32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Here's What We Know

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

Jeff and Elliotte kick off the podcast by remembering Paul Jerrard and his contribution to the game of hockey.They then chat about the latest from around the league including trade talk around Tyler Bertuzzi (4:30), what is Vegas looking to do (9:30) as well as the Blues (12:40), Pierre Dorion speaks to the media (15:00), the sale of the Senators (19:30), wonder if the Capitals will make some moves (25:00), an update on Thatcher Demko (27:40), the Oilers are open for business (28:25), Vladislav Gavrikov (31:10), questions to be answered in Chicago (32:45), the NHLPA names Marty Walsh executive director and the owner of Bally Sports skips a major payment (41:15).Jeff and Elliotte also remember former Buffalo Sabres PR director Paul Wieland who died Thursday at the age of 84 (44:45).Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Paul Jerrard and Paul Wieland.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailGET YOUR 32 THOUGHTS MERCH HEREThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: SportsnetThe 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.

Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by GMC and the new Sierra AT4X. Elliot, plenty to get to today, including the National Hockey League Players Association naming their new executive director. A couple of thoughts on a couple of teams in advance of trade deadline, but we should start today's program by offering up condolences to the friends and family of the late Paul Girard, who passed away at the age of 57. Many would know him from his time in Calgary, in Dallas, in Colorado. You've had a chance a couple of different times to speak to him, to be in his presence. I got a note from Paul's son-in-law, Dylan, saying his two daughters want everyone to know that he was the goat in their mind. And they say that jokingly because he would have totally played into the narrative at the house. And he was fun loving, fun loving at home, an amazing dad to both of his daughters. And he wants everyone to know that the support of the hockey world means the world to the family right now, Elliot.

the hockey world means the world to the family right now, Elliot. One of the things Canadian hockey fans might not be as certain of him or know him as well, even though he was with the Flames and they had a moment of silence for him on Thursday night, he spent a lot more time in the United States. Even though he was born in Winnipeg, he coached in the NCAA there for Omaha. He was with the Texas Stars and Utica. So I think American fans might be a bit more familiar with him. I interviewed him a couple of years ago and he talked about networking. And his quote to me was, you need that willingness to network to get to know people. i would never be afraid to go up and introduce myself start small talk with someone let them know i was around even if you just pop by

after a game i went out of my way to say hi to people and i said to him you know not everybody is comfortable with that when i was younger jeff i was a person who did not like doing that and he kind of laughed and said, yes, there were people who you could be terrified of going up to, but his mother and her name was Merlene always talked about being comfortable in your own skin. And I think that's such important advice and it's such a good legacy for him to leave. And I would tell people, like I said to you, Jeff, I was not a person who liked doing that.

I was not comfortable doing that. My father would always tell me when I was breaking out of the business, do you network? Do you network? And I'd be like, shut up, dad. Stop asking me if I network because I didn't like it, but it's so important. And I think that's such an important legacy

to leave. You have to be comfortable in your own skin or you won't go as far as you need to go. Hard worker, dedicated professional. The one thing that I think of with Paul Gerard, who's the son of an immigrant family in Winnipeg, he did it the hard way. A lot of people will say, and I think rightfully so, he did it the right way. You talk about networking building everything one relationship at a time climbing up each single rung of the ladder to your success and I think of of the saying that there's no elevator to success you take the stairs and in a lot of ways you know

Paul Girard took the stairs and along that process made a lot of people better, made a lot of people happy, and he will be dearly missed by the entire hockey community. Yes, he will. And if I could say one other thing about him, Jeff, is he was always spectacularly attired. I was at an event with him a year ago at NCAA coaches convention, And I looked like I just gotten out of the laundry hamper and he walked up and even though it was early in the morning, everything was pressed, everything fit perfectly. I had something I failed at over time.

It's the old line dress for the job you want, but not the one you have. He always looked perfect. As someone once told me, I don't own casual clothes because you never know. Condolences to the Girard family. Okay, Elliot, it's trade deadline time as we all know. And in that spirit, I would like to submit for your consideration one Tyler Bertuzzi of the Detroit Red Wings, who, by the way, looked really good Thursday night against the Calgary Flames. who, by the way, looked really good Thursday night against the Calgary Flames.

Setting up goals, scoring goals, looking healthy, looking like he's ready for a playoff run with somebody. Your thoughts here? You know, we'll talk about the Eastern Conference playoff race in a bit, but Detroit's making this interesting. You know, you were the one who brought up Bertuzzi on Saturday night on hockey night,

and I figured I'd better make a few calls so it doesn't look like I'm doing nothing and you're doing all the work. But the one thing I think that's pretty interesting is, you know, I've mentioned before that there was a little bit of uncertainty about Bertuzzi and the border and everything. Yeah.

I'm telling everyone, I have no desire to get in the middle of these arguments. I'm just stating the facts. So at this point in time, it's like the same reason Novak Djokovic couldn't play the U.S. Open last year. If you're not a U.S. citizen or a U.S. work visa or whatever the case is, if you're not vaccinated, you can't get into the States. Now that changes on May 11th. All of that stuff is

dropping. So Djokovic, for example, he's going to be able to play the US Open no problem this year, it looks like. The question is, what happens between now and then? There's two rounds of the playoffs. I was told today that the Canadian teams are feeling a little more confident that this is not going to be a problem. Do they know for sure 100%? No, they don't. But because things are moving in this direction, they are hopeful it won't be an issue. And I will say that some teams are a bit more convinced of that than others. So I'm not going to say a hundred percent, but it sure looks like it's moving in that direction. What that means is it opens the door for the likes of Edmonton, potentially Toronto to be in on this.

We'll see. I don't want to make any bold declarations but i had a couple of people tell me that there is a confidence it's going in that way so jeff who did you have on your list of teams that you mentioned on saturday uh tampa edmonton and the dallas stars i think minnesota is in there too makes sense he He seems like a resident of Garrentown, which is a guy, like they need somebody who can score and he's also kind of mean. He's skilled and he's nasty and he's not shy. That's the team that Bill Garren's building there.

That's a Bill Garren guy. You know, the only thing I look at this and I wonder is, and you said that the contract talks haven't gone very well there were and just to be so there were some discussions earlier on this season obviously they didn't go anywhere so the only thing i wonder about that is is there any chance that the red wings kind of change their minds or the red wings say you know what we haven't been in a playoff race in a long time and we need this. And I know some fans hate that kind of talk, but

when you've been out for a long time and you're trying to sell a magnificent new building, one of the true palatial estates of the recent NHL, that can be a consideration. But what I just wanted to say here is, Play talks, his play, and so was Larkin, by the way, he's got a point in every single game since the All-Star break. I guess he's like, I'm sick of everybody debating my contract, so I'm just going to light it up it up but play speaks bertuzzi's playing great he's on a tear he doesn't have a contract i think the interest is growing now we get the feeling that the canadian teams won't have a problem here the thing that i wonder about with

bertuzzi and detroit we talk about detroit maybe looking to re-sign him let's not forget too he spent a lot of years in Detroit not being in the playoffs. Tyler Bertuzzi hasn't seen the postseason since 2017. And when he was in the postseason in 2017 with Grand Rapids, he was the best player in the playoffs, period.

I wonder if Bertuzzi looks at this and says, I'm 27 years old. I need to be in the playoffs now. I can't wait any longer. Jeez, Detroit might get in. It would make things real interesting. I love it.

I want to see Detroit make a run. I want to see the Buffalo Sabres make a run. I'm just in camp skeptical. Would love it though, but I'm skeptical. I'm not that skeptical. I think this is wide open. Pittsburgh has good math after that some of the best math belongs to buffalo and detroit the vegas golden knights

what's the latest with kelly mccrimmon's team i wish i could tell you i wish i could unleash it out there but the reason i'm wondering about vegas is i think they have plans. You know, all of a sudden they're in a bit of a tough spot. They lost Mark Stone. I think it obviously in a perfect world, they would really prefer to have Mark Stone, but now they have some cap room. They have some flexibility. The one thing about Vegas this time is they've had times when they've been really quiet about their injuries and you can't

exactly figure out what on earth they're doing here, but they've been really quiet about their injuries and you can't exactly figure out what on earth they're doing here. But they've been pretty straight about this one. They've made it very clear that Mark Stone will not be back in the regular season. And Bruce Cassidy said that Logan Thompson will be. That is the plan. So you can kind of figure out where the math is here. And I think they are at least considering taking a big shot at something. Like one of the things I wonder is like, even before this happened, they were looking at a barbershop.

They were looking at a Chari. And now what I think they're doing is okay. Do we have a big move in us or, and do we have something else in us? Could we do two or three things. And I think they're looking at what's the best way that we could really maximize our opportunities here. Now, one of the guys I wonder about is Ryan O'Reilly. I'm not as certain now that O'Reilly is the guy they're thinking about because I don't necessarily think they need a center, but I'm looking at all the wingers that are out there and all the otherers that are out there and all the other people that are out there.

Like there is Meyer, there's Van Riemsdyk, there's Kane. I mentioned Barbashev. Ashari would be a depth center. What about Besser? Besser, the only thing I wonder about with Besser is he's got term. Yes.

Like everybody else I've mentioned, Van Riemsdyk, Meyer, Kane, Barbashev, those are all free agents. So with Stone coming back next year, we hope and we assume, and maybe deep in the playoffs, I'm not sure Besser with term makes any sense. Everybody asks me, who's your team to watch?

I pick Toronto because I'm in Canada and Toronto's the biggest team and they suck up the most air and I'll always pick Toronto. But I think Vegas is on that list too. I'm really fascinated to see what they're going to do. And I think they are looking and exploring bigger and smaller options. I remember, and Sharks fans will remember this, San Jose helped Vegas make a trade a couple years ago they were teamed and i remember that doug wilson press conference after like why'd you help vegas and he goes because we got like a pick out

of it yeah they go yeah who cares why did you help vegas like i wonder how what san jose would think about doing meyer there and what would those fans think listen i remember how hot vegas fans were when they brought pete de borin oh right i forgot yes he was the enemy right i remember a lot of people like whoa whoa whoa we've been conditioned to hate this guy that was the thing man you remember it that was a real thing okay you mentioned ryan o'reilly what about the st louis blues i mean i think we all wonder what doug arm Armstrong has up his sleeve next now that Vladimir Tarasenko is a proud and shiny member of the New York Rangers. You know, the Blues.

So someone actually said to me today, do you think there's any chance that the Blues don't sell off? They've already started. To me, no. Like, I don't see it. I think they're selling. But they knew Tarasenko wasn't coming back anyway. It's not like that was a situation that was going to be different.

Their math is still not really good. They're eight points out and they've only got a game in hand. So you're not thinking about making the playoffs this year. It really, even remembering 2019, it really doesn't make a lot of sense. So I still think they've got their guys out there I mean I think there's a lot of interest in Barbashev I think there's decent interest in Achari and obviously O'Reilly is O'Reilly you know the whole thing with O'Reilly is I just don't think they want to offer him term and unless O'Reilly is willing to take like a Bozak kind of deal three

times five or three times six or whatever, I don't know how that works. But the one thing I've kind of wondered is, I've wondered if teams are going to the Blues and say, could we take two of your guys? For example, Toronto, would Toronto go to them and say, could we get two of O'Reilly and Barbashev and Achari? And there's different philosophies to this.

I've kind of asked around this and it doesn't have to be Toronto, but I would wonder if other teams would do it. I'm just curious about, would that happen? Does it make sense to do that? Or do you think you get better results trading them each separately because we've already seen st louis package tarasenko and micola together right they both go to the rangers yep like a lot of teams like barbachev i think it's a long list i think a few teams like achari and it's a good list and obviously a few teams like o'reilly it's a good list. I really wonder if we're going to get that.

Somebody pitches them and says, we want two of them. We'll see. Another team that we're curious about, the general manager spoke on Thursday, is the Ottawa Senators. And Pierre Dorian comments about the next seven games. He maintains the next seven games leading up to that game on the second against the New York Rangers are going to dictate

which direction Ottawa goes in. Right now, probably everyone is wondering are we a buyer or are we a seller? For us, let's see where these next seven games take us. I think we have to pretty much decide. We have a plan in place if we're going to be a buyer, if we're going to be a seller.

We might be just standing pat also. We made a lot of moves in the summer to prepare to play meaningful games. I think we all sort of look at that a little bit skeptically. I know they've just beaten the Islanders in the flames, Elliot, because I can already hear it in your voice already. Yes. But the point that I made to you Thursday on radio is the same one. I don't know that Andrew Hammond's walking through that door,

and you're going to swing back at how the goaltenders have been good. And I know it's coming. But we could be a buyer at certain positions, a seller at certain positions. So there's a lot of, right now there's a lot of balls in play, which as a GM, this is the most fun time of the year for a GM. There's no doubt about that.

Your thoughts on what we heard from Pierre Dorian on Thursday. I have to say sometimes, Jeff, I don't know why some people get so worked up over things that people say. I see this whole debate about Dorian saying, you know, we're not out of it. You can't expect him to say any different. I mean, if he does, it's news and it's hilarious and we all love it, but you can't really expect him to say any different. And there's two things here. Number one, he's got young players

and he wants them to play hard until the end of the season. He doesn't want this team coasting for 25 games. He wants his young core playing hard and going right to the end of the season. So part of that is he's sending a message. The second thing is he's sending a message to the fans. They've got 29 games left i don't know how many of them are home you don't want like their fans saying ah the gm says we're out of it we're not going to the game like it's that's like he's just trying to keep everybody in a proper mindset the fans and the players like people get so upset when betman says oh we've got research saying everybody loves the digital board it's like what do you expect him to say yeah these suck but we're making

so much money on them you're stuck with them like he's just not going to do that. So I think people have to kind of take a step back from that. Look, I'm not surprised you're not trading Dabrinkat. On that point, I will say Alex Dabrinkat's not being traded. No chance. So we'll just see what it goes at the end of the year. And if we've signed a contract with him before then, we'll see what happens. But he's not getting traded. I don't like to speculate on Hamannik, but he's just been through a lot of stuff

where he's asked teams to respect that he doesn't like to be moved certain places. So I just stay away from that when it comes to moving Hamannik. I think he's going to try to move Talbot. I don't think they're signing him, but they need him to come back and play. There have been rumors about Uyghur, and I'll tell you, I've heard these rumors. I've looked into them. I don't think there's anything going on there now.

I think that the Flames have to get through the end of the season, see where they are. I think the Sanders new ownership, see where they are. If there's anything to that at the earliest, if, Jeff, that's a summer thing i don't see that playing out right now that was as you all know that was the rumor day one of the draft in montreal the day they made the alex to brink it deal like that was okay dorian's got his

winger and now he's going after the defenseman and we're all looking at the florida panthers for mackenzie Weger. That wasn't exactly a secret and it wasn't exactly whispered either. Like that was very much out there. I think the thing is it makes a lot of sense, right? Like Weger is like a guy from that area. It's, it's a home run in a lot of ways, but that was before he was signed to this extension. Also, I think if you're Calgary in the long term, you traded for the guy for a reason. You want to make it work.

Like, I just think, look, this has been a really hard year in Calgary. They can still save their season. There's still time. Yep. Playoff wise to save their season, which matters there. But I heard this rumor.

I checked it. I was told nothing right now. Like I said, I think the Flames have to get through their year. I think the Sanders have to get new ownership year. I think the Sanders have to get new ownership and then we'll really start to see where everything's going to go in all these places. Now, speaking of sense ownership, you wrote about this on your blog this week, Rudy Braddy, the Remington group, Ryan Reynolds, and the bid to own the Ottawa senators.

And perhaps most importantly for the Remington group anyhow the real estate play in all of this yeah it's a really interesting one so you know my family used to be i wrote construction in the blog today and you know someone reached out to me and they said you know we were more in development not construction i'm like yeah sorry okay i got a word wrong like sue me i know what we did two different things but okay yeah okay. Yeah. I know. Thanks Amal. Thank you. The representative from Delage Construction. Like I got it.

I made a mistake. Sorry. Anyway, I remember my dad telling me about meeting Rudy Braddy, who's the patriarch of the Remington group. He's not involved anymore. Four of his kids, I think run it. But Rudy Braddy, like this guy, when he was in his heyday, he was a tight, like you did not fool around with Rudy Braddy. He was powerful.

He carried himself very powerfully and he grinded you on deals. Like he was a respected and feared figure. But like I said, his kids now and his kids are not insignificant either. The family is still very, very powerful. But when Markham tried to build the rink in 2013, they were going to build it. That got shut down. Like the city council wanted to give them the rink.

But I remember I was at the city council meeting and let me just say, if you want me to hate you more, make me cover a city council meeting and let me just say, if you want me to hate you more, make me cover a city council meeting. Those are the worst. I had to do that when the Scotiabank arena was being built. I had to do that for this.

And I remember there was enormous public interest. Like they came out there and they forced the politicians to back down. They made it very clear that if they gave public money to this oh yeah that that was not going to happen they were going to get it at the ballot box so they backed down they walked away and then the story i was told about arizona was the braddy's and the uh remington group they were very serious like there was a time that it looked like the coyotes were going to be

owned by that group and then the story i was told was they didn't like the what it looked like the coyotes were going to be owned by that group and then the story i was told was they didn't like the what it looked like for the real estate around the new arena like they just weren't going to get a deal they wanted they didn't see the possible revenues that they hoped and they walked away they said nope this is not for us so NHL circles, like don't get me wrong, they have money. They're very smart. They know what they're doing. But in NHL circles, there's a thought of them that they're not really interested in the hockey. They're more interested in just the real estate and the opportunities to make money out of the real estate. So what do they do here? They go out and they make a deal with Reynolds and some of the other groups here have suspicions

about what the deal is, but I don't know what this to be the case. And because the league wants Reynolds in so badly, they know that this is going to pull up their group. And look, let's not kid ourselves. This is still going to come down to money. This is still going to come down to who the NHL likes plus money. And, you know, they're going to have to have a serious bid and they're going to have to show they're serious about the hockey side. But now what they have in their group is they have the person the fans want. And when you look at what they've done with

rexham and even recently as as rexham had a good showing in english football this was a smart smart move i think the question we all have is here if they don't get it is reynolds out like some people have said to me that they think he's out and other people have said to me, Elliot, you know Batman. He wants this guy in the league. Unless there's something there that absolutely prevents him from doing it, like if Reynolds signs some kind of NDA or something like that, they said, you know that Batman is going to get this guy in the league. So we'll see. So you think that if Remington doesn't get this, there's a chance that Reynolds becomes a free agent? I don't know.

And can jump? I don't know. To your point, I'm sure that's exactly what the NHL want. There's no way the NHL is going to walk away from that. Well, the only thing I'm saying is, was anything signed that would say no? You can't go somewhere else. Yeah.

If we fail, you can't go somewhere else. I think it was a really smart move by them because I think they know that the NHL sees them as kind of, they're more interested in the real estate than they are in the hockey. Now, what I'm curious to see now is do they double down and do they go after someone who would be a very popular hockey figure in Ottawa to say, okay, now we've got this person too, and this should quell your fears. I

think what this also shows Jeff is that this is a very not going to be a very nice real estate play for somebody. Listen to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Washington Capitals. They lose to the Florida Panthers 6-3. They've now lost three games in a row. Stadium series on the horizon Saturday. Carter-Finley Stadium and Raleigh.

The Caps and the Canes. But as they get there, we're starting to wonder, can they even make the playoffs, Elliot? I'm really beginning to dislike their math. First of all, this is a big weekend for Carolina. We should mention it. Cam Ward honored by the team earlier tonight, outdoor game this weekend, going to be a fun weekend. And I know there was a little bit of concern about the weather, the rain, big weekend for the Hurricanes. I hope it goes great for them. I'm really beginning to worry about the Capitals and their math. And if you look at it, Florida with the win,

they pull even in points, although the Capitals have a game in hand. They're a point up on the Islanders, same number of games played. But now Detroit, two points back with three games in hand. Buffalo, four points back with three games in hand. Buffalo, four points back with four games in hand. I am looking at these Capitals, and I think they have a chance to be one of the most interesting teams

all of a sudden at the deadline. Because, look, they've made signings. They've signed Strom. They've signed Milano. I hear they're trying to sign Orlov, although some people tell me, you know, I wrote it in the blog on Wednesday night for Thursday. I'm always careful about this stuff because things can change.

But I had some people tell me it was proving to be a challenge. And, you know, there's still a couple of weeks, so you never know where this goes. But if the Capitals decide, you know, hey, I don't like weeks, so you never know where this goes. But if the Capitals decide, you know, hey, I don't like this, and we want to create some roster flexibility, they've got some pieces that they could put out there that would, I think, be really interesting to some other teams.

They have a chance to be low-key, one of the real fascinating teams on this deadline. You've said this many times. They're not a team to rebuild or or step back like they're they're in going forward mode but i wonder if there's any chance if this doesn't get better over the next two weeks that they kind of say you know what let's see if we can take advantage of some struggling teams this summer or some teams that need cap room this summer i'll tell you what someone else said to me what's he said you know who should be in the Norris

conversation? I said, who's that? He goes, John Carlson. Because look at how much they've been struggling since he's been out. If this doesn't prove how good a defenseman John Carlson is, he said, none of you guys are ever going to notice.

Okay. Jeff, I don't think we're going to know the outcome of this for a few days, so I don't want to make any guarantees but thatcher demko tweaked something at practice on thursday and i think the one thing everybody is being careful here is don't jump to conclusions about what it means because i don't think they're going to know for a few days but there was something and it is a setback everyone's hoping it's not the worst case scenario but nobody seems to know yet for sure hopefully he's fine he can play it's been a

brutal year for him i don't know if he did something in some previous life that it's all getting piled back on him this year but just tough year And I have no doubt he wants to play. Okay. Elliot Friday, the Edmonton Oilers take on the New York Rangers and Kyler Yamamoto will be in the lineup, but Thursday came and went and nobody was placed on waivers. What's happening with the Oilers and their roster? It's been a wild week.

We've sometimes expected to pullliarvi on waivers I had people who thought On Thursday that Warren Fogle Would be on waivers And then Pugliarvi mispracticed And they asked Jay Woodcroft about it And he couldn't even keep a straight face

Asked for the update on the individuals Who were not practicing today Kane, Pugliarvi and Vinny I believe Yeah we had a couple maintenance days going on and kept some people off the ice to make sure they're getting the right amount of rest. And we'll see. I'd be very happy to play cards against him. Are you bluffing?

No, with a big smile on his face. You know he's bluffing. Do you have a good hand? Like, are you holding, did you just draw an inside straight? Do you have a full house? No. And he'd be laughing.

So, you know, he'd have a really good hand. By the way, Jay Woodcroft, big fan of Dan Carlin, the podcaster, huge fan of Dan Carlin. You'll be defending him forever then that's why i like him by the way dan carlin's latest podcast with rick rubin highly recommended highly recommended why don't you just recommend people listen to that instead of this okay listen to hardcore history and hardcore history addendum a lot better than this podcast, I'll say. Barring something happening before the game on Friday with a Pugliarvi or a Fogle,

because they won't be able to waive someone and create room for Yamamoto, it sounds like what's going to happen here is Dylan Holloway and Vincent Desjardins, who don't need waivers, are going to end up being sent down to Bakersfield. Barring something else happening here, that looks like the move. Now, this is an age-old debate.

It's one we have a lot. And whether or not you're taking people off your roster who deserve to be there and earn spots and the message that sends to your room. But one thing that's been very clear is that Ken Holland has indicated that he does not want to give away Poole Yarvey for free. He could have done it for a week now, and it's clearly is not the move he wants to make

if he doesn't have to. So that's where it sounds like we are, barring a trade. Okay. Vlaslav Gavrikov columbus blue jackets defenseman held out for trade related reasons are we getting close to a conclusion here or warming to a conclusion how should i say this have we thrown a log on the fire to warm everybody up here like gavrikov is going to get moved sooner than later. How would you like me to phrase this one? Well, I think that we're throwing logs on the

fire on almost a daily basis here. So that's not a bad one to do. Again, I don't think this is a coincidence about the whole Chikrin gets set out and now Gavrikov did. I have heard, oh God, I hate saying this because it goes wrong and I look like a gigantic doofus. Gavrikov for Chikrin.

Say it, say it. Gavrikov for Chikrin. I don't think that's it. But I've had people tell me they think that Gavrikov is closer to a deal. And this was Thursday morning. So this is really dangerous. They thought that Gavrikov was closer to a deal than Chikrin was. I've been told that I think there are teams

that have seriously engaged Columbus and there are legitimate talks going on here right now. The team I wonder about is Boston. He's been linked to Edmonton. He's been linked to LA. He's been linked to Toronto. I don't think LA would do him unless they knew they could sign him though.

You know, Carson Soucy, you know, Ron Francis is very quiet. I would be really wary about breaking up that group with the year they've had, but it doesn't sound like the Kraken really liked the idea of letting him walk for nothing. So he's another left-hand shot out there. That's a rental.

I think Boston has some interest. I'm just trying to figure out if there's anybody else that's really serious. Okay. Elliot, Chicago, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Taves. We saw Patrick Kane play against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. It was a tilted rink, the Leafs all over him, not the finest performance, but we know there are mitigating factors here.

What is the latest with the Chicago duo? Well, I think it's easier to talk about taves and that is he's got you know you want to see him get healthy you know he's not playing right now he's not going to rejoin the team for their final game against ottawa now he is working out and like one of the things i was wondering was is there any chance he just won't play the rest of this year and i checked on the weekend and i was told that's not what anyone's expecting. Like he's still around the team in terms of he's around the facility, he's working out, he's trying to come back. But until he comes back and plays, I just don't know that it's going

to be possible. He moves. And one of the things with Taves is he's had a history of health issues recently. So you just want to know that he's okay. But I don't think that's going anywhere until he plays. The thing about Kane is I think people really want to see a burst from him. I reached out to someone who I think knows Kane really well. And you know, this person went on at length about how Kane is really determined to show he's got a lot and he really wants to play in a winning situation and a big stage. And unfortunately right now, you just want to see him have a huge key. Like go out and do Patrick Kane things so that it just really shows, yes. As I said to you on your radio show this week i do not like patrick keen's slander

this is one of the greatest players ever who's going into the hall of fame no questions asked and i just think that people want to see like a big night from him a burst of some kind now i think the other thing teams want to see is they want to know who's really in this because it's going to be a complicated deal. It might have to be a three-way deal. And, you know, you need time. You know, we're coming up on two weeks from the deadline. People just want to know, like, who's in and who's out. So I think he has to do that.

You know, who am I looking at here? Edmonton. I think they've really looked at it. Like Ken Holland, he's going out there, he's doing all these interviews. He's saying it's dollar in, dollar out. And I think he's still looking at some big stuff. So I think they have interest. I've wondered about Vegas. You've been the person who says that Dallas makes sense. I think it does too. I think that's the kind of player they're looking for and the only sense I really get with Toronto is I just think Toronto

wants to know if this is real that Patrick Kane actually wants to play for them and then if the answer is yes I guess they'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. But that's where I think it's going with Kane. You know, you and I have talked about the Blackhawks a number of times over the course of the past few weeks. And one of the things we keep coming back to is this idea that, yes, there is Kane and yes, there is Taves. And we've been talking about them going back to, geez, Elliot, the summer and what their future is going to be.

But there are other players on this team and a couple spring to mind, although they have term attached to them. That's a sticking point for some teams on some players and not so much for others. That is players like Jake McCabe, Connor Murphy, these types of players as well. Those two defensemen specifically. I know there'll be interest in the big two up top. I get it. But what about these guys?

What about Connor Murphy? What about Jake McCabe? Again, with the caveat, they have term attached to them. I don't think the Leafs are afraid of term, you know, as long as it's not too big a number. The thing that I was wondering about McCabe is, I think McCabe's a really good player. He's got six of the seven Canadian teams on his

no trade list. Yeah. Okay. Now that doesn't bother me. You sign a contract, you have the right to get whatever in it you can. You negotiate for it, you earn it. Even as a proud Canadian, like it doesn't

bother me at all. It's your choice, your life, you do what you want. The one thing I look at that though is I say, if you've got six out of seven Canadian teams on your no trade list, and I'm the seventh team, do I really want that?

Like, how do you feel about that? Why? Well, because it's like, I don't think he really wants to be in Canada. No, that seems pretty obvious. And what do we always say about Toronto, though? There's Toronto and then there's Canada. It is its own sort of different city.

And that's one of the reasons why go market to market. Everybody hates Toronto. Everyone hates the Maple Leafs. Yes. And that's okay. I'm okay with all this hatred. See, I'm fine. If that's what McKay wants, okay. I'm with you too. I'm fine with all this hatred. See, I'm fine. If that's what McKay wants, okay.

I'm with you too. I'm fine with anybody playing anywhere. Like, does it bother me a bit? It doesn't bother me a bit, but I'm talking about as the team. Maybe if I thought I could use him for the playoffs and then see about moving him, I would. But you know what? Long-term, yeah, we are different.

This is going to make people hate us even more. We are different than the rest of Canada. Our setup is different than the rest of Canada. That's the one thing I wonder about here. Is this something he really wants to do? Now, the one thing I would say is this. I would bet McKay would want to be in a playoff. Yep.

He hasn't done that, but you know, it just makes me wonder about it a little bit. That's the only thing about McCabe that would really, I don't even know if make me nervous is the right word for the Maple Leafs, but just make me wonder, would it really be a place he'd want to be? I think the other thing too is Chicago's asking a big price

for McCabe, especially if they keep salary. Is Toronto going to want to trade a number one pick or Matthew Nyes or anyone else? Like, is that the player they're going to do it for? I think they would do it for Timo Meier. I don't think they'd do it for Jake McCabe. That's what I

wonder. I'll tell you this, I think McCabe's a really good player though. Of course he's what I wonder. I'll tell you this. I think McCabe's a really good player, though. Of course he is. I agree. And to the point about saying no to all the other markets in Canada, I would not lose a second's sleep over it. Okay. Okay.

Marty Walsh and the NHL Players Association. They have their new executive director, Elliot. So Gary Bettman now has his fifth executive director to work with. We go back to Goodnow, to Ted Saskin to paul kelly a couple of interns and then donald the fear and now marty walsh officially named the new executive director of the players association we've talked plenty about how it got to this point what i'm curious about is and he takes over in mid-march officially what's the first order of business i think the one thing he has to do is get to know the players.

Like one of the things I thought was really interesting was there was not a full membership vote. If you look at the release from the Players Association, it was done by the executive board, which is the 32 player reps. Now I thought that was really interesting because when Donald Fear was hired, it was a full membership vote. Although when Paul Kelly was hired in 2007, it was just an executive board vote. I couldn't find

Ted Saskin. I don't know what that was, but I asked a couple of guys about it. I got mixed feelings. I had one guy who said, the PA said that all the players would approve this. Why don't you all let them vote? But I had another guy who said to me, ah, you have to trust the executive board. So as you would expect, there were very mixed feelings about this. But I think the number one thing he has to do is get to know the players. Cause obviously not all of them voted, not all of them have met him and he has to get to know how they all feel. I'll say this, the Bally's thing. And there was a board of governors call on Wednesday night.

That has to be a concern. Okay. So just so we're all on the same page here. So diamond sports group who owns Bally's, have missed a $140 million interest payment. There'll be a 30-day grace period now, and then it is into bankruptcy. And we wonder what happens now,

what the effects are for the NHL specifically, not just with the teams that work with Bally's, but also the bigger question is, how does this affect the salary cap? Yes. So on this conference call or this board of governors call, I understood that the teams were told they're still being paid for now. Paid full? No, not necessarily. Now, I don't know that Bettman said that, but I was told that there have been teams who have been warned that they will be paid, but not the full amount. They'll be getting a reduced amount. And what a few governors told me was, we still don't know the exact impact of what this is going to be. We still don't know exactly. So everybody's kind of in a holding pattern. But the best analysis I got, and I think this person is right, is that it's not only NHL, but it's the NBA and Major League Baseball. We're talking more than 40 teams across those sports and almost $1.8 billion in rights. They think

that this is going to come down to the value of your rights. Like if you're a really valuable property to the service or in your market, you're going to be okay. But if you're not a valuable property, those are the teams that have to sweat because they'll either demand a restructuring or they'll walk away. And one of the things Rob Manfred did, who is the commissioner of Major League Baseball, is he said, look, we're going to make sure all our fans get these games.

And the NHL put out like a really deep two sentence statement, basically saying, you know, like we're going to do the same thing. But Manfred admitted that wherever they take those games, they're not going to make the same amount of money. So I think what Marty Walsh has to do is he has to get a handle on what this is all going to mean. Because I'll tell you, there's a feeling out there that there is a deal to be made on the cap. Even if the shortage isn't paid off by the end of this season. It is scheduled. The key phrase is scheduled before all this stuff happened to be paid off early next year. So I think there are some teams and there are some agents who have kind of talked about with, can we get to a situation where we,

since it's on track to be paid early next year, can we work out a deal, pressure the league and the player and nobody pressures Batman, but talk to the league and the players about, can we work out a deal, pressure the league and the player, and nobody pressures Batman, but talk to the league and the players about, can we find a way to make a deal for next year? Because it's going to be paid off early next year anyway. And some people are hopeful that that can be done. However, now with this, that's a kick in the pants. We don't know what this is going to mean.

So I think the two things he has to do is number one, get to know his membership and learn what they think. And number two, figure out what this Bally's thing is going to mean for the players, the cap and the ability to increase it. That's a huge, because that's the stuff the players will care about.

What does this mean for our salaries? Elliot, something else I want to mention as we wrap up the podcast for today, the passing of Paul Whelan and casual hockey fans might not know that name. Even some hardcore hockey fans may not know that name. He passed away Thursday at the age of 84.

He was a longtime Buffalo Sabres PR director. If he wasn't a day one-er, Elliot, I'm pretty sure he was pretty close to being a day one-er with the Buffalo Sabres. A lot of the stories are online. You can find them. We'll go over a couple of them here. Not only was he the PR director, but also during Sabres practices, he was known to hit the ice as a goaltender and take shots if one of the goaltenders was unable to go. His April Fool's Day press releases were legendary, whether it's forging a Ronald Reagan letter declaring the Buffalo Sabres America's team,

putting out press releases announcing that the Buffalo Sabres America's team, putting out press releases announcing that the Buffalo Sabres have secured a U.S. battleship as a training facility and hockey theme park. I mean, he was a legendary prankster, and his legend will always be tied to the 1974 draft when the Buffalo Sabres, as they felt the draft was going on too long, in the 11th round drafted a player by the name of Taro Tsujimoto. Don't look for him.

He doesn't exist. From the Tokyo Katanas, Katanas Japanese for sword or saber, get the joke there. Punch Imlach and Paul got together to cook up this phony name and this phony player and actually made the pick, which is why even to this day, every now and then you'll see a sign we want taro or a we want taro chant or something about taro sujimoto uh in buffalo opici actually made a card for taro sujimoto years and years later after finishing with the buffalo sabers he went on to teach at uh saint bonaventure university

teaching journalists teaching broadcasters as well i dm'd with one of his former students a guy by the name of bill kenny who just mentioned you know uh not only was he a his college professor but just an absolutely brilliant man like you can tell and you can read you know online the people that were taught by him people that were around him or around his family, just how much he meant to people. He was the one that hired Rick Jenner at, he served as a color analyst himself as well. It was kind of the era Elliot of the, you don't just have one job. You kind of do a whole bunch of things when you're the quote unquote PR director, a lot of things fall under that umbrella. the quote unquote PR director.

A lot of things fall under that umbrella. And he was one of the greatest. And people like him, they really don't exist anymore, Frege. And just want to mention the passing of Paul Wieland, a true innovator and a true original. Great tribute, Jeff. From all of us here, our condolences to the family and friends of Paul Wieland.