32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Draft Day

Episode Date: June 28, 2023

Here we go! Jeff and Elliotte get to the latest news around the league including the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade to the Kings (2:00), Alex Newhook on his way to Montreal (7:00), possible destinations for Alex DeBrincat (11:00), NHL Awards (13:00), Toronto’s plans (15:30), decisions to be made in Boston (18:00), Calgary and New Jersey make a deal (20:30), Flyers trade Kevin Hayes to St Louis (23:00), and Evgenii Dadonov signs in Dallas (25:00).Plus, the guys sit down with Predators GM Barry Trotz (27:30) at Bridgestone Arena to talk about the early years in Nashville, some of the challenges they had to overcome, building out rosters on a tight budget, transition from coach to management and so much more.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailMusic Outro: HalfNoise - Boogie JuiceListen to the full track HEREThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Nashville Predators.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.

Do you still keep in touch with Dennis Bay? A little bit. I love Dennis. He's a great guy. He's one of the best. I miss having him around. Dennis is from St. Rose, Manitoba. I'm from Dauphin.

Well, he used to say that he remembered you like... Yeah. Oh, yeah. When I played. Yeah. He's got the great joke. When I first met him, he said, Jeff, I'm from Winnebago, Manitoba.

Yeah. I said, oh, what can you tell me about Winnebago? He goes, it's the birthplace of the toothbrush. I said, really? He said, yeah, because if it were anywhere else, they'd call it the teeth brush. That's true, though. That's very, very true. Okay, so as you heard there, Barry Trotz coming up a little bit later on on the podcast,

general manager of the Nashville Predators. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the pod presented, as as always by the GMC Canyon AT4X. Merrick, alongside Friedman, alongside Delich, in his tastefully decorated hotel room, Elliot. There's clothes all over the place. Almost got an exploding suitcase. Open it up, it explodes all over the room. Elliot just walks in and pulls the parachute. Poof! It explodes all over the room ella just walks in and pulls the parachute poof it's all over the room there was one on-air person at sports night who i will not

name who is famous for asking for two double beds they can put their suitcase on one bed yeah that's my move too do you do that yeah but i don't request a specific room my first night here when i was down the street i got the two, but now I'm in the queen. I need a king bed. I'm a princess. But what happens here is that, Amal, you've got two double beds, but you still have your suitcases on the floor and clothes are everywhere. You're a slob, man.

You're a slob. By the way, I don't know how much I'm going to last on this podcast. You're on fumes right now. You've had a long day. Last night was Nashville one, Elliott zero. I don't know how much I'm going to last on this podcast. You're on fumes right now. You've had a long day. Last night was Nashville 1, Elliott 0. I don't know how much I've got here. Yeah, but you made it to the 8.15 interview with Barry Schratz, and so you should be commended for that.

I don't remember any of it. They tell me I had a great time, Elliott Friedman. We have a lot to get to, so let's fly through this as quickly as we can before everything changes. The big story was the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade. There's a lot of trades we're going to go over here. Pierre-Luc Dubois to Los Angeles. It is a sign and trade.

It is eight years. It is 8.5 million on the AAV. Going the other way, Gabe Velarde, Alex Ayafalo, and Rasmus Kupari. Quick thought on this one before I drop a little bit of Winnipeg Jets knowledge on it. I had an interesting text exchange with someone about a trend in Winnipeg. Okay. Do you want to do that first? Yeah.

You know what the interesting thing is about Winnipeg? I'm actually kind of intrigued about that. Are you kind of intrigued about this? Yes. Texting with one person today who said, there's a real theme here with Winnipeg and we think it's because it's easier to sign

these guys in Winnipeg. What do Alex Ayafalo, Neil Pionk, Dominic Tondinato, Dylan Sandberg and Carson Kuhlman have in common? They're all like Minnesota or Buffalo. They all went to Minnesota Duluth. Oh, well Ayafollah I was thinking cause he's a Buffalo guy, right?

So. The theory is that they're easier to sign. When they had that run, they signed Wheeler, Minnesota guy, Buffalo, Minnesota guy, Bufflin, Minnesota guy, Shifley, Ontario guy, Hellebuck, Michigan guy. So it's not your worst. I can't claim this as my own theory. I am deferring. I am deferring. I'm not taking it. I think it's a good theory. But first of all, I'd like to say that for a couple of weeks now, LA came in hard on this deal. I don't know if I'll ever know that this was

true, but I heard that LA came in in a deal last week, end of last week that the Jets rejected. And if it is what I heard it was, this is a better deal that the Jets held out. And I think there were some guys in that initial deal that, that are not in this one because Winnipeg said, no, we're not doing it for that. I think there were some guys in that initial deal that are not in this one because Winnipeg said, no, we're not doing it for that. I think they did really well, all things considered.

Like I had some guys say to me, if you look at Velarde's analytics, they are very comparable to Dubois at five on five. So as long as he keeps growing and he just had a 25 goal season, that's going to be a really good trade for the jets. You know, I have follow will be an interesting one. I think it was tough for him. Like if you take a look at this LA, they're going to still have to do more things because they are right against

the cap. Like they have less change against the cap than I have in my pocket right now. Well, they moved Dersi out to start. Yeah, but still they're going to have to do it. Like they're right at it. And don't forget, you can go 10% over in the summer.

So it's a bit better, but I think they've got more to do. Like I said, I think it was, this was tough on Ayafollah. That's the one guy I heard that I just think that, you know, when he signed in LA, I think he envisioned himself for four years in LA, but I don't have any reason to think it's not going to work out there. I just think that he was probably the guy who, it was the biggest culture shock that he was included in that deal. And by the way, I can understand why the Jets would want him because A, he's a good player and B.

He's fast. But he's also got two more years. So, you know, you've got some time here. How does Dubois fit with the Los Angeles Kings? I know last time we had a little sidebar conversation about what this means for Quentin Byfield, but what does this now mean for the Los Angeles Kings who all of a sudden down the middle,

I know there's goalie issues, et cetera, but like down the middle, LA looks fantastic. Yeah, they look really good. And, you know, he's going to be there for eight years. Down the middle, they're going to go Kopitar, Deneau, and Dubois. And you can argue, you know, who's one, two, and three.

I mean, the one thing that it's going to do, and a couple teams in the Pacific were telling me about this, is Kopitar, as great as he is, he can't be asked to do everything he used to be asked to do. Like, it's just a function of age. Well, now you had Deneau to take a little bit of the workload off him.

Kopitar was great this year. He was excellent this year. But, you know, they thought he wore down in the playoffs. Like, they just felt he wasn't the same. And now you're going to be able to have Dubois take even more of the workload away with him. Like, the one thing McClellan's going to have here is the ability to really pace Kopitar

throughout the regular season. And they think that will make him a better player. But it's funny, last year, Deneau, this year, Dubois, you know, it's a good thing like Lucien Deblois and Matthew Dandenau are retired. But you've been waiting all day to use that line, haven't you? You thought about that at like 2.30? I used it in a text. I was really proud of it. But LA was aggressive here. They were really aggressive. Initially, we all thought it was Montreal or bust. I think everybody else felt it was Montreal or bust. But the Kings got in here and they worked it hard.

Now, I think there's two things here. I'm not convinced the Canadians wanted to do that contract. That's number one. And number two, the other thing I heard is that I think that the Jets were willing to take a few more futures from Montreal because they liked Montreal's prospects. Yeah. So I think if the trade had happened with Montreal, I think it would have been different.

I just think the Canadians had some prospects that were asked about there and they absolutely refused to do it. Yeah. And I think at the end of the day, they just said, we don't think this is the right fit for us. And the Kings showed much more want, which was what I heard. Speaking of Montreal, they made a move today as well. They pick up Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche, a first, a second, and a prospect goes the other way. So that one kind of caught me by

surprise i didn't see that one coming last year at the draft i think there were some talks between montreal and colorado about new hook i don't know exactly what it involved but i think they talked so montreal knew that that was a possibility look colorado they're in it to win it and there's a lot of people who think those two picks that they got 31 and 37 are going to be in play for the avalanche like nobody thinks the avalanche are done here they want to win and Newhook is just not ready for the role the avalanche need him to be ready for right now it's not like this guy isn't a good player or anything like that he just wasn't ready for right now it's not like this guy isn't a good player or anything like that he just wasn't ready for the role and in montreal they'll be more patient kent hughes

agency his old agency represents him you know he's going to be closer to home he's a newfoundland guy i'll tell you what is interesting to me today someone said to me tonight before we reported this podcast that there are a lot of players in the NHL right now who are available for free. Like Ryan Johansson was. Like Alex Newhook is. They're not available for free. Well, they're available for cap space.

I knew I was going to get spanked by you for saying that because you're right. Available for free in terms of really the price, yes. You know, Colorado made those two deals. Like I said, nobody thinks Colorado's done. And I'll tell you something else too. Nobody thinks Montreal's done here. Yeah.

There's a lot of teams that believe Montreal is willing to move down from five. Quick conversation here about the draft and leading into the first round. We're going to hear a ton more rumors and smoke and mirrors and disguises and deflections. But as it stands right now, who are you hearing the most about? Because for me, it's a whole lot of Washington capitals trying to move up. It's a whole lot of, do they think that Philadelphia may take Mishkoff and they want to get ahead? Do they want to go as high as five? It's like, there's all kinds of stuff that's out there.

Is there one team overwhelmingly that you're hearing the most about? You know, I think Anaheim, you know, you talked in a couple of podcasts ago, they all blend together right now about how that guy could do anything. Yes. Like you had someone who texted you and said he could take Michikov. Michikov, yes.

And I think people do believe that. I got to think if I was picking two, I'm taking Fantilli. You know, he might take him, but I'm not convinced he's going to do it. I think he could throw a curveball right at the second pick. Yeah.

Like I think Columbus is keeping the pick. I texted Kekulainen a couple weeks ago and he basically said the number three pick's not available. I don't think it is. I think San Jose keeps the pick, and then I think there's Montreal at five, and I think they're willing to move down.

I mean, Arizona, he could do anything at six. I think Philly has done a great job with smoke screens this week. They've got people convinced they're taking Mishkov. They've got people convinced they're taking Leonardishkov. They've got people convinced they're taking Leonard. Brian Leonard. Now he does, by the way, look like a Philadelphia. If you looked at all the players in that area. Yes. That looks like a flyer. That looks like a flyer. I'll say this. I think at the very least, Philadelphia has convinced Washington that they could take Mishkov. And I know some teams have suspected that

Washington is, all right, are we going to move up to leapfrog them? So I think those are kinds of the places I'm looking at, Jeff. What about Ottawa right now with Alex Debrinket? It's grind time. Pierre Dorian said he doesn't need a number one this year.

There was a crazy conspiracy theory floating around here. I heard today that maybe Detroit will draft the player that Ottawa likes because Ottawa doesn't have high picks and flip the player to Ottawa for Debrinket. So the deal would be contingent on that player being available at Detroit spot.

They grab him and it becomes part of that trade. Only doing the deal if this player is available. Yes. Yeah. I mean, like I said, it's a conspiracy theory.

You hear a lot of crazy stuff right now but that's out there i mean look i i think a lot of people think that like at some point in time to brink it's going to be a red wing but you don't think that eiserman knows that everybody thinks that so of course it's hard and dorian's trying to squeeze the best deal he can out here and And Dorian needs another team that has the cap room who really wants him. Now, the other team, by the way, I should mention the home team. I think they've got, what, 15 and 24?

They had two picks in the first round, two in the second. I think that they would love to move up, love to make a big splash here. I'm just not sure they're going to be able to do it. I could see Nashville making both their first round picks, but trading both their seconds.

They have a lot of cap space and they have a roster to fill. Yeah. I'm trying to figure out who their target is here. Yeah. I don't know. The first name that jumped into my head

was Comfer. Yep. But you know, he said publicly, he's not crazy about the free agent group. Now he could be an old switcheroo, a diversionary tactic. Swerve. Look at that something shiny over there while I do this. Wow, look at the size of that cat, huh?

I'm trying to figure out what Nashville's up to, but I do think they'd love to move up. Yeah. I just don't know if it'll be possible. They'll want to put on a show considering they're hosting. Speaking of putting on a show while hosting, I was still on a plane while you were part of the awards ceremony here in Nashville. You want to do a quick follow-up after we sort of tease that something goofy could go on?

Well, I just want to say, I thought Dierks Bentley did a great job. His son Knox was really good asking, you know, Connor McDavid about how small the engagement ring was to his fiance. That's awesome. I thought it was hilarious. There were some really nice touches there.

I thought the way they did the Masterton Trophy with the two doctors talking about Alex Staloc and Clayton Keller, respectively, and Pierre Olivier Joseph coming up and talking about Chris Letang who won it. I thought that was a fantastic touch and a great idea. There were a lot of good Nashville tie-ins to it. You know, obviously for those of you who saw it, I was on a panel with Liam McHugh

and Biz and I thought Paul was incredible. I thought he was the star of the show. And you know, when the show was over, Liam goes down and Liam is really good at handling Paul. He understands what he needs to do. And like, there's 25 people around Liam. There's like minus six people around me. Like they're actually moving away. But Biz, he's like the shepherd, man. Like the flock just comes in all around him. And Pied Piper.

He is a hugely popular figure right now. Like just watching that crowd at the end, everybody was going up to him for pictures. Like for me, I was, I might as well have just been invisible. Like, watching that crowd at the end, everybody was going up to him for pictures. Like for me, I was, I might as well have just been invisible. Like, hello,

I'm over here. And I actually think that Paul is the most powerful figure in hockey media right now. I do. He doesn't break trades that much or ever, but people gravitate to him. He makes them laugh like that desk. Like Liam is so good.

And I'm like me, he made it. And, uh, I thought he was spectacular. And sometimes I think people just worry that he's going to go over the edge one time. I think he's the smartest, craziest guy going.

I'm with you. I think that we, we have to recognize that fans of the sport, they love him. Oh, yeah. And we need that. He draws people's personality out. You could tell McDavid wasn't crazy about the hot tub joke, but at the end, McDavid shouted out the hot tub and they raised $10,000 for charity. And we should mention the great touch of the Stelter family.

Oh, that was amazing. Being there at the end, which obviously surprised McDavid. You could see by the look on his face, he had no idea. I thought that was another beautiful touch. You had a good time? Yeah.

You know, I got to tell you, I had a really good time. I don't always like the award shows. I enjoyed that one last night. It was pretty much all of us in there. Okay. Trying to make beliefs. What do you hear?

What do you know? Brad Tree Living saying Sheldon Keefe would be back. Yeah, we all thought that was happening. He said their goal is to sign Matthews and Nylander. I mean, I don't need to go through the Matthews thing again. We all think he's signing four or five years, whatever the number is.

Nylander, all I heard was that's going to be a wrestling match. I have no doubt they want to sign him. I have no doubt they do. I think they want to get him done in the eights and I just don't know if that's going to be possible. Like I think the really challenging thing here is that what if you're the one guy who doesn't take his market value?

So I think it's a challenge and I think they are prepared to go into July 1st with Matthews unsigned if it goes there because they are confident and believe he will resign. Again, a lot can happen in three or four days. As I've said, I'm really curious to see what's going to happen if this player is not signed and they don't have a good indication that he's going to sign by July 1st. I can't see them going in with that much uncertainty. Now, like for example, one thing I've kind of heard a bit is that, you know,

O'Reilly and the Leafs, they're going through the roller coaster right now. Like there's times that looks like, yeah, at times it looks like it's close. There's other times it looks like it's not close. And that's the emotion of this week. And you have to separate the emotion and just look straight. But I've heard it's been a rollercoaster. And the other thing too, about their D I think they've asked about like almost every defenseman. And I know there's some people. Trying to bring all of Calgary's defense.

It's not only them. Like he's called about Carlson. I think he called about Sanheim, although I hadn't heard serious talks. I was pretty called, but yeah, I do think he's talked about those flames guys. Like for, you know, name of flames

defenseman, Hannafin, Tanev, Zdorov. I think he's called about all of those guys and we'll see where it, where it ends up. Okay. Elliot Boston Bruins time here. Uh, they make the move with Taylor Hall. He's now a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. I don't think anyone thinks for one second

that Don Sweeney is done. A lot of what he's going to do, I'm sure, hinges on the decisions of David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron. Do you have a thought or an idea? What does that magic ball of yours say about the Boston Bruins? My magic ball is a little fuzzy. I would say that. That would be your head, Elliot. fuzzy. I would say that. That would be your head. Yeah, I would say that.

Look, if you heard Sweeney, he didn't make it sound very optimistic that he was going to be able to sign a lot of these guys. You know, I'll say this, you know, so on Monday reported that they were getting close with that trade with Chicago. And it was very difficult to figure out exactly what was going on because I think Boston was really trying to be tight

about we're making a salary cap move and freaking out some of their players over who it could be. And Hall didn't have a no trade to chicago so they could move them there you know one interesting thing about hall by the way i think chicago made the deal knowing that hall was hurt at the end of the year so you know they were willing to take that chance i think the guy they really want to sign is bertuzzi and but but i still think they're gonna have to do some other things to get this done i don't think they're finished i can't remember but i still think they're gonna have to do some other things to get this done i don't think they're finished i can't remember but i think it was lynn holm i may have told the story before

like you said my crystal ball is foggy today i'm not remembering everything but one of the reasons lynn holm signed without seeing boston is like he was told the Bruins always figure things out. Not everybody agrees with the things they do, but they're generally a good organization and they figure things out. There's a reason they've been as consistent as they've been for as long as they have. They find great players, they attract good players and they get things done. This is a huge challenge for them, obviously. That was one thing they did to open up some room. I don't think they're done yet. And I just don't know if you can really figure out

what they're going to do until they call before they bring back. I still have trouble figuring out where it's going to go, except I believe that Bertuzzi is going to be the number one guy. I've got to think there's a decent chance one of those two goalies is going somewhere. And the hugs with it.

And the hugs with it. Well, they'll just have to hug someone else. Oh. Brandon Bussey. Frisky. The way Sweeney talked, he didn't sound optimistic. Yeah.

And then sometimes at this time of year, I just have trouble deciding if that's real or it's this is what we want people to think what time of year is it again lying time as isaiah thomas told me it's lion season okay so you mentioned the calgary flames um tyler toffoli moves for uh yegor sharangovich and a third round pick we were going to be doing the podcast tonight. And, you know, someone said to me,

is it, what are you going to say about the flames? And I said, I know we're all, all eyes, blah, blah, blah,

blah. And he said to me, if you want, yes, yes. And, and, you know,

he said to me, if you want to sound smart, say that the one flame that you're most convinced is going to be traded this week will be to Foley. And I didn't even get a chance to sound smart because it happened before we recorded the podcast. How dare they? I heard they had a lot of interest.

Sharon Govich to me is a really interesting gamble. Like basically Timo Meyer knocked them out of a job in, in New Jersey. Cause you're not going to play him in the playoffs on your bottom six. He's got to play with talented players who can score. And their cap kicked him off too. He's an arbitration guy because he gets points. It's like we talked about Dursey the other day.

He gets points, so he's going to get a good arb number. For a team that has room in its top six, that's a good gamble. That's a good gamble. I'm sure they'll talk contract the next little bit. I have to say this. I think the Flames. I'm sure they'll talk contract the next little bit. I have to say this. I think the Flames, I'm not sure how busy, famous last words. I'm not sure how busy they're going to be for the rest of the week. I think there's interest in Zdorov.

I've heard like Hannafin isn't anywhere imminent of going anywhere. And I've heard that, you know, Lindholm, they're still trying to sign him. They are still working at signing him. And look, what did Dubois just sign for? 8.5. So, you know, thatholm they're still trying to sign them they are still working at signing them and look what did dubois just sign for 8.5 so you know that's the market right if not more so i think they're working their way through now and i don't know that they're going to make any more moves i think the one thing conroy is determined is not to rush i think they like this player and i wouldn't be surprised like the like chris no one is analytics and I wouldn't be surprised like the like Chris Snow and his analytics there I wouldn't be surprised if he pushed Sharon Govich on that wouldn't surprise

anyone by the way we talked about Winnipeg before shouldn't mention Wheeler I do think that comes to a head this week but I'm again famous last words yeah if it's not a trade it's going to be a buyout but again famous last words as of Tuesday, I was told it's not on fire with Hellebacher, Shifley or anything, which means two minutes after this podcast drops, they're going to get treated. Throw a log on. Yeah.

Philadelphia Flyers, the Kevin Hayes deal is done to the St. Louis Blues. The sixth round pick goes the other way and the Flyers retain on 50% of the contract. Yeah, I thought that one was going to happen even if the other part didn't. But Krug, you know, he said, no,

as is his right. So now are all eyes on Travis Sanheim? Absolutely. I think they would try that. So Proveroff is gone. Yeah. Trying to move Sanheim. Yeah.

There's this July 9th deal sitting there. Yes. Which I think is going to happen eventually. Tony D'Angelo. Who's going to play defense for the Philadelphia Flyers next year? That's a good question. I think you can find good value buys out there. I know.

I'm just looking at this and I'm saying, okay, and they struck out on Krug. Who's playing defense in Philly now? You'll find a good value buy out there. Oh, by the way, we should also mention with New Jersey, Miles Wood, given permission to talk to other teams. There's a couple of things in New Jersey. There's Miles Wood and there's also, they

moved Mackenzie Blackwood to the San Jose Sharks for a sixth. Yeah, they weren't going to qualify him. So it's a good little piece of business by Jersey to at least get a sixth rounder out of them. And San Jose, we'll see if they can resuscitate and revive them a little bit

there. They need goalies there. Yes. They're looking for goalies. Yes, they do. Finish up on a couple of defensemen. Ian Cole, Zach Bogos there. Yes. They're looking for goalies. Yes, they do. Finish up on a couple of defensemen. Ian Cole, Zach Bogosian. Yes.

So I heard Zach Bogosian's name out there on Tampa. So Tampa's going to open up some space on the bottom of their D because Ian Cole won't be back. And Rick Dallowall reported Vancouver. I think that Vancouver has interest in Ian Cole. People told me that nobody would be surprised if he ends up there for a couple of years. The other one was Bogosian, yes. I think that I've heard in Ian Cole. People told me that nobody would be surprised if he ends up there for a couple of years. The other one was Bogosian.

Yes, I think that I've heard his name out, Tampa trying to move him to clear up a bit more room. You know, we should mention with Montreal, Christian Dvorak, it would seem that there isn't really a role for him there now. They've got so many centers. So I think that's another name worth keeping an eye on in the next little while.

Okay. And one quick one, Max Compton, Anaheim. Yes. Ducks wouldn't confirm it, but I've heard that he's been told, because the word is around, that it's very unlikely he will get a qualifying offer, which is just under two and a half million. Free player. So free player, UFA. And I don't think that's the only interesting not qualified player we're going to see.

I think we're going to see a couple. Yeah, we thought we'd see a lot of these last year as well. Tight cap. We're seeing it. Okay. Dallas Stars as well. Elliot, you've getting the Donoff,

signs a two-year contract, 2.25 per, is the AAV. He formed a good line there. He really did. He found a home fast there. Yes. He's a really talented player. And, you know, Dallas doesn't have a ton of cap room.

Yeah. So sometimes when you get later in life, now later in hockey life to Donovan veteran, you realize fit is the most important thing. Very true. He's got a book in him someday. Yeah, really a couple of good chapters. A couple of really intriguing ones.

The other thing I just wanted to mention before we wrapped up the pod is on Wednesday, there's going to be an announcement that Tennessee State is going to have a club team starting and they're going to start a club team at Tennessee State University in 2024-25. I think it's fall 2024. Tennessee State is what's called an HBCU. It's a historically black college and university.

They're best known for football. You know, Deion Sanders coached at one of them last year. And, you know, Eddie Robinson was the famous football coach at Grambling State. He used to have the record, I think, for most college football wins. I don't know if he still does. But that's a big step for hockey in Nashville and for the NHL. You know, we need to expand our game and Nashville is a huge success story.

And when I heard about this Tennessee State story and the fact they're going to start a club hockey team, I wanted to mention it. I think it's awesome. I think it's awesome too. Grow it, grow it in Tennessee and elsewhere. Quick pause when we come back. A day one-er from the Nashville Predators.

He's back. He's returned. Barry Trotz, general manager of the Nashville Predators. You'll hear from him in moments on the pod. I'm just a prairie boy. Never meant none, no harm.

Spend my days making wages out on Martin's farm no eastern boy gonna twist my arm This is Jason from Dieppe it's the NHL Awards everyone's talking about the Norris Trophy

and Best Defenseman why don't they just do most points for a defenseman called the Bobby Orr Award and then best all-around defenseman with the Norris? I don't know why they just don't do that. It's so damn cold out here. Barry, first of all, thanks for doing this. Thanks for hosting us. How long have you been thinking about this move?

We've always thought Barry Trotz, coach lifer. How long have you been thinking about this move to management? Not really that long, really. I think what it came down to, you know, I've coached for 25 years and I thought, you know what, I'm going back to Nashville. Nashville's my home. And I thought, you know, it'd be really neat

to get involved with the, with the Preds. I've always had a Preds stamp when you work for someone and make this place your home. I mean, I was here for 17 years, but it'd be nice to go full circle and get involved with the Preds. You know, I had a summer where I had a lot of family stuff.

I was very transparent to everybody that I needed to get family stuff done and then I'll decide what I'm going to do after that. And early December, I had a couple of teams inquire about what I was doing and actually, you know, talking to me about, uh, joining their, their clubs and maybe making some changes. And, uh, I think they reached out to David and, uh, to check me out, I think. And, uh, uh, David, uh, you know, then called, I think Lou and, and said, you know, Hey, I'd like to talk to Barry about potentially something that I'm thinking of doing.

And that was retiring after the end of the year and see if he would be involved. So that got thrown on my plate. There was a, probably a 48 hour period where I had a couple of teams talking to me and then this thrown on my plate, uh, very shortly after I just sort of finished everything that I had to do during the summer.

And, uh, you know, I went for counsel, uh, with my wife as usual. She's the, she's the, anybody who has a, in this business, you have a counsel and that counsel is my wife. And she said, you know what, uh, you got everything done. You do need a little bit of a break, but at the same time, you know, you have to make a quick decision. But if you want to continue coaching, I think there might be a space maybe next year for you

if you want to do that. At the same time, if you want to explore this, why not take that time to explore this? And so that probably gave me a little bit of a pause, if you will. And I said, you know what, I maybe explore this a little bit. And when I said I wanted to maybe get involved with the team, I didn't think I was going to be

maybe necessarily at this level. But, you know, when I thought about it more, I thought, what a great challenge. I've coached for a long time. I've invested into Nashville, not only the Preds, but the community. So from my standpoint, I looked at it as a great opportunity for me to maybe put my final

stamp on Nashville franchise and come full circle. And I thought it was really neat. So, you know, I started with David, uh, well, 97, uh, even before that. And I thought, you know, David's given me a lot in this game and, uh, you know, he's given me a lot in this game and, you know, he's given me this opportunity.

If, you know, ownership and management and all that thinks that I can get it done, then I'd like to go for that challenge. And so we met with ownership, all that, and finally came to an agreement and I'm really excited and I'm very thankful for the Preds for allowing me to transition with David. Usually general managers, you know,

they get fired and then the new general manager comes in. The great thing about this is I get to pick a Hall of Famers brain of 40 some years of being a general manager and not only a friend, but a general manager. And I thought it was a no brainer. Boy, there's a lot of follow-ups here. There's a lot of places I want to go,

but I want to start kind of at the beginning. So we're doing this a morning after you and David both were part of the NHL awards. Big ovation for David. Big cheer for you. We all heard the Barry, Barry, Barry chants. I said at the beginning of the show, but I remember when I heard the NHL was going to Nashville,

I was like, what are we doing here? And now I can't imagine the NHL without it. So I want to take you back with the first time you really came here. There must be to take you back with the first time you really came here. There, there must be a story you look back at and laugh and say, oh my God, I'm not sure this is going to work.

I came, uh, in obviously in 97, I was like, uh, Buck Showalter, you know, I, I was the coach, but I was a glorified, uh, uh, glorified coach, but I was really a pro scout, but it was a great opportunity because I, uh, I remember, you know, talking to, to David, you know, David got the job in, in Nashville and he talked to, I think George McPhee and says, Hey, I'm going to talk to Barry about,

uh, you know, maybe joining us. And, uh, I was a minor league coach in, in, uh, Washington's organization and had great success in Portland. And I said, you know, what a good opportunity. So David reached out to me and says, you know, I'd like you to join the organization. And I was thinking, great, I'm going to be the minor league coach

in the new team and, you know, and keep growing as a coach. And then he says, you know, don't coach the team, the Predators. And I'm like, those are usually jobs for very, very senior experienced coaches. Cause you're not probably getting, it's not like expansion back then wasn't expansion like it is now where you get some top six, top nine players.

Back then we were getting with expansion roles, we were getting, I met most of our players that played on that team. You know, I had the opportunity to coach Andrew Burnett in the minors, but he wasn't on the, really on the Washington Capitals and we took him from Washington. Uh, Scott Walker, who was a really good player

for us and is now a really good coach. I never saw him play in the NHL, alive in a game. I remember him from coaching against him in, when he played for Syracuse, uh, and he was going after Killer Kaminsky. And I was like, man, who's this guy? I love this kid, whoever he is.

But I met him in the press box. Most of our guys that I met that year were in the press box. They weren't playing. They were the extra guys. So I got to go through that whole process, uh, of, you know, going from city to city, looking for ideas and all that.

But I remember getting the job and it was, uh, uh, a real neat story. I got the job and so, you know, there's no one at my press conference. There's two friends of mine that are, are songwriters for Garth Brooks and they were fencing. So they, they, they, they were all dirty and,

and full of dirt and all that because they heard the press conference. There was just reporters and just our families. And I remember, you know, they're, everybody's looking back. And so I'm the new coach of the expansion team and I go back and, you know, do the pressers. And then you have a few hours.

And I went and looked for a house and bought a house in like three hours, put an offer in, came back and, and you know how hot and steamy it is. And it was August, I think it was August 7th. I'm going back and I'm going to meet Craig Leopold at the, at a restaurant and David Poyle. And, but I'm going back and I'm going to meet Craig Leopold at the, uh, at a restaurant and David Poyle and, but I'm all sweaty.

So I jump in the shower and, uh, you know, I turn on the TV and, and I'm, I'm getting ready and trying to catch up on some news. And lo and behold, the Garth Brooks, uh, uh, Central Park concert is going on. And, uh, I had met, uh, Garth in, in Portland and, and, uh, in Garth in Portland and, and in the songwriters and that, and the true, the

true story. So I'm getting dressed, my phone goes off, I'm watching Garth Brooks, he's leaving, he's in a helicopter flying into Central Park and, and my phone goes off and I go, hello? And he goes, yeah, Barry, hey, congratulations. And I said, who's this? And he says, Garth. And I said, Garth who? And he goes, uh, yeah, Barry, hey, congratulations. And I, and I said, who's this? And he says, Garth.

And I said, Garth who? And he goes, Garth Brooks, you dummy. You know, and, uh, he's, and I'm watching him on TV as he's landing in Central Park and, and he says, Hey, I gotta go. You know? And I said, yeah, you do. And, uh, and I got the, uh, you know, he,

you must've hung up the phone and, uh. Walked right out and did the concert. Yeah, and did the concert. That's awesome. So I always remember that, you know, he, uh, you must've hung up the phone and, uh. Walked right out and did the concert. Yeah, and did the concert. That's awesome. So I always remember that, you know, he, that's something special that, uh, you know, on, you know, he's probably had more important things than that, but he, he remembered to congratulate me. Yeah. So that was really neat. And then I remember getting my, my first day at work, uh, you know, I'm thinking, well, I'm in the NHL

now and all that. This whole space was just a giant room with those sliding, you know, fake walls. And there was a phone, there was a cable all the way down the phone with a, you know, you know, push button phone and, uh, basically a cart table, uh, with a chair in this giant room. And I said, I finally made it, you know,

those types of things. So when you, when you think about Nashville back then, I mean, we struggled. We really did. It was a, we had to do it from the ground up. There was one rink here at Centennial and this was football country. This was UT country.

And, you know, we had to build it one fan at a time. Doing the one-on-ones and people like Terry Crisp and Paul Gardner and myself, we would go out daily to do hockey 101 clinics because people had no idea what hockey was. But once they came in the first year, you know, the first game, they stood the whole game. It was like they were at a football game.

And you talk about a bunch of misfits. We were the true misfits back then because one thing that I learned really quickly is all the players that we had were those extra players. They were the 13th forward, the seventh defenseman. And so anytime that I got hard on them at times, they would go into a tizzy because they thought they didn't have the confidence.

Getting scratched. Yeah. They're getting scratched. And so I figured that out real quickly that they needed to be boosted. They needed to be propped up. They needed to be told how good they are. And then, uh, you know, you look at a guy like

Scott Walker, who was a, you know, the wild thing in Vancouver, playing fourth line, being scratched, all that. All of a sudden he's playing on my second line and he's getting 20 goals a year and being an abrasive type player and a really good player. So we learned a lot of those lessons. Andrew Burnett scored our first goal in franchise history.

Rebound right there. The net off the pegs. And a penalty will be called. Interesting here to see what Denny LaRue does. As the net came off the pegs with the puck on the way, Andrew Burnett wants an explanation. Looks like LaRue has made a decision. I think they're on the board.

Fitzgerald looks very happy. Had the net stayed in the proper place, the red light would have come on. And Brunette gets credit for the goal. One of those guys who was a major natural goal scorer went on a tear last year playing with Adam Oates in Washington. So we had a lot of those misfits that would be the original ones, I think, because we didn't have much talent.

I remember lining up against Colorado, I think it was game three here. And I remember the starting lineup for me. I had Mike Dunham in goal. I had Bob Bugner and Joel Bouchard were my number one pair. I had Sergey Krivokrasov, Andrew Burnett and Greg Johnson were my starting my number one pair. I had, uh, Sergey Krivo Krasov, Andrew Burnett and Greg Johnson were my starting lineup.

And they lined up with, uh, Sackett, Forsberg and Deadmarsh with Blake, Bork and Patrick Waugh. Was that? And I said, we're going head to head tonight. I would wonder if like those six guys had made more than your entire payroll. Yes, they absolutely did, for sure. I think our payroll the first year was maybe,

I don't know how I'd find out, probably around $13 million. I remember coming out of the lockout when it was, ceiling was $39 and low end was $21. And I remember talking to David Poyle on the radio and he said bluntly, I don't even know how I'm going to make 21. Nevermind the ceiling. I don't know how I'm going to make $21 million

payroll work here. Yeah, absolutely. We scratched and clawed. I remember one year just to make the floor, Steve Sullivan got hurt and I think we signed Marty Gelina to one of those 35 plus contracts with ridiculous bonuses. And I think we were like $10 million under the floor,

uh, just to make, make the floor. But we were, we were competitive. I remember the first year that we, we came in and we're next year, we're picking like seventh or eighth,

you know? So there was some teams that shouldn't have been worse than us, but were. And then, uh, I remember the first playoff series against Detroit. I think it was year five that we made the

playoffs, five or six. Their payroll was 75, 76 million, uh, the Red Wings. And we were like, when we picked up a couple guys at the trade deadline, I think we were like 17. Oh my goodness. So, and we took, we went six games.

They went on to win cups. Yep. Every time we played Detroit, they went on to win the cup. And we did that with Chicago for a couple of years when they were in their, in their window where we pushed them to the brink and then, you know, they, they went on to win cups.

So, but they, you know what, I said this from day one, the best development that we, that we had during those years were the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. Cause they were the standard in the league and we have to play them all the time. And so we have to get better just to survive, to be competitive.

And, uh, we did. And I thought the turning point for our franchise was in, uh, I think it was 04 when Paul Korea said, I'm going to Nashville. He looked at prospect pool. He looked at our, where we were going. Uh, he says, I'm going to Nashville. And I think Paul Korea put Nashville on the map.

I mean, there's so many places we can go here, but 25 years later, give me a good expansion draft story about a player that maybe you guys thought about taking or you didn't take or an argument that you and David Poyle had about player to take or something like that. It's funny. We will go in my office after this.

I have the original draft list in front of us. The paper that we wrote on of who we took and what we did, and this is where we changed the rules a little bit. We took, if you look at our original expansion draft, we took like guys like Mike Richter and Ally Afraidy and all these unrestricted free agents because you got draft picks. You got compensated that way. Richter and Ally Afraidy and all these unrestricted free agents.

Cause you got draft picks, you got compensated that way. So we did that to get extra draft choices. And we didn't worry a whole lot about, there wasn't a lot of big player polls, but I do remember this, our best deals were the deals that we made with teams for the protecting goalies.

Example, LA wanted to protect one of their goalies. So I kept going over to Europe to all these tournaments and the Finnish team had this little defenseman, Timonen. And I kept coming back going, you know, David would ask me, you know, who'd you really like?

I said, there's this little defenseman. I don't, he's tiny, but he's the best guy. I mean, he really is smart and he's efficient. And David said the best thing. He said, we're not going to be very good. Why not take a chance? And this is back when everybody, you know, had to be six foot five, six physical, all that.

He says, we're not going to be very good. We're not going to have a lot of skill. Why don't we take some chances? And, you know, we took a chance on Tiemann and then you see Rafalski and guys like this start coming back into the fold, you know, coming back from Europe. And we had Kingo Tiemann thrown into a deal.

I was in Portland, Maine, and we used to play the Fredericton Canadians a whole lot and Montreal wanted to protect a couple of their goalies, couple of French goalies. And they had this Thomas Focoon. And we said, just get this guy thrown into a deal. And we think there's something there. Paul Gardner was a big proponent of that as well.

And we got him thrown into a deal. One of our best players, you know, and went over and saw a guy in Latvia named Carlos Skrastic and we, you know, we signed him and we brought guys like that back from Europe to give us some skill and worked out really well. But we, you know, we made a trade for Cliff Ronning who gave us some skill. On Broadway really well. But we, you know, we made a trade for Cliff Ronning who gave us some skill.

Yeah. Broadway. Yes. Yeah. And it just slowly made us competitive, but that group of guys, and then one of the best moves that we ever, I thought we ever made is one of my, my favorite, I always say

one of my favorite captains was Tommy Fitzgerald. You know, we brought him in and we were looking for a character guy to sort of create this franchise and Fitzy came in. And the one thing that I remember, and this is the things that you go through. I remember one night we went into Philly and they had the Legion of Doom there and we lost

like 10 to 2. It was not good. And I remember the bus, Fitzy was really down. Like Fitzy was a third line, really character player and he was down. He was trying to be a first line guy to the expansion team. And I remember, you know, he was really down, you know, he says, just taking it really hard. And I said, Fitzy, let's just stay back, let the bus go and we'll just come back and I'll, we'll have a beer and just chat about this whole situation.

And, and, uh, we sat there and had a really good talk. And I think from that moment on Fitzy took the captain's role and not trying to be someone he wasn't. He was just, I just needed Tom Fitzgerald to be Tom Fitzgerald, which was a captain material, but he didn't have to be a first line player.

He just had to be Tom Fitzgerald. For us, he was a second line guy, you know, and play against the best guys. And from that point on, he was one of the best captains. I was in tears when we traded him to Chicago in the one year, you know, I really was, cause he had meant a lot to our franchise, keeping it afloat.

We were a hardworking team. You were going to get, you know, a scrappy bunch every night. And that was Tommy set the table. Speaking of scrappy guys and you know, you've, you've talked a lot about Scotty Walker, for example, one of the things that I don't think is lost on anybody who's followed the

Nashville predators from their inception is this team always carried a slugger. Yeah. From day one, you know, one of my favorite things to mention to people about tough hockey players is I've never seen a tough player turn in what I consider to be a tough guy's perfect season, except for Darcy Hordachuk. There was one year in two, I think it was 2008. Darcy Hordachuk had

60 penalty minutes, 12 fighting majors. There's not one minor penalty he took. Every minute. It's one of my favorite. Listen, Barry's nodding. I say that with the tip of the cap. Only you would know that. It's one of my favorite. Listen, Barry's nodding. I say that with a tip of the cap. Only you would know that. 60 minutes, 12 fighting majors. To me, it was like, from a tough guy's point of view, the perfect season. What did tough guys mean to this team

and this organization? Well, I think the one thing that Nashville, we never had as an expansion team, we weren't gifted any skill. We had to draft it. And we did such a good job. I mean, you look at the all-star team up front for Nashville, David Legon is probably still

the number one center that we've drafted. And so this franchise was football country, NASCAR country. They loved, you know, the physical part of this game, the speed of this game. And so, you know, the Cliff Ronnings, I love the Cliff, he was a little water bug. You know, Scotty Walker could fly, but he had a

little bit of the grit and spit to it. They loved the, you know, the, we had the Patrick Cotes of the world, the Wade Belax, the Jordan Tutus, the Darcy Hortiseks. One of the, what I thought was one of the world, the Wade Belax, the Jordan Tutus, the Darcy Hortuchuks. One of the, what I thought was one of the best fourth lines back then and that didn't get any credit was Darcy Hortuchuk, Scott Nickel, Jordan Tutu.

Like Darcy's, he can fight the heavyweights, but he's not a six foot five guy. And Scooter could get under anybody's skin. That's Scotty Nickel. And Toots, he brought an element that everybody knew was on the ice. And pound for pound, they could drive teams crazy. And that was always appreciated in Nashville.

The hard work part, the, you know, I'll stand up for the team part. And that's been the staple of the success of Nashville. It is a very community team. It's a family team. It's a team. And they always play together.

In the early years, we never had the game changer, the guy that could bring you out of your seats, all that. We always had good goaltending. We always had structure and we worked our tails off and we played together and we would commit together.

And that's, we were painting in the rear to play against, night in and night out. We led the league in closed door meetings for the other team. Because they looked at our lineup and went, this shouldn't be that hard. And we would feed them and they would have a closed door meeting and one of those things.

So we led the league in closed door meetings. That's a source of pride. I understand that because you drove people crazy. Now I wanted to ask you about this job in particular. One thing about David Poyle, he was always bold, always bold. Like he made trades at a lot of other general managers would be like,

I don't know if I want my name on that one. This year at the deadline, you knew you were taking over the job. How involved were you? Very involved. Yeah. You're going to be bold too, aren't you? I think I'm going to be bold.

The one thing that I think that's happened with me, I think I have a personality where I'm me. Yeah. But on the other side, I'm not afraid of, I think I'm hardened on the other side from the years of coaching. I'm not scared of criticism. I'm not afraid of, I think I'm hardened on the other side from the years of coaching. I'm not scared of criticism. I'm not scared of that stuff.

It's no different. And I could sort of see it a little bit in the press conference. I said to our scouts, we got 13 draft picks. Swing for the fences. I'll be more. That quote got a lot of play. A lot of play.

It's what I believe in. I want you to be convicted in what you're doing. Let's'll be more. That goal got a lot of play. A lot of play. It's what I believe in. I want you to be convicted in what you're doing. Let's not be safe. You know, if you're going to be safe, like if you just want to have a, basically to our scouts, I said, if you just want to have a guy play in the league and have it, hey, he played in the league and that was a good draft.

That's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for, you know what, this guy, we took a chance on this guy and this guy came through big time. He's a game changer. I'd rather have that. That'll keep you on the staff for a long time than playing safe.

You can play safe in the third, fourth, fifth round. Let's play safe there. We can get character. We can get, you know, physicality. We can get checkers. We can get that, we can get, you know, physicality, we can get checkers, we can get that, but we can't get the goal scoring. We can't get the people that get people out of

their seats in the, in those rounds, unless you get really, really lucky. I mean, we've had great success of getting a game changing goalie really late in the draft and Becca Rennie. There's a statue out there in the front of this building. You know, we've got Patrick Hornquist, the last pick in a draft,

who's had a great career. I mean, we've done some of that. We can get those guys. But the offensive skills, game-changing guys, you've got to take your swings early. I'd rather you do that, stick your neck out on the guy, show you're convicted. That's the way to go.

The wrong choice for me is not listening to your true beliefs. When it comes to the draft, I mean, I understand the idea that we're looking for skill early and everything else later on. First of all, about this draft specifically, we always talk about tears in the first round. How many do you see early? Most teams, and I'm only going to speak for me listening to a couple of different teams, but just, you know, our own stuff.

I think there's, there's a front tier. I'm going to say probably like a five or six to 12, 13, and then there's another tier. And then there's a bigger tier and a bigger tier. So most teams put value on picks where they would take a player. So I think every team's doing that. I'm always curious about teams trying to move up and how expensive it is.

And I'm guessing it varies from draft to draft. It feels like this is an expensive draft to try to move up. Is that accurate? It is. If you think about it, I always try to think about both sides. So if you're in the one, two, three, four hole, just say those four players that everybody's bringing up and I don't care what order, you could be sitting there and you cannot make a mistake.

So you're in a very comfortable situation. You could argue it could be five and six if you want for some teams. My job was to try to make those guys uncomfortable. I'd love to move up, but there is an expense to it, and you have to be very, very conscious of the price. Barry, thanks so much for this. Always a pleasure. I listen to you guys do such a great job.

Trust me, I get a lot of my info from you guys. Not a chance. Not a chance. We have you fooled, Barry. Hey, I just want to know how some of your, I know some of the times that you do your podcasts and what have you and you're traveling. So I appreciate it. You guys are one of the best.

That's kind. Thanks, Barry. Listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast ad free on Amazon Music, including with Prime. Okay, Elliot, as we wrap up, a number of people to thank today, starting with David Poyle, Barry Trotz, and Kevin Wilson from the Nashville Predators organization who could not be more gracious hosts and who could not be more accommodating. And we really sincerely say thank you because we know we can be challenging sometimes. Mainly Amal. So thank you, gentlemen. Taking us out is an artist who lives between genres

mixing synth pop and surf rock in a very unique way. Currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee, Zach Farrow, stage name Half Noise, is best known as a drummer for Paramore, but his solo work as Half Noise stands out as something you might hear walking by a speakeasy in the Lower East Side. From his Natural Disguise record, here's Half Noise with Boogie Juice on 32 Thoughts the Podcast from Nashville. I guess it's all you got now

You said that I would I guess that's what you think of me now So I I'm not with bad apple I'm not your bad apple now