. They won five in a row. They lost. They didn't get a point to Vancouver the other night. They really don't have margin for error. It wasn't a good night for Dallas, but they got a point nashville got two you know one of the things i do want to mention is i was under the impression there was an option on rick bonus for next year there isn't it's just a straight his contract is up and i i do think that bonus is

going to have as much of a say as anything else here that whether or not he wants to do this anymore but there's no option next year look dallas did what they needed to do they didn't play great they were not the better team on this night but they got a point and that increases their chances of getting into the playoffs okay to other things elliot and as teams get eliminated, we're sort of going over the season that was for some of these teams and what's on the horizon. Before we get to the Ottawa Senators, I want to ask you about the Buffalo Sabres. Eliminated, but I would have to believe a lot of signs for optimism

for the Swords here. They may have gotten punted from the playoffs, but you look at their play even before the Eichel return game and they're trending the right way. The Eichel deal, which could have been a real low point for them. And Eichel is still the best player in the deal. The one thing that Kevin Adams did was he targeted a veteran player who was going to be happy to be in Buffalo. And that's Alex Tuck. And, you know, obviously you're going to look at it and you're going to say, you hope that

longer term Peyton Krebs is going to be just as influential. And he should be. But Tuck has really breathed some life in there. And just to have a veteran player to come there and say I'm happy to be a saver and perform to the level he's performed, it's done something

for that fan base. They see something there. The victory against Vegas, the rigged Janaret night, which was a home run, and then the players bringing Janaret out, beating Toronto in home run, and then the players bringing Janaret out, beating Toronto in the outdoor game. There's a lot of things that have happened in Buffalo

at the end of the year that you feel really good about yourself going into next season. You know, I always think of Craig Simpson at this time, though. Craig Simpson says, as a guy who coached and played, he always talked about it's easier to win when it doesn't matter in the standings. Well now next year, the

Sabres are going to have expectation. And the other question I have for them Jeff is, what's going to happen in goal? They've told Craig Anderson they want him back and i think there were teams that wanted anderson at the deadline and they didn't do it and they've told him they want him back you know they'll let him make the decision he'll see how he feels like after i wrote

that they asked him back i had people tell me that there were teams asking about him at the deadline. So they feel there might be competition for Buffalo to bring him back next year. But he was such a huge factor there. He played so well. And they don't have a lot of goalies. Levy just went back to school. They've got Eric Portillo. We'll see what he does out of Michigan.

They've got his rights for one more year. We'll see what happens because I think he was such a huge part. What are they going to do in goal next year? I think that's a big question they've got to sort out too. A thought on Owen Power. Now, he wasn't made available to the media after Michigan lost to Denver. We all expect Owen Power to sign a contract with the Buffalo Sabres. What do you think of the former first overall pick and the Swords? next week. Buffalo or Toronto. Now, I don't know if this will be sooner now,

but I think he's coming out. I think a lot of these Michigan kids are. Luke Hughes apparently is staying. I'm hearing that Ken Johnson is probably going to Columbus. There's a lot of talk that Matty Beneers is going to Seattle. I think a lot of these kids are

coming out. I think we could see Owen Power next week. And, you know, that's a great point you bring up, Jeff. Like, it's just another exciting thing for the Sabres and their fans. Yeah, it's a great time. And it's a team that's needed a shot in the arm for a long time. We interrupt this program to bring you a special report. Slight insert here.

There was something I wanted to add in at the end of the night after we did the podcast. So I'm standing in the shower of our bathroom so as not to wake up anyone else in the house. But I know that because Minnesota lost in the second game of the Fros before, people are going to be wondering about Matthew Nyes, a Toronto pick, and also Ben Myers, who's an unrestricted free agent. I think that Nyes will probably take a few days before he makes any decision. I don't think it's a guarantee he's going to play for the Leafs right away, but I think he's going to take a few days. for the Leafs right away, but I think he's going to take a few days. As for Myers, you know, I've heard Detroit, I've heard Minnesota,

I've heard Philadelphia. We'll see, but there's obviously a lot of interest. Now back to your regularly scheduled podcast. Another team that's needed a shot in the arm are the Ottawa Senators. They have now officially been eliminated. Do we see the same optimism in the future for the Sens as we do the Sabres? You know, I think a lot of the questions about the Senators are going to come off the ice. You know, what's the direction of the franchise? Is the ownership going to change? Like, I don't think there's a lot you need to fix on the ice there

right now. You're going in the right direction. I mean, the biggest off-ice question is, what are they going to do with Josh Norris' next contract? Now, they held strong on Brady Kachuk. They said, we're doing term, we're doing term, we're doing term. Is the same thing going to happen to Josh Norris? Are they going to say to him, we're doing term, we're doing term? But from a roster point of view, you've got Kachuk, Norris, and Bathurston. You have a number one line.

Forsberg, you've signed him for three years. You're hoping he's your goalie. The biggest questions about roster, they've really tried to find the right veterans. That's something that they've struggled with a bit is, who are the right veterans to play around all these kids? And I think that's kind of what they're still trying to do. Like, they have a lot of kids. Who are the veterans they've got to bring around them?

But to me, Jeff, you know who your future is. You've got to continue to figure out who are the veterans to play around them. I mean, there'll be more kids coming in next year. Sanderson's going to have a full year. Shane Pinto, you're hoping, is going to have a full year. There's even more kids coming in. I think the biggest question is

going to be is, what's the future of the franchise? What's the ownership situation? We know they've been on the arena like i think the best news about the arena is that there's almost no news like last time there was so much noise around it and whenever there's a lot of noise around those things it's almost always bad you know today they had a meeting and they just said yes we're doing bids and nothing more than that. Like everyone knows the Sanders are in on this, but they're not confirming anything. You know,

a little bit of that's annoying because you want to get the confirmation. But I think as an observer, Jeff, it's there's no noise around the team. It's quieter. And I think until they get the ownership stuff sorted out and the long-term arena stuff sorted out, I think until they get the ownership stuff sorted out and the long-term arena stuff sorted out, I think that's the best thing for the Senators is just be quiet. Let me go back quickly before we move on to the veteran players question and who you're going to surround the team with. If the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup, does that answer that question? You know, we're all gonna wait to see,

you know, I've speculated about it. You know, one of the other interesting things too, is that someone sent me an interview that Kimo Timonen did, and it was in Finnish and Timonen, I guess, said he could see the possibility of Giroux ending up in Ottawa if he doesn't stay in Florida. Like, I do think that's possible. I think he's the kind of guy they could use. We'll see. But I think it's a great question. I think it's going to be one of the storylines of the summer.

You know, we'll see if that happens. It would be great for them if it did happen. Okay. I want to ask you about the NHL player agent meetings in Toronto this week, but I want to ask you about one specific person, not an agent, but the executive director of the Players Association. What are your thoughts right now on Donald Feer? This is the thing about Donald Feer.

He's going to be 74 years old. You know, I always tell, like, young people who start showing up in broadcasting or some of the new people who come to Sports Day, I joke with them, when they become big stars, like I said it to Megan Mickelson today, who I met for the first time, you know, remember the little people. Because I'd rather

have a lot of these people's futures than my future. They're younger than me. They're going to be around long after I'm gone. And fear is going to be 74 in the summer and he's not going to be around much longer. Now, the one thing that's really annoying to a lot of people is that he hasn't given them a succession plan. And I think there are some people expecting that he's going to do it at a player meeting this summer. Some people don't know if he'll do it, but I know that there's some people who are expecting that he's going to do it. You and I have talked about this a lot. A lot of the agents are not happy about the Arizona thing. I don't know if there's anything they can do about

it, but they really wish that fear had made more of a stink about it. And that's definitely an issue. I think they'd like to know when fear is going to go away. But the problem is, is that like some of these agents before, a couple of years ago, there were three agents, Kurt Overhart, Anton Thun, and Rich Winter, who went after Fear. He just didn't go anywhere. Part of the thing is because his contract and the

Constitution, after Goodenow and Ted Saskin were out, they changed the Constitution. Then they realized that way didn't work with an ombudsman that helped force out Paul Kelly. And they said, that doesn't work either. Like part of the problem here is that it never ends well for anybody who's the executive director at the PA. And so fear said, look like you guys, you can't run it the way that you had it before and they all agreed with them and he changed it and now he's got no end to his stay there and they want to know you're 74 years old almost

even a believing but you know a few years ago three agents went after him pretty hard and there just weren't enough players who were willing to go on board to force him out. They lost. And, you know, one of those agents, like Anton Dunn was one of the agents. He's no, he retired. He's no longer an agent anymore. Kurt Overhard, who's another one of those agents, he didn't come to this meeting. And I kind of get their frustration. And I think that this summer meeting will be interesting. But I think the one thing that really upset them this time was there was supposed to be a question period at the end. And one of the other PA lawyers got up and said, Donald Feer right now is meeting with the media and

he can't take your questions and there were two reporters there me and someone else and I found this out later they used it as a shield or fear used as a shield not to take questions and that really upset them so that's the issue here Jeff is that I know they want a succession plan. I know they've waited for years to get a succession plan. I think they want to make the ground unstable beneath them to get a succession plan. But the problem is, is that unless the players are willing to do something about it and they haven't really shown a lot of desire to do anything about it i don't know if they're going to be able to do anything to him unless he decides he wants to step

down and so hang on so they're the timeline is so there's nothing that the players could do because listen we all know the players you know who's you know, who's the first person they consult on things like this, their agent, is there no appetite or is there just nothing the players can do? Like, can the players show up this summer at the meeting and essentially say to Don, it's time for a change? They could, like the players are the ones that could definitely do it but the thing is like these agents a couple years ago tried to motivate him to do it and they didn't get enough player support that's the issue here jeff is that you know how do the players feel are they willing to do it like when i wrote my little notes on Wednesday night, someone said to me, I had a couple of people say to me, you know, you said that there were not only agents upset about the Arizona thing, but staff were upset about it too. And I said, yeah, I think there are people who wish that they would take a harder line.

But it's up to the players you know will the players be motivated to do it and at times it's people have tried to push them but it hasn't always worked like one of the issues that's being used against fear that some people are saying was a mistake is the cap's not going up right like there's not a lot of room for free agents and things like that well Gary Bettman and Bill Daley did propose something before we went into the bubble where they said we can make the cap go up faster if you want to pay back escrow quicker or the losses quicker and you know fear proposed that to the players and they were like no we don't want that we've taken enough of an escrow beating and they went for what they got hang on can i pause on that

yeah but that's what the players association always does they always say we're not going to pay for it let the new kids coming in pay for it yes and no i i think that that's true but this particular generation of players felt that they've been beaten up enough by escrow over the years and so they said no more like we want the caps there are some agents who don't like fear who feel that you know what in this case he got the players what they wanted and that was caps on escrow that meant that it got punted down the road yeah that's the thing like i know there's a lot of agents who are not happy with them i know that there are people who are like come on you're 74 years old almost give us a plan and i know that you really annoyed them and I didn't realize this until after I wrote on Wednesday.

I know that he really annoyed them by not taking questions. But if he says, I'm not going anywhere, it's going to have to be up to the players to step up and say, OK, it's time for you to go. And that hasn't always been something over the last few years that the players have been willing to do. This story continues. I want to get to one of the headlines of the day. And first of all, we wish Doug Wilson all the best. Today, the San Jose Sharks announcing that Doug Wilson is stepping aside

and the San Jose Sharks will now look for a full-time general manager. Joe Will has been doing the job on an interim capacity. He will continue in that role. He will also be part of the search group to find the new general manager. What can you tell us about this situation? And just we're on the same page here. Doug Wilson initially stepped away back in November. What can you tell us about the situation with San Jose?

He asked for privacy, and I think for the most part, people really respected it. There was a time that, you know, Doug Wilson, I think, really hoped that he could be GM long enough that there would be a succession plan either involving Joe Will, who's the interim right now, or his son, Doug Jr., potentially. This says to me that that's probably not going to be the case. You know, I don't know what Doug Wilson's future is going to be. He indicated that he doesn't necessarily think his NHL career is over, and I hope that's the case. I mean, that he's able to be in a position where he can work in some other capacity.

that he's able to be in a position where he can work in some other capacity. But I just think that, you know, the day-to-day NHL GM life, it just isn't going to be there for him anymore, unfortunately. And I just don't think that San Jose was necessarily ready for the kind of succession plan that he once envisioned. And I think they're just going to open it up and see what there is like i think there's going to be a ton of interest in this job jeff you know i will say this i don't know if there was a better owner gm setup in the nhl in terms of an owner who said to his general manager you do the job you tell me everything i need to know no surprises but

you do the job that you need to do better than doug wilson had in san jose that's true hustle platner he let him do the job there was nobody between the two of them and he had a lot he has much power as any gm in the league did and there were other gms who were envious they said wow you know he's got he's got a great setup there and you know there's a president there now jonathan becker uh who's going to be involved in the search and you know the thing about him is i don't know him but but I've heard a couple of really interesting things about him. I've heard that he's not somebody who's got like like some of the some people were wondering today, is this going to be a change? Like the new GM, that's going to change now. Is that relationship still going to be there? And I don't know the way it's all gonna work but one of the things i heard about jonathan becker is is he's not like

a guy who feels the need to show i'm very powerful like i'm a force to be reckoned with he does his job but he does it in a way that the people around him can still do their jobs and so i think that there's going to be a lot of people who are going to want this. The owner there, Platner, said they're not rebuilding. And I think they've always known that long rebuilds there that indicated their fan base isn't always thrilled with those. But I still think you're going to have to make some tough decisions. But I think that this job is going to be really wanted. And I just feel that I think people knew there was a good chance this year wilson would not be able to come back to do day-to-day unfortunately i just think that they

want to look around and see what else is out there you know that's interesting you mentioned you know the the fan base doesn't have an appetite for the rebuild and the one thing we know about doug wilson is he got his teams into the playoffs. This was a team that was competitive. This was a team that went to the Stanley Cup final. I know there was a time there where everybody, yours truly included, picked them to win the Stanley Cup for years on end, and they never did. But nonetheless, they're always a competitive team.

I kind of look at San Jose in a similar light as I look at the Philadelphia Flyers to the point where there will be no rebuild. There will be tough decisions and we're going to ice a competitive team. I am curious about what the vision was that the team articulated to Tomasz Hertel to get him to resign a long-term deal. And whoever comes in as the general manager, or it might just be Joe Will, who knows? comes in as the general manager or it might just be joe will who knows there's going to be some big decisions on the horizon here and i wonder if there are any buyout decisions for the san jose sharks in the offseason classic right like that's the guy you're kind of wondering about because

the one yeah because the one thing you'll look at if you're an incoming general manager what's the one thing you'll look at your roster and say, I need some flexibility because right now it's really tough to maneuver with all these salary cap commits. That's what I wonder about. You're coming in and there's going to be some big decisions right away. Like I would love to be in the room for these interviews to hear their prospective general managers pitch their ideas of what to do with the San Jose Sharks, knowing full well that there's about zero appetite for a rebuild. I'd love to hear those. If you look at it, like Pat Verbeek had a really good chance

of getting that job. But the thing is, like Verbeek said, I'm not afraid to tear it down. And I think, or at least not go with term and things like that. And I think Anaheim liked that. I think that they were ready to cut loose and kind of start fresh, right? I don't think San Jose has that.

I have to tell you, like, part of it was, like, my entire time at Hockey Night, Doug Wilson's been the GM of the San Jose sharks. And like, he was in great shape. Uh,

he looked really healthy. Like he's 12 years older than me and he looks 12 years younger than me. Like, you know, I, I kind of have to say, I think a part of me was like, I didn't know if I ever thought I would see this day.

Like I thought that Doug Wilson might be GM of the sharks till he was 80. You know, the number one thing is you hope he's okay and uh you hope whatever it is he's dealing with that uh him and his family are doing all right and uh that's all you care about the most but i will say this on some level like this was a day i wondered if like i would be retired and he would still be the gm of the sharks and i think on some, I'm sore to see it go. So I'm just arriving at home.

I know that there's a clip that you want to play. I do. So I'm going to deactivate myself, and I will listen to the clip you choose when I hear the podcast on Friday. Well, you'll be very familiar with it because you were part of the interview, Elliot. So Thursday morning, Elliot and I sat

down with the president, the CEO of the Sports Corporation, and that is Agent Jerry Johansson. Now, he represents, amongst other people, Carey Price, Tanner Jeannot, Duncan Keith, Colton Pareko, Braden Point, Brendan Gallagher. He also

represents Sebastian Ajo. And this clip you're going to hear is Jerry Johansson telling some stories about one of his key clients who's wrapping him up, Ryan Getzlaff. And in this part of the interview, he talks about other teams that inquired about and tried to secure the services of the Anaheim Ducks captain, Ryan Getzlaff. Here's Jerry Johansson, part of our conversation, and 32 Thoughts to Pod. Enjoy. There's a couple of players I want to get to with you, and most specifically, of recent

note, Ryan Getzlaff. Yeah. The Anaheim Ducks announcing recently that the long-time captain of the Anaheim Ducks will be retiring at season's end. From an agent's point of view, can you walk us through what those conversations are like with Ryan Getzlaff? And if you have any idea what he,

when we talked to him a little while ago, I know he doesn't want to coach, that's obvious. Said that right away. But any idea what Ryan Getzlaff wants to do post playing career, but before that, if you can walk us through, you know, what an agent does and what you did with Ryan Getzlaff leading up to this announcement that he's calling it a career. Yeah. I mean, I guess I always thought Ryan would go out on his own terms, which he is. And I'm really impressed by that. You know, it's really, we didn't really talk about it much until this year

and actually until quite recently. So, you know, you sort of give a guy space to kind of come to terms with what they want to do, especially Ryan. Like he knows what he wants and he's sort of the man. And, you know, I was in Anaheim not long ago and he told me what I kind of already knew that this would be his last year. And it's pretty cool. I mean, you sort of live in the moment with these guys all the time.

And then every once in a while when these things happen, you reflect back on his career. And man, is it impressive. I mean, I've known Ryan for 20 years, you know, since he was a kid. So it's a pretty cool moment for me to think about my relationship with Ryan and what he's accomplished. And, you know, we've been a small part of that, but it's pretty impressive. There were some things he talked about in his press conferences.

I think you could probably talk about a bit more and, you know, Vegas, obviously last year wanted to get him at the deadline. And he did say that him and his wife, Paige had a couple of sleepless nights leading up to the deadline, but they decided it wasn't the right thing to do for them. Can you sort of take us through that, Jerry? And what's an agent's role when a player and his wife are agonizing about what to do and how you kind of are there to try to help them get through it? Yeah, that's a good question, Elliot. Like I think every player is a little different.

Ryan obviously being a very special case, but I think where it really came down to with the Ducks struggling last year, they're obviously had a better year this year. Their young players have played really well. But last year, I think Ryan, you know, our conversation with Bob was if you can make a deal that helps the team, then Ryan would consider it. But he didn't want to leave.

You know, I think we made that clear with him the whole time. You know, and we had a number of teams calling, obviously, you know, to try and bring Ryan in. And it just never came together. You know, there just wasn't anything there that was compelling enough for Anaheim to go to Ryan with. that was compelling enough for Anaheim to go to Ryan with. And so really, as close as it might have seemed, probably in Ryan's mind, because you're either, you know, it either comes or it doesn't,

it probably never got that close. But, you know, still the stress and anxiety is real for his family and him. Did Montreal ever try to make a pitch for him? I always wondered if Perry tried to get him there. There were all these rumors. Yep, Mark was, I talked to Mark. I'm Vegas, a number of teams, actually. Dallas, just very respectfully checking in, you know, same idea.

Would Ryan come here? What's he thinking? That kind of thing. So got close, but never really got to the point where there was offers made or anything like that. It just, it didn't quite get close enough to happen. And I'm in hindsight. I think we're all happy that it didn't probably.

Now, when he's going through what he's going through this year, Jerry, there's always somebody who says, are you sure? Are you the person who does that? Or is Paige the person who does that? Who's the individual who says to Getzlaf, are you sure it's your time? Well, I'll tell you, you know, a lot of our players that have retired, you know, I've had that conversation with them and sometimes they don't have a choice, you know, like Brent Seabrook, for example. But with Ryan, you really don't have to ask Ryan,

are you sure? He's such a leader and, you know, he's just an incredible person that, you know, Ryan doesn't make decisions lightly. And so when you meet, when you sit down with him for two minutes, you know that this is what he wants to do. And he's thought about it and it's time. Mostly what I do with our guys, you know, because we've had a number of guys like, you think about Mikko Koivu, you know, Brent Seabrook, Johnny Boychuk, you know, we really talk about

what their careers are going to look like after they're done playing. What I stress to them is, you know, they have so much knowledge and so much experience, but they've been, you know, looking at their career through such a narrow lens, you know, their job is to get the puck out or score a goal or whatever, right? And I just try to encourage them to be positive and optimistic

about what lies in front of them because they're young guys. Most guys in business, like ours, you don't even really get going until you're in your mid-30s, you know. So really, these guys have a whole career in business like ours, you don't even really get going till you're in your mid thirties, you know? So really these guys have a whole career in front of them. And I think Ryan sees that. I think he knows that he's got incredible strengths and a lot to offer. And, you know, so I think he's looking forward with a, with a, there's a bright light in front of him for sure.

one of them for sure. So that's just a little bit of the conversation we had with Jerry Johansson from the, the sports corporation, longtime NHL agent in the upcoming days, we're going to release the whole thing and it is long apologies. Amel. It is a really long, thorough podcast.

We go through a lot on Carey Price. We go through, listen, we go through a ton on offer sheets. We talk about the Sebastian Ajo offer sheet. We get in a little bit to the Dustin Penner offer sheet. We talk about offer sheets in general, how they are constructed. And also, Jerry Johansson tells us the story of an offer sheet that I didn't know about, that Elliot didn't know about, and that you probably didn't know about. I don't think anybody other than the agent and the player and the team knew about this offer sheet.

And why? Because it turned into a trade. Find out who that player was when we release the Jerry Johansson podcast coming up in a couple of days. All right. Taking us out is an all-Canadian group who live on opposite sides of the country and make their music remotely.

Stacey and Kalen make up the duo Best Friend. The two met through a mutual friend while Kalen was visiting British Columbia. They released their first EP in the fall and are planning to drop their sophomore EP later this summer. Here's Best Friend with their new single, Someplace Else, on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy. The rivers on the line beside my house are really loud In their defense you say they just need to let it all out You stop me droning on and on again About something I can't control Or circumvent

Hold on while I document All the strange ideas you have I'd rather be the notebook But my handwriting's pretty bad I wish you could narrate every place I'll ever go If only to see it all like you do You got me all figured out I couldn't help myself Seeing us sun faces

In sundresses so saccharine With you laying in the grass behind A baseball diamond And me with my hands in the clouds We have it figured all out Can you meet me in every place I've ever lived? Like it's the first time You can walk me down the streets

Like I've never been there once my whole life And you can point out all the pretty parts of the buildings I've never noticed