32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Emptying Out The Notebook

Episode Date: October 2, 2020

Jeff and Elliotte look at all 31 teams and discuss what their goals should be for the off-season (Atlantic – 34:15; Metropolitan – 47:30; Central – 1:05:30; Pacific – 1:17:45). But before doing that, they kick things off with a Word Association built specifically to challenge Elliotte, discuss Tampa’s tough road to the Stanley Cup […]

boom bang bang bang we done are we done elliot last week you said give me yellow laces so mike at skywalker 0928 this week gives you yellow laces for word association all right i'm ready to be to ask myself why did i do this and just to be mad. This is good. I like this one. This is really smart. We'll start with Lyle Odeline. You know, the funniest Lyle Odeline story I remember, first of all, you hope he's okay. Cause he went through some real health concerns. So the first thing I think of when I think of his name is I hope he's doing all right.

And I hope everything's okay with him. But the best Lyle Odeline story I was ever told was when he was in Montreal, they were playing Ottawa and he was, you know, Lyle Odeline was a very tough guy. And Ottawa had a guy who was a fighter named Bill Huard. And Odeline was chirping and Huard on the bench said something along the lines of, like he objected and he came at him and he's like i'm gonna get you uh you know all i want to fight you and apparently odeline turned to him and said yeah i've already beaten you i'm not doing that again and that was the end

of that i'm looking it up now and i guess he broke his nose in a previous fight. But the story I heard was he told him, I've already beaten you. I'm not going to bother. End of story. And apparently the Canadians all thought it was hilarious. Yeah, Bill Huard was tough too. Yes, he was. Whenever we talk about tough hockey players from Welland, we always talk about Matt Johnson and Paul Bissonnette,

and we should probably throw Huard in there as well. Damonon lankow this is not another september 27 thing right no because he's also got that birthday that's why we mentioned him last week it's two weeks in a row he was traded from tampa to philadelphia chris gratton went in the deal and not long after that trade i can't remember now off the top of my head if it was same day or right after, but Philly came to Toronto and Bob Clark, I remember I was interviewing Bob Clark about the deal. I can't remember how it all went, but Clark was like, we're talking about everybody in that deal.

And he said, you haven't asked me about Damon Lankow yet. And I go, I was going to get to it. And he goes, well, good, because he's a really good player. Like it was that typical Bob Clark. And I loved interviewing Bob Clark. If you ever asked him a question, he gave you an honest answer. He like snapped at me because it took me too long to ask him about Lankow on the deal.

I think I asked him about Renberg. I asked him about Gratton. I asked him about Sillinger because they were the three other guys in the deal he's like you're gonna ask me about lancow right and i was like yes and it was just really funny that's the moment i remember about uh damon lancow a thousand games and came back from a really serious what was it neck injury to get there like that was a guy who gutted through played a lot of hard hockey and gutted through a lot of pain to get to the end of his career pretty impressive robert reichel uh robert reichel okay so the story about robert reichel that i always remember was told to me by eric duhatschek

and so robert reichel scored the big goal over canada in the shootout in 1998 in nagano remember of course okay i'm sure that's a pleasant memory for a lot of canadian fans but when he played in calgary and he first came over from the former czechoslovakia to play in calgary there were people in Flames organization who hated the stick he used. They couldn't stand it. They said it was a bad stick and as talented as a guy he was, and he had a 90-point season, they felt that his stick limited him from being even better.

It's a 40-goal score. Hang on, it's a 40-goal score. But they didn't like his stick. They didn't like it. They said he could have been even better if he had a better stick. So, 98 Olympics, Reichel scores the goal. Eric DeHotchick's there.

DeHotchick's based in Calgary. Reichel's a Calgary Flame beforehand. He wasn't then. He was with the Islanders then. But they knew each other they had a good relationship and Reichel apparently walked up to DeHatchick

put his stick out and said ask Calgary how they feel about the stick now oh nice nice move Rob Reichel I remember when I worked with Bill Waters doing the Old Leafs lunch show on 640 in Toronto.

I remember asking him, you know, why did you guys, because he was, Markov was part of the deal with Travis Green for Danny Markov from Phoenix. I remember because I really liked Markov. A lot of people liked Markov. I remember he was one of those big three rookie defensemen that made the Maple Leafs out of camp

with Cabriolet and Tremblay. I remember asking like, why did you move Markov? And he said, we did it to save him. Trust me. He was always kind of vague about it, but it sounds like that was a solid that they did for that player to make sure that he still had a career. Not that I'll always remember Reichel that way, but that was, that was when I really

opened my eyes. You know, Markov was a really interesting guy. You know, Markov came to Canada, North America really young, right? Yeah. And I think he was married young and I've, I've learned to think about this a lot. So he's born in 1976. He comes over to North America in 1997, 1927. That would be really a neat trick. I don't think Conn Smythe is bringing in Russians at that point.

No. So he comes over. He's 20 years old. He's still really young. And I remember he made the Maple Leafs pretty quick. I think he spent half a year in St. John's, and then he made the maple leaves pretty quick like i think he spent half a year in st john's and then he started the next year in st john's and by the end of the season he was in the nhl with the maple east as a player they loved him he just had a lot of growing up to do you know he was a he was a 21 year old kid who didn't speak a lot of english he comes

from russia he goes to newfoundland then he's in toronto you know i remember that 1999 series how he battled john leclerc in front of the philadelphia toronto uh nets just battled him all series long and was a big part of the reason toronto won that series it was their first playoff win in a few years and i think he was just young and needed to grow up and uh you know the players talked about how he'd smoke in the intermissions and stuff like that and into the dryer into the dryer into the dryer in the maple leafs room at the intermissions a decade later and you know he played a really physical game and he got hurt a lot he was he was very reckless with his body

but you know i think later in his career like people just really respected how hard he played. Yep. And the one thing I remember was when Washington won the cup, he sent out some tweets about how much it meant to him to see Ovechkin, a Russian, lift the Stanley Cup. And I communicated with him over direct message and he answered a few questions for me about how meaningful it was and I just I remember that conversation but we talk a lot about

you know guys who have difficulty making the transition and things like that imagine you're 20 years old you don't speak English and suddenly you're plopped in North America like it's a real challenge although friendly people in St. John's though, if you're going to go anywhere, not, you know, not knocking the people there, just that you're in a foreign environment. It's tough. Um, okay. We sort of detoured there with Danny Markoff back to it. Jeff Sanderson.

First of all, good luck to the Sanderson family. Cause Jake. Yes. Jake is going in the NHL draft, pretty high pick coming up next week. Jake is going in the NHL draft, pretty high pick coming up next week. Brian Burke, for a guy who doesn't like cheating in the CBA, he teams now, he doesn't believe in salary cap avoidance and things like that. Burkey's the biggest cheater of all time. And so him and Doug McLean, first of all,

they cooked up that Todd Marchand, Sergei Fedorov deal, right? Yeah. Marsha wouldn't wave his no trade. So Doug put them on waivers to get around the trade, which is why that was the beginning of the no move clause at the NHL. Yes. That trade specifically.

So he traded Fedorov to Doug McLean in Columbus. And the whole point was it was supposed to be Marshawn, but Marshawn didn't want to be traded. So they put them on waivers. And then first Berkey didn't claim them, right? Correct. And then Doug called him and yelled at him. A day later.

These guys are the biggest liars alive, Berk and McClain. Like if we would have asked them that when they were GMs, no, you guys are making stuff up. Reporters can't be trusted. And now they're writing books telling these stories. Well, Jeff Sanderson had one like that. In 2004, he was traded from Columbus to Vancouver. And I guess Sanderson started asking about buying a house in Vancouver.

And I guess Berkey had made a deal that he was being sent back to columbus next season and berkey's like i don't think you should do that and sanderson's like why and he couldn't come right out and tell him so berkey had to lie to him about yeah or at least sort of fake advise him not to buy the house you know real estate is really good there the area is really going to pop i think it's a good investment for you if you just hang on to your property i know isn't it unbelievable can't come out and tell me you have a cook deal for him to go back to cbj so the other thing about sanderson is and this is more up your alley because i don't remember the story behind it but he had one of those strange

superstitions where he used like a different stick every period right different lengths yeah yes you know why why was that because he felt that he wanted to have something that helped him force himself bend his knees later into the later into the game that he was going to be more tired in the third period he didn't want to give himself an excuse to straighten up his legs. So if he had a shorter stick, he'd have to bend over and bend his legs more. Yeah, I never would have gotten that. Jeff Sanderson, baby. Does his son know this?

So we had a Zoom call. We've had a couple of different Zoom calls with a lot of the prospects. And one of my first questions to Jake was, did your dad ever tell you this? And he said, no, but the minute after, I'm going to go and ask him about it. So I've got to follow up with Jake Sanderson to see how that conversation ever went with his dad. But it is one of those great stories about Jeff Sanderson. I mean, he's, and listen, Jake told me like his dad is, you know, very specific about a lot of things and really meticulous.

So that story is very much on brand for, for Jeff Sanderson. So I'm curious to see how the conversation went between father and son. But as of last week on our Zoom call, Jeff had not told Jake that story. That's pretty hilarious. Okay, Ilya Kovalchuk. Well, we actually did Kovalchuk a while ago, did we not?

Of course we did. A lot of these are going to recur. We're just looking for the theme though. Where do you think Ilya Kovalchuk is going to play next year? Montreal. Is he going back? Don't you? I i mean he loved it there he was successful there they loved him i don't know it's not kind of hand to glove i would think so but i don't know but yeah i gotta kind of look into that a little bit actually was that like a doug mclean brian burke jeff sanderson deal like yeah but if you asked Mark Bergevin about it, he'd say, you crazy reporters making up stuff.

Okay, let's move on to our final one here because we've got a lot to get to on the podcast. Jordan Stahl. Well, first of all, I wonder if he called Don Waddell this week and said, hey, Mark got traded, Eric got traded. Is there anything I have to worry about here? The other thing I think of when I think of Jordan Stahl is just the power.

Back when they were in the old arena, before they went into PPG Paints, I remember walking in there one day for a practice the day before a game and seeing Mike Kadar, who was the strength coach in Pittsburgh at the time. There was a long hallway and he had Stahl strapped in a harness that has sled on the back end of it. And there was as much weight on that thing as, you know, is in my entire body and probably more. And St stall was just dragging it dragging it and i was looking at this saying holy smokes and

they katar said he was the strongest guy on that team by a mile like that's what jordan stall was known for his power i also the other story i really remember about j Stahl was, you know, his first NHL season when he was a rookie, he had a really good year. He scored 29 goals. His second season, he ended up, I think with 12, but for the first half of the season, it was really low. He got off to a really slow start and he could still play juniors. Andittsburgh came into toronto for a saturday night game and i asked ray shiro who was the gm of the time if uh there was any chance that he was going to loan jordan stall to the canadian world junior team and shiro looked at me like i was nuts and he said jordan stall is an nhl player and he's not going to the world juniors and i always remembered that conversation all right

so there we go lyle odeline damon lankow robert reichel jeff sanderson ilialya Kovalchuk, and Jordan Stahl. You wanted Yellow Laces Freed, you got it. Courtesy of Mike at Skywalker0928. I could give you one clue that gives it all away fast, but I don't think you want that lifeline yet. No, I was totally psyched out before I even started this. Like I was looking at some of these guys played like in Phoenix. Some of these guys had seasons where they played less than 10 games, but Jordan Stahl is the one who is completely different than that.

Okay. Give me the hint. I'm not good at these really crazy ones. I'll give you six hints. Okay. No, five hints. Damien Rhodes, Martin Brodeur, Mika Norinan, Chris Mason, Cam Ward. Give me those again. Damien Rhodes, Martin Brodeur, Mika Norinan, Chris Mason, Cam Ward. Jordan Stahl, Cam Ward.

Brodeur Odeline, Norinan Sanderson, Mason Kovalchuk, Ward Stahl. Who's the other one? Damien Rhodes. No, that one doesn't fit. Are these, is this something to do with these guys first NHL goals? Nope. Well, hang on. Which list?

These guys gave up their first NHL goals to these guys? Let me ask you that question again because you asked about first NHL goals. Which list? The guys that the goalies gave up their first NHL goals to. I'll ask you again. Which list? The players or the goalies gave up their first NHL goals to. I'll ask you again. Which list?

The players or the goalies? You're so close, bud. I'm surprised you got there. You're so close. I'm right around it. I can tell. You're right there. Like land the plane for each.

Land the plane. Roger Rhodes, Norton, Mason, Ward. Oh, you're so close. I feel like Happy Gilmore talking the ball in. Don't you want to go home? Don't you like your home? Don't you like your home? Are you too good for your home?

Damien Rhodes, Marty Berdour, Mika Norton, Chris Mason, Cam Ward have all done what? They've all scored goals. So? Did they get assists on these goals? Nope. They must have been all on the ice when they scored. Keep going, keep going. Were they the guys who, on other teams,

who put the puck on their sticks or something like that? You're so close, just say it. People are screaming right now listening to this they gave away the puck that led to the goal they shot it in on the goalie bingo okay own goal players and those are the goalies credited with that's what i meant that they were the ones who put it on the goalie stick that's what i meant wow what's the name of the guy who said this okay so a little bio action here about Mike, at Skywalker0928.

Here's what he submits about himself. Longtime listener. Been watching, listening to you both since the iDesk days in Hockey Night in Canada radio. Bless you, Mike. Saw the last home opener on the Montreal Forum when I won tickets to the game from a baseball ticket fundraiser. Nice.

My dad and I are both diehard Habs fans, so having a father-son trip to that game was amazing. Even though they lost 7-3 to Philly, I believe it was an amazing experience. My name is Mike Lukman from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Good people there. Originally now calling Fort McMurray home since 2008. Mike, thanks so much for submitting another

Yellow Lace edition of Word Association. since 2008. Mike, thanks so much for submitting another yellow lace edition of Word Association. Skywalker, did you go back and look and watch all these videos to get it? I found where there's the list. I did a little search online, so I wanted to find out. You did, eh?

Because I wanted to find out who the goaltenders were, because he gave me the list of the players and then what they're responsible for. So I went back and I wanted to find who the goaltenders were. And I kind of felt like you might need a clue, so I better have something standing by.

So I went and I found all the goaltenders. So it's Odeline Rhodes, Lankau Berdour, Stahl Berdour. Boy, you kiddin'? I don't know, shuffleboard is a game I didn't master, but Jordan Stahl must have won that shot. Rykel Norinan, Jeff Sanderson, Chris Mason. You know, it might be Mason's goal. You know that?

Ilya Kovachuk, Cam Moore. Adam Henrique is off the mark and unbelievably into the devil's goal. And we can't give you the goal score, Steve. It was whichever Kane touched it last. Unbelievable. I got to tell you, without that hint, there was no chance I was getting that. No chance.

Tough one. Good one. You want a yellow lace? Yeah, you know, like I said, I'll say this a thousand times. Everybody who submits these, I am hugely, and I think we are, hugely appreciative. Yep, that was a lot of fun. Okay, we're all warmed up now. Coming in to start the game.

Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning and congratulations to the 2008 draft where draft pick number one, three, and five all won the Stanley Cup on the same day. Stamkos, Bogosian, and Shen. With that, we'll kick off 31 Thoughts to Podcast. A little feed is going to bounce to Sagan left circle. He shoots wide right. 23 seconds left. Rebound Ben.

Right corner. Right point Klingberg. Left circle Pavelski. Holds. Shoots. Save made. Rebound is loose. Sagan shoots.

Wide left. 15 seconds left. Rebound Radulov by the net. Right circle Haskin. Right point Klingberg. Shoots. Blocked. It's out of the zone.

It's in the neutral zone. 8 seconds left. Buckley could roll after it. Shoots wide right of the open zone. Eight seconds left. Buckley's going to go after it. Shoots wide right of the open net. Time ticks down. The Lightning win the Stanley Cup. They have reached the top of the mountain.

They are the Stanley Cup champs. The very, as always, understated Dave Mishkin with the call there. Congratulations, Tampa Bay Lightning. You are the winners of the Stanley cup and the most interesting Stanley cup perhaps ever handed out Elliot. Listen,

you were there to document it every single night on television, on radio, on, on this podcast. What did we just see? What just happened in your estimation? Jeff, the number one thing I think of when i think of the lightning

this year is last year's nhl awards first of all typically understated call by dave michigan yes and i'm happy for anybody who gets to call a stanley cup that's an honor and fantastic for him but i think back to the nhl awards last year and you'll remember we had steve mayer the same week we interviewed him at the draft it was a special podcast we did the nhl entertainment's guru and we talked about how keenan thompson who we both agreed did an excellent job roasted the lightning and how it sent a really different tone and how he had to kind of warn the lightning in advance that it was coming but they decided they were going to go through with it. And Vasilevsky, who won the Vezda, and Kucherov, who won the Hart,

and John Cooper, who was up there for the Jack Adams, they had to sit in the crowd and listen to this. And they had to sit stone-faced and just eat it. Yep. And they came back and they won the next year the number one thing it makes me think of that if you have a team that is really talented and you have those guys signed for term which tampa does you have to bet on it it's the same thing that washington did st louis was a bit of an outlier because they didn't have the long-term success that those

two teams did but you know doug arm Armstrong was considering blowing up that team and he decided to bet on it and when you have talent you have to bet on it you have to keep them together you have to encourage them to get better you have to demand them to get better and edgier you have to support them with the right people. That's the lesson to me of the last three Stanley Cups. And Tampa too, everybody called them soft. Look at the teams they just beat. Columbus, tough team.

Boston, they're not the 1970s Bruins. I mean, who is? It's a hard team to play against. That's a hard team, man. Not easy to play against. And the Islanders, really tough team. Dallas, really tough team. They beat four really tough teams to win the Stanley Cup. And maybe they didn't have to travel, but that was not, well, they traveled once, but that was not an easy road. And the other thing too is they didn't win it getting pushed

around they gave as good as they got they set the tone physically a lot of the time that Coleman Goodrow Gord line was incredible Hedman you know sets a physical tone it's a reminder to me that if I ever ran a team you have to bet on talent, you have to challenge them to get better, and you have to find the right pieces around them. That's what I think of. I want to get your thoughts on the Dallas Stars here in a second, but the sort of theme of today's podcast is going to be what's next for all 31 teams in the NHL.

We're going to fly through the entire 31 of them. Before we get to Dallas, what is next for tampa because much like chicago previously starting with their cup win in 2010 this is a snake that's going to have to shed some skin like they're going to have to get rid of some players to make way for new contracts what's next i believe that julian brisbaugh started to do that sort of planning before the return to play began you know there's a bunch of guys there that have no trade and no move clauses Killorn's got the partial you know Palat's got a full Gord's got a full Johnson's got a full obviously Stamkos, Hedman, Kucherov kicks in. I think that one of the things he started to do is see some of these guys and say, would anyone be willing to move?

And I've heard that the early answer a lot was no. You know, a lot of these guys took below market deals at the time. They did it because they liked it in Tampa. And, you know, because of the tax situation, it was preferable to stay in Tampa. It's an advantage that they use. And I get it. Players will say, we agreed to a deal and we don't want to be moved, especially if it's to a place I'm not going to enjoy as much

and it's going to hurt me financially with the tax situation. So you have to massage it. You have to look around it. I do think teams are going to ask them about sergachev you know they're loaded on the left side of their d they've got headman mcdonough and him there i mean he still does play 20 minutes a night a lot of power play time not as much five on five i would suggest that teams might go and say hey does does he want a bigger role? Does he want to play more and see if in any way that is something that he would consider or Tampa Bay considers? I know there's the whole

offer sheet thing. We had this conversation last week. I don't know how eager teams are going to be to do offer sheets, especially with bonuses, but we'll see. Those are good players. And the other thing too is, do you have to do tough things with a championship team a team that just won together we just saw pittsburgh you know hornquist he knew that there was a chance he was going on waivers if he didn't take the trade to florida he might go there because of waivers so do you have to do something like that and say look guys we're gonna have no choice now the other thing too jeff people are convinced that breezeboy and eiserman are going to cook up something where they trade someone to detroit with a sweetener one of the rfas detroit signs

them and then they trade them back a few months later at a reduced rate with Detroit keeping some of the salary now I have no idea that's going to happen but the QAnons of the NHL are already worried about this kind of thing all right so we'll leave Tampa there so that's again more like this throughout the podcast for all the 31 NHL teams let's go to Dallas you made the point early this summer that this would be the worst Stanley Cup to lose. But you have to give it to Dallas for getting there. I think a large portion of the NHL universe, even though they might not have been cheering for the Dallas Stars, were certainly cheering for Rick Bonas.

Do you have a thought or two on the Stars? Bonas, first of all, do they work out a deal where he keeps the job it sounds like they want him and i think he's interested we talked about it jeff and he kind of confirmed it you know is there any personal lifestyle reason why he wouldn't want to do it would there ever be any contract issue that he wouldn't want to do it i think it's definitely trending in the direction of he'll be back as coach and i'm happy for him because he wanted one more shot and he got it and he did a great job with it but while things definitely appear they're going to be back it's not done until it's done. Jamie Benn, his post after they lost. First of all,

I remember when the return to play happened, someone said to me, this is going to be the worst Stanley Cup final ever to lose. What's this feeling like for you guys right now? And Jamie Benn wore that. It sucks. I go through a lot with that group.

Matt DeFrank, Dallas Morning News. Jamie, I know it's probably tough right now, when you are you able to even kind of think about the run that you guys had or or is this just too much for you right now at this moment it's exactly how you would think that a person that really cares would react after they lost. I also wondered, too, if it was kind of the look of a player who was thinking, we had such a great run here, and who knows if we're going to be together again. That was a good run.

It's tough. You're two games away from the Stanley Cup. It'll be interesting in Dallas. You know, you take a look at it. Kudobin had the greatest run of his career. I think he's priced himself out of there. But is there any chance that they would trade ben bishop and keep kudobin bishop's contract is now basically three times three and a half it was front loaded so my guess is no but i'm sure these are things that

they're going to consider they were disappointed in the performance of some of their highest paid players. I know Sagan was injured. Ben was a physical presence. Radulov went in and out. You know, they've got to sign Haskinen next year. They've got to sign Oleksiak next year, who's a really improved player. They've got, among their RFAs this year,

are Gurionov, Hintz, and foxa fox has got our brights it's a challenging financial puzzle and their owners in the hospitality business which has just been hammered uh right now by everything that's going on with covid but i'll tell you this with that defense they're going to be good for a long time a long time does cory perry come back i gotta think that they're gonna try to bring him back i mean the interesting thing about perry scored five goals in the regular season had five in the playoffs and he was a presence every night joe pavelski had 14 in the regular season he had 13 in the playoffs and was a presence every night yeah joe pavelski had 14 in the regular season he had 13 in the playoffs and was a presence every night it's short in season two for perry you gotta think i would i mean if

you think you've got a chance to win you want that guy elliot before we address the other 29 teams let's touch on prorated salaries you discussed discussed this in the 31 Thoughts blog this week. I didn't think this would be a gentle one for you, and I guess it's not. Well, I got some pushback on it, and it just shows you how complicated this issue is. And obviously, because it's pay, which is a big deal to everybody,

it's a passionate issue. First of all, I think the league wants to start on january 1st god only knows if it's going to happen i don't think there'll be a winter classic it's a waste of a good event if you can't have full fans yep don't waste it move it back a year to whenever we can do it but you know january 1st is kind of like the nhl's day and i like it it's oh 2020 is over that year sucked let's drop the puck and let's have a great new year i get the symbolism for society the players believe that they've taken all the cuts they're going to take they agreed to a 10 hold back and 20 escrow which if you do the math properly is they collect

72 of their salaries gross they believe if they, and this has been communicated to all the agents and the players, if they play just one game next year, they get everything, all the rest of their gross salary. Now, the league negotiated that on behalf of the teams, but there are teams who believe there's no way that can be true. If they play a prorated, which everybody thinks is going to happen, even if the league hasn't said it yet, then the salaries have to be prorated too.

The Players Association believes it's black and white, simple, written in the Memorandum of Understanding. That's it. There are some teams, and the league, I should say, has not said anything about this. There are some teams who believe differently, and they interpret it differently because of the way section 17c of the player contract the standard player contract is written they believe that they interpret it as well that means what what happens if one team plays 82 games, one team can only play 71, one team can only play 55, whatever?

I don't know the right answer here. But I just wanted to state that the Players Association believes one game, they get everything that's owed to them. And I'm not saying they're wrong. I just don't know how this is all going to work out. Safe to say, then, this is all going to work out safe to say then this is either headed to more negotiation or arbitration i mean this is an enormous issue from that point of view then if both sides will dig in their heels on it to me that says if i'm the nhl i'm saying 82 games are bust if they're getting all their money well that, that's, I think, what the NHL would want.

But we also know the league isn't crazy about summer hockey. And there's also the issue of the Olympics next year, which their rights holder in the States, NBC, airs the Olympics. And we use CBC to air Hockey Night in Canada, which airs the Olympics. So I don't know what the answers are all there. I just know that this is a really complicated situation, and I'm not smart enough right now to know the Olympics. So I don't know what the answers are all there. I just know that this is a really complicated situation

and I'm not smart enough right now to know the answers. With that, we'll go through the teams. We'll go Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central Pacific. So we'll kick off the Atlantic alphabetically and start with the Boston Bruins. Tory Krug, of course, front and center there. Yeah, so I heard the last offer to Krug was like six times 6.6. I think Boston is sniffing around Ekman Larson.

I think they're in there, and I think he's interested in going there. Boston, to me, is a team that's trying to figure out kind of where are we going here? Are we reloading or are we kind of starting over a bit? DeBrus name has that could determine a lot of what their future is because it sounds like they're not going to sign krug maybe they come back one more time and take another shot but if they acquire oel i can't see how they can keep krug it sounds to me like that's kind of the move they're weighing right now and seeing all right this could determine what direction we go buffalo sabers everyone kind of threw cold

water on the eichel thing they've paid him a 7.5 million dollar bonus there's no sense in trading him it's a story to watch in a year though if this season doesn't go well for buffalo then believe me this is going to be everywhere i like the stall trade for them i think it's the kind of move eichel would like to uh gives him a center that can really help you know i'm curious about some of the other decisions that they're going to make they've got some flexibility but also a lot of contracts they've got to clear up. They've got some extra D.

I don't think they're done, but I just think right now the number one thing that they had to sort out was getting Eichel some help to give him some reason to believe, and I think the St stall situation accomplished that you know we talked about montour earlier about his arb and everything like that i don't think he's getting non-qualified or anything like that but i think they are scared a little bit by his arb number so i think they're going to try to see if they can avoid that in terms of either making a deal with them or seeing what else is out there and i do think the sabers are looking at trying to see if they can add a goalie i think

they'd like to strengthen themselves in that position i was gonna i was gonna get you there next like i would think that if i'm kevin adams right now and it's a as we've talked about countless times it's a huge goalie market they have to be trying to fish one out here i think they are. Maybe the most interesting team right now is Steve Eisenman seems all too willing to weaponize cap space, the Detroit Red Wings. The stall move, I think, is really interesting. I thought it was a smart move by them. One of the guys I heard they were interested to was Andy Green.

And that would make a lot of sense. Andy Green's a really good veteran with a great attitude and I could see Detroit having some interest in him I think they've got some interest in Markstrom too like they've let Jimmy Howard know that he won't be back I think they see you're the big draft guy right what are you thinking for Detroit at four are they moving down? Are they taking Cole Perfetti? What are they doing?

I keep going back on either Cole Perfetti at four for some of those associations we've talked to Sam Cosentino about countless times, or even Jamie Drysdale as well. If you're looking at building this thing out from the back end, then I've heard Jamie Drysdale's name mentioned there. But the one thing about Steve Eiserman, and this, listen, this started when he was with Tampa. He's not telling anybody?

Well, A, he's not going to tell anybody. And don't be surprised if once again, and last year was more at Sider, his first draft of the Tampa Bay Lightning was Brett Connolly, who had only played a few games with PG at that point. Steve Eiserman's his own man. Steve Eiserman just shuts out noise

and makes his own decision, whether it adheres to other people's his own man. Steve Eisenman just shuts out noise and makes his own decision, whether it adheres to other people's logic or not. Do you think they're in on the goalie at all? Man, I've heard so many crazy things about Askarov and how high he may end up going. I mean, he's the most highest rated goalie prospect since Carey Price. I don't know that they're in sam would probably be able to give you a better indication there but i've stopped saying ask

her off can't go high because i've just heard too many teams say yeah we've been talking about the goaltender because i wrote a bunch of teams i thought were on the goalie and i had a couple guys reach out to me and say they think detroit's in on it too because they don't have a lot of goaltender depth no and that's why i think they might be in on markstrom and we'll see like does the tampa detroit connection actually happen that would be a heck of a story florida panthers dolzito's not sleeping he's getting things done there's been a number of reports that minnesota and san jose are talking about a dubnik donato deal and it may happen i've heard florida's in on donato paul fenton who's now the agm acquired him in minnesota i think florida's there too i've had some guys tell me too they wouldn't be surprised if um

bill zito tries to bring ryan murray in from columbus they just traded matheson right yeah i've heard they're also interested in Mark Borowiecki like they're a team that is in on that too we've mentioned that before I think they're just trying to change their identity I think anyone not named Barkov they'll listen on and Zito told me for 31 thoughts the blog a couple weeks ago he'll listen on anything he may just not do a ton I do think Florida's got a lot of balls in the air a lot i heard they recently talked to dad nav about a return i don't know if it's going to happen i expect that hoffman will test the market quenville to seattle interesting spitballing in the blog look it's

just you know sometimes i kind of overthink things, but I just wonder. He's got the tight association with Ron Francis, right? Francis has told us and other people he wants an experienced coach. I'm just thinking if there's any chance in a year they don't think this is working and Quenville's got a big ticket, it's disgust. It's just something that popped into my head just because you know joel quenville went under one regime and i'm not saying that there's a problem or they don't like each other but you just never know how things work right and you know maybe in a year i don't know

it's just my mind working overtime montreal canadians so i'm going to give credit to the radio guy in Montreal Tony Marinaro who's pretty funny guy he did a really good interview with Mark Bergevin the other day where Bergevin you know basically said I'm willing to trade first rounders and prospects right now I just need a

partner Mark Bergevin to me is a guy who says I got to make the playoffs next year that's the Berzeman to me is a guy who says, I got to make the playoffs next year. That's the way it looks to me. He was telling everybody he went, he wanted a left-hand D. He wanted to get that done and he got it done right away. He went out and he got Edmondson and he signed him. I know he said that he's not in on line A. To me that says, why wouldn't he be on line A line that says that he probably doesn't think he can make the deal for line a i look at montreal and i don't see the match i don't see the match

that you know if you're winnipeg you're asking for nick suzuki and if you're montreal you're not doing that right oh yeah and do they have a right hand shot defenseman that Winnipeg would say okay that's our guy I just I think he's going to try to add something on the wings I wonder if he would try a short-term thing with Taylor Hall or something like that you know like to me like all the wings who can score that are kind of available those are the kinds of guys I could see Bergevin on but he's to me he's acting like a guy that knows he has to make the playoffs next year. He had one target, he filled it.

And now I think he's going to look for scoring on the wing. Ottawa senators. There'll be big players come Tuesday. It'll be interesting. You know, what do they do with that second pick? You know, I think the first one's pretty clear.

They're going for Stutzler by field, whichever one doesn't go right in front of them. But the second one, we'll see where it goes. The other thing I kind of hear there is that they're starting to try to do their business. They're looking at, okay, I don't think they've gotten around to Brady Kachuk yet, but they've made it very clear he's a guy they want to sign. And they did extend Shabbat early, so I'm sure they're going to get to Kachok at some point. I think they're trying to sign Connor Brown.

I would guess they're trying to sign Chris Tierney. I think they want to avoid arbitration with all these guys, right? So the first thing is I think they want to see if they can kind of get these guys done. Same with Duclair. right so the first thing is i think they want to see if they can kind of get these guys done same with duclair i would bet they want to get all these guys signed so that they don't have to worry about arbitration i'm curious to see what they're going to do in goal if they're going to bring someone in you know one of the things they did that was really interesting was they got a bunch of prospects that went and going to play overseas the goaltender augustuson is i think brandstrom is and one of the things that ottawa did was

you can take out like a temporary disability insurance plan and normally the player is the beneficiary of it ottawa asked that the team be the beneficiary so let's say if a player gets hurt and can't play this season whenever it starts the team is the beneficiary so let's say if a player gets hurt and can't play this season whenever it starts the team is the one that collects the insurance and that's kind of unprecedented like i asked a bunch of agents if this was ever happened before and guys were like no like that's really weird and ottawa was unapologetic about it they just said look like we are protecting our asset and it was it didn't go over very well but Ottawa's position was kind of like we have to protect ourself and this is what we're going to do

and you know they said it was smart business sense for them and so I think that's exactly what these players are going to do so I think it shows that the senators are not going to be afraid to negotiate and grind and i think that's kind of what's going to happen in some of these contract talks i i would guess they're going to do whatever they can to make sure that they can try to sign brady kachuk for as long as possible but they're one of the teams that's told people you know the world has kind of changed a bit so we've got to reflect that in our conversations we're right they did shabbat they did colin white it seems as if the mo is identify and lock in long term for ottawa um the other ontario team always a headline around

toronto what about the maple leafs are they looking at two or three of the defensemen that can play right side. All the talk is about Petrangelo, right? Of course. Number one, I still think Petrangelo's choice is to go back to St. Louis. I don't know if it's going to happen. They'll try again, but I don't know. My guess is, this is my personal opinion,

his next choice is Vegas. That's my personal opinion. And I could be wrong. It's just my opinion. I think Toronto will look in on that. I just don't know if it's going to be possible. So let's just say it's not possible. Then I think what they're going to do is they're going to go up and down this list of right-hand shot defensemen.

Dylan DeMello, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, TJ Brody's a guy they've liked in the past. I know he's a left shot, but he prefers to play the right side. He was in the Cadry deal, wasn't he? Yes, yes, he was. I mean, just take a look at the guys who play right side. Radko Gudis. We've talked about Gudis, you and I, before, right? Obviously, Dustin Bufflin isn't going to play.

I don't think the Leafs will be in on Tyson Berry you know Sammy Vatanen is that a guy that you know Toronto looks at we should mention Chris Tanev because if Tanev hits the market I absolutely think Toronto is going to look at that I think that's what the Maple Leafs are going to do i think they're going to look at two or three fixes on the right side probably two and see if they can say you know if it's not petrangelo two of those guys to play and i think they're also going to look for some edge up front and i think also they're going to see where everybody lands and then see, are there trade opportunities for us now? I could see them going after two of those right side defensemen instead of one big one, assuming that they don't go all in on

Petrangelo. You see them with their first round, their newly acquired first round pick and play come Tuesday? I think they will, but I think it's got to be a deal that makes us say, oh, okay, I get that. All right. That's the Atlantic considering we already covered off the Tampa Bay

lightning. Let's head now to the metropolitan division and start with the Carolina hurricanes. Hey, what's happening with a Svechnikov and a contract. So the hurricanes offered Svechnikov eight times, seven and a half. And,

um, you know, it's not a bad deal by any stretch of the imagination. Like to me, that's not, you know, the player is going to bet on himself and thinks he could do better. But to me, that's not like Carolina insulted him with an offer. That's them coming in hot and saying, we can do this right now. And, you know, I think the player chose to bet on himself.

So I'm hearing it's going to be a short-term bridge deal and they'll go from there. But I'll tell you this, like, I've heard that, you know, they love the player. I think the player really likes it there. The player just believes he should bet on himself and I got no problem with that. What else with Carolina?

You know, I think they're in on lining. I don't know if it's a deal that Winnipeg really wants to do. I think it's kind of like a neck hash and maybe a defenseman, but I don't know if it's at the higher level that Winnipeg wants. They're creative, the Hurricanes. You know, one of the questions is, are they going to get Dougie Hamilton signed? He's coming up on his unrestricted free agency.

He was on a lot of Norris ballots. And that's a team where a lot of guys have taken team-friendly deals. And we'll see. I mean, it's Dougie Hamilton's choice to make, right? But to me, I can't see Winnipeg going for Dougie Hamilton in a deal because he's only signed for one more year. That's not Winnipeg's MO,

but I think they're going to upgrade and goal if they can. They definitely had interest in Anderson. If the Leafs decide to do that, as you said, nobody thinks Askarov is getting beyond them in the draft. If he drops to them, no chance. You know, I think they're going to be a team to watch. I think they will look out there to try to add stuff. Columbus Blue Jackets.

Speaking of Patrick Laine, we talked about him last week and drew the line between Winnipeg and Columbus. What's the latest with Jarmo Kekulainen? I think they talked to Calgary about something, probably a goalie. And I heard that's not going anywhere. Aaron Portsline had a story the other day where Yarmul's trying to get his RFAs done, Dubois and Josh Anderson, so he knows what kind of cap room he's got. Anderson, it's interesting.

I've heard lots of varying terms there. I think the player wanted real long-term, and I'm not sure the team wanted to do that they're happy to sign him but i don't think they wanted to sign him for like max max max term so i think they're discussing some different ideas same thing with dubois like i think the tough thing for teams and players now is how many players are going to say i want a short-term deal so I can wait until we see if hockey comes out of this and the cap goes up a bit? Right.

So I think that's going to be a challenge for teams. But I definitely think he's in on line A. I could see the Jets asking for a Wierenski type and Columbus saying we're not doing that. I think Ryan Murray's out there. Like I said, I think Florida has some interest in him. I think they're a really interesting team to watch. I just don't know yet where the matches are.

That's all. What about the New Jersey Devils? Let's get to them next. And by the way, just as an aside, would there be a juicier place for Henrik Lundqvist to end up than the new jersey devils uh what's happening with uh with new jersey and tom fitzgerald they're going to be a team to watch i don't think they're moving that seven pick but they have got 18 and 20 and they're prepared to do

what they've let people know they're prepared to do a lot of things with that they're willing to go up they're willing to go down they're willing to trade it for players i think that they've told teams if it's for a player it's for a player a younger player like under 26 with term or team control that's what they want you know i can see new jersey taking uh being interested in someone like sergachev if he's available and like just on paper if you're tampa and you've traded first rounders in theory a surrogate chef for a first rounder deal at the minimum everybody else can fill in what they want is that enough is that not enough just in my brain that kind of a deal makes sense now both sides have to want to do it but New Jersey's looking for D Tampa's needs cap room and gets them a first rounder.

I don't know. That just might be in my head, but it's the kind of thing I think about because I do think teams are going to ask Tampa, Sergeyev playing behind Hedman and McDonough does he want to play more? But I think New Jersey's going to be very active. I think they've got a lot of balls in the air.

New York Islanders, big success this season, certainly for the Islanders. Where next? And does that answer begin with Matthew Barzal? Oh, wait, that's just Lou Lamorello calling to tell me everything he's up to. Okay, Matthew Barzal then. What's he up to with him? First of all, I think they think they're really good and close

and he's not going to tell me but i do think the islanders the way that lou lamorello thinks they're going to be involved in stuff this summer the biggest question is their cap you know barzell again same thing with barzell i've heard the issue is all going to be term. What is the term going to be on Barzell? Is he going to be long or short? And again, I think the only reason it's short is because a lot of these teams and these players are saying, let's see where we, let's maybe punt the ball a couple of years. They've got to sort out Pellick, you know, they've got to sort out Pulak. And these are all valuable players whose contracts they have to deal with.

Like, I'm really curious about all this. How are they going to navigate their cap situation? But I've seen Lou Lamorello around enough to know that when he thinks his team is good, he goes for it. And I think they like their team. So, like, if you told me that they were going to try to see if they could find ways to do a Torrey Krug or a Taylor Hall or Krug for their power play

or anything like that, or a Patrick Laine, like that's his MO. I don't know how easy it is or isn't to do. Like I said, they got a lot of cap issues. I just know by his history that i always think he's in the middle of these things when he thinks his team is good he's told me that before when you think your team is good you take your swings a team that right now has 23 million dollars worth of cap space although there are some pretty big contracts that are on the horizon for them,

not just right away. The New York Rangers. And let's pause quickly and say a couple of things about Henrik Lundqvist, who the team just bought out a couple of days ago. He leaves the New York Rangers holding all the records, holding the hearts of New York Rangers fans dear.

Your thoughts on Henrik Lundqvist? And I guess for each, this was probably the only way it was going to end. Well, I don't think he was willing to retire, at least not yet. They couldn't trade him, not at that cap hit, not at that number. And it just got to the point where there were no other options and you know the day will come where you know they put up his number and he goes to the hockey hall of fame and he will be honored and I thought the thing that was really interesting was I tried to ask some people in and around the Rangers you know what do you think Henrik does and their answer was it's up

to him to say and I thought that was a really nice classy way of dealing with it just let him do the talking and now what I think is going to happen is I think he's going to look around and he's going to see what the interest is and kind of go from there I've heard that if Vegas trades Flurry or doesn't keep Leonard, I wonder if they might have some interest in him. I'd heard that he'd had some interest in Arizona. I don't know if that would be the same because that team is going in a different direction now, but I'd heard from just a quality of life point of view,

he had some interest in Arizona. But again, things are different there now you know you let you mention new jersey i don't know it's like josh george's wouldn't go to the leafs right yeah you know i i just think he's gonna look at what his options are and and kind of decide from there so the day they bought him out i thought about the story of ed jacobin the last goaltender that there have been some goaltenders that Rangers fans certainly hold dear. Mike Richter comes to mind.

But Ed Jockaman held a special spot in Rangers fans' hearts. And, you know, you talked about this on the podcast a few weeks ago. You know, going back and looking at that Rangers team, like from the late 60s to the early 70s, I know they had the one Stanley Cup final against the Boston Bruins. That team should have won a cup. That team was that good, and you pointed that out a couple of weeks ago.

And Eddie Jockerman started to get injured, and the team started to fall apart. And in 1975, I mean, Eddie's like the most popular player on the team. They have to move on, and they put him on waivers, and the Detroit Red Wings claim him. I think it's like

the next night or a couple of nights after Detroit is at Madison Square Garden playing the Rangers and the whole crowd is chanting, Eddie, Eddie, you know, they're booing the New York Rangers on their home ice. Every time anyone took a shot on Jockaman, he was getting booed. Players were scared to shoot on the Red Wings for fear of getting booed. That's how beloved Ed Jockman was. And the interesting way that that relates to this story right now, they waived Ed Jockman to make room for this young hotshot goalie they were going to rebuild around. And it worked to some extent because he took the rangers to the stanley cup final in 1979 and that's now the president of the new york rangers john davidson tie that one all together all right uh the rest of the new york rangers what happens

well they've got a big cap situation for one year right yep you take a look at their buyout situation and for this one year the nhl salary cap is at 81 million dollars for the new york rangers it's under 70 because they've got lundquist buyout they've got shattenkirk's buyout they've got Lundquist buyout, they've got Shattenkirk's buyout, they've got Spooner's buyout, and they've got Girardi's buyout. Brad Richards doesn't count. His was compliance. So they've got about $13 million in buyout money there. And it just shows you, you know, they didn't think they were going to be good yet,

and they get Panarin, other guys improve and kaboom, things change. So the biggest questions are going to be, what are they thinking with Ryan Strom? One year away from unrestricted free agency, Arbright's. Anthony D'Angelo, Arbright's, big number because he had a really good year.

I think those are the two kind of questions. You heard the Eichel Ranger things. I think they checked in. I think they were one of the teams that checked in. I wouldn't be surprised at all is when Deneau's name was out there. They checked in on that too. You know, teams are always looking to get better at center. They're no different than anyone else.

Philadelphia Flyers. We continue through the Metro. See, the Flyers are fascinating to me because Chuck Fletcher has kind of said that he's going to be patient. He thinks this team needs to grow. They learned some valuable lessons, and he wants to see where they take it. And I think it's probably the right answer. It's because of who they've got and their young talent that you're going to hear them mentioned in a lot of trade rumors.

And I'm not convinced they're going to do anything, but I think because they have young defensemen, they have young forwards. People are going to approach them. For example, they could do a liney deal. They could do a Johnny Goudreau deal. Easy. Easy. Kevin Hayes is there, and him and Goudreau, that family, they're tight.

To me, Philly could make make any trade they almost any trade they wanted to make because they have what other teams want the biggest question is will they and fletcher seems to indicate that he's willing to be patient but i do think that other teams that have things they want to move are calling Philly to see if they're interested. Philip Myers is a restricted free agent, does not, I believe, have arbitration rights, but there's someone that, and we've talked about him countless times

here on the podcast, and you really saw this in the playoffs, there's someone that you can say, yeah, you can see him playing on the right side with Ivan Provorov as a first pairing defenseman. He's restricted this summer. Yeah, he does not him playing on the right side with Ivan Provorov as a first-pairing defenseman. He's restricted this summer. Yeah, he does not have Arbright's Myers. Okay.

You look at all those guys. Teams would want Sanheim. Teams would want Myers. I mean, Gostis Bear, I think they're at a point now where that probably could happen. But they've got guys people want. And Philly knows that. And they're like, if other people want want it why don't we just keep it all right from the philadelphia flyers we head to the pittsburgh

penguins where we know that jim rutherford does not sleep well thank god for jim rutherford right he makes all of our lives interesting yeah you know the tough thing i've heard with the goalies is that and they're trying to move one of them is that there's teams out there saying there's so many free agent goalies why would i give up something for a goalie so i think what could happen is you know toronto had kind of indicated to anderson that you're being asked about you we're not looking to pursue this but we're being asked about you. And if the right trade comes along, you know, we consider it. I think one of the things that Toronto kind of looks at is we're not dealing them unless we get something better, but we're going to check and see what

kind of happens after free agency is done. So I think Pittsburgh could be in that position. Jim Rutherford talked to Josh Yeo from the athletic and he kind of hinted, well, maybe they might try to move Johnson or play him on his offside. So, I mean, the one thing you know about the penguins is he's liable to do anything. So we'll see what he tries.

Like he's, he's unafraid. He's got the big brass ones. And I'm just fascinated to see it but the one tough thing i've heard is that the issue with the goalies is that teams who are trying to trade one they may have to wait until the free agency setup kind of finishes we talked to peter lafayette a couple of weeks ago here on the podcast let's get to the washington capitals they want to keep dylan they'd like to keep dylan i've heard that if it gets done it's

probably going to be somewhere in the three and a half to four million range if they can get it done they're trying to move money to me. That's probably someone like panic. I don't know what the market is for them, but I think they'd like to keep them if they can. I mean, the other thing now is, you know, who's going to be the goalie combo with Samson off next year.

It looks like Holtby is going to go to free agency and they're going to see. And I think the other big question they've got is, is what's Ovechkin's number going to be? What's his number going to be? And is he at a point in his career? And I don't, I don't know, he's 35 years old. Like at what point do you start to see Alex Ovechkin just going on evergreen deals like Chara or Matt Sundin before?

Just one year, one year, one year, one year. I don't see it. You know, I think him and Backstrom do want to tie each other in to each to each other I know that in business sometimes you've got to be ruthless but as long as Ovi doesn't go in there and ask for eight years at 11 billion dollars you know he deserves every penny he gets he saved that team yeah how much of the value of that team is tied up in everything he's done there totally like as far as i'm you know even if he asked for 11 billion dollars like to me that guy deserves every penny he's gonna get and maybe he might not live up to it because he might you know. But the fact is, first of all, who's betting against him?

And how much money are the Capitals going to make in the chase for Gretzky? Think of all the merch you're going to sell. Absolutely. And the attention it's going to create. As far as I'm concerned, whatever he gets, he earned it. All right. That's the East. We'll flip over to the Western Conference now.

We'll kick it off with the Central and the Chicago Blackhawks. Are they going to tear it down to rebuild? Are they going to add a couple of pieces and say, you know, we still have 19 and 88 here and what's happening with Chicago? Well, one of the things I think we were all kind of wondering about is they made some front office changes, John McDonough, like above Stan Bowman.

And we were kind of wondering what that would mean. And right now, as we do this, it doesn't look like anything. So I assume it's business as usual. You know, Kubelik, Dylan Strom, the goaltending decision is Crawford. I wonder about Colorado and Crawford. I know Joe Sackick has said they're not going to change their goaltending. I don't like to call Joe Sackick a liar. It seems kind of sacrilege and anti-Canadian,

but I've heard some rumblings about Colorado potentially being interested in him. Initially, the Crawford-Chicago talks didn't go as well as anyone hoped. They got some decisions to make here. I think Chicago's going to be a fascinating team because, you know, do you keep them for one more year before he's a UFA, or do you sort of move them and see what you can get for them? If Crawford's not back, are they going with Subban and Colendilia? Or are they looking elsewhere?

They've got some really fascinating, tough decisions to make. And I don't have a huge read on where they're going yet. But I heard there was some interest in crawford and i think that's kind of the first decision they have to make and then a lot of other decisions will probably come from there ever thought on brent seabrook and his future there and if he comes back that's 6.8 million well the one thing i heard about seabrook was is he was looking at it like he finally gets a chance to heal and if you know anything about brent seabrook you know he will refuse to give up he just won't it's and that's why i have a ton of respect for the guy and it's a tough contract to move in this day and age and

probably the best solution for it as he comes back healthy and plays better you mentioned joe sackick a second ago. Avalanche are the next team here on the list. And I can't remember when it was, but on one of the podcasts that we did this summer, you said, watch Colorado. Yeah. They're pushing it all in.

I mean, look at their window as they're currently constructed. Gabriel Lannis-Gogg is up in a year. McKinnon's up in three years. And also, I just look at the way they handled Panarin last summer. They offered him four years at massive money. So they're creative. They think about things. I know they said they're coming back with the same goalies.

I don't know how they can. That's why I think there's some interest in what potentially could be out there. They've got to get Ryan Graves signed. I assume they will. They've got to get Burakovsky signed. These are our bright guys. Zdorov.

Zdorov, I think, is probably going to get moved. Hang on. How many years have we been saying that now? I know. It's like people saying the toronto housing bubble's gonna burst like they've been saying it for 10 years and one of these days they're gonna be right they're gonna say i'm right i told you um i wonder if jost gets moved that was a situation that was worth watching uh last winter they were thinking about it but i still believe that i think these are their all-in

years this year and next and I think they're going to operate accordingly we talked about the Dallas Stars in the open let's go to the Minnesota Wild then Bill Guerin's been anything but silent and no one thinks for a second that Minnesota Wilder are done making moves well you know obviously I I'm a big believer in Michael Russo I think he's really plugged into what Minnesota does and he's talked about this Dubnik and Donato deal the San Jose so it sounds like there's some legs to it I think like I said I think Florida's looking around at Donato too they're trying to sign Susie and they had made some progress I know when it began both sides were optimistic they would get done but I

think there's interest in him and that obviously can complicate things but i think they're going to try you know they got a lot of d they got a lot of d and he wants to change the mix and i think he's got a lot of balls in the air i really do nothing that these guys would do right now would surprise me. I heard Florida had some interest in Luke Cunnington too, but again, I'm not sure that Minnesota is going to do that. I think he kind of wants to keep his Ericsson X's, Greenways' Cunnington's and kind of let them grow a bit to see what he's got. To me, that's probably the prudent move.

Nashville Predators, a disappointing end to the season. I think Nashville could be sneaky. And when I say I think they could be one of the sneaky, busy teams out there, first of all, David Poyle has shown he's got no fear to make big moves. And secondly, I think he's got a lot of his guys, not so much the D I think those guys are his guys but I think the forwards he's got a lot of them kind of out there and that doesn't mean he's gonna trade any of them or be able to trade any of them but I think he just wants to know what the value of his forwards are there's been a lot of talk about the tourist buyout they've considered it i don't think they

want to do it but i think other than that he's kind of thrown a lot of his forwards out there and said what's my market on these guys and he's got only one no move clause well renee has got a modified no trade but he's got only one no move clause on his team and that's the norris trophy guy who we all know isn't going anywhere anyway yeah i wonder how many contingencies about salary retention if they want to move any of their big forwards because there's some there's some big tickets and as you know right now it's tough to move any big tickets but the one thing we've learned about him is he's not afraid so i think he's got a lot of his forwards out there just to say hey what's the market on these guys

uh st louis blues uh we talked so much about uh the future of alex petrangelo and and i guess in in some ways maybe the future of alex petrangelo with the St. Louis Blues ties right into what does or does not happen with someone like Vince Dunn, who's a restricted free agent. What's happening with St. Louis? Well, I think the Petrangelo thing obviously lords over everything. You know, what is he going to do? I think the Blues believe that Petrangelo wants to stay. What is he going to do? I think the Blues believe that Petrangelo wants to stay.

I think Petrangelo wants to stay, but obviously he's got his backup and he's not happy about all of this. There's a lot of tough negotiators here. People that you would want to send in on your behalf, like saying, I've got a tough deal to negotiate here. I need to send someone in there. Well, the guys who are repping Petrangelo and the guy who's negotiating for St. Louisis you would send those guys in there on your behalf and like i don't think they're going to bend on the bonuses at least not to what

he might necessarily want so obviously when it comes to free agency, this is the number one storyline in the NHL. Elsewhere, you know, I think they want to find a spot for Kairou. You know, obviously Tarasenko isn't going to play probably the start of next year. I think they want to find a spot for Kairou. I agree with you on Dunn. I think that's going to be an interesting one to watch and see kind of where that goes pending you know what happens around the rest of their roster I think they believe that their team is still good and next year you know could be the last kick at the can for some of their guys like

Steen, Bozak you know they've got a big UFA in a year jayden schwartz who they think is a big part of their team petran's little decision obviously oversees it all and then they kind of go from there once they figure out where that gets done or doesn't get done from the st louis blues we'll head now to the winnipeg jets and we've talked plenty about patrick liney and where he may land is there a chance that he just stays in winnipeg though? Every couple of days we're talking about line. He's going here and he's going there at the end of it. Can you just see him remaining a Winnipeg jet? I can,

but I don't think it's what anybody kind of wants. Like one of the things that I asked was, did line a ask for a trade? And I didn't get any yes or no answers, but what I got was it's ambiguous it's kind of like he's not 100 happy and they're not 100 happy and they know they've got one more year until there's a big negotiation he's at 675 now and we better sort this before that negotiation is staring at us in the face.

So I think there's a better than decent chance it happens because I think everybody realizes here that maybe it's, this is the right answer and you don't want it to fester or, you know, you to run out of any kind of leverage or all of a sudden now we really have to deal them. I think there's a, like I said, a better than decent

chance it happens you know brian little he's probably not going to play again unfortunately and you wish for his health and he does what's best for his health they need a center we all know about their issues on the the right side of their d although you know pionk that's a real credit to their scouting staff how well pionk played for them you know they Pionk, that's a real credit to their scouting staff, how well Pionk played for them. You know, they got a lot of holes on D. They've only got one defenseman, Morrissey, signed after next year. So they got a lot of prospects, but, you know, they don't really have anyone signed long term. So I think it's a situation there where they're looking at it and they're saying this could solve some

problems for us but you know i think they're swinging for the fences they're aiming high they don't want to give them away and i think they kind of look at it that way dylan de mello uh was a nice fit coming over at deadline as he stay he's unrestricted well i just think there's going to be a lot of interest in him right because he's a good player who's not going to cost you a ton. And this is DeMello's best chance after a lot of years trying to find a spot of really knowing he's going to find a spot. So that's the challenge. All right, that's the Central.

When we return, we go over the Pacific as we're running down all 31 teams and what's next on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. as we're running down all 31 teams and what's next on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. I can't understand And it brought me to your door I'm made of flesh and blood The same as you I want to fall in love With someone who Won't be like all the others Who have passed me by We'll be your electric fantasy. I'll be your electric fantasy.

Coming to another world with me. I'll be your electric fantasy. Before the break, you heard Electric Fantasy by Logan Ledger off his self-titled album. And Elliot, with that, let's get to the team that you say, hey, is open for business come draft day, the Anaheim Ducks. You know, I've heard Anaheim's got a group of around, it's in the early tens, I think. That's their ledge where the draft drops a little bit. So I think they're ready to move down a couple of spots if the offer makes sense to them.

And they're really good at finding and drafting players so i generally put a lot of faith in what they do if they think that's the case then i tend to believe uh that's the case i think anaheim looks at a lot of guys improving internally like raquel had a rough year last year he's signed to a good contract they're gonna believe in him continuing to improve I think they look at their defense I think they like their defense a lot they like their goalie a lot Gibson I don't expect them to do a ton I don't think of course now they'll surprise me and pull some big deal but you know,

it's interesting. Andy Strickland reported that they expect David Backus to play. Yes. And there's another guy you wish all the best for his health. So I look at it like they're going to try to improve mostly from within. And I haven't heard of anything yet of them necessarily taking any big swings. Of course I could be totally wrong. And it happens. They've done a wonderful job drafting and developing and players like maxim contois

isaac lundestrom who i like a real lot we've talked plenty about sam steel max jones you've mentioned troy terry a few different times josh mahera like this is an anaheim ducks team that's loaded uh with kids they've picked off in the draft and have helped develop in San Diego at the AHL. They've done a real good job. Elliot, I guess the big story around Arizona is Oliver Ekman Larson. And it sounds more and more, correct me if I'm wrong, like a matter of where he lands more so than are the Arizona coyotes going to move him how accurate is that I think that one of the things that's going on is that Ekman Larson would like some finality to this situation I don't think there's any doubt that he would like to know if he's

going to move that it could happen pretty quick and i think the coyotes look at it too like if they're going to be able to do it they would like to see if they can add some picks for this particular draft so i think this has added to the overall stress if that's the right word of this situation you know as we reported on th, Ekman Larson had listed two teams that he was willing to go to. One was Boston and the other was Vancouver. And this can always change. More teams can be added to it. But at this point in time, that's all he's willing to do. The problem of this for Arizona is that neither one of those teams has a first rounder this year boston's went in the cost of trade with anaheim vancouver's went in the jt

miller trade with tampa bay and which is now belongs to new jersey so they don't really have a situation either one of these two teams where arizona can add It's also a complicated deal, especially with Vancouver because of the Canucks cap situation. Boston really clears up in a year. Vancouver, they have some that will come off their books, but they've got some big extensions coming in Patterson and Hughes. But I do think both of these teams have tried. I think boston tried and you've been on the boston train for a while jeff this can change in any second but i've gotten the sense they kind of backed off i think vancouver came in late and because i don't think they really realized until later they were one of the teams he was considering. And I think there's real interest there. I just don't know if they can do it.

I got to think that Erickson would be part of the deal because his cash is below cap, and that would appeal to Arizona. But Vancouver doesn't have a first or second rounder this year. So what picks would they have to give up and what prospects? But I do think Vancouver, from a pure hockey point of view is interested in the deal the question is if they can do it the the boston thing just goes back to before he signed this most recent contract and if he was going to go to market it was widely believed that boston had a whopper of an offer ready, but they never got there.

What about the Oilers in all of this? We keep hearing the Oilers name married to Oliver Ekman, Larson Frege. You know, there was a lot of talk that it was going to be a player, the 14th overall pick and Bouchard. I don't think Edmonton was going to do that. I really don't think it was going to. Could it be one or the other

when it comes to the prospect and the pick? Maybe, but I don't think they were going to do that i really don't think it was going to could it be one or the other when it comes to the prospect and the pick maybe but i don't think they were going to do prospect and 14th overall pick i i think edmonton was interested at this point in time he's not willing to wave but i don't think they were going to do all that i heard that's not what the others were willing to consider too much brad for livingving and the Calgary Flames. What are the decisions here? What's next? There's some GMs in this league that kind of make the league go when it comes to trades and stuff.

And Treleving is one of those guys. He's kind of one of those guys who's in the middle of everything. And I think he's got a lot going on. I mean, we're all wondering about Goudreau and Treleving has made it clear he's not making a trade just to make a trade. If he's going to do that deal, then it's going to make sense to all of us when we see what it is. I think he's really looking at his defense. Hamadik's a free agent.

Brody's a free agent. I checked a couple times, and I heard as we record this, I heard there was still a chance that Brody comes back. Although I did, I wouldn't want to put it on a percentage, but I think it's safe to say that Hammonick's going elsewhere. I've heard some rumblings about Hannafin and I've heard he's in on just about every goalie who's out there.

Can we pause on Hannafin there for a sec? Sure. That's a name that's been out there for a while. This isn't recent. It goes back to the Jersey deal when they were talking about Taylor Hall. Right. Because I think that deal when they were talking about it was Taylor Hall and Vatanen for Bennett and Hannafin now I

don't think Bennett's going anywhere now I think he's starting to cement himself as you know a real big part of what Calgary does and he's signed for another year at a good number and he's a center who can also play the wing but I do think he's got his hands in a lot of things. Goal tending, defense, the hall thing. I don't know what to say about that. He's been linked to them before. I think Calgary's in the middle of a lot of stuff. Edmonton Oilers.

There's another team that's kind of in the middle of a lot of stuff. Start with Cleft Bomb because that's kind of big news. I haven't been told it's the shoulder i assume it's the shoulder i think it is but nobody will exactly confirm it when oscar cleft bomb came back to the return to play this year some of the people around the organization including players said he just didn't seem like himself like cleft bomb is like he's a pretty popular teammate i know the media loves dealing with him the enthusiasm that he normally has for the game just wasn't there and they were all kind of wondering like what's going on here and now i think we know the answer i don't think he was

healthy i don't think he was comfortable and it really affected his game. He wasn't himself. And so I think he's considering some surgery that could knock him out for a chunk, if not all of next season. So that's kind of what's going on here. He's got to make that decision and the Oilers are going to weigh what's going to happen around that. First of all, my limited dealings with Clefbom, I've really enjoyed dealing with them.

I wish them the best. But all of a sudden, they could have a big hole, and they're kind of figuring out what they're going to do with that. They've started talking about an extension with Ryan Nugent Hopkins. He wants to stay. I think they know that this is a guy who's really loyal to the Oilers. I think they want to get that done. What's happening with Jesse Pugliarvi?

I have heard this rumor that he's coming back and signing for a month now, and it hasn't happened. So that leads me to believe that he's coming back at some point. They're just trying to work it all out. And also, I think teams have talked about trading for him my biggest question is does he want to come back to edmonton and i think he would prefer a fresh start but edmonton doesn't like the value they're getting out there you know my biggest question is what's that not so much do the oilers want him back the other players want him back that's one

thing that's kind of never discussed here with the Oilers or never really discussed with a lot of teams. We've heard, you know, listen, players go to coaches, management. I don't want to play with this guy. I don't want this guy. It's never been talked about with Jesse Pogliarvi. So what are you saying, that they don't want him back? I don't know.

I just think as we all sort of reach for answers why it hasn't worked out and everybody kind of says the right things publicly, could this just be a case where some guys on the team have just flat out said, I don't want to play with this guy. And why would that be the case?

Well, he does have a certain reputation of being challenging to play with he's a difficult player to play with i don't know i just wonder why that hasn't been more of a source of conversation and i might be way off on it but those whispers have been out there for a while i mean maybe we'll find out you know the one thing i always say is don't give up on young people unless there's a real reason to give up. And I'm not in that room.

I don't know. But I always put myself in the shoes of what I was like at 19, 20, 25. I think it's such a mistake sometimes to give up on young people. But they know better than I do. From Edmonton, we go to the Los Angeles Kings. Second pick overall on Tuesday. So here's what I hear about LA. And this is mostly other teams talking about them.

The Los Angeles Kings can do anything they want to do. They have cap room. They have talented players, younger and older. They have centers, especially young ones. Remember Rob Blake telling us you can never have too many centers. That's the word I get on LA. They can do anything they want to do. They want to trade for Patrick Lane, Patrick Lane. i can't believe we just call him patrick lane i should be fired for that they want to trade for patrick linea they can do it they want to trade for johnny goudreau they can do it they want to trade for

anybody they can do it the question is do they think it's the right time for them and at times over the past year they have told teams it's not the right time for them. And at times over the past year, they have told teams, it's not the right time for us. But if they decide it's the right time or there's something out there they want, they can do whatever. San Jose Sharks.

Disappointing last season. Plenty of question marks. A team that looks this good on paper should not be this bad on the ice san jose well first of all we're all wondering what the laban contract oh yeah what's wrong with my pronunciation today like i'm pronouncing all these names wrong i'm tired we're all wondering what the lab bank contract is going to be. Right. Yeah. One of the things that, you know, obviously we've mentioned the Dubnik Donato thing. Does that happen?

They're definitely looking for a goalie. There's no question about that. They're looking for someone to back up Martin Jones and somebody who will give them minutes. Like one of the things I heard they might do is will they move some of the guys like down at the bottom of their roster? Like maybe like a Marcus Sorensen or something like that to clear some room to do some other things. Like that's one of the things I'm wondering that they're going to do because I heard they're looking for wingers, some scoring, and we're kind of going to go from there, I think.

Further to Kevin LeBanc, that's a North American pronunciation of the name. I remember John Bartlett asked him about it because he has a Slovakian background. And if you want to be technical, it's LaBance, Johnny was told. You sound like James Bond, the Sean Connery, James Bond circa 1965. We are curious about that deal. A couple more squads here. Vancouver Canucks fridge.

You know, like I said, I think they've had conversations about Oliver Ekman Larson. I don't know if they can make that fit, but I think they've tried at least to see what the talk would be i don't think they want to trade besser i i really don't i think they'd prefer to keep them and kind of see where that goes vertanen i think they'd like to try to keep them but they realize that may not happen but they've told teams they want to make a hockey deal.

Markstrom's their number one priority, but they know they're betting against, they're going up against a pretty hot market for him. I think they'd like to keep Tanev, but again, they're thinking that they might not be able to beat what the market is. I think Stetcher's going to end up going. It all depends on just what can they do with the bottom of their roster can they move anyone are they going to buy out anyone finish up with the vegas golden knights uh you've talked about alex petrangelo to them what other business

i.e goaltending does kelly mccrimmon have in front of him? Number one is what he's going to do in goal. And number two is what happens if Petrangelo is available? What do they have to do? I think Vegas has a lot going on and I think they're active in saying, what are our options if we have to do something here? You know, they've also got to sign Chandandler stevenson who has arbright's yeah and he played really well for them one of the things i think teams are kind of looking at is can they trade guys to teams like detroit and ottawa and then have those teams flip guys

elsewhere sort of using them as a landing pad to eat some salary now you have to sweeten it for those teams but like that's what i wonder if a team like vegas is considering that so they can move some of the salaries that they might need to move i think they've got a lot of balls in the air between the goaltending and the fit they want to add a right shot d they really only have white cloud who shoots right and that kind of got them a bit in the playoffs so I think whether it's Petrangelo or somebody else that's very much on their radar that's right

and listen I've talked a lot about Nick Hague big defense prospect coming in there's another left-hand shot on the horizon for for Vegas looking for the righties good points um i think we should probably call this edition of 31 thoughts empty the notebook anything else you think we should be uh apprised of this week frege you know i i think the other thing that someone said to me that i left out of my blog that i thought made a lot of sense

is that you have to look at all trades with the expansion draft in mind. Absolutely. Everything now is eyes to Seattle. Every move under the umbrella of Seattle is coming. That's a great point. Also, Elliot, we do need to give credit where there's excellence, and that was this year's year-end montage. It's always one of my favorite things. It's always bittersweet, right?

It's the end of the season, but the montage is always great. Ryan Smith produced it this year. Good job, Smitty. Jason McKinnon did the editing. Carson Illich handled the music licensing. That was the two Billie Eilish tracks that were featured. And if you want to check it out, the link is in our show description. You'll love it.

It's great. Well done, gentlemen. Take a bow. Okay, so that's a busy podcast with a lot of information. We hope you love it. It's great. Well done, gentlemen. Take a bow. Okay, so that's a busy podcast. With a lot of information, we hope you enjoyed it. Also want to let you know, Rogers Sports and Media has committed to giving $10 million over the next five years in free advertising and creative services for equity-seeking charities and BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, PWD, and female-owned local businesses. Visit allinforequity.ca to find out more. Taking us out today, Nashville-based Bay Area bread artist Logan Ledger

recently released his debut self-titled album produced by T-Bone Burnett and featuring an all-star band of players. He's currently hosting a weekly cover series across his YouTube and social channels every Thursday. Check it out. With Starlight, here's Logan Ledger on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. But it will just have to do Starlight will be the only light When I can tell my heart to you Oh, daylight Taylor when I

see you on the street again we'll talk a while I said we're

only friends and starlight will be the only light